great white

Nice one James A nice boat and I like the name, very apt. I hope you have a lot of succesful Dawn Raids on her, with many tight lines. When is the maiden voyage mate? I expect that a few photo's will me sent to BFM of that one Charlie

Hi welcome aboard I hope we can all help to get you started, while the coming months may not be the best for fishing and catching they are great for getting used to your shiny new boat and the toys that are fitted. Last winter I fitted a new plotter and colour sounder and tested them on a couple of nice days in feb with decent fish as a result when the boat would normally be out of action. So I would sugest you wait for a good forcast wrap up warm and get a few hours in getting to know the boat, if you need assistance ask, I am sure offers will flood in. Have Fun, and dont forget to take the misses on the good days. Charlie

Danny Is the old one a complete write off If not try someone like FB Electrics in Fenton Rd Boscombe they may be able to sort it out, or failing that may be a good starting point for your search for a fair priced replacement. I have a number at work if you need one Charlie

Hi Wedger, Good advice from Bob I had a Wilson flyer and upgraded to a 23ft with inboard 14 years ago. The wilson was fairly stable at anchor but a spine shaker at speed in the chop. so cruising in bad weather or at night was only slightly faster than my current 11/12 knots. However I would rather be on GW any time, more solid, more space easily fish with 4 onboard. Mine is a Duver 23 with 60 hp so the fuel used is about 1 gal hour, simular to the more modern arvor 215/230. Happy Hunting Charlie

Sounds as if the beast had teeth and was fast so ether a Shark or Tope. The othe bites may have ben from something else, that pulled your pennel into two as it had a go at the bait may even have been a large whiting or another larger pout. I have caught double hook ups of both these species on a single pennel rig lots of times. I expect that the larger fish you saw had a few goes at the top fish before also biting the line. even a small tope can easily bite 70lb nylon. We will never know , but its good to know some bigger fish are still about. Even if the weather will not let us get at them. Better luck with the beast next time Bob. Charlie

Martin I was only thinking the same earlier today when we returned without reaching the marks for the second consecutive Sunday. Perhaps it was brought on by the starter motor failing to engage properly this morning. | had to take it off twice The initial clean up and spray failed to cure it, so I had to locate a file at the Club and remove all burrs from the bendix It got me thinking about other things that can go wrong, so I decided to give the Boys a long safety and VHF brief as we came back up the harbour and some practice at berthing the boat in the marina. explaining to a 12 year old about prop walk when going astern was a bit new to him, but they both did very well. It was a nice day for boating in the Harbour but far to rough outside, the waves were very big about 1/2 way beteen the swash and old Harry. We had no bait for the Harbour so home for lunch and a few jobs Charlie

My FPO is always welcome on the boat. A few reasons 1.While she stays keen the boat will never go. 2. If Wendy is onboard it shows that the forecast is probably good. 3. Wendy days tend to be calm and warm. 4. She never nicks my rod when a fish bites like the kids do. 5. she likes to take the photo's of my fish. last but not least, the onboard cooking is much better than the usual sarnies and pasties Tight lines Charlie

Glad to hear that you do not need the "Old Mans" help anymore Sam. Perhaps after all these years I can get back to my fishing again. Welcome Leah, I hope you have as much fun fishing with your Dad as my two seem to on GW. For your sake Billy I hope that she is not as cheeky as my pair. Try Ginger Biscuits when the boat starts to wobble, they work for Daniel. the combination of the ginger and a dry biscuit seems to work Tight lines Charlie

Thanks Martin, As Rich stated elsware you are getting very good at this computer stuff. I hope you get less hassle than I do when I sit in front of the PC at home, its not our fault Coranation street is only on for 30 mins is it. Nice one Charlie

Welcome aboard Please join in and enjoy the banter Charlie

Thanks Rich Charlie

Thanks all That will make it easier to recognise the New Members who are catching fish So that I can prompt them to send in the fish reports Charlie

I am sure that if Rich is right about the habitat being protected then somthing should be done about beam trawlers. These are surely damaging the seabed when they fish the edges of banks for Ray. But angling boats dragging weights to slow their drift speed must also be damaging these same area's. People in glass house and all that. Charlie

Hi All I was not aware that Blondes are under threat but am very aware about how scarce the Cod have become. { Non yet on GW this winter ] A majority of our Members return a very big proportion of their catch. a large proportion of Rays get returned and survive but Cod are more attractive for the pot and less likely to survive even if you put them back. I know that Adam tried to return his big fish without success. The Club record for Blonde Ray was broken this week and that fish was returned even though it meant that the weight accepted [Max for scales used] was less than its true weight. Nice to keep up with the news Thanks for posting it Charlie

Hi Adam The British record [boat caught] stands at 38lb 9 oz Caught at the overfalls at the Nab Tower in 2000 Shore record is shared by two fish both caught in the channel islands, 1 in Alderney [for those going in May, better take a powerfull beach Rod] the other Jersey. John caught the Blonde on Sunday, a very nice fish. His Dad just did the netting and recorded the fish to me. Shame that they were not carrying their heavy scales. Very good to see that they would rather accept 14.5kg than kill it to weigh ashore later. Nice one Charlie

Nice one Adam That fish was certainly worth a write up and a prize What did you get for third? Tight lines Charlie

Nice report, I expect that your engineer had his ears warmed up a bit yesterday. A good catch, and a good trip after a slow start. If you are a Member of the Club please email me a catch report of those that you would like in the fish recorders log, Sorry that I have to ask but its hard to keep up with all the new Members at the moment. Charlie While on the subject of reports, I had a call last night from Peter Peck. He also got out on Sunday on Lady Margeret and John had a cracking Blonde Ray that easily beats the Club record. It bottomed out his scales at 14.5kg but was quite a lot heavier. As the fish was returned he is recording it at 14.5kg, that's 31lb 14oz to you and me. Paul can you update the record on the site please. Very nice fish, and a big specimen to start the year with. Charlie

As Sam said we had intended to get out. Out of the Marina by 8 15, but as we went down the Swash the Kids [in their lifejackets] did not look that keen and we turned about by the training bank post. We had all the gear for a Cod/ Conger trip plus light gear and a few worms so at least we had a second option. 1 Flounder to Dan and a early tea Not the day we had hoped for, but great to be afloat again. Well done Duncan, When I left the Yacht Haven I was hoping to get to the spoils as I thought that was about the limit for today and had potential. At least your success proved the theory right. Nice to see some good fish are available outside, I await reports on how many Flounders came to the other boats inside, and the size of the winning fish. Charlie Can you confirm weight for the fish book

Nice one Guys Gordon if all you lost was your sarnies you got off lightly Obviously the Golden Rivet is being saved for your second trip. Charlie

Rich Stick to cutting the Grass and stop smoking it mate

Thanks Adam and Martin He may well chase that up Dave if you read this, what do you think the chances are? Charlie

Tha last one looks like one of those mean humber ones[excuse spelling] But Pauls must have been huge its nearly as big as him Charlie

Gordon Where are you thinking of Launching from? and which wrecks are you thinking of? PM me if its hush hush Please be aware that a SE is the worst direction for the entrance to Poole Harbour and the Swash Channel. There are fish out there, plenty of whiting Dogs conger and the odd Cod, but check the weather carefully pror to attempting to ambitious a trip. I know that you are already from our chat last week and your posts Tight lines Charlie

Adam I thought from earlier posts that you were going out today Charlie

Hi To those of you that have the time on your hands check out another weather site. It is a Dutch site that seems to be a little longer range than most [6 days] and fairly accurate, but you have to read the synoptic chart http://meteonet.nl/aktueel/brackall.htm Hope that the weather they bring is good and we can get away from our PC