plaicemat

That is salmon fishing from a boat on big rivers like the Spey where one is trying to cover the water. With stalking on a river or lake, I would agree that it is rare to use a lot of line. However, with chuck it and chance it styles of fishing which, from a boat, bass fishing is essentially, unless there is evidence of bait fish, the more water covered per drift, the greater the chance of a take. IMHO. Of course, it is more than possible I don't have your expertise, in which case I can only say this is what works for me. Terry.

I'm afraid I can't agree with the 'no extra distance'. It is very difficult to double haul effectively whilst sitting down. It's different with a double handed salmon rod because one uses the boat to get in position but for covering the ground on the drift, standing up wins in the right conditions. Terry.

Nobody's sending you anything? Terry.

Jim, you can add Stingray to your list. Terry.

Thanks for your company, Tom, I enjoyed the day immensley; well, the morning anyway. Do you know, he even had the bl@@dy cheek at one stage to say, "wouldn't it be nice if one or all the rods bent over now" before hauling in another bass. Oh well, he did have the decency to give me one of them! You're welcome back on board anytime you like, Tom and, by the way, I owe you a fiver. I'm not sure what happened in the car park (long day for me) but I ended up with more than I deserved. I think that's possibly my lot until the whiting and cod come in so, roll on the arrival of the chinese fish, Mr. Y Ting. Terry. p.s. Thanks to Alun for my 'secret' trigger mark.

...............................mackerel. Hah! You thought I was going to say haddock. No, come on, be honest. We did try but they'd all gone to Iceland. I hope it's better tomorrow or Tom's going to be really pi@@ed off! Thanks again Alun, Have a good supper party. I know what's on the menu! Terry.

I went out with Alun today and we enjoyed beautiful but chilly weather and calm seas. What more could you want? A mixed bag of fish with trigger (singular) bream (singular but a nice bonus about 2 pounds) bass (singular) and also lots of.........................................

See, I said I could remember them being here years ago. I hope any I catch tomorrow or Saturday will be a little fresher and more toothsome. Terry.

Of course, you have to ask yourself is this an elaborate wind up? Far more believable than tarpon. Terry.

I found them, take your place in the queue. Terry.

Hah! You'll be laughing on the other side of you face when I'm the new Haddock King. But I'll still speak to you. Terry.

Craig, until the club record is mine, all mine, the numbers stay locked in my vault. However, if you make your way around to the ledge, you'll find me there with, I suspect several others on the same quest. Terry.

Saturday Tom? Terry.

Due to a broken mudguard mount on the trailer, postponed until Saturday. Bit of welding to do first. Anyone else out to play? Terry.

Right! I wasn't coming down again until the whiting were in but the gauntlet seems to have been thrown down. All being well, I shall try again on Friday (weather permitting) and shall persevere until I catch another haddock. So there! Terry.

If it's any help, here are the ins and outs of a gas conversion for diesel engines. Diesel/LPG conversion. Hope it helps. Terry.

Your information corresponds with where we used to catch the odd ones in the '60's, Mike. Our's were also in the 1lb class; maybe there are some bigger ones there but we'll have to wait and see. The ones we caught were on unbaited hokkies meant for mackerel. Terry.

Of course, all this speculation and doubt, wishing and hoping is wasted on me because I know what I caught and whether or not it's believed is of no consequence. But, when I catch some more, I will be careful to weigh and photograph them. Terry.

What's the record for haddock? Terry.

Thank goodness for that, Graham, I was beginning to feel like a leper. Despite people saying things like 'I don't doubt you' and 'I'm sure you know your stuff, I can read the sub-text which is saying 'b@ll@cks'. Exactly as Dan says. Yes, Paul, I do know a hoss mackerel when I see one, I've baited hundreds of crab pots in Norfolk with them. And I'm surprised your so sceptical, Tom, we all believed in your record herring! Don't run away with the idea of fish and chip sized fish, these would have made a meal for one, although I didn't bother keeping them. Terry.

No probs, Tom, I'll go back and get more. If we randomly got 3 whilst feathering for mackerel, there have to be quite a few of them there. Very strange things are happening these days and I suppose we shouldn't be surprised at anything. Terry.

Bu@@er! I didn't think of that. Well, I know where they were, strangely in two different spots, so will try again. I marked them on the charts just for interest sake and so I could put 'Haddock Mark' on my chart. Terry.

Strangely, Paul, we did get them on feathers as well as a lot of gars, far more than mackerel. I have checked my fish i.d. charts and there is no doubt about what they were. I can remember catching them in Poole Bay in the 1960's (rarely) but haven't seen them since. Terry.

What a super day to be out on the water, such a pleasure after being confined to barracks with the weather for the last few weeks. I had a little bye day yesterday on a conversion job. I have a friend who I have converted from carp fishing to the more exacting sport of fly fishing and who now wanted the experience of sea angling. We went out from Christchurch and had a super day, not a red letter one in the sense of trophy fish but it was just a pleasure to be out. Mackerel were hard to find and we managed 4 so had a go for a late bass; too late, I'm afraid. We then tried for a trigger and had everything but; not huge but he had his string pulled. He added about 7 fish to his list of species caught, one of the more surprising which I haven't seen for a number of years being 3 haddock. Which is the point of this posting, really. Are they about in numbers and have I just been unlucky in not catching any? Only downside to the day was when launching, I gave him some jobs to do and foolishly didn't check. He hadn't pushed in the number plate holders on the trailer which comprehensively furgled the trim tabs on the boat when trying to launch. Fortunately, no damage was done to the hull as they are alloy and bend fairly easily, which was fortunate as we were driving home in the dark. Terry.

The same applies to petrol vapour, of course, and there are plenty of boats running on petrol. In a properly sealed system with the necessary precautions taken (as you say, ventilation, etc), there should not be a problem. In a previous existence, I used to work for Thames Water (as was) and part of my brief was involvement in inspecting craft for river worthiness. Unlike sea craft, this was a requirement of the licencing system. We never found a problem with with either gas or petrol after the recommendations had been followed. This did not stop very rare accidents but these were almost exclusively down to incorrect proceedures, i.e., refueling an outboard tank with the cooker going, etc. Is there a body that does these sort of inspections on a voluntary basis for sea craft? Terry.