25/6/13-26/6/13 Shark Adventure.

After several months of planning and research I've finally been able to go shark fishing in Jupiter....

It all started last winter when I discovered information about a huge porbeagle shark that had been caught on the North Devon coast from a 17ft Wilson Flyer dinghy. Angling journalist Graeme Pullen was the skipper, and Hampshire small boat enhusiast Wayne Comben was the man who had the pleasure of bringing the 'monster' to the side of the boat.It was his first shark trip!
Most anglers seeking shark will use a charter boat where pretty much everything is done for you by the skipper and you rely on their knowledge and experience but, to catch shark from a small trailered dinghy off your own back is, in my opinion , quite an achievement and something I was eager to attempt  myself.
I managed to contact Wayne directly, we exchanged several emails discussing tackle , tactics etc and  agreed to do a trip together sometime.
I  read everything I could on the subject, finding books from the early sixties and seventies that are still useful to the present day shark tyro, as well as a wealth of information on the internet. However, apart from G.P there  appears to be few anglers who have attempted shark fishing from a  small boat.
Initially, I was interested in trying for the Devon porbeagles and using the WSF forum to research, eventually met up with Nick (Mr Pix) in Ilfracombe. We've since become good mates , I've had a run out in his own boat moored in 'Combe' harbour and it was his suggestion that I approach the 'porgie' grounds from his home port which also happens to be where my son Jack lives.
I had researched various launch points for this relatively isolated stretch of coastline, but they all proved to be unsuitable so I decided to go with Nick's advice if possible, though I did at this stage, have a preference to 'cut my teeth' on some blue sharks first, and build up my experience gradually.
Other preparations for this trip included the gathering of suitable equipment. I managed to track down a matching pair of  new old stock left hand wind U.S built Penn 4/0 Senators and teamed them up with some inexpensive U.K class 50lb rods. The reels were loaded with 300yds of 80lb spectra braid with a 200yd 'top shot' of 50lb mono.
Alain Storey, also a WSF find, made up the excellent traces as I don't yet possess the required tools for the task.
10/0 Mustad  hooks were crimped to 6ft of 350lb wire and attached by the biggest link swivel I've ever seen in my life. A 20ft (wind-on the reel) rubbing leader of 400lb strain was employed, and two huge sliding catfish floats were adapted for the task by attaching a run clip to the float body using cable ties.
This would enable the floats to be set at the required depth by trapping the main line in the run clip.Once a shark took, and the line tightened sufficiently to release from the clip, the float would slide all the way down to the bottom swivel-about 6ft from the hook.
This gear is probably a little 'over gunned' for blue shark and 30lb class kit would suffice however, I wanted a fighting chance should a bigger shark take a shine to my baits and during my research I found that there was always a chance of this happening, albeit a slim one.
A kidney harness and butt pad were also added to the list along with a massive 120 litre cool box used to transport the pre-made rubby dubby.
Partly because we were unsure of the availability of mackerel but also due to it's undoubted effectiveness, the chum mix was made up of waste trout sourced from my local trout fishery In Sussex.These discards would have simply been buried so it was a satisfying, if  slightly unpleasant experience to make the stuff from a recipe provided by Graeme.
The trout flesh and guts etc were minced using one of those cast iron table top devices that everybody's Mum  had in the 60's and 70's, blended with bran which soaked up the not inconsiderable quantity of oil that these pellet fed trout are comprised of, and then frozen into 3.5 litre food containers, creating a conveniently sized 'block'.I finished with ten of these, and a 15litre bucket which contained all the carcasses, heads skin, etc-also covered in bran to soak up any remaining oil and frozen. Nothing was wasted.
If I'm honest, knowing what I now know, i'd be reluctant to eat one of these fishery trout.
 It took me nearly a day to process the whole lot in the garden at home a few weeks ago but, it was to be worth the effort.
The plan was to spend a week camping with the boat in the south-west starting at Ilfracombe on the North Devon coast ,meet up with my son Jack who lives there, and my daughter Grace who ,on the 25th would be celebrating her 21st birthday, and possibly get a trip out with Nick and Jack whilst I was there.
Following on from that, I would head to the south coast of Cornwall and meet Wayne at Falmouth.
It was a 'loose' plan and very much depended on the weather behaving but I began the trip in a philosophical mood and would simply wait and see what the 'wind gods' had in store for me.
For the first three days In Devon, fishing was completely out of the question-there was simply too much wind.I spent the time just hangin' with my kids,  and Nick turned up at the camp site for a chat and to check out Jupiter.

I needed a decent high pressure weather system with at least a couple of days of settled calm weather to attempt the 30 mile run down the coast from Ilfracombe to the porbeagle grounds...and it just wasn't going to happen. I expected as much before I left Sussex but also hoped for a more localised run out for tope with Nick but, high winds a rough seas put paid to that also.
Grace and me had spent a terrific 'day 3' walking the coast path together, checking out likely swims, and although 'day 4 ' was her birthday, she would be spending it with other family members so, sent me on my way.
She's a 'Top girl' my daughter, who fully understands her dad.
The weather for 'day 4' was looking promising with light winds so, a quick phone call was made to Wayne, and the boat hitched up for the 100 mile drive south arriving at Perranarworthal camp site just as darkness fell. We would be shark fishing in the morning!
A ten minute run from the camp site, the public slipway at Mylor is an absolute dream location to launch a boat . Shallow, sheltered, available at all states of the tide and with a convenient mooring pontoon and secure, cheap parking for van and trailer ,it's one of the finest I've seen.

Heading out of the huge natural harbour  we motored in a south easterly direction until we hit the 40 fathom line approximately 15 miles off shore to begin our drift.
 This piece of advice was provided by local commercial fisherman,  Frank Vinnecombe who, along with his brother Robin ran a couple of  charter boats back in the 60s and 70s -the heyday of Cornwall shark angling.
Friends who use shark boats in neighbouring Looe tell me that they run a similar distance and depth so, there must be something to it.
We were a little concerned about whether or not we'd find mackerel for hook bait, especially as locally, the commercial fisherman had reported a shortage in recent years with a worsening situation.In Sussex,at the present time, they can be extremely tricky to locate.
 We needn't have worried.With the chum bucket in play,the mackerel were soon attracted, our sets of feathers were full almost immediately and we soon amassed a box full for baits, albeit of quite a small size.
 Once we'd had enough mackerel, the sharks rods were made ready.The four floats were set at varying depths from 10 to 40 ft , the shallowest being the closest to the boat, getting deeper further down tide. In this way, we attempted to set the baits within the chum trail which slowly sank as it drifted away from its source at the boat.

The chum trail must be continuous otherwise the homing shark may break off from the scent and never find the baits. It seemed to work very well-a distinctive oil slick being quite apparent on the surface of the sea...we sat back in our comfy chairs and waited...................
I suppose it took a couple of hours before the clicker on Wayne's TLD sang it's merry tune, and the 'Pompey Shark' bent into the first fish of the session. A very entertaining tussle ensued and, when the blue shark came into view, I'll admit to having my breath taken away somewhat.
 An incredibly elegant fish with a long streamlined snout, huge 'winged' pectorals,  a deep steely cobalt blue back, a bright pearly white underbelly and, of course, those teeth.A mightily impressive beast which Wayne estimated at about 75lb and cleanly released at the side of the boat.
I was elated. All the preparation and planning had paid off. A 'proper' shark caught from my own boat!!
Next , it was one of my Penns that burst into life and I had my first ever taste of being connected to a proper shark. Not a particularly prolonged fight, it has to be said, but the diving runs were very impressive and it was necessary to thoroughly tire this one out as it was coming on board for a photograph.

Once Wayne had a firm grip on the trace with gloved hand, my rod was securely propped in a rod holder with the reel drag fully loosened off. The other three rods had been reeled in and stowed out of the way under the cuddy and the deck had been pretty much cleared of anything that could get in the way.
Working together with one swift motion, we lifted the shark on board and I straddled the fish in an attempt to settle her down. With the hook removed I could just about drape her across my knees for the photo session before she was unceremoniously 'heaved' once again, over the gunwale. None the worse for her experience, she immediately kicked off  and dived into the depths, seemingly annoyed.

 What a sight for sore eyes.
I've caught bigger sharks from a beach in Africa but no fish, by a long shot, has  been so satisfying to catch. That shark was, at that point, the pinnacle of my angling career.
Wayne's next fish was about 60lb and was quickly followed by another take on one of my 'red' reels. This  fish felt considerably heavier than my previous, and gave a much stronger fight with deeper, more prolonged soundings.
Eventually with the leader on the reel, we could see that this was a much bigger shark and, at first I was reluctant to bring my prize on board. Wayne managed to talk me into it having experienced a similar sized fish on Graeme's boat and, with hindsight, I'm so glad he did.
The pictures speak for themselves. The fishes snout rested between my two seats and the tip of the tail  ended up much higher that the rod rail despite the body being 'snaked' across the deck. She made the Warrior feel very small indeed. I later estimated her at  94 inches, and Wayne reckoned she was a three figure fish  -I'll never know for sure but don't care in the slightest. It was a huge fish to bring aboard my little boat.

Wayne finished the session with the fifth shark of the day and we returned to port having had a superb day's sport ands grinning like Cheshire cats........what a day.
Shortly before leaving for home we spied a couple of sunfish cruising slowly about ten yards away from the boat displaying their distinctive  fin?????
We did try to follow and Wayne put out a bait but with no luck. An incredible sight to end the session.Happy 21st Birthday Grace!

Day 5 and we were blessed with an even calmer sea and slower drift speed, and this may have contributed to the sharks being a bit slower to find our chum trail. I think it was afternoon before Wayne took the first shark-another good fish in the 70lb bracket.

This was later followed by a spell of bad luck on my part.
We'd seen sharks nudging the floats-apparently they're attracted to the colour -yellow. I hooked into a shark and felt a strong dive immediately and then it all went slack! The 400lb rubbing leader had been bitten clean through.
Obviously before taking the bait, and whilst investigating the float, the shark had tangled the rubbing trace in its teeth and severed the leader when tension was applied.
 Interestingly, the two fish that were brought on board showed some 'teething ' problems by biting both my deck brush (also yellow) and , rather less amusing, getting a good toothy grip on one of the fuel tank filler caps. He soon let go probably disliking the taste of petrol but took a few brush bristles with him.By way of compensation, we later found a couple of teeth left inside the boat which we kept as trophies.

Shortly afterwards a shark again picked up my bait, and then....... proceeded to drop it. Bugger! Second chance missed.
Whether it was the same shark, or there were a few in our 'swim', we're not sure but almost immediately, Wayne's neighbouring float took off at a pace ,the shark was firmly hooked and my crew settled down to play his fish.
I managed to clear two of the rods away before noticing my remaining rod buck violently, the 'Senator' scream loudly, and yet another shark had taken my bait. We had two on at once In  something of a feeding frenzy.
Laughing at the situation, we managed to keep our sharks well apart. I let mine run  away from the boat to keep it clear of Wayne's fish however, there were some slightly tense moments as my shark decided to swim towards the boat thankfully,  changing its mind before coming into harms way.
Wayne managed to 'trace' his fish and quickly release it-another good sized shark of 70 plus before helping me deal with mine, a bigger specimen in the 80lb range, which was also cleanly 'T' barred at the side of the boat.

We'd also briefly glimpsed shark swimming under the boat obviously picking up the source of our chum trail so it actually turned into quite an exciting afternoon's fishing.Eventually with the wind picking up, we decided to call it a day.
Back at the slipway and we met with a local bass guide who was actually quite surprised by our stories of local shark, and despite the excellent weather conditions we saw very few other boats 'out there'.
Day 6 and the good weather had started to break.
 We could have tried our luck at the 'Manacles' and have been sheltered somewhat , the mark being in the lee of some high ground but, instead we stayed at the campsite and talked fishing before taking a short trip into the village for a pasty lunch.
It proved to be the correct decision as the wind picked up considerably in the afternoon.
Wayne wanted to call on Frank Vinnecombe who still has a boat in the harbour, and a fish shop in Mylor Bridge despite being nearly ninety years young.

 

Although Frank wasn't at home we eventually bumped into him by chance, and were able to personally thank him for his tips on location.

This has probably been my longest blog entry and fittingly so, as it's most definitely been the most satisfying and exciting fishing I've ever experienced. Everything worked as it should and the boat behaved impeccably both on the water, and behind my camper van.
In the end,all the preparation, investigation and planning paid off, and we were lucky to pick up a fish or two.I'm already thinking about the next trip!

19/6/13 A Fifty !

 51lb tope...a new P.B

Took my mate and ex pontoon neighbour Steve Wells out with me for this one-a trip we've been meaning to do for sometime. Steve has recently sold his own ride but continues to do an awful lot of boat fishing at various locations around the country and, as a seasoned sea angler, his experience and wealth of knowledge shines through.
Steve is a fan of uptide fishing but, with a subtle difference-he doesn't actually cast uptide. I suppose his method could be called 'down tide uptiding' as he simply drops a grip lead to the sea bed from the stern of the boat, then pays out enough line for the tide to create a bow which will in turn dig the gripper in.
 The advantage is, that even in strong tide runs, it's only necessary to use a lead of half the weight of a normal down tide set up.
The disadvantage is, that the angler is a bit out of touch with the bait, and pick ups aren't quite so straightforward to hit. It all takes a bit of practice and adapting to the method. It's also NOT a method for tope on circle hooks. I suspect the reason for this is that there is a constant tension on the line and the circle is not allowed enough time to do it's job.
On recent tope trips all my fish have been taken on a down tide circle rig. As soon as a bite is detected the reel is thrown into free spool, the clicker disengaged, and the tope allowed to run freely feeling zero resistance. A few seconds later, the line is gently tensioned and the tope is usually, cleanly hooked in the scissors. It works very well but, the areas I'm targeting for tope require small tides to fish effectively because of the depth of water and tide strength. Even a small tide at mid flow requires 1 1/2lb of lead to stay in contact with the sea bed.
The 'uptide' method works much better with a 'J' hook. We proved that conclusively today. Generally, one waits for the lead to 'trip' and they hook themselves and Steve tells me that he rarely experiences a deeply hooked fish. The 'J' hook is certainly much easier to release using a 'T' bar at the side of the boat.
We punctuated the long run out at 24kts with a quick search for some mackerel which as ever, proved difficult to locate. With a few in the cool box and a back up of frozen we set down on Steve's first choice mark , an unnamed small wreck in about 50ft of water that's now in my plotter as #42. It was quite easy to locate and orientate on the sounder and we laid the anchor about 60 yards uptide of the structure.
The tide was completely slack at this stage but we still quickly found a  double figure tope each which was a promising start..........and then the mark died. Not a touch.
Steve is a very patient angler and I was quite prepared to sit it out and see what the mark could produce but , after a bite less hour, we agreed to move on, this time to mark #41.
Skipper Neil had advised me to seek higher ground nearby on this area to anchor but, flushed with the success from my last outing and hearing from Alex that a friend had struggled the day before close by with just one small tope, I chose to stick the boat dead centre in the  100ft gully where i'd done so well last time out. I also wanted to see if I could hold anchor, especially as the tide was now flooding properly and far stronger than on my previous visit.
Instructing Steve  who loved to play 'crew',  to 'lay' the chain, the pick instantly got a grip and held us rock solid just a few yards from 'the' hotspot, itself quite a satisfying manoeuvre.
Bites were virtually instant-they were in residence.
With 1 1/2lb failing to hold down tide, I joined Steve on the 'grippers' and fished the 'down tide up tide 'method. At first my crew conclusively out fished me by more than two to one  but, I gradually gained proficiency in the method and pulled a few back myself never quite redressing the balance.
Most of the tope were in the 20lb bracket and were released at the side of the boat but Steve did 'wrestle' (see the picture) one on board and this weighed in at 34lb.
Finally, despite picking a few mackerel up on 'static' feathers whilst toping, we ran out of fresh bait and out came the frozen stuff. A very gentle bite to my rod then produced something a little bigger and a dogged scrap ensued. Once at the surface, it was clear that she was a good'n so the decision was made to bring her on board. Actually, Steve hauled her over the side pretty much on his own before i'd even had a chance to put my rod down.
Once on the deck, I straddled her, pinning her down, and covered her eyes with the weigh sling.  She soon calmed down enough for us both to squeeze her into the completely inadequate pike bag and get her on the scales. 51lb corrected and my new personal best.
A couple of quick snaps were taken-the seated method being far more suitable for my own well being, and she was soon back over the side powering down into the depths and none the worse for her experience.
Having now accurately weighed a sizable tope, I now know that the big tope I caught a couple of years ago was of a similar size but, today's will hold rank as my best.
Once the tide had slackened we returned to 'normal' down tide techniques and continued to pick up fish though things did slow down a bit.
As evening crept upon us a sudden breath of wind signalled the possible approach from the south west of a thunder storm, so we high tailed it home. Final tally was 22 tope to the boat, I think I might just have been short of double figures.
The down tide/up tide method is certainly worth persevering with as it allows fishing in much stronger currents at these usually 'small tide' venues. I suspect it would work quite well with January's blonde rays and perhaps other applications and whatever the case, it's a useful tool to have in the armoury.

14/6/13 Back On Form

 5lb 2oz

The boat has been sitting idle on its mooring now for nearly two weeks whilst I wait for an opportunity  to get out. Strong winds have been the cause and yesterday it was literally 'blowin' a hoolie' out back.When it has been calm enough ,I've been working....'C'est la vie'.
 One has to be very philosophical when it comes to running a small fishing boat. Although our changeable weather can be frustrating, there is simply nothing we can do about it so, my attitude is 'get over it and get out fishing'.....for something else.
I took Jan, Neil and Mick tench fishing to the pits a few evenings back and rather disappointingly, we blanked. Now I don't really mind blanking when i'm out on my own, but it was a shame, on this occasion, that I couldn't introduce them to the fighting qualities of this feisty fish.
This afternoon, I decided to return for a few hours in the middle of the day. Not my favourite tench time but, it was cloudy and overcast so light levels were low.
I chose, probably for the last time this season, to fish my favourite corner swim. Pastures new are beckoning as there is more to learn about this venue so future trips will be to 'new' swims on 'new' pits.
Whilst the sky remained cloudy, three tench took a fancy to my maggot baits one of which, yet again, snapped my hook length. The takes on the bolt rigs are so fierce that I do need to consider an alternative set up for my reels when using this method especially as my main line is braid which, having zero stretch, is completely unforgiving, but necessary when bullying these tench out of the lily pads which they love to dive into.
 I tend to slacken the drags right off but the rods still try to leap into the water when the tench strike. An open bail would work I suppose, if I could find a way of  trapping the line but a baitrunner type reel would give much better control.
The first fish was the 'proper porker' in the net pic. The fattest tench I've ever seen at 4-07 followed by a nice 5-02 from the same near bank lily pad.
Once the sun emerged from behind the clouds the feeding seemed to abate however, entertainment was provided by this plucky little blackbird who continually thieved my maggots during the remainder of the session-obviously feeding her brood.

7/6/13 Hamble.

The River Hamble at mercury marina has been a regular haunt of mine in the past when searching for the elusive mullet. The venue was chosen for this year's first attempt at the specie as it usually produces the goods in the early part of the season.
Unfortunately today , for me at least,that wasn't to be the case however my fishing buddy Dave scored two golden grey mullet around the pound mark , whilst I could only manage a small bass and, a first for me, a tiny smelt which bore a striking resemblance to the Fiiish Minnow soft plastic lure, which I've been using with great success recently for bass.

Thunderstorms and a strong north wind didn't help matters but it made a pleasant change to do some 'simple' fishing.

3/6/13 U..tope..eeeaaaah!

Armed with the valuable knowledge I'd gained from my recent outing aboard 'Spirit Of Arun', on the charity tope trip of a couple of weeks ago,I decided today, to try and get my first of the specie on board Jupiter.
Tide was 4.7m and the wind speeds during the morning were looking perfect for the long haul down to the mark.
Unfortunately, my intended crew-Pete Cook, had to cancel yesterday, the hunt was on last night to secure a last minute replacement.I needed someone with experience and, as Dave Nevatt hadn't previously been out in my Warrior , and it was a week day, i knew he'd be up for it.He actually agreed to come along whilst sailing home from a boat trip out of Hove last night-the man loves his fishing.
We left port at just after 0730 making a slight detour en route to an area adjacent some local reefs to try a pick up some fresh mackerel which have been a little difficult to locate lately.
It took a couple of moves to find them,but we soon had ten or so in the cool box before speeding off at twenty plus knots to the mark.
Upon arriving, I was a little concerned about anchoring the boat securely in such deep water.The chosen gully , at 100ft, was somewhat deeper than I'd previously experienced ,and although i do carry an additional anchor warp to join to the main if required,I did wonder if the 5 kilo bruce would be enough.
I needn't have worried. Keeping a close eye on the plotter's trail line function, the anchor dragged for a few yards then dug in deep, holding us rock steady in the considerable flow,  and positioned centrally in a wide gully.
Half mackerel baits(either end) on 8/0- circles attached to 5ft long 250lb mono traces  on a standard running leger rig were employed, and within seconds of my ten ounces bumping the sea bed, the rod bent over and the ratchet on the Avet screamed to signal an immediate take.We hadn't even set Dave's gear up.
I gave  the tope plenty of time to run freely with no resistance before gently tightening up-essential to prevent the fish dropping the bait.A brilliant fight ensued but, once tired the tope wallowed on the surface long enough for me to slacken the lever drag, hand the rod over to my crew,don welding gloves, get a firm grip on the tope's tail and dorsal , and haul her on board.
Remembering Spirit skipper Neil's proceedure for dealing with these toothy critters, I straddled the beast pinning her securely to Jupiter's deck, lifted her snout with one hand whilst swiftly nicking out the circle from the corner of her mouth with the other hand successfully managing to retain all of my digits in the process.
A quick measure and wrestle with her for the camera and she was safely sent back down into the depths none the worse for her experience out into the 'other world' -job done.A cracking first tope for the boat at around 40lb.

From then on, it was 'game on'. Virtually a fish a drop and, on a couple of occasions both of us hooking up at once in what was probably the most hectic fishing i've seen on my own boat.A couple more were brought inside for weighing and photography but my pike weigh sling proved to be totally inadequate, the  weighed fish however, which at 25lb was the smallest, gave us a good reference to work from when estimating sizes, the majority being successfully 'T' barred at the side of the boat.
In total we 'touched trace' on 25 fish with three over the 40lb mark, and split, numbers wise, almost exactly between us. The skipper naturally getting the 13.There were also several missed runs and dropped baits but generally , if left alone, the baits were soon retaken .
There was evidently a snag of some kind near us,because several sets of end gear were consigned to 'Davy Jones' locker' and indeed, at one point, i feared that we might run out of traces and had to resort to knotting a new circle to the heavy mono when i broke a hook clean in two with the long nose pliers-not easy.
Despite allowing the tope to run,, virtually all the fish were neatly lip hooked -the circles proving their worth.
The fresh bait soon ran out and we resorted to the back up mackerel, acquired and quickly 'iced' on the last trip out.Contrary to perceived wisdom, they didn't care a jot, and continued to feed voraciously on the frozen stuff.Perhaps today they were just 'up for it'.
As the tide slackened off completely and began to flood, the bites did slow down a little and by then a brisk south-easterly had picked up, so we decided to call it a day and slowly make our way back to port with the tide, but against the wind.........bumpy-yes, uncomfotable-no. Reducing speed down to 13-14kts we still made good headway without too much slamming.The boat handled it brilliantly yet still sipped on the fuel. By the time we'd returned to the river entrance we'd only just 'done' the first tank.Roughly 30 nautical miles on 24litres of fuel is excellent economy.
Despite suffering throughout the day with an aching back,leading to the occasional 'lie down' on Jupiter's deck, Dave had thoroughly enjoyed his day out and proved to be excellent crew-his seasons of boat angling experience quite evident. It was actually quite difficult to get him to agree to go home- i seem to remember the same situation the last time we ventured out on a boat together after bream.
A truly brilliant day's fishing for a spectacular specie.

31/5/13 Showing Off......

Jupiter' to my mate Rusty today, who is seriously thinking of going down the Warrior route-'sensible man' I say.
This month has been a pretty good month for me fishing wise and , looking at the sea state from my bedroom window this morning, it would have been criminal not to squeeze just one more trip in before June dawned.
Russ had texted me with a request for a run out in the Warrior to check out how she performed and , like any confirmed petrol head, I cannot resist a bit of blatant 'showing off', so after a quick phone call , we were crossing the river bar within the hour, with barely inches to spare beneath Jupiter's hull.
The Kingmere reef is our 'traditional' bream mark and it was here we headed mostly because, I'd yet to try it for myself this season.
The flat sea really meant I could stretch the boat's legs, and show Russ what she was capable of and, within seconds of leaving the harbour she was skimming the surface at close to 30kts- I was even quietly impressed (frightened) myself. Actually, she feels rock steady at speed.
A few bream to two pound plus co-operated on the reef, along with pollack and pout before we decided to try for some bass on #6 despite the tide being both flowing in the wrong direction (flood) and being pretty meagre in size anyway. I was aware that chances were slim but just had to prove it to myself. Russ picked up a colourful ballan wrasse before we abandoned the reef and headed out in search of mackerel for bait.
Beyond Black Ledge the water took on a murky appearance which I'm assuming is the much talked about 'May Bloom'. I'm not entirely sure of this but it certainly didn't look conducive to good mackerelling-apparently they dislike it in their gills, so we relocated to clearer waters inshore at one of 'Phil's skate marks' and bingo.....twenty odd 'mackies' were feathered up and in the bait box.A few dogs finished us off and by then we'd completely lost the tide and it was time to call it a day.
All this whizzing about gave Russ a fair idea of what 'Jupiter' is capable of and he went away impressed and with a lot to think about.
Interestingly, the 'big three' as I've now christened Littlehampton's regular charter fleet, are mixing it up on the fishing front.I was unaware that our plaice fishing was available virtually throughout the year until a conversation with Dave Nevatt revealed that over in Shoreham they fish for them year round.
It's just that sometimes other species are available to L.A crews and they are fished for in preference. With this year's spring being about a month late the guys have continued to go for plaice because the bream fishing has only really just got off the ground in the past few days.
I'm unaware of the situation regarding hound fishing and I've yet to try for them myself but, pups are showing on our local beach marks so I'll bet their parents are out there in some numbers and the situation is no doubt similar on the ray front.
I suppose the charter boys have to supply what their customers want and, for visiting day anglers, that probably means our bream fishing and when the time is right, bass. All very interesting stuff.
 Anybody want to shed any more light on this? Be good to hear from you.

30/5/13 One Bass!

.........but a good'n at 6lb 8oz.
For various reasons I struggle to consistently catch bass from our reef systems and still feel that I've a long way to go with the specie.
I have three very good mates who are extremely successful with bass but in very different ways. I've pretty much gathered as much information from them as is fair and reasonable, and now feel that it is up to me to put that knowledge to good use but, it'll take time. The fun is in the learning.
This morning was spent helping 'bass junkie' Pete with his new Orkney Longliner 2 .I picked it up for him at the Orkney factory In Arundel, and dragged it behind the camper to his boat pound In Bognor where, with some help from a couple of fellow boat 'nuts', we managed to successfully transfer it on to Pete's launching trolley.
A pretty little boat this and the first one of it's kind out of the mould-serial number 1-it reminds me a lot of my 520 and Orkney seem incapable of producing a boat that isn't pleasing on the eye. The company have gone for an update with this 'new' Longliner and it is now a semi-planing hull rather that the old displacement plodder and, I must say, it's a lithe looking craft with a low hull weight to boot.Pete's got a 25 horse motor to go on the stern so it should really fly and I can't wait to have a run out in her. I hope the new design proves to be a sales success and manages to keep this recently troubled local boat building company afloat in the future.
With an afternoon to spare and reasonable weather conditions I decided to run the boat out again mostly to try to gather some mackerel bait for a planned tope run.
I couldn't find the mackerel and even though my mate Neil had tipped me off that he was 'hammering' the bass as usual, AND put me right on the mark, I couldn't bloody well find them either!!!!!!Bugger.
Frustated, I moved quietly over to one of my favourite reef drifts on #6 and finally managed to bang out the above bass on a jigged 60g Fiiish Minnow.Fantastic scrap on the light baitcaster.
Actually I should have had two more on board but successfully bumped them off......and 'that', as they say, 'is the way the cookie crumbles'.

29/5/13 Three Men In A Boat

I've been meaning to take Simon and Andy out in 'Jupiter' on a bream run for ages and it would also give me a chance to see how the boat would work with three anglers aboard. Just an afternoon sortie really on marks #7 and #9 and a chance to show these 'beach boys ' what we've got 'out there'.
The first mark proved to be a bit slow despite me hauling a nice bream on the first drop so we relocated and worked some soft plastic over the reef whilst I scanned the sounder. Fish were present, and in numbers, but just weren't interested in the lures......had to be bream I thought and this did indeed prove to be the case.
Once we'd dropped anchor and sent our baits down on an ever increasing tide, a good run of fish turned up with about thirty taken and all of a good size up to 2 1/2lb.
With not another boat in sight it was quite satisfying for me to put this 'new' bream mark on my map and the guys were having a lot of fun in the process despite the weather which, with some penetrating rain, wasn't exactly ideal.
Towards the end of the afternoon I received a text from a mate who had been concentrating on bass with live bait and lure on #6.He'd had a few and asked if we'd like to join him but unfortunately the tide had pretty much done it's thing by the time we'd arrived which was a shame because I would have loved to show these guys a 'spikey' or two.
Although easily achievable,it had been a bit of a 'squeeze' fishing 'three up' to be honest but, at the end of the day,it was a lot of fun and that is what fishing is all about.

22/5/13 Pollox!

I've done quite a bit of fishing recently and have been a bit slack with writing up the blog-it's almost a week since this short outing and I can't actually remember that much about it which seems to suggest that it was pretty uneventful.
I do however remember picking up some moderate sized Pollack on a mackerel feather string-at one stage three at once which gave me some fun, but apart from an odd small bream on bait and naturally, a dogfish or two , as far as I can recall, that was that.
My memory is shot!! Must be an age thing.

21/5/13 The Hunt For Stingray

I don't do a great deal of beach fishing nowadays, which is a shame, as I actually really enjoy being out on the shingle but, I suppose running a sea angling boat kinda 'spoils ya' and anyway, beach fishing can be quite hard going. I'll still have a crack at surf bassing, and when the hounds arrive locally, i'll also have a go at them too, especially as It's been a long standing 'mission' of mine to get my mate Dave a decent beach hound. One other specie that fascinates me,and continues to elude me despite having a deep yearning to tangle with, is the sting ray.
Our local beaches do have some heritage with 'stingers' so I joined seasoned beach buddies Andy and Simon this evening for a session in flat calm conditions and with a healthy wrap of ragworm-classic stinger food.
Naturally ..........................we didn't hit the target-perhaps like so many other species this year, they are a little late in appearing and they are quite a rarity in any case but it was enjoyable just 'being out there' and, although my rod tips didn't move all evening, Andy and Si scratched out a few species-dogs, pout and a flattie on peeler crab.
It might take a few years to finally trap a sting ray but I'll get there in the end.

19/5/13 A Grand Day Out

A few months ago Neil and Mick of Littlehampton charter boat 'Spirit Of Arun' fame organised an on line auction for places on a boat trip to raise money for St. Winfred's Hospice in Chichester. The event was also held in honour of Dave Roberts-a keen tope angler and regular on 'Spirit' who lost his battle with cancer as the auction was running, and spent his last days in the hospice.
I was extremely lucky to win a place on the day, and a chance to sample some of the tope fishing that 'Spirit' is famous for.I haven't actually been out on a charter boat trip for thirty years,so the whole experience was quite new to me.My fellow 'winners' included Lucas (The Doc),Martin(Hoges on WSF), Big Paul (who's all of five feet tall in his heels) and his partner in crime, and comedy, Barry (Bazza) O'leary, and the day began with a breakfast kindly supplied by the proprietor of the 'Dinky Doo Diner'-a greasy spoon of some considerable renown, and regular haunt of L.A's, that's LittlehAmpton to the uninitiated, finest charter skippers and crews.
Once aboard  the big 'Lochin' , we travelled a considerable distance to a mark that isn't even on my paper chart for the area we usually fish, and settled the anchor in a gully approximately seventy feet in depth.To begin with the fishing was lively. I took the first tope-a fish of around 40lb, quickly followed by a smaller tope to Martin, and subsequently a second, and bigger tope again to my bait. Unfortunately, the action subsided after that and the fishing became extremely difficult with just the odd dogfish taking a shine to our mackerel baits, although Mick did manage to boat a really nice smoothound of about 15lb.
Although I was naturally, thrilled with my captures, I was a little disappointed, as were Neil and Mick, that the other members of the party couldn't have shared more in the experience. That's fishing I guess.
Mid morning and we sent off a wreath, and held a minutes silence to honour Dave- a particularly poignant moment as we watched it slowly disappear on the tide.
A short move to a nearby bank in an attempt to improve the fishing was carried out in the afternoon but, to no avail. I did however,briefly connect with something sizable that 'ran' with the bait. Another tope probably but, having felt a slightly familiar 'head banging' through the braid i felt it could have just as easily been a decent bass-who knows.
Back at the port and I was awarded a terrific prize indeed for best catch of a boat rod and reel to add to my armoury, donated to the cause by Snowbee, and the day finished with a pint in the Nelson to celebrate and toast Dave.
The day,  for me, was a fascinating insight into the running of a charter angling boat with lots learned about the tope fishing potential of the area and a revisit in Jupiter is a must.
Neil and Mick both worked extremely hard to successfully give us all a thoroughly enjoyable day afloat , the banter and humour was non-stop , the company brilliant,the boat and crew mightily impressive, and we managed to raise over £1100 on the day for a very worthy cause-Dave would no doubt have wholeheartedly approved.

 

 

16/5/13 Too Soon.....

after a prolonged spell of rough weather to score on the reefs with lures. However, I had to find that out for myself really.
I took Andy along for the ride on this one , an afternoon experimental session, and his first run out in 'Jupiter'.
Starting off with jigged soft plastic lures on my newly found and favourite reef mark, there was a bit of 'fishy' presence on the finder and Andy immediately picked up a bass on the first drop which served to increase my confidence levels.
However, after that, things got more difficult.
Water clarity wasn't brilliant,and  although a couple more bass showed,along with some wrasse(ballan and cuckoo) and pollack on lures , it was hard going.
Moving to an alternative mark which i'd been kindly donated and was in need of investigation and again, it was obvious that fish were present but not interested in our plastic. I suspected bream so we anchored up and this indeed proved to be the case with three reasonably sized fish to 2lb hitting my squid baits on consecutive drops.It wasn't set to last and as the tide slowed to nothing the bites turned from bream to dogs and didn't improve when i repositioned the boat and the tide started to run off. However it was a useful exercise to scan the mark and make a few notes for future trips.
We finished up with another spot of drifting and a few more small ballans to end a pleasent afternoon in the sunshine.Not exactly blistering fishing but crew was happy with his first reasonable bass of the year which put a smile on my face.
One of the bass had regurgitated what appeared to be ragworm and i was to later find out from Neil that during periods of rough weather the bass move off the reefs and feed on open ground on ragworm and that they will return to the reef  after two or three calm days.I was a bit premature!!

15/5/13 Terrific Tench Fishing.

I decided to have another run up to the pits for a  trip this evening after work to see if i could make some progress with the tench fishing.I'd been tipped off by a youngster,  on the previous outing, that the tench fed keenly, during the lower light levels of evening, and that his Mum,a pit regular, had once taken a nine pounder from the water.
Armed with only a pint of red maggots the usual two rod feeder tactics were employed targetting  seperate emerging lily pads about fifteen yards apart in the swim.
Within minutes of the first cast settling I'd had a run and a (4-13) was in the net.Shortly after, another run followed and ,whilst fish number two(5-08) was still in the net awaiting unhooking , the other rod almost leapt of the pod caused by another blistering run(4-08).This gave me the rare opportunity to get the 'double' shot in the photograph.
The action was hectic for a couple of hours with ten takes in all, eight landed, and two that managed to slip the hook.The bailiff's ticket was used as the scorecard to put together my most impressive tench haul ever including two more 'fives'.
Prize of the evening however was the biggest at 7lb 15oz accurately weighed on my new set of digital scales. A lovely fish that smashed my previous Burton Mill personal best fish by almost two pounds and managed ,during the fight, to temporarily snag me in both lily pads in the swim.As the temperature dropped the feeding spell  abated a little but, by then, i used up my pint of reds anyway.
According to Owen the bailiff, several of the pits in the complex have produced double figure tench  so, you never know, that p.b might have a limited shelf life.
Actually my previous P.B was a fish of 6-03 from Burton Mill but caught in January 2008 on a sardine!!!!! whilst pike fishing.It wasn't alone either as another similar fish took a liking to my pike deadbait on the same day. Centre pic below.

10/5/13 tinca tinca

Although my angling career started in coarse fishing, mostly on the River Thames and Surrey lakes, I rarely, pike fishing excepted, fish in freshwater nowadays. But with strong winds preventing me from getting afloat and wanting to wet a line, it was the right time of year to have a tench 'bash'.
Chichester Lakeside complex is a very old collection of gravel pits that i visited for the first time in the mid 1970's as a spotty teenager.  It's changed character somewhat over the years from its heyday as a very pleasant coarse and trout fishing venue, descending in the late nineties and 'noughties' to a litter strewn dump and finally coming full circle in recent years and recovering something of its former status as a quality coarse fishery.
Nowadays the spring fed pits are sympathetically managed and bear little resemblance to the heavily stocked 'commercial' fisheries that have become so popular in the coarse angling world.
The trout lake-'Peckham's Copse', is long gone and most of the waters are now inhabited throughout the year by bivvy dwelling carp anglers however, some of the pits, those left alone by carpers and relatively lightly fished, are now recognised as some of the best tench waters in the south of England, particularly with the 'Tenchfishers' society, and have double figure plus specimens present.
Whatever, they are very pleasant lakes to fish and for me,  as 'natural' a still water environment to be found in this part of the country.
Last year i had some success on Deep Lake so decided to return again for a few hours this afternoon to commence this year's spring campaign .It still feels strange , after all these years, to be fishing for coarse fish outside of the traditional season but, those in the know tell me that spring is the best time for these tench and once they start to spawn, usually sometime in June, the prime sport has passed by.
Tactics were simply semi-bolt maggot feeders with a short hook length, size 12 hook with two red or whites as hook bait and an imitation maggot to make the hook rig neutrally buoyant.  Scientific stuff but, its actually very simple and works a treat especially as there appears to be few small silver fish present. Emerging lily beds were targeted with the feeders, refills going out every twenty or so minutes.

Things were quiet at first but as the afternoon light faded slightly, the swims switched on, though with very few 'liners' to give away fishes' presence. I landed three tench, 4-00,4-06, and 5-08.A couple more slipped the hook, one broke a hook!, and a scale perfect common carp of about 10lb also let go at the net, but not after I'd got a good look at him in the gin clear water.
I chose to use a 15lb fine braid mainline and this proved to be a wise choice as , modest in size these tench may be, they still have the ability to fight hard, and all took me straight into nearby snags-hence the multiple losses. A double figure fish would be interesting.

7/5/13..Lure Only

I took my mate 'Bass Junkie' Pete out with me in Jupiter this evening for a long talked about, but never before realised 'lure only' run .
Pete's currently 'boatless' having recently sold his trusty Regis, he is awaiting delivery of a newly designed Orkney which should broaden his horizons on the fishing front.I've had a sneaky look at it behiond the Orkney factory gates and it certainly looks the part.
Pete's a plastic guru, very skilled in their use and does very well with catches on his own local patch which he knows like the back of his hand.
However, I wanted to see what he thought of one of my own recent finds so called the shots when it came to choice of venue.
The river bar has recently been dredged causing a considerable drop in water level at low tide and providing the marina staff with plenty of dredging to get the inner pontoons floating again at a safe angle.My boat has been moved to an outer pontoon in the process which I'm not complaining about.
It'll take a bit of getting used to the new river level and this evening I gingerly crawled across the 'bar' at a snails pace despite our chosen departure being well within the time limits.
I needn't have worried, there was enough water but i had to be sure.
On reaching the mark it didn't take long to find fishy movement on the screen, and it was reassuring to hear Pete's interpretation of the information was similar to my own. Confirmation that I'm beginning to learn how to use the equipment properly.Pete's sounder is identical to mine.A couple of 'new' lumps revealed themselves during the session and i was rather flattered when Pete excitedly copied the numbers into his mobile phone.
Jigged soft plastic baits was the chosen method and it was very interesting to see how delicately Pete works his lures.I picked up some really useful information on patterns and rigging and on an evening like this, when you had to work for your fish, it paid dividends,
As well as plenty of attention from cuckoo wrasse, some of which were boated, we had good sport with about a dozen plus ballan wrasse around the 2lb mark including a nice 4-04 to my Fiiish Minnow.Pete also pulled up a small pollack .
We're both convinced bass were present, although nothing like the numbers as on my previous trips. A mass of 'green' momentarily showed but perhaps they just didn't want to know . As darkness approached we had to call it a night as there were more than enough pot lines out on the route home to be an issue.
An excellent couple of hours fishing.
A day later I was to learn that on both these last two trips I had very likely been within yards of  that same bass shoal that gave me such great sport last week.Of course, I'll never really know as the sea is not a small place. The learning process continues but MASSIVE thanks must go out to Pete and others(you know who you are) who are helping me build up an intricate picture of the reef marks that we fish.I WILL find those bass again.

6/5/13 The Pig Farm

 New P.B at 5lb 8oz on S.P lure.

Another run out with Dave and brimming with confidence from the last bass trip I headed straight for the same mark and disappointingly there wasn't a bass to be found, in fact there was very little at all showing on the sounder in the vicinity.Despite persevering for some considerable time with the drifts, i felt i needed to get some fish for Dave so taking another gamble, we anchored up just off the mark and sent baits down.........................................................one solitary dogfish!!!

Brian meanwhile, had been picking up a few bream on the Kingmere amongst probably every other boat from the port that was out on the bank holiday.I decided on a move to join in, just to pick up a fish or two but , couldn't resist a final scan back on the reef before we left.

Bits and pieces of 'green 'were showing and before long a 2lb ballan had taken a shine to my Fiiish Black Minnow. Two more quickly followed on the same lure including the above stunner at 5-08 which is a p.b for me .

Hindsight has taught me that i should have remained on the mark and continued with my search but instead we motored over to the rest of the fleet and at anchor, picked up a bream for Dave to take home for tea,dogs,and a couple of spotted rays to save the day.

I've now decided that i rather enjoy the vertical soft plastic fishing and that the ballans are a worthy fish to target and there are some fine specimens on our local reefs.Interesting fish these.They are hermaphrodites born as females, changing sex after about seven years and very long lived indeed. Mine could well have been in his early twenties.

1.  



2/5/13 Hitting The Bass..........Hard.............On Soft.

I managed to get away from work at ten past five, and by six my Fiiish Black Minnow lure was sinking through the depths- the Warrior speeding me to the mark very quickly.Although the tide was still flooding at the pontoon, 'out there' it had already begun its ebb.
With water temperatures over the magic 10 celcius(check out the sounder) there just had to be bass about.Last year I had a double in early April.
Some gannets were milling around the locality so, thinking they must be there for a reason, i decided to use them as a target.
The first few drifts were quiet and then suddenly a mass of green with squiggly bits around the edges, appeared on the sounder and the action began-the first bass of the year-the modestly sized one in the middle pic.......and then along came another.......and another......and another....almost a fish a drop.
Drift speed was no more than half a knot and the shoal showed up for only a few minutes I assume being extremely tightly packed.Once the 'green had gone, the bites stopped immediately.
By altering the drifts laterally and giving the shoal what i judged to be a wide berth on each return run,i managed to stay in touch with them but it all took a bit of tweaking.A couple of times I lost them and it would be very easy to be deceived into thinking that no fish were about.Luckily i was the only boat for miles and i'm convinced this helped as there was minimal disturbance.
Each time the 'green ' was relocated it was hectic fishing with sometimes two or three fish per run through.
In the end i had 28 bass in exactly two hours,most sub 3lb but with half a dozen in the 5lb range and three exceptional fish of 7-02, 8-04, 8-06.I think these better fish were caught on the edge of the shoal and they certainly gave a terrific scrap on the light baitcaster outfit which is perfect for this kind of fishing. I didn't want to waste time setting up self take photos so the deck shots had to do and ALL the bass went back safe and sound.
In one of the bass' mouth I spied a 4 inch sprat so the Minnow certainly matched the hatch and was very effective with its shrouded hook. That said i did try out a white stinger and , although it worked, i felt the Minnow was better.
Two very plump mackerel (also with sprat inside)took the lures and these were taken for the evening meal.
I still had the shoal within range when I had to call it a day at 8pm and could have carried on. The minnow body was mullered with all the action and had lost its tail-probably to a wrasse.
Fantastic fishing and probably the best inshore boat session i've had so far.Will i be able to find them again I wonder.

30/4/13 .Boating With Dave.

Once again , taking advantage of an, all too rare of late,window in the weather,I took Dave out in the boat with me today.
We could have tried for the plaice and there have been a few, very few,bream showing on the reefs but i wanted to try for something a bit more exiting....bass on livebaits.
We started at #6 feathering and sabikiing for bait.First take was for me,a garfish -a welcome spring sight. Apart from that we only managed to attract small pout but, in the bait tank they went.
I then proceeded to show Dave how the float livebait method worked.........or indeed,didn't work.We failed to attract any bass at all. If they were there, then i'm sure we'd have made contact.
we thoroughly drifted the whole reef but to no avail and i decided that a run to the 'smoothound bank'with baits at anchor would be worth a go.
Doggies, some of a reasonable size were the only willing takers so it may be a little too early for the hounds to show.
Finally we visited #9 to try drifting with soft plastic baits.A very plump and hard tugging wrasse of a couple of pounds saved the day for me and Dave nicked a small pollack before we decided that the sea was bumpy enough to call it a day.
Running home in the building sea we heard Dick on Lynander telling Steve over the radio that his battery had gone flat and that his jump pack was in his truck back at port. I stepped in to offer some assistance by running home and picking up Dick's jump pack, though it was a very bumpy return ride out. Nice to be able to return a favour though!

March/April....Lean times.

Apologies to regular readers (who am i kidding) but i've rather neglected the blog of late.Actually, my fishing has not been  particularly successful and not for the want of trying.
On the pike scene, i had two or three more trips to one of my regular spots(one in March snow!) and , apart from a couple of smallish pike, caught very little of note.
Piking buddy Dave had better results on seperate trips with a new p.b from our favourite stretch of 27lb-a superb pike.Still on to the subject of coarse fishing i had a totally unproductive day trying to catch perch from a local commercial fishery-bit too crowded for comfort for me this one but at least i was fishing.
On the boat fishing front, I had a couple of trips east  to Shoreham marks chasing plaice,one of which produced a few fish but could have been better had i moved slightly further south where one of our local charters was doing better.The other outing, in a horrible easterly wind actually resulted in a complete blank and the consumption of a full tank of fuel for about an hours fishing.Thankfully, complete blanks are rare in the boat.
I took my mate Brian, a neighbour at the marina, on a wrecking trip on a day when the weather co-operated and, although it was extremely enjoyable and interesting scanning and drifting various medium distance wrecks, apart from a few plump pouting only one fairly decent pollack turned up to Brian's lure.
A few boats , mostly charter, were having some success with local plaice and, when i eventually stumbled across the mark discovered it was an old favourite of mine at #13. I had no idea of the marks heritage as a plaice venue and learned later that it had been trawled in recent years and only just returned to its former potential.I had one fairly successful outing,but generally missed most of the action due to being unable to get out on the better weather days . My biggest mistake was turning back one day due to a bumpy sea, which soon turned to a flat calm. By then i was back home in my living room,watching the conditions improve by the minute.
Generally the weather conditions have been 'difficult' and with lower than average sea temperatures, the species are turning. up a little later than usual this year.
So although the fishing has been rather lacklustre, i haven't been idol.As well as being allowed by SWMBO to convert the spare bedroom into my fishing room, I've been furthering my research into the possibility of catching a shark from my own boat.
I had a very productive meet with Wayne Comben-captor of probably the biggest ever porbeagle shark caught from British waters , and taken last year from a 17ft Wilson Flyer belonging to Graeme Pullen. Wayne and I have agreed to do some fishing together this season, possibly an attempt at some local shark.
I also had a short trip out from Ilfracombe in a 27ft boat owned by mate Nick (Mr. Pix on WSF) . Nick was kind enough to show me some local marks and we also looked at the prospects of a run down the coast to some shark marks in North Cornwall.
One minor glitch with 'Jupiter' has been a split fuel line caused by some pretty bad design and routing under the Suzuki engine cowling. Luckily i spotted the problem at the pontoon but had to drag her out on to dry land to remedy the situation safely with a completely new, and more robust fuel line fitted. I could have kicked up a fuss with Suzuki or indeed Warrior as its all warrantied but to be honest, i couldn't be bothered and just wanted the boat back in and working as soon as possible.
At least it gave me the valuable opportunity to familiarise myself with my engine.It was an easy fix but I'll be keeping a close eye on that fuel line in the future.