26/10/12 First Pike.

My first pike trip of the year saw me at Pulborough #1 and  finding the river in pretty good shape considering the recent rainfall.Sardines on float paternosters were the tactics and apart from some eel trouble, and a dropped pike, just one long, lean, upper single turned up to kick off the new season.

Made a nice change to be back on the river and, as I say every year,I suspect the going's not going to be easy...........we'll see.

22/10/12 On the Edge

Primarily a trip targetting cod but, as it turned out, once again i had decent sport with the bream which seem to  reappear on our reef systems at this time of year. The sizes may not be a large as the spring fish but, the majority of bream i caught today, along with a few dogs, were of a reasonable size.Chosen location was 'the edge' and not far away from the usual charters who seemed to be hugging the reef proper. One cod did come up but in general, our results were similar.

Jennifer's Pride was located further west, fishing for plaice on the Eastborough Bank and with little success.It would appear that the door has closed on the plaice fishing for this year.

During the afternoon the visibility deteriorated to the point where i could only see 20to 30yds.Neil on Spirit kindly offered me an escort home if i could wait but i declined having to get back for work.

The return journey was VERY slow going and I had to stand and peer over the top of the cuddy to be able to see at all, as the windows were constantly obscured by moisture.

Without a radar reflector, Neil reported that I was very difficult to see, so this is something I need to consider for the new boat.
The new Suveran rods are proving to be superb in every way.Light, sensitive with a beautiful playing action, I cannot really fault them.They're a fine match with the Avet reels which a year on, and after some heavy use, and with little maintenance apart from a rinse under the tap after every trip,are still as good as new.

20/10/12 On the Beach

Some nice bass have been taken recently in the shoreham area on live whiting so tonight i thought i'd hit the beach and give it a go myself.No noticeable bites and only one solitary eel turned up to save the blank.

14/10/12 An Amazing Experience.

The plan today was to head to mark 5 and drift float fished livebaits for bass. On arrival once again, Clive was in attendance and I felt it only right to leave the mark to him and instead fish another section of the reef westwards.Clive's catch on the day was, as usual quite exceptional and once again I just felt as if i was in the wrong place. With a bit more gaul, i would have muscled in.Another local boat did so and scored good bass on lures but that's not really my style.
I feathered up scad, mackerel and pollack on the tail lure but my live baits remained untouched-I will get there in the end.
The disappointing fishing was forgotten however when this pod of about fifteen dolphins were located and remained with us  for about an hour. I'd called my mate Tim over on the radio to join in the fun and the excellent footage was shot by him.I've seen dolphins a couple of times before but have never been able to get so close, nor engage them in this way-fantastic stuff.

10/10/12 Plaice In the Chop.

Eastborough bank was the chosen destination for today with the intention of plaice fishing in the smallish tide.On arrival, I had the whole mark to myself which was a different scene to my last visit however, I was soon joined by Lynander and Jennifer's Pride.
A good catch of plaice to about two pounds plus was steadily accumulated through the day but, big news from J.P was that his crew had taken three huge fish in the 6-7lb bracket. One of them took a whole squid which was used as a substitute bait when a crew member had ran out of ragworm.
Upon hearing this , I tried the bait myself, except that I just used the head of the squid.It did prodiuce a copuple more plaice, and they were of a better size so, food for thought for the future.

During the afternoon the winds increased considerably making things slightly uncomfortable. Steve on J.P commented on the radio that he'd like a bit more boat around him if he was me and I tend to agree.Despite  the conditions(a couple of waves did manage to reach the deck) and the painfully slow run home ,at no time did I feel unsafe in my little Orkney, but it felt good to make contact with dry land.

7/10/12 Autumn Bream

A trip that began by fishing black ledge with little success,followed by a move to west Kingmere which produced a nice bag of reasonable sized bream.

8/9/12 Plaice on 'Samax'

Following on from the successful Plaice trip a couple of days ago, Alex twisted my arm (it didn't take a lot) to join him on 'Samax', his Orkney 'Day Angler 19, for another trip down to the Eastborough bank as he wanted to satisfy his appetite for 'spotties'.

This time the mark was like the Southampton boat show as, by now, everyone had heard about what was going down. Most of the boats were from the west although there were a few L.A locals and the 'usual suspects' were there to be seen. Even Andy, who had intended to do a bass lure trip , was about crewing in Mark Gillen's 'Regis' out of Bognor.

It was actually a very sociable and friendly affair with everyone out to enjoy the weather, which was stunning, and the fishing, which was also pretty good.It also gave me a chance to see, In the flesh, a couple of boats which I'm interested in as an upgrade to Scooby 2. Both a Warrior 175 and a beautiful , and  very expensive looking Orkney 592 were spied showing off their lines,more than adequate beam, and impressive performance.

I was testing out some small circle hooks trying to reduce the number of deep hooked fish but soon changed back to standard  'J' hooks as Alex was conclusively out fishing me.Less hectic fishing than the last trip but good numbers of 'smaller' plaice came aboard with the exception  a really nice 3 1/2 lb fish that fell to the skipper.

Another thoroughly enjoyable trip out with Alex and yet again, more good stuff to eat.

Unfortunately, for my bank account,Alex was using an Abu Suveran rod and after having a bit of a swish with it on the boat, I proceeded to march in to 'Tropicana' the following day with some 'plastic' and buy a couple of the latest 'evo' models for myself -the 12lb and 20lb class versions.

There was nothing particularly wrong with my Sonik rods(sold within an hour on WSF) which have served me well for 70 plus boat trips but,the Suverans are in a different league altogether which, to be fair, they should be at twice the price.If they turn out to be as good as the 'Avet' reels, I'll be very pleased.

6/9/12 Eastborough Plaice

Apart from an early season bash which produced some tiny plaice, this is a new one on me and something I've wanted to have a proper crack at for some time.
The word was out that plaice were showing in good numbers at Eastborough and by the time Andy and me arrrived at around mid day there were quite a few boats in attendance on the big bank.
Drifting with rag baited bead and spoon rigs , I had my biggest plaice ever on the first drop down- a nice fish of around 2lb.Unfortunately, it had swallowed the hook and during the process of trying to retrieve said hook , I managed to slice the top of my thumb off with the bait knife- what a pillock!!!
Trying to stop the bleeding with sticking plasters(note to self- get a decent first aid kit sorted) was particularly difficult and the boat soon looked like a war zone but, eventually with some paper towels that came with a morning cup of service station coffee, and some insulating tape that, thankfully my crew happened to have in his bag ( well done Drew), the deluge was stemmed and I was able to fish on albeit in a slightly awkward fashion.
The plaice continued to come to the boat with some more good'n amongst them and we eventually collated a catch of about 20 by which time we had the mark to ourselves!
With blood still oozing out of my makeshift dressing, i had to call it a day an hour or so early and we headed the ten miles back having only been fishing for about three and a half hours.Never mind. it was good sport and the end result made for some superb eating.

 

5/9/12 A Trip To The Hamble

A rare (for this year anyway) mullet trip for me to the Hamble and Mercury marina which, in the past, has been a big favourite of mine for relaxed mullet fishing due to it being almost like a 'stillwater' venue.
Dave joined me for this one on a cracking day weather wise and the mullet were there in good numbers.We started on the float placing the baits perilously close to the moorings and i managed to score this thickie of a couple of pounds and a lively goldie not that much smaller.
Dave added to the tally with a goldie for himself, I believe his first, before we moved along to 'the beach' swim and set up leger rods. The only action here being a lost fish to me which felt reasonable-who knows.Nice to do a bit of mulleting for a change and probably the only time, this season, I'll fish for them anywhere other than the Arun.
Only four mullet for me this season - the smallest number in a season that I've caught since starting out for them thirteen years ago-how times have changed. I suppose there may be a chance of a few more encounters yet though i have to say, with our annual holiday only days away, and October looming, I'm actually starting to think about pike again.

 

3/9/12 Bass Scratching

A very short trip this one- about three hours fishing . Straight out to the West End of the Ditch and fished with BIG cuttle baits on 6/0 circles in the hope of bass which seem to be a bit scarce here at the moment.Nuisance pout etc hammered the baits but the cuttle held up well and I was actually quite pleased when this modest fish around 3lb ran off with the bait . 
Everybody else out there seemed to be struggling too.

 

31/8/11 Cuttled Bass

Things have not been easy recently ,in fact, i needed to catch a fish.I'd had a short session mulleting at Tesco's with Dave where I blanked (Dave scored a nice three pounder) and yesterday, in strong winds, I had probably my only trip of the year to the mud flats where again, i failed miserably with the mullet.
The mud flats, and mulleting used to be a big part of my fishing....how times have changed. I doubt very much if I'll reach double figures with mullet this year something that hasn't happened for over ten years.
Today, I grabbed an opportunity to get out in the boat although the weather conditions weren't particularly good. A strong Northerly made things quite uncomfortable out there and Mick (Pinchers), who had joined me for the run out,decided to call it a day shortly after we'd arrived.
Mackerel were very scarce indeed .I only managed to pick one up before deciding not to waste any more time and settle at anchor but, after Alan's success last time out,I'd brought along some frozen cuttle.
Mark#6 seemed barren apart from a plump pout, although something very small was constantly picking away at my big baits(4inch cuttle strips on a 6/0 circle) intended for the 'spikey ones'. Over on Kingmere Dick and Neil reported sport with reasonable bream to a pound and a half and I did consider motoring over to them but, time was limited so I decided instead to relocate to the general vicinity of Alex's mark.
Surveying the area on the sounder showed me a raised section of reef about ten feet shallower than the surrounding sea bed so I methodically laid the pick down so that my baits fished right on the spot and in very rough terrain.
Again the tiddlers showed and despite turning one rod over to bream gear, I never did find out what they were.I suspect bar-be -cue bream.Soon a  proper run materialised , i immediately recognised the culprit from the fight, and up came this rather nice plump bass(4-5lb) to save the day.......
I had considered staying out over low, but the bumpy conditions had taken their toll on me and satisfied that I'd achieved my target on a difficult day, I decided to 'call it'.
The cuttle bait had worked well,being tough enough to withstand the attention from small stuff yet still be attractive to the bass. Must get some more.
6.0m tide
Fishing time 4 1/2 hours

Alan's Day.

Alan's a very good friend and neighbouring boat owner at the marina and has a wealth of experience with our local boat fishing.I've learnt an awful lot by talking fishing with him and we often stumble across each other 'out there' and regularly share marks.
My last 'blindin' bass session saw Alan only a few yards away where he fared less well losing a double figured bass at the net.
Today the tables were turned somewhat and it was definitely Alan's day-in fact, it was his best ever day's bass catch in decades of fishing and I'm pleased to say that i was there to witness it from about thirty yards distant.
I'd started the day at stupid o'clock with the intention of lure fishing on the shallow reefs off of Bognor. In short-it was hellishly difficult going and I couldn't find the bass.Three hits on surface lures with only one small bass landed and even a local bass maestro had to venture further afield to find some fish.
Approaching mid day, i'd had enough of chucking plastic although it was very interesting seeing the inshore reef gradually appear as the tide retreated even if i did feel a little nervous of bumping my precious hull on the gnarly rocks.
I relocated to 'tbm' where Alan, the only boat, was already anchored up. He reported missing a couple of bass takes and has also said how difficult it had been to locate the mackerel bait which didn't bode well.
I had to work hard searching for my bait, but eventually had a dozen for the session and had also brought up a very pretty gurnard on the bottom 'feather'.
By the time I'd returned to Alan an hour or so later, he'd had his first bass on board of about 8lb and it wasn't long before, having anchored slightly south of the mark, I had a couple of average sized fish myself.
Unfortunately my only good sized bass of the day once again, failed to stay attached though ,made it's presence and size felt by some hefty thumps before letting go.I had suspected my 'circles' were at fault but both Alan, and Ted lose just as many as I do and as I like to return nearly all my bass (much to the consternation of some) I'm sticking with the circles and their 'lip hooking' ability.I'd certainly rather lose a few than have to kill deep hooked fish.
Whilst all this was going on Alan managed to build up his catch of four bass-an 11 pounder and three around the 8lb mark.The 'eleven' was his first ever double making catch even more significant and at least three of the fish fell to a cuttle bait.Back at the pontoon, I was delighted to be able to take a few shots  and see the look of satisfaction on his face even after all these years of fishing-well done mate

 

19/8/12 Mixed Fortunes........and a P.B

   A very short trip this one as it was between my night shifts.

Having conjured up a few mackerel on the way out, I anchored up at my favourite bass mark with,surprisingly for a Sunday, not another boat in sight except Brian who later joined me on the mark .
The usual half mackerel baits were sent down on circle hook rigs and before long i had a couple of bass of around 3lb, followed by a very decent sized fish (7-8lb) which rather disappoint ly shed the hook at the net rim. At least I'd got a good look at him and I suspect that the circle hook had torn a hole in the bass' lip membrane especially as it had fought with some tenacity.
The next take,quite a slow and measured bite, was obviously something bigger, and,judging by the nature of the fight, I would hazard a guess at it being a sizable conger but will never know as the trace parted(was bitten through)a minute or so into the struggle.The sky had clouded over and the light intensity had reduced considerably so, I suspect that may have induced the conger to feed.
It wasn't long before another slow take ensued, and this time I managed to hold on to the fish all the way to the surface and get a good look at my biggest ever conger. It looked to me like,at least, two twenty pound pike end to end so I'm going to estimate it at 40-50lb.
I would loved to have had a picture of the beast but although i managed to get a firm grip on the traceat the side of the boat with one hand and tried to reach over to grab my camera, the writhing eel made good it's escape by twisting and breaking the weakened hook length.
Immaterial really. It was a very impressive fish and huge fun to tangle with especially on the light 8-12lb class rod.Final action came in the shape of a blistering run which I failed to stop before the braid shredded on the reef.A big tope?......or perhaps even a 'porgy'.....once again, I'll never know.
So, a day of contrasts but very excting fishing.

 

10/8/12 My First Ever 'Topwater' Bass.

Again,only small fish really but that's hardly the point.Today I caught my first ever bass on a surface lure which is something of a milestone in my angling career.
I've been inspired by my mate Pete's success with local bass on lures when afloat so , armed with plenty of his invaluable advice, I headed over to #16 at 0530 this morning on a flat calm sea and with the intention of just using spinning gear. I did take a bait rod along (just in case) but no bait!!!
Tiny 4.6m tide along with plenty of 'pot boat' disturbance in the area meant the fishing wasn't easy - three bass around the two pound mark and a pollack came to the boat along with a couple more lost  but, one of those bass tried to destroy my 'Patchinko' top water thingy....and that meant everything.
Pete was also out in the general area with a mate on board and their experience showed by putting fifteen spikeys in the boat.
There's a lot to learn about this type of lure fishing but i now feel that, at least i've made a start.It's also pleasant to do something different and the hits and fight are tremendous fun on the lightweight kit.

 

7/8/12 The Lure Of The River.

I've decided to do a bit more lure fishing for bass,both from the boat, river and beach.
Dave's sold me a cracking 8ft 40g spinning 'wand', from his extensive collection of carbon, that is ideal for the purpose, and also i've expanded my rather meagre collection of suitable plastic things to throw with it.
Andy and me had a brief and unsuccessful attempt at the back of my house last week, and i'd also had a blank river session at the bottom of the ebb but today, I headed up the west bank of the river intent on trying out my new 'toys'.Top of the tide, and the first of the ebb was the fishing window.
I hooked one small bass on a 'one up' shad and subsequently this little chap took a shine to my 'feed shallow' at the 'prison bend' . Considering the diminutive size of this spikey fellah, the take was explosive. A couple more follows including a hit on the 'home straight' concluded an entertaining session, and a nice way to christen the new kit.
Only tiddlers really but huge fun, and completely uncomplicated fishing.

 

27/7/12 Could Have Been Better.

 Not a particularly productive trip this one but at least I did finish up by getting my target bass, though not that impressive a specimen at about 4lb.
Mackerel baits weren't exactly plentiful but i did get a few and tried the usual half bait technique on the reef with little to show for before once again trying s.p's. A couple of pollack came up but it wasn't exactly electrifying, so I finished the session with a return to my original mark,which is when this bass eventually showed.Hard going.

24/7/12 Another Cracking Bass...............and a 30lb Conger!

I worked a day shift today and mentioned to my mate, and work colleague Ian, that i was heading out in the boat that evening in search of bass  and would he like to join me.
The idea obviously appealed as just before finishing work, I received a telephone call confirming that he could make it.
As you can see from the pic,the sea was 'mirror' calm and we left the marina at about 1830 picking up plenty of mackerel on the way out to my intended mark. I was able to position the boat 'bang on the numbers' and, as the tide was just beginning its ebb, at exactly the 'hot time'.
Despite not mentioning to Ian for obvious reasons, with the mark's recent form,I felt pretty confident that i could put him on to a decent bass, but knew that chances would be few and far between.
Ian's done a fair bit of angling but very little from a boat so after a bit of coaching on using the lever drag on the Avet ,and what to do should a take occur, he sent down his half mackerel bait.
It didn't take very long at all-the ratchet sang and he did exactly as he was told-let the fish run a little on slack line, then hit it-absolutely perfect.

A good fight from a good fish resulted in this cracking 9-08. The biggest bass Ian had ever seen by far and the man was chuffed to bits.....I was pretty satisfied with the result as well!
Unfortunately very little else showed to our big baits until, in complete darkness, my ratchet slowly clicked away signalling a take from a nocturnal predator of a different kind.A very dogged fight on the 12lb class rod ensued, with dives and line stolen, but eventually out of the black water came a conger-my second decent sized one,of around 30lb.
I think Ian might be considering getting his own boat now. Good fishin' with ya mate.

 

 

22/7/12 Soft Plastics

.A day of struggling, trying to come to grips with s.p lures with very little caught apart from small pollack  but...........compensation indeed came along in the shape of my first sighting of a porpoise which was breathtaking.I'd caught a glimpse of it surfacing in the corner of my eye whilst at Walderons, and proceeded to follow it west for a half mile or so.

A big animal with a very dark back but i've really little hope of correctly identifying which specie it was.I did let Dick,skipper of Lynander who was close by know of its whereabouts to which he rather amusingly replied that he wasn't really interested in catching on of those!!!

20/7/12 Poor Fishing

Usually I can catch something when out fishing in my boat.In fact,I've only ever actually blanked on one occasion these past eighteen months and I believe that was the first 'try out' trip that me and Andy did way back when. However, there are days when very little shows up especially when you're targetting certain fish....i.e reef bass.

With the recent break in the weather I had to get out and figured that with it being a week day,I'd have mark #6 to myself and decided to head back to my hot spot of a couple of trips back.

It didn't take too long to secure some fresh mackerel and i was soon anchored in the spot...but all that showed up for me w

as doggies.......I didn't even get a ray.

Alan had decided to join me and he did indeed bag one bass of about 5lb but in general, everybody was having a slow day including the three main charters Spirit, Lynander and Jennifer's Pride who's crews did pick up the odd spikey,but the general mood on the 'wireless' was one of disappointment.

C'est La Vie.

I'll be out again tomorrow to try again.

6/7/12 A Quickie.

Brimming with enthusiasm from yesterday's bassing, I nipped back to the same mark today to have another crack ,but with little success.The timing of the tide meant that I wouldn't be able to be out at the 'hot' time and I think this made a huge difference.

Alan spent most of the morning from the early hours out there, and scored a couple of small spikies but others in the area fared less well.I did try a move over to #5 and made the mistake of trying to anchor too close to a buoy marking a nice piece of jagged rock-snagging it in the process.Lesson learned.

It wasn't entirely unproductive-- nice thornback turned up but, that was all, and I ended this quick trip by investigating mark# jigging heavily weighted soft plastics  for half an hour - a new method for me..

The big 6.1 m tide made entry back into the river somewhat interesting especially as I'd chosen to return at half ebb. The full strength of the flow, no doubt assisted by some floodwater from upstream, combined with the cross flow of the ebbing tide, and a sudden increase of wind from the south made the entrance very messy indeed.Of course the boat handled it otherwise I wouldn't be sat her typing this, but it did feel at times as if I was trying to tame a bucking horse-another lesson learned.

5/7/12 Bassquest.....Progress.

Scooby was out of the water again this morning whilst Andrew finished off the repairs to the gel coat. The results are very good and he's managed to get a decent colour match despite white being a very difficult shade to work with.
At the same time I was fitting a service kit to the carburettor which will hopefully solve an over fuelling problem which I've been experiencing of late. By lunch time all was finished and I was able, with a little help from Jan, slide her back in at the slipway and head straight out to sea to make the most of the calm conditions.
First job was to bag up on mackerel , both for bait,and for tea. The feathers didn't take long to do their job.
When I arrived at the mark #40, there were too many boats in attendance for my liking so I elected to anchor up at Alex's mark by which time the ebb was beginning to push. Big baits today. Half mackerels on 6/0 viking and 8/0 circle both ends of the fish being tried in an attempt to trap some bass.
Fishing was a little slow at Alex's although, along with a doggie, a double figure undulate turned up so i'm not complaining.Most of the boats had left #40 by the end of the afternoon to make the bar but, with Alan on Walrus still about to keep me company, I moved into position for the last of the ebb and the 'hot' period for bass -over the low water.
After a few bumps and knocks , i soon had my first run.These bass are particularly prone to dropping the bait if they feel any significant resistance so I set the Avets with the clicker on, and just enough drag pressure to hold the line against the flow.As soon as a take is suspected the drag is fully released, the clicker disengaged, and the bass allowed to take line under gentle thumb pressure with a 'strike', or when using a 'circle' just a gentle tightening occurring just a few seconds later.
It seemed to work quite well  and i don't think I missed any takes. The first bass up was a modest fish of 5-04, followed shortly by a very lively upper double figured tope which gave me a tremendous scrap on the 8lb class rod,and an equally tremendous scrap when I foolishly tried to wrestle the thing on board by tailing it at the side of the boat with my free hand.The intention was to try for a self take shot but,the cockpit battle didn't last too long, the tope thrashing it's knashers a bit too close to my bare toes for comfort, before being quickly released back into its own environment.
At slack water things went quiet but picked up again as the boat settled and the water began to move again.Next fish up was a better bass ,this time at 8-08 followed very quickly by another nice fish at 7-12 to complete a hat-trick of the intended quarry,all three fish fighting extremely hard and taking line on some pretty spectacular dives  when within netting range.
The  fish were tethered at the side of the boat on the 'Grip' whilst the self takes were set up and consequently held in the same manner until fully recovered, which did take several minutes.It was quite a sight seeing them immediately dive for the depths on releasing the trigger grip-a good piece of kit.
  Finally another double figure undulate took a mackerel head to complete a very productive session indeed.By the time the tide had picked up pace, the bites dried up and being 9-00p.m and with enough water over the bar, it was time to head home into the sunset.
I've struggled recently fishing live baits for bass and Clive, a seasoned boat basser, has also mentioned that during the main summer period, he finds them just as challenging, even choosing to switch to alternative species to target.
I'm not convinced that live baits wouldn't have worked today, but I'll never be sure.It's certainly a lot easier to settle down at anchor and fish dead baits and perhaps this is a more successful method at this time of year. Clive puts forward the theory that there is plenty of available food about which is why the lives fail. There are certainly an abundance of bait fish(mackerel) on the reefs.
Alan, Ted and Alex all pick up bass through the summer on these 'old school' and simple methods and they've had decades of experience at the game.
I also can't quite understand why the period around the turn of the tide produces instead of the usual main tide run.but it would seem to be the case and apparently I'm not alone in experiencing this.

3/7/12 Last Minute Mullet

I was back out on the river this evening for a short two hour session before dinner attempting , once again , to tempt a mullet. The recent cold and wet weather seems to have 'put them  down' somewhat and, although there are plenty showing up in the marina, fewer seem to be about in the main river.

The rain hasn't really coloured up the water too much yet, but there is plenty of evidence of its effect up stream notably, the large rafts of debris that are gradually working their way down to the harbour.

I tend to spend more time searching for fish, than actually fishing on sessions like this and this one was no different.

The first small groups of fish that i located were easily spooked, disappearing quickly into the murk. Nearing home time, and almost accepting that i was about to blank, i stumbled across a couple of fish on one of the shallow 'points' and just as the tide was nearing slack low.

After trotting the float down, they too appeared to disappear, but persevering, a subsequent trot produced a definite bite.-they were there! Last chance!

Three or four runs down later, and i finally had a second bite that was positive enough to hit, and connection was made.Keeping the rod down low to prevent the mullet from splashing and disturbing the swim, she was eventually beached upstream of the take zone- a plump fish of about 2 1/2lb.

The following cast, now in virtually still water, immediately produced a bite, sadly missed but, time was pressing, dinner was waiting, and i'd had my fish anyway. Time to call it a night-a successful outcome. 

28/6/12 The Mullet Are Back

Because mullet lie at the root of all my fishing , and you could argue, my choice of lifestyle,they hold a special place in my heart.I don't suppose I'll ever tire of fishing for them although nowadays with my interests in other fields of angling, I choose to target them less and less.
It's almost July , and this is only my second crack at them.
I employed my usual short session , low tide, spot the fish tactics along the west bank and having located a small shoal to have a go at,the first bite was actually on the second trot down in the decreasing flow, and the first fish of the year only a few minutes later in the shape of this plucky fighting 2 1/2 pounder!The fight dispersed the remaining shoal members so I relocated to one of my favourite 'point' swims as the tide began to slacken off.
Bites weren't exactly plentiful, but i soon managed to connect with a second slightly smaller fish which unfortunately let go after about ten seconds and as the tide began its push proper, the fish disappeared and the bites tailed off to nothing. I'd been fishing for less than two hours.

27/6/12 Alternative Boat Fishing

Mark runs a small boat angling club in Bognor and he'd invited me out on his own craft this evening to show me the ropes of lure fishing for bass on the inshore reefs situated just off this stretch of coastline.The reef is, in fact, the beginning of the huge system that stretches out to sea in a south easterly direction culminating in the famous Kingmere rocks.
Mark's boat is a classic 'Regis'.A 16ft open design commonly seen locally and put to use both in the commercial and leisure fishing sectors. The boat is kept in a beach side pound, and hand launched over the shingle, using a trolley and rubber mats to prevent the wheels bogging down, and employing an electric or diesel winch for recovery.With three of us on board , and to assist with the handling of the boat, the whole operation was carried out successfully with no major issues, though thankfully, the sea was relatively calm.
We mostly fished the inner reef with surface and shallow diving plugs but the bass weren't really having it.Both Skipper Mark and me had some follows-mine of a 'Skitterpop' which I've still yet to catch a bass on.(This year maybe)But the only hook ups were three small pollack to my Husky Jerk and a mackerel to the third crew member-another Mark.
The trip however, was thoroughly enjoyable and an insight into what's on offer over that way, as well as being a bit of an introduction for me to some lure techniques, and lures that I've not experienced before.
Thanks must go to Skipper Mark for the invite and I suspect that Scooby 2 will be paying some regular visits to this area in the future trying to unlock some of its secrets.

26/6/12 A Tough Day.

Mackerel, scad , wrasse, pout, the inevitable dogfish, and a really nice bream touching 3lb came aboard the boat today but, despite travelling quite a few miles back and forth across the local area, only one example of my target fish eventually turned up.It was this very welcome three pounder , caught on a Dexter wedge,  only yards from the harbour entrance and a very opportune capture at that.
I'll admit i tend to struggle a bit with early mornings especially after I've finished a tour of duty, and then working through my first rota day immediately afterwards.Fortunately, it's all for a good cause- a new part time training job that hopefully will be suitable for future employment once I retire from the Fire Service.
Getting up at 4-00 to catch the best of the ebb was therefore no easy task, but it did mean that by 5-00 i was out on  mark 6 and, having caught mackerel and scad on the first drop of the feathers, had a lively live bait under the usual float rig, and a full bait tank.
Clive had mentioned to me that bass became more difficult to catch on live baits in the middle of summer - he wasn't wrong.I thoroughly scanned both ends and the middle of the reef with my float rig, whilst simultaneously lure fishing on a second rod, but not one single fish showed.
As the slack set in I moved over towards Bognor to explore the area around  9 and the Bognor rocks with lures but only the wrasse and pout  were caught. Interestingly, local lure maestro Pete was out with a couple of mates in his 'Regis', fishing what looked to be soft plastics . I should find out how he fared shortly as I'm being taken out this evening by Mark(another Bognor lure angler) to find out how these boys do their thing over there.
Feeling a little deflated, and not a little tired,I decided to return to the middle reef and set down the anchor to fish with big mackerel dead baits. Alan and Ted were in attendance and did do rather well, both catching decent bass on fillet and head baits as i later found out, but only a doggie,and the bream(on a 4/0) fell for my baits.
By the time the flood proper had set in, and with little action on the middle reef, I upped sticks again, and returned to #9 thinking that the better flow would give me more action with lures. I was wrong. Despite Pete and his crew still fishing the mark, only one more wrasse took a fancy to my jigged shad before I decided to give in and return home just after lunch.

Just before reaching the harbour entrance , I spotted some gulls 'working' the sea and made a quick detour to investigate.Fish could clearly be seen disturbing the surface so the bait caster outfit was hastily re-rigged with a Dexter,and this bass hit on the second cast to save the day. By the time I'd sorted the fish out, the shoal had disappeared completely.
So, a hard days fishing for little return but some valuable lessons learned as ever.
I met up with Ted and Alan this morning as Ted needed to use my trailer to lift his Orkney out of the river to carry out anti fouling.With the boat on dry land i had some time to pick their brains.Both these guys have been fishing locally for many, many years and certainly know their onions and yet, their methods are simple in the extreme. I doubt if either of them bother with lures or live baits-too much hassle.What they seem to be able to do is fish in the right place at the right time , for whatever species is about and that's where their experience counts.
For big reef bass they use mackerel baits(fillets and heads) on a 6/0 leger-much the same in fact as Alex does, but they cite the period around low water as being the hot time which is very interesting indeed.Perhaps this is the way forward with Clive's 'summer bass-who knows.

Another piece of the fishing jig saw fits into place but, the more I learn, the less I know, and I don't  suppose I'll ever get that jig saw finished.Where would the fun be in that!


Tide- HW 0406  5.2m

20/6/12 Tope , Rays, and a Rather Nice Boat.

Making the most of the good weather (it's raining hard and gusting to 45 knots outside this evening)I set off yesterday morning with the intention of returning to the 'Half Way' mark in search of tope.
Before leaving the marina however, I had a quick natter with Roger whilst casting admiring glances over his ride- 'About Time' 
Roger's  Orkney 'Day Angler 21' with inboard diesel power is  my 'dream boat' and , looking rather like an overgrown 'Scooby 2' with all  the curves and proportions in the right places, is undoubtedly the most aesthetically pleasing vessel on the moorings,apart from my own boat of course!
 I'll admit my opinion is slightly biased-Orkneys of this vintage just look so 'right' to me.'Beauty' as they say 'Is in the eye of the beholder'.
Naturally it's not all about looks.A boat like Roger's would be more than capable of dealing with anything I'm likely to throw at it,yet still be able to be handled solo which is my preference.Don't get me wrong-Scooby 2 is proving to be a fabulous little boat and ideal for this early learning period in my career afloat but, at the end of the day she is still , a small craft, and sometimes I'll admit i do feel a little insecure.
Of course , a bigger boat will have drawbacks. Not the least of which are extra mooring costs and I probably wouldn't be able to drag it up to Loch Lomond on a trailer behind the Camper. But it might surprise the reader to learn that fuel costs are not actually that much of an issue. 'About Time ' consumes approximately a litre of fuel per mile which , at a cruising speed of 17kts, is pretty good going.I'm not too sure about the future of marine diesel but, at themoment, it's a whole lot cheaper that road fuels.Maintenance on an inboard diesel with out leg shouldn't be too much of a problem for me as it's all fairly simple technology although probably not quite 'Land Rover' simple.
Whatever , progressing to a boat like this will demand some careful consideration. 

Although it was Roger who'd guided me to the general area where 'Half Way' lies last summer and sold it very much as a smoothound mark,  it gave me my first struggle with a fish of substantial size in the shape of a half decent tope.
However, although not usually noted for big fish it is, currently, the only mark that I have in my repertoire to target the species that is within my ten mile comfort zone.
True to form the tope turned up, and gave me good sport with several fish to high doubles ,(weights estimated as all fish were 't' barred at the side of the boat), along with  a double figure thornback, and undulate rays to 14lb.Unfortunately, none of the bigger 'sharks' showed  but,  it was satisfying to be able to relocate the tope again almost a year after first encountering them.
Curiously the fishing improved over the slack water period which is not usually the case with other species.As I was using big mackerel baits(heads and whole side fillets on 10/0 circles to 200lb mono just in case)it was necessary to allow runs to develop 'on the clicker' before tightening down which was highly entertaining-the larger fish, in their enthusiasm to feed, displaying some pretty thrilling runs.Conversely the rays give a very gentle take and need to be given time for the circle hook to do its job-although one can easily be caught out by the sudden sight of your rod trying to leap over the gunwale if you've set the drag incorrectly.
A few mackerel and a scad sporadically hit the feathers which I'd also sent down on a second rod whilst at anchor to keep the bait box stocked up.
I should have really stayed on the mark, and fished the ebb, but thoughts of yesterday's bass that mates ,Alex and Alan had taken were on my mind so, I made the mistake of heading over to #6 to see if I could snaffle some despite Alan reporting over the radio,that no bass had shown during the morning.
When i arrived, the mark was crowded with boats, which I hate so , after a few unproductive drifts with lures dodging the anchored fleet, I fled to #5 anchoring in the 'elbow' and hoping for more of the hounds and rays which turned up on yesterday's flood tide.
Today's ebb didn't produce the same results and I'm wondering if it was because i was positioned up tide of the reef this time.Do the fish seek shelter/food down tide of a reef?
 For whatever reason things just didn't feel right, a solitary bream and dogfish was caught before I got a bit restless and headed over to explore the rock at #9 with jigs and gills.
I covered the mark quite thoroughly, but the tide wasn't at it's strongest and although three pollack and a ballan wrasse took the lures, once again, the bass eluded me.
I had intended to stay out over low water, and meet up with new mate Mark who was beach launching a dinghy in the area and heading out for an evening's lure fishing but, the wind appeared to be building  and .subsequently, I 'bottled out', and ran for home in order to make the bar which I did with just inches to spare.Back at the marina and Martin, who was also out at the same time on 'Cap'n Cod, agreed that it was a wise decision to come in however, by the time i got home  the sea, once again,in typical fashion, had calmed down.
Mark did get out with crew and succeeded in catching some bass to good size on cast plugs fished relatively close in-news that has made me even more determined to try for bass using these methods.Now all I need is some more decent weather.

19/6/12 Hounds and Rays

A couple of days ago  Andy and me had a first crack at the mullet in the river but with little success. Although I'd seen good numbers of fish about during a mid day 'recce', the fish just weren't there come the late afternoon/evening period and apart from one small bass to Andy's bread bait, nothing more showed up.

Today . i took the boat over to marks 5 and 6 starting at 0900 off just inside the elbow at 5 and off the main reef. Tidy little mark this-probably mixed ground and donated to the collection by Neil, who I'd seen the previous afternoon in Tropicana-Thanks again mate.

First drop down produced a really nice double figure smoothound-my first of the year.Terrific fight as always and a real pleasure to get reacquainted with these fantastic little sharks.The tide soon slowed but not before another first for the year appeared in the shape of another double, but this time an undulate.

At slack tide, I decided to make an attempt to  fill the live bait tank but had to work really hard for just half a dozen, or so, mackerel. As the tide ebbed, one of these fellahs was sent down under the big float rig and virtually the entire reef was drifted (weaving amongst the other boats in residence) without a sniff from a bass.

Alex, on the other hand, who was anchored up and fishing his usual mackie fillets, had managed to nab a couple so i elected to follow suit and drop the pin about half way between the two marks.

The bass never did show but, a run of rays both thornback and undulate to 14lb, another good hound and some nuisance tiddler bream kept the fishing interesting in the cracking weather.

I decided to call it a day at 3-30 in order to make the bar, but several others, Alex and Pinch among them,stayed out in the sunshine and fished on into what turned out to be a beautiful evening.

 

4/6/12 Bassquest

Some very large bass can be caught on my local inshore reef systems and indeed, i've had a couple myself but, they're not easy to find, and it takes some practice and application to work out the best tide times, and where to put the boat.
I've been wanting to progress more with bass and, in particular ,fishing with live baits on the drift, which does seem to pick out the real lunkers.However, boat owners I know who are consistently successful with the method, and there aren't that many,have had a few more years at it than me, so it's going to take time-all part of the fun.
I didn't  leave the marina until 1400 as the winds were still a little too strong from the North and 'outside,' it looked a bit too bumpy.However the forecast predicted a drop in wind speeds and some favoutrable conditions for the afternoon and early evening which was good news as I'd not be able to get back over the bar at the river entrance until 2000.
Initially it was very rough when i reached the mark about five miles out but, apart from a glitch when a storm passed by, 'windguru' once again seem to know their onions as they were spot on with the windspeed forecast.The wind eventually dropped leaving the late afternoon and evening conditions very pleasent indeed.
As soon as I dropped down my feathers on #6 , up came a joey mackerel, and within minutes I had half a dozen swimming happily in my bait tank with a few more taken for dead baits and the pot.My confidence was high but, I wasn't to be rewarded with my target.
Concentrating solely on fishing the float rig I tried my hardest at three seperate reef marks#6,5, and 9, covering the ground as thoroughly as possible.There was one possible take but, it didn't result in a hook up-disappointing but not entirely unexpected as I didn't really have the best of the tide to play with. The majority of my fishing time was over the low water period and it's accompanying slack water.
Very few other boats were out but I do know of two who were similarly going after bass on different marks- and not the small variety that hit the 'stinger 'lures. I'll update this entry when I find out if they did any better than me which I suspect they might have.
It would have been 'easy' fishing to bag up on bream, which are still about in numbers, or hit the smoothounds which again are showing well on some of the mixed ground marks and , with hindsight, these would probably have been a better choice if only to save the bassing for better timing of the tide but,I chose the more difficult option.
Update;  Neil and Mick, without crew on 'Spirit', were fishing soft ground probably near #13 and did lose a big bass which took a live bait-however Mick scored a beautiful undulate to make up for her loss.
Clive and Kim probably headed for #4 to target flatties and rays and did very well on both counts although they did pick up some small bass on the return journey.
All useful information.

1/6/12 Taking It Easy

Sometimes its just a pleasure to quickly nip out in the boat, drop the anchor on a convenient mark, and spend a couple of hours not really trying or thinking too much about the fishing and just enjoy what turns up.

Unfortunately, i'd managed to damage Scooby's cuddy quite badly when i took her out of the river for the Lomond trip by accidentally colliding with 'Cap'n Cod' at the marina. Thankfully Martin's boat was unmarked, and he was extremely 'civilised' about the whole event and grateful that I'd even taken the trouble to tell him what had happened. Apparently, others would do less.......

An ex employee of Orkney Boats-Andrew had been carrying out some rather nifty repair work to the boat on my drive yesterday whilst I looked on and learned, and this morning after work, with Steve's help, I slid her back in the water managing to carefully avoid hitting any other vessels on returning to the marina,I'm very happy to add.

Having got myself 'sorted' I ventured out of the harbour in near perfect conditions and settled on the 'ditch' for an afternoon of relaxation and therapy.It was a bite a chuck from the 'off' with nothing particularly spectacular showing up but that's not the point. It was fun. Bream , pout, mackerel , wrasse and even a scad put in an appearance but ,only a few hundred yards south of me the big news on the wireless was of a blue shark circling 'Jennifer's Pride'-apparently a real rarity in these waters.

The skipper did apparently try to tempt the beast but it was having none of it. It does go to show however, that you really never know what's going to turn up out there!

27/5/12 Father And Son Stuff - Land Rover #5

Fishing, and messing about with old motors........what could be better.

Jack came up from Devon for the week -end and we spent Saturday 'Land Rovering' , and Sunday was dedicated to a spot of fishing in the boat.
The 'Landie' is now stripped down to a rolling chassis having had the remainder of its panels removed and stored in the corner of the back yard.It all came apart relatively easily on the day ,despite forty odd years of rust binding each nut and bolt, and will allow me excellent access to the work that is required. There are four main areas of welding to be done on the chassis-the two front spring mountings although still fairly solid, will need replacing along with a side member and a bit of patchwork to the rear cross member-not too bad considering.
The 'heart' of the Land Rover-the steel bulkhead, through which practically everything which makes the truck go and stop goes is now stripped bare and residing in the luxury of my garage awaiting it's own bit of welding magic. These panels are fearsomely expensive to buy as a replacement, so it's worth spending some time and effort in restoring an original and, from what I can see, on this particular example, although the corrosion is quite severe, it's all repairable.
As far as dismantling goes- that's the end of it.From now on it's all repair, refurbish and build up so I suppose you could say we've reached something of a turning point in the project but, of course, there's still a long way to go.All being well it should be finished (up and running)by the time I retire in two years time!
Sunday's fishing was some action packed breaming on both ends of 'The Ditch' . We soon lost count of the fish caught- many of a good size-he's a big fellah so he makes fish look small but those bream are well into the 2-3lb bracket.The weather was kind and it was terrific fun just being out there with 'the boy'.Great stuff.

16-23/5/12 Scooby Goes To Loch Lomond

Dave and me spent six days fishing amongst some stunning scenery and on hallowed piking water experiencing the full range of weather conditions that spring time Scotland can throw at the angler.Dragging the boat five hundred miles wasn't the 'epic' I thought it might be and indeed, cruising the motorways at a steady 'sixty' with the big trucks was actually quite relaxed driving.
The campsite at Milarrochy was superb, and our pitch was a stone's throw from an excellent slipway complete with a convenient pontoon. The boat had to be recovered every day but this proved to be a very easy task and 'working' the Loch was pure boating pleasure.The first two days gave us some pretty cold ,wet weather conditions which improved to hot sunny days as the week progressed.
We divided our fishing time between trolling lures and fishing static sea dead baits in some very famous areas such as Endrick,Balmaha and Portnellan farm-the location of the capture of a one time British record pike and scene of Fred Buller's great lost pike as recounted in his iconic book.
Naturally the going was rock hard which, as first time visitors, was to be expected but we did find a few pike on dead baits the best of which was this beautifully marked double taken from a small and shallow bay near  Lomond's golf course at Rossdhu.The pike fought with a tenacity I've rarely experienced before with the specie, and gave us an aerial display as well as diving beneath the boat for a few nerve racking moments before finally being subdued.
It's just a pity that we didn't come into contact with a few more but. i'm sure armed with the little bit of knowledge that we now have, we'd do better next time.
By way of a consolation. and highlight of the trip, was the sighting of an Osprey flying over Portnellan on three seperate occasions.Each time, carrying a decent sized fish in it's talons.Obviously a more accomplished fisher that either of us!

 

11/5/12 A Trio Of Tench

Last night I spent an unsuccessful couple of hours trying to extract a bass from quite decent surf on the beach at the back of my house with Andy and Simon to keep me company.
A short afternoon return trip to Deep Lake Chichester today however,proved to be quite productive  ....and not before time.It would seem that this year's tench fishing has finally kicked off having been held back by the seemingly endless rain and low air temperatures.
I selected a pitch in the SW corner of the lake, sending one bait forty yards out into the middle adjacent a patch of lillies,and another into a margin swim approximately ten feet from an overgrown bank.Tactics again, were 'bolt feeder' maggots on both outfits though I suspect that in future, due to the general shallow nature of these pits,I'll be getting the float rod out, just for fun.
The brighter and warmer weather seemed to work its magic and before long, a drop back bite on the margin rod produced the first fish  of the day weighing in at 5-14- the biggest tench i've had for some time.
At the moment I'm reading 'Big Tench' by Rickards and Webb borrowed from Dave W's extensive collection of classic angling literature. Penned in 1976 , a time when, as a teenager, I was doing quite a bit of coarse fishing, it is interesting to note that, In those days a tench of this size would have been considered to be quite a specimen. Indeed, at that time, Barrie Rickards,despite being a bit of a tench expert , had not caught a 'six'.
How times have changed. Nowadays, nobody bats an eyelid at such a fish and a ten pounder would be needed to merit a report in the angling press.Several theories have been put forward as to why some coarse species have increased so much in weight in recent years from the use of high protein baits by anglers, to agricultural nutrients seeping into our water systems but, whatever the cause, it's effects are quite dramatic. I've recently heard of the bream record being broken with a 'dustbin lid' twenty pounder!
As the afternoon progressed, so did the bites.Liner's became quite common indicate fish moving around the feeders  and soon enough,up came my second tench  ,also  from the margin swim- a plucky 3-08, followed shortly after by a screaming run on the distance rod and a really hard fighting 4-08 to complete the hat-trick. A couple of small 'silvers' had also put in an appearance, but the last fish of the day was this pleasing rudd at 1-05 to round off the session, and a very pleasent afternoon's fishing.
I think I'll spend a bit more time chasing these tench when I'm unable to use my boat,at least until the mullet start to show in numbers on the Arun. They're handsome fish , put up a good scrap and, as far as I know, the population in these very mature pits is pretty much an indigenous one.