3/5/14 Patience.....

paid dividends for sure on this lure only trip.
A solo afternoon outing this one concentrating on a series of marks around reefs #7 and #9 and fishing soft plastic lures 'vertical' fashion.
A stream of small Pollack turned up along with the odd cuckoo and ballan wrasses, some of which preferred to bite the tail off my lures rather than hook themselves , but the bass , as usual, proved extremely difficult to find.
I don't think I'm doing anything wrong and comparing notes with my two, far more expert, bass angling colleagues, I'm definitely in the right places but I've certainly got a long way to go before I even approach their results.
With time and tide running out I finally found my quarry though it was a short lived acquaintance. The lure (green home brewed jelly nailed to the sea bed) was hit like a train and my new one piece 60g jigging baitcaster strained under the load of what was obviously a good 'bit of silver' and this indeed proved to be the case.
Just over the 6lb and two feet long at least, she was a welcome sight and just reward for sticking it out.I soon connected again but failed to hold on , and to keep in touch with 'the green' on the sounder and subsequently lost the shoal.
It's funny how just one decent fish can make the difference between success and failure. The learning process continues.

25/4/14 The Hunt.

Heavy rain and changeable winds, a stark contrast to yesterday's glorious conditions, didn't stop Brian and me hitting the reefs today to experiment with our soft plastic lures in an attempt to futher develop the method.
We searched hard, scanning the reef heading west from mark 6 but the fishing was far from easy although, lots of information regarding the terrain was noted for future use. Several pollack, ballans, cuckoos and pout came up but, once again, we failed to find the bass in feeding mode despite locating a shoal of considerable size lying dormant over slack water.
If i hadn't actually caught bass before from this 'green mass' on the sounder, i could be forgiven for thinking that it was just a huge lump of weed but on this occasion, they were definitely there but simply weren't interested in anything artificial that we dropped on their noses.I bumped a couple and actually connected with one but suspect that it was probably foul hooked as it wasn't on for more than a second.
Personally, i think if we'd had them, live baits would have sealed the deal. Leaving the shoal for pastures new we returned once the tide was flooding but failed to find them again. Quite simply, they'd vanished and had probably taken up a new staion somewhere on the rock and, as Neil has pointed out to me,are so easily missed on the sounder.
 Mark 7 produced the best of the wrasse and pollack and this 'tackle graveyard' of 'rough stuff'will definitely be revisited on subsequent trips.
 Whatever the case, i always enjoy a trip out with Brian regardless of the quality of the fishing.The man's a born entertainer and should be on the stage. On the subject of entertainers, Brian's just informed me that local 'celebrity' Alan Beddows is returning to the pontoons having bought back his old boat 'Walrus' that he'd sold just over a year ago due to financial reasons.
 The word on the street is that he's back 'in the money'having done a bank job.LOL
  I didn't think he'd be able to stay away for too long and will look forward to hearing his 'quirky' conversations over the 'wireless' with 'blonde ray'. If you're ever over our way they can usually be found conversing on channel 8. Listen in, and if you don't learn anything you'll always have a good laugh.
Alan and his mates have been fishing our locale for years and i personally have learned so much vaulable information from all of them. Good to have you back mate.

23/4/14 Bream Mission.

Joining me on this trip was my good friend and sharking buddy Wayne Comben from Hampshire. Wayne, along with sidekick Graeme Pullen, is the man responsible for two of the biggest shark to be caught in British waters with huge specimens of both porbeagle(2012) and thresher(2013)coming to his tiny 17ft Wilson Flyer dinghy. I'm indebted to both these guys for the sharking information they have both provided me with leading to the capture of sharks from my own boat for the first time last season.
Wayne is, however, an all round angler and, on this occasion, wanted to sample some of Littlehampton's famous bream fishing and in particular, those that frequent the Kingmere reef.
To us  locals, the Kingmere is actually not necessarily the best place to target the specie due in no small part to the sheer number of boats that can sometimes be found on the reef but, it's always a pleasure show a visitor the much publicised mark and usually a quiet spot can be found where the bream are ready and willing.
 With the crowd firmly camped out at the 'East end' , I chose, once again, to hit 'Brian's mark' on the reef edge and was joined by only one other boat, Dickie on 'Lynander',during the day.
 With a flat calm sea , warm sunshine and the bream more than willing to participate from the off ,we had a great day despite the small tide, and amassed a catch of forty plus good sized fish to 3lb 7oz along with a 'fluked' plaice for Wayne to take home for tea.
Once again a trotted or constantly 'bumped' bait with a 12mm floating bead on the hook trace did the trick although the fishing slowed noticeably over slack water and didn't really achieve the same pace on the flood tide.
 Visiting us during the day was this rather futuristic looking IFCA craft supposedly counting the number of boats fishing in the proposed Marine Conservation Zone area that encompasses the whole of the Kingmere reef.
 Whether or not we'll be able to fish in this area in the future is still to be decided and is a controversial subject both amongst the local fishing fraternity, and those that choose to air their views on public forums.Only time will tell.

15/4/14 Cut Up Rough

A couple of my mates have been doing exceptionally well catching bass on some of our less well known reef marks in the recent light wind conditions. I've had a full work schedule, which has been extremely frustrating, but saw a possible window of opportunity for a few hours this evening for a 'lure only' excursion.
The only problem being, I'd be 'locked out' for four hours over the low tide.
It didn't look too bad at the marina and, although I could sense a slight south easterly building, I decided to take the plunge and go anyway.
In the event the wind did build up quite considerably to Force 4/5(not forecast) which made fishing extremely uncomfortable however I did manage to catch half a dozen pollack on my self designed and poured soft plastics just to prove that they work before throwing the towel in due to barely being able to safely stand up and fish.
Making my way slowly back to port, the last twenty minutes or so saw me hanging around the river entrance waiting for the tide to flood enough to give me enough water to get back in over the bar.
'Foolhardy' you might say?... Not in the slightest, I reply.
Yes, I did get thrown about a bit but at no time did I feel unsafe( I find these sort of conditions quite exhilarating) and once again the boat showed me just what it's capable of, which is far more than my brain can handle.

13/4/14 Brian's Bream.

The Kingmere reef is our 'jewel in the crown' in Littlehampton and anglers flock from far and wide to fish for the famous bream that inhabit its rough terrain at this time of year. It's reputation as a top black bream mark stretches back many years and it is very often mentioned in sea angling books from the fifties and sixties.
The word was 'out' that they'd arrived in big numbers, in itself a pretty sudden event, and I joined my marina neighbour Brian on board his Orkney Fastliner 19 for a trip out to specifically target them .
Being a sunny Sunday with light winds forecast for the duration of the 'fishable' tide, 'everyone and his brother' appeared to be occupying the mark as we approached at quite a late hour due to me just finishing a night shift.
I counted forty one boats in two tightly packed groups at either end of the reef mostly visiting boats I would imagine although, the usual local 'suspects' both private and commercial were nearly all in evidence. Rather than join the melee, Brian had a mark of his own conveniently placed in between these two flotillas, and we had a comfortable space  away from the crowd.
We had the typical rod rattling bites from 'the off' ,and despite being a relatively short session, with nearly a fish on every drop we amassed an excellent catch of fifty three bream, most in the one to two pound bracket but with some exceptional fish topped by a three pound plusser to Brian.
At the end of the day the wind did actually pick up providing a fun, if somewhat damp journey home.
We're both convinced  that by using as small a weight as possible, we mostly got away with a four ounce ball, and trotting the bait down tide by regularly lifting the rod tip and allowing the bait to fall back, results in more takes. We also believe that adding a floating fluorescent yellow, or orange 12mm foam bead to the hook trace which acts as a visual stimulus, also increases bites.
I rather enjoy bream fishing as it does take a certain amount of skill in tackle handling to get the best out of it. They're 'snappy' biters and can, at times be quite difficult to hook consistently a bit like roach in freshwater, but put up a terrific fight especially on light tackle.
Terrific days fishing in excellent company. Ta mate.

I've also been quite busy designing and pouring my latest batch of soft plastic lures of late and actually had a chance to 'water test one today.
My latest offering is a six inch deep bellied shad both an unweighted version, and one with a built in 20g nose weight which will be useful on the wrecks and also as a river pike and bass lure.
I've done well in the past with both these species on this size and type of soft plastic and hopefully these latest 'home brews' will be as effective.

31/3, 1/4, 3/4/14.......So Much Learnt.........So Much To Learn.

I've not been out fishing for a whole two weeks since the last day of the coarse fishing season and have been getting quite 'jittery'. I'm not really fired up by the still water trout fishing that is very popular among my fishing buddies and don't play golf but have not been idle during this time.
The aforementioned trout fishery, a local establishment, kindly collect and salt down any casualties, off cuts and discarded fishy mess that accumulates on the premises and store them for me in one of those sixty litre chemical drums with a sealed lid.
When its full, I get a phone call and, for the very reasonable exchange rate of a few bottles of 'Hobgoblin' and 'Hoegaarden', gratefully received I might add, I acquire a not inconsiderable quantity of prime shark chum.
The advantage of this exceptionally oily ,pellet fed 'trout' (I certainly wouldn't eat them myself) has been well documented in last year's shark fishing entries but, although extremely convenient, it does require some considerable effort to get it to the stage where it's usable in the chum bucket.
The process of 'processing' this putrid ,oily mess has, in the past, taken me up to a whole day for each drum load,as it has to be 'minced' by hand passing it through one of those cast iron table top devices that everybody's mum had in the 1960s. Bringing myself well and truly into the twenty first century, I decided to purchase a garden mulcher (electric-Black and decker) for the vast sum of fifteen quid-second hand from 'evilbay'.
Although still extremely messy, and perhaps not quite so 'refined', but good enough, the 'process' was reduced in time to about an hour to get to 'neat' base mix, to which bran and even more trout oil will be added at a later date. Because the trout is salted, it is simply sealed in  buckets, and left outside. Bringing it anywhere near the house would result in instant divorce proceedings.
 I  have some mix left over from last year that is still in fine condition, in a manner of speaking, so it seems to keep well .
 The drum and bucket of salt have already been returned to the trout fishery for the next load. Fifteen quid well spent.

I've also been designing and making my own soft plastic lures for the bass, wrasse and pollack that start to appear on our inshore reefs at this time of year.Actually, its entirely possible that the wrasse are resident all year round but poor water clarity has hindered fishing for them.

 This process involves fashioning a blank in modelling clay which is then baked in an oven making it hard and suitable to take a mould from.

 The mould is  cast in room temperature vulcanising silicone and then plastic , melted in a microwave( not the one in the kitchen as this again could result in serious marital issues) is poured in, allowed to cool and 'hey presto' you've got your lure.

 I came up with two designs based on lures that I had been using, and having success with on reef trips last year ;A four and a half inch split belly shad based around a 3/0 worm hook that will be texas rigged to avoid, or try to avoid, snagging., and a wormy, grubby type 'thing' that will be specifically used for wrasse again based on the same Nogales worm hook.

 At the moment I'm using drilled egg weights held in place with silicone rig stops for jig heads in weights up to 3oz but will be looking to cast my own articulated heads similar to those produced under the 'Canelle' name.

If I may be permitted to say so myself, I'm quite pleased with the results and, after a bit of tweaking the lures seemed to show a nice 'action'  when tested in the wife's goldfish pond.  So to get fishing.

 

The water quality at sea has been very poor of late due to the rough weather,and to use lures successfully, one needs clarity. On the first trip out in the boat I went in search of this clarity on the reef marks at 7 and 9 but failed to find it, and any fish.

 In the end I settled at anchor and fished small baits in the hope of an early bream but could only manage dogs and whiting to save the blank before having to return to port early to catch the tide.      One of my bassing mates however had no such restrictions and, after working extremely hard and staying out over the low tide 'lock out' into darkness did eventually find some fish in clearer water and passed on the numbers to me. They were mostly small bass but with one exceptional 'clonker' in the catch-a stunning eleven pounder.

When I checked the co-ordinates on the paper chart at home, I recognised the mark (31)which unsurprisingly has 'previous' form. I wonder why the bass return to these marks year after year-a great mystery.

I couldn't get out early the next day but, another mate, Pete, running a small open boat the fair distance over from an Aldwick beach launch could, and also had the mark information. The text the next morning said it all. 'They're having it mate, get yourself out here' .

 By the time I'd got myself sorted, the mark had been 'blown' and plenty of boats were in residence but, It didn't matter as we were all friendly(mostly mates anyway) , well mannered in our drifts and all catching bass- some decent ones too with my best being between 6-7lb but others getting some better fish in the mix. Most important of all though was that my home brewed plastics were working a treat, not only on the bass , but a hard fighting 4lb 8oz 'pig' also showed up punching well above its weight indeed. Much derided by so many on our local  patch, usually  those somewhat 'blinded' by bass and in some cases it's commercial 'value', the wrasse is a much underestimated adversary that, in my opinion, is a far more sporting fish than the handsome 'Mr Silver' 

Gradually the boats dwindled as the afternoon wore on  until it was just me and another Warrior 175 with Newhaven markings left on the mark- a commercial rod and line bass boat. I've heard about these chaps who travel over to work our local reefs , but have never actually come across them before at sea.

Watching this guy at work was fascinating. As the tide slowed my lures became less and less effective but float fishing two, or sometimes three live baits (tank stored pouting caught last autumn) this guy just continued to hammer the bass out and they weren't small either- the live baits selecting the bigger fish, or is it the other way around. Sometimes, he had two or even three bass on at once and I didn't see him fail to catch on any drift.

In the end we engaged in conversation  and I probably learned more chatting to this friendly professional in ten minutes than I would in ten trips out fishing.

 O.K he's taking everything he catches and may not be very popular among local anglers but, he's doing it for a living, is working exceptionally hard and I'd much rather see this 'selective' commercial fishing than the 'pair trawlers' any time. Meeting this chap has certainly changed my opinion of the small boat commercial fishing sector and it certainly illustrates the effectiveness of live bait when targeting bass. A thoroughly enjoyable and productive day's fishing.

Two days later and I returned again to the same mark and this time, I had it to myself apart from a different commercial Warrior, another 175 from Shoreham, who seemed to be searching the general area with his floats.

Nothing showed on the first few drifts  and as Neil called me up on the radio to announce his imminent arrival, I decided to stick around to see what would occur.

What did occur was probably the most frustrating single event that I've ever experienced in my fishing career but, at the same time , yet another invaluable lesson.

 Neil had a crew of six, all fishing metal stingers with  a sand eel teaser attached to each trace. No sooner had he arrived, on virtually the same drift as me, than he started to hammer the bass, where as I couldn't even buy a bite. '  

 Mostly , they were small but that's not the point. Every single drift produced fish after fish with Mick in particular absolutely 'mullering' them  . Even changing my rig to match Neil's crew and copying their technique (I was that close) didn't work, nothing was hitting my lures, where as Neil's 'shoal' was getting pummelled by the bass.

 Once he'd had a hundred, he stopped , as his crew were electing to keep the fish and he felt he couldn't justify continuing-forward thinking. In this time, I'd caught just two bass.!!!

 Feeling totally deflated but more to the point, confused because I was absolutely one hundred percent sure I wasn't doing anything wrong, Neil suggested a possible solution.

 With up to twelve lures in the water under his boat the bass were attracted by the 'commotion' and the catching of fish probably just added to the attraction. Its possible that they actually followed his boat  around and to me, this is exactly what it looked like, but it was still excellent skippering and shows why he and Mick are such a well respected team.

Once 'Spirit' had left I felt I was in with a shout but it wasn't to be. They just seemed to disappear into thin air and my only catch before returning home was one solitary Pollack. A hard pill to swallow but once again, so much learned, and to think about for future sessions on lures. I'd failed miserably yet gained so much  and returned to port with my tail well and truly between my legs. However, such is the way with fishing that by the time I reached my mooring, my mood had lifted and I was already planning my next assault.     

As a footnote , plaice in good numbers are showing on marks near #48. Shaun had reported good numbers in his nets as passed the info on to the 'big three' charter boats and I understand that Steve on Jennifer's Pride has picked some good ones up to 4lb. Of more interest to me, is that they are also being plagued by pin whiting-perfect size for bass live bait. Knowledge is everything.                                                            

 

14/3/14 The Worst Pike Season In Living History

It's become something of a tradition for Dave and me to pike fish at the end of the river coarse season and this year was to be no different. Unfortunately, not a single pike showed the slightest interest in any of our baits today.
I've had a dreadful pike season, if fact, the least productive thus far in over a decade of fishing the local rivers . The heavy rainfall has kept me away from the banks for long periods of time but, at least when he's been able to get out Dave's had a few this year including a handful of doubles and the 'twenty' from early on in the campaign. I'm sorry to report that I haven't even had a double this time around but that, as they say, is fishing and with river piking, particularly on the tidals, there isn't a great deal that can be done about it.
For next season, following lengthy discussions whilst 'blanking', we've decided to make a few changes to try and narrow the odds and see if we can extract a few more toothy friends from these most difficult of venues.
I can only say' watch this space' and perhaps , fish like the one below will once again be admired on these pages.

On a different tack, my good mate Brian's huge blonde ray caught on Jupiter early this year has made fish of the month in Boat Fishing Monthly and also won prises in Sea Angler. Terrific news. Proud of ya mate.

7-9/3/14 Fenland Visit.

Having been quite successful with the zander hunt at Old Bury Hill lake earlier in the year, I decided it was high time I attempted to capture one from it's spiritual home in the U.K-Fenland.
I'd been given a hot tip , and plenty of information, on a likely area on The Old Bedford River in Cambridgeshire and having never even visited the 'land of big skies' before,  decided on a two day trip camping on site in a 'bivvy' borrowed from Dave.

Typically, as I subsequently discovered, my information was about ten years out of date, a zander hadn't been seen in the locale for some time and although the locals rather amusingly blame the recent influx of Eastern European workers for supposedly eating them all, a more enlightened theory was offered to me by local predator expert Mark Barratt, who believes that the pike and perch populations are actually gradually displacing the 'zeds' in certain areas of the Fens. With hundreds of miles of waterways up there, it would probably take a whole country of Eastern Europeans with voracious appetites to clear the zander out , so I'm inclined to give Mark's theory some credence.
You've gotta love the 'British' attitude sometimes. Basically, to put not too finer point on it, it stinks.
Whatever the case , I failed to catch a zander , but managed to get a few small pike instead though others with a more mobile approach, or a boat, did much better than me.
 On the first day a local dinghy angler impressively hammered the pike in the boat pool where I was camped, by placing his baits directly below some moored narrow boats that were well out of my casting range.
On day two, mates Andy and Simon showed up from home , and Andy, using a roving approach managed to bag a couple of nice double figure pike to 16lb , in the dark,which is a new p.b for him-well done that man. Its a pity we haven't got a picture to include here.
I will have a return trip in the future to the Fens and, to target pike, especially if our local rivers are out of sorts. However, being static and tied to a 'bivvy' is not the most productive approach so, with literally miles of rarely fished water to explore, mobile methods would surely be better.

13/3/14 Madness On The Wrecks.

A simply fantastic days wrecking aboard marina mates',  father and son team ,Tony and Martin's superb diesel powered 24 ft Flyer 'Cap'n Cod'.
 Out of choice, I don't do a great deal of wreck fishing from my own craft simply because I have no outlet for the catch, and pollack and bass from the depths just do not 'go back'.
 These chaps have plenty of mouths to feed , are incredibly skilled at their craft and it showed up in todays phenomenal catch of hard fighting fish to 17lb- we soon lost count of how many came on board.
I've absolutely no idea where we were nor, as its considered 'bad form', asked what wrecks we fished but, we must have travelled nearly a 100 miles in total taking fish from every site we targeted, many with a French accent, and on a variety of different lures of varying colours and sizes-it didn't seem to matter.
 Highlight for me was, swapping the normal wrecking rod for my tiny 6ft bait caster set up and battling a pollack from 90ft of depth forcing a ridiculous curve into the little 'stick' .
As you can see from the picture, it was foggy out there all day and thank goodness 'Cap'n Cod' has radar on board because at one point, I was actually looking UP at a huge ship that emerged out of the 'murk' and passed us by a little too close for comfort, and having given no warning signal.
They were probably running on auto pilot and not watching their own radar. Luckily Martin had spotted the 'offender' on the screen and taken evasive action otherwise I might not have been here typing this.
Rather fittingly, the marauder's name was that of my other half- 'Janet'. Perhaps she's trying to tell me something.

1/3/14 Conger Hunt.

Took Dave out to try and find conger out on mark 3 over slack water on this big 6.1m tide. The mark has as a reputation for producing conger at this state of tide .
We concentrated on big squid and cuttle baits and, apart from small fish nibbling at our offerings, the fishing was slow so, following a move inshore to the area around 23 and 28 once the tide began its run, where I'd had my big conger a few trips back, Dave proceeded to nip out a small double figure eel, and a thornback ray to save the day .

One of our local amateur photographers, Geoff Smith, has been getting some cracking pictures of late, and I'd like to include one here.It's a shot of my mate Shaun's new boat, a commercial potter, netter and supplier of superb cuttle, entering the river mouth that was featured on Facebook. I was lucky enough to spot it, and managed to forward it on to Shaun who was thrilled to bits with the image. The power of the internet!!

24/2/14 I've Finally Found The River.

I'm famous!! Its alright , there's no need to rush for your autograph books just yet. It's merely a mention(column) in the Angling Times about my zander capture and in typical journalistic fashion, they haven't quite got the facts right and have somewhat, sensationalised the event. According to them my lost second zander was 'an even bigger fish' and they added a decade to the elapsed time since I'd last visited the lake.
It looks like the sea angling monthlies have got hold of Brian's blonde too and I'm hoping that they get things right as its a far more significant capture.
It's finally stopped raining and the rivers are beginning to recover, recede into their banks and, according to the Environment Agency web site, are returning to 'normal' winter levels. I'm sure you can't have failed to notice the above.
There is however, still a huge amount of surrounding surface run off flowing into my favourite river, keeping the water coloured which is hardly conducive to good pike fishing. However, one of my piking buddies , Lionel Mills fired me up by catching a 'tidal' pike at the week-end, albeit on a different river and, curiosity got the better of me so, I had to take a look myself.
Naturally, I went armed with rods and bait and on crossing a conveniently placed road bridge on my journey to the chosen stretch, was pleasantly surprised. Yes it was running high and fast but definitely not the colour of chocolate. A fair estimate was to say that it was more akin to the colour of weak tea. Pretentious tea with a fancy name that is usually consumed from a bone china teacup complete with saucer springs to mind.
I decided to proceed.
On reaching my chosen swim(s) It was clearly (pun fully intended) 'worth a shot', I thought to myself and I actually felt cautiously optimistic that a pike might possibly find one of my smelly paternostered sardine baits. I'd certainly caught the odd pike before in similar conditions and anyway, the sun was shining, I was finally on the river, and just happy to be 'out there' fishing again.
My flood bank perch felt a bit like a causeway in a vast sea as all the surrounding fields were full of water gradually emptying into the river via ditches and sluice gates causing huge boils and heavily coloured flows downstream which I tactically avoided.
Keeping mobile, it was the second 'swim' that produced the only take of the day in the shape of this seven pounder.

Only small but nonetheless , a welcome sight and enough to encourage me to persevere for a couple more hours and half a dozen moves before it was time to pack up and go to work.
Interestingly, despite the ebbing tide, the river level changed very little during the course of the session and although I didn't hang around long enough to find out, I doubt whether the flooding tide and subsequent change of  direction of flow, even occurred. There is still a lot of flood water trying desperately to reach the sea and unsurprisingly ,it's this that is maintaining the high water levels as it slowly filters back into the main river.
Despite this, unless we experience more heavy rainfall, conditions can only improve and, I don't think it'll be long before I'm back for another try. As for the non-tidal upper reaches, I think I might have to wait a little while for those areas to recover sufficiently for fishing to be worthwhile and, with just a couple of weeks of the season remaining, time is running out on what has been the most difficult of pike fishing winters.

10/2/14 A Monster Blonde

Yet again , something REALLY special comes along just when you least expect it.
There was a window in the weather today. At least, that's what it said on my most trusted wind forecasting site and, as they rarely get it wrong, and the tides were favourable(very small)  I decided it was time, once again, to target the blonde rays on my favourite sand bank.
My good mate and marina neighbour Brian had expressed an interest in catching these BIG rays , so it was him I called upon to crew for the trip and he didn't need much persuading.
With 1to 4kts wind forecast, we were both quite surprised just how bumpy the sea was, and the ride down to the mark was a slow plod keeping the speed down to about 10-kts to avoid losing any teeth. Sorry Bri, no offence mate.
It was rough out there.
Bites were slow materialising but Brian eventually had a blonde on of about 20lb but, experiencing some extreme difficulties wielding the landing net whilst being thrown all over the 'shop', we proceeded to lose the fish when the trace chafed through. I was devastated as this fish would have easily beaten Brian's former P.B of 16 lb but my crew was far more philosophical about the event and quickly dropped his bait back down.
A small thornback ray followed to my bait but with bites a bit slow, I suggested a move to a different part of the bank in order to search out the fish. If the sea conditions had been better, we'd probably have moved sooner but sometimes its easier, and certainly more comfortable to sit things out.
With the tide slacking I repositioned the boat on a shallower section of the bank and, this proved to be a wise decision as it wasn't long before Brian's whole squid was taken again.
Despite switching to a heavier rod, this Ray rally 'battled' and when she surfaced I could tell that it was a special fish and would not fit in my 24 inch landing net. Instead, on Brian's suggestion, I wing gaffed the fish and this proved to be a much more efficient method of boating the fish and , despite perceived wisdom, actually did very little harm at all.
When on board 'Jupiter' the true size of the ray could be gauged...and this was one very big blonde. Once we'd  struggled to get her in the pike sling she whizzed the 'Avons' round to the red sector settling on 39lb , corrected to 37lb 8oz once the  sling had been subtracted. WHAT a fish. As I found out later just 2lb 2oz short of the British record for the specie.
A few fumbled snaps were taken before she was slid back into the sea, perhaps to reappear one day at a record weight.If she does, and its one of us that has the privilege of capturing her, she'd still be returned. On that we both agreed.
With the winds freshening and  on losing our anchorage I took the decision to 'call it' early and head inshore to calmer waters where we experienced similar anchoring issues before finally retiring, and returning to port. We'd had our day and what a day. Well done Brian for bringing such a superb fish on board 'Jupiter' and one that will certainly take some beating.

 

The big question is; How long do these Blonde Rays stay around.? I did well targeting them at this

 time last year but, I have relatively little experience and knowledge of the specie and  have been given mixed opinions on this question.

If anyone can throw any light on the matter,leave a comment on here or email me at  completeangler@sky.com

27/1/13 Drowning Worms.

Continuing with the freshwater predator theme, Dave and me felt it was time to try and catch a decent perch or two. As a youngster, when I did a lot more coarse fishing, big perch were a very rare sight indeed as the specie had still not yet recovered from the stock depleting perch disease outbreak of the 1960's.
Nowadays big perch are far more common , particularly in 'commercial' fisheries but, as these places are not really our 'bag', we were looking for something a little more...'natural''.
We'd been given some 'hot' information that one of the stream fed stillwaters on our club ticket contained some nice perch so, armed with that most traditional of perch baits,the humble lobworm, we decided to investigate.
Our first trip produced a few very small perch along with some rather sizable silver bream
,or were they skimmers? Dave returned the following day, possibly taking advantage of a swim that had been pre baited by another angler  and scored with three nice perch.
Check out his own blog here http://ahookinmytrousers.blogspot.co.uk/
A few days later, and it was my turn picking up this new p.b perch at 2-09 along with a mixed catch including tench and a couple of really lively common carp to about 7lb which are tremendous fun on  light float tackle.
We've returned a couple more times to the lakes with some success but there is much to learn here and it provides a challenging and interesting diversion whilst the rivers are flooded and the sea too rough.

19/1/14 A Bloody Great Big Eel.

Well, big by my  'average' standards anyway.....but more of that later.

I made a huge 'boo-boo' last week by making a bad call on the weather, cancelling a trip out on what turned out to be a beautiful day and missing out on some really super blonde ray fishing. I know this because a  'learned friend' of mine made the right choice, unknowingly followed 'my' cunning plan, and scored 'big time' A lesson well and truly learned.
The inshore boat fishing can be a bit dull at this time of year, excepting 'blondies' on small tides, but I'd been given a 'hot tip' to try out  by my  'learned friend' who is rarely wrong. He also, rightly so, does not give out information too freely so, when he does come up with the goods, I tend to sit up and Take note(s)...literally.
One day I'll be able to return a favour or two....I hope.
The target mark was a fair way off shore and leaving the port ,as the tide dictated, at 9 a.m saw Dave and me suffering an uncomfortable ride out in the residue chop from recently subsiding winds.
Ten miles off and, as I'd started out with an under half empty tank and was running low on fuel, it was time to change tanks-not a problem ...........until the engine wouldn't restart...........which is a problem.
It did take me a while to diagnose the fault, and I was very close to 'calling it' and returning home on the auxillary engine.
 No petrol was reaching the main fuel pump and this was caused by a one way valve in the fuel bulb falling out of place and blocking the line. Once I'd dismantled the bulb it was an easy fix and it looked fine but I made the decision to abandon our initial plan, turn back and choose an 'inside' mark.
 Should the fuel line fail again, at least I'd be within easy reach of home if I had to use the 'wing' motor and anyway, the 'experiment' could wait for another day.
The fuel bulb failure highlights what a 'thin ice' we 'skate' on sometimes taking our boats out to sea. Taking a close look at the component back at home it was literally 'one of those things' that could happen to anyone  who uses a petrol engine, at anytime. How the valve came loose , only the devil knows as its still in 'new' condition. Whatever the case, it was a very satisfying feeling to be able to diagnose such a simple problem and fix it safely at sea although, I did secretly hope that we'd have to use my auxillary engine and prove its worth.
Would I go to sea without that little back up engine? Not likely.
'Phil's' marks are a line of numbers on mixed ground given to me when I first started out with my own boat and can be relied upon to provide steady, if not always electrifying, sport with a variety of species pretty much all year round. We chose to anchor on the 'cod' mark even though I've never caught, nor heard of a cod caught from here. Usually, it's 'Phil's skate marks' that throw up the odd cod. Confused?
Anyway , we settled on the nice convenient and safe mark just a 'stone's throw' out 'just in case' .
Bites were slow with the odd cat shark falling to our huge baits set for a 'hopeful' late cod. I did put down a small bait as well and caught the smallest, cutest dog fish I've ever seen. As Dave commented; ' Probably not that long out of the sack'

 

 

Thornback and undulate rays added a bit of variety until Dave hooked into something a bit more substantial in the shape of a conger of about 20lb giving him a good scrap in the process.
I decided to bait up with a big , eight inch strip of thick cuttle on my next drop and a classic slow ticking run on my old Penn Jigmaster developed into a solid hit and I immediately felt something a bit special on the other end.
 A good strong fight with plenty of line stealing eventually saw a decent conger on the surface and a considerably larger specimen than any I'd seen before.
Having recently constructed a pair of hand gaffs in anticipation of a common skate trip to Scotland, I had it in my head to 'chin' the big eel and bring him aboard for a photo opportunity, especially as every conger I'd caught prior to this had been T barred at the side of the boat.
She came in quite easily but, as Dave had warned, twisted on the gaff and required a bit of muscle to control but it was worth the effort and we got a few pics before I slipped her back over the side none the worse for her experience.
Dave's got far more knowledge of big eels than me and at about five to six feet long,he estimated the fish to be over 50lb so i'll settle for the 'half ton' She was  heavy enough for me not to be able to lift her clear of the deck anyway-a cracking sporting fish that I really should target more often.
It would seem that these conger spread out off the usual reef marks at this time of year-perhaps in search of food. Several reports of eels were coming in over the radio today particularly in the region of the 'half way' mark . Generally the other boats were having a quiet time of it which seems to be the run of things at the moment, with many skippers talking about lifting their boats out for maintenance.'
 It was also a day of mishaps.
Notwithstanding my own maladies, three boats were towed into harbour today-one poor charter boat losing its prop at the river mouth which could have been extremely problematical.

If you're reading this let me know. Comment on here or drop me an email with any questions at
completeangler@sky.com

15/1/14 The Dark Side.

2014 started for me pretty much the same as 2013 ended with my fishing being somewhat s-l-o-w.

With the prolonged periods of heavy rain leaving the river in a more severe state of flood than I think I've ever seen before, and continuously strong winds keeping 'Jupiter' firmly on her mooring, Dave and me sought solace in another unsuccessful attempt at pike fishing on the club lake.
Entertainment for the day was provided in the form of a club 'official' who happened to turn up, check our permits, and proceed to give us the benefit, for half an hour too long, of his divine wisdom.
I won't go into details but, why do so many people in fishing spout utter rubbish? What on earth goes on in some people's minds? We've all met them.
 Among many other priceless gems of misery and 'intimate knowledge' that spilled from between his lips was the 'fact' that the stretch of river Dave and me were targeting, and where Dave caught his 'twenty' in November', no longer contained any big pike at all. 'They're all dead'
 Being rather congenial sorts, after knowingly glancing at each other,we just politely smiled and proffered nothing but, it was when the 'guru' started spouting off about moon phases that I felt myself glaze over and my mind wander off completely. Anglers are a strange breed.Perhaps I'm just  becoming old and cynical.
As a youngster, I regularly fished a beautiful lake set deep in the Surrey Hills at Dorking known as 'Old Bury Hill Lake'. Back in the seventies and early eighties it was a 'day ticket' venue run by a  certain  Graham Rowles.
 Those of you who fished it at the time will no doubt remember this huge bearded character who sewed fear in the minds of any teenager who dared turn up to fish 'his' lake. Step out of line once, like fumbling for your disgorger, and you felt as if you'd committed a heinous crime that would result in a terrible punishment if he caught you with one of 'his' fish out of the water for more than a second!
He ran a tight ship! But 'Ole Bury 'ill' was indeed a very pleasant place to fish , and I remember seeing several celebrity match anglers of the time sitting behind glass fibre 'swing tip' rods bagging up on the lake's superb bream.
I don't think I'd fished there for about thirty five years but, finding the venue mentioned in an article in a stack of coarse angling magazines that Dave had given me, my curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to pay the place a visit and seek out some of its famous Zander- a specie I'd yet to encounter.
There is no doubt that the fishery has changed somewhat over the decades, and sadly lost just a little of its natural beauty and charm, or perhaps I'm looking back through rose tinted glasses.
 The main lake (there are now several) 'Bury Hill' itself was instantly recognisable but has been somewhat 'manicured' and furnished with comfortable wooden fishing platforms evenly spaced around its banks, and a solid pathway on which to push your fully laden tackle trolley.
The ramshackle old boat house and bailiff's hut with half stable door where, if you were lucky, and dared ask, you might be able to buy a stale Mars bar along with your half a pint of maggots,has been replaced by a thoroughly modern café and impressively well stocked tackle shop but, the punts are still present.
 I suppose this is the face of modern 'commercial' coarse fishing and in this 'instant' angling world that we find ourselves in, for many, it provides ample benefits and why not.
Having said that it is still a beautiful spot set in very peaceful surroundings and well worth a visit when the sea and rivers are unavailable.
Thankfully, 'Grumpy Graham' has long gone and I'm pleased to say that the staff employed by the new owner  to run the fishery,are helpful and enthusiastic. I'd remembered where the deep areas in the lake were in the seventies and, with a bit of questioning, was 'guided' a little on the location of the 'hot' zander swims which indeed turned out to be the very same spots for targeting them at this time of year, and prior to them moving into shallower areas for spawning.
I'm not entirely sure when this strain of zander were introduced, perhaps twenty years ago? Whatever the case,apparently this slow growing fish has reached some very impressive sizes and provides a rare opportunity for the southern based angler to attempt to catch one.
The fishery runs a 'single barbless hook only' rule and I was recommended to try very small sea bait sections for these wily ,mostly nocturnal, feeders. I chose sections of my favourite pike dead bait-sardine.
 My first trip to the lake, a bright sunny day in early January resulted in a blank. However, I did see, from a distance, one zander caught, and experienced a flurry of tentative bites and activity on the bite alarms just as the light faded at the end of the day so, not to be beaten, a return trip was very much in order.
The fishery owner, after a bit of gentle persuasion kindly allowed me , a complete stranger, to fish into the evening on my second visit which I greatly appreciated as its not something he would normally permit. I arrived at 3p.m and settled into the same swim chosen on my first visit but, on this occasion, I elected to float leger my baits using  small low buoyancy wagglers armed with red 'starlights' to foil these most finicky of fish.
 When collecting my ticket , I'd be shown a mounted zander in the fishery office of over 17lb that had been captured from the lake and what struck me most was just how tiny the fish's mouth was in relation to its body size. I've only ever seen one zander in the flesh before caught from a French river and despatched for the dinner plate so I'm not really qualified to comment but, having studied pictures of zander in Mark Barratt's excellent book on the subject, it would appear that the strain stocked in Bury Hill do have rather small mouths.
Nothing happened until darkness fell and, with the fishery gate locked and the few day time anglers and staff long gone, I was left in peace with the whole lake to myself.
I fished two baits, a tail section at distance in about ten feet of water, and a head section in the margin at a similar depth with a few tiny fish sections scattered as free offerings and to enhance the scent in the water.
 Straining my eyes to watch the dim 'starlights' reminded me of my youth when I regularly fished on summer nights in the school holidays at a local estate lake just a bike ride from my Surrey home, my quarry being the shy biting crucian carp which were partial to a grain  of sweet corn suspended under a battery powered float. I wonder if you can still buy those floats.
 The excitement and anticipation that I so clearly remember from that time is definitely still in me. There is nothing quite like night fishing on a still water with its rarefied atmosphere and thankfully, on this particular January night, the sky was shrouded in cloud and the temperature quite comfortable.
In a moment, one of the little red star lights wasn't there any more and before the back up bite alarm was given a chance to do its job, I'd tightened up to my first fish from the lake for over three decades.
 The fight, if you could indeed call it that was, to be perfectly honest, uninspiring, but the fish felt heavy and, as I drew it over the landing net and peered into the mesh under the head light, this indeed proved to be the case .
 My first ever zander would turn out to be a double figure fish-what luck.
The zed was as fat as butter and in sparking condition- a real credit to possible former captors. Fully intending to preserve her pristine state, I quickly weighed her in the net and snapped off a piccie on the unhooking mat- reluctant to waste time setting up a 'selfie'. After spending a few seconds admiring my prize and immediately noticing that 'tiny' mouth full of fangs, she was carefully slipped back into the darkness none the worse for her experience.
At 10lb 10oz a fine first of specie but that wasn't the end of it.
I had been asked to vacate the premises at 9-00 p.m and ten minutes before 'closing time' the same float , baited with the same bait-sardine head , glided away and I was in again. A similar sized zander was 'on' but unfortunately she slipped the hook right at the net probably because the line had tangled one of the pectoral fins. At least I got a good look her at in the headlight before she secured her escape.
One fish only, but I'd hit the target in style and it was one very  'happy bunny' driving the forty miles home that night and hatching plans of a possible future zander excursion to the acknowledged 'home' of this rather enigmatic, nocturnal immigrant......The Fens.

December 2013- Firing Blanks

This 'blank' is slightly  unusual in that I think it is the first time I've ever actually caught nothing at all whilst inshore boat fishing. Brian took me out on his cracking Orkney Fastliner 'Marruig' and we spent a very pleasant day sitting behind rods armed with huge baits hoping for a cod on a close in mark. I did manage to hook, and subsequently lose something large which , judging by the 'head banging' fight was probably a big cod or bass, and Brian successfully boated a conger but that was that......we were specimen hunting after all.

A completely biteless pike session with Dave on 'our favourite' stretch of river in late December is just how things go in fishing sometimes, particularly if you choose to target a 'difficult' quarry.

As the end of the year approached not only was it time to go catch a fish or two (just to recharge the batteries) but also to finish what has been for me my most successful fishing year yet. With a decent window in the weather, Dave and me set off in the boat once again in search of those elusive cod.......and failed. We did however, have a mixed catch of thornback and undulate rays, conger, whiting, dogs (of course) and the biggest, fattest pouting I've ever hooked into- a fish approaching a couple of pounds so, yet again, an enjoyable day afloat.

7/12/13 Colourful Clowns Of The Sea.

 

My mate Brian was keen to have a bash at vertical lure fishing with soft plastics and as the water clarity 'out there' was still very good, I suggested that we give it a try  on the inshore reef marks again hunting wrasse. Of course, there was always an outside chance of stumbling across a bass shoal.
We did take some bait with us, just in case, but the general consensus of opinion locally is that we need a good blow to stir things up a bit, and improve the general bottom fishing for cod and whiting , which has been rather poor of late.
The  6m tide meant staying in the general area of a mark( #9) that actually benefits from the larger tidal movements, and still allows vertical fishing with s.p lures with a manageable (up to 3oz) nose weight.
I tend to avoid expensive jig heads, and opt instead for a plain drilled bullet on the short 2ft mono trace  tied direct to the braid. The bullet is fixed  against the lure with a silicone rig stop. The lure is rigged 'texas' style with a 'worm' style hook (lure guru Pete Cook recommends 'Nogales Monster Class 'and they're excellent) tied direct to the trace. The rig is fairly snag free but, as your fishing tight to the bottom on sometimes,  extremely rough terrain, losses must be expected.

Rod and reel wise, I prefer a short bait caster style rod (mine's a 6ft 6in jigging rod rated at 40/60g) matched to a tiny Abu 4501 multiplier loaded with 20lb braid, though any light spinning gear will suffice. This outfit means that even the smaller wrasse, bass and pollack will give good sport, and it is great fun.
My lure choice leans towards 4-6 inch green or purple (anything dark) worms for the wrasse, moving to lighter coloured shad style lures IF a bass shoal is located . The bass , if feeding, seem to be less fussy but, size of lure seems to be important and if its possible to 'match the hatch', for example, if you know that small sprats are about, then do so with something about 4in long and silver or white.
 When going for the wrasse, pinning the lure on the sea bed seems to be the way to go. I leave the multiplier out of gear with my thumb resting on the spool and am constantly feeding line to achieve this, retrieving should the depth reduce.
Rod action is so subtle that it's barely noticeable and the rocking motion of the boat actually needs to be counteracted sometimes . Prior to going out I rigged a worm bait in the marina and watched how it behaved. Even a slight 4in movement on the rod tip made the lure look very realistic and enticing.
I find that keeping the lure as vertical as possible underneath the boat enables you to hook more fish , and the nose weight should be adjusted accordingly.
When rigged with a heavy, say 3oz bullet weight, the rig appears to look 'wrong'. However, it doesn't seem to put the fish off at all and in fact, I believe that the disturbance caused by the heavy weight bumping the sea bed actually attracts the wrasse.
Again, with the bass, albeit if they choose to feed, the action seems to require less subtlety and in fact at times by simply retrieving the lure slowly, they can be induced to take up in the water column.
Wrasse takes sometimes need a little bit of time to develop, especially when using a 'shrouded' hook but the bass will more than likely hit the lure quite hard and will be hooked at the first indication.
As soon as we arrived at the mark it was clear on the sounder that pockets of wrasse were present and we hit them straight away and before long, lost count.
 The wrasse came steadily throughout the day .Most were in the 2lb bracket, with the odd better fish, in a variety of colours and a couple of stray bass also turned up to add variety. A short move to my 'basking shark' mark gave Brian the biggest of the day with a new personal best fish of 5lb on the nose and indeed, this mark did seem to produce bigger specimens but in less numbers.

As darkness approached I did notice some bird activity over our original mark and suggested a return. On arrival, the sounder 'came alive' with a small dense shoal of  what was obviously bass and we were immediately amongst them taking a couple each , Brian got a good'n, before we lost the shoal after the second drift.
We continued to scan the area but to no avail and although,I'd been  careful trying to skirt around where I thought they were located when returning to re-drift but, I either spooked them, or they were moving extremely fast because no sooner had we located them, than they were gone-vanished completely.
By then it was completely dark and time to return home but we'd had a good session and Brian commented how much he'd enjoyed doing something a bit different which I found personally, extremely satisfying.
This sort of fishing does provide an welcome winter alternative to conventional bait fishing methods when conditions suit, and does have the capability of producing a cod or two as my marina neighbours brothers Clive and  Kim Hodges have recently proved.
Wrasse, probably because they aren't usually considered to be a table fish, are not everyone's cup of tea granted, but they do provide superb sport on light gear and, as Brian pointed out to me, are a bit more fun than hauling up doggies and channels whilst waiting for the conditions to improve for cod hunting.
Personally, I enjoy fishing for anything (doggies included) but will be curious to see how far the wrasse fishing can be pushed and just how big we can get them locally.Pete reckons they hang around all year and there are 'monsters' out there with 8 pounders being caught in nets. An 8lb ballan wrasse...wouldn't that be something.

4/12/13 Jupiter's Moon...One Year On.

I've now been running my Warrior 175 Export 'Jupiter's Moon' for just over a year , have completed nearly 50 trips  in her, and clocked up close to 120 hours of engine running time, so it would be a good time to reflect, and try to give an objective appraisal on how she's performed.
The biggest problem when trying to source information about boats prior to considering a purchase, is getting objective information from owners. Everybody, it would seem, loves their particular boat and in some respects ,why shouldn't they.They have ,in all likelihood, spent a considerable amount of hard earned cash on their 'pride and joy'.
Reputation goes a long way in the boating world particularly in the small fishing boat sector. Our local manufacturer is Orkney boats of Arundel, their factory being just a couple of miles from the marina where I park my boat. They're a very popular craft round our way and, rightly so, because  despite being expensive, In my opinion they do build some very fine boats to a very high standard , 'word' gets around, and similarly, by their very nature boats frequently get passed on second hand and stay in the locale.
I did come very close indeed to buying another Orkney. It was the price that prevented me from doing so, and the fact that I'd discovered Warriors. Well, I'd seen one on the water and plenty of photographs and spiel about them on the internet!
There are no Warriors at all in Littlehampton but, in other parts of the country they are  extremely popular.They have a very high production rate, have enjoyed a long production run,and command  high second hand prices on the boat market. It was mainly for these reasons that I chose to buy one myself. Surely, all those Warrior buyers couldn't be wrong....could they?
Buying 'new' is a considerable financial gamble, and will only be of benefit if I choose to keep the boat long term.I'll let you know on this score.
 I did go for a test ride in a standard 175 at the Southampton boat show but, in reality, this was a meaningless exercise and I probably did it just because I thought I should do so before agreeing to buy. In truth, I'd already decided to buy one anyway. I remember leaving the show feeling very impressed with the 175 but, in reality a ten minute spin in any fast fishing boat on flat water would have impressed me on that day.
The only prior decision I'd made about what type of boat I was going to buy was that, despite keeping her on a mooring at a marina, I wanted a boat that could be trailered . This , as you'll see from the fun I've had travelling to catch sharks this year, did indeed prove to be the right move but there is also the fact that being able to easily recover the boat myself to carry out maintenance and repairs has also been a big advantage.
Which leads me conveniently on to the first major problem I had with 'Jupiter' . Very early on in my ownership, in fact after she'd only just  had her first ten hour service, my fuel line fractured. Luckily, I'd noticed the petrol spilling on the surface water whilst still on the marina so I quickly dragged her out and investigated the problem.
The main fuel line had been very badly routed causing it to be restricted and eventually split. Not only was the Suzuki design very poor, but the fuel line material wasn't really up to the job so I replaced the whole line myself with something much stronger, chose a better route and have just kept a close eye on it. Not really something you'd expect on a ten grand motor.
To be honest, I couldn't be bothered messing around with the warranty and as it was such a quick and easy fix I just did it myself. At least it had been an excuse to get a good look under the engine cowling and see what was what with my engine.
This leads me nicely on to servicing. The engine comes with a three year warranty but, you have to have it serviced by an 'approved' Suzuki dealer and get the book stamped to maintain said warranty.
I've no complaints at all about the mechanic that services my engine but, like all marine engineers, his services aren't cheap, especially when you consider exactly what he does and this is compounded by the amount of use I'm giving my engine, which in itself is no bad thing in as all things mechanical benefit from being used. It just means that the service interval occurs more frequently.
 After nine months of use, i'd had two services already at a total cost of about £600. At this rate, I could buy a new engine soon enough.
Now I accept that for those of you who aren't mechanically minded you're probably happy to pay the price but personally, I'm not and, despite the perceived risk, will in future service the engine myself at a fraction of the cost, bin the warranty and accept the consequences. However I would say that, unless you're quite experienced with wielding spanners and know your way around engines in general, leave it to someone who does. I'll let you know in two years time if this has been the right decision.
Apart from the fuel line fault and a very slight vibration at 4000 r.p.m which I've grown used to, the main engine has performed very well so far, returns an overall fuel consumption of about a litre per nautical mile, is smooth and quiet and has more than enough power for my needs.
The 6hp auxillery engine has not been used in an emergency yet, but is started and properly warmed up regularly, pushes the boat as well as can be expected and despite sitting on the back for a year still looks like new.
 I do need to remember to drain the carb before removing for transportation however as it does leak and gives one a bit of a headache when stored inside the van on long journeys. To be fair, it does advise this procedure in the handbook.
Ah, the handbook, yes! There's a thing.
 You would have thought that in this day an age you'd be able to rely 100% on the information printed within a handbook for an outboard engine costing a grand, wouldn't you? Not in the Suzuki 6hp one I'm afraid.
It mistakenly misleads you into thinking that the flushing plug is in fact the engine oil drain plug! There's even an incorrectly annotated diagram to accompany the text. Follow the instructions and the least you'd do would be to create a terrible oily mess, and for those with less savvy, you might even flush your oil ways out with water-definitely not good for your engine.
 Luckily, I spotted it immediately but, in all honesty, its a poor show.
 In similar fashion to the main engine, I've chosen to abandon the warranty on the 6hp too. Its simple enough to do myself and the cost of paying a mechanic to do three full services would pay for a new engine!
Right, I've torn the outboards to pieces, what about the boat.
First of all, don't be deceived into thinking that it will be an 'easy ride' launching and recovering your 175 using your average family saloon as tow vehicle. The package weighs close to a ton and a half without an auxillery, some fuel, and a bit of fishing kit on board. It can be done, but you will need to choose your slipway with some care. A 4wd vehicle would be a big advantage with a boat of this size.
 I manage with my 2WD VW T4 van but it does take some 'learned' skills,careful use of my van's clutch,  and forward thinking. I must say that, the roller trailer is a work of art and actually getting the boat on and off  is very easy process indeed, and you only need to just get the bottom of the tyres wet to do this.
I've no complaints about the 'on road' manners whatsoever. The 'rig' stays exactly where you want it to-safe and sound and my van has coped admirably with some very steep, and tight Devon and Cornwall back roads. A little bit more power would be nice but I'm not going to change vehicles and will just live with it nursing my clutch in the process.
I do have some minor criticisms of the boat itself.
 Warrior supply a rod rail/bait board as an optional extra but when fitted, two of the rear rod tube holders are unusable-doh. The bait board gets in the way and takes care of that. With hindsight, it would have been nice if Warrior had told me this and I'd have repositioned the holders from new. Luckily I've got eight more to choose from.
A piece of trim continually falls off, one of the switch panel backlights has failed, and the seat boxes allow deck water to get underneath the seal but these are all easily remedied issues albeit, a tad shoddy.
When originally specced up, I wanted a search light fitted and this has proved to be invaluable on really dark nights although, when there's a moon, I allow my night vision to naturally adapt. However, the lamp fitting bracket is painted mild steel and has rusted. Again, a bit shoddy.

All the above are , in the grand scheme of things,  minor critisms that can be easily remedied-others may not feel the same way having bought a brand new boat  but,'each to their own'
  The overall build quality of the Warrior  and its fittings , especially when compared to other boats(Orkneys excepted) is excellent. Mine still looks like new, apart a few tiny knocks which must be expected, and its quite common to see old Warriors still looking very good indeed after some years of use.
On the sea which is, I suppose where things really count, I've got no complaints. Apparently , the heavier standard 175 handles better according to those 'in the know' because of the extra weight. I'm not 'in the know', so can't comment.
 This boat is certainly fast enough (I average 20kts-she'll do 30 plus if I've got the balls for it),and is  able to maintain a good speed when things 'kick up' a bit and feels very sure footed.
She planes quickly and easily and holds a 'level' ride , keeping things very smooth. Slamming? what slamming? I drive her so she doesn't slam. Go get a 'cathedral' hull if you wanna 'slam'.
Freeboard is excellent, which is extremely important for someone of my dimensions , and in fact one guest crew of normal stature actually commented that it was a bit too high for him and would make returning his bass a little awkward.
She sits well at anchor and behaves herself in a following sea though its rare that a following sea can catch me up anyway.lol
Beam and head seas are just brushed aside and, from my experience, despite popular 'forum' opinion, she's a relatively 'dry' boat  compared to many I've ridden in, though the excellent optional folding canopy is a massive boon and provides good protection from weather at both ends of the spectrum when fishing as well as motoring.
The seats are a brilliant design,and  driving position(custom fit) and visibility are all first class. In thick fog, I can stand to helm  and easily get the best  possible vision over the cuddy roof. I could fit a wiper to one of the screens and indeed this has been suggested but personally, I don't think it will be necessary. I can see out fine-Rain-X sees to that.
Its fashionable on the forums to 'knock' Lowrance electronics. The standard package has proved to be easy to use and it's caught me plenty of fish and got me where I wanna go so I've no complaints.
Anchoring through the hatch is easy though, if you're any wider than me it might become an issue.
A cushion on the forward seat, which you kneel on when hauling, would be a welcome addition.
Choosing the Export version mainly for the removable fuel tanks and uncluttered deck has given me a huge , usable 'working' space which I've begun to really appreciate. I've fished three people with no problems on two occasions, one a long distance 28nm shark run,  though obviously two anglers would be more comfortable. Weight distribution is nowhere near as critical as you might think on a boat of this size and the final testament-bigger boats on the marina don't go out any more, nor stay out any longer than I do and believe me, I'm careful.
Despite the high original cost, and to be fair, she wasn't cheap, the first year of ownership has really broadened my fishing horizons and I've been able to do a lot more than I expected mainly because, with the speeds available to me, long distances are no longer an issue.
Boats are very personal things and most people tend to go with what they have, and learn to love them. I actually believe that , with notable exceptions which are generally widely known about, there are very few 'bad' boats manufactured nowadays.
I've tried to highlight the 175's faults in this 'review' , and also attempted to be objective but its been tricky as I've had so much enjoyment with her this past year. Long term ownership is beginning to look more likely. What's unlikely, unless I suddenly become very wealthy and get bored of catching sharks, Is that I'll want to 'down grade' to a bigger boat. There's a lot to be said for being happy with  your' lot'.
Overall, I'm very happy indeed with 'Jupiter', in fact, as a truly functional 'fishing machine', glitches aside,

 

 I cannot find fault with her..............but I would say that wouldn't I.......after all.......she's mine!

Don't forget...Got anything to say??? Leave a comment or drop me an email. 'completeangler@sky.com'