Andy135

Nice bream and a very nice bass. Well fished 👍 Looks like you had decent weather too. Result!

Ha! Yes, I haven't forgotten how to cast a lure just yet. Sadly all my hard plastics are in storage waiting for us to move house, so I only had SP's and jig heads with me, otherwise I'd have switched to topwaters to tempt those bass I saw.

Result!! Top work Dave. Stick up a report and tell us all about it. Well chuffed for you 👍👍

In all seriousness that does sound like a red letter day. Very well done to you and to Ray. Excellent fishing. 👍

Well done Scott, that sounds like the best day that never was 😉 #notjealousatall...much

Looks good Ivan. DIY effort?

Don't confuse me with Neil - he's the one with form for throwing rods overboard or breaking them. He's done in two rods this season alone.

I have an SX and an MX for downtiding and and SXJ for slow jigging. I also have an EXW/30 2 speed for bigger stuff but that's in RH. They are my reel of choice and after using them, other reels just feel cheap. Yes, you'll hear people say their bearings get crushed but that's only due to users winding up the pre-load without slacking off the drag first... something that every lever drag is susceptible to. Bottom line is that if Luke can wind in a blue shark on an Avet on a 6-12lb rod, they must be good enough for rays and cod in the BC.

Welcome to the leftie club. I have a couple of Penns and three Avets all in left hand wind. As Neil says, the Penn Fathom is good quality and worth a look, as are any of the Avets - none of these come with levelwind, which may be no bad thing for you. Or you could try a 5000 size FS reel, something like a Shimano Saragosa, which would do up and downtiding just fine.

I'd be tempted to try coarse hooks. 12 to 14. I was chatting to a coarse angler who was on holiday in Cornwall last time we were down and he was catching them in the Fowey Estuary on a cage feeder stuffed with bread paste and a single bread flake on a hair rigged size 12.

Surely not?!?! Does he not know there be monsters out there? 🤣 Where you fishing @JonC? Not the local carp pond?? #puddlejumper #danglingonthedarkside

What size hooks are you using?

Nice fish! Well done. Who knew they would take bread? Were you after a mullet? @Davemc will like that pic. Top marks Neil 👍

Ah, that's a shame! Just goes to show it happens to the best of us 👍 How did the Tournament go?

You planning to go Ivan?

No, but only cos I'll end up buying another boat if I do. 😬🤦‍♂️

Here's a page on posting pics. If you're posting from a mobile then @Saintly Fish has a technique where you edit a photo in your phone's Gallery, then crop it by a small amount and re-save using a lower resolution, which should bring the file size under the 2mb limit for posting. Shout if this still doesn't work and we'll figure something out for you.

Caldey Island? Any of the boat makes suggested would be fine for a crossing like that. The Pirate 21 has good sea-keeping and speed - they're relatively rare so keep their value, which also means they can be a bit expensive for what they are. They have no berths so if you definitely want to overnight on them then they may not be right for you. In my opinion the Orkney's are overpriced and slow but are well respected hulls. I don't have much experience of MF's to offer an opinion. What's your budget as this may limit or open up your options.

Welcome Simon. Presume you'll be heading to and from an island somewhere? Which one? The nature of the passage, depth, prevailing sea conditions etc may influence which style of boat to go for.

You may have found that the boat market is on the up just now. Lots of money in people's pockets after lockdown seems to have pushed up prices. That said, there will be bargains to be had I'm sure. Just got to keep looking. 👍

Welcome Ade. 👍

🤣🤣👍 Definitely!

😭😭😡

Welcome Christian, good to have you with us. Keep us posted on your search for a boat - there are plenty of knowledgeable members on here who can help with advice. You've probably already found that the used boat market is hot right now, with crazy prices being asked for average boats, but keep looking and I'm sure you'll find the right one for you. You're welcome to pick my brain... it's mostly empty but happy to share anyway 🤣

Ouch! That's a neat trick. Thanks for sharing 👍