Andy135

With the forecast looking great and with the boat fueled up and ready to go, I had high hopes for a decent session today. @Saintly Fish and I slipped out of the marina just before sunrise and headed south, watching it rise above the horizon as we buzzed towards our mark at 25kts. The mark in question was just north of the Spoils, a historic dumping ground south of the Nab Tower. Big thanks to @Scotch_Egg2012 for the numbers 👍 Arriving at slack water we dropped the hook and got our baits down. Within less than a minute we had bites... big bites. We'd anchored over a snake pit and they were hungry! We'd brought three rods each but barely had time to rig them all up, such was the frantic pace of bite, wind, unhook, rebait, bite, wind, unhook... Neil did a good impression of Benny Hill, chasing his conger around the deck. And so it went, conger after conger to mid-double figures. After an hour or so the tide strengthened and the bites slowed, with only the occasional fish making an appearance. That said, the weather and conditions were fantastic, and unseasonably warm for mid-Jan. We sat out the worst of the tide and as it started to slackened again the bites returned, and this time something a bit different arrived. A thornback ray, which made a welcome change from conger. And before long, another one arrived. A PB thornback ray for me, just nudging into double figures. After a few more congers, some whiting and pout the wind started to pick up, and as we were 12 miles out we decided to quit while the going was good. The return journey was uneventful but brief, hitting 26kts as we returned to the shelter of the Solent and Portsmouth Harbour approaches, where the sea state became glassy, a great way to finish the day. Big thanks to Neil for plenty of banter and laughs. Good netting skills too 👍

Top dangling as always. Pout is my son's favourite eating fish, and he would be very envious 👍 Sounds like a bad connection somewhere bridging two circuits on the Jeep. Moisture in a multi-plug perhaps?

Wow! What lovely conditions to be afloat. Good catches as well. Very well done the pair of you. Good photos too - thanks for sharing 👍

He started it by mentioning Jim Henson. I was simply searching for a facepalm giphy and this one seemed to fit the bill.

Maybe, but it's getting academic now. Bottom line is that I don't like the action or the way it feels, so will probably return it.

3 inch ones here. £3.50 for 30: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165252846839?hash=item2679d654f7:g:83YAAOSwt1phyF4f

They look tasty Mike 👍

What do you think?

The test curve of both rods (as tested by Thomas and I) was in the 2lb range, so nowhere near 4-6lb. The thicker, older rod, was at 2lb 15oz test. The thinner tip was 2lb 5oz, so I'd argue that the tip diameter clearly does influence the test curve in this instance, which in turn has a bearing on how comfortable it feels to haul up 1lb leads. Besides, no-one likes a heavy lead bouncing around on the end of an over-compressed rod on deck - give me a broomstick to fish with any day.

Excellent! Tight lines and keep us posted. 🎣🎣

Probably true, but then again, the 2mm tip and test curve is more suggestive of a 12-20lb rod action. Certainly doesn't feel like it would be happy cranking up 1lb leads all day.

So the plot thickens a bit. The retailer has just emailed me with confirmation that all their other stock of this rod measure 2mm. They've also asked Ugly Stik if there's been a spec change on the 20/30lb rods and we're now waiting to see what they say.

That's fine. I only measured with a regular ruler, not a micrometer, so the 2.8mm measurement I gave earlier in the thread was also an educated guess, but the key point here though is that yours and mine are both meaningfully thicker than just 2mm, which suggests that the new 20/30 they sent me could be a factory error.

pfffft!

Thanks - that's the same as my old (and preferred) 20/30 rod. Appreciate you taking the time to measure it for me.

Just to add, I'm planning to be out past the Nab on Friday, so look out for a report which will give you an indication of how that area is fishing. Might be of use if you're still deciding where to fish come Friday night.

Hi Adam - good question. The best answer I can give is to go to whichever mark you feel most confident. That said, it's often the way that we boat anglers feel confident about trying new marks over known marks that didn't fish well last time. So, seeing as you asked for votes, I'll vote for the Nab Tower area. Reason being that the range of species is probably wider than the other two marks. I've heard of conger, rays, whiting and pout come out from that general area this season and in years gone by, cod have been caught there too. Bigger, table sized whiting usually turn up on the flat ground to the NW of the Tower (location 1 on the map below) In previous seasons I've done well on the Fingers, just to the east of the tower (location 2). These are general locations, so you'll need to move around a bit to find the fish. If you want something to eat, a big whiting makes a good meal, and they can be caught fairly easily on baited feathers at anchor or on the drift. Bramble Bank will throw up pout, whiting, smaller eels, maybe a ray and occasionally a cod. @Saintly Fish caught his PB cod from that area a few years ago and it's close to Calshot slip, but it's also a busy place to fish. Bramble is so well sheltered that you could fish it on almost any forecast (within reason), so given that the forecast this weekend is so good, I'd be tempted to use the weather to try somewhere less sheltered that you wouldn't normally fish. The Hounds I know as more of a summer bream and wrasse mark. Not sure what you'll find there at this time of year other than dogfish, which may not be your cup of tea.

Good to know. The rings on mine have been fine so far, but will keep a closer eye on them. Thanks for the tip.

What versions are yours? Gold, Elite or GX2?

Oh, go on Mike. I need help to compare my rod with others to make sure it's not too small...

I wasn't claiming a PB though.

No pics sadly as I no longer have the rod.

My grandfather had a tank aerial fishing rod. Olive green, with eyes whipped on with fine string, and a shortened broom handle for a butt. I was given it as a hand-me-down when I first showed an interest in fishing. I remember it being very heavy to hold and cast. There was no reel seat so I strapped the reel on with duct tape. It lasted me until my next birthday when I received a proper graphite rod of my own.

How does a post about fishing rods have anything do to with CB radios? Really? 🤣🤷‍♂️