mike farrants

this was on a ledger rig - and the hook was in the shell so maybe it was open as it dragged over then clamped shut on it!

apparently its a "Long clawed porcelain crab".... every day is a school day!

Tope and spurs - large mackerel flap (one whole side) hooked once Rays - we seem to find the big ones will take a mackerel head and that seems to work well. never caught a huss - but i imagine they are the least fussy? also never used whiting fillet as bait - but did freeze some in case my frozen mackerel stocks got low - would be interested to hear!

haha i'm having a mare - thanks - edited to April.......

Tim somehow hooked a scallop while fishing and i wasnt going to let the opportunity pass - i took it home, chucked, cleaned, fried in garlic and chilli and served with crispy bacon bits as a starter. delicious! kept the frills for bream bait!

fixed - 14lb is much better!

ahem...... 🤷‍♂️

😮😬😱

from this ^^^ to this - snow on the way in! and sunday at Lulworth

Weather for the weekend was set to be cold but fair - with winds mostly off the land and under 10mph - so me and my mate Tim decided to head out both days in his boat - Anteres 710. Saturday (after failing to get mackerel in the entrances) we headed to a new mark east of Portland, in about 100ft of water over what looks like some interesting banks - however the easterly wind over tide chop vs the SW swell made it quite uncomfortable beam on, so after half an hour, one Doggie, and Tim somehow snagged a scallop on a 8/0 hook, we repositioned to a known mark a bit closer in. the day was slow - but produced a nice thornie for me and we both had dogs whiting and pout. It flattened right off and the wind dropped - it was glorious out there in the sun. we decided to pack up as the clouds were gathering and on the run in found it to start snowing! half hour ago we were basking in the sun! madness! - i took the scallop home, chucked and fried within minutes of getting home - fried with Bacon garlic and Chili! Sunday we had 3 of us and we heard rumours the bream never left lulworth ledge this winter - so that was the plan - target the bream, on light gear and put a big bait down for something flat or snakey and we weren't disappointed. A 1hr steam Straight to the mark and we were fishing by 8.30am - with the target species on board before 9am. I had a lovely spotted ray on 1st drop, Tim was into the bream, and so was i soon after, Tim also had a nice thornie the last of the ebb produced most of the fish - we ended on 20+ bream between the 2 of us, many keepers. they were spitting up these tiny crabs with a cross on their back I also had a couple of congers, Jason and i both hooked into a conger each at the same time - they got us onto a right mess - coming up together tangled! we had to stop fishing while the tide turned - as we kept getting snagged. the start of the flood produced some more bream, and plenty of dogs, Jason likes to fish big with mackerel heads and had a stonker of a thornie at 14.7lb, and lost another at the boat. the day was glorious, bitterly cold at times, but lovely in the sun - after the tide turned the wind veered to the SW and picked up so we called it a day. plenty of fresh bream for tea! I kept the scallop frills as i hear its good bait for bream - but as they were so happy with squid - i've frozen the frills for another day (gilt head day maybe) - anyone had any experience with scallop frills?

only one fool here........ 🤣

i think you need to refresh windy andy! looks like last weeks weather!

Saturday morning: Saturday afternoon: and sunday.....

dont want to jinx it - but its looking good for both days this weekend - sub 10mph and dropping all day off the land..... cold and huge tides though fingers crossed

nice one!

took my birthday off work coz no one should work on their birthday when they could be catching dogfish or something. in laws were down for mothers day so we planned fishing on the Saturday 26th and Monday 28th. 20mph easterlies on saturday kept us firmly on dry land and after a few hours fishing from shore we blanked. so went to the pub. the wind was due to drop on Monday and having been dragged around Seaton for mothers day we were keen to get out - so we thought we would poke our bow out and have a look - the swell was as forecast around 0.5m and close but wind chop as well - not bad enough to turn around, but not suitable for anchoring either - we chose to anchor up inside portland harbour - nice and sheltered. very hazy all day - almost foggy but a fresh breeze! very odd, we were in 40ft of water and over mud - hoping for thornies and conger. fishing was slow all day, we each had a small whiting, phil had a 2nd and then a conger at the end of the day - slow - but better than being in the office. the birthday beers took the chill off too! no idea what these gonads are - but i caught loads? back at the pontoon by 5pm for a quick one in The Boot before a fish and chip dinner at the Cove House Inn overlooking chesil for a hazy sunset!!

looks like you had a cracking day! and a decent mix of fish - well done all!

i remember as a child standing on Headon warren above the needles and waving the warships off with a huge white ensign - my mum was dating a matlow and he was on HMS glamorgan i think. the return was also quite a sight to remember! I also remember seeing a warship in drydock being repaired after damage to the bow - i remember the red oxide primer nose...... cant remember the ship though

no boating for me this weekend - wind too strong and from the east. saturday gardening - sunday fishing form the shore - or some boat maintenance (cleaning etc)

7.5kg Delta anchor, 10m of 6mm chain and 150m of 10mm 3str nylon. 6m boat - Alderney ring and buoy.

wow 7 comments and not one mention of "Mike could use that" or "put it in pugwash"....... 🤣

although you could argue the turbot is better looking....... 🤣

Copyright subsists in any photo, - even online - any image has copyright attached to it - even in the public domain! this face dont come for free...... 🤣

I've sent the editor an email asking them their policy on using other peoples images without permission. That image (like it or not) is subject to copyright law and cant be reproduced without permission of the copyright owner (Me) There's also a question over privacy and publicity rights. lets see what they say (i am glad they protected my secret spot so carefully though)

no don't ban me from there i will never know "when are the mackerel in" or "When are the squid in" otherwise........