mike farrants

Welcome! looking forward to all the catch reports - we like pics of fish here!

Yeah Brighton beach and marina are doing well for plaice, have a look at fish hunter Uk on YouTube,

Get well soon bud! 🤙🏻

yes 100% - it wasn;'t a man hole cover, it was an actual anchor shaped anchor 🤣🤣🤣🤣

anchor is rigged to trip but it didn't trip on retrieve

we thought maybe it had piled up and not set, but to be honest it was about 4-5 knots of tide out there - it didn't tangle - although that did happen to me on pugwash when i had the very heavy anchor and chain. we felt it set and turn the boat sharply, but obviously didn't hold he's bought a new chain now - longer and 8mm.

no that's the entrance to Portland harbour - where we drift on purpose 🤣 i tend to anchor in pugwash within sight of land so im sure i can adopt this technique!

not sure how i do that 4-6 miles off when its just anchored boats around - but great practice inshore!

yeah we noticed the slack lines first - then checked the plotter/navionics to confirm our suspicions!

yes im off to a flyer 4 trips over 3 weekends 11 species 2 firsts 5 PBs

snot snake doesnt have thorns.... and i had a grip!

appreciate you do move at anchor, stretch of warp swing left and right etc, but we were drifting - at 0.5 knots, we watched us on navionics drift right off the bank! i didnt save the track but a bit like this: Navionics re-creation (expect some artistic licence.....) we moved east to west some distance!

22lb conger - caught on mackerel head - Nr Weymouth spoils, 30th Jan - supersedes my previous estimated PB of 20lb

a strange weather window appeared for us on Sunday after a blow up on Saturday and another one due Sunday night - with sub 5mph winds forecast veering from NE to SW through the day we thought it well worth a try. Out on Tim's boat again as the adamant with the plan! Early start - 6.30am at the marina So after my catch of squid on the pier midweek we decided to start by targeting Squid in Portlands N entrance where we've had them before - getting there just before sunrise and the lures charged up with UV we were expectant, i also dropped a set of tinsels weighted with a pirk - hoping for some fresh bait or another pollock - alas we watched the sun rise and the sea glass off - but no squid or fish came to the boat. after an hour we headed off to the adamant - picking a spot we dropped anchor, only to find as we settled into fishing that we were catching up with our weights - a quick check on navionics and yep - we were moving 0.5knots. we upped anchor and tried again, same thing, we let out another 50m rope - still moving - so we pulled anchor and tried again - with all the 150m rope - still moving - couldnt understand it as last 2 weekends we have anchored the adamant on less rope.... maybe not enough chain? maybe the tide was stronger? ground softer? we were in 70-80ft water, with a 7kg anchor and a boats length of 6mm chain, & best part of 150m rope....? By the 4th failed attempt we gave up and moved inshore - to a mark near the spoiled ground. A slow day - but cracking weather - sunny, warm, glassy, I managed an angry 9.5lb thornie - who had heaps of attitude, and put up a scrap to make me think it was a conger. this one was soon followed by a smaller one of around 5lb. Tim had dogs, a strap, and a spider crab, his son had nothing (all day) - on either of his small whiting rigs or a big rig on the bottom. i had no interest in my other rod with sandeels. as the mackerel and enthusiasm waned i chucked a mackerel head and guts on knowing conger can come from here - and it wasn't long before i had an enquiry - a very gentle bite turned into a very heavy weight - not much of a scrap = i wasn't sure if it was a conger or ray - a couple of dives when it saw the boat and it was in the net - a big conger. was difficult to grab as they all are, the boga grips calmed it down, but it soon spun them into pieces - holding what was left of the grips we weighed it - 22lb - although its head was huge, its body not as fat. returning it wasn't easy as the grips were in bits and locked on - a pair of pliers on either side and it opened and the eel dropped back to the depths - another PB and its still only January! the tide turned, wind picked up and we called it a day - cracking day out, stunning weather, decent fish if a bit slow. I think Tim is going to up his chain length and thickness.

nice couple of rays and a good sized tope - the one in my profile pic was around 40lb, and was a right struggle to get in - we went for the rope round the tail method but in a 6knot tide that wasn't easy - pushing the rope up-tide around the tail was near impossible - it took us 20mins from the side of the boat to get it in the boat!

yeah will do andy - we are well protected from Westerly & SW swell by portland - and can always stay close in!

so..... whos out this weekend? we have up to 20mph w tomorrow - then flattening off on sunday to 4-5mph before coming in again to 20mph tomorrow evening. got to be worth an early start sunday!

great results, Is there a "how to" - or could you do a "how to" on how to add Copper oxide and zink oxide powder to AF - quantities, mixture, and how to apply etc? it might give me half a knot more - (i'll have to hold on as i put the hammer down)

i know it well - never fished it but i use the red funnel for all my trips home to the south island - looks very good structure and plenty of light - i just worry its never clear enough for squid..... worth a try though!

you should try it - its so much fun - but the conditions have to be right, calm and clear for a few weeks in the run up - somewhere with structure and ambient light. we have had 2 very poor seasons here when the cruise ships were in the bay as all the squid went to them instead. Weymouth is possibly the UKs hotspot for some reason - shallow sheltered bay with lots of light - but (that place you mention) is supposed to be good for squid, as are bornemouth/boscome piers, torbay areas, etc - from the boat - they will hold up on wrecks and reefs, but you will suffer from snags. Id be tempted to drop a 3 jig rig down just off the bottom whenever fishing from the boat amd just leave it - check every half hour - you just never know check out Squid fishing UK on facebook - not everyone gives away their marks coz as soon as you do the place is rammed - people travel for miles to catch squid and invest a lot of time and effort - so theres lots of secret squirrels.

Well i wasnt expecting that..... Had a chat with a few mates (sorry guys) on Tuesday night, about the recent reports of squid being caught along the south coast, - in particular my area Weymouth - some were saying piers, most were saying chesil cove - given the squid season has been and gone (usually Oct/Nov) one mate didn't believe them, and thought they were spoof/unlikely here/old pics etc etc (TBF one pic was taken on a fresh cut lawn[?]) - another believed them and wanted to know if they were in. they both live 2-3hrs away - so though do you know what - lets settle this - sod it i'll go and have a look for ink stains on the pier or even better i'll fling a jig around - only one to way to settle this..... its been so calm and with no rain for weeks the water clarity is perfect for squid, and its certainly mild enough. I had one hour of fishing between 8-9pm, so i armed myself with a Shimano Perfection 8' spinning road, Abu Cardinal 54FD, a selection of Squid jigs , soft Lumi beads and my ultra violet torch and headed to the pleasure pier (wooden jetty style pier - not the longer solid stone pier) - here you can park up almost on the pier and be fishing within minutes - only one other person was squid fishing with no luck the rest were regular fishing. I chose a green DTD 3.5g shrimp Jig, straight on via a snap link and glow bead. charged it up under the UV and cast out - not very hopeful. a few casts with a very slow sink and draw method yielded nothing so on the next retrieve I switched to very slow vertical jigging right by the pier legs - under my feet pretty much - i was holding the lure shallow enough to see it reflect in my head torch - and it suddenly started slowly moving off backwards - not getting over excited a gave a gentle pull (you dont strike squid) to see if anything was there - and it moved again, a more firm pull back on the rod and i was in - the happy sound of a squid jetting on the surface! in she came, one landed within 10 mins of trying. My FIRST EVER from the shore! not sure if the squid followed the lure in or was residing under the pier - so after a recharge of the glow i tried the teasing method again below my feet - and within minutes i had bagged another bigger one - 2 in 20 mins happy days and drawing a crowd now!. This one could be my PB, deffo my shore PB. but that's where it ended - no more for me I tried the bigger 4.0g pink red gill Jigs @GPSguru but no luck - they liked the green one - i'll keep trying!. i then had to race back, and get them gutted, cleaned and the kitchen hosed down before the Mrs got back at 9.30 - luckily she was late and i had all but washed the ink of the stainless franke....... (she isnt a clean freak just hates fishy things) - she did touch one though, and thats a big step forward! Point proven - you can catch squid in January plus Fresh Squid rings for lunch -happy days!

not gone out at night on the boat - one step at a time! going off the pier - lots of ambient light to attract them - then using glow jigs and glow beads - i got a UV torch to charge them up! i'll report back if i catch anything - if i dont catch i'll say i didnt go .... 🤫

Given how clear the water has been of late, and the reports i've seen round here - im goign to try for squid tonight - either off the pier or chesil cove - ive heard they have come in off both recently - anyone else heard or seen of squid being caught - they are usually Oct/Nov and then again in March - odd to see them in Jan

apologies - i meant FEET not meters

absolutely - i'm proof of this - I sit at anchor in 40ft of water just off Portland's east entrance and see many boats heading for 100ft or more - i've had double figure rays inside portland harbour - yes there different species and different ground/structure etc but its not always better I've had worse days offshore! depends if size really matters too - some are happy with a variety of species, or quantity and full on action over that one biggun. time also plays into it - if i only have an evening i'll be quite happy to anchor up close in and maximise the fishing time. (cue predictable joke about mikes slow boat)