mike farrants

awesome - thanks mate @GPSguru - given your results - i'll follow your advice - the guy im going with said portland rig but most ive seen on you tube use booms. - i have booms forthe turbot drifting so will use them - but get some more! i'll order some 10oz cannonballs x10 i was thinking I needed a heavier rod than 12-20 - i have a 12-20lb leeda icon +slosh 20 and a 20-30lb leeda icon+ slosh 30 - both with braid and rubbing leader - but i also have an ugly stick 20-30lb..... i have shads, and some cheap sandeels - should i invest in some redgills? and if so what colours? and thanks andy - nice video to watch at lunchtime!

i like the idea of the boom to stop the lure spinning up round the main line on the way down, but thought a Portland rig was the way to go as the lure remains above the lead at all times until you hook a fish

the skipper is a mate of my mate who's coming so we will get insight ahead of the trip jelly worms - good call! Paper clips already on the list - great idea as much quicker to swap a new lead on tying off on a cleat - very good call - thanks!

cheers chaps was a fun day out!

had some left - demolished for lunch - quick whiting sandwich coat, fry enjoy!

Got a wrecking charter out of weymouth lined up in Feb and i've never been wrecking before - so want some sound advice please - rigs, lures, baits, tactics etc im expecting Pollock on lures, and maybe conger/ling on bait. i have some savage gear shads, and have ordered some 5" sidewinder super shads in orange and mackerel, i already have some sand eel type lures in pearl, Blue, yellow pink and green - but no branded ones (redgills/Sidewinder). Im thinking portland rig with rotten bottom 10oz cannonballs, for the lures and for the baited hooks 100lb rig body twisted boom set up with also a rotten bottom weight and those muppets. bait was thinking frozen mackerel flappers/Joeys - unless i can get some fresh Pout from the shore the night before! I do have some slow Jigs so might throw them around too all tips welcomed!

haha we've all done the "Snake Dance" chasing an eel all round the boat! looks like a cracking day out fellas!

didnt bother with the egg - i found after the squid that you dont really need it - the fish is wet anyway! I just covered them in cheap tesco breadcrumbs and fried - i used plain as i wanted to taste the fish - next time i might add more seasoning, chilli flakes or use the southern fried breadrumbs that i used on the squid

Not really catch and cook as i ididnt catch - but i took home my mates Whiting, filleted, goujoned, breadcrumbs, shallow fried, served with minty new potatoes and fine green beans. And a crisp cold Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. first time id tried it, and it was delicious - very similar to Cod - not a strong flavour at all but lovely white flakes!

Left the marina at sunrise - and headed immediately for the Adamant shoal which has been throwing up good whiting, big rays, big congers, and always has the chance of a spur/tope/smoothy. we had frozen mackerel, squid and cuttle for bait. Its about 6miles out so to save time we went in my friends boat [insert joke about mikes slow boat here] we had an escort across portland entrances from the local dolphins - which was lovely to see! we were first to arrive and after a bit of sussing the tide flow we anchored up in around 60ft of water - with 2 hours left of the ebb. We both had the same tactics = with very different results - just the way it goes sometimes! One large bait - Mackerel fillet on the bottom for rays/eels and a small 2 hook flapper for the whiting on the lighter rods I had a small eyed ray and my first ever blonde, with the usual dogs filling the gaps - but not one whiting...... Tim had a lovely double figure blonde, about 6 whiting some well over 1lb. and the usual dogs. just as we were thinking about heading in Tim gets a small bite, convinced its a dog he makes no fuss and i don't bother with the net - but his line lifts in the tide, so we settle on it being a small ray - well we were wrong - turns out Tim had a decent (if not sleepy) Undulate ray - his first i think. I've always wanted to catch one of these, and seeing one for real was awesome - such a beautiful fish - his went to 13lb and was returned safely. the bank was heaving all day - at the most we counted 13 boats at anchor - one large boat decided to drift through the pack - something no one does on the adamant - its not really long enough - maybe he was after bait. It was slow fishing all day maybe due to the funny tides in weymouth bay - we have a false low/hi between the main lows and highs - and this was during the middle of the day. i tried a whole baby cuttle but had no interest whatsoever. and had absolutely noting on my 2 hook flapper - very strange. Wind backed right off at the end of the day to almost flat calm - it was stunning when the sun popped out - happy with my first ever blonde ray - just need the Undulate now! we returned home via a cold one in Weymouth angling centre (cheapest pints in Weymouth!) - Tim doesn't eat much fish so i got the keeper Whiting for tea - Shallow fried goujons in breadcrumbs - first time for me - delicious! keeping fingers crossed for next weekend to give it another go - so far it looks ok!

nice session then! and a pot noodle to boot! happy days!

ive done this once with small live baits in portland harbour hoping for a bass - but no luck yet! will try again though

haha well so was I until the spurs/Arsenal game got canned..... i used my free hit to change my entire team to "double game week players" - knowing it was a risk as so many games are being cancelled - should still have a strong week but may have used it too soon - there's another round of double game weeks later in the season I just wish i'd captained fernandez now......

yeah cracking conditions and like you say - the fish are just a bonus to an already pretty awesome day!

yeah well done for getting out - and any fish is better than being at home not fishing! nice work! more trips planned for the weekend?

im familiar with fraggle rock AKA Portland - dont go up there after dark......

hitting the Adamant Shoal on Saturday - Target = big rays, conger, whiting, might be the occasional Spur/tope too.

theyre not that small - they're 12cm - ebay special £4 for 10 - 2 colours I figured whiting are so greedy they'll take them! i did think about using old hokais above baited whiting hooks for the smaller ones!

Made up some muppet rigs - to try out soon Simple one hook twisted boom just off the bottom to allow some flow but be close enough for most fish - good for wrecks and piers too and your general running ledger trace with beads to hold the mullet up from the bait a bit (good idea blatently stolen) 100lb rig body used as i expect mostly conger on these! - will bait with mackerel head for conger, Squid flap for whiting - mackerel side for anything else! worth a try!

ive heard they are good for bigger whiting - on a flapper/feather style rig baited with mackerel/squid - going to try that at the weekend on one rod while the other is down on the bottom for the flatter stuff!

i couldn't see Portland until the afternoon yesterday - lovely and clear this morning though - absolutely stunning morning!!

not sure what i've walked in on - but i'm not measuring my tip and sharing the results..... 😬😮🤣

nice trip out and stonker of a fish! nice one!

i think he was hoping page 3 from the 1940s

scrap that - ive just checked windy and Saturdays forecast has moved into friday - Saturday now looks the best day! bring it on!