mike farrants

to be fair - that's the biggest catch - new boat record!

best xmas card ever - i nearly spat my tea out - sums up the year really me out on pugwash catching something, smiles from the SLT and pot noodles! good work!

sounds like a great day out - i haven't anchored alone yet - still need to pluck up the courage to try one day! I also was worried when i read your report that you hadn't put the bung back in your tender - you mention removing it - but not putting it back - and then leaving your mooring! cracking Bass!

nice day out - even if the weather was against you!

nice fish and a good trip by the sounds of it - Boxing day was amazing down here on the South coast

Boxing day saw this - My PB thornback ray - fell to a fresh mackerel head, close in to Portland harbour 14lb - she put up a cracking fight as she was tangled backwards, head shakes and taking line - awesome fun!

Well- with all the festivities, terrible weather, and family down I wasn't hopeful for another trip out in pugwash this year - but with Boxing day looking like the only break in the weather me and phil were on our best behaviour Xmas day and suggested a boxing day shopping trip for the other halves - permission granted and armed without new xmas fishing gloves we set of at 10am (HT) from weymouth - first for mackerel or squid, then to anchor up at a favourite mark of ours for rays, conger, gurnard, whiting etc Forecast was 6-7mph westerly freshening to 8-10mph - plenty calm enough in Weymouth bay - once we were out it felt much calmer. We headed straight for Portland's North entrance for a few drifts, I tried for squid, while phil went with the mackerel feathers - he mentioned he was 'in' by the time i had looked round, he said "oh yes" as the rod bounced over - a string of 5 came over the gunwales, the biggest was a monster! Phil was delighted and amazed at his Boxing day mackerel - but it was short lived - that's all the mackerel we caught - and no squid - with such a lovely day & fresh bait taken care of we didn't want to waste unnecessary time drifting - so we tried the east entrance (Chequers) for 1 drift for squid but to no avail. we soon anchored up close in off Portland harbour on what turned out to be more mud than shingle in around 50ft of water, the boat settled nicely and in the sun out fo the wind there was no need for coats! lovely. we sat for a few hours enjoying the empty bay basked in sun, with a turkey sandwich and a mince pie or two = what a life! Me and phil decided the first into a dogfish would buy the first round in The Boot - we both had a mackerel bait down on the new Sakuma Manta hooks (thanks @GPSguru), and i also put the feathers down baited with mackerel belly hoping for whiting/bream/gurnard I was soon into a medium thornie, then the feathers rattled, phil had also had an enquiry so i jumped on the spare rod and promptly secured buying the first round with the days first Dog - only for phil to declare that the dog he pulled up shortly after was on for ages but he didn't want to buy the beers! I think he's played this game before. through the afternoon I had a couple of medium Thornies and a couple of Dogs, same for Phil - 1 thornie and a few dogs, to add to the mackerel he had earlier. Pondering the last drop we thought we would go big - so down went the fresh mackerel heads - wasn't long before I was in - something big - rod bent over, head shakes, taking line, convinced it was a big conger we cleared the other lines out the way - we were surprised to see a big ray come up backwards - soon on board and weighed - my PB Thornie at 14lb. after that we packed up from what was a very successful and enjoyable day and headed in to the marina for a cold one at the Boot - lovely sunset and i let phil drive the boat back to the harbour entrance - he loved it! Here's the pics for Jon What a wonderful way to end my first year of boat ownership and my 2nd year in weymouth - what a place to live! roll on 2022!

yep fairplay @Andy135 - pulling away now! ive had 2 terrible weeks - but most of the points i've lost have been due to covid cancellations - which will still be played - call it games in hand if you will...... could be an exiting 2nd half to the season!

i have a solution - its ...... 6knts max 🤣

nice one! awesome fish - i can only dream!

still happens at Le mans to a certain extent - i've been going for 10 years, sometime 3 of us, sometimes 13 of us - best year we had a pub outdoor kit with us - 2 barrels of carling, 2x barrels of Guinness, 1 barrel of cider, chiller, bar, disco/PA set up, satelite, TV, lasers, smoke machine, disco ball - we even brought the pub garden - hanging baskets, water feature, gravel path, paving - no joke - the full works. Cars with us included an aston martin V8, E type Jag and a ford GT40 camped about 50m from the track at maison blanc - you can get right up to to the cars and drivers in the paddock, nothing like formula 1. Le mans is true grit, determination, twists and turns - with 4 classes on track at the same time - and loads f support races. although the race is only 24hrs its an amazing week of racing! looking forward to 2022

luckily he can see the funny side!

nice work! small fish are better than no fish, and no fish is better than working - so I think you did alright!

welcome Wayne! - let us know location, show us your boat, whats your biggest fish and your favourite pot noodle flavour please! that should cover most bases!

nice going - got to grab these chances when we can!

yes ive had the wonderful opportunity of living 2 mins from the marina so have landed lots of fish on a quick couple of hours out! the stamp of mackerel has been good - you me and Jon seem to have a good run........

splendid hat as well - top marks Sir!

love it - bang on trend now! id wear it (not on the boat it has green in it and i wouldn't want it getting ruined) half zip, hood, pouch pocket, what's not to like? looks like the stripes go round the arms too - awesome- can we get some OO ones - in light and dark blue?

yeah i thought it was thick (40lb) mainline to specifically catch the tide and put a bow in the line, grip lead to hold bottom? i bought a nice Penn INXS uptider 2nd hand but never got to try it out, will give it a go now! great diagram Jon!

its been really mild here too - almost into double figures 🤣 on a serious note though = stay safe and keep hydrated = you and the dog!

I was thinking more for fishing in than shopping..... i dont spend enough time in shops to get hot and sweaty - unless theres a sale on in screwfix.....

someone said the cod/mackerel/squid/dogs were in.....

a snood would be my preference - like the morf ones - neck snood

plenty of non fishing time at the moment to update a team!

that sounds like manual work Jon? my hands didn't get this soft working in a warehouse - surely you can tell by the fishing gloves I only hide behind a keyboard!