jonnyswamp

Brief report

Myself and 2 others made the journey to Weymouth for a days Bream/Bass fishing

2 others onboard that were camping locally for a few days down from oop Norf 

Tried for Mackerel in one of the Portland entrances, but nothing for us there, though one of the other charters seemed to be bringing a few up

Went on around the Bill to see if we could pick some up on route to our first mark

We found plenty, but not many sizeable ones, mainly 5/6 inches long

Anyway, first mark didn't produce and the second only threw up a few pout and 1 solitary Bream

We were stuck here for a while trying to retrieve the anchor.....unsuccessfully

Skipper cut it free and buoyed it off, hoping to get it recovered by an obliging diver at some point

The next few marks were better, I didn't have many drops without a fish, my 2 mates were catching fairly regularly and the 2 other lads struggled, only managing a few between them

I put it down to my choice of rig, a yellow and red pop up bead just in front of the hook, only one other was using beads and he also did OK

The weather forecast was about right, pissed down form about 10 ish all day

Didn't take any pics as it was too wet

We finished up with a dozen around 2-2.5lb mark that were kept and we returned probably 3 times as many

A good day with crap weather

The owner of the resort also has a 12m cat he charters out to the better, further away marks where the small, self drive boats aren't allowed to go

Its around 30 miles and apparently you aren't insured that far out, so charter is the only way and was highly recommended

A late start at 12.30 due to offshore winds early on and after a near 2 hr steam, we're dropping onto a huge reef system that can be drifted for a few hrs at a time with the right winds

A couple of winds up on my first drop produced this 

Deck hand Dave estimated at low 20's, who am I to argue

This was the stamp of fish that we were all catching on pretty much every drop, fair play they go like a train when they take the lure

After half a dozen of these, I sent a dead bait down, hoping for a big Cod or a Halibut

After about an hour and 3 bait changes, all I had caught was a Torsk (bastard fish) because that's what you call them when you see they're not a Cod or Coalie, had a few decent tugs, but couldn't connect and watching the rest of the boys pulling in fish in the mid 20's I was getting a bit tetchy, so went back to lures

In the mean time, Will had hooked and landed a Cod of 52lb, which unfortunately didn't go back, but would be given to some locals as is the case if they're too damaged and not wanted by the angler

I haven't got a pic of him holding it, so this will have to do

I had a couple of high teens and early 20lb Cod on a 9" lead headed lure (similar to a Sidewinder in design) so thought I'd try the biggest in the box and just target Cod

This was what the Norway veterans called "cut baits" mine was an imitation Puffin around a foot long !!!

Sent it down and they were hitting it as soon as it hit the bottom, plenty of the same size as earlier (huge for over here, just run of the mill over there)

I was hit by another 20lb + (or so I thought) and when the lunges became a bit more severe and line was being stripped off my reel, I was hoping this was something a bit better

It was, it was a 50 +

56lb 6oz and my PB ( a never to be beaten PB unless I go back out in 2026)

Because all fish are pulled up slowly and allowed to expel air as soon as you can see them (farting them) about 5/10 meters down, the majority go back unharmed like torpedos, 

This one also went back, seemingly none the worse for seeing my ugly mug, which is nearly as satisfying as catching it

Though, when I saw the size of it under the water, my arse was twitching a bit thinking that at any second i was going to loose it

2 drops later using the same method, I was hit by something bigger/stronger that I got up off the bottom by a few meters, only to watch my reel release a few more

Played tug of war for a few minutes and started gaining, then watched my reel give out more line than I had initially reeled in

So started the battle again and managed to get it, probably, 30m up after another 10 mins or so

Then I just went light and the expletives were ringing out

Whatever it was ( Cod or Halibut) was certainly a good fish

Got the lure to the surface and could see that my line had wrapped around the gape of the hook, probably disgorging the fish it fought

Ah well, there's always next time......

A pic of the lures we were using, with a 6" sidewinder for scale

I also caught a small, 5/6 lber on the Puffin lure, greedy buggers

A few other photos from the charter day and earlier

Had this view from our lodge a few mornings

To sum up my view, not as busy as I was told it would be, high water temps probably didn't help, the charter boat is a must if you go out there

But still very good fishing compared to what we have here

I will probably go back in 2026, 2025 fully booked 

I won't bore you with the travel details because, well they're boring

Two flights and a ferry ride later, we arrived at Sandland Brygge at around 8pm last Wednesday 14th August 2024

The 7 of us were met by the owners/hosts Steiner and Stina who loaded our luggage and gear into their van for the very short 2 min drive to the digs, far easier than trying to drag a weeks worth of food, drink, clothes, tackle ourselves

We had one of the 2, 8 birth lodges which are clean, comfortable and full of all the appliances you will need

Anyway, we unpacked and 2 of us had a safety briefing on the self drive boats (6.5m all aluminium with 150 suzuki 4 strokes which you can see towards the end of the first video, there are also a couple of 7.5m boats with 200 suzukis on the back) 

Briefing done, it was time for supper and an early night

Day 1, Thursday

Luckily, a few of the lads had been here last year, so knew a few marks that we went straight out to

This threw up some nice Cod (not massive I know, but Cod) and smaller Coalies, there must litterally be hundreds of thousand of them, as this was the scene on pretty much every mark we went to

Despite the abundance of bait fish, it wasn't as frantic as I expected/was assured, there was no wind and a very little tide which I decided was the reason

Not a disaster 

Day 2, Friday

High wind and heavy, prolonged showers

Spent most of the day looking for shelter out of the wind (which you can always find somewhere in one of the fjords) getting wet and pulling the odd few fish up

Did try for Plaice, but drift was all over the place and horizontal rain, though I did manage a Dab of over a 300mm

No pictures as too wet

Not a good day

Day 3, Saturday

Good weather

Thought we would try some deeper water (150m +) very difficult to get 2 drifts the same even when starting at the exact same point (not just today, pretty much every day)

Had fish on every mark when the lines weren't kiting too much

As well as the Cod and Coalies, we also had their equivalent of dogfish, Torsk, which can be a nuisance

A bit of a cross between a Ling, a cod and a Rockling

We also picked up a few Wolf fish, they call them Catfish up there

Ugly critters with razer teeth and a jaw like a hydraulic crusher, but nice eating apparently

Finished the day off trying for Plaice

I think we had between 15 and 20 between the 3 of us, with this being the best of the day

5lb 6oz

Had a couple of double hook ups with 3.5/4lb fish which initially I though was a double figure fish, ashamed to say I was a bit disappointed when I saw 2 fish coming up 🫣

This was my most enjoyable day up to now

Day 4 Sunday

Carbon copy of Friday, blustery winds and heavy showers with much the same results

Managed a few Plaice towards the end of the day as the wind turned and made the drift the right direction

This was around 4lb IIRC

Day 5 Monday

Great forecast so we set off for the "pig farm" some reefs and drop offs around 6/7 miles off the NE of Loppa

Very quiet for both boats all morning, though the few fish that were caught were worth the wait

First in were the lads on the other boats, one of them (Smurf) dropped a dead bait down and as soon as it hit the bottom, his rod went bananas

This was the result

Took the treble deep, so wouldn't go back, went 66lb when weighed some 6 hrs later

Was very probably 70lb when caught, he was over the moon, could hear the cheers (from his boat and one close by) a mile away

Smurfs mate will copied his tactics and was rewarded with it's smaller sibling 20 mins or so later

Will's (on right) went 34lb, looks like a minnow next to the monster

Will also caught the only Red fish of the trip

Our boat wasn't faring so well, until Paul also dropped a deadbait down and was rewarded with the best Halibut of the trip

Scales were bouncing between 38 and 42lb, so we generously gave him 39lb 😁

Will also picked up a halibut earlier on in the week of around 20lb

To be continued on next post