jonnyswamp

Still a pleasant day to be out and you had SOME fish As I won't be going abroad this summer, I'm seriously thinking about steaming down and around to your neck of the woods for a couple of weeks in the summer Are there any visitors moorings in Dartmouth/Torbay area that would be available for 2 weeks, or are they all short term Really fancy a fortnight down there

If I could anchor properly, I wouldn't have had to move so much 🙃

Started and finished a job on Monday that I allowed 2 days for, so that meant a quick call to a few mates and a trip was sorted (I'll keep it brief for Jon C) 7.30 lock out and an against the tide steam down to a wreck we tried a few weeks ago, but was too lumpy to anchor, off Stout point Managed to get us just off the back of the wreck on the third attempt, where we picked up numerous dogs, conger to 8-10lb, a Huss of around 3lb (which at first glance looked like the winner of the biggest dogfish comp) and a solitary Smoothhound of 7/8lb Went a bit quiet so a move up to Aberthaw saw more dogs come over the side ( a few were taken home as one of the crew's sons has a litter of pups to feed) another 4/5 Smoothies to 13lb, eels to 10ish and a couple of small blonde rays Last move of the day was up towards Sully bay for a go at the blondes Quiet for the first 1/2 hr apart from a few dogs, then we had a busy 40 mins or so bringing in 8 or 9 blondes, with the biggest going 15lb odd Not massive, but a good bit of sport in a bit of a rip Called time at 3pm and made the short journey back up to Cardiff to slide into the 3.45pm lock Apart from a dozen or so dogs, only one fish taken today, a smallish conger (8/10lb) that is going into a curry And not my curry either Edit we also had a thornie as well Couple of pics of the day 13lb smoothie Massive dog Blondes 12lb and 15lb

Yep, wire colours are the same for rams and just live, switch live and ground

I always go with x3 with chain/rope, would think all chain could by x2

I'm pretty sure 8mm is stamped on the gypsy and the blurb said 12 or 14mm rope

70m of 8mm chain is approx 100kg, quite a bit of extra weight for the pointy end I'll out one of my crew up there next time we're out and see how the boat performs, if not too bad, I'll go down the all chain route

I see what you're saying, but the soft rope just stretches, jams in the gypsy and goes around again. Stopping the windlass A stiffer rope would/should be pushed into the anchor locker and fall as it should ? May have to get 200ft of 8mm chain, quite a bit of weight on the bow then though

That is the exact problem with mine, rope is too soft and seems to stretch and bed in too much I had a Lewmar V700 on my last boat and that was fine

Andy, I assume you know that you don't need the separate control box with this, it's an all in one unit

Bought and fitted a new Quick Aries windlass just after I bought my boat as the old one was shot It will take 12 or 14mm rope, but the 14mm rope I bought just doesn't fall into the locker properly It usually gets stuck on the gypsy and jams as it goes past the prong that is supposed to direct it into the locker This also happened with the original 12mm nylon that was on the first windlass, I thought a change to 14mm would cure it The new rope feels very supple and where it gets caught, there are now loops Should the rope be stiffer ? Have I bought cheap ? Any recommendations as to a make of rope that you use ?

Yes, easy to wire up, but the auto retract doesn't work on mine When ignition is switched on, a motor (don't know which one, maybe both) is momentarily activated, but not long enough to retract a fully extended ram I'm not overly bothered about it, maybe they sent me one without the auto retract Great to have the led's showing the tabs position though, rather than guessing

No miracle cure from me I'm afraid Apart form eating jam sandwiches when your ill Cos they taste the same going down, as they do coming back up

Nice one, I will also be out tomorrow on a spur of the moment trip

I bin busted 🙄

Cracking fish, well done that man

I beat a chess grandmaster with only three moves. He was shit at karate. This didn't deserve a post of it's own, so I thought it would fit in on one of Odysseys

Didn't notice the name of the GU reg boat, but it was a smallish white Quicksilver type Didn't know the names of the others, only the Murree But yes, patchy best describes it From his report, Silver Halo did very well When I contacted him via email earlier, he said due to the tide being oppo the wind, his anglers were taking it in turns fishing on the stern, casting away from the boat giving more fishing time with the lure vertical According to his report, his heaviest was around 23lb

Nice one young fella, not you Leo 👍

Aye and not just his tache either After seeing the hairy scaffolder I'm having flashbacks

Yep, just like my first romantic encounter Well, not the first with Mr Jenkins the gym teacher, I wasn't fussed on that But the second with Lisa Murphy

Just look at it like a site method statement, pretend to read it and do as you please 🤣

Yes, got the bug definitely It was like being a teenager behind the bike sheds all over again

A call to the skipper on Thursday confirmed the trip was on, but was out of Brixham instead of Paington due to a mix up with his berth So got up half an hour before I went to sleep, loaded the van and met at our usual rendezvous (pub car park) at 3.45, loaded the rest of the gear and were on our way by 4.01 An uneventful journey (apart from the talk of double figure fish, because no-one has been fishing for them and the wrecks should be full) saw us arrive outside "Rockfish" at 6.21 Dumped the gear on the harbourside and parked the vehicles a sort walk away. By the time we got back to our gear, Shaun the skipper was heading towards his boat with the other 4 lads close behind him Introductions out of the way and we slipped the ropes about 6.50 The plan (said Shaun) was to steam out to a wreck around 28m out (IIRC) and see what was about Around 2.5 hrs later we arrived at the wreck to find 3 other boats in our place (didn't they know we were coming, or what) A quick, half hearted drift saw nothing, so on to the next which was in a small cluster of 3/4, which gave options to move between them easily This produced a couple of Pouting and with the tide quite slow I dropped a jig down and gave it a try A sizeable whiting was the result of my first drift SPJ ing, but with the wind against tide, I struggled to stay vertical and was kiting too much, so went back to sidewinders The next drift gave me my first pollock, only small at around 5lb, but very welcome, we picked up a few more between the other guys up to around 8lb on this wreck and moved once or twice more to the nearby wrecks, without much further success We were around 42 miles out, with a good 3 hr steam to get back if we stayed where we were, Shaun suggested we start our return journey and try 2 or 3 wreck on route back in, each around half our away to each other There was a Guernesy reg boat on this wreck and they hauling out some good sized Pollock on live sandeel/launce (couldn't see which) while we were there, one guy fishing normally while the other seemed to be using an ultra long trace, with 3 or 4 droppers. He threw the lead out, let the lures/bait drop, then reeled in. Certainly knew what they were doing, but then you woudn't last long in that profession if you didn't So our last wreck of the day was the Moray/Murray, a wreck we have done well on over the years. Fish from the first drop, not huge but regular We only had 20 mins or so here as time was getting on and we had to be in for 6pm (long day) After finding the fish, 12 turns up here, I had 2 on the penultimate drift and for the last, I would try SPJ one final time# So back of the boat I go and down goes a 200g red thing with a pair of hooks hanging from its snout, 16/18 turns up and nothing, back down and did the same a few times nothing Time to wind up, so I dropped back down one last time, got to about 15 turns and bang, fish on, what an experience on this light tackle!!! Not for long though as it spat me, the blighter (that's not what I actually said, but I didn't want to upset Geoff) Would have liked to have landed it, but now I know what it's like to hook something decent on light gear, I'm hooked So a slow start to the day, but we did find a couple of fish. Not a good day by anyone's standards, but hey ho One of the boats that were on the first wreck was Silver Halo out of Torquay, a mate sent me his report of the day and they did fantastic with Pollock going 20 odd lb and after speaking to Matt (Silver halo) today via email, I've booked him in early May for 4 of us to have a go And I've sent @Terry Smith a couple of quid to replace my jigs I couldn't be bothered to retrieve from the various wrecks Swampy

Top result ! and an honest chap to boot Put him on your Christmas card list, worth his weight in gold