jonnyswamp

Well, I do drive a delorean 😉

Luck of the draw I think luke, they're not about in any numbers yet, but the ones that are coming out are a decent stamp There's been a few doubles out this weekend though 🤞

Picked up some rag on Thursday and decided that if when I got up Friday morning I felt ok, I would wet a line for a few hrs In bed by 11pm on Thursday night, couldn't sleep due to being bunged up (nasally) so got up at 2am Got my gear together and got to the boat about 3.45, just in time for the 4am lock out Dark is an understatement, the lock gates opened and I gingerly made my way out into the inky blackness, with the outer perimeter walls barely visible it all felt a bit surreal I really should've wore my glasses Decided that I would fish the Coral as this is only a 10 min steam from the locks in the light, took me over 30 The bright lights of Penarth seafront very visable, as was the lights all over Lavernock point caravan park Neither were any use to me Got to my mark and breathed a sigh of relief when the anchor went down and dug in A very small (sub 10m) tide, but quite a strong rip for approx 1.5 hrs before low water and very little wind Dropped a whole squid on both down tide rods straight off the back and cast out an uptider either side with a few rag and a small squid on each It was now 5am and time for a cuppa I was just getting the stove out and noticed the first rod do a bit of a bounce, with one long stride I had it in my hand poised to strike No need for a strike as the fish had quite obviously realised it had hooked itself and was none to pleased Felt a few tell tale head shakes on the way up and with the fish staying tight into the boat, I was sure it was a Cod It's head broke the surface and I could see it wasn't a bad one either With the net out of reach I had to hand ball it over the gunwhales and was happy to see it land on the deck A fat little bugger that went just shy of 6.5 lbs Sent another squid straight back out, made a cup of tea, ate a Viennese whirl and waited And waited Had a good pull down on the other downtide rod about 20 mins later that didn't amount to anything Then had a small strap on the port side uptider That was pretty much it for the last of the ebb Slopped about a bit on slack water then swung into the tide fairly quickly to start the flood All that happened here for 3 hrs or so, was another 4 Congers that were T barred off at the side until the tide just stopped and the slight N Westerly swung me a full 360 Wrapped up the uptiders and just used the downtiders with the baits just bobbing along the bottom as the boat swung about Looking about and the 12 or so boats that were around me were all doing the same sort of thing and one by one they were moving about looking to find a bit of tide It was now 10.45 so I packed in, pulled anchor and caught the 11.15 inbound lock No a red letter day by any means, but got me off to a start for 2024

Buy what I want when it's needed (or even if it isn't) I couldn't wait for a reel/rod if I wanted/needed one for an upcoming trip I may ask Santa for a new pair of welly type boots, the pair I currently use through the winter are probably 25 yrs old They are a derry ? boot that originally came with thick liners The liners wore out yrs ago and got replaced with ski socks, that have never been washed come to think of it

I'm on a skippers whatsapp group and there was a lot of chatter Friday regarding a ban on fishing for Pollock starting 1st Jan 2024 Some stating it was just commercials (though they will be allowed a 200 Ton by-catch) and some saying it will be a complete blanket ban, including recreational I was at a funeral all day Friday and have only just remembered, does anyone know anything concrete I could Google it I suppose, but there's far more knowledge on here than there I'm sure

Abysmal, 2 stickleback size whiting and a bootlace

Shite

Nice Luke, I'd say you need a few spuds and peas though to make it a dinner

Where did you fish, I was supposed to be out Saturday as well but other stuff got in the way Seems to be a few coming off the Coral and around Cardiff atm, not loads by any means but a few

I'm hoping for a Sat or Sun trip, but got that feeling that there's something I need to do this weekend but can't remember what it is

That's a belter fair play, you know you've got one on that's for sure

"Tides near me" on my phone and "tides4fishing" on my laptop, never identical but not far away

It was a bit snotty steaming between marks, and the Rannie was quite angry today

I'm in the same position as you Pete, tried to offer them for free on marketplace and it wouldn't even let me place the advert So if anyone local to me (South Wales) wants 8-10 Goldfish, let me know Oh, and they're free

Apart from a snatched couple of hours out 6/8 weeks ago, I hadn't took the boat through the locks in what felt like 6 months or more Made a few phone calls, fulfilled a few promises and 5 of us boarded at 7am this morning, ready for the 7.30 outbound lock Forecast had changed overnight from next to no winds all day, to gusts of up to 20 odd mph North Easterlies until 10 ish On an ebbing tide in the Bristol Channel this is doable, so wasn't particularly worried as low water coincided with the winds dropping and a 3-4mph wind against a floodiing tide wouldn't present much of an issue (even on a small tide of around 10m) Plan was to go straight out to a large sand bank a mile or so out of the locks and fish the remaining ebb until low water which was around 11, the gusty winds would have been directly with the tide and should have been comfortable enough. It wasn't Got somewhere near the mark and it was clear that mother nature was menopausal and was being a bit of a twat Plan B implemented and we headed East for calmer waters just off Sully Island and after dragging anchor (very slowly) for half an hour or so, pulled it back in to find a rock the size of an odd shaped basket ball wedged between the flukes and the stem (?) so no surprised it didn't hold We did pick up a few strap congers and ray or 2 here Plan C next, so we moved into Sully Bay hoping for some bigger Blondes and while we didn't boat any monsters, we had a steady stream over the gunwales through slack low until mid dayish, just the one small dog, a dozen or more eels to 10-12lb, 5/6 Blondes to low single figures, a couple of Thornies of around the same stamp, a Smoothy of 7/8lb and a small whiting This was my mates fathers first fish in 25 plus yrs, also his first boat trip in 25 yrs as well And he only chucked up once Final move of the day was back up to Cardiff to have a go tight in to the Foreshore looking for a lost Codling or 2 They may have been lost, but we didn't find them A bit more of the same, fish wise up here, but the wind was slewing us back and forth tangling lines etc, so we pulled the pick and made the 5 min steam into the 2.15pm inbound lock and was back on the mooring by 2.45 Would have been quicker, but I drop the oldies off (and everyone else) at the fuel pontoon with the all the gear, so it isn't so far to carry (pull the trolley) to the van Not a red letter day and only the one photo, but still enjoyable none the less

How many can you take and what cost Luke, we're looking for a few trips down your way next year

Any particular colour doing better than others on the jigs ? Silver dreams used to work very well, also black feathers

BTW, did you loose many jigs? those reefs can be very tackle hungry

There is some tremendous sport to be had in amongst those islands and offshore reefs Nice one 👍

Oh well, you win some................

Cracking report, very informative thread If by Grey, you mean Grey Gurnard, then the current boat caught record is 2lb 8oz 14dr So your near 3lber will/would have been a new British record

Out of Brixham Saturday for a go at the flatties on the Skerries Hopefully 🤞

Waterproof Push Button Switch, SPST, Latching - Multicomp | CPC (farnell.com) What about this sort of thing, don't know if it's arse proof though

I like the Aquafish, get some pics up 👍

Bit of seasoned flour, then straight in the pan