jonnyswamp

You found a cod…. Most people are struggling to do that so hats off for bagging one 🙂 

Nice way to start the new year. Good cod. Well done. Not jealous at all.
 
Much.
 
 
Lucky sod.

great write up budd well jell    not many about this year mate especialy  up my neck of the woods 🐳

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
 
 
 

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
 
 
 

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
 
 
 

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
 
 
 

Post man has been bringing a few presents for the boat…. One little extra for myself too..
 

Just need to wait until spring f to get out there and get on the cod/bass/pollack/wrasse… I’ll be looking to run some dedicated SPJ trips in the spring, 10hr trips and fish a number of marks (inshore and offshore) depending on the state of tide… any jiggers interested in a day out drop a line 🙂 

Finally a very short window in the weather allowed a few hours out on boxing day.
Had the in laws down for xmas and managed to get a pass for boxing day. Didn't get up early doors as didn't want to curtail any festivities - so it was down the boat for 11am armed with turkey sandwiches and a flask of coffee
Phil had a new rod and reel for his birthday back in Sept that he still hadn't christened so that was the plan - get phil a fish - any fish - he now has a very nice 8-12lb Ugly stick GX2 paired with a Penn Rival 15LW. for the inshore lighter stuff (his 30lb Penn Squadron is like a broomstick)
Plan was to drift Portlands entrances and inshore reefs with baited feathers and chuck some squid jigs over in case they were still about. 
target mackerel, Gurnards, Pollock, whiting
Rigged up Phils new rod with brand new feathers - for the best possible luck. 

 
Headed out into what was pretty much flat calm. 
was treated to flat seas and fantastic cloud patterns


but sadly not many fish and no squid. Even tried baited feathers to no avail.
Phil did manage 2 mackerel and therefore christened the rod. so that part was a sucess

 
Come 3.30pm we were losing light and headed back to the harbour - not the best fishing, but we were just glad to be out, and good to give the boat a good run
got to the pub just before dark

 
not sure when the next weather window will be - Easter maybe........

Shite

A short weather window on a big tide, so it had to be worth a go.
Launched in the dark at 07:00 with brother in law as crew. Went out to 4 different wrecks between 10 and 15 miles out and there was nobody at home, not even a Pout !
However, we did mange to lose 6 sets of gear between us, I lost 3 slow jigs, and James lost 3 sets of running booms. The sea was a tad lumpy past 10 miles, but still doable.
As we had to be back on the slip for 12:30 to catch the tide, I decided to head inshore for the last hour, at our usual bait mark near the Orestone.
On the way back in I noticed 5 boats fishing an inshore wreck (the coal boat) at 5 miles out, which is unusual, so I guessed either a) all the other wrecks were netted, or b) the fish were showing inshore.
Once on the inside of the Orestone we decided on Maccy rigs, looking for decent Mack or Whiting. The sounder was full of activity, mostly on the bottom, so we dropped the rigs. Straight away I was into a fish that was definitely not a Mack or a whiting, it was, however, a 50cm Bass. This is pretty much the way it continued for the next hour with Bass, Pollock, and Channel Mackerel. I tried small slow jigs, and also 115mm Redgills, but the only thing that would catch was the 3 string tinsel Hokkai's. I assume the Mack, Bass, and Pollock were chasing some sort of white bait, but using the livescope I couldn't identify what they were chasing.
We ended up with 12 Bass from 48 - 52cm (we kept 4), 9 Pollock of about 3 - 5 lb, and I lost count of the Mackerel, but some were very large.
After this episode I have started tying my own feathers (Tinsels) as the 'ready mades' are unreliable, we lost a good half a dozen decent fish to bad dropper knots, and snood breakage.
Sorry, but no pics this time. My GoPro has bitten the dust (they are notoriously unreliable, but give good footage), and I will replace it with a DJI Osmo Action 4, but they are like rocking horse poo at the moment, so I invested in a cheaper Wolfang GA460, and need a couple of sessions to get the hang of how to operate it efficiently. I got some footage, but it was just us going uptide on a wreck for another drift.
So, almost 45Nm, but it came good in the end. The sea was flat inshore so I fished until the last minutes then gave it beans to get back (40kts).
I am hoping to get out over the Christmas, weather permitting, and make a trip the the Skerries for some winter Turbot as there are less Plaice around to steal the baits.
Hope you all have a good Christmas.
 
 
 
 

New (to me) MFD being collected tomorrow… a road trip with Pip to Hamble marina to pick up a nearly new Simrad NSS Evo3s 9 inch. (Will need to give the truck a wash and polish as it’s a very posh part of the boat world 😬) 
Plan to put the 7in out on deck and network it so that my anglers can see what’s going on 🙂 
Not sure on transducer yet but at least I’ve made a start on deciding what gear to go for 🤣🤣🤣

I just ask for a donation to be made to the RNLI and buy the tackle I need/want when I can

It'll be socks for me... and only if I deserve them. 😖

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’ve heard it’s only south coast and nothing set in stone…. Angling trust apparently fighting to make sure recreational is not included…
Goven lack of cod in channel maybe a cod ban be a better idea 🫣🫣🫣😬😬😬

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
 

Nothing to report. When I have free time the weathers shit. When I'm at work the weathers perfect. Been the story of this year!! 

Well, until today I haven’t been out at sea since the middle of August. The weather (mainly) and work (occasionally) had conspired to keep me landlocked with no chance of pestering, let alone catching, any fish.
At long last everything went to plan and I got out of Littlehampton on this mornings flooding tide.
By 8.45am I was four miles off in 16m of water with the pick down on some mixed ground.
Unfortunately no specimen fish took a liking to my lovely squid and lug baits though I did manage 15 nice (over 1.5lb) whiting a 4lb pollack and some straps. 
Most importantly the boat,engine and trailer all worked perfectly and I was able to enjoy a much needed day at sea.
Hopefully we will get a spell of settled weather soon so I can get out and play again.
 

Sorry to hear that. 

Shite

Most of Bristol Channel is now suffering from cod fever and the quest to find a unicorn but I had other plans…
Lovely little weather window yesterday so had to make the most of it. Plan was to try inshore for tuna and head out to reefs to see if any life about.
Sadly no tuna showing but the reefs were alive with fish. Mainly polllack in 4-5lb class with some bigger, best going just under double figures. Also a few coalfish to 5lb as well. 
 
Managed, scad, mackerel, Ballan and cuckcoo wrasse, pollack, coalfish and pouting for the day 🙂 great fun on light gear 🙂 
Now looking to get out on Saturday 🤔

i tried a few places e/w grounds n / deeps nothing mate even the charter boats moving everywhere     back out on the 16 th december now winds permitting 

hi guys went out saturday very very poor day only my boy caught plenty of fish showing on depth sounder mid water loads of little sprats jumping out the water cod must be at it again   well always next time 

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