Malc

We have had friends visit over the past few days, all women, and I was told that they were going to be taken fishing by me. One does a little fly fishing another has been out on her boyfriend's boat and the other never even held a fishing rod. My wife has her own gear and enjoys a bit of fishing and catches but it doesn't bother her if she doesn't get out from one year to the next. Conditions were not good, the river was brown with lots of run off and the big pier was closed due to a big swell so we had to fish the Herd groyne which can be good at times but unlikely in these conditions. I set up two rods with metals as they would be visible and audible to any fish and showed them how to cast, retrieve and get the gear across a sloping weed covered pier side. Well that was it, a few casts and I was virtually redundant apart from a couple of snagged lines that I broke out. Did they have a good time? No fish but what a great time!

Don't hear that very often! I once had a pre unit beezer, a C11G, that me and a friend were doing up.

A rarity up here thankfully!

The 2 codling we took were full of crabs and tiny 2-3" sandeel and its sometimes hard to get their attention if they have a lot of other foods that are easily available. Just a day of trying other methods and seeing what happens I suppose.

Up the Thames, first left/port/river right after tower bridge, there's an old chief stoker called Spud Murphy he'll sort you out👍

First batch of smoked mackerel

Out in mild drizzle and the river was pancake flat. The north sea wasn't, wind over tide meant a bit of a chop. The rough ground seemed empty even though there was plenty of surface action and guillimots in rafts of 10-20. I was using a flying collar with a small shad on the end which didn't get anything and eventually I changed to a lighter rod and single SG sandeel as my friends were getting a few fish. I got a few rattles on the drop from mackerel but no solid takes until I was reeling in to try and pass the net over when I was hit in mid water by a decent pollock which was returned, I then just dropped to the bottom and started a slow retrieve and got smashed again by a bigger pollock. (Not mine but that was the general size we were getting) When it was quiet I decided to drop the lure to the bottom and have retrieve a couple of metres and then open the bail to free fall it back to the bottom as it sometimes provokes a fish, and eventually it did and I got my first codling of the day. Not a fast and furious day but fun and fish for all and the smoker is about to go on the stove top so we can have some smoked mackerel pate tomorrow.

4.5" gun on the fo'c'sle, you can take them out as they leave their berth.

What's a hoggy please?

Should be out Sunday, my friends were out yesterday and among the small stuff they managed a double figure cod and pollock! There have been reports of bigger fish about but not in numbers so I am looking forward to whatever may happen at the weekend 😀

I tried looking for information but I didn't find much. Possibly as a day boat with family and friends and very much so inshore dangling. Local launch is generally very clear of slime but can be covered by sand by a couple to 6 inches but we've shovelled enough off before, so I'll be keeping it on the drive if it works out. I have a friend who is good with engines and the hull etc were unknowns. Thanks everyone And I will be keeping the yak!

Yeah, my bad, probably not wearing my glasses. Sorry

Thoughts on this type of boat please as I have seen one which looks tidy. Can they be single handed launched on a solid slip, what kind of car would be suitable to trailer it around 5 miles? Sea keeping, problems, etc Many thanks

The reef is covered by about 20 ft on big tides so yes. Fortunately the surrounding sea is 35-40 ft so a decent pollock can power away from them but over the reef is ideal ambush area which is why pollock like it too. Too much bait fish of all size in the water doesn't help, I gutted 9 mackerel just offshore and the gulls were too stuffed to be bothered to come over!

Yes, you read it right. Inter Continental Ballistic Mackerel! I went out fairly early to have few hours up to the top of the tide to try for pollock over a reef that is topped by kelp, so perfect ambush territory for them and deeper water alongside that gives up a few codling. There were gulls picking at fry on the surface, I'd seen them on Sunday which made up my mind to go out. First drift was a right off as the drift was away from the reef, the second was better and I was able to cast onto the reef. Rig was a light-ish lure rod 28-60g and 12g texas rig and 8" curltail, I have to count down until it hits the top of the weed but it takes a few casts to get right and eventually I am fishing. Soon I am getting small rattles but no hits, so I switched from plotter to sonar and the screen is alive with colour, mackerel! Nothing unusual but a couple of times I heard splashes but wasn't seeing what it was but eventually I saw a mackerel come 4-5' vertically out of the water and a big swirl behind it. I thought it was a mega pollock but didn't bring any mackerel shaped lures with me so kept on with the curltail. A couple of minutes later I nearly fell out of my kayak as a seal came out of the water like a whale! It was about 30m away right in front of me and it got more than 1/2 its body length out of the water before slamming back down. I think that it was hiding amongst the kelp waiting for the mackerel to go over and then pushing off the rock and attacking the shoals. I tried elsewhere for codling but there was too much free food in the water but I did have a couple of drops for mackerel so I have some fresh mackerel for food and bait. More scenic pics later when I download from my camera.

Mmmm! 😋

KEEP THE KAYAK!!!! Unless you have had a lottery win or similar, think hobie + a zero and you can't top it onto the car so kindly people will take £££'s off you so you can park it on the water!

Brilliant weekend!

Nicely done! We used to catch them and bass in the dockyard at portland, we waited until the "gash gobblers" were mincing up and discharging uneaten food and was hectic sport. I don't suppose they can do it anymore.

Hopefully tomorrow 😁🎣

Go for it! Strangely enough I don't work my lures as sandeel tend to hang in the current rather than keep dashing about and the boat/kayak moves enough IMHO. I do use jigs on my mackerel/launce/herring rigs below the sabikis and I think it works very well, but again I don't jig the rig. However it's all academic as the mid channel charter boats used to use the big eddystone eels on droppers above a metal jig regularly.

Tie on a swivel to one end and the link the other as this helps identify the top and bottom of the rig. At the appropriate distances tie an overhand knot but go through twice and pull slightly until it forms a figure eight as below. Next tie your hook to the snood/dropper line with whatever knot you prefer and cut off at 6", push the end through the upper loop that was formed by the double overhand knot then over the twists and back out the bottom loop as below. As you can see the hook is up the rig body and the free end down towards the bottom. Loop the free end around and twist 3-4 times around itself and the rig body moisten and snug up slowly so you can control the snood/dropper length. I get the hook as close as possible to the knot for ultra short snoods but practice will help you get the length you want. As you can see the dropper should stand up the rig body and if it hasn't you may have put it the wrong way round and it needs scrapping as the lures don't sit properly and are less effective.

OK, rig. (Snood/body) 30/50lb or 50/80 lb flouro is what I am going for now 20/30 didn't seem to stand off from the body enough with bigger lures but you can use mono if you aren't a tackle tart. Even though the rig will be lost or worn out within a couple of trips I use premium swivels and hooks and the link on the bottom is unusually from decathlon and has proved its worth as both bronze and chrome don't corrode easily. The finished rig, not to size. Both upper hooks have sandeel type lures attached as below, I prefer weedless wide gape worm hooks and the main lure weedless if possible. I was rushing to rig the top one and it is a bit squint but a little jiggling and it will sit straight but I also prefer to rig them weedless as below by skinning the hook point so that there is less chance of snagging weed etc and it doesn't affect hooking fish. This is how straight it should sit. Rig body length is up to you and your preference and rod length. From bottom to first dropper is 12-18" and similar above that depending on whether you get pollock on the ground or not, you could also go to 24" to the first dropper if pollock are prolific and you want the sport but I have found that on really rocky reefs when you might get 3-6' lifts and drops due to rocks the codling will come up to the top dropper and have on occasion had them take both droppers! Over flatter ground 12-18" might be fine for you. Generally it is better fished as close to the vertical as possible and if you don't have a big enough bottom lure then it might be worth using a weight instead. If you are plagued with smaller fish then use bigger sandeel slug lures but the little gits will probably start tail grabbing and there is the possibility that they may twist the lure or damage the head. If the head gets opened up too much just clip it off to solid plastic and use as if new, the silver lure below is close to being clipped as you can see the opaque tear in the head. I will start another post to show how to tie the droppers.

Will do.

Just an update on one of the rigs I use, it was originally similar to a dropshot rig with a weighted lure instead of a lead but the dropper lure was too close to the main body and I had drop offs and missed fish so I set them up as droppers of 3" or so. This has been causing problems at times as they are spinning around I think it is due to depth, tide flow, dropper length (I have been getting sloppy as some rigs are 4 or more inches long) and possibly rig strength. So first thing is to tie some shorter droppers and also some heavier rigs as the depth and flow can't be altered by myself as much. watch this space.