Malc

I would tend to agree. I kayak more than boat fish, so I have a foot in both camps. I can cruise out to areas I have seen on navionics at home at 3kn and lots of times I find a patch of rough ground that doesn't feature on charts, some are just a flat bit of ground no more than a foot or three above the sand, and I can see the change in colour on the sounder, quick drop down and the lure tap-taps on rock. Other times it is up to 8-10 ft high above the sand and still not on charts and it isn't because they are small as they can be 40-150ft long very few are 20-30ft. I noticed my friends sounder didn't show the bottom at speed, so I presume that is either a problem with his system or the speed (?) anyhoo, at 20+ kn you could be across it without noticing, plus I am sure you all pay 100% attention to what is in front of you 😜 Big fish... I have caught Pollock up to 8-9lb and lost bigger within a mile of shore the closest was within 150yds but it needs the right features obviously and in this instance was an old arch from a cliff that was now just a stump sub surface with 25-30ft of water around it and the tide went the same direction on both inshore and offshore sides for the ebb but the flood tide it eddied clockwise around it so all the food was swirled around it like a sushi bar so the fish could just sit there and pick it off. Would I head out 5-10-20 miles? Hell yeah but I would do my homework before spending the dosh on the fuel. Several times I have been out with my friends on their boats and we have been beaten by the weather so we sat inshore catching dabs and whiting, we even managed an uncomfortable couple of hours less than a mile out and added haddock to the list of species. So what have we had within a mile and a half of shore in the areas of the mull of Galloway, Fife and Angus and Tyneside? Doggies, smoothies, tope, TBR, gurnard, whiting, cod, ling, Pollock, coalfish, SS sea scorpions (big lumps just under a pound), dab, flounder, pouting, mackerel, herring, ballan wrasse, launce, sandeel. This year we hope to add a few new species to the list. So in summary, why not give the inshore marks a try, but you need to be able to spot them.

Same here I've not tried testing it but in its various guises when snagged I have mostly lost the lot the only one to come back was a very light sabiki rig with a 20lb body and 15lb snood and it appeared that the fine line of the snood pulled out of the body.

Floppy or perky Muppets? I waited until I had time to rig up a couple of Muppet rigs to share how I rig mine, not a right or wrong way just something I have worked on for a while. Originally I used it for soft plastic lure fishing as tying a drop shot is problematic for most sea fishing, but the lure needed to be standing off from the main line. Sad and floppy Happy and perky! First tie a double overhand knot in the body of the rig and start to pull until the knot turns over as below. This is the awkward bit to describe. In the photo you can see the two turns of line are closer to the camera and the line that loops around the back is further away. The snood line goes from the back in the loop you can see on the right, over the top of the twisted line and back down the loop on the left. Viewed from the side it looks like this. This locks the snood line when you fully tighten. Make a loop with the snood and wrap it round itself at least four times moisten and tighten. The RH end of the snood (brown) line is where the Muppet is attached, I normally tie it on first but you have to be careful you don't end up with a hook somewhere you don't want it. The RH end of the rig body is the top end of the rig and when weighted pulls the Muppet out from the rig body, I found this better than tying a loop in the rig body and attaching the hook and Muppet to it. Hope this helps someone.

Ah Sunday! Twice in the last seven or so days I've had to ask what day it is, hopefully it is not dementia and just part of having been retired for over ten years 😁

Better than a day at the office...

Nice report and well done on the turbo!

Nice one 👍

I must delve into the loft then and have a look, however I know that the last time I used my calipers I lost the battery so it may have to be guesstimations!

Nice fresh run cod(ling)!

.... but mostly pictures of people trying to look cool when it's baking hot, enjoying themselves when it is minus brass monkey nads, funny pictures that aren't and random family stuff that you have no terms of reference for.

I'm sure that it will calm down by Saturday morning...😕

Both salt and fresh, this was in the salty bit, I'm pretty sure no one would be livebaiting for the creatures in it mostly small stuff, codling Pollock coalie whiting dabs and other flats. When it was full of "rubbish" there were great bait beds, lots of decent fish, a six pound codling was a reasonable sized fish and flounder around a pound were common. Prefer the Lindisfarne version

Hmmm, not sure what they were after in the river Tyne though 😕

I admit that I like sitting down and making up my own traces/rigs and used to make my own fishing flies. When walking along the beach I also fill my pockets up with bits of lost or discarded line, I will even take some home rather than bin if there are bits of tackle in among it, but I don't reuse the likes of swivels or clips for safety reasons. In amongst the stuff I found yesterday was this. The mind boggles, I presume that it was a lead link but the lead was not there and the SS wire is very strong too?

The old style redgill lures have a downward facing hook which means they foul more, the upward facing tend to be weighted and better for bottom hopping but will work. Orange is good as is black but I have found that most colours will catch and I really like either natural greens or blue with lighter bellies/sides

Each to their own but I use a piece of broom handle wrapped in duct tape and wind several turns round it and it can be done between reel and first ring which is quick and you may not be near a cleat. Yup, try getting these, they do them in black/pink and all orange, both catch.

Not fished a Portland rig yet so I don't have a term of reference for it but I used to get plenty with a flying collar rig. Used to use delta eels in orange red or black for Pollock, which ever rig you decide on I'd be tempted to use redgill evostix or sidewinder curltail with a 6/0 heavy weight worm hook as they tend to prevent snagging if rigged well. Drop down under slight control and as soon as it touches down, wind in slowly and lift the rod tip counting the turns until you get takes or you are about mid water and then drop down again. Pollock normally sit at a certain height and once you know where they are you can reel up to near that height and have your lure working in that zone and 10 ft either way rather than from bottom to mid water. Worked well for the Plymouth wrecks back in the day but perhaps people do it a bit different now? Another thing that has worked well for me is using small sandeel lures down to 3" or so if they are a bit picky.

Many thanks @Geoff

Interesting! Don't suppose many can say they go float fishing for Conger, but if you don't try you will never know.

It was one on the (very) short list I made and just a short stagger around the corner 🍻

Things must have changed a lot since the early 80's when I was socially confused and tottering about the tricorn centre, the mighty fine, dirty duck and Joanna's, I escaped without a scratch 😅

Ship Anson on the Hard/directly outside the dockyard gates. Sorry, forgot to say thank you!

Planes, trains, no automobile. Prefer it if they have a single but not fussed if they don't.

I am travelling to Pompey in May for a reunion and as I haven't been there for 40 years I don't have any local knowledge, does anyone have a suggestion for a B&B or small hotel in the Portsmouth harbour area? Not too keen on the premier Inn etc but may have to bite that bullet if I can't get a decent recommendation

Found these Muppets a while ago but forgot about them, a good deal if you want to build your own and/or share with a group? EDIT-Just found that they also do 4" Muppets too