Malc

Hi all I’m new to this site so thanks for the welcome. I’m a Plymouth based boat owning angler. I’m out a few times a week either crewing for a local charter skipper or on my own Atlantis 26 CC which is kept in the local dry stack. I’ve only been fishing for about 50 years so every day’s a school day. 

Now you're talking!! 🤣

Lovely photos of some cracking fish! Thanks for sharing, although posting all those unicorn pics may not win you too many friends 🤣👍

Short spined sea scorpion, or as they get called up here a granny fish

I`m bored as I am awaiting the kitchen being fitted so I`m going to see if I can post up some recent catches (past 4-5 years) for those who like to see a few fish.
I`ll get some new ones hopefully when the hurricane season passes 🙂
First up a smallish wrasse to a cheb rigged creature
and on a sidewinder minnow

Yay, it worked!
Afew of those things you guys call unicorns I believe...

Sometimes two at a time

Sometimes funny coloured kelp codling

Pot bellied pigs

Not a cod, and apologies for the rubbish pic but ia lunker like that wasn`t staying in the water to be photographed, too many seals around....

Oddities...
Is it a gremlin?

Nope a SSSS

And a wrestling match to unhook and I had 3 from 3 different drifts that day!

Hope it floats ya boat.

I`m bored as I am awaiting the kitchen being fitted so I`m going to see if I can post up some recent catches (past 4-5 years) for those who like to see a few fish.
I`ll get some new ones hopefully when the hurricane season passes 🙂
First up a smallish wrasse to a cheb rigged creature
and on a sidewinder minnow

Yay, it worked!
Afew of those things you guys call unicorns I believe...

Sometimes two at a time

Sometimes funny coloured kelp codling

Pot bellied pigs

Not a cod, and apologies for the rubbish pic but ia lunker like that wasn`t staying in the water to be photographed, too many seals around....

Oddities...
Is it a gremlin?

Nope a SSSS

And a wrestling match to unhook and I had 3 from 3 different drifts that day!

Hope it floats ya boat.

That was the type of thing I was thinking about but using plastic drain pipe, one for my friends boat and a smaller one for my kayak.

I use this successfully in an around the Solent, 316 stainless.  

going to give this a go when i go for the gilt heads in portland harbour - i was going to use a plastic bottle tied up off the bottom on a bit of rope with  a large weight

I have one of these, yet to discover if it works well or not. In the strong tides of the Solent I'd guess all the bait just washes away. Slack water tool I reckon. 
 

nice set up mate 

I've tried a few different methods; frozen milk bottle, drilled soil pipe and large chum bag. None of them have out-performed a day without groundbait though.
From memory @Saintly Fish has a manufactured steel bait dropper (can't remember the brand) so may be able to comment on that style of groundbaiting.

hi all i would like to interduce  myself  i only joined the site early this is my first of many posts i hope i will be fishing the bristol channel  this year just got to do a little bit more work on the boat and then should all be good bye for now daio

Locked out just after high water to a higher wind than forecast, was slightly choppy but nothing to worry about just made me change plan and fish local rather than aberthaw just incase it picked up! First drop on the chosen mark had a nice cod just under 12lb couple of hours later one at 8lb 2 bites all day two cod just as I was giving up hope of cardiff after a couple of bleak trips recently….can’t wait to get back out now 🎣😀

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.

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.

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.

Well i wasnt expecting that.....
Had a chat with a few mates (sorry guys) on Tuesday night, about the recent reports of squid being caught along the south coast, - in particular my area Weymouth - some were saying piers, most were saying chesil cove - given the squid season has been and gone (usually Oct/Nov) one mate didn't believe them, and thought they were spoof/unlikely here/old pics etc etc (TBF one pic was taken on a fresh cut lawn[?]) - another believed them and wanted to know if they were in. they both live 2-3hrs away - so though do you know what - lets settle this - sod it i'll go and have a look for ink stains on the pier or even better i'll fling a jig around - only one to way to settle this..... its been so calm and with no rain for weeks the water clarity is perfect for squid, and its certainly mild enough.
I had one hour of fishing between 8-9pm, so i armed myself with a Shimano Perfection 8' spinning road, Abu Cardinal 54FD, a selection of Squid jigs , soft Lumi beads and my ultra violet torch and headed to the pleasure pier (wooden jetty style pier - not the longer solid stone pier) - here you can park up almost on the pier and be fishing within minutes - only one other person was squid fishing with no luck the rest were regular fishing.
I chose a green DTD 3.5g shrimp Jig, straight on via a snap link and glow bead.
charged it up under the UV and cast out - not very hopeful. 
a few casts with a very slow sink and draw method yielded nothing so on the next retrieve I switched to very slow vertical jigging right by the pier legs - under my feet pretty much - i was holding the lure shallow enough to see it reflect in my head torch - and it suddenly started slowly moving off backwards - not getting over excited a gave a gentle pull (you dont strike squid) to see if anything was there - and it moved again, a more firm pull back on the rod and i was in - the happy sound of a squid jetting on the surface! in she came, one landed within 10 mins of trying. My FIRST EVER from the shore!


not sure if the squid followed the lure in or was residing under the pier - so after a recharge of the glow i tried the teasing method again below my feet - and within minutes i had bagged another bigger one - 2 in 20 mins happy days and drawing a crowd now!. This one could be my PB, deffo my shore PB.



but that's where it ended - no more for me
I tried the bigger 4.0g pink red gill Jigs @GPSguru but no luck - they liked the green one - i'll keep trying!. 
i then had to race back, and get them gutted, cleaned and the kitchen hosed down before the Mrs got back at 9.30 - luckily she was late and i had all but washed the ink of the stainless franke....... (she isnt a clean freak just hates fishy things) - she did touch one though, and thats a big step forward!
Point proven - you can catch squid in January plus Fresh Squid rings for lunch -happy days!

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.

That knot is the same as the one I use for joining main line to a rubbing leader. Pretty easy to do I just never thought of using it as a hook length. Suppose you can make flappers in the same way. 

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.

Every days a weekend for the retired!! 
Im not jealous though. 

Nice report and well done on the turbo! 

Better than a day at the office...

Better than a day at the office...