Hoop

Early start on Sunday morning for a jigging trip. Plan was to be on the mark for low water. A foggy start saw us taking it slowly to begin with.

Conditions soon improved and we made good time to the mark. Wind was a bit stronger than forecast and kept us on our toes on the drift.
I had a decent bass early doors

But not alot else came to the boat, so we moved mark and dropped the anchor for an hour or so in a shallow water mark for smoothounds and bream. Neil got snapped off by a large Hound that took his bream rig. It made it to the surface then turned round and buggered off. Wasn't long though before Neil hooked into another.

We had a fair few bream too. No pics but one went home with Leo for tea.
On the way back home we saw a huge flock of seabirds working around Lepe and Calshot, so we paused and dropped feathers and lures. It seemed to be bass pushing sandeels to the surface, and we managed a schoolie on a slow jig on the end of some feathers.

Another good session aboard Tarlach Too. Thanks always to @Saintly Fish and Leo for skippering 👍.

This is not cheating.... at all!!? 😅
A guy this way (that knows what he's doing) has had a couple of GG's to the same shallow diving lure! Jammy ... 
I'm down that way in a week, fully intend on taking lure gear.. any marks worth a go for Bass? 

Mullet are easy once you've got them cracked.
Feeding habits change from location to location. When you can see the fish up in the water like this on top, throw in half a slice of bread and sit on your hands and watch. Rip into finger tip sized flakes but don't squash the bread and knock the air out..as it will obviously sink.
Key is to gradually build up the offerings and only when they confidently numing the bread should you sling in a line... and then beyond the feeding fish and bring your line in slowly to the area where the fish are feeding.
Hooks? Mustard B983's, size 8 or 6. I use a carp self cocking float .. hook length is tricky as fluoro will sink so just a good quality line, about 5 ft should do it.. bread flake should be pinched around the eye of the hook.
Mullet will also feed differently upon location, creeks can be tough if they are sifting silt for micro organisms.. no different from chucking surface lures for Bass if the bass are noses down looking for crabs.. match the hatch to a degree..
Harbours, sea walls at depth is easier again but less fun.. shop bought ground bait, mix in some bread.. shitty mackerel if you have it and ball it in to start then gradually feed.. as for set up? Waggler style with a reasonable drop or as some of the less finesse guys approach is to drop down a two hook patt small hooks and mould bread to hook, obviously exposing the hook point. Another tip, mould bread or ground bait around the sinker.. also worth fishing mackerel strip!
Time of the day plays a part, off the top.. early mornings late afternoons into evenings..
Fishing deeper, you'll catch any time of day or at night.. 
When we used to get round to Hurst Bassin on bait gear, we used to regularly catch Bream and Mullet on 8/0's, mackerel head and gut baits. Goes to show that Mullet are not all that difficult.  

Mullet are easy once you've got them cracked.
Feeding habits change from location to location. When you can see the fish up in the water like this on top, throw in half a slice of bread and sit on your hands and watch. Rip into finger tip sized flakes but don't squash the bread and knock the air out..as it will obviously sink.
Key is to gradually build up the offerings and only when they confidently numing the bread should you sling in a line... and then beyond the feeding fish and bring your line in slowly to the area where the fish are feeding.
Hooks? Mustard B983's, size 8 or 6. I use a carp self cocking float .. hook length is tricky as fluoro will sink so just a good quality line, about 5 ft should do it.. bread flake should be pinched around the eye of the hook.
Mullet will also feed differently upon location, creeks can be tough if they are sifting silt for micro organisms.. no different from chucking surface lures for Bass if the bass are noses down looking for crabs.. match the hatch to a degree..
Harbours, sea walls at depth is easier again but less fun.. shop bought ground bait, mix in some bread.. shitty mackerel if you have it and ball it in to start then gradually feed.. as for set up? Waggler style with a reasonable drop or as some of the less finesse guys approach is to drop down a two hook patt small hooks and mould bread to hook, obviously exposing the hook point. Another tip, mould bread or ground bait around the sinker.. also worth fishing mackerel strip!
Time of the day plays a part, off the top.. early mornings late afternoons into evenings..
Fishing deeper, you'll catch any time of day or at night.. 
When we used to get round to Hurst Bassin on bait gear, we used to regularly catch Bream and Mullet on 8/0's, mackerel head and gut baits. Goes to show that Mullet are not all that difficult.  

Just a quick report as the fishing wasn't great - Weymouth boat league comp number 3. 
We went to our usual mark and i got off to a good start - but it dropped off once the tide slackened. 
Loads of bloom in the water made the fishing really hard - I managed 5 dogfish, 4 bream, and an Eel. 
Tim had 4x bream, 4x doggies, a Red gurnard, a Cuckoo Wrasse, a mackerel and an eel.
Mid afternoon we moved spots - coming closer in to search out Wrasse, Pout and pollock on the reefs/wrecks inshore to up our tally
But only Tim managed to find one Ballan wrasse
Neither of us placed anywhere near the top.  
 
the last bream i had was a feisty one of +2lb with some awesome colours - i had already kept an earlier one for tea so he went back to help the stocks!

 
 
Classic bit of Bream juggling......

 
lovely day afloat despite the disappointing result - 
 
 

Weather looked good all weekend - but my fishing buddy was in Benidorm until Saturday night - so plans were made for Sunday - however the wind was freshening and turning more easterly - so not ideal. 
After a failed attempt to get mackerel in Portlands entrance we opted to seek shelter under White Nothe - East of the Bay. New ground for us - but worth a go!
It was slow - i only managed 4 doggies, Tim managed doggies, Smoothounds, Bream and a thornie, his son had dogs and a blonde ray. wind was fresh all day - but the sun was out and we were afloat - so all good!
 

 

 

 
 

you talking about us Caulk'heads? haha!

Hey guys, happy new year!! 🤔
It's that time of year again and the fishy season kicks off for me in 6 days! 
Funnily enough, Andrew.. I was recently talking to someone about the deeps, apparently.. it's bloomin amazing!? Mostly spinning Shark dits but other species also got a mention..
I'm all for cracking tricky spots but our session there still gives me nightmares. Best left to those with webbed hands and funny shaped heads I reckon.. 
 

Hey guys, happy new year!! 🤔
It's that time of year again and the fishy season kicks off for me in 6 days! 
Funnily enough, Andrew.. I was recently talking to someone about the deeps, apparently.. it's bloomin amazing!? Mostly spinning Shark dits but other species also got a mention..
I'm all for cracking tricky spots but our session there still gives me nightmares. Best left to those with webbed hands and funny shaped heads I reckon.. 
 

🤣, ahh yes, the Common Pompey skate, rarely found under 100kg. Indigenous to portsmouth water. Right gob on'em too. When landed they make the strangest grunt that when recorded, slowed & cleaned through digital means, the result can be most closely linked to the word 'cunt'.. 😳 

Hey @Malc.. I know you asked 'boats' but I'll through some shore knowledge in!!
Chesil / Brizzle Channel Codin, pully or up and over then tie off a short hook length beneath a gaff. 7/o or 8/o. School of thought, size 4 or 6 baited with small worm squid bait. Allows for streaming and maximum range when casting, for example hitting clay patches at Chesil we know that are at distance. Draw backs with the method are obviously your not wanting to regularly check the end as you may have a perfect live bait sat on it.. though sounds like you've got this weighed off with a scratching rod beside..
Live baits are always more likely to be picked up and the theory about Cod hoovering up whatever doesn't stack up in my experience..
Another method worth considering is a bait sliding rig, especially when the Cod are up in the water, when they've turned onto sprats for example. 
As with all live baiting, it's all or nothing. Whatever you connect with is going to be worth while... Conger are a regular bycatch along Chesil and Brizzle worth tying heavy leaders.. I know a man that does just the job! 👌
Oh, save some Whiting for Spring Thornies.. nearly as good as (fresh frozen, not the shop bought frozen) Mackerel! 

As above….
Small hook (size 2) but of worm on it and hopefully you’ll get a whiting. This tied to an 8/0. 
 
this is what we used to use for the cod in the Bristol Channel from the shore when we had lots of big cod. There was a guy called Mike Jones who caught 30lb+ cod off the shore at Ogmore deeps doing this. I once gaffed a 28lb cod off Swansea breakwater as a kid by an angler doing exactly the same thing. It was a tactic widely used on Dungeness back in the day when there were big cod to be caught…

Hey @Malc.. I know you asked 'boats' but I'll through some shore knowledge in!!
Chesil / Brizzle Channel Codin, pully or up and over then tie off a short hook length beneath a gaff. 7/o or 8/o. School of thought, size 4 or 6 baited with small worm squid bait. Allows for streaming and maximum range when casting, for example hitting clay patches at Chesil we know that are at distance. Draw backs with the method are obviously your not wanting to regularly check the end as you may have a perfect live bait sat on it.. though sounds like you've got this weighed off with a scratching rod beside..
Live baits are always more likely to be picked up and the theory about Cod hoovering up whatever doesn't stack up in my experience..
Another method worth considering is a bait sliding rig, especially when the Cod are up in the water, when they've turned onto sprats for example. 
As with all live baiting, it's all or nothing. Whatever you connect with is going to be worth while... Conger are a regular bycatch along Chesil and Brizzle worth tying heavy leaders.. I know a man that does just the job! 👌
Oh, save some Whiting for Spring Thornies.. nearly as good as (fresh frozen, not the shop bought frozen) Mackerel! 

An early session from the rocks in Fowey this morning.

I tied on the trusty Major Craft Jigpara 20g in Zebra Glow and didn't have to wait long for the first hit, a small schoolie bass.

Next up was a decent mackerel.

and shortly after I scored a two-for-one!

Called it a day not long afterwards as the tide had started to flood and I didn't fancy being trapped on the rocks. A fun little session to start the day.

Additional pictures. 


Happy enough with the fishing as no one else caught due to them having huge hooks and baits, casting for the horizon and not seeing the bites anyway due to using mono!

So perhaps the title is a bit click-baity, but what was supposed to be a two day sharking trip on Odyssey, with @Odyssey to celebrate @Saintly Fish's birthday got blown out and turned into a Dad's & Lads reefing session, with Neil and I keen to get some proper use out of our SPJ gear.


We locked out at dawn but as we left the shelter of Milford Haven it became obvious that the conditions hadn't yet improved like they were supposed to... I blame Michael Fish for that 😖.
So plan B was quickly formulated to visit the inshore islands for some drifting for pollack followed by downtiding at anchor to see what was home while the weather settled. The short answer was... not a lot. Some small pollack and poor cod on the drift and at anchor just a solitary dogfish to the skipper (#welljell!) and an inquisitive squid that followed my baited feathers to the surface but didn't commit himself to the bait.
As the conditions eased we motored out to a series of reefs - the plan was to drift for some better pollack. Neil and I were to experiment with our SPJ gear over slack water and we didn't have to wait long for the fish. Lots of hits and lots of table sized pollack over the gunnels in short order. They were hitting the jigs consistently, just off the bottom. Any colour would do, as long as it was about two turns up from the sea floor.

Other species also fell to the jigs. Neil had a scad if I remember correctly, and Leo had a PB which I'll leave to Neil to share the details of 👍.
It didn't take long for the fish box to fill up and we called it a day after one of our crew nearly vomited himself overboard... #somepeoplearejustnotcutoutforboating

So, a great day's fishing snatched from the jaws of defeat. JAWS will have to wait until next season however.
A big thank you to @Odyssey for hosting and skippering 👍.

Haddock are in the 1-2lb range so I have only taken one which was bleeding from the gills. They are an irregular catch but even getting caught from the shore, when the weather calms we might get a few as we change the bait fishing during the winter. 

Any size to them?
If Haddock were a viable option this way, I'd probably not fish for anything else! 

Any size to them?
If Haddock were a viable option this way, I'd probably not fish for anything else! 

What are the realistic species to target along your patch, Malc? Yet to see a single Whiting this end, never a bad thing! 
A local youtuber (local marks fishing) fishes beach and harbour / Solent in a Sib at night, filming live streams as he does so, have been catching more Conger than anything else. 
Good luck shaking off the cold, if not.. stick another jumper on! 

Lots of people dusting off their big rods in anticipation of fish moving inshore due to the easterlies and I might be able to join them, but first I have to shake off this cold.
Sunday or Monday might be good as the swells subside. 

After much clambering around yesterday a venue for the evenings festivities had been agreed, an outing to Milford.. a venue put forward by our friendly bait supplier.
The desired target was sole, the brief was simple ish..  a venue with easy access on proven sole ground, milford seemed to tick the boxes,. However, upon arrival the beach is undergoing works and the step down was not achievable so back in the car.. Google maps, Barton I called out!? Nope, the old fella doesn't agree with the slope leading to the beach.. wonderful! After 5 minutes he pipes up.. 'Lee'?!!.. an hour later, we had arrived on a mark 5 minutes from my front door.. 😭
My buddy just enjoys being out with a line in the drink, catching for him is truly a bonus.. though I like to think my outlook mirrors that of my bud, in all honesty, I'd sooner blank being in the 'right place' than blank somewhere convenient not likely to throw anything up.. last night, we ended up on a convenient mark. 
Big tide, patchy skies, warm with intermittent bright moon appearances. First cast mate had a great bite but failed to stick it, then that was his lot till the last cast with a tiny hound pup..
I fished one at range - 6/o pully, squid and blank lug.. 30 year old Bass rod fished in close with size 4's, tiny black lug tipped squid.
While the big baits remained untouched all night, first cast on the bass gear I had a smut pup. Just before wrapping up I had a cracking bite and upon picking the rod up I felt something pulling back! Happy days, moments later.. up popped a Codling. My mate insisted on weighing and it went 4lb 12. Sadly with it gut hook, it ended up coming home. 
Safe to say, the Sole were no where to be seen. A match last week on Hillhead that's widely regarded as the local hotspot had a turn out of 18, not a single Sole was caught.. another fish with changing habits?
In other fishing its been kinda slow, had a decent Bass Friday around 7lb, stalked which made it quite satisfying. Even squeezed a Mullet session in a week ago on floating bread. In an hour I had 2 Bass and 1 Mullet.. nothing big but pulled the string nevertheless. 

Got my first one last night at Princess pier, first bloody cast 🤣

after losing three last week in the peeing down rain this was most welcome. Hooked a couple more but they came off. Tricky business without barbs and jets of water flying around 🤷‍♂️ all in all some good fun and hope to get more as the season progresses 🤞

Sunday was a cracker of a day so an early start for the skerries, stopping on the way for fresh Mack.
We spent an hour on the Mack, and whilst kyle and the wife were busy with the feathers, I got the squid jigs out and found a couple of cuttle and 3 fresh squid.
Then a decent run to the skerries ( stopping to play with the Dolphins) where we drifted for plaice and soon bagged up, but only retained 6 decent keepers. Once the tide changed and started to pick up I dropped the pin and down went the big Ray baits.
We were soon into the Blonds and boated  11 with the biggest at 13lb. Also we had 2 dogs and a decent Grey that went almost 3lb. All too soon it was time to pull the anchor and head back. There was a shoal of BFT busting a bait ball just off the banks.

 
Monday was to be a bait gathering session, just the wife and I, as we had the school run in the afternoon.
The wife was on tinsel duty, and I set up a squid jig pat to target the cuttle. We were pretty successful with 20+ Mack and 17 cuttle. The biggest cuttle went almost 5lb and was taking line ! Cuttle are annoying as you only land about 1 in 5, as they grab and let go the jigs.
Also in the mix on the tinsels were Scad (lost count) and small tubs.
@thejollysinker is going to be fuming, as he fishes right over the cuttle, but unless you actively target them, you would never know they are there.

 

 
Cuttle are dirty bastids, so cleaning the boat was a jet wash job, but keeping the deck wet helps a lot. They probably emit 5 times more ink than squid. All in the freezer now as cuttle will out fish all other baits in the winter. The quantity and quality of the cuttle would cost about £250 -£300 to buy as frozen bait, so well pleased.
2 days and 120nm, tired but happy.