RogB

Great stuff - are they earlier than usual? Might have to see if any have shown up in Torquay this weekend

Loads showing off Princess pier right now though quite small atm. Try off your boat on the reef east of the Ore Stone 

700-800lb…. Better pics to follow, 18 hour day, got to get to work for 8am tomorrow…. The power of skittles and red bull keeping me going at the moment 😂

 
(all released as in the water next to boat as I didn’t have the phone number for John Smith and I don’t think his cans were big enough 😂) 

The owner of the resort also has a 12m cat he charters out to the better, further away marks where the small, self drive boats aren't allowed to go
Its around 30 miles and apparently you aren't insured that far out, so charter is the only way and was highly recommended
A late start at 12.30 due to offshore winds early on and after a near 2 hr steam, we're dropping onto a huge reef system that can be drifted for a few hrs at a time with the right winds
A couple of winds up on my first drop produced this 
Deck hand Dave estimated at low 20's, who am I to argue
This was the stamp of fish that we were all catching on pretty much every drop, fair play they go like a train when they take the lure
After half a dozen of these, I sent a dead bait down, hoping for a big Cod or a Halibut
After about an hour and 3 bait changes, all I had caught was a Torsk (bastard fish) because that's what you call them when you see they're not a Cod or Coalie, had a few decent tugs, but couldn't connect and watching the rest of the boys pulling in fish in the mid 20's I was getting a bit tetchy, so went back to lures
In the mean time, Will had hooked and landed a Cod of 52lb, which unfortunately didn't go back, but would be given to some locals as is the case if they're too damaged and not wanted by the angler
I haven't got a pic of him holding it, so this will have to do
 
I had a couple of high teens and early 20lb Cod on a 9" lead headed lure (similar to a Sidewinder in design) so thought I'd try the biggest in the box and just target Cod
This was what the Norway veterans called "cut baits" mine was an imitation Puffin around a foot long !!!
Sent it down and they were hitting it as soon as it hit the bottom, plenty of the same size as earlier (huge for over here, just run of the mill over there)
I was hit by another 20lb + (or so I thought) and when the lunges became a bit more severe and line was being stripped off my reel, I was hoping this was something a bit better
It was, it was a 50 +
56lb 6oz and my PB ( a never to be beaten PB unless I go back out in 2026)
Because all fish are pulled up slowly and allowed to expel air as soon as you can see them (farting them) about 5/10 meters down, the majority go back unharmed like torpedos, 
This one also went back, seemingly none the worse for seeing my ugly mug, which is nearly as satisfying as catching it
Though, when I saw the size of it under the water, my arse was twitching a bit thinking that at any second i was going to loose it
2 drops later using the same method, I was hit by something bigger/stronger that I got up off the bottom by a few meters, only to watch my reel release a few more
Played tug of war for a few minutes and started gaining, then watched my reel give out more line than I had initially reeled in
So started the battle again and managed to get it, probably, 30m up after another 10 mins or so
Then I just went light and the expletives were ringing out
Whatever it was ( Cod or Halibut) was certainly a good fish
Got the lure to the surface and could see that my line had wrapped around the gape of the hook, probably disgorging the fish it fought
Ah well, there's always next time......
A pic of the lures we were using, with a 6" sidewinder for scale
I also caught a small, 5/6 lber on the Puffin lure, greedy buggers
A few other photos from the charter day and earlier
Had this view from our lodge a few mornings
To sum up my view, not as busy as I was told it would be, high water temps probably didn't help, the charter boat is a must if you go out there
But still very good fishing compared to what we have here
I will probably go back in 2026, 2025 fully booked 
 

I won't bore you with the travel details because, well they're boring
Two flights and a ferry ride later, we arrived at Sandland Brygge at around 8pm last Wednesday 14th August 2024
The 7 of us were met by the owners/hosts Steiner and Stina who loaded our luggage and gear into their van for the very short 2 min drive to the digs, far easier than trying to drag a weeks worth of food, drink, clothes, tackle ourselves
We had one of the 2, 8 birth lodges which are clean, comfortable and full of all the appliances you will need
Anyway, we unpacked and 2 of us had a safety briefing on the self drive boats (6.5m all aluminium with 150 suzuki 4 strokes which you can see towards the end of the first video, there are also a couple of 7.5m boats with 200 suzukis on the back) 
Briefing done, it was time for supper and an early night
Day 1, Thursday
Luckily, a few of the lads had been here last year, so knew a few marks that we went straight out to
This threw up some nice Cod (not massive I know, but Cod) and smaller Coalies, there must litterally be hundreds of thousand of them, as this was the scene on pretty much every mark we went to

Despite the abundance of bait fish, it wasn't as frantic as I expected/was assured, there was no wind and a very little tide which I decided was the reason
Not a disaster 
Day 2, Friday
High wind and heavy, prolonged showers
Spent most of the day looking for shelter out of the wind (which you can always find somewhere in one of the fjords) getting wet and pulling the odd few fish up
Did try for Plaice, but drift was all over the place and horizontal rain, though I did manage a Dab of over a 300mm
No pictures as too wet
Not a good day
Day 3, Saturday
Good weather
Thought we would try some deeper water (150m +) very difficult to get 2 drifts the same even when starting at the exact same point (not just today, pretty much every day)
Had fish on every mark when the lines weren't kiting too much

 

As well as the Cod and Coalies, we also had their equivalent of dogfish, Torsk, which can be a nuisance
A bit of a cross between a Ling, a cod and a Rockling
 
We also picked up a few Wolf fish, they call them Catfish up there
Ugly critters with razer teeth and a jaw like a hydraulic crusher, but nice eating apparently


Finished the day off trying for Plaice
I think we had between 15 and 20 between the 3 of us, with this being the best of the day
5lb 6oz

Had a couple of double hook ups with 3.5/4lb fish which initially I though was a double figure fish, ashamed to say I was a bit disappointed when I saw 2 fish coming up 🫣
This was my most enjoyable day up to now
Day 4 Sunday
Carbon copy of Friday, blustery winds and heavy showers with much the same results
Managed a few Plaice towards the end of the day as the wind turned and made the drift the right direction
This was around 4lb IIRC

Day 5 Monday
Great forecast so we set off for the "pig farm" some reefs and drop offs around 6/7 miles off the NE of Loppa
Very quiet for both boats all morning, though the few fish that were caught were worth the wait
First in were the lads on the other boats, one of them (Smurf) dropped a dead bait down and as soon as it hit the bottom, his rod went bananas
This was the result

Took the treble deep, so wouldn't go back, went 66lb when weighed some 6 hrs later
Was very probably 70lb when caught, he was over the moon, could hear the cheers (from his boat and one close by) a mile away
Smurfs mate will copied his tactics and was rewarded with it's smaller sibling 20 mins or so later
Will's (on right) went 34lb, looks like a minnow next to the monster
Will also caught the only Red fish of the trip
Our boat wasn't faring so well, until Paul also dropped a deadbait down and was rewarded with the best Halibut of the trip
Scales were bouncing between 38 and 42lb, so we generously gave him 39lb 😁
Will also picked up a halibut earlier on in the week of around 20lb
To be continued on next post

Fishing has been slow for us in July but we did manage to catch Teignmouth airshow while fishing. This was our longest day out of about 8hrs and the first time we had ever anchored since doing our Powerboat-level-2 training.
Only a couple of gurnards this trip and not much else since either kayaking inshore or fair bit further out in th boat. This is also my first video - at least the plane is impressive even of the cinematography leaves a bit to be desired🤔
 
PS soz no gratuitous food shots

Fishing has been slow for us in July but we did manage to catch Teignmouth airshow while fishing. This was our longest day out of about 8hrs and the first time we had ever anchored since doing our Powerboat-level-2 training.
Only a couple of gurnards this trip and not much else since either kayaking inshore or fair bit further out in th boat. This is also my first video - at least the plane is impressive even of the cinematography leaves a bit to be desired🤔
 
PS soz no gratuitous food shots

Fishing has been slow for us in July but we did manage to catch Teignmouth airshow while fishing. This was our longest day out of about 8hrs and the first time we had ever anchored since doing our Powerboat-level-2 training.
Only a couple of gurnards this trip and not much else since either kayaking inshore or fair bit further out in th boat. This is also my first video - at least the plane is impressive even of the cinematography leaves a bit to be desired🤔
 
PS soz no gratuitous food shots

Last night the wife asked about sea state and tides for today, as she decided, with it being the hottest day this summer, that it would be nice to get out.
So, I asked where she wanted to go, wrecks, Skerries, or something else, and she wanted to go Mackerel fishing, and, TBF she is bloody good at it.
I was happy with that, but warned her that we would be having to work hard for just a few, as they are a bit thin on the ground.
Due to some medical issues this was her first time out this year, we launched at 08:30 and made our way out to some of my 'banker' mackerel marks.
Soon we were beginning to catch, only ones and twos but they were very decent sized fish.
TBH, it was very hot today, calm mirror sea, almost no wind, so that made the fishing a bit harder.
I went to 5 marks, and we ended up with 34 Mackerel, so not too shabby, and she also managed a Pollock of about 3lb off a rock mark.  Most have gone in the bait freezer, but 4 were jumbo sized and are in the fridge for eating.
Came back in at 4pm, the temp here in Lyme Bay was 29C, so quite warm !
A decent trip of 25 miles, but it was great to be out there again, and I quite enjoyed our maccy bashing session. I did fit in a visit to one wreck, but it was netted 🙄
No pics, coz we all know what the average mack looks like 🙄
 
 
 
 
 

The sewer buoy, correctly known as the 'special purpose buoy' was one of the marks that failed miserably, the mack came from the Orestone, Outer Livermeads, Long Quarry, and the Parson & Clerk.
 

Glad you found some. "Thin on the ground" is an understatement! I was beginning to think it was just me..
9hrs afloat July for the Teignmouth airshow, 2 of us fishing quite inshore out of the wind for 2 gurnards. Last weekend 4hrs out on the kayaks for 6 on sat, 3 hrs on the boat out a mile or two for 1 scad (from the sewer buoy "reef" 🤮) on sunday over HW. Even the mackerel boat followed us 3 times, as if we knew best😂
Shore fishing the Ness beach was much more productive for a few evenings but that soon dried up. Anyway the ones we did have were good sized.
Keep up the reports, I was inspired by your short videos and managed to shoot the typhoon at the airshow from the back of our tub but need to work out how to YouTube it.
Cheers, Roger
 

Glad you found some. "Thin on the ground" is an understatement! I was beginning to think it was just me..
9hrs afloat July for the Teignmouth airshow, 2 of us fishing quite inshore out of the wind for 2 gurnards. Last weekend 4hrs out on the kayaks for 6 on sat, 3 hrs on the boat out a mile or two for 1 scad (from the sewer buoy "reef" 🤮) on sunday over HW. Even the mackerel boat followed us 3 times, as if we knew best😂
Shore fishing the Ness beach was much more productive for a few evenings but that soon dried up. Anyway the ones we did have were good sized.
Keep up the reports, I was inspired by your short videos and managed to shoot the typhoon at the airshow from the back of our tub but need to work out how to YouTube it.
Cheers, Roger
 

Glad you found some. "Thin on the ground" is an understatement! I was beginning to think it was just me..
9hrs afloat July for the Teignmouth airshow, 2 of us fishing quite inshore out of the wind for 2 gurnards. Last weekend 4hrs out on the kayaks for 6 on sat, 3 hrs on the boat out a mile or two for 1 scad (from the sewer buoy "reef" 🤮) on sunday over HW. Even the mackerel boat followed us 3 times, as if we knew best😂
Shore fishing the Ness beach was much more productive for a few evenings but that soon dried up. Anyway the ones we did have were good sized.
Keep up the reports, I was inspired by your short videos and managed to shoot the typhoon at the airshow from the back of our tub but need to work out how to YouTube it.
Cheers, Roger
 

Glad you found some. "Thin on the ground" is an understatement! I was beginning to think it was just me..
9hrs afloat July for the Teignmouth airshow, 2 of us fishing quite inshore out of the wind for 2 gurnards. Last weekend 4hrs out on the kayaks for 6 on sat, 3 hrs on the boat out a mile or two for 1 scad (from the sewer buoy "reef" 🤮) on sunday over HW. Even the mackerel boat followed us 3 times, as if we knew best😂
Shore fishing the Ness beach was much more productive for a few evenings but that soon dried up. Anyway the ones we did have were good sized.
Keep up the reports, I was inspired by your short videos and managed to shoot the typhoon at the airshow from the back of our tub but need to work out how to YouTube it.
Cheers, Roger
 

Hoping to get out on the morning high water, do a spot of fishing and then drop anchor to watch Teignmouth airshow on saturday from the water. Going to be a bit windy for us but we hope to sit in the lee of the cliffs.
Riverside boatyard are renewing the pontoon (its been lifted out) so launching and delivering the car driver will be extra comedy and double stacked on the slip - a slip we have trouble hitting as the boat loves spinning around in the wind.
Will be a long day for us as well, 9-10hrs, might have to think about how much fuel we need as we still have no clear idea of consumption - previous trips of a few hrs have cost all of £15 each time - but thats about 10L of E5 and we only have a 25L tank. Think we might need to invest in a reserve tank.....

Too good a Saturday forecast to miss saw me towing to Cornwall Friday night.
arrival around 1ish launching at daylight meant couple hours sort rods unstrap pack away and shut eye for not very long but it all helps.
first stop was bait and I was picking up some
jumbo mackerel only close in which was great after about 8/9 I headed out.

i stopped off on the way out around the reefs what difference the not netting of pollack has made. Well saying that Iv seen more fish in the past but compared to last year there were a few good fish back !
 

 
Pushed out to the 20mile band it was glass on the way out which was lovely then I spent an hour or so over the slack trying for ling on this wreck. I know they’re on there I just couldn’t get them ..another time !
dumped the chum over and waited quite a while with no wind i was moving with the tide but not a great deal.
then I had one probably of 40lb.
Hour or so later I had a better one round more like 75lb the boat going for the chum bag and the proper.
i had this fish round the bait and I could wind up any more so I just hand hooked her and she wernt happy gave me a searing run. Great fun

the Yank
The run 

chum

curious blue


 I ended up with another one so 3 in total
Had to pull the hook in again by hand to get that last one tight , rather that than deep hook. 
 
food as follows

Bangers on boat took some skin damage @JonC

 
Dinner made up for it
then I crawled into the tent 💤 
 
Josh 

It is great to have Kyle back as crew, now that he has finished his A levels, so we launched at 07:30 into a flat sea, with an intention of getting back to the slip at 15:30.
The forecast for the skerries area was fog / mist until 09:00 and then a cloudy but warm day, but the weather guessers got that very wrong.  Once we rounded Berry Head, the mist was thick and getting worse, so I dropped the speed to 24knts, however the visibility was 1/2 mile so no real issues. On went the Nav lights and I also double checked that the AIS was fully functional.
We arrived at the Skerries at about 08:15 and the visibility was just a few hundred yards, but the sea was mirror calm, and no wind.
A few drifts across the banks produced numerous small Plaice and only one keeper (we don't keep anything under 35cm), 4 plump Mackerel, one monster Launce (snake), and numerous Red and Grey Gurnard, so plenty to keep us busy.
At the end of slack water (12:15 ish), we motored over to the outer edge of the banks and I dropped the pick. Bite were slow, with kyle getting a doggie and 2 decent  blonds (8lb & 10 1/2lb). I was trying out some other ideas and only managed a 3lb spider !
At 14:30 we pulled the pick, the visibility was getting worse at maybe 200 yards, so a gentle trip off the banks at 20kts, but we picked up speed once we reached the Mudstone Ledge.
Back on the slip at 15:30, a total trip of 48nm, and a very pleasant day.
Just one pic that says it all

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Nice report and photos. I admire your dedication but lovely looking sea so I can see why you made the effort!
 

Another morning solo trip as I had to do the school run in the afternoon.
Launched at 7:45 into a flat sea, so I decided to head out to the same bunch of wrecks as my last trip.
At 15 - 20 miles out it was mirror flat, I decided to stay on one largish wreck, and my drift was along the wreck which is unusual.
It was pout city on both spj and lures, but I did manage 2 small Cod of about 4lb each. 

Some of the pout were huge. I had some frozen mack to use up, so I quickly tied a blood loop wrecking rig from 150lb mono, and a 9/0 hook. I loaded the 9/0 with a mack flapper hoping for Ling, but the monster pout were shredding it, and I hooked 4 of them, bloody monsters, probably close to 3lb fish !
I will look at the camera later to see if there are any pics worth using.
Just cleaned the boat and I noted the AIS stopped working on the way back in. The AIS 800 has the ‘ready’ and ‘receive only’ lights on, which suggests it has lost its GPS signal, so I suspect the Garmin puck. I will order a new one tonight.
Total trip of 38miles and a cracking day to be out there.

Thanks for posting and making the effort on editing a video - does look a bit choppy!

Just a solo morning session and the weather liars were forecasting a good sea and wind conditions. Launched at 07:30 into a flat, calm sea, but that didn't last long 🙄
I had decided to go to a wreck, and then inshore for some Mackerel, and this was a 'food' trip, I had my instructions, Bass, Cod or Ling, and a Mack or two for the granddaughter. My lot are not keen on Pollock !
My destination wreck was the 'Meatboat' and I am pretty sure @Dickyasked about that wreck some time ago. It is in 190ft and about a 15mile steam. The flat sea was great, and nice to be cruising at 30kts, but once I got to about 6 miles out the NW wind picked up and was producing quite a significant swell with a short sea (1.8secs !). By the time I got to the wreck, I was down to 18kts and the wind was causing a lot of spray from the waves. Drifting the wreck was not easy as there were 2 crab pots on the outer edge of the wreck, but I found a drift line that worked.
First drops on the wreck were with SPJ and that was producing a Pout on every drop, decent sized, but hey, they are still Pout. Last time I fished this wreck I remembered sidewinders were effective, so I went down with a Skerries eel, After a few plucks down on the wreck (pout) at 31 turns up I had a decent take and knew it would be a bass. Sure enough a bass it was, not huge but a keeper of 50cm (3lb or so). The next drop produced the same result, so I was happy with a bag limit of 2 keepers and decided that the washing machine sea was getting worse, so time to head inshore.
The first 5 miles coming off the wreck I was down to 16 - 18kt into a NW very short head sea, luckily the RIB is a dry boat and I didn't take any waves over the bow. Once I got to the 6 mile from land, I picked up speed as the sea was much better being in the lee of the land.
Next stop was the Orestone, where I struggled for Mack, but managed to find a decent whopper Mack in amongst the continual Scad and Gurnards. So, at 12:00 midday, with the shopping basket full, it was time to head in ready for the school run.
Apart from the weather liars, it was good to be out there, with a trip distance of 38nm, 2 keeper bass, a decent Mack, plus a load of other dross like Pout (lost count), Scad, and small Grey Gurnard.
We had the Bass for evening meal and the granddaughter munched on the mackerel (she doesn't like spiky)
I had the DJI Action 4 camera on, so I could take off stills, but the cam is reasonable, so a little vid instead. I didn't bother with the Pout footage !
 
 
 
 

Went to see the pacific yesterday. Absolute shed!! Dodgy repair in the hull, floor was shot, big chunk of glass cut out to fit the steering wheel despite being a structural part! movement in the transom and the fact its had a hull repair (at least one) and the floor is shot, suggests the bearers and stringers are too...... For some reason the trim and tilt controls were in the splash well?? Oh, and the trailer was a badly converted caravan chassis with no plate on it, no mudguards yada yada.....
 
So I bought it!!
 
 
No, not really. I would say I walked away, but ran was nearer the truth
 
 

OK - thanks everybody. It very much sounds like a worthwhile policy to take out if you are in the area they operate in. The engine is still under warranty so gets a main dealer service and us owners are pretty good at problem solving and fixing things - but just don't yet have the experience on the water with boats, and our craft is a little small to be hauling a full toolbox around (we do have a basic kit). In previous years while beach fishing i've watched the RNLI tow numerous boats back to Teignmouth on bank holiday weekends in May as people hit the water for the first time of the season and conk out for some reason. We should definately pick up some extra anchor rope as we only have 30m currently.
One thing I would like to do is have some better engine diagnostics as a rev counter and warning lights aren't likely to flag anything until its too late. Probably start a new thread on that topic later.
Cheers
Roger