Josh

awesome - the size of that pollock! nice one!

So finally the weather broke enough to get out on North conrwall. I wasn’t going to miss my shot. So the long tow down from Kent to the very bottom.Friday night because of the tides we had to go out in the night which was interesting but absolutely ideal conditions to being doing it in. Totally flat calm and no swell. So we anchored up in a bay and obviously threw a rod over but I think we had one doggie and tryed to get some sleep .. (didn’t happen)

5 am came and light was creeping so we starting heading out saw a huge man of war. 
 
got to the mark and began drifting for porgies.
to our surprise we actually saw them breaking the surface which was as far as I was concerned out of character.


 

 
this happened about 5 times throughout the day… it was feeding by the looks.
it wasn’t dolphins or anything else 100%
 
anyway a long hard day and annoyingly seeing fish on the sounder seeing them come up to our bait line on the sounder too … to no takers but we had to try.
////
so we came in and headed to our camp over on the south side and got dinner and got our heads down in the tent.
 The temptation was there to head back for the second day with due good weather (which is a rarity)
but would of meant going back out in the night at 2am. 
We wer bo****ed from the night before and said we will have a day on the reefs tomorrow with no tidal demand.
yes I regret choosing that over sharking but it’s done now.
 
glass calm day and a steady run of pollack worst tides for pollack was going to do some long drifting but i managed a pollack of 11lb6oz which was a mega scrap on spinning rod.

Ash had a ling off the reef nice eating size 

we had a tired canary land on the boat and stayed for a bit which was cool.

we also had a shoal off fish right infornt of the boat all come fluttering to the surface no idea .. they wer not mackerel bass mullet … bigger thicker fish … maybe it’s wishful thinking albacore ? I’m going to ask about down there see if anyone else seen anything similar. We was thinking somehting big was going to happen like a whale breach. These fish weren’t chasing fry I’m sure they wer being chased.

Few other bits n peices and then back to the camp oh and dinner at the curry house was 👌

30+ pollack to 4lb.
3 cuckoo wrasse
5 dogfish 
12 whiting
9 gurnard
11 launce
very foggy but nice to be back out there
nothing big but a good start to the season. Couple of weeks and be chasing sharks offshore 🙂 

Changed my oil and filter on Friday ready for the first trip of the year on Saturday, taking out my eldest and his first time fishing friend.
Target was smoothounds so we headed up to the west end of Lee.  A small tide and a bit of breeze had us anchored back to front.  After an hour we had the first fish on, running down tide towards the anchor!  Another smaller fish followed.  The tide started to pick up which I thought would bring the fish on but it didn't.  The wind picked up too, at one stage the boat pointed the right way and then blew back over the anchor, we got most lines in before the boat did a 360 spin.  We packed in when the second 360 occured.  Think I might make a drogue.
Still the boat and lines were wetted and the first 2023 fish brought on board.  Caught the sun too 🌞🌞

My first and best....
 

 

Great report Jonny

No work booked in this week due to being on a training course from Tues to Fri, so kept Mon free just in case......
Didn't make any plans, so didn't ask anyone else, just got up Mon morning and decided to go
Grabbed some dirty squid from the bait freezer, bought some rag on the way down (along with some food) and got to the boat around 10am hoping to get the 10.30 lock out
Had to wait a few extra minutes in the lock for another boat to  join us and was out the other side not long after, ready to make the short steam to a mark wide of the Coral
With only an hour or so before low slack, I decided on anchoring in a position that would sit me over a hole on the flood, expecting the fishing until the turn of the tide to be dire as this ground looked to be featureless. I decided this as, being on my own, I didn't want the faff of retrieving and resetting the anchor too many times
2 downtide rods out baited with just Squid, then 2 uptiders with Rag/squid heads on each
Not expecting much yet, I put the kettle on
The last uptider to be cast out starting rattling, I wound into it and pulled it in hoping it was a small codling
It wasn't, it was a small strap Conger that broke the surface. So I left it in the tide while I poured my cup of tea (the effing kettle was going like a 70's factory hooter and making sauna of the cabin) then T barred it off to enjoy my cuppa and a rocky bar (chocolate type not caramel)
Next to go was one of the downtiders with another strap, this one a bit better at around 12/14lb. Didn't have chance to Tbar this one, as soon as he/she saw me, it/they turned into a Tasmanian devil and snapped me off. Happily though, both my hooks were left on the swim platform
Not long after I had a small Thornie on the other uptider, quickly followed by a very sizeable dog (though on reflection it may have been a Huss pup)
Pretty much bang on low water the last virgin rod (2nd downtider) made a couple of nods, on bringing this in I was expecting another small strap due to the state of the tide and was pleasantly surprised to see the head of a Codling appear through coffee coloured water
He went 4 and a quarter lb and put a bit of a smile on my face
It also had another baited hook in it's mouth, which looked like a fairly fresh peeler crab that must have come from one of the 3 other boats that were all quite close (I was first out of the locks and everyone followed me to my mark, obviously aware that I know of the guru ghillie that is Jonc and that some of his wisdom has rubbed off on me)
A celebratory cup of tea and another Rocky bar kept me busy until the tide turned and I was now over the honey hole
Now I'll see some action !!!
Loaded all the traces with the various baits and sent them all out and waited
Retrieved, rebaited, cast out and waited
Rinse and repeat x 4
And waited again until 2.45 when I reeled in the untouched baits again, pulled anchor and got the 3.15pm lock back in
What an anticlimax after a good start, but as I mentioned in a previous post, we can't always expect an Aussie jon day
 

Fair play you put the hrs/miles in
We can't always have an Aussie Jon day
😘

Good choice of food there 🙂 reminds of my winter trips, a lot of eating with a touch of fishing 🤣🤣🤣

well done budd great report

So no plans to go out this weekend and watching the Cornwall weather forecast that was out of the equation for the current targets
Sunday forecast more local was looking too good I just couldn’t turn it down. So on the phone to Ash are you in. yes .
good see you 3am . Tow down . Launch itchenor first light .
make shift plan of attack was to hit a reef over the slack and go for some ballans but when we got there about 15mile from the harbour it was very poor clarity.
 Unbelievable amounts of bait fish on the sounder no takes on the tiniest sabikis .. not sure what they were . Well I did leave them hanging and missed one only shot at grabbing some wen the rod was bouncing ! 
 
so no joy there moved over to a big bank and dragged worms for a plaice … no joy .
So moved over to another bank to anchor for blondes. 
soon as we set the baits didn’t feel confident after half hour I let out aload of anchor rope to move further along … just on the off chance we land on top of some fish . Just dogs . After a while up anchor and headed right back in to the bracklesham gulley. Barley any tide but I dropped a squid right on top of a nice hound which gave a good account of itself . Little bit perked up now thinking might be able to save the day here with some sport. Turned back into dog dog dog .
anyway little reality check session is all part of it right ! 

 

 

Don’t worry guys I won’t let you down next time there’s going to be more food and more fish !

So no plans to go out this weekend and watching the Cornwall weather forecast that was out of the equation for the current targets
Sunday forecast more local was looking too good I just couldn’t turn it down. So on the phone to Ash are you in. yes .
good see you 3am . Tow down . Launch itchenor first light .
make shift plan of attack was to hit a reef over the slack and go for some ballans but when we got there about 15mile from the harbour it was very poor clarity.
 Unbelievable amounts of bait fish on the sounder no takes on the tiniest sabikis .. not sure what they were . Well I did leave them hanging and missed one only shot at grabbing some wen the rod was bouncing ! 
 
so no joy there moved over to a big bank and dragged worms for a plaice … no joy .
So moved over to another bank to anchor for blondes. 
soon as we set the baits didn’t feel confident after half hour I let out aload of anchor rope to move further along … just on the off chance we land on top of some fish . Just dogs . After a while up anchor and headed right back in to the bracklesham gulley. Barley any tide but I dropped a squid right on top of a nice hound which gave a good account of itself . Little bit perked up now thinking might be able to save the day here with some sport. Turned back into dog dog dog .
anyway little reality check session is all part of it right ! 

 

 

So no plans to go out this weekend and watching the Cornwall weather forecast that was out of the equation for the current targets
Sunday forecast more local was looking too good I just couldn’t turn it down. So on the phone to Ash are you in. yes .
good see you 3am . Tow down . Launch itchenor first light .
make shift plan of attack was to hit a reef over the slack and go for some ballans but when we got there about 15mile from the harbour it was very poor clarity.
 Unbelievable amounts of bait fish on the sounder no takes on the tiniest sabikis .. not sure what they were . Well I did leave them hanging and missed one only shot at grabbing some wen the rod was bouncing ! 
 
so no joy there moved over to a big bank and dragged worms for a plaice … no joy .
So moved over to another bank to anchor for blondes. 
soon as we set the baits didn’t feel confident after half hour I let out aload of anchor rope to move further along … just on the off chance we land on top of some fish . Just dogs . After a while up anchor and headed right back in to the bracklesham gulley. Barley any tide but I dropped a squid right on top of a nice hound which gave a good account of itself . Little bit perked up now thinking might be able to save the day here with some sport. Turned back into dog dog dog .
anyway little reality check session is all part of it right ! 

 

 

Is that a promise?? 
Well done for a 3am start with not much fish. Still, you can't bag up every time eh!! 

Top effort again Josh but disappointed to see  space in the pan, could have fitted a few more snarlers in there!!

So no plans to go out this weekend and watching the Cornwall weather forecast that was out of the equation for the current targets
Sunday forecast more local was looking too good I just couldn’t turn it down. So on the phone to Ash are you in. yes .
good see you 3am . Tow down . Launch itchenor first light .
make shift plan of attack was to hit a reef over the slack and go for some ballans but when we got there about 15mile from the harbour it was very poor clarity.
 Unbelievable amounts of bait fish on the sounder no takes on the tiniest sabikis .. not sure what they were . Well I did leave them hanging and missed one only shot at grabbing some wen the rod was bouncing ! 
 
so no joy there moved over to a big bank and dragged worms for a plaice … no joy .
So moved over to another bank to anchor for blondes. 
soon as we set the baits didn’t feel confident after half hour I let out aload of anchor rope to move further along … just on the off chance we land on top of some fish . Just dogs . After a while up anchor and headed right back in to the bracklesham gulley. Barley any tide but I dropped a squid right on top of a nice hound which gave a good account of itself . Little bit perked up now thinking might be able to save the day here with some sport. Turned back into dog dog dog .
anyway little reality check session is all part of it right ! 

 

 

A very decent weather window was forecast for both Friday and Saturday, however, the tides suited me better for a Friday morning session. Crew was James (Brother in law) and at 07:00 it was -4c when we left my house. Once we got to the slipway, it was -2c, and we could see frost on the estuary sandbanks. For safety, I cleared the frost from the tubes, as they can get very slippery. The sea temp was 8c, so you wouldn’t want to be in there very long !
I decided to head for the wreck at 12 miles, which gave me the Codling last Saturday. The sea was flat, and we cruised at 28knts, the last 6 miles we were accompanied by a pod of Dolphins.
We made several drifts over different parts of the wreck, and it was devoid of life, even the Pout were not at home.
I decided to move to a smaller wreck at 10 miles out, as it was close by. What a difference, immediately we were into Pout, and James managed to snag the wreck about 6 times.
The slow jigs worked well for me with 3 Pollock, all around the 5lb mark, and also a Ballan wrasse of a little over 3lb. I lost count of the Pout, but it must have been 20+.
Soon it was time to head back in to catch the tide for the slipway (falling springs).
 
The stamp of Pollock (a little over 5lb)

 
A decent Wrasse of about 3lb

 

Have friends staying from land locked Bucks so braved the weather on sunday on my mates boat. 
the wind was forecast to drop off in the afternoon - but it didn't = made for a slightly uncomfortable day but enjoyable nonetheless.
after failing to get fresh bait in the entrances we headed the 7nm out to the adamant shoal - armed with frozen mack and squid. 
Started off slow going with only congers & dogs - nothing small - no whiting or pout. 
I got a decent Blonde ray - but that was it so after an hour or so we moved off to a different mark closer inshore. 
we had A steady stream of double figure Congers, Dogs, thornies and bream. with my mate getting a decent share of the action with plenty of big conger and a thornie!
I had a weird bite but when i lifted the rod I felt nothing - when i went to drop the weight back down the weight didn't hit the bottom - ahh - fish on and its running - after a spirited fight i land a feisty Tope. great fun on 12-20lb gear 
Happy with 4 species ticked off the small boat species hunt = Conger, Blonde ray, Tope and LSD. 
 
 
 

Plenty of pollack about…. Or there were until @Josh went fishing and cleared out the channel 🤣🤣🤣

Nice busy session Dicky

Nice busy session Dicky

Another attempt to go North Cornwall turned into south as we headed down and was trying to talk ourselves into the location planned but  the swells just were reading too big on the forecast… I think/know the boat would be okay out there it’s just getting past the bars and launching ect. So plan B back on the pollack.
towed all the way home and back both times these last two sessions with maintenance to do on boat ect.
Howling effort for such a short visit but hey..
anyway the fishing so ,,, still competing with an easterly on the south coast option . Which was annoying again becuase the east on the other side would have been okay..but the swells outweighed the option.
headed out tryed for find some launce and sure enough with a little persistence we found them. mackerel too
super excited about sending these down we headed off to the reefs and began . It wasn’t long before a rod went zooming over .
then a steady stream of smaller ones . The tide went slack and it was slow. Then we kept on and on moved round a few times. And by that point the tide picked up and the fishing, Ash persisted with the live bait I had two on live bait but switched to a lure when things went slow then stuck with it and was seeming to keep getting the takes.
so then Ash changed over to a lure too and bang both in . Better stamp coming through now and Ash couldn’t stop catching so we stopped no point clearing the reef out.
Some nice doubles and high single figure fish.
 
great trip very tired now.
Josh