Josh

Nice one @Josh. You puts in the effort and gets the rewards. Top angling once again!  

Hi all
been a while sorry been quiet 
I had been in awe of recent weather readings over the last couple weeks and was just too tempting for a trip out.
so I rallied up my troop which was my dad for this trip booked the b n b didn’t want to rough it this time . Specially with pops.
got down to the West Country in good time Friday night ready to fish Saturday.
so plan was with minimal to pretty much no wrecking done on my own boat I wanted to get out and try . I wanted to get to about 20 miles then start but the northerly was a little choppy so I held tighter for cover and said we will fish outwards and hope it flattens which it did.
so on to the first wreck I chose ling rigs baited with mackerel that I had brought down.
dad went on lures for pollack
1st drift a pout 
2nd drift moved over a tad.. dads rod lunges over and zoomed off good pollack to start the day well chuffed we were specially as we were overlooking these inshore wrecks.

so yeah let’s re run that drift 3rd drift in and I’m getting a few pecks I thought pout but then my rod tightens up then i thought oh shit snag
then it moved ! And started really kicking ect oh yes I said we got either a ling or a conger on here !
After a good account it surfaced so lightly hooked on to the boat and I was totally totally made up !
i thought maybe 20 lb looking but the Ruben heatens said 16’ n hlf … either way I was well buzzing specially so soon I’m the trip !
she was really fat too
Anyway as the weather improved we pushed around other wrecks with not a lot of joy I did
manage a half decent pollack and smaller fish some jumbo pout whiting and cuokoo  wrasse

and the dolphins showed up which is of course always a welcome sight 

until next time !
Josh

Hi all
been a while sorry been quiet 
I had been in awe of recent weather readings over the last couple weeks and was just too tempting for a trip out.
so I rallied up my troop which was my dad for this trip booked the b n b didn’t want to rough it this time . Specially with pops.
got down to the West Country in good time Friday night ready to fish Saturday.
so plan was with minimal to pretty much no wrecking done on my own boat I wanted to get out and try . I wanted to get to about 20 miles then start but the northerly was a little choppy so I held tighter for cover and said we will fish outwards and hope it flattens which it did.
so on to the first wreck I chose ling rigs baited with mackerel that I had brought down.
dad went on lures for pollack
1st drift a pout 
2nd drift moved over a tad.. dads rod lunges over and zoomed off good pollack to start the day well chuffed we were specially as we were overlooking these inshore wrecks.

so yeah let’s re run that drift 3rd drift in and I’m getting a few pecks I thought pout but then my rod tightens up then i thought oh shit snag
then it moved ! And started really kicking ect oh yes I said we got either a ling or a conger on here !
After a good account it surfaced so lightly hooked on to the boat and I was totally totally made up !
i thought maybe 20 lb looking but the Ruben heatens said 16’ n hlf … either way I was well buzzing specially so soon I’m the trip !
she was really fat too
Anyway as the weather improved we pushed around other wrecks with not a lot of joy I did
manage a half decent pollack and smaller fish some jumbo pout whiting and cuokoo  wrasse

and the dolphins showed up which is of course always a welcome sight 

until next time !
Josh

Hi all
been a while sorry been quiet 
I had been in awe of recent weather readings over the last couple weeks and was just too tempting for a trip out.
so I rallied up my troop which was my dad for this trip booked the b n b didn’t want to rough it this time . Specially with pops.
got down to the West Country in good time Friday night ready to fish Saturday.
so plan was with minimal to pretty much no wrecking done on my own boat I wanted to get out and try . I wanted to get to about 20 miles then start but the northerly was a little choppy so I held tighter for cover and said we will fish outwards and hope it flattens which it did.
so on to the first wreck I chose ling rigs baited with mackerel that I had brought down.
dad went on lures for pollack
1st drift a pout 
2nd drift moved over a tad.. dads rod lunges over and zoomed off good pollack to start the day well chuffed we were specially as we were overlooking these inshore wrecks.

so yeah let’s re run that drift 3rd drift in and I’m getting a few pecks I thought pout but then my rod tightens up then i thought oh shit snag
then it moved ! And started really kicking ect oh yes I said we got either a ling or a conger on here !
After a good account it surfaced so lightly hooked on to the boat and I was totally totally made up !
i thought maybe 20 lb looking but the Ruben heatens said 16’ n hlf … either way I was well buzzing specially so soon I’m the trip !
she was really fat too
Anyway as the weather improved we pushed around other wrecks with not a lot of joy I did
manage a half decent pollack and smaller fish some jumbo pout whiting and cuokoo  wrasse

and the dolphins showed up which is of course always a welcome sight 

until next time !
Josh

Another good day for fishing, although the actual fishing was not that good !
A cold a frosty start, it was -1c when I left home for the 5 mile trek to the slip via Tesco’s for fuel, and a chilly 1C on the slipway. Launched on low tide at 08:30 and I noticed that the estuary water temp was only 6.3C, however, once out at sea the water temp was a respectable 10.4C
Windguru was forecasting a flat calm sea inshore, but was unable to forecast the wave conditions offshore, once I got out there I could see why !
I decided to go back the to wreck that has been kind to me during the late Autumn, so it was a good 30kt ride for the first 3 miles, then I started to hit very confused conditions, there were 0.5m wind driven waves from the NNE at probably 3secs and the true swell was coming from the East, also 0.5m (ish) and about 6 secs. The result of the sets of waves meeting was nasty washing machine conditions, but I still managed a bumpy 24knts out to the wreck.
First drop with my new Temple Reef Gravitate III and I was into a Pout, and that just about sums up the day, it was a real Pout fest. Once the flood had stared the drift was 1.4knts, even though it was a mid neap tide. I tried all sorts to avoid the Pout, but they grabbed everything I threw at them, 150g Slow jigs, 178mm Red Gills, and even 160g off shore shads (fished on the SPJ rod).
The sheer number of Pout suggests that the Bass have moved offshore and there probably isn’t too many Pollock in residence yet, but at least I managed to christen the new rod
The fisheries Patrol boat passed by very close (close enough to wave) but carried on and didn’t trouble me.
After numerous Pout of which 7 were of a decent size, at 12 midday I decided to call it a day and head back in as I need to do the school run in the afternoon. The return trip was uneventful at a steady 22kns.
Not the best of days, but 100% better than staying at home. The total trip was 23Nm
A couple of fixes are needed. I loaded a G3 Vision chart using Active Captain for relief shading and that just seems to have screwed my chart up, so I removed the Active Captain card and reverted back to the standard G2 Charts. I will fix this by downloading the G3 vision charts to a dedicated SD card via Garmin Express.
Also, I had a strange electrical fault on the Jeep. Every time I indicate Right, the tail gate wiper comes on and all the doors lock !  You could be fooled into thinking it was a bloody Land Rover, I will investigate this tomorrow.
Just a couple of pics off the Gopro

 

I went fishing solo today. Caught a 4lb codling first drop. 
It came to a small bait of squid ring about the size of an old 50p coin. I let it go to grow strong. And it returned beautifully. 
That was it. Mission accomplished. 
Rest of the day was dogs and tings. 
 
weather was great, and the Solent smooth. What more could a man ask for on a Friday? 
 

Headed out with Ray today prospecting a mark for Spurdogs. 
Stopped off of the Camswan wreck on the way out to try and obtain some pout & whiting for bait and to burn up some time so we could hit the mark at St Catherine's in a fishable state.
We picked up a few pout for bait and moved out to scout the area for likely looking banks that we suspected should hold Spurdogs. 
Settled on a good looking spot and dropped the pick, which we struggled with in the tide, we aimed to fish the last hour of the flood, slack and then the start of the ebb. 
I was fishing 1 uptide and 1 downtider, Ray decided on 3 uptiders and a downtider. We actually managed to get the uptiders dug in in the 3kts of tide and 115ft foot depth with 8ozs. Out went the first of our baits and very quickly the bites commenced, we landed 3 Blonde rays in fairly quick succession, 2 for Ray 1 for me, followed by an Eel a piece in the 35lb range. It was nice to be able to really lean into a fish that put up a real battle in the tide.
As the tide dropped slack the bites changed and we boated 4 Spurdogs one after the other 3 on Rays uptiders at the same time and one on mine. As quickly as they came they went and we hit into a run of smaller strap eels. 
Only managed the 1 picture of the biggest Spur of the day 15.75lbs, mine had taken the hook down and was bleeding so I quickly unhooked and returned and didn't bother with a picture, weighed somewhere in the 13lb range. 
Better tides next weekend so weather permitting we will head back
A good day on the fish just a shame the weather was not as forecast

Yep goujons tonight
True yes in the afternoon it didn’t flatten right off as predicted 

Two days of settled weather just couldn’t be overlooked ! As I do the pm school run on those 2 days it meant that fishing was restricted to morning sessions
Wednesday the forecast was W / WSW F2 gusting to F3. The sea state was forecast as 0.6m @ 9secs, so not lumpy, but not smooth either.
Crew for the trip was James (Brother in Law). Launched at first light (8:00) and we decided to go to the inshore 9 mile wreck that has fished so well for me on the last trips back in November.
Fishing was slow, with me being first into a small Bass of about 2lb. James had a couple of Pout and then it went dead for while so we moved to another wreck that was 2 miles further out. This was not a good move as neither of us could find any fish at all, so it was decided to retrace our steps and go back to the original wreck. We ended up with 4 Bass, James had one and I had 3, but he fish were small with the biggest going only 3lb (ish).
We called it a day at 12:00 midday and motored back to the slip. The sea was pretty good on the inbound journey, allowing me to cruise at 28knts.
Thursday (today) I was ‘billy no mates’ and went out on my own, again launching at first light. The forecast was SE F2 (XC weather) and S F3 (MetO), but the reality was W, veering to NE F2. The sea state was forecast as 0.7m @ 4 secs, which was pretty accurate and the sea was quite lumpy. However, I was able to maintain 24knts, so the trip to the same wreck was quite quick.
First drop and I was into a small Bass again, followed by a few pout. At slack I made the decision to move to a wreck that was a little over 3 miles away, however, when I got there it was netted, so I returned to the original wreck. During the late morning the Bass were very obliging and I ended up with 5 Bass and 7 Pout. Unfortunately the stamp Bass was again poor with the biggest going maybe 3lb if you put your finger on the scales !
Again, back in at midday, however, the journey was not uneventful. As I came into the estuary navigation channel, I hit a submerged object (I am guessing a small log or branch), which sounded bad, but the only damage I can find is a broken transducer mount on the GT52. This can easily be replaced.
What surprised me was the lack of Pollock. Normally we get some good size Pollock on these wrecks at this time of the year.
Unfortunately the sea state on both days prevented me from getting out to the 30 mile wrecks, which is where I need to be for a good Pollock double, or a unicorn.
So, the two morning sessions produced 9 Bass and 11 Pout. Not a blank, but not great either.
Distance travelled totaled up at 49Nm.
When I did the school run this afternoon I noticed that Gary’s ( @thejollysinker ) truck was in the car park and I couldn’t see his boat, so I guess he braved the lumpy conditions and went out.
Couple of pics, but not much to show really.

 

 
 

A relatively leisurely 6.30am start today to head down to the boat. The forecast was for 7mph early doors rising to 13-14 by about 2pm, and I wanted to be back in the marina before then.
Nice and calm in the marina heading out.

But once out of the lee of the Harbour and with a following wind the sea turned decidedly choppier. I headed round to Browndown where I'd have some protection from the ENE wind. Anchored up by the Browndown Buoy and fished the southern wreck.


Didn't have to wait long for the rattles to start...

After the recent chatter about uptiding I had taken mine along and gave it a chuck. Amazingly I even managed to catch on it...

And that was about it as far as fish went. A couple of plate sized whiting came home, and a live-bait sized one... became live-bait. But nothing wanted it.
As the tide increased I noticed a rip appearing to my stern, with a flock of birds working over it.

Too far for me at anchor today but worth a better look another day.
As the morning wore on my baits remained pestered by whiting and, sadly, unbothered by unicorns. As the wind picked up in the early afternoon I headed back in, topped up the tanks and called it a day. Sorry if you were reading this expecting pictures of cod - guess I caught something bigger than a whiting today after all! 🤣

Funny you say that, looking for acreage and an atomic 6 home to put on it https://www.atomic6.com.au/pricing. As for fishing, Im finding spear fishing so much more selective and rewarding. 
 
 
Back on track, some tasty offerings there. Whats with the sea looking so flat, doesn't look like a breath of wind on it.

So with a weather window incoming midweek trip.
was going to push for two days but turned out to just be 1.
wednesday was holding on every update force 2 
 
untill the morning update wow ! Thanks !
wer already here in Cornwall and it updated to force 4 for the wholemorning,
 
doable but just much more Unpleasant anyway.. it wasn’t too bad more left over swell than chop. And it flattened off in the afternoon as promised.
 
i took the big rods incase I managed any fresh mackerel for any large suspects.
but it was dead on the sabikis so pushed out switched the tackle round to boom n lures and hit the reefs..
all be it bloody hard work as nets were right over it 
not sure 🤔 preservation wise how this is good … mind you is any fishing…
but netting in spawning season but surely we want them to spawn anyhoo a topic that I’m too tired for ha. !
says me ready to crane them up on the 4inch sidewinder…
 
Slow going but found a few and a octopus a first !

So with a weather window incoming midweek trip.
was going to push for two days but turned out to just be 1.
wednesday was holding on every update force 2 
 
untill the morning update wow ! Thanks !
wer already here in Cornwall and it updated to force 4 for the wholemorning,
 
doable but just much more Unpleasant anyway.. it wasn’t too bad more left over swell than chop. And it flattened off in the afternoon as promised.
 
i took the big rods incase I managed any fresh mackerel for any large suspects.
but it was dead on the sabikis so pushed out switched the tackle round to boom n lures and hit the reefs..
all be it bloody hard work as nets were right over it 
not sure 🤔 preservation wise how this is good … mind you is any fishing…
but netting in spawning season but surely we want them to spawn anyhoo a topic that I’m too tired for ha. !
says me ready to crane them up on the 4inch sidewinder…
 
Slow going but found a few and a octopus a first !

So with a weather window incoming midweek trip.
was going to push for two days but turned out to just be 1.
wednesday was holding on every update force 2 
 
untill the morning update wow ! Thanks !
wer already here in Cornwall and it updated to force 4 for the wholemorning,
 
doable but just much more Unpleasant anyway.. it wasn’t too bad more left over swell than chop. And it flattened off in the afternoon as promised.
 
i took the big rods incase I managed any fresh mackerel for any large suspects.
but it was dead on the sabikis so pushed out switched the tackle round to boom n lures and hit the reefs..
all be it bloody hard work as nets were right over it 
not sure 🤔 preservation wise how this is good … mind you is any fishing…
but netting in spawning season but surely we want them to spawn anyhoo a topic that I’m too tired for ha. !
says me ready to crane them up on the 4inch sidewinder…
 
Slow going but found a few and a octopus a first !

Locked out after @jonnyswamp at 8am to a flat sea and quite a few boats in front of us…. Nothing else to do but open the revs… 33 knots at 4500rpm put us ahead of the pack. Still had another 1000rpm left but didn’t want to be too rude 😉 
Headed over to Minehead was a quick run 30 mins to get out first mark. 
 
Loads of blondes and dogs, moved to another spot, loads of conger Ian took some home for a friend.
@Andy_B was having a quiet day on the fish, nonchalantly starts winding in, decent bend in rod, then I saw the tail and grabbed my net…
14lb 4oz of prime fillets later and a happy crew 🙂 
 
Loads more conger and dogs, locked in at 16:45. Nice day out, just need on myself now 🤣🤣🤣🤣
 
 

So with a weather window incoming midweek trip.
was going to push for two days but turned out to just be 1.
wednesday was holding on every update force 2 
 
untill the morning update wow ! Thanks !
wer already here in Cornwall and it updated to force 4 for the wholemorning,
 
doable but just much more Unpleasant anyway.. it wasn’t too bad more left over swell than chop. And it flattened off in the afternoon as promised.
 
i took the big rods incase I managed any fresh mackerel for any large suspects.
but it was dead on the sabikis so pushed out switched the tackle round to boom n lures and hit the reefs..
all be it bloody hard work as nets were right over it 
not sure 🤔 preservation wise how this is good … mind you is any fishing…
but netting in spawning season but surely we want them to spawn anyhoo a topic that I’m too tired for ha. !
says me ready to crane them up on the 4inch sidewinder…
 
Slow going but found a few and a octopus a first !

So with a weather window incoming midweek trip.
was going to push for two days but turned out to just be 1.
wednesday was holding on every update force 2 
 
untill the morning update wow ! Thanks !
wer already here in Cornwall and it updated to force 4 for the wholemorning,
 
doable but just much more Unpleasant anyway.. it wasn’t too bad more left over swell than chop. And it flattened off in the afternoon as promised.
 
i took the big rods incase I managed any fresh mackerel for any large suspects.
but it was dead on the sabikis so pushed out switched the tackle round to boom n lures and hit the reefs..
all be it bloody hard work as nets were right over it 
not sure 🤔 preservation wise how this is good … mind you is any fishing…
but netting in spawning season but surely we want them to spawn anyhoo a topic that I’m too tired for ha. !
says me ready to crane them up on the 4inch sidewinder…
 
Slow going but found a few and a octopus a first !

nice going - got to grab these chances when we can!

Very nice result! Kudos for making the effort to head all the way down there too. A long old haul - well done 👍

So with a weather window incoming midweek trip.
was going to push for two days but turned out to just be 1.
wednesday was holding on every update force 2 
 
untill the morning update wow ! Thanks !
wer already here in Cornwall and it updated to force 4 for the wholemorning,
 
doable but just much more Unpleasant anyway.. it wasn’t too bad more left over swell than chop. And it flattened off in the afternoon as promised.
 
i took the big rods incase I managed any fresh mackerel for any large suspects.
but it was dead on the sabikis so pushed out switched the tackle round to boom n lures and hit the reefs..
all be it bloody hard work as nets were right over it 
not sure 🤔 preservation wise how this is good … mind you is any fishing…
but netting in spawning season but surely we want them to spawn anyhoo a topic that I’m too tired for ha. !
says me ready to crane them up on the 4inch sidewinder…
 
Slow going but found a few and a octopus a first !

Shame, deep fried he may have been delicious. 

Nice going Josh. Two cracking fish for your efforts! 
Did you keep and eat the octopus??

So with a weather window incoming midweek trip.
was going to push for two days but turned out to just be 1.
wednesday was holding on every update force 2 
 
untill the morning update wow ! Thanks !
wer already here in Cornwall and it updated to force 4 for the wholemorning,
 
doable but just much more Unpleasant anyway.. it wasn’t too bad more left over swell than chop. And it flattened off in the afternoon as promised.
 
i took the big rods incase I managed any fresh mackerel for any large suspects.
but it was dead on the sabikis so pushed out switched the tackle round to boom n lures and hit the reefs..
all be it bloody hard work as nets were right over it 
not sure 🤔 preservation wise how this is good … mind you is any fishing…
but netting in spawning season but surely we want them to spawn anyhoo a topic that I’m too tired for ha. !
says me ready to crane them up on the 4inch sidewinder…
 
Slow going but found a few and a octopus a first !

A short Monday weather window that stayed quite static since late last week couldn’t be overlooked. The plan was to launch at 8:00am and return to the slip at 13:00, however, it didn’t exactly go to plan.
First stop was Tesco to brim the RIB tank, however the pump was running but would not pump fuel. The forecourt is not particularly large and leaving the pump that I finally used meant a bit of ‘shunting’ to get the 7m trailer safely through the exit !
Once on the slip I quickly prepared the boat and reversed the trailer in, however, when I went to get back in the Jeep, all the doors were locked and the engine was running. Just to add insult to injury it was also a rising tide. A quick phone call to Brother in law and he picked up the spare keys from my house and brought them to the slip in about 30mins …. Phew.
So, my 8:00 launch meant that I didn’t get away from the slip until a little after 9:00am.
I decided as time was now tight that I would go back to the 9 mile wreck that has fished so well for me recently. The sea was fairly flat and cruising at 28knts I was soon on the wreck.
Again I decided to stick with SPJ, so on went a blue 150g gram jig and it was soon sent to the bottom where after a couple of pitches it was hit by a Bass of about 3lb (didn’t weigh that one). This was followed by a string of Pout, some of which were quite sizable. Next drift saw me into a better fish, but it turned out to be a 2lb Pollock that was hooked in the dorsal fin, but it put up a good showing on the Slow Jigging II rod.
Every drift was delivering fish, mostly Pout and school Bass (2lb ish). As I was drifting off the wreck I left the jig fishing on its own whilst I had a coffee. I then noticed the rod hoop over as a fish took the jig. The fight was very spirited and I was a bit disappointed to see that I had tail hooked a largish pout!
It was now about mid flood (neap tide) and the fish were hugging the wreck, but a drop down on the down tide side of the wreck saw the SPJ rod hoop over and I was finally into a decent fish that was taking line. This was a 5lb 4oz Bass in beautiful condition.
12:30 and time to head back in, to be on the slip for 13:00. The total tally for the morning was 7 Bass to 5lb, one Pollock, and way too many Pout (14)
A great day to be out there, a bit cold, but the winds were light and the sea flat. Total trip distance was 21Nm.
A few pictures, taken off the GoPro,
 
A 3lb (ish) Bass

 
A dorsal fin hooked Pollock

 
Also a Tail hooked Pout

 
A decent 5lb 4oz Bass

So single handed trip this time.
heading west ! Two clear days of weather I just could not pass up even at the difficulties of being single handed with what might crop up..
day 1,
No hook ups other than
loads of 6inch mackerel constantly pretty much whenever I tried.
(always nice when this happens)
Stunning weather and displays of tuna literally every 30minutes  or so but not fields of them just one full breach but there obviously was numbers you could tell.

Managed to catch a good breach shot.
I had one do this between my floats and no takes .
….
day 2 ;
Arrival harbour 6.30am
bacon buttys on

exit harbour 7am
Day due for the same weather but it wasn’t. Was quite a northerly chop going fortunately I was in pretty close which helped but it weren’t ideal… anyway
 
no birds
no bait fish 
not one tuna bust sight
this was looking like a different place to yesterday…
so I carried on eventually found the mackerel and tons of it all small.
after about 4 hrs of getting pushed offshore I saw the birds working In close again and thought I’ll go in for another 2 hrs drift back again from there… so I’m not too far off to finish.
 
well I arrived at the birds put one bait out sent it back on the ballon.
put my second one down bent down to pick  something up got up and the float was gone !
F*****!!!
Wer on and at a rate of knots !!ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
A run that was frightening literally makes u question wether this is for fun !
Engine on and into battle getting stuck in with a lot more confidence in my ability now .. although it was bloody hard work driving the boat and fishing this way. I had to be on the wheel continuously. Or it would of been gone !

anyway I had it on the leader but (lesson learnt ) my traces are still way too long pulling his head up without ditching the rod was almost impossible this was about an hour in. Then the fight was very nearly over as that extra long trace wrapped round one eyes and I actually said ‘that’s a lost fish’

somehow I managed to unwrap it with the prop going how I didn’t loose it I don’t know!
anyway so another 40 mins the fish changed tactics now and was gunning for depth trying to keep me straight so I kept driving forward and around to avoid this .
it was helping but getting hard and tiring obviously …. Every time I wanted to get stuck into the rod I need to go back to the wheel to manoeuvre…
so back on the leader gloves on same thing I can either stay looking at the fish 10foot under or Unclip and go for it.
so I did and YES I got her up monumental size what a sight ! I stuck the gaff in and felt a wave of relief but to be fair the only negative was that he shook his head so much so that he actually slipped off the gaff turned and popped the hook himself .
 
i was gutted from a glory photo point of view but I knew i caught this fish unlike last year. Not a bad job on my own i thought … I wouldn’t recommend it though no matter how many people do it.
Sorry I haven’t got more photos you’ll have to use imagination and take my word for it this time !
back to Kent!
 
Josh