GPSguru

Bringing the thread back on topic 🙄 Nah, I can't see me ever getting up to that sort of speed on the sea, a lake may be Ok, but the sea is way too variable. The boat will do it ok, but my kahoonas just ain't big enough ! 🤣 I probably peaked at 41knt on the way out to the wrecks, as I was cruising at 35knt (more than fast enough) and I noticed a small commercial approaching my starboard bow, so instead of slowing, turning, and passing to stern, I judged (correctly) that if I speeded up, I could safely cross his path.

@Andy135 we need a tongue licking arse emoji ! . … uck 🤣👍🤣🙄

Are you being bullied by the geek and the plumber ? 🤣

It is the change from what will call winter to summer species, but in the case of Pollock and Bass, it is returning from the spawning grounds. This last few years has seen this happen later and later, 10 years ago at this time of the year the wrecks would be stuffed with Pollock and Bass, but this year I am not really expecting much to happen before mid may / early June. Interestingly, the bait fish are plentiful, loads of sandeels around and whitebait. I think we also have to take into account the Pollock and Bass were late in leaving the wrecks last year, as we were still catching good Bass right into December.

Launched at 08:15, solo again today. The plan in my head was to stay inshore and go after some Mackerel, whilst also exploring the local reefs for wrasse. However, the sea was as forecast (0.1m @ 6sec) and glass flat, so I decided to head for the wrecks to see if they were as devoid of life as the local reports were suggesting. A steady 35knts soon had me out to the favourite wreck at 9 miles. The weather was almost windless and the sun was shining, so it was just nice to be there. I made 5 drifts, and it was definitely devoid of all life ! So, I pushed onto a large broken wreck at 12 miles and the result was the same. Not even the pout were at home ! Rather than risking going on to the 20 mile wrecks, I decided to head inshore to the Orestone and Hopes Nose. Once there, I slowly motored around looking for life on the traditional sonar and panoptix downscan, but failed to locate any Mackerel or Scad. Things were getting desperate now, as I can't ever remember blanking on Bluefin, so I needed to find a fish somewhere. I next headed to Long Quarry point, which is the winter home for Mackerel, but again drew a blank. Next I decided to head for the inshore wreck that had given me a small pollock earlier in the week. This wreck is an old steamship that is very broken and lies about 2 miles out in 40ft. The wind had now turned into a breeze from the South and was against the ebbing tide, so it was beginning to get a little choppy, but I was still able to maintain a comfortable 30knts. Once on the wreck, I dropped down the mack tinsels with the bottom 2 baited with squid. Almost immediately I was into a pollock of about one and a half pounds, so the blank was narrowly avoided. This fish had ‘blown’ and would not go back. I made a few more drifts with a 60g slow jig and picked up another pollock of 3lbs. All too soon it was 12 midday and time to head back in, to leave plenty of time for the Friday grand children school run. Total for the day was 39nm and 2 pollock. Later, whilst clearing the plotters of active tracks and trip data, I noted that the max trip speed was 41knts, hmmm ….. bloody hooligan ! A quick pic in the coolbox ! The view of the shore whilst drifting the wreck !

Ah ok, you were fishing close to Bream rock. Sometimes the tide can really rip through there when you are least expecting it. Despite the name, I have never caught a Bream there, but there are usually a few decent tubs in residence. IIRC a few years ago, a scallop dredger from Plymouth way was fined for fishing in that area.

Yes, especially with panoptix on downscan. I fail to see that it makes any difference, and having spoken to fish scientists and marine biologists (at Plymouth and exeter universities) it suggests that fish would be unaffected by the pings. With shallow wrecks the fish are more likely to be spooked by movement on the boat and when a lot of anglers are fishing the dropping of leads and lines has a spooking effect on the fish environment.

Looks like you had a really good day 👍 It just shows how the fishing is 'pot luck' at the moment as the shoals of Mackerel were just not there on the following day, but as you well know, we can always find a few, pretty much all year. I assume the Reef you fished was the dropoff (Tucker Rock) on the outer side of the Orestone. I tend to avoid that Reef in the spring and summer as it is usually dog and conger central, however, in the winter it can throw up a Cod or two. The Exmouth boats are finding a few Bream and quality Huss on the Reefs, hopefully I will have some new numbers for you in the next couple of days. I am hoping to go out tomorrow and meet up with Peter (Petrel) from Exmouth.

A few good days are forecast, so it would have been rude not to go out, however, the local reports from the weekend were not encouraging. A mate went to the Skerries and only had 2 keeper Plaice, he then visited a couple of wrecks on the way back and blanked on them. I decided that I would try inshore for some early Mackerel, so after launching at 08:00, I headed straight out to the Orestone, where I scored with 3 Mackerel. On the top of the flood it all went quiet, so I pushed on over to Berry Head and found another lonely Mackerel, giving me a miserable count of 4. I had a call from another friend over at Exmouth who told me the wrecks were fishing well as a charter from Exmouth had 50 Pollock (10 anglers on board) on Saturday, I asked which wrecks, and I was surprised that the 2 wrecks mentioned were within spitting distance of the ones that may mate blanked on, so I guess it is a bit of pot luck at the moment. I happened to be quite close to a very inshore wreck (SS Galicia) which is only a couple of miles offshore but very broken. First drop with baited Tinsels saw me into a small Pollock (2lb or so), and I lost a couple of better fish as I was too lazy to change the tinsels for something stronger. So the total for the day was 4 Mackerel and one Pollock, which I guess is OK. Sea conditions were perfect (0.16m @11 secs) so I was able to travel quite quickly between marks. I headed back in at 12:30 to catch enough water on the slip with the ebbing tide. A total of 27Nm, but it was real nice to be out there again. The Orestone ......... Berry Head (92ft of water here).......... Looking toward Cod Rock from Berry Head ........... The mornings catch in the cool box ..........

You don't need baited hooks, just small tinsels will do the job, just dragged along a muddy bottom, to entice them out of their mud burrows. We catch loads of them here. Looks like you guys had a good day's fishing 👍

True, very true The British record conger, caught by Skipper Vic Evans, came from a wreck that is less than 10 miles from Brixham, and TBF it still does throw up some quite big eels from time to time. I have fished for Conger on and off since a very young age, I used to go out with my dad on 'Our Unity' with Ernie Passmore and John Trust, I would have been about 14 then. My best fish came in 2010 (on my own boat), whilst fishing the rough ground off Exmouth, a fish of 92lb, close but still not the ton ! I have caught loads in the upper 60 - 70lb range, but the real big fish are quite hard to find. However, they are still nasty bas'tids and don't fight fair by swimming backwards. It is your birthday soon Luke, happy birthday and May 4th be with you (yes, you are at liberty to tell me to feck off 🤣)

Probably a good deal tastier than shite noodles 🤣

What engine and age is it ?

Nah, down South we forgot what a unicorn looks like about 5 years ago ! 🤣 Excellent report Malc and it gives me encouragement to get out on the wrecks again.

Who was the Mot tester ......... Stevie Wonder ?

Ah ok, then I guess it is a flight to Faro. Although I have spent many a happy hour on the Algarve, I have never really fished there. My mate does a fair amount of fishing from Porto, but I don't remember him catching anything sizeable game wise, but there are huge numbers of Bass to 5lb or so.

Why not think outside to box and head for east coast oz, QLD and NSW. Plenty to do for the family and lots to interest you. Also Marlin and other game is cheap fishing over there. Start off in Sydney (opera house etc), drive on up to Brisbane and the gold coast, then hire a 4x4 and take a drive along Rainbow beach to get the ferry to Fraser Island, then drive along 75mile beach, then drive up to Cairns via Rockhampton, taking a boat out to the Whit Sunday’s on the way (stunning). Also take a boat out for walk on the GBR. Plenty to do in Cairns and some good fishing there also. You need about 3 weeks, plus stopping off in Singapore or Dubai on the way. Singapore is worth a day or two and so is Osaka if you fly japan airlines. If you are going on your own, the head for Ascension or Reunion Islands for some of the best fishing the world has to offer. You only live once ! 👍

Probably better than licking the windows like @JonC 🤣🤣🤣

Completely irresponsible. As a businessman you should be showing better leadership and taking absolute responsibility for your inept attitude towards life 😉😝🙄🤣

You mean Jockistan 👍🤣

LR Defender .................. 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Much the same here, but I average about 40 -50L per trip. I tend to buy my squid in bulk when the frozen bait suppliers have an offer on. Occasionally we get cuttle at Brixham fish market where it is possible to buy very cheap, but you need to but a 'box' which is quite a lot.

Uck, a plastic cup of vomit would be more appetizing ........... 🤮

Fishing at Madeira is very expensive, but you do stand a chance of a 'grand' (1000lb fish) ............ chartering a boat is about £750, although flights to Funchal are pretty cheap, however if you are not a good air passenger the runway is 'interesting' 😂 Although not strictly European, other places to look at are the Azores, and Cape Verde, both have excellent game fishing, but again, quite expensive when compared to fishing trips in the UK ! https://www.marlinmag.com/blue-marlin-fishing-in-cape-verde/ In most of the 'preferred' destinations, you are looking at £800 - £1000 for a long day charter. Last time I was in Cape Verde I chartered on Sambo. With regard to Portugal, I am considering towing my own boat there for a holiday. Pretty easy really by taking the ferry from Plymouth to Santander and then a little over a day's drive to Portugal. We have driven there several times without the boat, usually stopping off at various locations in Northern Spain, which also has good fishing into the Bay of Biscay.

@Andy135 is on the money, use your plotter or navionics and just click on the nearest triangle with a 'c' in it. These are called tide stations, and it will give you the tidal flow and direction (usually true as opposed to mag) for various states of the tide. Even if the triangle is a few miles away, it normally means that the tides are quite stable over that entire area. 5 or so years ago, I would have pointed you in the direction of a Tidal Stream Atlas. I always used to carry one on the boat, but not these days as the plotted gives me much more info, and instantly.