GPSguru

Just finished packing away 40kg of unwashed squid, 10 rolls of blacks, a few bags of peelers, 10kg of prawns, and sorting out 10kg of sandeels, The freezer is full now ! The squid takes a while as there is a bit of a knack to allowing it to unfreeze enough to tease them apart but not completely unfreeze, then they are packed into zip bags of 5 or 6. I was out prospecting yesterday, so picked up the Sandeels on my way in from the netters, now packed in bags of 10.

Looking very good ......................

http://theafricanqueen.co.uk/index.htm

The original African Queen was one of the most famous charter boats around. A traditional wooden boat with a huge and successful history. Anybody with connections to the west country would have remembered that sad night.

Yes, you remember correct. She caught fire on the quay, no lives lost, the skipper and his wife were able to safely evacuate. The boat was replaced in 2015.

I normally ignore where the charters are fishing on the banks, except for one boat, African Queen out of Dartmouth.

Bait was an important factor. They all fell to whole raw king prawn (Tescos or Bookers), other baits were picking up smaller fish. The charters often do not bother with the eastern inner edge of the banks.

I do about £60k a year on ebay and was one of the first wave of business users to go over to the new system. They pay on the nose every day ( mon - fri) and with my volume it works out cheaper in real terms. Also very much easier to manage.

Not for the last 3 years !

Getting out there is half the battle, and sometimes it is just nice to drift even with no hook ups If it is any consolation, the Shark fishing here in Lymebay is mega slow at the moment. Also, as yet, we have not seen any BFT.

Well, when all said and done Jon, I really admire your sense of humour 👍

Nah, he wouldn't do that, mainly because you are a top draw tool and worth keeping for the entertainment value 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Grandson Kyle has been boat fishing with me since he was 3 years old. Boating is in his blood now !

Ginger is fine Andy, my son is ginger, so is kyle and his younger brother. Ginger folk being quick tempered is crap, Kyle is really laid back about most things in life.

Yeah, I know that feeling 🙄

Well done Andy, at least you found the time to get out for a few hours and catch some Bream.

Well, I knew it was a bad idea and I shouldn’t really go, but I had a very capable chauffeur and the weather forecast was excellent. I collected Kyle at 6:45, filled up with fuel at Tescos and we launched at 07:30. The crew for the day was Kyle as Skipper, the wife and myself. I told Kyle he was the skipper for the day and the plan was to stop at the Orestone for 15 minutes to see if any fresh Mackerel were about. On a flat mirror sea we were soon at the Orestone and there were no signs of any Mackerel shoals, so we took a collective decision to push on down to the Skerries, rather than hunt around Babbacombe bay for the Mack, which were definitely there. At 08:50 we arrived at the eastern skerries buoy, the sea was flat, no wind, but a drift speed of 1.7knts on the ebbing tide, which is way too fast for drift fishing,. We noted that a number of boats had anchored, but I said to Kyle that within 2 hours the drift would slow. We immediately started catching, but these were small Plaice and they were all returned. Occasionally a Tub was in the mix. At around midday the drift slowed and direction changed. Kyle suggested that he set up a drift on the inner eastern bank, which turned out to be perfect. We started catching quality fish and all 3 of us were getting 3 or 4 fish on each drift, we could even afford to be fussy about keepers. At about 1:30pm I hooked into a fish that was difficult to gain line, I called Ray, and Kyle called Turbot, but it turned out to be a very fit 3lb 9oz Plaice, the best fish of the day. However, we had a few others that were very close to 3lb. At about 2:00pm the wind got up to F3 and was against the new flood, so it got more than a little choppy and many of the boats disappeared (whimps). A guy on an Arvor shouted to us to go in as it was too rough, Kyle and I looked at each other and laughed ! On our way back for the next drift we past quite close to him at 24knts. We ended up with 12 keepers and finally got back to Teignmouth at 16:00. For a skipper that has just turned 15, I was mighty impressed with his boat skills, especially the verbal abuse that he gave to a 50ft sports boat had come out of Brixham and was being helmed by a twat. He cut right across our bow and we were doing 25knts at the time. Kyle’s reaction was to knock the throttle back and make a sharp turn to port to avoid the git who was probably doing 30knts !, and then he cut through the wake at 45 degrees. Kyle remembered everything I had taught him over the years, as he said to me, ‘the git needs some lessons, if to starboard red appear it is your duty to keep clear’. He should of let us go, and past on our stern. A round trip of 48nm A few pictures Kyle at the helm approaching the banks Approaching the Skerries East Buoy Start Point LH in the distance at the western end of the banks Looking back to Slapton and Blackpool sands 3lb 9oz Plaice Another 3lb'er

8k is probably a bit on the low side as they are commercial hypalon with extra wear patches etc ........... between 8 -10k I guess. Each chamber has an overpressure valve, so quite well protected. The estimated life of them is 30+ years

I use a Bravo BTP 12 and it does the job nicely. Not digital, but shuts off at a preset pressure on the gauge. Remember, I cant afford to get wrong as new tubes are £8k !

Sounds like a good trip, the sea can be a little unkind on the western side, but doable in the right boat. We find the better fish on the eastern outer edge (by the Skerries East Red Buoy), there is a gully there that holds Plaice to 4lb, but you catch a lot less fish. There are always plenty of Gurnards with Tubs going to 5lb, but also a good number of Red's and Greys.

IIRC, it is about £30, includes waterproofing Gel and a connector (which is probably an RJ45). Not all Garmin stuff costs the earth !

Noted 👍

Hmm, sort of Andy, sort of, the inflammation seems to have stopped, but it will take a while to get back to normal. I get another mega dose on Thursday at the hospital. I have done zero today so shouldn't be too tired, and Kyle can helm the boat, stopping on the way for fresh Mackerel.

I am pleased you had a good day, the skerries rarely disappoints, I have just got the boat ready, and we will head to the skerries after launching at 6:45 in the morning

A snell knot is a whipping knot, slightly different to the knotless knot. It is mainly the shrink tube that causes the hook to 'turn'. It is important to put the line the correct direction through the eye. I take this into boat fishing using pennel hooks (Sakuma 543) and cut the hair off near the bottom if the knot, or use a long hair and thread it through the bait. This geezer is a bit of a clown but it shows the idea