GPSguru

If I had your mobile number, I would send you a MMS everytime I get a fish .............. 🤣🤣🤣 Perhaps I shouldn't laugh too much, tomorrow is boat checking day as it hasn't moved for 3 months ...........

If the weather holds, then Kyle and myself will be heading out to the wrecks. Currently, looking at the 25 mile wrecks, but the weather forecast keeps on changing, so I will keep it under review Earlier this evening I checked the slow jigs on the boat and now know why my tackle box is so heavy ....... is 72 jigs enough for one trip ? 🤣 There was also probably 30 packs of Red Gills ready for Kyle, but somehow I think he will be using 6/0 red Gummi makks baited with a full fillet of mack or a whole quid, as that is more his style of fishing .....

Tonight has been mainly tying assist hooks, using Trokar hooks, kevlar assist cord, and a bit of patience with the lead core splicing needle. Made about 30 in 3/0, 5/0, & 7/0. Also prerigged some of the jigs ready for Sunday, I also rigged some with just a solid ring and split ring, which is handy for quick lure changes, ..... This is a 7/0

Yep, Sunday is looking good for a trip out to the wrecks, currently I am looking at the 30 miles wrecks, but will decide nearer to the time. It is neap tides, so will be excellent for some slow jigging.

@Ivan Tuna is starting get worried now 🤣

This is Dave Barham and Pete Cook testing the HTO slow jigs in 2015, this was before slow jigging rods had made it in numbers into the UK and they were using light spinning rods. I was using some of these early jigs in the summer of 2015, and I still use the same jigs today. Just for @Andy135 ..... Dave tells of what species have been caught during the intro ..... listen carefully between 0.45 to 0.50 !

I am sure the ‘essex delboy’ ( or should that be ‘essex rodney’) will have something to say about it not being polished 🤣🙄

Only half a job...... you ain't polished it 🤣

This has been going around my head today ...............

Yes, a nice neat solution Jon. I have gone down the road of simplicity to enable me to decide exactly what needs doing, then I will make a permanent solution with either 316 or marine grade aluminium. My solution needs to work in both transducer positions, and enable me to reach over the transom and alter the position whilst at sea. However, Ali and SS are not good bedfellows for electrolytic corrosion, so I will hopefully be able to lay my hands on some very thin food grade 316. But yes, the panoptix transducers are a big piece of kit !

That means you can only have it as forward or down and not switch between the two modes ? I am guessing you have it in forward scan mode ? Also, being under the swim platform is a bonus for not being aggravated by rooster trails 👍

🤣🤣🤣

The Mk 1 eyeball is always the best weapon for diagnosis of any transducer issue. I got Kyle on the helm and looked over the stern to see the extent of the problem and just placing my finger in the bracket stopped it completely. Also, the water pressure didn't feel immense. I have lived with it for the last 2 years as I generally use Forward scan, which closes the gap and the Garmin deflector plate butts up nicely just level with the bottom of the transom. So the next trip out will be the same, he will drive the boat and I will take a view of the transducer bracket to see what else needs fixing .......

Just to add to the above ......... If the simple fix works, then I will make a permanent fix using 316 SS shim, that I will heat treat to make it very springy with oil tempering. However, it needs testing first

It is about time there was a thread for Transducer issues with fitting etc .................. One of the biggest issues is 'Rooster trails', where water rushes between the transom and the transducer bracket, then it creates a rooster trail as it exits the bracket. The normal solution for this is to angle the transducer down by just a couple of degrees, which closes the gap and deflects the water. My port mounted Panoptics transducer has 2 positions, level for forward scan, and angled up for down scan. In the forward scan position it is fine as I have a Garmin deflector plate on it, but if I angle it up to down scan it sends a rooster trail almost 4ft high (higher than the A frame) at 30kns. This is due to water being funnelled through the transducer bracket. Although I normally use it on forward scan (great for wrecking), I decided today to fix the water funnel issue by fitting a small piece of plastic on the bracket. The plastic needs to be very tough, but also quite flexible, and the front cover of a plastic file folder (stolen from the wife) seems to be about right. The plastic needs to 'fill' the square hole in the bracket design to stop it acting as an inverted funnel. Another solution to this issue is to fit an inverted piece of guttering over the transducer, but for me that is a 'no no' as I need to get a spanner on the bracket bolts whilst drifting to adjust the angle. I intend to use the downscan more when I am slow jigging. I am hoping this simple fix will sort it out, the pictures show it angled up in the down scan position

Sorry Neil, but this year will not be doable for me, we have way too much going on ................

From pretty much now until November ..... I always find it fishes better on neap tides and there is less flow, so the drift speed is ideal. My first trip will be the next nice day that we get, it is about a 20mile steam for me (40 mins).

🖕 Do you know what plaice look like ? 🙄 They are sight feeders so your chances of finding them in the swamps of the Thames estuary is zero ........ 🤣

You often find plaice feeding on mussel beds, which is the habitat of the Eulalia viridis (Greenleaf Worm), the favourite food of Plaice. So, if I am fishing mussel beds, then I generally go for Green / Black beads as that imitates the Eulalia viridis. However, when fishing the Skerries, I have tried all sorts of colour combinations, and they all seem to work about the same. Plaice are sight feeders and definitely respond to 'puffing' of the sand, so we always use a watch lead and try to fish it so that the lead continually bounces on the sand rather than being dragged across it. If no watch leads are to hand, then I use an Aquapedo. Other bling I use are Holographic attractor blades (Sakuma). The trace generally has 5 red / yellow beads, then an attractor blade, then 5 black green beads. Normally the hook is a Sakuma 560 size 1 or 1/0, however, last year I tried Sakuma 440 circles and the number of swallowed hooks was far less. Bait is pretty important, we rarely use worm, and have found a sliver of Mack, or Sandeel, tipped with prawn produces more fish. The killer bait for the skerries is frozen prawn tipped with squid. The advantage of using fish baits is the possibility of hooking up with a Turbot or Ray, and avoiding the smaller plaice / weevers A few hours on the Skerries will normally yield about 20 - 30 keepers between 2 or 3 of us, once we have enough, then I usually go to the outer edge of the banks and anchor for Blond Rays...........

In simple terms ..... yes ...... but Did you take into account the loss in the coax (attenuation) and also the gain of the antenna. A standard 1.4 glass fibre whip is 3db gain, so assuming a perfect installation then the ERP ( Effective Radiated Power) will be 50w. However, you would also need to plot the field (using a calibrated field strength meter) to enable you to plot a polar diagram for the antenna. On the RIB I have unity gain quarter wave whip mounted on the A frame which is fed by approx 8m of RG58U coax, so the cable loss will be about 1.9db, therefore my ERP at the antenna is significantly less than 25w ( cant be arsed to work it out exactly, but it will be around 15w (ish). Can the end user be expected to know all this stuff, I spent 40 years in the industry including a number of years in enforcement with the Ofcomm predecessor.

Absolutely Geoff. I think it is going to be a 'long' 6 weeks ! When your turn comes around, it is absolutely nothing to worry about, they have the procedure very finely tuned.

I had the right eye sorted out on Saturday, I removed the patch on Sunday morning, and it was like looking through a mist due to blurred vision, which although normal, it had me a little worried. However, when I opened the curtain this morning the Sun was shinning, and I had to back away from the window because of the brightness, The result for my right eye is absolutely fantastic and way beyond my expectations. The sky is now bright blue instead of blue grey and white is brilliant white in my right eye, and yellow cream in my left eye. I started driving again this afternoon once I had checked at what distance I can read a reg plate. The statutory distance is 20m, but I can still see it clearly at 30m plus. The NHS staff were great and explained everything right through the procedure which does make you feel comfortable. The actual operation took about 10 minutes. I now need to wear sunglasses (when it is sunny) as my eye will need time at adjust to the brighter light due to more light getting to the retina now that the dull and frosty lens has been removed. Fortunately I have kept my Ray Ban aviators (Zeiss glass lenses) which I paid a fortune for in 2001 ! I now only need reading glasses, and it has taken me all evening to find all my old glasses and construct a pair that work on the PC 👍. The left eye will be done in 6 to 8 weeks and I can't see an optician until then ! Yes, I am well chuffed ..........😎

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Andy, can you move it to fishys long welsh name humour ..... thanks

I thought the Welsh variant was only found in sheep ...........🙄

If you are referring to the late 70's / early 80's ........... I was Busby wiv da yella van 🤣 ........ oh, and an unmarked hillman Avenger estate ..........🙄