GPSguru

Quick reminder as to why it’s important to remember the Collision Regulations, especially when you’re in an area with a TSS (traffic separation scheme). £25k must of stung a bit….
 
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/day-angling-skipper-fined-for-breaching-dover-strait-shipping-lane-rules#:~:text=The skipper and owner of,prosecution costs of £25%2C000.

Couple of pics from last few trips, usual stuff, pollack, sharks, wrasse etc 🙂 Numbers improving all the time. I’ll keep adding to this thread as I often can’t remember who caught what when but will keep it a rolling update…
Numbers of scad around at the moment is insane… make a good bait so not all bad 🙂 
Back out on sharks this weekend, then a weekend off followed by an empty boat for the weekend (17th and 18th August) if you fancy getting in on the action drop a line, nice tides for SPJ and sharking else I’ll just have to have a practice run for the tuna…
 

When the boat was built in 2019, Ribcraft sea trialled it and found the 3 blade prop supplied by Mercury made it 'under propped'.
Ribcraft normally supply Suzuki engines, but I had specified a mercury 150, and, Mercury (Barrus in the Uk) were keen to do more business with Ribcraft so they sent down an engineer to the sea trials, and he suggested 19 pitch 4 blade Revolution, which they fitted and found it to be OK. As you know, it is basically a racing prop with exhaust vents that can be opened or closed to fine tune it.
I have found the grip the prop gives to be outstanding, with no noticeable slip on a 30kt 'J' turn, and the hole shot is very impressive.
The best thing of all, is the prop cost me no extra on the package, however, I tend to look after it as it would be around £800 to replace.
The only change I have had to make is I had to upgrade the prop hub to an almost solid hub (I believe it is bushed but has titanium rods running through it) as I was getting some 'prop rattle' (due to its weight and grip) at idle and low revs, the new hub was £150 ish

True, but I don't fish for the king size Mack 😉🤣
I was also out with my mate last Sunday on the 35 mile wrecks, and we found large scad on those as well, not hoards of them, but enough to keep you busy.

When the boat was built in 2019, Ribcraft sea trialled it and found the 3 blade prop supplied by Mercury made it 'under propped'.
Ribcraft normally supply Suzuki engines, but I had specified a mercury 150, and, Mercury (Barrus in the Uk) were keen to do more business with Ribcraft so they sent down an engineer to the sea trials, and he suggested 19 pitch 4 blade Revolution, which they fitted and found it to be OK. As you know, it is basically a racing prop with exhaust vents that can be opened or closed to fine tune it.
I have found the grip the prop gives to be outstanding, with no noticeable slip on a 30kt 'J' turn, and the hole shot is very impressive.
The best thing of all, is the prop cost me no extra on the package, however, I tend to look after it as it would be around £800 to replace.
The only change I have had to make is I had to upgrade the prop hub to an almost solid hub (I believe it is bushed but has titanium rods running through it) as I was getting some 'prop rattle' (due to its weight and grip) at idle and low revs, the new hub was £150 ish

Went out on the boat today, a morning trip out to the 20mile wrecks.

Launched a 7:30am and couldn't see across the harbour, yet the met office were giving the visibility as medium. Once out of the nav channel the visibility was probably a little over half a mile, which I was happy with, however, I decided if it got worse I would head back in. I stopped and checked my AIS was working ok, so ships could at least detect my presence. A steady 24kts soon had me out on the chosen wreck, where I was expecting to catch bass.

Each drift kept me busy with Pout, Scad and smallish bass, The stamp of the bass were proper schoolies and I struggled to find one over 50cm, most were around 42cm. However, the scad were monsters.

At about 11:00am the mist cleared as the sun burnt through and the wreck was busy, with me and 2 commercials. At 12:00 midday I decided to come back in, but the day had been fruitful, nothing large, but 17 Pout, 9 Scad, and 8 Bass, with 2 keepers at 49 / 50cm.

The sea was flat, so 30knts cruising. At 14miles out I just caught a glimpse of something green floating below the surface off my starboard bow, I immediately throttled back, but too late, I heard the noise of the prop and the engine suddenly slow, and I was prop wrapped. I shut down and tilted the engine, the culprit was an old-discarded commercial net. I would think it had been probably snagged on the bottom and broke free. To reach the prop you have to climb on the outboard leg, or use a safety rope off the A frame, however, I was on my own so didn't want the risk of going in the drink. The easy solution was to ty-wrap my rope cutting knife to the boat hook, and I soon cut the net away. My prop hub wasn't damaged, as I use an almost solid hub due to the weight of the 4 blade Mercury Revolution prop. Once free, I had an uneventful trip back in.

Now for the next issue. It has been hot today, and I left the boat cleaning until the evening, When I went to clean the boat, I found the starboard side stern tube well deflated (not flat, just well deflated). My initial reaction was a puncture, but the tubes have over pressure valves and close inspection has suggested the valve opened when the tube got hot in the sun (24C here) and didn't close properly, I have cleaned the valve, and reinflated the tube, so will just keep an eye on it. 
Well, the tube has been fine for the last 24hrs, so I am going with an overpressure valve issue. If it happens again, they are easy enough to get replaced.

The scad were big beggars

Here is a bit of the net I cut from the prop

When the boat was built in 2019, Ribcraft sea trialled it and found the 3 blade prop supplied by Mercury made it 'under propped'.
Ribcraft normally supply Suzuki engines, but I had specified a mercury 150, and, Mercury (Barrus in the Uk) were keen to do more business with Ribcraft so they sent down an engineer to the sea trials, and he suggested 19 pitch 4 blade Revolution, which they fitted and found it to be OK. As you know, it is basically a racing prop with exhaust vents that can be opened or closed to fine tune it.
I have found the grip the prop gives to be outstanding, with no noticeable slip on a 30kt 'J' turn, and the hole shot is very impressive.
The best thing of all, is the prop cost me no extra on the package, however, I tend to look after it as it would be around £800 to replace.
The only change I have had to make is I had to upgrade the prop hub to an almost solid hub (I believe it is bushed but has titanium rods running through it) as I was getting some 'prop rattle' (due to its weight and grip) at idle and low revs, the new hub was £150 ish

When the boat was built in 2019, Ribcraft sea trialled it and found the 3 blade prop supplied by Mercury made it 'under propped'.
Ribcraft normally supply Suzuki engines, but I had specified a mercury 150, and, Mercury (Barrus in the Uk) were keen to do more business with Ribcraft so they sent down an engineer to the sea trials, and he suggested 19 pitch 4 blade Revolution, which they fitted and found it to be OK. As you know, it is basically a racing prop with exhaust vents that can be opened or closed to fine tune it.
I have found the grip the prop gives to be outstanding, with no noticeable slip on a 30kt 'J' turn, and the hole shot is very impressive.
The best thing of all, is the prop cost me no extra on the package, however, I tend to look after it as it would be around £800 to replace.
The only change I have had to make is I had to upgrade the prop hub to an almost solid hub (I believe it is bushed but has titanium rods running through it) as I was getting some 'prop rattle' (due to its weight and grip) at idle and low revs, the new hub was £150 ish

The net was probably 5 or more square metres, way too heavy for me to lift. The bit I kept is the bit that I cut off to free the prop. It is a very heavy duty nylon net.
On the boat, I have a divers knife on my belt, so always to hand. It is SS non pointy, locks into its sheath, and has both flat and saw tooth edges, not cheap, but it does the job quickly.

Went out on the boat today, a morning trip out to the 20mile wrecks.

Launched a 7:30am and couldn't see across the harbour, yet the met office were giving the visibility as medium. Once out of the nav channel the visibility was probably a little over half a mile, which I was happy with, however, I decided if it got worse I would head back in. I stopped and checked my AIS was working ok, so ships could at least detect my presence. A steady 24kts soon had me out on the chosen wreck, where I was expecting to catch bass.

Each drift kept me busy with Pout, Scad and smallish bass, The stamp of the bass were proper schoolies and I struggled to find one over 50cm, most were around 42cm. However, the scad were monsters.

At about 11:00am the mist cleared as the sun burnt through and the wreck was busy, with me and 2 commercials. At 12:00 midday I decided to come back in, but the day had been fruitful, nothing large, but 17 Pout, 9 Scad, and 8 Bass, with 2 keepers at 49 / 50cm.

The sea was flat, so 30knts cruising. At 14miles out I just caught a glimpse of something green floating below the surface off my starboard bow, I immediately throttled back, but too late, I heard the noise of the prop and the engine suddenly slow, and I was prop wrapped. I shut down and tilted the engine, the culprit was an old-discarded commercial net. I would think it had been probably snagged on the bottom and broke free. To reach the prop you have to climb on the outboard leg, or use a safety rope off the A frame, however, I was on my own so didn't want the risk of going in the drink. The easy solution was to ty-wrap my rope cutting knife to the boat hook, and I soon cut the net away. My prop hub wasn't damaged, as I use an almost solid hub due to the weight of the 4 blade Mercury Revolution prop. Once free, I had an uneventful trip back in.

Now for the next issue. It has been hot today, and I left the boat cleaning until the evening, When I went to clean the boat, I found the starboard side stern tube well deflated (not flat, just well deflated). My initial reaction was a puncture, but the tubes have over pressure valves and close inspection has suggested the valve opened when the tube got hot in the sun (24C here) and didn't close properly, I have cleaned the valve, and reinflated the tube, so will just keep an eye on it. 
Well, the tube has been fine for the last 24hrs, so I am going with an overpressure valve issue. If it happens again, they are easy enough to get replaced.

The scad were big beggars

Here is a bit of the net I cut from the prop

The net was probably 5 or more square metres, way too heavy for me to lift. The bit I kept is the bit that I cut off to free the prop. It is a very heavy duty nylon net.
On the boat, I have a divers knife on my belt, so always to hand. It is SS non pointy, locks into its sheath, and has both flat and saw tooth edges, not cheap, but it does the job quickly.

If you cant get glued heatshrink of the right size, then cover the joint with hot melt glue, then immediately shrink on the heatshrink.
 

Went out on the boat today, a morning trip out to the 20mile wrecks.

Launched a 7:30am and couldn't see across the harbour, yet the met office were giving the visibility as medium. Once out of the nav channel the visibility was probably a little over half a mile, which I was happy with, however, I decided if it got worse I would head back in. I stopped and checked my AIS was working ok, so ships could at least detect my presence. A steady 24kts soon had me out on the chosen wreck, where I was expecting to catch bass.

Each drift kept me busy with Pout, Scad and smallish bass, The stamp of the bass were proper schoolies and I struggled to find one over 50cm, most were around 42cm. However, the scad were monsters.

At about 11:00am the mist cleared as the sun burnt through and the wreck was busy, with me and 2 commercials. At 12:00 midday I decided to come back in, but the day had been fruitful, nothing large, but 17 Pout, 9 Scad, and 8 Bass, with 2 keepers at 49 / 50cm.

The sea was flat, so 30knts cruising. At 14miles out I just caught a glimpse of something green floating below the surface off my starboard bow, I immediately throttled back, but too late, I heard the noise of the prop and the engine suddenly slow, and I was prop wrapped. I shut down and tilted the engine, the culprit was an old-discarded commercial net. I would think it had been probably snagged on the bottom and broke free. To reach the prop you have to climb on the outboard leg, or use a safety rope off the A frame, however, I was on my own so didn't want the risk of going in the drink. The easy solution was to ty-wrap my rope cutting knife to the boat hook, and I soon cut the net away. My prop hub wasn't damaged, as I use an almost solid hub due to the weight of the 4 blade Mercury Revolution prop. Once free, I had an uneventful trip back in.

Now for the next issue. It has been hot today, and I left the boat cleaning until the evening, When I went to clean the boat, I found the starboard side stern tube well deflated (not flat, just well deflated). My initial reaction was a puncture, but the tubes have over pressure valves and close inspection has suggested the valve opened when the tube got hot in the sun (24C here) and didn't close properly, I have cleaned the valve, and reinflated the tube, so will just keep an eye on it. 
Well, the tube has been fine for the last 24hrs, so I am going with an overpressure valve issue. If it happens again, they are easy enough to get replaced.

The scad were big beggars

Here is a bit of the net I cut from the prop

Had a free afternoon before the Euros finals and it was lovely so i took pugwash out solo to see what was about. Just a simple potter about with some feathers. 
not much action - just 1 Small tub gurnard - 

lovely afternoon to be out though!

 

Out on Tims boat with his son Jamie, aim was for fresh mackerel at the entrances and then onto the Shambles to fish for flatties, then try for bass in the building race off of Portland Bill.
Mackerel were hard to come by - but we managed 4 decent ones and a scad.  
we were soon off to drift the shambles - first couple of drifts nothing - but we were getting pushed more by the wind than tide so we repositioned and i hook a lovely turbot. 

not long before Tim lands a lovely Brill. 

fishing was slow so we moved closer to the Bill and tried with Lures - i thought Tim had snagged the bottom until he said get the net...... and up comes a monster 6.2lb Wrasse! his PB and well over specimen size.

His son then bags a lovely PB bass at last knockings!

Not many fish, but all special fish, and fresh turbot for me for tea!! 
 

Well done Malc, I have been struggling to catch a ling this year. I normally run a wrecking rig ( 150lb rig body, blood looped with a 9/0) baited with either a mack or pout flapper, usually at slack water, but no takers apart from greedy jumbo pout. 
 
Sounds like you had a decent day out.

That's not quite what I meant but hey... 

A good weather window and we headed out in my friends boat to some wrecks off the mouth of the Tyne, first stop was a little bit further off the piers than normal due to the amount of fresh water coming out of the river for mackerel. I had 3 weever and the smallest whiting I have ever seen, about the length of my little finger! However the weever count for the species competition and my mate managed a few monster mackerel for bait. Pretty fish but nasty stings, and strangely well up in the water column.

First wreck was pretty quiet but it was a small tide and early in the ebb. Next was better as we were getting bites on baited muppets etc. The idea was to get the easiest species for this time of year so we don't struggle later when they are offshore, I needed pollock and ling and my friend, ling, pout and haddock. 
He got 3 decent pout, best about a pound and half possibly a bit more and then a good bend in his rod had me grabbing the net, I was sure that it was a ling but a Cod of 7+ ended up on deck.

Shortly after I had a savage take on my baited muppets and a few pumps had it away from the wreck and could reel more steadily. Turned out to be a nice eating sized ling around 6lb and another tick in the species competition box!

Looking forward to tomorrow's tea!

First one of the year today, out on High Flyer 2.
Plan was to get out after some maccy, then on to some bass and tope....... The weather had other ideas. We arrived to a 14mph SW wind, so we headed to some bass marks to hopefully pick up some mac. However, we were getting the crap kicked out of us and no fish showing. We headed in a bit to try some marks that were showing fish, however, the wind was pushing us off the drift and the fish were having none of it. We ended up coming in right close, to a hole that has saved many days out. With the tide falling away, we were hitting a steady stream of doggies and one smoothie boated. The tide eventually turned and ran hard enough to stop the boat swinging, and the digs pretty much disappeared, but more whiting. I decided to try a jelly worm tipped with mack and had my pb smoothie, prob only around 4lb, but only ever had pups before now. The doggies returned, a seal poked his head in to watch and some idiot was seen paddling in from well the wrong side of scroby sands on a kayak..... He eventually made it in against the switching wind, god only knows where he had been.....
That was pretty much the day, we got wind burn, sun burn, salt burn, drenched in rain and sea spray and everything in between. Even the seagulls passed up the day to remain in town outside the chippy.......
Out again in a couple of weeks weather permitting

Yep, gets the 👍from me and several of my friends and lots of others I speak to, good quality gear tends to sell itself by word of mouth. 

As a tackle dealer, I am in direct contact with the wholesalers, so I get to know when a lot of 'major brand' is made, and some of it would surprise you !
An example would be 2 major hook brands in the uk come from the same factory, same batch runs. We will call them A & B. Some anglers use B because A breaks. Some anglers use B because A bends, yet they are the same hooks 🤷‍♂️

As a tackle dealer, I am in direct contact with the wholesalers, so I get to know when a lot of 'major brand' is made, and some of it would surprise you !
An example would be 2 major hook brands in the uk come from the same factory, same batch runs. We will call them A & B. Some anglers use B because A breaks. Some anglers use B because A bends, yet they are the same hooks 🤷‍♂️

I use Spectra braid from ebay. It is made in the same factory as Shimano power pro, it looks identical and behaves identical. 
 
also it is cheap enough to replace more frequently, which for me is every 2 years or so.
TBH, I am a lot more fussy about mono leaders, rig bodies, and snoods. Mono (co-polymer) does vary a lot and usually ‘cheap’ is rubbish.

Do you ?? 
We only ever see your daughters fish!!

great write up mate  theres always next time boys looked like they had fun thats all that matters 👍