Plaicehunter

Whiting don't seem to like floodwater, at least I couldn't find any when I returned in 'Piranha' to a favourite Tamar mark off Torpoint today. I was greeted by filthy water and a small tide; this mark seems to fish best when the ebb is really pushing through. On one uptider I alternated whole calamari and whole joey mackerel, caught yesterday on the float from West Hoe pier. On the second uptider was a two-hook flapper baited with bits of squid and mackerel. The downtider sent down a live pout on a 6/0. It soon became obvious that the whiting were absent, with only pout bothering the smaller baits. An ambitious strap conger of a pound tackled a squid on a pulley pennell with two 6/0s. I was beginning to wonder if nothing bigger was biting when the big rod dropped yards of slack and I wound into a good eel which gave me a great scrap, including much surface thrashing, spinning and powerful dives. I guesstimated 20lb-plus and T-barred it off. It took the mackerel, but two subsequent smaller eels took squid. All four eels were lip-hooked and went back unscathed. Despite the lack of whiting- and cod - I felt I'd had a pretty good day in unpromising conditions. PH

Lockdown means local fishing, so recently I have focused on marks I can reach on foot from my home in Plymouth. Fortunately, this includes boat fishing, as 'Piranha' is kept on a mooring less than half a mile away in Stonehouse Pool. I can't claim to have caught anything spectacular since my last report, the highlight being a 4lb 10oz codling from the Tamar in early December. I was uptiding from a buoy just upstream of Mashford's (UK Docks) boatyard using two rods, one with whole squid on a pulley pennell and the other with mackerel and squid pieces on a two-hook flapper. The codling took the whiting rig and contained several lumps of squid, a mackerel wrapped in bait elastic and three hardback crabs. It looked to me to have been hoovering up discarded bait! In the same session I had some decent whiting. Other trips to the same spot have yielded several strap conger, a doggie, a sizeable edible crab and a hermit crab. Every session has produced plenty of whiting, though the size has decreased recently. I have tried live bait on a third rod, either with a slider or dropped down the side, but without any takes. I've also had a couple of boat trips after mackerel, the first a blank and the second producing 20 to small sabikis (Mustad Piscator #6) in one brief burst just off the Royal Western Yacht Club in Plymouth Sound. From the shore I've been concentrating on fishing for mackerel from West Hoe pier. Apart from one session when I had seven on the sabikis, it's been all light float-fishing with mackerel strip. I've had fish every trip, including a January garfish, but the most mackerel in a session (usually only a couple of hours) has been eight. Most of the fish have come with the float set at 9-10ft and on a rising tide. I'm still catching, and had four more yesterday afternoon (Jan 13). So, whiting and mackerel - nothing spectacular but some sport at a traditionally slack time of year, and without breaking any Covid rules! I hope this report has been helpful and encouraging. If you can, get out there and give it a go! PH

Whiting don't seem to like floodwater, at least I couldn't find any when I returned in 'Piranha' to a favourite Tamar mark off Torpoint today. I was greeted by filthy water and a small tide; this mark seems to fish best when the ebb is really pushing through. On one uptider I alternated whole calamari and whole joey mackerel, caught yesterday on the float from West Hoe pier. On the second uptider was a two-hook flapper baited with bits of squid and mackerel. The downtider sent down a live pout on a 6/0. It soon became obvious that the whiting were absent, with only pout bothering the smaller baits. An ambitious strap conger of a pound tackled a squid on a pulley pennell with two 6/0s. I was beginning to wonder if nothing bigger was biting when the big rod dropped yards of slack and I wound into a good eel which gave me a great scrap, including much surface thrashing, spinning and powerful dives. I guesstimated 20lb-plus and T-barred it off. It took the mackerel, but two subsequent smaller eels took squid. All four eels were lip-hooked and went back unscathed. Despite the lack of whiting- and cod - I felt I'd had a pretty good day in unpromising conditions. PH

Whiting don't seem to like floodwater, at least I couldn't find any when I returned in 'Piranha' to a favourite Tamar mark off Torpoint today. I was greeted by filthy water and a small tide; this mark seems to fish best when the ebb is really pushing through. On one uptider I alternated whole calamari and whole joey mackerel, caught yesterday on the float from West Hoe pier. On the second uptider was a two-hook flapper baited with bits of squid and mackerel. The downtider sent down a live pout on a 6/0. It soon became obvious that the whiting were absent, with only pout bothering the smaller baits. An ambitious strap conger of a pound tackled a squid on a pulley pennell with two 6/0s. I was beginning to wonder if nothing bigger was biting when the big rod dropped yards of slack and I wound into a good eel which gave me a great scrap, including much surface thrashing, spinning and powerful dives. I guesstimated 20lb-plus and T-barred it off. It took the mackerel, but two subsequent smaller eels took squid. All four eels were lip-hooked and went back unscathed. Despite the lack of whiting- and cod - I felt I'd had a pretty good day in unpromising conditions. PH

Whiting don't seem to like floodwater, at least I couldn't find any when I returned in 'Piranha' to a favourite Tamar mark off Torpoint today. I was greeted by filthy water and a small tide; this mark seems to fish best when the ebb is really pushing through. On one uptider I alternated whole calamari and whole joey mackerel, caught yesterday on the float from West Hoe pier. On the second uptider was a two-hook flapper baited with bits of squid and mackerel. The downtider sent down a live pout on a 6/0. It soon became obvious that the whiting were absent, with only pout bothering the smaller baits. An ambitious strap conger of a pound tackled a squid on a pulley pennell with two 6/0s. I was beginning to wonder if nothing bigger was biting when the big rod dropped yards of slack and I wound into a good eel which gave me a great scrap, including much surface thrashing, spinning and powerful dives. I guesstimated 20lb-plus and T-barred it off. It took the mackerel, but two subsequent smaller eels took squid. All four eels were lip-hooked and went back unscathed. Despite the lack of whiting- and cod - I felt I'd had a pretty good day in unpromising conditions. PH

I'm very lucky - especially as I can catch my own bait by walking to West Hoe pier. Mackerel are still about, and catching a few on light float gear is fun in itself. I feel very sorry for people who can't fish due to travel restrictions. My posts are not intended as a taunt! PH

Whiting don't seem to like floodwater, at least I couldn't find any when I returned in 'Piranha' to a favourite Tamar mark off Torpoint today. I was greeted by filthy water and a small tide; this mark seems to fish best when the ebb is really pushing through. On one uptider I alternated whole calamari and whole joey mackerel, caught yesterday on the float from West Hoe pier. On the second uptider was a two-hook flapper baited with bits of squid and mackerel. The downtider sent down a live pout on a 6/0. It soon became obvious that the whiting were absent, with only pout bothering the smaller baits. An ambitious strap conger of a pound tackled a squid on a pulley pennell with two 6/0s. I was beginning to wonder if nothing bigger was biting when the big rod dropped yards of slack and I wound into a good eel which gave me a great scrap, including much surface thrashing, spinning and powerful dives. I guesstimated 20lb-plus and T-barred it off. It took the mackerel, but two subsequent smaller eels took squid. All four eels were lip-hooked and went back unscathed. Despite the lack of whiting- and cod - I felt I'd had a pretty good day in unpromising conditions. PH

Whiting don't seem to like floodwater, at least I couldn't find any when I returned in 'Piranha' to a favourite Tamar mark off Torpoint today. I was greeted by filthy water and a small tide; this mark seems to fish best when the ebb is really pushing through. On one uptider I alternated whole calamari and whole joey mackerel, caught yesterday on the float from West Hoe pier. On the second uptider was a two-hook flapper baited with bits of squid and mackerel. The downtider sent down a live pout on a 6/0. It soon became obvious that the whiting were absent, with only pout bothering the smaller baits. An ambitious strap conger of a pound tackled a squid on a pulley pennell with two 6/0s. I was beginning to wonder if nothing bigger was biting when the big rod dropped yards of slack and I wound into a good eel which gave me a great scrap, including much surface thrashing, spinning and powerful dives. I guesstimated 20lb-plus and T-barred it off. It took the mackerel, but two subsequent smaller eels took squid. All four eels were lip-hooked and went back unscathed. Despite the lack of whiting- and cod - I felt I'd had a pretty good day in unpromising conditions. PH

Lockdown means local fishing, so recently I have focused on marks I can reach on foot from my home in Plymouth. Fortunately, this includes boat fishing, as 'Piranha' is kept on a mooring less than half a mile away in Stonehouse Pool. I can't claim to have caught anything spectacular since my last report, the highlight being a 4lb 10oz codling from the Tamar in early December. I was uptiding from a buoy just upstream of Mashford's (UK Docks) boatyard using two rods, one with whole squid on a pulley pennell and the other with mackerel and squid pieces on a two-hook flapper. The codling took the whiting rig and contained several lumps of squid, a mackerel wrapped in bait elastic and three hardback crabs. It looked to me to have been hoovering up discarded bait! In the same session I had some decent whiting. Other trips to the same spot have yielded several strap conger, a doggie, a sizeable edible crab and a hermit crab. Every session has produced plenty of whiting, though the size has decreased recently. I have tried live bait on a third rod, either with a slider or dropped down the side, but without any takes. I've also had a couple of boat trips after mackerel, the first a blank and the second producing 20 to small sabikis (Mustad Piscator #6) in one brief burst just off the Royal Western Yacht Club in Plymouth Sound. From the shore I've been concentrating on fishing for mackerel from West Hoe pier. Apart from one session when I had seven on the sabikis, it's been all light float-fishing with mackerel strip. I've had fish every trip, including a January garfish, but the most mackerel in a session (usually only a couple of hours) has been eight. Most of the fish have come with the float set at 9-10ft and on a rising tide. I'm still catching, and had four more yesterday afternoon (Jan 13). So, whiting and mackerel - nothing spectacular but some sport at a traditionally slack time of year, and without breaking any Covid rules! I hope this report has been helpful and encouraging. If you can, get out there and give it a go! PH

Good guess! Patchinko 125 in 500G. What a lure! No sadder sight than s dead bass, and all mine are returned, along with most of my gilts. PH

What a handsome boat, and she should be very economical to run! It's good that you have a relationship with the previous owner and are taking the time to do things properly. Having fished the Shambles in a charter boat and a private boat and experienced the formidable tides and rips, I think you are very wise to steer clear until you have more experience. Local anglers who have fished the area for years seem to use the 'buddy boat' system so they can help each other out in case of a problem or to find the fish. I also live very close to my boat, and it's a great advantage knowing what the local weather actually is rather than what the forecasters say it should be. Weymouth has a lot of fishing options in all but the worst weather. Unlike you, I am on a drying trot mooring, so am a bit more restricted by tides - although it's only £200 a year! I'm sure a lot of people will envy your boat and situation and you will have no problem finding a crew if you want one. Happy boating and fishing! PH

A very smart outfit and a good compromise between trailability and usability I should think. I see you have an auxiliary bracket. Do you carry a second engine? The only things I would want would be some lockers and grab rails. Maybe lockers are not so important as unlike me, your boat is not left on a mooring with equipment on board. But safety rails are a feature I would not want to be without, especially when standing to fish or moving about the boat in any kind of sea. The seat forward of the console is a great feature, giving you a backrest. I often think smaller boats like ours get more use than bigger ones. Yours certainly does! PH
 

It's true! I use my auxiliary in this way (when I can get it to start!) Much more convenient than using an extension steering arm on the little engine. Only problem is that turns are a lot slower, but it does work. PH

A very smart outfit and a good compromise between trailability and usability I should think. I see you have an auxiliary bracket. Do you carry a second engine? The only things I would want would be some lockers and grab rails. Maybe lockers are not so important as unlike me, your boat is not left on a mooring with equipment on board. But safety rails are a feature I would not want to be without, especially when standing to fish or moving about the boat in any kind of sea. The seat forward of the console is a great feature, giving you a backrest. I often think smaller boats like ours get more use than bigger ones. Yours certainly does! PH
 

What a handsome boat, and she should be very economical to run! It's good that you have a relationship with the previous owner and are taking the time to do things properly. Having fished the Shambles in a charter boat and a private boat and experienced the formidable tides and rips, I think you are very wise to steer clear until you have more experience. Local anglers who have fished the area for years seem to use the 'buddy boat' system so they can help each other out in case of a problem or to find the fish. I also live very close to my boat, and it's a great advantage knowing what the local weather actually is rather than what the forecasters say it should be. Weymouth has a lot of fishing options in all but the worst weather. Unlike you, I am on a drying trot mooring, so am a bit more restricted by tides - although it's only £200 a year! I'm sure a lot of people will envy your boat and situation and you will have no problem finding a crew if you want one. Happy boating and fishing! PH

What a handsome boat, and she should be very economical to run! It's good that you have a relationship with the previous owner and are taking the time to do things properly. Having fished the Shambles in a charter boat and a private boat and experienced the formidable tides and rips, I think you are very wise to steer clear until you have more experience. Local anglers who have fished the area for years seem to use the 'buddy boat' system so they can help each other out in case of a problem or to find the fish. I also live very close to my boat, and it's a great advantage knowing what the local weather actually is rather than what the forecasters say it should be. Weymouth has a lot of fishing options in all but the worst weather. Unlike you, I am on a drying trot mooring, so am a bit more restricted by tides - although it's only £200 a year! I'm sure a lot of people will envy your boat and situation and you will have no problem finding a crew if you want one. Happy boating and fishing! PH

What a handsome boat, and she should be very economical to run! It's good that you have a relationship with the previous owner and are taking the time to do things properly. Having fished the Shambles in a charter boat and a private boat and experienced the formidable tides and rips, I think you are very wise to steer clear until you have more experience. Local anglers who have fished the area for years seem to use the 'buddy boat' system so they can help each other out in case of a problem or to find the fish. I also live very close to my boat, and it's a great advantage knowing what the local weather actually is rather than what the forecasters say it should be. Weymouth has a lot of fishing options in all but the worst weather. Unlike you, I am on a drying trot mooring, so am a bit more restricted by tides - although it's only £200 a year! I'm sure a lot of people will envy your boat and situation and you will have no problem finding a crew if you want one. Happy boating and fishing! PH

Pictured in Stonehouse Pool, Plymouth, with the Royal William Yard in the background. PH

Bass 8lb 6oz on a topwater lure in 2020, returned. PH

If it had a clean bottom and a 115 it would do 50mph on flat water - I've seen the video. I have a Mariner 60 which gets it up on the plane OK but most of my time is spent in the Tamar doing economical displacement speeds as the limit is 10 knots. PH

Pictured in Stonehouse Pool, Plymouth, with the Royal William Yard in the background. PH

Pictured in Stonehouse Pool, Plymouth, with the Royal William Yard in the background. PH

Dear Outlaws, I have posted my pathetic attempt at videoing on YouTube. Obviously I haven't got to grips with editing yet, but at least you get to see one of the eels. The whole thing lasts just over a minute, including the blank bit in the middle. I enjoyed the bit where the fish dived and I'm clearly heard to cry "Oh sh*t!" It's called Conger battle on the Tamar. Enjoy! PH

My best advice about fishing Lanzarote is to contact Pete Berry - blumeeni on another popular sea fishing forum. Pete is an expat Welshman who lives near Playa Blanca and is the local expert. He has helped literally dozens of visitors to catch memorable fish from the shore, thankfully including me. The result is a WhatsApp group called Lanza Louts, guys from all over Europe with one thing in common: they have all fished with Pete. While he enjoys lure fishing from the shore (Pete doesn't do boats, though he has friends in Lanzarote who do), he catches most of his big fish on boga livebait. They include bluefish, bonito and barracuda, as well as predatory bream and dorado. I spent a week shore fishing in PB last February/March and caught lots of fish, including bonito of 11lb and 9lb on livebait. I hope to go again once Covid permits. And yes, do get a licence - best to buy online to save a lot of hassle! Hope this helps. PH

These are pretty special! Hard to catch, hard-fighting and apparently delicious (I don't eat fish) PH