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SPECIES CAUGHT IN 2007:
Pollack, Pouting, Plaice, Ling, Bass, Cod, Turbot, Smoothhound, Mackerel, Tope, Dogfish, Red Gurnard, Scad, Bream, Poor Cod, Conger Eel, Blonde Ray ( 17 No )
Personal Bests have been:- Turbot 13 lbs 8 oz, Tope 45 lbs , Smoothhound 11 lbs and Bream 3 lbs 1 oz |
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Saturday 10 February - Tiger Lily - Cancelled
Saturday 17 February - Offshore Rebel Group Trip out of Weymouth with 10 Anglers aboard. Left Weymouth at 8.00 am on a really high tide and headed due south for approx 28 miles to our first wreck. The wind was from the northeast at 10 mph, but the sea was reasonably calm. After our first drift we were joined by ‘Lone Shark’ and ‘Out Rage’ both from Weymouth, but after a further 5 drifts and neither boat catching anything we moved northwest approx 4 miles to another wreck, but again nothing was caught. At our third wreck a solitary Pollack of 8 lbs was landed, and again there was nothing else to be caught. We repeatedly moved to different wrecks throughout the day, 8 in total, with only one more Pollack to show for our efforts. We eventually packed up at 4.00 pm for our 11/2 hrs sail back to Weymouth. By this time the sun had broken through and it was quite warm.. One theory regarding the lack of fish is that when the wind is from the east there is high pressure to the west of the UK and for some reason the fish don’t feed. Another bit of excitement occurred mid-afternoon as we were sailing between wrecks when my rod slipped onto the deck and the line release disengaged. As my sinker weight rolled across the deck it dropped through the drainage flap at the stern of the boat and unbeknown to everyone started pulling the line from my reel. The next thing we heard was my rod being pulled into the drainage flap, but as luck had it the reel stopped everything disappearing into 150 feet of water. On retrieving the rod and reel I found that the sinker had pulled all my 300 metres of new braid from the reel and snapped it off when the reel jammed in the flap. Had I been using my smaller reel everything would have gone!
Saturday 3 March - Tiger Lily - Cancelled
Saturday 10 March - Offshore Rebel Group Trip out of Weymouth with 10 Anglers aboard. Left Weymouth at 8.00 am on a bright and breezy sunny morning headed due south for approx 24 miles to our first wreck. The wind was from the southwest at 15 mph which made the sail out very bumpy and wet. On our first drift the first Pollack was landed at 12 lbs but after a further 5 drifts and no more fish we moved west approx 4 miles to another wreck, but again nothing was caught. At our third wreck called Bay 1, we hit the jackpot and Pollack to 15 lbs were being landed at a rate of three or four on each drift. A solitary Whiting to 3 lbs and a Garfish were also landed. As the tide dropped off the fish began to disappear and we changed to Ling fishing, but none were to be had so we tried several other wrecks for Ling but to no avail. We eventually packed up at 4.00 pm for our 11/2 hrs sail back to Weymouth. The weather had been warm and sunny with a stiff southwest breeze. In all we had landed 52 Pollack to 15 lbs, one Whiting and a Garfish. My haul was 8 Pollack to 12 lbs. We were very fortunate in that all the mono-hulls had cancelled and the other boats stayed inshore for the non-existent Plaice
Saturday 7 April - Offshore Rebel Left Weymouth at 7.30 am on Group Trip aboard Offshore Rebel for a day of wrecking with 10 anglers onboard. The weather was flat calm with a gentle northeast breeze and clear blue sky. We sailed due south for approx 28 miles to a large wreck in mid-channel and arrived at 9.30 am. We had live sand eels for bait and we were soon setting our gear for Pollack. Some anglers started off using jelly worms and shads, but soon became evident that the sand eels were the best. We fished on the flood tide until about 12.30 pm, when the tide slackened off and fewer Pollack were being landed. I then changed my gear to Ling fishing using Mackerel strips / flappers for bait and immediately hooked into a 18 lb 7 oz Ling followed shortly after with another at 10 lbs. Some of the other anglers had now changed to Ling gear and another 8 Ling were landed. The Pollack were still being landed so it was good fun being able to change gear and catch what you wanted. We eventually packed up at 4.00 pm, set sail for home and got down to the arduous job of cleaning the 65 Pollack (to 15 lbs) and the 10 Ling (to 18.5 lbs). We arrived back at 5.30 pm and everyone agreed that this must have been one of the most enjoyable trips for a long time with beautiful weather and plenty of fish.
Tuesday 10 April - Tiger Lily Fladen Competition aboard Tiger Lily competing against Channel Chieftain for the best bag of Plaice. We left Weymouth at 8.00 am with flat calm conditions and headed out to the Shambles Bank Mussel Beds. We started fishing at 9.00 am with very small tide and maximum drift speed of 1.5 knots and it was not long before the first Plaice was landed. The weather was ideal for Plaice fishing and the fish were being landed quite regularly by some of the more experienced Plaice anglers, albeit they were also landing Dogfish, Pouting, Spider Crabs and rocks. At the end of the competition with over 40 Plaice caught the largest bag was 29 lbs (10 Plaice) to Richard Prosser, winning him the two boat sweep and a Fladen super sensor rod, but everyone had at least caught one Plaice. This ‘bag’ ensured that Tiger Lily won the first of the three competitions. My total was 2 Plaice at a mere 6 lbs 10 oz and these actually were caught when I was given some better bait from Byron Jones at 3.00 pm. (If only this had been offered it earlier?). Again this was an excellent day’s fishing with warm sunny weather, flat calm sea and good sized fish. Everyone was issued with Fladen rod holders, baseball caps and a Tiger Lily baseball cap (a real treat) to round off the day.
Saturday 14 April - Valkyrie Club trip out of Langstone aboard the new Valkyrie on her maiden trip. Left Langstone at 6.30 am with 10 anglers for a wreck 45 miles due south. Weather was perfect with clear blue sky, flat calm sea and gentle east wind. We cruised out at 20 knots reaching our first wreck at 9.00 am and after two drifts we were landing decent sized double figured Pollack, but after a few more drifts we were joined by another boat and with the tide easing off we moved a further 3 miles south to a deep trench and again we were landing decent sized Pollack including a 17 lbs 8 oz Cod and two small Red Gurnards. By early afternoon the sea was a sheet of glass, the sun was really hot and we hopped between several more wrecks before making our way back to Langstone with the thrill of experiencing the new Valkyrie at its top speed of 30 knots. Our tally for the day was 60 Pollack, 1 Cod, 2 Red Gurnards and numerous Pouting. My catch was 8 Pollack, the best at 13 lbs 8 oz and 12 lbs 8 oz.
Sunday 29 April - Sportmans Knight Club trip out of Langstone aboard Sportmans Knight targeting ‘Flatties’. Left Langstone at 7.45 am with 6 anglers and headed for the Boulder Bank about 8 miles offshore from Bognor Regis. The weather was perfect for flat fishing with light easterly wind, calm sea and clear blue sky. After about 2 hours sailing we arrived at our chosen point, but because of the strong tide the skipper decided that we should try for Bream until the tide slackened and dropped anchor, however they were few and far between with the best at only 1.5 lbs. Other fish landed were a Garfish, several dogfish, a mackerel and a 7 lbs Smoothhound. Once the tide eased away we moved a further 4 miles east and again dropped anchor and tried for Plaice, but to no avail. Eventually the tide slackened off and we lifted the anchor and began drifting over the mussel beds. Again the fish were few and far between with only 3 Wrasse and 3 small Plaice to show for our efforts. We packed up at 4.00 pm and sat back and enjoyed the 2 hour sail back to Langstone. The sun shone all day and it was nice to see the migrating birds returning from the south.
Monday 14 May - Sportmans Knight - Cancelled
Saturday 19 May - Offshore Rebel Group trip out of Weymouth aboard Offshore Rebel with a change from the original trip of Cod / Bream. Due to the bad weather forecast of Force 6 to 7 gales from the west it was decided to go Bass fishing off Wheelbarrow Head 15 miles southeast of Weymouth and approx. 3 miles offshore. It was still OK to go fishing as the best part of the day would be fished with the wind and tide from the same direction i.e. west. We left Weymouth at 8.00 am with 10 anglers on board and with the following wind we were on site by 9.15 am. W e were soon into the fish with decent sized Bass to 8 lbs being landed. The weather was very windy as forecasted and a good swell was running, but we had clear blue skies and hot sun all day. As the tide slackened away so did the fish and by 2.00 pm the wind had freshened even more and was blowing against the tide causing a large swell of over 20 feet. As the fish had completely disappeared by 3.30 pm we packed up and headed back to Weymouth punching through a very rough sea and arrived back at 5.00 pm. Our tally for the day was 35 Bass to 8 lbs with several more returned, 1 Cod (6 lbs) and 1 Pollack (2 lbs). My total was 8 Bass with 2 returned. The only other boat out was Revolution with 6 anglers on board, but by the end of the day only two were still fishing. As they boarded the boat they were all full of the joys with each consuming a can of lager and joking, 6 started fishing, but as the sea got rougher we could see the numbers dwindle until only two were left standing, the others were in a horizontal position in the wheelhouse ‘shouting for Hugh …. ie or Ral ….ph’. The moral of the story is don’t drink before a trip on a rough day. We had one casualty who went horizontal by 11 am, he had also been on a ‘bender’ the night before.
Sunday 3 June - Offshore Rebel Group trip out of Weymouth aboard Offshore Rebel with 10 anglers aboard. Left Weymouth at 7.45 am and headed southeast for a reef approx. 35 miles out in mid channel and at a depth of 250 feet. The trip was aimed at drifting the reef for Pollack and Cod and towards the end of the day head back inshore for Bass. We picked up live sand eels on our way out and was on the reef by 9.30 am. There was already other boats on the drift i.e. Sundance from Lymington and Trio II from Poole. We were soon into decent sized Pollack and Chris Coombes and myself were going head to head for 9 drifts with Pollack to 12 lbs. As the tide slackened the drift slowed and we changed to artificial lures to tempt any Cod. We were soon landing Cod to 6 lbs, but this was short lived when the tide completely dropped away. At 2.00 pm we lifted our gear and headed back towards Weymouth to try for Bass cleaning and filleting the catch as we went. We started our drift on a shallow reef about 3 miles southeast of Weymouth, but the Bass were mostly undersize and most were returned. I was surprised by a sudden knock on my rod, which at first I thought I had snagged the bottom, but then I started to gain line making me think that I had hooked into a large Bass. After what seemed ages to wind in the catch, it turned out to be a Turbot at 10 lbs 4 oz much to the surprise of all onboard. We continued drifting for another hour, but the larger Bass were not to be had. Our eventful day of flat calm conditions and clear blue sky finally came to an end at 6.00 pm when we docked in Weymouth. Or tally for the day was over 60 Pollack to 12 lbs, 8 Cod to 6 lbs, numerous small Bass and 1 Turbot to 10 lbs 4 oz, my tally being 12 Pollack, 1 Cod, 3 Bass and 1 Turbot.
Saturday 16 June - Valkyrie Club trip out of Langstone aboard Valkyrie with 10 anglers competing in the Tope and Smoothhound Competition. Left Langstone at 8.oo am with a stiff southwest wind in our face as we headed for an area 10 miles out which had recorded good Smoothhounds the day before, but it would be too rough to venture further out for Tope. We were soon fishing by 9 .00 am and by 10.00 am the first Smoothhound to 11 lbs was landed. The Smoothhounds were not very plentiful and by the time the tide had slackened off at 12.00 noon only about 6 had been landed with the usual dogfish to spoil the bait. Once the tide had picked up the fishing improved with all but one angler landing at least 1 Smoothhound. There was also a solitary Tope to 7 lbs landed. It wasn’t long before the tide increased and with a strengthening wind it was decided to move to another mark inshore, but this proved to be fruitless, with no more fish landed. At the end of the competition my tally was 4 Smoothhound to a total weight of 36 lbs which earned me second place behind the club ‘professional’ with over 48 lbs.
Sunday 1 July - Tiger Lily - Cancelled
Sunday 8 July - Offshore Rebel Group trip out of Weymouth with 9 anglers onboard. Left Weymouth at 7.45 am and after picking up live sand-eels from the pier we set course due south for some wrecking in mid channel, 28 miles out. The weather was ideal considering the past few weeks, with light westerly wind, clear blue sky and flat calm sea. We arrived at the first wreck at 9.45 am and as the tide was very slack we opted for using artificial lures to tempt the anticipated Cod. I was first into the fish with a decent 8 lbs Bass, but as the skipper was busy untangling an angler’s mess he was too late with the net and the Bass got away ...grrrr. Pollack were aplenty with best being at 14 lbs and Cod appeared as ordered, but none were huge, best was 6 lbs. As the tide picked up we changed to the live sand-eels, but only Cod and Pollack were tempted. We decided to move about 6 miles back and try some other wrecks, which resulted in 2 Bass to 6 lbs and numerous Pollack and Pouting. We set off for home at 4.00 pm with a freshening west wind, arriving back at 6.00 pm. Our tally for the day was 30 Pollack, 8 Cod, 3 Bass plus the usual Pouting and Mackerel.
Saturday 28 July - Valkyrie Club trip out of Langstone aboard Valkyrie with 5 Club members competing in the Deep Sea Competition and 2 guests of the skipper. Left Langstone at 8.00 am with clear blue sky, but as the wind was freshening the skipper decided it was best that we fished the deep reefs as it would be too rough to reach the wrecks. We stopped on route to catch some mackerel in close to the Nab Tower and then headed out about 15 miles to the first reef which was expected to give good Tope and Smoothhounds, but unfortunately this was a blank. We moved another mile further out and by this time the wind had picked up and the seas were becoming quite rough. We dropped anchor and settled down to try and tempt some fish. I hooked into ‘something big’ and after winding it in to about 20 feet from the surface my braid line (which was only 30 lbs) snapped and all was lost, this was repeated about an hour later. Only a Smoothhound to 4 lbs was landed with the usual Dogfish and Pouting. We moved again and by now the tide was strong and 2 lbs of weight was needed to stay on the bottom. First a 7 lbs Tope was landed by another Club member, then I had a 9lbs Tope almost immediately. Another Club member landed a 7 lbs Tope followed by several smaller ones and then it was neck and neck and right on the finishing time I landed a 5 lbs Tope which gave me a total of 21 lbs, ahead of two other anglers on 14 lbs. After my initial disappointment at losing these 2 fish it all turned out well.
30 July- 3 August Alderney Trip - See Alderney 2007 Page
Wednesday 8 August - Tiger Lily Club trip out of Weymouth aboard the new Tiger Lily with 10 Club members targeting Turbot and Bream. Left Weymouth at 8.00 am for this inshore trip which in all honesty should only have catered for eight. It is certainly a very nice boat and again we had good sunny weather with light northerly wind. Unfortunately the fish were not quite so co-operative. We caught plenty of Mackerel and Garfish for bait quickly but then a few hours of drifting the Shambles did not produce any Turbot (to be fair Chris warned us that they have been few and far between recently). We then fished for bream for the second half of the day and around 60 were caught but none topped 2 pound mark which was a little disappointing. Still at least we caught a few fish - most of which were returned to grow into larger ones next year.
Saturday 25 August - Private Venture Club trip out of Lymington with 8 Club Members competing in the Conger Eel Competition. Early start from Lymington at 7.00 am with clear blue sky, light northerly wind and flat calm sea as we headed due south for a large wreck 39 miles out. We stopped on route for Mackerel to use as bait and at 9.30 am we dropped anchor and set up our gear for Conger, but it wasn’t long before we realized that the tide was still too strong to hold the bottom so we moved to another two wrecks to check out the possibilities for Conger. Before long we were joined by another 5 Charter Boats so it was up anchor and move again, but as the tide was still running fast we set our gear for Pollack and Cod using artificial lures, but only a few Pollack were landed. By now it was 11.30 am and the tide had dropped away so we returned to the first wreck and the Competition was on. It wasn’t long before the first Conger was hooked and reeled in at 20 lbs. Everyone onboard were landing Congers with the best at 42 lbs, but my best was 32 lbs with a 16 lbs one to follow. I was then ‘snapped out’ three times in succession so this ended my Conger competition as my braid was obviously faulty. I then changed over to Bream fishing and was well pleased with landing my personal best at 3 lbs 1 oz. In all I enjoyed my Bream fishing along with my short spell Conger Fishing. There is always next year.
Saturday 1 September - Offshore Rebel Group trip out of Weymouth with 8 anglers, originally planned as an inshore trip for Bass and Bream, but due to good weather forecast it was decided to go offshore to the wreck that we stopped at on route to Alderney in July. Left Weymouth at 8.00 am with clear blue sky, calm sea and light southwest breeze to greet us and headed due south for about 30 miles arriving at 10.00 am. We started by fishing for ‘live’ Mackerel to use as bait for the Bass. After about 30 mins we had enough to get started. We set our for Bass some using shads on flowing traces, others using Portland rigs with the live Mackerel and we were soon into landing decent sized Bass with a few Pollack thrown in. We were joined by one of the Weymouth commercial Bass fishing boats. He stayed with us for about 1.5 hours and then moved on. We soon noticed that the Bass re-appeared in greater numbers, which the skipper reckoned this was due to his echo sounder bouncing it signal off the wreck and scaring the fish. We carried on landing good sized Bass until the tide slackened off at about 2.00 pm when only the odd one was caught. We packed up at about 4.15 pm and headed back to Weymouth arriving back at 6.15 pm having enjoyed a good day’s fishing. Total for the day was 3 Pollack to 4 lbs and 32 Bass to 7.50 lbs with my tally being 9 Bass, best being 7.50 lbs.
Saturday 13 October - Tiger Lily Club trip out of Weymouth competing in the Bass festival and in Competition with Sportsman Knight out of Langstone. Only 2 anglers were onboard due to 6 others dropping out for family reasons. As a result of the above it seemed like a dream come true for Paul and myself ……. a whole Cat for two anglers! Our first problem was who should fish where on the boat .. ha ha, but it was decided that to save us shouting across the boat all day and to save Chris’s legs from having to run around the boat netting the fish, that we would fish the same side. The weather was overcast and grey when we left Weymouth at 8.00 am, but the forecast was for some sunshine and light winds. We sailed to the southwest side of Portland and caught a few dozen ‘Joey Mackerel’ for live bait and moved back to the west side of ‘The Race’. We set up our tackle using Portland rigs with 5 oz weights and this proved effective in the slackening tide and we were soon into decent sized Bass with 4 over 6 lbs being landed. I was delighted when I landed a 10 lbs 8 oz Bass, making it only the second time that I have landed one in ‘double figures’ and Paul set his personal best at 8 lbs 13 oz. By late morning we had caught over 70 lbs of Bass between us and as the tide dropped away we moved off to try for some Black Bream, but we only managed to land 4 to 2.5 lbs. As the tide picked up again we moved to the east side of ‘The Race’ and this time we used Storm Shads due to the strengthening tide. We were soon into the Bass again, but this time they were all less than 5 lbs and by 3.00 pm the tide had increased to 6 knots, making it near impossible to continue Bass fishing. We then called it a day, trusting that our catches were enough to win the competition, and decided to try for Squid at Portland harbour, but without success. We arrived back in Weymouth at 4.30 pm. Our catch for the day was 101 lbs between us with my total being 59 lbs which won the competition and my co-angler was second on 42 lbs. PS We did not keep all our fish, but immediately after weighing them over 75 % (3lbs and under) were returned to be caught another day.
Saturday 20 October - Offshore Rebel Group trip out of Weymouth targeting Bass, Bream and Rays, but due to the poor tides it was decided to concentrate on Ray fishing. We left Weymouth at 8.00 am with 7 anglers onboard and headed to the southwest side of Portland to catch Mackerel for bait. After catching several dozen we headed off to the ‘Kidney Bank’ and set the anchor on the slackening tide. The weather was overcast with a southeast breeze and a light drizzle, but this soon cleared and the sun eventually broke through. After about an hour and several Dogfish later I hooked into a nice 17 lbs Blonde Ray which was photographed and released. Soon after a Small-eyed Ray was landed by Mick, this was about 7 lbs. As the tide eased away we moved to another patch close by and re-set the anchor, but still the Rays were hard to find, but eventually my reel started screaming as line was being pulled off, which after about 10 mins of ‘playing the fish’ a nice Turbot was landed and weighed in at 13 lbs 8 oz, my new personal best. Photographs were taken and to the shock and amazement of my fellow anglers I released the fish to live another day. Shortly after another angler Dave PJ landed a nice 20 lbs Blonde Ray, this was also his personal best and the heaviest fish that he had ever caught. The other anglers by this time were getting disgruntled and we moved off for some Bream fishing, but this proved to be as difficult as the Ray fishing with only 5 small ones being landed. We arrived back at 5.15 pm with everyone having enjoyed their day, although disappointed with the quantity of the catch.
Sunday 28 October - Valkyrie - Cancelled
Thursday 8 November - Tiger Lily - Cancelled
Saturday 17 November - Tiger Lily Club trip out of Weymouth originally a wrecking trip, but due to the weather forecast this was changed to a Bass and Bream trip. We left Weymouth at 8.00 am with only 7 anglers as others had to drop out for health reasons. The weather was overcast with light drizzle and a north westerly breeze which dropped away as the morning progressed. We headed for ‘The Race’ and drifted on the last of the small ebb tide, but the Bass were few and far between and even as the tide turned the catches did not improve, in all we probably only had about 25 Bass to 3 lbs. After lunch we moved off ‘The Race’ and tried drifting for Bream, but as the tide was ‘flat’ there was not much action. The wind began to freshen as forecasted and this sped up the drift and the Bream catches picked up, but again they were poor in size to only 1.5 to 2 lbs. We packed up at 3. 30 pm and moved to just outside Weymouth harbour and tried jigging for Squid, but after about 45 mins and nothing to show for our efforts we called it a day and headed into port. My tally for the day was 4 Bass and 5 Bream - very poor.
Sunday 2 December - Valkyrie - Cancelled
Friday 7 December - Offshore Rebel - Cancelled
Saturday 15 December - Tiger Lily - Cancelled
Saturday 22 December - Private Venture Club trip out of Lymington as a ‘Christmas Bash’ targeting Cod, Whiting and anything else. The weather was calm and very chilly as we left Lymington with 8 anglers on board and steamed to approx 2 miles south of the The Needles where Artie dropped anchor. The sea was calm with a light southerly breeze and with the tide beginning to slacken off only about 1.5 lbs of lead was needed to hold the bottom. First blood went to Kevin and Peter with some small Whiting and eventually a 17 lb Cod for Tony G before the tide eased off. Several Congers to 24 lbs were landed on the slack tide. In the afternoon the sun broke through and the wind dropped away, but the fishing was slow with the usual Dogfish and Pouting, before the Cod re-appeared with Tony G landing a nice 21lber, Tony R with a 12.25lber and Bert with a 11lber. Late on Kevin hooked into a nice specimen 15 lbs 4 oz Thornback Ray to finish off the Club year. Unfortunately my year ended with a bad head cold and 4 Dogfish, but I did win the Overall Club Championship and numerous other trophies.
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