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SPECIES CAUGHT IN 2010:
Pollack, Red Gurnard, Pouting, Cod, Mackerel, Blenny, Dogfish, Bream, Conger Eel, Bass, Blonde Ray, Garfish, Tope, Whiting - 14 Species |
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Saturday 17 April - Tiger Lily This was a last minute trip to make up numbers out of Weymouth with 8 anglers from Basingstoke. We left Weymouth by 8.00 am with a light 10 mph wind in our face, but nothing to worry about. We sailed southeast from Portland for two hours to a wreck 30 miles in the middle of the Channel. We arrived at 10.00 am and started the drift with the last two hours of the flood tide. It was very slow going, and eventually the first Pollack (6 lbs) was landed but things were very slow with only one Pollack per drift. At slack water we moved about 10 miles further south to another wreck and things really came to life with warm sunshine and three Pollack on the first drift. This wreck was a mass of wreckage in numerous pieces and the inevitable snags increased as the tide picked up and the fish catches dropped away. We packed up at 3.30 pm for the long sail back, but in all it wasn’t a bad day’s fishing considering the recent catches on other boats, in all we had 32 Pollack to 10 lbs. My tally being 5 Pollack with best at 8 lbs, 2 Pouting and a Red Gurnard.
Sunday 18 April - Offshore Rebel This was a Group Trip out of Weymouth with 8 Anglers and 2 guests on board. We left Weymouth at 8.00 am with a light wind from the southeast, high thin cloud, but no breeze, very much smoother than yesterday. We sailed due south from Portland for two hours to a wreck 34 miles out in the Channel (named 02) which was a wreck that Paul Whittall had not fished for over 10 years. We arrived at 10.00 am and started the drift with the last two hours of the flood tide. We got off to a good start and eventually the first Pollack (4 lbs) was landed by yours truly closely followed by several others on the first drift, but as the drifts increased things were looking up with larger Pollack to 10 lbs coming aboard by our other anglers! As the tide dropped away so did the Pollock, but as the tide picked up again so did the fish rate. We packed up at 3.45 pm and cleaned our own fish on the sail back and in all we had 62 Pollack to 10 lbs. My tally being 8 Pollock, best at 8 lbs. We arrived back at 5.45 pm. It was an enjoyable days fishing with everyone catching at least 4 Pollack.
Sunday 6 June - Offshore Rebel Monthly trip out of Weymouth with (for some unknown reason) 12 anglers on board. Set sail by 7.45 am and headed south to a wreck approx 20 miles out, as there still was no Cod to be had on the Brittle Star Bank. The catches the previous day consisted mostly of Pollack so we were not very optimistic for Cod. We started our first drift at 9.30 am and there was already another Weymouth boat, Katie Ann, on the wreck. We were soon into the fish with several Pollack to 6 lbs, but also some decent Cod to 8 lbs. We persevered for several drifts with the odd Cod and Pollack, but the skipper decided to move 5 miles further south to another wreck. With the wind freshening, but still a clear blue sky we were immediately into the fish, Cod I mean, and everyone on board except one landed at least one Cod. During the resetting of the drifts one of the boat’s engines broke down, but we managed to carry on with one engine until the skipper suggested that we headed back as it would take about 35 mins longer to get back. We however did stop off at the previous wreck and enjoyed some more Cod. We eventually packed up at 3.30 pm and headed back stopping off for some Mackerel on the Shambles. In all it was a very good day with 24 Cod to 16.5 lbs, 25 Pollack to 6 lbs and 1 Red Gurnard being landed. My tally was 2 Cod, 16.5 lbs and 15 lbs and 1 Pollack. We arrived back at 6.00 pm.
Saturday 10 July - Supanova Annual Novice’s trip out of Weymouth with 7 anglers, should have been 9 but 2 failed to show. Left Weymouth at 8.00 am with a light 10 mph wind from the southwest, clear blue skies and warm sunshine. As this was a novice’s trip the skipper decided to stay inshore, but he did say that the fish were very scarce, but he would do his best to try and get a few fish each. We sailed to just south of the Shambles and started drifting on the last of the ebb tide in the hope of some Bream. Things got off to a slow start and eventually a Red Gurnard was landed by myself, but things were very slow with only one Pouting per drift and a nice 4 lb Bull Huss to Tony Webb. At slack water we anchored up, baited up with squid and tried for a Bream or two and we were not disappointed with three in short succession, but this was short lived and all that was coming on board was Pouting, Dogfish and Blennys. As the tide picked up we decided to move to the west of Portland Bill and catch some Mackerel to use with the Squid we had and try again at anchor for Bream, Conger or Bull Huss, but after about two hours and only two small Pollack to show for our efforts we decided to call it a day and head back to Weymouth. It was a very disappointing day compared with last year’s trip and three of the novices spent the best part of the day ‘ground baiting’. Congratulations to Skipper Lyle for deducting £30.00 off the cost of the trip.
Sunday 11 July – Offshore Rebel Monthly Group trip out of Weymouth with Offshore Rebel. Conditions were similar to yesterday, but with less wind. After a lengthy discussion with the skipper and taking on board his comments about his poor catch the day before we decided to go wrecking and live sand-eels were sought. We sailed due south for about 20 miles and caught the last of the ebb tide for a few drifts, but only one Pollack was landed. We decided to move about five miles further out and try drifting over a smaller wreck. This proved to be more productive with several nice Pollack being landed, but no Cod. After about two hours of this with only the odd Pollack and Dogfish some of us geared up for Ling and 4 nice ones were landed in quick succession. As the tide picked we changed back to Pollack fishing, but very few were being landed. The skipper then suggested that we should move back to the first wreck and have another try on the flood tide and we were not disappointed with several Cod and Pollack being landed, but alas we ran out of time and had to head back, stopping off for some Mackerel. In all a better day than yesterday, but the catch was poor for the time of year with only 3 Cod, 4 Ling to 17 lbs and 15 Pollack to show for efforts. My tally was 1 Cod at 7 lbs and 2 Pollack to 13 lbs.
Thursday 5 August – Offshore Rebel Individual’s trip with 7 anglers (2 failed to show) on a 15 hour Conger trip out of Weymouth. We left port at 7.00 am as arranged and set our course for a wreck about twenty five miles due south of Portland. The weather was ideal with a clear blue sky, a light force 3 northwest wind and slight sea conditions. We reached the wreck by 9.30 am and after catching a supply of Mackerel for bait we set about our task and it wasn’t long before the first fish was landed a nice 20 lb Conger. Everyone seemed to be catching a Conger except me, but eventually after everyone had landed at least two I landed a nice one at 25 lbs. The tide started to drop off with larger Congers starting to show and I landed a nice one at 45 lbs. As the tide turned we re-positioned the boat and soon we were landing fish in excess of 25 lbs, with the best being at 62 lbs. The Congers dropped away as the tide dropped off again and the Pouting soon took over and we kept them for bait. As the flood tide picked up again we started dragging the anchor and after several attempts at resetting the anchor it eventually held, but we missed the previous position and the Congers were now very scarce. We eventually packed up at 8.30 pm and headed back to port arriving at 9.40 pm. Our catch for the day was 80 Congers, and numerous Pouting and Mackerel.
Sunday 15 August – Offshore Rebel Monthly trip out of Weymouth with 9 anglers on board targeting Bass and Bream. Set sail by 7.45 am and headed to south of the Shambles and dropped the anchor and tried for Bream on the slack tide, but nothing was tempted by our Squid bait. The weather was forecasted to be Force 2—3, but this was blowing at Force 5. As the tide picked up we moved to the west side of the Race and joined about another 20 boats drifting east for Bass. We had a supply of Live Sand-eels and it wasn’t long before the first Bass was landed and followed shortly on the first drift by a nice 5 lbs one to yours truly. We were averaging approx. 3 per drift and the best was at 7 lbs. As the tide dropped away so did the Bass and all the boats scattered in all directions, some to the Shambles for Turbot and Brill and others including ourselves to just off Portland and set the anchor for Bream. We had landed some Mackerel and with the Squid we set about our task. The Bream were not very plentiful, but I ‘trotted’ back about 50 metres and was soon pulling in nice ones to approx. 3 lbs. The other anglers were using several hooks, but I had a flowing trace and this proved to be the most successful. We persevered until the tide was too strong and with the majority decision made we carried on drifting for Bream, but after one hour of trying we called it a day and headed back to port. The day was very successful compared with previous years and we finished on 35 Bass 20 Bream and a Bull Huss. My tally was 6 Bass to 5 lbs and 6 Bream.
Sunday 12 September – Offshore Rebel Group trip with eight anglers on board for a Bass, Bream and Turbot trip. As we had some fresh Sand-Eels on board we headed straight out to the west side of The Race to catch the last few hours of the flood tide. On the first drift eastwards I was first to land a nice 6 lb Bass closely followed by two other anglers with 4 and 5 lb Bass. On the next drift I landed two nice 4 lb ones and the other anglers were also in on the act. After about two hours the tide was slackening and the Bass were few and far between, but we were very fortunate as the main fleet were drifting about 400 metres north of us, but were not catching many. Several of the other boats moved north of The Race and anchored up for Bream, we followed shortly after, but the catches were very poor with only about 8 being landed. We decided to move and headed east to The Shambles where we were given a good supply of Sand-Eels from Meridian Express and we joined the other boats drifting the edge of The Shambles, but only 3 small Bass came onboard. In total we had approx 25—30 Bass and 8 Bream, quite good considering the other boats were averaging about 12—15 Bass.
Thursday 16 September – Supanova Individual’s trip specially for Blonde Rays, but as there was not much interest in this two-day trip, the second day was cancelled. We set sail with only 3 anglers at 7.30 am, the weather was overcast with a stiff northwest wind, but it was forecasted to improve. We headed for the west side of Portland and drifted for Mackerel which were quite plentiful along with the odd Garfish. After catching enough for the day we headed out to the Kidney Bank and set the anchor. We were using Squid and Mackerel as bait and it wasn’t long before the first Ray weighing 17 lbs was landed by Darren. I was next to land one at 14 lbs and we carried on 19 lb to Darren, 16 lb to me, then 21 lbs to me, 21 lbs to Darren, 20 lbs to me. Eventually John got in on the act with a 9 lbs Ray, but he could not get the ’big one’. The tide was running against the wind so things were a bit choppy for a while, but we persevered and our catch consisted of a 5 lb Bass to John and a 6 lb Tope to me. We packed up at 3.45 pm and everyone was happy with our catch of approx 20 Rays.
Sunday 3 October - Offshore Rebel - Cancelled
Wednesday 12 October - Supanova - Cancelled
Thursday 13 October - Supanova Individual trip with two other boats competing in a Bass Competition. The wind had eased from the northeast and we were able to get out with 7 anglers on board. As there were no Sand-eels to be had we settled for using Shads, Jelly worms etc. On our first drift a nice 8 lb Bass was landed by one of the anglers and gradually the others began catching
smaller ones, but it was very slow and quite uncomfortable when we ran through the tide, but eventually the tide eased away. Unfortunately one of the anglers was becoming quit seasick and was starting to shake so the skipper decided to return to port to set him ashore, this lost us about one hour of fishing. On our return the tide had dropped away and it was a slow slog for the rest of the day with only a few more small Bass being landed. I must have lost about 6 leads and about 8 Shads for just three Bass, best at 5 lbs—not the best of days.
Saturday 30 October - Offshore Rebel - Cancelled
Saturday 20 November - Offshore Rebel Group trip with eight anglers hoping for some better luck of late and looking forward to a Bass and Channel Whiting trip. The forecast was not too good with a strong southerly wind backing easterly and increasing Force 5—6. We left Weymouth at 8.00 am and headed into the strong sea swell, but we were soon in position just northeast of Portland Bill Where there is a steep ledge which hols the Bass. We were soon catching with the best at 5 lbs and about 10 were on board after about 6 drifts. Unfortunately the sea bed was not taking any prisoners with the snaggy bottom and gear was being lost at an alarming rate. We then moved southwest and started drifting into ‘The Race’, this was not for the faint hearted with high waves towering 3 feet above the boat and crashing over the rail and drenching everyone. We persevered until it became unbearable, but we had increased our Bass tally to 18. We then sailed west to a deep reef about 8 miles southwest of ‘The Bill’ where another two boats were already at anchor. We set the anchor and with frozen Mackerel and Squid as bait we settled down for some Channel Whiting. It was hard going at first with only small Whiting being caught along with the obligatory Dogfish, but as the tide eased the sizes increased and so did the numbers and by the time we had to head back we had over 20 ‘keepers’ with the best falling to yours truly at 2.5 lbs. We stopped off at the entrance to Portland harbour and tried for some squid, but the water was too dirty so alas none were caught. We eventually tied up at 5.15 pm tired, wet and very cold—roll on the summer!
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