SPECIES CAUGHT IN 2014:

 

Pollack, Cod, Pouting, Mackerel, Tope, Conger Eel, Dogfish, Bream, Bass, Plaice

 

 

Saturday 18 January  -  Valkyrie   -  Blown Off

 

Saturday 15 February  -  Valkyrie   -  Blown Off

 

Saturday 22 March  -  Offshore Rebel  -  Blown Off

 

Saturday 19 April  -  Offshore Rebel

  Finally the weather had settled down and we were able to get out. We left at 7.30 am in order to catch the slack tides on the wrecks and sailed for approx 2 hours to the first wreck about 20 miles out, midway between the shipping lanes. There was a stiff northeast breeze behind us but the tide was against us so it was very bumpy and wet. When we reached the wreck there were three other Weymouth boats already fishing the wreck, Katie Ann, Lone Shark Fish-on. We had several drifts before the first Pollack came aboard, but things were slow and as the tide dropped away so did the fishing.

The skipper decided to move to a wreck 3 miles north, but this proved fruitless so we moved further north and were soon into the fish with several in the 13 lbs range. It was nice to enjoy the fishing again and we had fish to take home with over 30 being landed and about 10 ‘dropping off’ before we got them to the boat. My tally was 4 Pollack at about 7 lbs.

 

Saturday 24 May  -  Offshore Rebel

  We were all (9 anglers) onboard by 7.30 am so we were able to get away early. This was a wrecking trip for Cod and Pollack and our hopes were high. The skipper was planning to head southwest to a wreck mid channel, but as we rounded Portland Bill the tide was against the north-easterly breeze and we were struggling to make headway so he decided to head southeast to get around the tide. There was a steady downpour rain as we sailed out, but eventually we sailed through it and the swell began to ease as we reached the wreck on the edge of the shipping lane. We had several drifts over the wreck with nothing to show, but as usual when the skipper says ‘one more drift and then we move’ we were into the fish and I landed a nice 7 lb Cod which was followed by several Pollack by the other anglers. As the day moved on the tide slackened, but we were still landing both Cod and Pollack and this lasted for the next three hours. We were joined by another boat Katie Ann, but she didn’t hang about and soon moved off to another wreck. We stayed here until about 3.45 pm before heading back to Weymouth . Jai did a marvellous job filleting the fish as we caught them which saved a lot off time on the inward journey.

At the end of the day we had 32 Cod to 10 lbs, 35 Pollack to 8 lbs, 1 Ling, 1 Cuckoo Wrasse and 1 Red Gurnard. My tally was 5 Cod and 2 Pollack.

 

Saturday 14 June  -  Offshore Rebel

On boat at 7.15 am for early start, but had to wait for a ‘local angler’ until 8.00 am. The weather was warm and sunny with a light northwest breeze. We sailed due south for about 18 miles to a wreck in mid channel and there were already two Weymouth boats there, Katy Ann and Al’s Spirit. It was the skippers intention to try a couple of drifts and then move on, but on the first two drifts we had 5 decent sized Cod so the skipper decided to stay at least until the tide changed. As the tide dropped off the fishing picked up with 7 or 8 Cod being caught on each drift. We were all using artificial sand-eels on a slow wind in, but some anglers tried ‘live’ sand-eels, but with no success. When the tide dropped we were virtually stationary on the water with no wind to move us so we changed tactics to perking with the sand-eels, this did the job and by this time we had 42 Cod on board. As the tide turned and picked up we were soon into the numbers again and by the end of the day at 3.45 pm we had landed 74 Cod, 7 Pollack and about 7 Pouting. The day was a great success with both the fishing and hot sunny weather making it a day to remember. My tally for the day was 13 Cod to 11 lbs and 1 small Pollack. Top angler was Bob Rutland with 18 Cod.

 

Monday 18 August - Wednesday 20 August  -  Supanova II

 Three day Weymouth Conger Competition

Day 1— We (10 anglers) were away from the quay at 7.00 am, with a stiff north-westerly breeze, but a cloudless sky to brighten the tired souls. We sailed to the west side of Portland Bill to catch Mackerel for bait and after about 20 mins we had more than enough. We set off on a south-westerly course, but the seas were very choppy with the wind and tide and a call from another boat who had set off ahead of us said that it was really bad about two miles out, so we altered course and headed southeast for about 24 miles. The tide and wind were making it difficult to anchor up, but after about one hour we eventually got anchored in the correct position. There wasn’t much action for a while, but eventually the Eels began to feed and we soon were landing them, but unfortunately they were small with the best at about 38 lbs. I only managed one at about 20 lbs. The weather was wall to wall sunshine with the breeze all day

 Day 2 —  Again we were away at 7.00 am with a lighter breeze and bright sunshine as we sailed out. We didn’t need to stop for bait as we still had plenty in the freezer box from day 1 due to the poor catches yesterday. The skipper decided that he would go due south into the shipping lanes at 35 miles out and after 21/2 hours sailing we reached the chosen wreck. Again it took ages to set the anchor for the right position to drift our lines towards the wreck. The tide was running really fast and we increasing our weights up to 4 lbs to hold the bottom, but thankfully we were able to reduce our lead as the tide eased away. The Eels were plentiful and we were soon into catching decent sized ones, the best being 69 lbs closely followed by a 65 lbs, and my best was 59 lbs. The weather held all day with clear blue skies and a hot sun. We also enjoyed catching other species on the same bait—3 Cod to 20 lbs, 4 Ling to 24 lbs and 2 Tope to 30 lbs. My tally for the day was 9 Eels.

 Day 3— We were off again at 7.oo am with similar weather to start, but with lighter winds. As we reached the end of the harbour entrance we could see the sea ‘boiling’ with Sprats which were being chased by Mackerel, so we immediately dropped our feathers and were soon pulling in 3-4 Mackerel at a time. It didn’t take long to fill our box for the day’s fishing and were soon on our way to a wreck about 20 miles out. Again we had three attempts at setting the anchor. The Eels were slow to appear, but eventually some medium sized ones were hooked, best at 45 lbs, but yours truly blanked until early afternoon when eventually I managed 4, best at 24 lbs.

Overall the three days fishing was enjoyable, but looking at the other boats’  catches we were in the lower half for size and quantity.

 

Over the three days (Monday 245 Eels best 81 lbs, Tuesday 287 Eels best 73 lbs & Wednesday 358 Eels best 60 1/2 lbs) were captured. TOTAL 890 Conger eels. Only NINE of these eels were brought back by vessels for weigh in. These fish were sold at the FISH MARKET with the PROCEEDS GOING TO CHARITY .

 

Saturday 20 September  -  Offshore Rebel

Set off at 8.00 am for an inshore trip aimed at Bream, Plaice and Bass, weather was warm, but overcast with a light breeze. We started our drift over the Shambles Bank for Plaice, but things were slow for a while and eventually some small Plaice were landed. We moved to the east side of Portland Bill to try for Bream as the tide was easing away, but before setting the anchor we stopped on the edge of The Race and tried for Bass, but after three drifts I was the only one lucky enough to land a small Bass at 4 lbs. We moved on to the Bream grounds and set the anchor, but things were very slow with only a few small Bream being landed. After about an hour of slow progress and about 15 Bream we moved back to The Shambles and tried again for Plaice, with 30 other boats fishing in the area. The Plaice were slow to start with, but as the tide picked up so did the ‘bites’ and we were soon rewarded with over 20 Plaice. The best on the day was 5lb 4 oz and I had 3, the best at 4 lb 14 oz, a new personal best. Other fish caught were Red Gurnards, Pouting, a Lobster and several Starfish.

 

Sunday 12 October -  Valkyrie

Bass Comp. with RCBDSAF out of Hayling Island. Very foul weather, with wind over tide until 1 o’clock when the Ebb started. We went due south, but it soon became evident that this was going to be a rough trip. We struggled all morning and into the early afternoon and it was only when we anchored up at slack water that anything happened, I mean we had two small Bass and I had a 6 lb Cod for our efforts. It started to rain just after 2 o’clock and it got heavier and heavier. Packed up at 3.30 and back to Hayling Island by 4.30 pm. Just another BAD DAY!

 

 

Summary of the fishing this year as reported by Lyle Stantiford, skipper of Supanova II

 

The year started with the back end of the worst storms for over 100 years which dramatically changed seabed features, habitats but most importantly to us the water clarity. This in turn made the Pollack fishing in the early part of the year very tricky indeed and to be fair it didn't really get going until Early April by which time the fish had spawned and the best of it was over. Where they were left alone for so long I think spring 2015 could be a fantastic Pollack season but we will just have to wait and see.

 

With water clarity so bad this made the early flatty fishing March/April pretty hard but on the days the water did clear the Plaice fishing was good, conspicuous  by their absence for the large part of the season were the Turbot and Brill, as most of you are aware there was increased pressure on the Shambles this year with trawlers that were not normally fishing there, this was due to large areas being closed to scalloping dredging, which in turn left the Shambles open to increased pressure. This alone hasn't been the root cause of a slower year on the Turbot, I think it has just been one of those years and the fish run in cycles and with a milder winter forecast next year could be much better.

 

As April turned in to May the Pollack continued to be fairly steady with the odd Ling and odd early Cod turning up, the Plaice was still hit and miss due to the water quality but the arrival of a few bream and bass to the east of Weymouth perked up the inshore fishing somewhat.

 

May saw four back to back Channel islands trips take place. The flatty fishing in my eyes was fairly steady but definitely down on numbers than the last couple of years but the quality was much better, with more double or near doubles coming to the net than I have ever seen. Average days were12-20 flats coming to the next with probably an average of 65% keepers and good keepers at that. A few Bass thrown in was good fun and some quality wrecking making the trips there and home good fun. From the second trips return leg onwards throughout the remainder of may and as far as early July was the best summer Cod season I have ever known. Don't get me wrong we did have slower days and some really tough days but generally it was very good, with 17 fish over 20lb coming on board the quality was there too.

 

June proved good for Plaice inshore, this continued into October with numbers similar to previous years but the larger fish not so easy to find as they have been.

 

The best bit of fishing other than the Cod in June was a few nice little small group sessions on the Bass with Live Mackerel some real crackers up to 11lb coming onboard and many being returned which is a wonderful sight.

As the summer progressed the Bream really came alive which made a nice change to the Plaice and combining the two together made for some fun light tackle days.

 

Bream, Plaice, Bass and bits of wrecking for Congers became the main stay of our fishing for the remainder of the season until a few Whiting arrived in the Autumn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HOME