SPECIES CAUGHT IN 2018:

 

Pollack, Cod, Pouting, Ling, Conger Eel, Bream, Mackerel, Tope, Poor Cod       

 

 

Saturday 24 March  -   Offshore Rebel

 First trip of 2018 booked as an individual with a party of five from Wales and four from London. The weather was overcast with drizzle and a light to moderate southwest wind as we left at 8.00 am and headed slowly south through the choppy seas for two hours to a mid channel wreck. When we arrived there was already two other Weymouth boats on the wreck The fishing was slow to start with, several small pouting to show, but eventually a couple of small Pollack. After about six drifts we moved to another wreck 30 mins away and soon we were into catching some decent sized Pollack and I had a small Cod. Most anglers caught something albeit only Pouting for three of the anglers. We moved to several other wrecks after lunch as the tide dropped away, but the catches were not so good. The tide had dropped away by 3.00 pm so it was agreed to pack up and head back to Weymouth arriving back at 5.00 pm with heavy drizzle in the air. There were over 30 Pollack caught and my single Cod. My tally was 5 Pollack, best at 15 lbs 3 oz, I Cod at 4 lbs and several Pouting, not bad for early season.

 

Sunday 21 April  -  Offshore Rebel       Cancelled

 

Saturday 18 May  -  Offshore Rebel       Cancelled

 

Saturday 16 June  -  Offshore Rebel       Cancelled 

 

Saturday 14 July  -  Offshore Rebel       Cancelled

 

Saturday 11 August  -  Offshore Rebel       Cancelled

 

Monday 20 August  -  22 August  - Supanova II  -  Weymouth Annual Conger Competition

 

 Day 1  We all gathered on board at 6.45 am and as the skipper had gone out the night before for Mackerel we were able to go straight away to our first wreck 12 miles due south . The weather was overcast with fog banks coming and going, but the wind was light and the sea calm. We were soon into landing the Eels and the tally mounted to 96 Eels for the day, but none of them would challenge for the largest caught on the day. We arrived back in port at 5.30 pm and after a quick refreshment the skipper decided to head back for some Mackerel around Portland harbour and we managed around 100 Mackerel between 8 anglers. My catch tally for the day was a poor 4 Eels, best at 18 lbs, 1 Tope at 20 lbs and a 14 lbs Ling.

 

Day 2  We were all on board by 7.00 am. The weather was ideal with blue skies and a light westerly breeze. The skipper decided to head to a wreck that he had not fished for twelve years. He previously had good catches of large Eels and was hoping for the same. We headed south and after two and a half hours we reached the wreck 36 miles from Weymouth and 25 miles from France, which we could clearly see in the distance. We anchored up midway between the main channel shipping lanes and after about 20 mins the first Eel was landed and we continued to catch Eels until the tide dropped away at 1.30 pm. We had caught 62 Eels that ranged in size from 12 lbs to 60+ lbs, the biggest Eel caught on the day by Will Smith at 63 lbs . We were back in port by 5.30pm. My tally today was slightly better at 4 Eels, best 42 lbs and 3 Tope to18 lbs.

 

Day 3  Again all on board by 6.45 am and set off, but as we had not caught many Mackerel the night before the skipper had arranged with one of the Crab fishermen to catch Mackerel for us as he checked his pots. We were pleasantly surprised when he gave us over 60 Mackerel. The skipper decided to go back to the same wreck as yesterday and try for a bigger Eel, after two and a half hours sailing and 45 mins to set the anchor we only landed one Eel in over an hour trying. We then moved to another wreck 5 miles away, but catching the Eels was very hard and we had only 25 Eels to show for at the end of the day and nothing to challenge for the competition. We arrived back in port at 4.30 pm to witness the final weigh-in and to everyone's surprise an Eel caught aboard Meerkat topped the scales at 63 lbs 4 oz pipping Will's Eel by 4 oz to win the overall competition. I felt sorry for Will as his Eel was 5lbs heavier than any other on the day and was only weighed for the largest caught so accuracy wasn't required. Digital scales need to be used in future to record accurate weights,

 

This was my last appearance at this competition as next year it is being held over the August Bank Holiday.

The first two days of this year's competition were 14 hour days - not good for my back at my age ha ha!

 

 

Saturday 15 September  -  Offshore Rebel       Cancelled

 

 

Saturday 6 October  -  Offshore Rebel       Cancelled

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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