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WEYMOUTH- 2009 |
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Monday 24 August
First day of week’s fishing out of Weymouth on Tiger Lily with 8 anglers on board. We left Weymouth at 7.45 am with a light wind from the southwest and overcast sky. Today’s trip was Inshore for Bream and Flatfish and we started off by catching Mackerel for bait beneath the cliffs at west Portland. We soon had enough and we headed to the west side of Portland and anchored up at the edge of a reef in anticipation of catching Bream. We got off to a slow start, but eventually the first Bream was brought on board at about 3 lbs. There were not very many about, but by lunchtime we had landed about 10 worth keeping and returned about the same undersize. We persevered into slack water, but with the tide now gone it was decided to move further west and try again for Bream. At first it was hard going with the slack tide, but eventually as the tide picked up so did the Bream with about 4 to 3 lbs in half an hour. This area didn’t prove very productive either and with the wind picking up against the tide conditions were not very comfortable so we moved to a reef named ‘The Two Lights Reef’ at the western end of the Shambles Bank and started drifting for Turbot, Brill or Plaice. By this time the sun had broken through with clear blue skies and it wasn’t long before the first flatfish was landed - a nice Plaice at 1.5 lbs and this soon followed with a 4 lbs Brill (my personal best). On the next drift a 6.5 lbs Brill was landed by one of the other anglers and I soon followed with another 4 lbs Brill. As each drift took over 30 mins to complete, we only had time for one more drift, which was a blank. We arrived back by 5.15 pm with 3 Brill, 12 Bream, 1 Plaice and 2 small Pollack - a rather poor day.
Tuesday 25 August
Today consisted of 5 anglers from Monday and 4 ‘new’ members. Today’s plan was to drift for Sand-eels and Mackerel at the end of the Shambles Bank and then try for Bass in the ‘Race’. The weather was sunny with a light southwest wind and clear blue skies and after about an hours drifting we had enough live eels to move to the ‘Race’ and start our drift from the west approach, but it was only on the third drift that the first Bass (4 lbs) was landed. We persevered for another two hours, but we only had 3 Bass to show for our efforts (not surprising as the commercial Bass anglers are reporting a drop of 60% in their catches so far this year). We moved back to the Shambles Bank and anchored up for Bream, this also proved difficult with myself landing the only Bream at 2 lb, numerous Dogfish and 2 Spider Crabs. We sat out the turning tide and on the ebb with the wind picking up against the tide we moved out into the tide on the ‘Two Lights Reef’ and started drifting for Flatfish. We only had time for two drifts but 5 anglers were successful with 4 Brill (best at 5 lbs) and 1 Turbot at 3 lbs. Again the fishing was poor with only the listed fish being kept.
Wednesday 26 August
Cancelled due to high winds.
Thursday 27 August
With 9 anglers onboard it was decided to try the east side of Portland due to the forecast of increasing winds from the west. After purchasing some Ragworm and Squid we left Weymouth at 8.00 am and headed for the Shambles Bank to try for some Plaice as the tide would be just right. We all baited up with 2 foot long traces with beads and a flowing trace of Ragworm and on the first drift a small Plaice at 1.5 lbs was landed, this was soon followed by another of similar size. Two more drifts and each a blank, but then on the next drift a nice5 lb Plaice, but alas this was the last one before the tide picked up. We drifted for Mackerel and Sand-eels, but as we had missed the best tide this was hard work with only a few of each being caught. We then moved to the ‘Two Lights Reef’ and tried for Brill or Turbot and we started off great with a nice 6.5 lbs Turbot, followed by a 5 lbs Brill, but again , alas, this was all that was around. The fishing probably wasn’t helped by the fact that a local trawler was trawling his nets up and down the banks. As the tide changed we moved further offshore outside the Shambles and anchored up for Bream, but for the first 45 mins the tide was too strong to hold the bottom even with 16 oz of lead. Eventually as the tide slackened the fish began to appear – Mackerel, Scads and Pouting, but still no Bream. After about another 30 mins 5 Bream were eventually landed, but only three were ‘keepers’. This was a very despairing day and with the wind increasing moral was quickly dwindling. The catch for the day was 3 Plaice, 1 Turbot, 1 Brill, 3 Bream and 1 Gurnard. My tally was 1 Gurnard, 2 Bream, 2 Scad, mackerel and Sand-eels.
Friday 28 August
Cancelled due to high winds.
In all this was a very disappointing week with very little Bass and the Bream being the worst for 15 years. |