We thought we’d try some marks east of the nab after not having much success more inshore. As the flood tide died off i had a small eyed ray of about 4lb which is a new species for me. Pretty sure this is a small eyed? After this we moved to another mark nearby in a bit of deeper water but this just gave us more dogfish. Listening to the radio it sounded like most people were having a hard day and a couple of boats had one or two cod. After speaking to other fishermen in the marina seems like the bass fishing was better this weekend. Probably got something to do with the water being quite warm still.
Month: October 2016
With all the chat about the Solent being the place to go for cod, I thought it would be like a car park over the usual marks (it was), so I headed to New Grounds to a mark that had produced cod for me last year. Despite the calm weather (or because of – ENE and high pressure), fishing was slow. Dogfish kept the rod tips nodding but eventually I caught a small scad and a huge mackerel.
The scad went back down BBQ style and within minutes was taken by what turned out to be a 14lb undulate ray. I retrieved the mangled scad, added a squid for company and dropped it down again. This time it wasn’t a ray, after a brief but very vigorous fight the line was bitten through above the hook so it was probably a conger. Then it all went quiet, although I was desperately trying to catch more small scad! In the end I packed up early and headed back, intending to drift a bank on the way home with my new Fiiish Black Minnow lures. The gulls were working the bank again and I could see bass on the surface, but the lures I had were too heavy and were dropping below the fish. While lining up for the next drift I noticed on the fishfinder the bottom was alive with fish so I bumped the Black Minnow along the bottom. That was the right thing to to – a total of six bass in a single drift, all at about 30cm long so just undersized but plenty big enough to put up a good fight on light tackle. I was using the 25gm 120 FBM and that can be tied direct to the line, increasing sensitivity and fun.
Ian and I headed out for a day on Orca yesterday with high hopes that there may be Cod in numbers in the Eastern Solent. However, we arrived to see another angler coming back into the Marina have given up due to the swell and wind over tide conditions. He was constantly broad side on to the swell and couldn’t even pour a cup of coffee, poor chap! We ventured out anyway and by the time we were out there the wind had come round a little to the NW and had dropped – so conditions were OK.
We anchored up at a mark in mid Eastern Solent fishing into 60ft+ of water. With the tide flooding the bottom five feet were a kennel full of Doggers – very frustrating when you know that there are other species around not getting a look in. At about half tide the Dogfish just disappeared and I said to Ian that might mean something better – and hey presto, we started to get a bit more serious action. A Cod of 8lb 9oz hit the deck to my rod followed by some decent Whiting for both of us. Another Cod was lost close to the net but Ian had a small Conger soon after plus a few pouting (bait for when our squid runs out!). Then came what I thought was another Cod but turned out to be a beautiful Bass of a smidge under 6lb. Now call me an old fashioned coarse angler but I couldn’t bang it on the head for my one fish limit – so back it went to fight another day, and boy did it fight!
Bait for the day was whole squid marinaded in Krill Oil. We use a bait dropper made out of an old cat food tin to get loads of smelly stuff down to the bottom and create a scent trail – it seemed to do the trick. An enjoyable day out with 6 species caught in the end and some tasty Cod and Whiting for supper for the next few days
The Southsea Marina Cod Competition was held this Saturday 22nd October. 35 members fished from 17 boats. It was tough going, ENE wind and against tide in the afternoon. Only five cod caught unfortunately, but there were some around at least. Tim Andrews won with a cod of 12lb 6oz, congratulations Tim.
I have been gathering snippets of information from around the Solent and cod are being caught in the usual places – Bramble, Stokes Bay, Gilkicker and around Culver. Fingers and Nab area seem not to be so productive, although that winning cod came from the Fingers. Be prepared for roaming conger at this time of year, some quite large ones are feeding on open ground and in daylight so don’t be surprised if you hook into one. It may be a coincidence but there seems to be a few more bull huss reported than usual. By the way squid are a shocking price due to the poor catches leading to high market prices. Pout and whiting are viable alternative baits, in fact some good fish have been caught on them and I suspect more would be if more people used them.
From Steve, “not a report as such” was the title but it reads like a report so here it is!
“A lot of boats waiting on the outer pontoon on Sunday morning ready to go out, including mine! I guess you went out a bit later when the gate opened? Unless you had an incredibly early start. (No, I was too lazy for an early start).
Went to Sandown Bay to try to get some shelter from the NW wind, which thankfully eased during the day, and the afternoon was fantastic weather wise. I struggled with the big tide and using the heaviest weights I’ve used to date, even with braid, but I managed to catch my first bass of around 3.5lb (stunning looking fish which I put back having thought I’d taken a quick shot with the GoPro – but failed somehow…), 8lb thornback a 1.5lb ballan wrasse (another first for the boat) and a load of pouting – no doggies all day. I would have been quite happy catching pouting on the lighter rod all day to be honest. Anyway, hopefully I’ll be able to post an actual report next time if I sort out my cameras. (I have found a photo from the archives for you)
I think the new look a feel of your revamped website is great by the way.” (Thank you!)
I went out with Richard on his boat from Southsea Marina Sunday 2nd October. Even though it was a big tide, we decided to go east in search of Plaice. Great weather, although a bit sloppy at first, but conditions were OK from around 10.00am. Our first mark produced just Ballan wrasse, so we moved on to our regular plaice mark and first drift I landed a Brill, which was weighed back at the marina on the Southsea Marina Angling Clubs scales at 2lb 15oz. The fish was taken on Rag and Squid. The next couple of drifts produced plaice to a couple of pounds, but it went quite quiet once the tide turned. Tried the first mark again on the way back without success. Picture of me with the Brill checking the weight on the boat’s scales prior to weighing in on the SMAC scales. Keith.
After all the shore-side gossip I was hoping for an inshore cod this morning but it wasn’t to be. After trying for a bite-less hour over some broken ground I moved to a useful-looking hole near Dean Elbow. Two hours and two whiting later I decided to move again, and about half a mile away I spied some frenetic bird activity. They were working a bank which I hadn’t taken much notice of previously, but it was certainly holding fish today. I drifted down onto them with the tide and used a small shad on a light spinning rod, catching bass one or two per drift. They were not large, up to about 2lb max and none were keepers, but it was good sport and made up for the boredom of bottom fishing for nothing.
Back in the marina, I found many in the Solent had similar experiences but those that ventured further out did OK, the Overfalls being particularly productive today. I also heard anglers were seen taking more than one bass. You won’t be popular with other anglers or the Feds if you are one of them.