The web site for eastern Solent boat fishing
Owner of www.boat-angling.co.uk and
www.arfordbooks.co.uk
Author of "Angling Boats"
Director of Pure Potential Development Ltd www.pure-potential.co.uk
Here are some great photos sent in by skipper Peter Churchill of “Moonshine”. Featured above is Chris martin from Essex, with a 51lb tope. Below are Lee Taylor from Leigh on Sea, Essex; James Hogsden, Essex; Rob Ng, Essex; Tom Monk, Essex
And an Undulate Ray too…
The first couple of months of the new season have been very difficult for Ian and I on Orca. Our first five trips yielded just a few Bream, Plaice and Rays along with a shed full of Dogfish! Despite going to most of our favourite spots, and trying a few new ones, it just wasn’t happening.
However, despite the lack of fish we have had some fantastic days out, enjoyed being on the boat again, topped up the tan and had a dolphin surface right next to the boat yesterday. Too quick for a photo but a lovely sight with the sun in the background.
Talking of yesterday. We at last had a good day out and some fish in the boat. We started at Bracklesham Bay with just a small Bass (which shed the hook at the net) and then moved to Boulder Bank along with quite a group of other boats. I was immediately into Bream and had five in quick succession on small squid strip before the tide slowed, as did the bites (should have moved earlier!)
We stuck with it and changed to bigger baits. This resulted in my best Bream at 3lb 9oz (photo attached) on squid head and ragworm followed by a very hard fighting Smoothound of 8lb. The Bream was full of roe and was carefully returned to do what comes naturally. Not a spectacular day but one that shows we can still catch fish – which we were beginning to doubt!
Now, you may have noticed that I refer to me catching fish – and not Ian. Why is it that one side of a boat can have a good run whilst the other side can’t even buy a fish? We always fish the same sides of Orca and we regularly have periods with one side doing much better than the other. I am now expecting Ian to have a great time during the summer and me struggling – such is fishing!!!
Gordon Reay
Roland and I went out early on the previous Sunday with a range of baits. Initial thoughts to see if there was any Bream about. First stop was in Bracklesham Bay – a couple of marks providing very little so off we went to Boulder Bank.
Over the space of the following 3 hours of the Ebb Tide we had 5 Smoothies on crab to 12lb, the ubiquitous Dogfish, and a few Bream bites giving just the one around a pound.
We went back to Bracklesham to see if there were any change – but no, nothing and the cold wind had increased, so went in. Note to self- don’t go out in T shirt and shorts and leave the warmer clothes in the car! Still, the smoothies gave some good sport and we’ll go back again soon to see if the Bream are easier. Above is Roland with one of the Smoothounds.
Next Sunday Roland and I went out again (with appropriate clothing as it took half the day for the cloud/mist to burn off) . As last week we headed west from Hayling towards Selsey
With a range of fresh baits – bit costly as freezer broke in the week and I lost a load of bait – so had to buy new we headed out reasonably early. Early for us but with a dozen boats over at Selsey before us, we were not alone and not really early either. Luckily found one of my marks still free amongst the raft of charter boats.
Fishing the Ebb all day on the Boulder we had about 15 bream to 2lb and 9 Smoothies to just under 15lb. The bream were active all the time during the tide and the reason we only caught 15 is more due to ineptitude than the fish not biting.
The smoothies were a range of sizes the smaller ones taking squid, the 5 larger ones, all double figure fish, taking crab. Add in a couple of dogs each, not too many luckily and in general a reasonable day. All spawning bream returned to provide future years sport hopefully and the smoothies tricked in all day but had 3 in 10 minutes as the tide dropped off and we managed to lose a couple as well, bit over eager on the striking.
So good day and got back in time to cut the lawn and keep the FPO happy (well relatively).
Regards….Philip
I promised I would send you some pics, so here’s a few from a very successful trip we made last Saturday with my mate Ray Breton on board his Orkney day angler 19+ ‘Reel Magic’, the quality of the photos is not great as only two of us were on board and we were struggling to hold on to the fish…hope you can use one of them at least. In addition to these we had a few other species including our first herring and mackerel, bass, blonde and thornback rays, and smoothhounds.
Jason Gillespie
The May SMAC meeting featured a boat safety talk by Brian Masters representing the RNLI. The audience included SMAC members, ECA and other guest who packed into the Marina Bar to hear Brian and take advantage of the Life-jacket Clinic run by RNLI Volunteer Richard Hills. Although the audience was composed of experienced boat anglers, Brian who was an excellent speaker, took this into account and we all learned something new. He also showed us some very interesting and helpful videos of RNLI rescues, and what actually happens when you fall in the water with and without a life-jacket.
The RNLI are promoting life-saving actions to take if you fall in the water, and my own takeaway was that once you overcame the initial Cold Water Shock effect, you only have a limited time to save yourself because after your body temperature drops 2C, you pass beyond the phase of “useful consciousness” and are then totally reliant on rescue. Brian shared some great tips and I am sure everyone went away much better informed on sea safety issues.
The RNLI were very generous with their safety freebies, and in return SMAC and guests raised £94 for RNLI funds. We are very grateful to Brian and Richard for turning out as volunteers, and to the RNLI for being there if we need them.
A lovely starry smoothhound for Peter Churchill, skipper of Moonshine. To book, contact Peter on 02392 787295
We went bream fishing last week to my top mark east of Selsey. We sat there for two hours with only two dog fish to show for our efforts and a lot of lost tackle. We then made a move and dropped straight on them catching over 40 fish. I have a large live well on my boat in which we kept the biggest fish, returning the smallest. We took two fish home weighed them live and then returned them into Langstone Harbour. John Jones and myself had a great days fishing.
Kev Johnson Reel Lucky
After weeks of challenging fishing, April was like turning on a switch, with many boats reporting exceptionally good catches. We had some good spells of weather for a change enabling the boats to get out, although some of the very calm days also came with thick fog which wasn’t helpful. Nevertheless we have, at last, some good fishing to report.
Plaice are the target inshore species during March and April, and they have been very obliging for those boats that found the all-important shellfish patches that hold the fish. Best method is casting out from the boat and allowing the rig to roll slowly down-tide, covering ground and creating movement. You will notice from the photos that some serious bling is required. These are known as WTF rigs. The fish sees some colour in the distance, thinks “WTF”, goes over to investigate and finds a conveniently placed snack. Baits included rag, lug tipped with squid or prawn, and Isome worms in light colours. Fishing has been so hot at times that triple shots were recorded, Heber Crawford’s threesome is pictured along with his son Archie’s first ever plaice.
Other pictures were supplied by John Evans fishing from Boxerfish, 11 plaice to 2lb 13oz and Derek Norman with Brian Dale and Ken Saunders fishing from Blue with 25 plaice best weight 3lb. These early fish are thin having recently spawned. Bill Arnold’s fish weighed 2lb 10oz although from the dimensions you might have expected closer to 4lb.
The Langstone Harbour Fishermen’s Association ran their Plaice Competition 14-15 April. The winners were based on heaviest fish caught rather than bags, so smaller fish could be returned. The winner was Terry Greaves with 1lb 15oz fishing aboard Limpet, and second place went to Terry Edgerton with a plaice of 1lb 10oz.
Plenty of herring have been shoaling and anglers are now targeting these very successfully. They make great eating, a good bait and can be fun to catch on light tackle. Small Sabiki rigs size 6 hooks and smaller work well. The trick is to hold the lures stationary at the depth the fish are shoaling, unlike mackerel lures which rely on movement.
Further out on the wrecks the target fish is pollack. Some good fish have been caught and gave great sport. The only downside is the distance travelled, many of the wrecks lie over 30 miles from Langstone which makes a long day – but worth it if you find the fish.
Heber Crawford, 2017 SMAC Species Champion demonstrated that anything is possible. Using LRF tactics he caught a Butterfish, slightly salted of course, while at Anchor using bread. We thought this was jammy but he was Utterly delighted.
Smoothhounds will be around from now on and the first have already been caught. A few bream have been reported caught in nets and will be another inshore target species over rocky marks and broken ground soon. I expect we will have some photographs of these next month.
Spring sees the migration of birds over the Channel to Great Britain, and it is very common to have one arrive unexpectedly on the boat. It is remarkable that such a small creature can fly across miles of sea, settle with a few feet of people, rest for a while then head on – and in the right direction. If fishing is quiet, take a bird identification book with you. This example from Heber is a Chiffchaff.
Big shout out to all the people that turned out to support the fishermen’s protest at the UK Government’s capitulation to EU control of UK waters during the transition period. If they thought using commercial fishermen and anglers (and associated industries) as a pawn in the game without losing votes, I think they will have a surprise later. Anyway, on to the story. A good number of boats turned out to motor up and down along Southsea Common. It was a very still and murky day, so to add to the drama some crew decided to let of some flares and orange smoke.
Unfortunately, the smoke just sat there instead of blowing away. Orange smoke has a sticky residue. One particular charter boat, not the fastest, let off a smoke from the stern and became enveloped in its own cloud of orange, from which is could not go fast enough to escape. Net result, the poor skipper spent two hours cleaning orange stain off his newly painted topsides. Not very fair, really.
Photos courtesy of Steve Wenham
We are all looking forward to Dave and Caroline starting their charter business. The build of their new boat is nearing completion, and the countdown to launch begins. They are aiming for launch the Week of the 14th May. Chris at “Swiftcat Power Catamarans” is building the vessel, and this coming weekend will see the first fix of electronics plus safety gear and other equipment.
After launch the first week will be spent with sea trials, then it will be open for bookings. The website www.charterboatdointhedo.co.uk will go live at the same time. Dointhedo will be operating from Premier Marina Gosport, which means you can be out of Portsmouth harbour and heading to the chosen fishing grounds within minutes of leaving the berth. As part of the launch promotions, there will be a number of competitions to win charter trip “Gift Cards” which will allow the holder to take one of a variety of trips (Wrecking, Inshore etc). Keep an eye open on Facebook forums such as “Solent Beach & Boat Fishing” & “Solent Boat Fishing”, as well as the “Dointhedo” Facebook page for details on how to win one of these vouchers.
Here at Boat-Angling, we will be running a photo fish competition with a top prize of one of these amazing vouchers. Keep visiting this site to ensure you do not miss out on the details of this forthcoming competition.
If you wish to be informed of progress as it happens then write to Dave and Caroline at dointhedo@mail.com and they will add you to the mailing list.
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