Author: Neville Merritt (Page 40 of 46)

Second-hand because after all the planning, permissions, bait-buying etc. I didn’t go out!  I arrived at the marina ready for an early start but the fog was so thick we couldn’t even see the end of the marina from the middle of it, let alone see the entry and exit lights. Last time I was out in fog that thick I decided it was a bad idea, so along with a few others I decided that while still in the marina this time. However others did venture out over the weekend and a good number of plaice have been caught. One specimen went over 4lbs, another boat claimed 17 so they are about if you can find the hot-spots. Both drifting and anchoring are producing results, and I was pleased to see that artificials are catching some good fish when the water is clear enough for worm lures to work. I like these Isome worms below, they have built-in attractant.

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Usually in my birthday month I don’t even look at the forecast and dream of the summer month later in the year. However, the blonde ray isn’t on my list below and there’s usually good reports of them this time of year, whether it’s a great catch of 40+ rays or a 40lb+ specimen! A while ago I was looking at the tide tables and noticed that the weekend of 18th and 19th of February had good small tides to get offshore and kept my fingers crossed for good weather to match. I was surprised to see such a good forecast and it lived up to it well!

Friday morning (i was on half term week) we were at the Overfalls just as the slack began to turn into the flood. We let out plenty of anchor rope to make sure we didn’t drag. Thought we were in for a good day when my dad, holding my new rod, said i had a fish on. A thornback of about 5lb was unhooked, photographed and put back so as i could get a bait back down.

After this we had a few doggies and then the tide really went through fast and not many bites came, one or two more dogfish, I think maybe in letting out extra anchor line we had gone too far back from bank for the best fishing? Are the fish all right up against the side of the bank or further back from it? As the tide slackened we had a few pout and a tiny conger.

At high water I pulled the anchor in (would of had no chance if the tide was flowing there!) and we headed in to our travel lodge for the night.

(report for the first day as that was when we did the most fishing 🙂 )

Picking up the chat from around the forums and berths, it seems that people are mostly catching small whiting with the odd ray here and there. If you want pollack from the wrecks, you need to push out a very long way.  Clients on Kelly’s Hero III had a good day on Friday, with over 100 fish they reckon, but that was a lot nearer France than England! I did hear a story of a 20lb cod but that came out on Friday but I don’t know the details. One or two plaice have been caught but they have spawned so are thin and in poor condition. They will  fatten up later!

I went out on Saturday, and although it was a glorious day the whiting kept rattling the whiting rod and everything else totally ignored the other rods with baits intended fort bigger things. No, not even a pout or a dogfish. To cap it all, the seagulls had fared so badly they even thought it was worth hanging around me and that is saying something. Roll on plaice, bream, tope, smoothies….

After a very wet and windy Friday I was surprised to see Saturdays forecast was for light winds and sunny, so to keep our new years resolution in tacked to take the boat out at least once a month. We set off from Calshot to the edge of the brambles.

We set the anchor around 8am and set the rods, it wasn’t long before the bites started and Luke had the first of what seemed like countless bait robbing dogfish. However the sun was out, the water was like a millpond and I wasn’t at work so I could live with just catching dogfish. Luke counted me down till 12 o’clock so that we could try out our new cooker with a round of bacon rolls which went down very nicely. It was time to change the baits so I picked the rod up tighten the drag, pulled up and the rod and it bent over and started taking line, fish on! This fish was not going to play nice and she was going to use the tide to make a run for it but eventually we had this specimen thornback ray weighing in at 13.5lb not bad for a last minute February fishing trip. We put her back to fight another day and pulled anchor and that’s when Luke asked if he could drive the boat back to Calshot.

I have to say Luke is only 11 and he drove the boat back like he has been driving boats for years , a very proud dad, he now wants to be a charter skipper when he leaves school and not a dentist . That’s my boy.

Another flat calm day on Sunday saw us head out with Radar in full use. There was a very wet fog though so everything got damp, very annoying and visibility down to less than 100yds. We headed out deep to look for the end of the fog bank but couldn’t find it, ending up on a wreck south of the Nab. The first bite of the day saw Roland with a 15lb conger and then the pouting hit. All in the 1-3lb bracket but their ability, at whatever size, to spin means you need to have your swivels in good working order. We might not have!!! More and more pout then the tide calmed right down and we both lost good sized fish in the wreck. Probably as a result of last week’s efforts when we didn’t set the hooks well. This time break offs. I removed all smaller hooks just fishing big baits to void the dreaded “smellies”.

Just before slack I had a nice 20lb conger on board. About this time the fog started to clear, and we could see a large number of boats out around the spoils and even further south east that us.

So with the slack arriving we re-anchored. All went quiet for an hour, then a further 3 more congers, the largest just over 25lb. Then one rarity, well it was for us, a Three-bearded Rockling, about a pound, came in. What beautiful colours.

The tide picked up so we went inshore to East nab. We had heard report of whiting coming in inshore, and they were right. Just too small really with the largest topping out at a 1lb. That was the end to a good day.

5 congers, loads of pout and NO doggies and a lot of small whiting later on. Bookies would have given good odds on NO DOGS. Listening to the radio a few Cod were reported out deep, mainly mid-teens it seemed and a few inshore boats just having loads of small whiting with doggers thrown in – so that’s where they were!!.

Saturday 7/1/17, I was out with Richard to see what was about without steaming to the horizon.  Left Southsea Marina around 9.00am, and after refuelling, steamed out to a mark less than 2 miles from Langstone Fairway Post and anchored up by 9.30am.  The day was overcast but mild for the time of year, with a light NW wind and neap tide resulting in very comfortable fishing conditions.  First to the baits were the dogs, followed by whiting, and then I hooked into a 16lb Undulate Ray that went well on the 15lb gear I was using. It was photographed, weighed and released.  Fishing remained steady throughout the day, with a run of rays in the last hour, before we up-anchor and headed back to the marina, just as the light was fading.  In total, we had 36 dogs, 64 whiting, 2 undulate rays, 5 thornback rays, a spotted ray, 5 pout and a small smoothhound.  With the exception of the large undulate, none of the fish were notable for their size, and all were released, but we had a pleasant and comfortable run out.  Given the reports we heard on the radio, we did as well as the boats that did head to the horizon.

Like a number of others Roland and I too went out Friday. Through the pea soup we found the fog dissipated at about 3-4 miles out and it was a beautiful clear sunny day, flat clam. We went out to a wreck south of the Nab to fish the slack. Managed the usual pout and dogs but somehow managed to lose 3 what I suspect were reasonable 20-40 lb congers. All let go of the baits, no breakages so probably striking a bit early but always eager to stop them going back into the wreck. We had each on for a couple of minutes but hey ho – put it down to incompetence. As the big spring started to pick up the fog came out and we moved back in shore to fish out at East Nab. By now all we could hear all afternoon were fog horns, but glad we’d made a point of staying well out of the way of the shipping channels. More dogs, pout and now some whiting came aboard.

Not a great day in terms of catches but happy to hear from your report that cod are still around.

…rather than a catch report. 30th December, calm they said. Calm it was, but also a pea-soup fog. I texted Garry who had gone out earlier to check conditions and he replied that it was clear past the harbour. Along with several other boats we crept out of the marina, navigated the channel pile by pile, then pointed in a southerly direction waiting for that moment when you burst into sunshine. Well we didn’t.  As we got further from Langstone I realised Nab and New Grounds were going to be too far away if I was chugging along at 8 knots peering into the murk, to I reset the waypoint to Deal Tail. When I arrived there I could make out several other boats with a similar idea, so I found a space and anchored up. It was very creepy, we could hear each other but only one other boat was in sight most of the time. As for fish caught – it was the usual pout, whiting and dogfish this time. Along with several other boats I made my way back early, in case of mishap, and it was a real navigational challenge to get through the Langstone run and round Ferry Point. Visibility was about 50 metres which sounds a lot, but the Run is about 200 metres across so there was a large slice in the middle where you couldn’t see anything. I was glad to be back in my berth safely. Robert my berth neighbour cheered me up though, he had brought back a 21lb cod which proves there are cod to be caught.

Langstone Run!

Well that is the last time I offer to take my son fishing when he comes to visit us! Another one of those lovely calm winter days that seem to just appear and have got to be used. We set out from Bembridge Harbour at just after 8 am and set ourselves up just off Culver. Started catching pouting straight away. Paul often teases me that I get rather over excited asking for the landing net when it is not really necessary so when he started pulling in this 12 lb cod he had to plead with me before I would get the net into action and as you can see a good result. Fishing dropped off as the tide started running out so back home for lunch.

With a small weather window before storm Barbara arrives we took to the water for the Last fishing trip before Santa arrives hoping for an early Christmas present. We set off nice and early and we had the anchor down by 8am the tide had just started to turn and within minutes of the bait hitting the seabed we had our first of three rays the biggest weighing in at 9 Lbs all returned to fight another day. For the next three hours we had a steady stream of whiting, pout and not to feel left out the odd dogfish or 10. Luke had been giving me the countdown to getting the bacon on as the smell of it cooking brings on the Cod, well he called it half way through cooking the rod bent over with the best bite of the day and with the tide running hard the fish put up a good fight on our 12 lbs rod but we were all smiles when we landed this 15 Lbs Cod. Let’s hope storm Barbara doesn’t stay for long and we can get out before we have to go back to work in the new year. Happy Christmas and tight lines of 2017.