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| British Records (via the Angling Trust) AND also Specimen Fish |
2014 HALL of FAME
Bass |
2014 HALL of FAME
Blenny (Common) |
2014 HALL of FAME
Albacore Tuna |
Boat Species 2014Mick Doody - 42Jim Grant - 40 Roy Hebburn - 39 Phil Evans - 36 Chris Goddard - 33 Gavin Thomson - 31 Brian Collett - 29 Peter Thatcher - 29 Bob Jenkins - 25 Peter Talbot - 23 Linda Talmadge - 18 Andrew Ackland - 14 Paul Davies - 14 Ricky Nethersole - 14 Dave Ball - 13 Ernie Elgar - 13 Bertie Hebburn-Heath - 11 Ron Bailey - 11 John Barnes - 11 Matthew Gibbs - 11 Farooq Shah - 10 Jason Weller - 10 Nigel Cross - 9 Paul Harcus - 8 Simon Harding - 6 Alan Whittaker - 6 Rob Abrey - 5 Lewis Evans - 4 Tabish Aiman - 3 Richard Warner - 3 Adam Weller - 2 Bob Nye - 1 |
| To see the base data chart of the boat species hunts click HERE |
Boat Comp Species 2014Brian Collett - 14Phil Evans - 14 Roy Hebburn - 14 Gavin Thomson - 14 Jim Grant - 13 Bob Jenkins - 11 Paul Davies - 10 Mick Doody - 10 Linda Talmadge - 10 Ernie Elgar - 8 Ron Bailey - 7 Matthew Gibbs - 7 Chris Goddard - 6 Paul Harcus - 6 Ricky Nethersole - 6 Peter Talbot - 3 |
Boat Angler of the Year 2014Jim Grant - 104.66Mick Doody - 85 Peter Talbot - 84 Roy Hebburn - 70.5 Chris Goddard - 68 Brian Collett - 67 Phil Evans - 64 Gavin Thomson - 52 Peter Thatcher - 40.7 Andrew Ackland - 35.5 Bob Jenkins - 22.2 Ron Bailey - 21 Paul Davies - 20 Ernie Elgar - 15 Paul Harcus - 11 Linda Talmadge - 7 Nigel Cross - 6.5 Tabish Aiman - 6 Ricky Nethersole - 3 John Barnes - 2.5 Bertie Hebburn-Heath - 2.5 Matthew Gibbs - 2 Farooq Shah - 2 |
| To see the base data chart of the boat angler of the year click HERE |
How trophies are awarded2 Boat Angler of the Year (BAOTY) points per club member present for angler catching the biggest fish- 1 BOATY point per club member present for the angler(s) catching the most species - BAOTY points for Club Competitions depend solely on competition positions (overall and in boat) one BAOTY point for each competitor beaten in each case. - Only the BEST FIVE trips/comps for each member count towards Boat Angler of the Year. - One (1) species competition point is awarded for each species caught during the year - If members take charter boat spaces on an "individuals basis" or enter competitions, as long as at least two club members are present and a report is promptly submitted to the fish recorder, the trip will count towards the "Annual Species Hunt" and the "Boat Angler of the Year" competitions. - To make it easy to record trips we often use a prepared Trip Record Sheet which anybody is welcome to download and print for their own use. All and any fish caught during the year by a currently PAID-UP member are eligible for most of the other annual trophies (Cod Cup, Tope Tankard etc.). Please report any such to the fish recorder promptly. If the report is delayed too long it may become impossible to verify and therefore not be allowable. For comservation reasons GCSAC Boat competitions are points based (see Competition Score Sheet with no minimum size limit. Boats and positions are drawn on the morning of the competition before the boats set off. |
All members - Please send in a report of your fishing trip (Boat or Shore) preferably by email. | Tue 30th December - Weymouth Wild Frontier (Clem Carter)Out on a High |
![[Mick with a blonde]](images 2014/Mick Blonde.jpg)
Six of us took up half of the boat and had a great day.
We spent most of it anchored just a bit out from the Bill (with the rest of the fleet(. There were plenty of whiting around but the cod failed to appear althought quite a few other species turned up. We had loads of whiting (up to about 3lb), a few dogfish and pout, a poorcod and a couple of small conger and a smoothhound. Notable fishes were a 28lb 8oz blonde ray, a 12lb 8oz Pollack and a bass of about 3lb 8oz. As the tide died we upped the anchor and tried a few drifts, hoping for a turbot or two, but there were no flatties in the mood for food, so the only fish we saw on the drift were a couple more whiting and a gurnard so we drove off home to Guildford happy but tired. Biggest fish was Mick's (personal best) 28lb 8oz blonde and Mick, Chris and I all managed to get 3 species. Best trip we have had in the last couple of months. Well worth the long day. [Report by Jim} |
Sunday December 14th - Hayling (Northney) - Valkyrie (Glenn Cairns)Cancelled due to weather |
Sunday December 7th - Dover - Jolly Fisherman (Paul Alexander)Cancelled due to weather |
Sunday November 30th - Littlehampton - Jenifers Pride (Steve Edwards)Nice day and a feww fish |
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A full complement off 8 members fished. The wind was light and from the north. We went further offshore than usual hunting for the elusive cod. Despite all our efforts using a variety of baits we were unsuccessful in finding the cod but there were a few other species about. Nothing big but we did get tiny bream, lots of dogfish (they ARE bigger further out), tub gurnard, poorcod, pout, a thornback ray and lots of whiting. For the last hour we came inshore and had a couple of drifts for the plaice but only got two small ones and one dab. I had the mosyt species (6) and Petter Talbot had the biggest fish which was a the thornback ray (not weighed but well over two pounds) [Report by Jim] |
Saturay/Sunday 15/16th November - Weymouth Wild Frontier (Clem Carter)One day out of two |
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SATURDAY
The weather was much bettter than we expected - earlier in the week it looked like the whole weekend would be cancelled but it was vey mild for the time of year and out at sea we even missed out on the rain that poured down on the town. ![[Ricky with his 12lb turbot]](images 2014/Ricky Turbot.jpg)
Virtually the whole day was spent fishing the Adamant and we got some fish and then we went inshore to try for squid and mini species.
There were - lots of small congers with some running to over 30lb, a few small bits (poorcod, pout and gobies), blonde rays to 23.5lb (Mick), a smoothhound, a 12lb turbot (Ricky) and lots of whiting (mostly small but Peter managed to get one of 2lb). No squid. Biggest fish was Peter Thatcher's conger and Mick Doody and Phil Evans shared the honours for most species (5). SUNDAY Another warm day for Novenmber but the morning was WET WET WET, The prequel was a little dabble over the side of the boat to try and get a few gobies and blennies while we waited for stragglers. The first "official" event was a bank a liitle further out than yesterday, then in on the Adamant for an hour, then a try for plaice and finally another little go for squid (and mini-species). Over the day we managed to catch 16 different species - two tiny little bass, a couple of blennies, a (double-shot) pair of bullhuss, a few nice bream (up to 3lb 11oz), two little congers (under 3lb), smoothhounds (to 7lb), a host of dogfish, two red gurnards, a tiny plaice, one pollack, lots of poorcod and pout, a blonde ray (15lb) an undulate ray(5lb) and a couple of smelt. I managed the biggest fish (15lb blonde) and Mick Doody ran away with most species (11). [Report by Jim} |
Sunday November 9th - Dover - Jolly Fisherman (Paul Alexander)A "Weather Window" |
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Just found one day when we could get out - Well done Mick for seeing this one day gap in the storms a whole year ahead. A bit of rain but not too bad at all. As there was a huge tide we went aacross to Dungeness where we were soon joined by ten small boats all hunting the elusive cod. The cod were so elusive we, like most of the other boats, failed to find any. Everybody caught dogfish and whiting but Andrew and Nigel also got a pout each. Apparently (we were listening to the radio chat) the boats that braved the tide and went offshore also had poor day, so at least we were relatively comfortable and only had to use 16oz leads. [Report by Jim] |
Mon - Fri 20th - 24th October - WeymouthWeymouth International Boat Angling Challenge: 2014 |
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3 members took part in this year's competition, a 5 days species competition split into different categories each day, wreck/big fish,
5 + 5 species points, rays/flatfish, 1 of each species and a lure only 5 +5 species hunt.
66 anglers were split between 7 boats. The highest points scorer on each boat was given 100% and the remaining anglers scores were worked out as a percentage of this score. Each boat winner won £100 and there were prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd highest points scorers each day. The overall 5 day final rankings were based on your total % score. Day 1 Big fish (too windy to fish the wrecks) Not many scoring fish caught on any of the boats. Any size rays, tope or conger counted as 10 points and any other species had to be over 5lb to count, so all the dogfish, whiting and pouting that were caught did not count. I managed a single scoring fish a small thornback which gave me 22% of the Kim Bowden's boat winning 2 tope, 1 conger and plus a very welcome bonus of an 11lb 10oz bass (total score = 45points), which also won the day. Phil caught 1 tope and Jim did not score. Day 2 Species points 5 +5 The aftermath of Hurricane Gonzalo arrived in Weymouth today so the areas we could fish were limited. Despite these restrictions quite a lot of fish were caught, including dogfish, garfish, mackerel, pollack, poor cod, pouting, thornback ray, brill, ballan wrasse, whiting and gurnard. I had 9 species, including a small brill, for 124 points but my score was totally battered by Richard Russell who had 218 points, including 7 thornbacks, to win both my boat and the day by a considerable margin. The fishing was very enjoyable despite the wind. Phil had 6 species for 94 points, Jim had only six species and very few points. Day 3 Rays/flatfish Everyone who thought Monday was hard work found today to be even harder. 10 anglers on Top Cat, including me, Jim and ex-world champion Francis Couzinet, managed to catch 3 undulate rays and 1 turbot. I had an undulate ray which put me joint 1st on the boat. Neither Jim nor Francis caught scoring fish. With 12 minutes to go overall leader Matt Osbourne, on 200% after 2 days, caught a small undulate ray which converted 0% to 100% and this would help him win the overall title and £2000 at the end of the week. Phil caught a blonde ray on Peace and Plenty where he was beaten by Colin Searles and Ray Barron - both members of the England team which won the world championships fished out of Weymouth 3 weeks earlier and Jim did not score. Day 4 Species hunt x1 I had a reasonable day catching 9 species Supa Nova which was won by new club member John Wright with 12. Jim, also on Supa Nova had six species (very few points). Phil was on Top Cat and caught 11 species, Ray Barron with 14 won his boat and the day. Species caught included bream, conger, dogfish, mackerel, pollack, poor cod, pouting, bull huss, ballan, cuckoo and corkwing wrasse, whiting, launce and red band fish. Day 5 Lure only species hunt Each angler was only allowed to use a pack of lures issued on Thursday afternoon to make the competition even. Plenty of fish were caught including garfish, mackerel, pollack, poor cod, pouting, launce, scad, ballan wrasse and cod. I was on Offshore rebel with Jim and had 109 points to finish 4th behind boat winner Colin Searles who had 124. Jim had his best day with 64 points (7th on boat) and caught a 3lb10oz Ballan Wrasse on a pink sabiki. Phil was on Wild Frontier and won his boat with 111 points. Considering the wind conditions it was a really enjoyable 5 days fishing, though days 1 and 3 were hard work, even for the top international team anglers. Quite a few countries were represented including Ireland, Denmark, Belgium, France and Sweden. Overall 15th Gavin 342% 38th John Wright 290% 40th Phil 286% 64th Jim 167% [Report by Gavin} I must point out that my placing of 64th out of 66 is slightly misleading as there were 2 "no shows". Despite this I really enjoyed the week and intend to do it again at my next opportunity in 2016. Next year's WIBAC is 7th - 11th of September. John (Wright) is a new member who joined us down at Weymouth (he lives in Doncaster so, like Dai, he is not likely to make our meetings. |
Sunday October 12th - Littlehampton - Jenifers Pride (Steve Edwards) and Lynander (Dick Legget)The second leg of the GCSAC boat competition 2014 |
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Due to the tidal constraints of Littlehampton and an awful weather forecast for the late afternoon,
an EARLY EARLY (05:30) start was required.
Three members sent their excuses but ten members and three guests did turn up on time. Both boats tried various inshore marks, on reefs, rocks, and banks. There were 19 different species caught - bass, blenny, bream, cod, conger, dogfish, goby, tub gurnard, mackerel, pollack, pout, scad, smelt, thornback ray, ballan wrasse, cuckoo wrasse, corkwing wrasse, goldsinny wrasse and whiting. A notably large ballan wrasse (4lb 8oz) caught by Bob Jenkins was weighed before being returned safely to the water. The 2014 area specimen weight for ballans is 5lb 0oz. The final results were. First - one of our guests - Steve Spencer (Lynander) - 311 points *120% Second - Jim Grant (Jenifers Pride) - 291 points 100% Third - Gavin Thomson (Lynander) - 260 points 100% Fourth - Phil Evans (Lynander) - 254 points 98% The biggest fish was a very nice cod of 11lb 4oz caught by Brian Collett. [Report by Jim] |
Tue-Wed September 2-3rd - Weymouth - Offshore Rebel (Paul Whittall)A report from the Bisley boat |
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Four GCSAC members (Gavin Thomson, Phil Evans, Bob Jenkins and Brian Collett) were amongst the nine Bisley members plus
guest angler Neil Bryant (England Boat team manager) on Offshore Rebel for a day of Bream and Plaice fishing out of Weymouth.
The day was spent drifting for Plaice before anchoring for the Bream and finally drifting for the Plaice. The fishing was steady all day with fish of various species including plaice, bream, poor cod, huss, conger, pout, cod, wrasse and dogfish being caught. The biggest fish caught by a club member was Phil's 3lb 14oz wrasse, which was probably bigger than the conger I caught, and Phil also had the most species-8. [Report by Gavin] |
Sat/Sun 5-6th October - Weymouth Wild Frontier (Clem Carter)One day out of two |
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SATURDAY
Cancelled - the forecaast was so bad (25+ knots from the South) it was an easy decision - it would have been horrible out there. SUNDAY What a difference. A great day weatherwise. We set off on a flat sea with no wind and then the sun came out. First event was a session at anchor on the edge of a bank for the bream and other species. A success, we had bream (good sized ones) and they were ferocious, taking all sorts of baits even quite large ones. When the brream were not mullering the baits we also managed to catch avariety of othe species (e.g. bullhus, tope and smoothhound). Then when the tide got heavier we had a go for the bass in the race where we manaaged a few on the artificials. Next was a session dragging worms and prawns across the bottom for the plaice which also obliged. Finally, when the tide combined with the increasing wind to make the drift too fast, we went back on tthe anchor to finish the day fishing for bream and bits again, this time with less success. Over the day we managed to catch about a dozen bass (up to 4lb), a load of bream (to 3lb 10oz), lots of smallish bullhuss with a few about the 7lb mark, lots of dogfish, a couple of mackerel, a pout, about 20 plaice (to 4.5 lb), a few poorcod, a handfull of scad, three tope, a tub gurnard and a smoothhound. Biggest fish was a tope of 15lb caught by Andrew Ackland and Roy Hebburn had the most (8) species. Good one Clem. [Report by Jim} |
Mon -Thu 15-18th September - Poole to Alderney and back - True Blue(Steve Porter)4 day Channel Island trip |
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MONDAY
An early start and off down to Poole for this 4-day Alderney trip. We all met at thquay at 7am. for our trip briefing then to breakfasst at the cafe then w set sail at 8am. straight for Alderney. tarted fishing about 12:30 and caught lots of launce to use as livebait for the bass. Peter Talbot and Phil Evans both caught bass. We had bass, dogs, redgurnard, launce, mackerel and sandeel. Phil had the most species with 4 and Chris Goddard had the biggest fish (40lb tope). TUESDAY We began with at 7:30 in the hotel. The start time on the boat was 8:30 - off to the banks for turbot and brill. The first bank was unsuccessfull (a few mackerel and lots of launce) The next bank also was not so good with only 2 turbot. Moving further south we hit the brill and turbot ending the day with thirty odd brill and turbot and bass, bream, dogs, blonde rays, red and tub gurnard, launce, mackerel, pollack,pout, poorcod, saandeel, scad and ballan wrasse. Phil had the most (11) species with the biggest fish again going to Chris Goddard with a blonde ray of 16.5lb. WEDNESDAY Lots of wind from the North-East (at about 30 mph) straight into the harbour entrance!! Once out of the harbouur aand round the corner the ssea was flat. e fished with 3 otherr boats all sheltering from the wind. We had bream, dod, red and tub ggurnard, launce, mackerel, pollack and wrasse. "Most species" was shared by Gvin Thomson and Chris with 5 each and the biggest fish waas a bream of 2lb 12oz caught by Peter Talbot. In the evening we took some fresh brream to a restaurant where they kindly cookeed them for us as a starter. What a lovely meal AND plenty of wine!! THURSDAY Weather calm. We anchored a ridge just outside the harbour. Therre were bream to 3.5lb and bullhuss to 8lb there. Because of the small tide we decided to travel to some wrecks on our way backto fish for cod, ling and pollack. The fish did not play at aall with just a few pollack and one cod. Over the day we hadd brream, bullhuss, dogs, red gurnard, pollack, poorcod,tope, and scad. I (Mick) had the most species (7) and Peter Talbor had the biggest fish (10lb tope). Each day we filleted and iced our fish which kept them in perfectly to be enjoyed later. Thanks to Steve Porter for a GREAT trip. [Report by Mick} |
Sunday September 28th - Dover - Jolly FishermanCancelled by relief skipper |
Sunday 7th September - Littlehampton - Jenifers Pride (Steve Edwards)Plenty of room |
![[John Barnes Record Red Gurnard]](images 2014/John Barnes Record Red Gurnard.jpg)
What a nice day. Although the trip was fully subscribed with a reserve and two late substitutes we went out with only
five members including young Bertie.
I peaked a bit early by catching a 14lb 8oz undulate ray and then only added one pout and two mackerel to my score for the day. The rest all managed to find at least four species each getting bream, conger, tub and red gurnard, mackerel, plaice, pout and scad between them. Young Bertie Hebburn-Heath shared the honours for most species (5) with John Barnes and John was the only one to get red gurnards (4) including a new club record of 1lb 14oz. [Report by Jim} |
Friday 5th September 2-3rd - Poole - Mistress Linda (Philp Higgens) and Danny Boy IIPoole Species Team Competition |
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GCSAC made up a team of four but one was unable to get there so there were just three of us in the team on the day Mick Doody,
Roy Hebburn and me (Jim Grant) drawn on Mistress Linda.
We whizzed around Poole harbour and managed to find 20 species (black bream, tompot blenny, dogfish, dragonet, commpn goby, red gurnard, mackerel, red mullet, plaice, pout, blonde ray, small-eyed ray, smoothhound, thornback ray, scad, tope, ballan wrasse, bailion's wrasse, crkwing wrasse) which gave us 35 points and fourth place in the competition so we won a fishing rod each. Three-quarters of the "Esher Rugby Club" team were also GCSAC members (Paul Davies, Phil Evans and Gavin Thomson). They were unlucky in their hunt for the rays but still found 16 species (black bream, dogfish, common goby, red and tub gurnard, mackerel, plaice, pollack, poorcod, pout, spotted ray, scad, smoothhound, ballan wrasse, corkwing and goldsinny wrasse). All good fun and hopefully both teams will be back again next year. [Report by Jim] |
Tue-Wed September 2-3rd - Weymouth - Offshore Rebel (Paul Whittall)An invtation to conger |
![[Mick Bonito]](images 2014/Mick Bonito.jpg)
Paul Marris invited four of us to go for big conger in the mid channel.
TUESDAY
Mackerel fishing off the Bill was hard work but we did get enough for bait as well as Mick finding a bonito (a first for the club). Not a british record but fairly rare. It was a bit blowy so we could not make the mid channel but we still found a few eels on a wreck as well as a nice big pollack. We had about forty eels up to 45lb, a Pollack of 13lb 8oz garfish, mackerel, pollack and of course the bonito of 8.6oz. Mick and I sharred the honours for largest fish and I also got 4 species. WEDNESDAY A bit of excitement as we had to avoid the area that a couple of warships were using to play with their missiles. We soon had enough mackerel and headed way off into the mid-channel. The eels cae steadily on mackerel and octopus baits but the bigger ones fell to whole or halved pout. Biggest was my one about 60lb and Peter lost one which appeared to be even bigger. Mick had a the biggest cod (18lb 8oz) so far this year and I had the biggest conger (estimated at 60lb). A great 2days - A big "Thank You" to Mr Whittall and of course the lovely Jai who made tea, unmade tangles, prepared bait, filleted fish, cleared up and even piloted the boat back. Both Paul and Jai were recovering from "angler related" injuries but still gave us a great trip. [Report by Jim] |
Monday September 1st - Weymouth - Atlanta (Dave Pitman)Annual Barnes Brothers Species Competition |
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Four of us were originally booked with another boat but a sad event meant that we had to find further amusement, so what did we do?
We found another boat (Atlanta) and prevailed upon three of the Barnes to join us for a relaxing UNCOMPETITIVE day out at sea.
A great time was had by all (we did all have a fiver on the most species). We were well looked after by Dave and by Dee our crewlady who caught and prepared bait, made tea and did all those crew things involving ropes and stuff. We had bream, cod, conger, dogfish, garfish, mackerel, pollack, poorcodpout, scad and an undulate ray. Chris Goddard had the biggest fish (conger) and Les Barnes took the money for eight species. [Report by Jim] |
Sat-Sun August 30-31 - Weymouth - Top Cat (Ivan Wellington)Annual Barnes Brothers Species Competition |
![[Barnes]](images 2014/Barnes.jpg)
The first time this event has taken place on Ivan's Top Cat and it was so long since we had a trip with Ivan that for most of us it was
our first trip on Top Cat III.
So compared to previous years it was a different boat and different skipper but we still had Aaron as crew and we still went to the same old places to try for the same old species. Saturday was a bit blustery so we did not go far and rreally concentrated on the smaller species around Portland. We had tompot blenny, bream, conger, dogfish, launce, mackerel, plaice, poorcod, pout, red band fish, scad, ballan wrasse, bailion's wrasse, corkwing wrasse and goldsinny wrasse. The Barnes built up a commanding lead in the morning but during the afternooon we whittled it back. This year there were six Barnes against five GCSAC members so complicated calculations had to be completed (add up multilpy by five and divide by six and check) and agreed before aa result was detemined. It was close with GCSAC scoring 1027 against the Barnes 997.5 Sunday was better and we ventured a bit further so we got tompot blenny, bream, dogfish, common goby, launce, mackerel, plaice, poorcod, pout, scad, red band fish, smoothhound, spotted ray, ballan wrasse, bailion's wrasse, cuckoo wrasse, corkwing wrasse and goldsinny wrasse. Fish of the day was Roy's plaice weighing in at 5lb 2oz. Again the Barns took an early lead but a spirited fight left the Guildford team in the lead winning the second day 1345 points to 1121 so we retained the Tony Barnes Memorial Trophy for another year. [Report by Jim] |
Sunday August 24th - Dover - Jolly Fisherman (Steve Harris)BRILLiant trip for cod and Blondes |
![[Roy and Bertie with Blonde]](images 2014/Roy Bertie Blonde.jpg)
Great weather - sunny, light winds, flat sea. Including young Bertie (his first trip) there were twelve members aboard. Paul Alexander was on holiday so his good friend Steve Harris who normally operates his own boat Dentex up in the medway and Thames was running it for him and a very good job he did too. "We will start out drifting along the rough for cod and mackerel". We caught lots of small cod and mackerel and a few gurnards. Roy suddenly produced a nice bass (about 3lb). "when the tide dies we will fish the bank for sandeels for bait". We caught lots of sandeels and and some more mackerel. "Then we will anchor for the blonde rays - you might need one or two pounds of lead". ![[Mick's Brill]](images 2014/Mick Brill.jpg)
We soon required 24oz of lead to hold bottom and we caught half a dozen big blondes. Mick even managed to find a 6lb 9oz Brill. So plenty of fish. Between us we had eleven species one bass, one brill, lots and lots of small cod (up to a couple of pounds), a couple of dogfish, lots of red gurnard, a tub gurnard, plenty of mackerel for bait (and to take home),ten blonde rays (biggest three were 21lb, 20lb snd 18lb), lots of sandeels, a couple of scad and a couple of weevers. Biggest fish was Brian Collet's 21lb 2 oz blonde ray and Mick Doody had eight species. ![[Brian 21lb Blonde]](images 2014/Brian Blonde.jpg)
[Report by Jim] |
Mon-Wed August 18-29 - Weymouth - Tango (Phil Corben)Weymouth Conger Festival |
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There were originally going to be five club members and 3 non-members on the competition. In previous years we had fished with Chris
Caines on Tiger Lily but due to his retirement we had to find a new boat.
Not so easy. We approached several skippers but most had regular crews or "did not do competitions" or "did not do congers". No names but we finally found one, then after it was all agreed he decided that he did not want to take us. Then we were all set to go with Ian Taylor on Skin Deeper and he was quite happy to take us but thought that we would do better with Phil Corben on Tango. He gave us the choice of the two boats and after consideration we decided to go with Tango but thanks to Ian for arranging it for us. Then we had one of our non-members drop out but as he gave us sufficient warning we arranged a substitute so that was OK. Another of the non-members then waited until the day before to let us know that he "did not fancy being thrown about on a monohull", strange to say Tango behaved like a perfect lady for all three days and never "threw anybody about" at all. She not the fastest boat but is big and very stable. A bit high off the water for t-barring off the congers and there is a dive lift on the back which is not ideal but still she (and Phil) did the job. So five members, Mick Doody, Chris Goddard, me (Jim Grant), Roy Hebburn and Peter Thatcher were on board. The two non-members were Aaron Comban, who usually crews on Top Cat and George Clarke who we met at Minehead (Aly Kat Too) earlier in the year. On the Monday there was a stiifish breeze and we failed to get any mackerel on our way out so it was just frozen bait (Mackerel, Cuttle and squid) for the congers. From memory the two wrecks we visited produced abut thirty or so eels between us (I will correct the report if I find out differently) everybody had at least a couple at least and Mick got ot the biggest one. On the Tuesday it was a lot calmer and we went out via the Bill to get some mackerel, successfully, even though a lot of them were on the small side. The first wreck we went to produced a nuber of eels but when we tried to anchor the second one the hook would not stick in so we lost a bit of time and had to go to another wreck for the rrest of the afternoon. This time we had (I think) forty odd eels with my biggest being estimatesd at forty-six pounds. We also had varied and interesting and varied bycatch. Mackerel of course, bullhuss, dogfish and thournback rays (when the wind pushed us off of tthe wreck), pollack, pout, scad and finally a few tope (biggest about 30lb). That night we all met up with our old friend Chris Caines for a meal during which Chris and Phil discussed tactics for the following day. On the Wednesday as usual we were on the boat for a seven o'clock start and as we chugged down the estuary Paul Whittall requested that we slow down to allow Offshore Rebel to overtake as the BBC crew aboard wanted to film "All the boats leavng the harbour". Of course Phil commplied as soon as it was safe and a good job too, because as we got to the harbour entrnce the see erupted with mackerel chasing sprats. Then came a rhetorical question from Phil "shall we stop and try for a few". Do bears .......? Soon all the charter boats joined us aand everybody filled their boxes with bait. No need to visuit the Bill (at leaast an hour saved. Out on the wreck we had the congers but we also found too many tope and when we lost the tide wwe headed for "the hole" hoping to find a big eel to finish off with. We did have a couple but no big ones and the tope were voracious. If we had been tope fishing we would have been ecstatic to see them but when geared up for eels and 20 - 30 lb tope hit several at a time they are just time-waasting tangle machines. Again everybody had eels (and tope) Aaron had the biggest at forty-two pounds. Another great day. Finally there was the presentation and we got the final results. We did OK. Mick won the first prize in the raffle. On Tango Aaron came first on points and I had the biggest eel (46lb). Overall Aaron came fourth and I managed fifth with Mick coming in at eleventh. I am trying to get a copy of the full results and will publish (or link to it) as and when. [Report by Jim] |
Thur-Sat August 7-10th Ilfracombe - Aly Kat Too (Dave Roberts)Guildford Shark Expedition |
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Originally the plan was for six club menbers to join Aly Kat Too at Ilfracombe for four days sharking way out past
Lundy Island.
Before we even started ou we had the news that Dai could not make it due to health issues but at the last minute Mick persuaded a friend, Mike who lives near Ilfracombe to join us. Then, as the tail of a hurricane was expected to give us lots of nasty weather, the Sunday was cancelled. Ok so the five of us stayed over on Wednesday night and joined the boat at 6.00 am. Thursday and loaded up with all the gear and boxes of frozen mackerel. It was over two hours pushing a through a heavy sea to get to the area but once we got there the weather just kept on improving. The rubby-dubby bag went over and the five shark rods were set out. Then we all took turns (twenty minutes at a time) to take charge of the shark rods). Those not actually sharking were free to fish for other species (as long as we made sure not to interfere with the shark gear. Malcolm (our crewman) kept busy, mashing up the mackerel and chumming away like a demon. The shark fishing was not exactly successful. No sharks caught. No sharks seen. No shark runs. We did however have a bit of fun with the other rods. Lots of haddock were caught and a dab and many gurnards (grey, red and tub). We only caught one mackerel (a good job we had laoded up with frozen ones for bait). There were also a couple of poorcod and a whiting. We also had several visits from dolphins (in ones twos and threes which came very close to the boat and mmanaged to swim around and between the lines quite happily without even touching them. Fish of the day though was Dave Ball's Bristol Channel specimen megrim. This fish is not only a new record for the club but is the only megrim caught by a club member for eight years. It must alo be noted that Mick eventually caught a dab. Friday morning was another six oclock start but at least there was not a great deal to load up and the weather was much nicer so the sea was a much flatter and Aly Kat Too could really get there quickly. There were only five of us on the boat (Mike had another important appointment with a car) The same as the day before, rubby-dubby, shark rods, 20 minutes each etc.This time however,on Roy's second stint on duty there was a run, a good take, a hookup. ![[Roy with Bluey]](images 2014/Roy Blue Shark.jpg)
Then came a cool calm performance by Roy with a fair bit of frantic activity from the rest of us getting the other rods reeled in and put in safe places, whilst trying to see what was going on and at the same time keep out of the Roy's Dave's and Malcolm's way. Finally after several powerful runs Dave and Malcolm lassoed the fish and heaved a 139 lb (calculated) female blue shark aboard. Unfortunately that was the only bluey we had although another one came along and showed in the slick but obviously did not fancy our nice mackerel baits. The other rods were a bit disappointing with only a few dabs, dogfish, gars, grey gurnards and whiting turning up. Note - Mick caught more than one dab. We did see the dolphins again and Dave cooked up some of the haddock for us for our lunch mmmmmmm! Saturday was too windy for sharking so we did the next best thing, got up a bit later, on the boat at eight of the clock and went a few miles offshore for tope. There were only five of us though because Ricky was called into work. The tope were a bit shy so we only caught two small ones (about 12lb) between us but there were also some nice bullhuss a few cod, dogfish, a tub gurnard, pollack, a spotted ray, a thornback ray, and late in the day lots of big mackerel turned up which we would have had far more use for earlier. Mick also insisted that I record the last fish of the day which was his DAB. Great trip - A big blue - Club record Megrim - Good company. Maybe next year!! [Report by Jim] |
Sunday July 20th - Hayling (Northney) - Trio III (Bumble)A quiet day off Hayling |
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12 anglers of mixed age and fishing experience had a very enjoyable days fishing with Bumble, on Trio out of Northney.
The only disappointment was the lack of fish caught, with several people failing to catch anything at all. We only had 4 smoothound and 1 tope, along with a small number of mackerel, scad and bream. A couple of the people caught their first smoothound which was fun for them. The trip was ended suddenly when the thunder storms that we could see in the distance overland decided to head out to sea in our direction Phil had mackerel, scad, bream and tope and I had mackerel, scad, common and starry smoothound. [Report by Gavin] |
Sunday July 20th - Hayling (Northney) - Valkyrie 6 (Glenn Cairns)Smooth and blonde |
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Another fine day on Hayling on Valkyrie 7 skippered by Glenn Cairns.
Mackerel have been so scarce in the area this year that we had a few unsuccessful little dabbles during the day whenever Glenn was anchoring. So it was straight to the rays, plenty of tide to start with but fortunately the biggest fish were hooked as the tide slackened. We fished for rays all through the slack and the beginning of the next run and then went further inshore to look for some hounds. The smoothhounds were patchy with two or three on at the same time then a big gap between catches. During the day there were not a huge number of fish caught but there were hardly any small fish. We had half a dozen decent blondes (up tto 20lb), a 10lb undulate, about a dozen smoothhounds (biggest about 10lb) and a couple of tope (7 or 8lb) and there was only one dogfish, one mackerel, one pout, and one small pollock. Biggest fish was my blonde ray and the species champion (four including the only Undulaate ray) was Andrew Ackland with four. We caught some nice fish, it was sunny, it was reasonably flat, so a good day AGAIN. [Report by Jim] |
Friday 18th July 2014 ,Porto Rico (Gran Canaria) Blue Marlin 3 (Moski and Andy)Phil sneaks off and injures himself |
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After a week of deliberately getting on the Mrs' nerves , I was finally excused from pool side.
Not bad at 70 euros each for the day I thought. Trolling whilst looking at the whales, dolphins, turtles & flying fish whilst drinking ice cold beers & picking at the buffet. The Spanish boats worked as a team & radioed each other if they spotted a bait ball , whale or skipjacks etc There were catches elsewhere of dorado, wahoo, spear fish ,marlin (tagged & released), where our boat caught skip jack tuna and 7 no. albacore tuna weighing approx. 15kg to 25kg. My biggest albacore being 20kg. Quite a pleasant day & something I could quite easily get the bug for whilst fishing in bare feet. What wasn't so pleasant was whilst raising the fish flags in the chop of the entrance to the port. One of the Igloo fish boxes full of 80 kgs of albacore slid along the deck & stubbed my right big toe. So back to poolside I did go to sip mojitos to relieve the pain. [Report by Phil] |
Sunday July 13th - Dover - Jolly Fisherman (Paul Alexander)Must fish harder |
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The day started out with Paul warning us that the fishing would be HARD, "You will earn every fish you catch today" he said.
It was a great day to be out on the sea even if it was a bit damp at times. There were few more waves than expected and
the water was quite coloured.
The first problem was finding a few mackerel for bait. The few mackerel that were about were huge but hard to find. We gave in after catching only half a dozen and then went off to the Blonde ray mark. Unfortunately either they wer not in the mood, we were totally incompetent or they hd gone away for their holidays. Next step was to catch sand eels for bass baits. At least that went well. We filled the bait tank in good time with saandeels and bigger launce AND also got a load of mackerel for thaose who wanted a few for he table. The downside was that if you let you feather stay near the bottonm for any length of time the weevers threw themselves onto the hooks. Having seen the effects of a weever's defence system laast time at Dover, we all took great care not to get spiked. When the tide was right we changed to bass tackle and visited all Paul's favourite inshore bass marks. Close in, further out, wrecks, banks, holes, and rough ground all gave us the same result. The bass too were not going to co-operate. All told we had a few bass, a couple of dogfish, a load of sandeels and launce, plenty of mackerel and far too many weevers. Biggest fish was Ron Baileys's bass of 5lb and the poins for most species went to Roy Hebburn who got 5. [Report by Jim] |
Sat/Sun 5/6 July - Plymouth - Aces High ( Iain Holman)BCC CONGER CHAMPIONSHIP |
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Mick Doody, Peter Thatcher, Chris Goddard and Roy Hebburn fished the BCC Championship as individual members and as the
GCSAC team at Plymouth on July 5th and 6th.
The weather looked set fair but on the Saturday all the competition boats returned to port after 45 minutes agreeing the sea was too heavy to anchor to a wreck. Undaunted the GCSAC team prevailed upon Ian, the skipper of Aces High, to take us general fishing in the sheltered Plymouth Sound. We procured live sand eels and rag worm and proceeded to have an entertaining day in sunny weather with a gradually reducing sea drifting a number of reefs. We took many Pollack up to 10lb on light gear as well as Mackerel, Ballan and Cuckoo Wrasse, Poor Cod and Pout. Sourcing our bait for the following day turned out to be particularly fortuitous. Roy had the biggest fish and most species with five. Sunday dawned bright and calm. All boats left port by 7.30am and we were again on Aces High. Mackerel were as rare as hen's teeth so we proceeded to our distant wreck which we drifted with feathers until it was time to anchor. The Whiting were prolific and large and whilst we caught a dozen or so Mackerel we were grateful later for our stock. We also had Pout, and solitary Pollack and Poor Cod. The anchor went down and Mick was first into a large fish which soon parted company. Suspected to be a Shark it made short work of his 400lb trace! A slow but steady stream of quality Conger and Ling were taken which included a very large Eel to Chris which we took on board for weighing. But after two hours the wreck "died" so two hours later we moved yet further out to try our last hour and a half on a bigger wreck. It turned out to be a wise decision because we hooked many more eels, about a dozen of which came to the boat. Chris's Conger weighed five hours after capture at 59lb 13oz and transpired to be big enough for Chris to be overall winner of the BCC Competition. The GCSAC Club team with 15 eels were runners up in the team competition which was most pleasing. If only we had managed to keep two more out of the wreck! A great and successful weekend. Chris had 6, Mick 4, Peter 3 and Roy 2. Aces High won 'Top Boat' when the 6 other Congers to the two other anglers aboard were taken into account. Ian was a great skipper. [Report by Roy} |
Sunday 29th June - Poole - Danny Boy II (Terry Allen)The best of a bad job |
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We had been due to fish the Poole Species Competition on Danny Boy II and the skippers plan for fishing that day looked
excellent with a very wide variety of species that were to be targeted.
After the cancellation of the competition we thought it would be interesting to see how many of the species in his plan we could actually catch, so this trip was booked. The 5 of us (Me, Phil, Richard Warner, Bob Jenkins and Brian Collett) caught very few fish and a total on 9 species (Bream , Plaice, Pollack, Pout, Ballan and Corkwing Wrasse, Sand and Black/Common Goby and a Short Spined Sea Scorpion) Brian Collett caught the most species (7) and I caught the biggest fish, a plaice about 2lb. [Report by Gavin} |
Sunday 29th June - Littlehampton - Jenifers Pride (Steve Edwards)A "patchy" day |
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A very pleasant day on Jenifers Pride at Littlehampton.
We were warned that Mackerel were notable by their absence and general fishing was patchy at best. But we had a steady day with good Smoothounds, sizeable Bream and Dogfish feeding on and off throughout the day. We anchored to a patch of rough ground and an early Bass of 4lb 8oz to Alan gave us encouragement. We were told to expect Tope and indeed several suffered bite throughs, but the lack of fresh mackerel meant that none came on board. Quite a few Smoothounds were caught (and lost!) the best going 8lb 1oz to Chris Goddard. Linda had the best of the many Bream caught at nearly 3lb. Everyone had dogfish but in addition Nigel has a strap Conger and Roy a lonely Plaice. Right at the end of the day a shoal of Mackerel came through and those who wanted some for tea enjoyed some sport. Chris's 'Hound was the largest fish of the day and he shared most species at 5 with Roy. [Report by Roy} |
Sunday June 22nd - Hayling (Northney) - Valkyrie 7 (Glenn Cairns)Sun and Rays |
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A great day out of Hayling on Valkyrie 7 skippered by Glenn Cairns.
Mackerel had been very scarce but we found a good shoal at the Nab where we caught enough for bait as well as a few Scad, Pout and a schoolie Bass. We motored out about 5 or 6 miles and anchored down for Tope and Smoothies. Apart from one small Tope to Peter Talbot they did not show but Peter did also manage a 10lb Undulate whilst others had Dogfish and Bream. We ventured further out to the Overfalls hoping for Blonde Rays as the tide started to ease. Straightaway we hooked into three, two of which were landed. They weighed 21.5lb and 19lb to Farooq and Roy respectively. Brian Collett hooked into a very lively Tope which weighed in at 32lb the largest fish of the day. Things then quietened down and to get away from the Dogfish and Bream we moved inshore off Selsey where we found some nice Smooth Hounds. The best Starry at 15lb fell to Roy and Mick had a Common of 9lb. A couple of nice Spotted Rays were caught as well as ever present Bream and Dogfish. All in all an excellent day with Mick and Roy taking 7 species each, [Report by Roy] |
Thursday June 19th - Dungeness - Fair Chance (Gerry Oiler)BADSAC trip out to the mid channel sand banks for Plaice and Dabs. |
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Brian Collett and I were the only GSAC members on board.
The day could not have started better, fine weather and a wonderfully calm sea. We traveled out to the banks and managed to catch some Mackrell (my first of the year) for bait along with the lugworm and squid we had brought with us. Having changed rigs we began our drift for the Plaice and were not disappointed, within a few minutes the first fish was on board and so it continued all day, sometimes with few bites and sometimes plenty. A couple of times the drifts took us off where we needed to be so it was all up and Gerry Oiler replaced us on the correct position on the bank. Whilst there were no exceptional fish caught, biggest plaice 2lb 12oz, and the dabs were in comparative short supply overall the quality of the fish was better than last year, a total of 100 plaice were caught along with dabs, red and tub gurnard (red to me), greater and lesser weaver, a codling (to Brian) and some nuisance whiting. Indeed a smaller selection of species than normally encountered (and no dogfish). As we journeyed back to shore we could see plenty of rain falling ahead but even this we managed to almost miss with only a slight shower catching us. All in all a very enjoyable day's fishing. [Report by Bob Jenkins] |
Monday June 16th - Milford Haven - White Water (Andrew Alsop)Ricky gets his first porgi (and his second and third) |
![[Porgy]](images 2014/Ricky Porgy 3.jpg)
White Water is a great great boat especially set up for sharking. Twin 200 Honda engines so even tho 50 miles out only
took hour and a half.
The weather great. Cos I wanted a porgi he said we would trawl first to cut out the blues even tho it's early in season for blues there. Started trawling and within 15 or 20 minutes it was "FISH ON" (porgi about 90 lb). Cos I got my Porgi we then set up drift. He really put a lot of effort in, not just chum, but constantly putting in oil and bran as well as by ladle. Half hour on the drift and "FISH ON" again, about 30lb, then blue 40lb with no nose. ![[Ricky and Porgy]](images 2014/Ricky Porgy 2.jpg)
Then the big one (170lb), an hour of pure pain. (While this one was on, another porgi eatimated at 250 plus came up to the side of boat.) Then a porgi about 120 was on. Then it went quiet, which I was glad of, cos I couldn't do another. ![[Ricky and Porgy]](images 2014/Ricky Porgy 1.jpg)
GREAT TRIP - WELL HAPPY [Report by Ricky] |
Sunday June 15th - Dover - Jolly Fisherman (Paul Alexander)Bass without Blondes |
![[Mick with 2 bass]](images 2014/Mick Basses.jpg)
The plan was to fish for the bass while the tide was right and to anchor down fo the blondes when there was too little.
As it turned out we coulld not effectively fish the bass while the wind was with the tide because we covered the ground
too quickly.
The blondes failed to appear but we had no problem getting mackerel and sandeels for bait although Mick went very quiet for a while after he caught a weever aand it got him in the hand. When the tide got away again the drift was still a bit fast and the water a little too cloudy but we managed to get a dozen bass. All the bass were quality fish (smallest about 5lb) and practically everyone got at least one to taake home. The other species caught were dogfish, pout, scad and weevers. Biggest fish was Mick's bass of 9lb 4oz and Mick and I both managed six species [Report by Jim] |
Mon-Thur June 9-12th Minehead - Aly Kat Too (Dave Roberts)Aly Kat Species Competition at Minehead. |
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Mick and I spent four days down at Minehead on Dave Robert's new catamaran (it is a great boat, comfortable and fast).
Most of the other guys that were on the boat were ex-police and they were a good bunch to fish with. We have already agreed to try and make it for the same event next year We had one damp day, one horrendously wet day, and two sunny days AND no seriously windy days. The waater was clear (thats bad for fishing in the Bristol Channel!). We did learn a lot over the four days and did not disgrace ourselves. Most days we were both in the top half of the score board and between us caught 15 species (bullhuss, cod, conger, dog, tub and red gurnard, mackerel, pollack, poorcod, blonde and thornback rays, rockling, scad, smoothhounds and ballan wrasse). Both of us added a couple of species to our list for the year and had a great time. The "Old Ship Aground" is under new management and the food in there is really good (as is the casserole aboard Aly Kat Too). [Report by Jim] |
Saturday June 7th - Weymouth - Offshore Rebel (Paul Whittall)Southerly wind caused cancellation. |
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A wonderful day wrecking at Weymouth aboard Offshore Rebel expertly skippered by Paul Whittle. First stop just off the Bill for Mackerel
which were so abundant it only took us 5 minutes to fill a box with sufficient bait for Conger and Ling fishing.
We steamed 25 miles to the first wreck to which we anchored as we lost the ebb. Despite it being a 'gentle' wreck the fishing was far from easy as we encountered many snags. Expectation was for Ling but relatively few were caught the best being a magnificent 22.5lb specimen to Bob Jenkins. The Conger were not prolific either but some came on board, the best going an estimated 35lb to sea novice 'Wiff', Pete Thatcher's friend. We then steamed half way to Alderney to drift a couple of wrecks for Cod and Pollack as the flood started. Timing was perfect and the Cod fishing was prolific, the best going 15lb to Roy Hebburn. A few Pollack came on board the best about 10lb to Mick Doody. Mention has to be made of Jai (?), Paul's Thai Partner. She was spectacular as deckhand, preparing the bait, landing the fish, bleeding, tagging and then expertly filleting them after which she packed them on ice. She kept the boat clean, served us tea regularly and at the end of fishing drove the boat on the 2 hour steam back. Top notch!! This was a Bisley trip, but for GCSAC members Mick and Peter shared most species on 5 each, and Mick had the biggest with a Conger estimated at 30lbs. |
Saturday June 4th - Hayling - Sportsmans KnightDone by the Weather |
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Brian Collet and I travelled to Portsmouth to start the day with a mild breeze of only about 3mph but was forcast to
increase to 16+ by about 4pm. This was not to be a usual Peter Bass trip but a general fishing trip with the hope of
finding some Rays, Bream etc.
Due to the forecast we headed towards The Isle of Wight trying for some Mackrel for bait. None about, not too good. The wind was all ready beginning to pick up so we played safe and headed into the Solent. All started well and beside the odd Dogfish, Pout etc it was not long before I landed a nice Thornback Ray of some 5-6 Lbs. Signs looking good, but I peaked too soon! That was the one and only Ray seen all day. The wind increased much earlier than expected and by mid day was at about force 5. We continued fishing with the only notable catch being Brian's Garfish. We had a number of fish chasing our small Bream, Pout etc as we brought them to the surface but none actually grabbed our catch. A larger fish would have been appreciated. Eventually after hearing of conditions out on the banks and conditions in the Solent deteriorating (raining on both Ryde and Portsmouth, but not on us in the middle) we gave up at about 3.30pm and were on out way home before 4.30. Not the best of days but an additional species for both of us on our species list for the year. [Report by Bob Jenkins] |
Sunday May 25th - Dover - Jolly Fisherman (Paul Alexander)A French incident |
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A window in the weather gave us clear blue skies, sun and light winds so we sailed from Dover confident that our plan of bagging up lure fishing for Cod and Bass on the French side would work.
But 'Johnny Foreigner' scuppered our plans! We had taken a few Cod in the heavy tide which was just fining down for a perfect few hours fishing when a French Fisheries Protection vessel ran us off 'their' water. We were perfectly entitled to be there but Paul, our Skipper, decided against arguing the finer points of sport fishing with machine gun toting morose garlic eaters. So we ran for home getting to the midway point a few hundred yards in front of them. The lure fishing on the English side was less productive so we went looking for some bait fish using feathers. Paul did well to find Mackerel and Sandeels on the Varne banks where we anchored down catching various bottom feeders but none of the hoped for Blonde Rays. Gavin Thomson had six species and Peter Talbot the biggest fish with a 4lb 2oz Gallic Cod. We wuz robbed! [Report by Roy] |
Saturday May 21st - Hayling - Sportsmans KnightBass Bass and Ballans |
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The weather started off good at 7.15, but not bright or too warm, it improved a little during the day, at least we had no rain.
The fishing was about the same a few Bass up to about 3lb. It continued in much the same fashion all day. For some reason after catching a few Bass myself I managed to collect 4 or 5 Ballan Wrase one after the other, no I wasn't fishing for them I was still on live sand eel going for the Bass. I ended up with about 8 Ballan Wrasse before the end of the day. I let Brian get the biggest one of the day 4lb 4 oz. The five crew on board had 76 Bass between them, and Peter Killshaw about another 14. All in all everyone enjoyed a good day out, and had something for tea. [Report by Bob Jenkins] |
Sunday May 18th - Littlehampton - Jenifers Pride (Steve Edwards) and Lynander (Dick Legget)First GCSAC competition of 2014 |
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We were trying out a new scoring system -
Still points based but finishing places decided by comparing each score to the best achieved on the boat. This should help nullify any disadvantage to a competitor due to the boat they are fishing from. This means that there will be always be percentage points tie between the best on each boat and the winner will be decided by total points. It will at least make it easier to calculate the best competition angler for the year (Just add the percentages). It was a beautiful day with a flat calm sea, clear blue sky, a gentle breeze and a bright yellow sun (which did cause a few bright red necks) I cannot give a detailed report of the fishing because I was concentrating on catching fish but everyone seemed to enjoy the day. The results were. First - Roy Hebburn (Jenifers Pride) - 345 points 100% Second - Mick Doody (Lynander) - 202 points 100% Third - Gavin Thomson (Lynander) - 196 points 97% Biggest fish - Peter Talbot (Jenifers Pride) - 15lb 11oz undulate ray [Report by Jim] |
Saturday 17th May - Littlehampton - Lynander (Dick Legget)Practice for the competition |
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One of those great days out at sea even though Dickie (our skipper) seemed to think the fishing was aa bit disappointing.
Lovely weather warm but not too hot and a nice flat sea. We did have quite a few bream (up to 3lb) and an Undulate as well as a couple of small conger, three dabs, lots of dogfish, a pollack, a score or more pout an undulate ray, a smoothhound and a ballan wrasse and wee all enjoyed the day. Biggesst fish was my undulate of 12lb 8oz and I also had six species. [Report by Jim] |
Sunday May 11th - Hayling (Northney) - Valkyrie (Glenn Cairns)Cancelled - Wind!! |
Saturday 3rd May - Littlehampton - Jenifers Pride (Steve Edwards)A VERY early start |
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Due to circumstances beyond his control Steve had the eight of us on the boat at 05:15 (thats a 3:30ish alarm for some).
Our first target was the bream so off to the Kingmere we went. We had not been at it very long when we were boarded by the fisheries people. It was not a shock because it had been arranged in advance. They hve recruited four local skippers to tag bream on the Kingmere during May (250 fish each) to find out more about there movements and the impact of leisure fishing on them. They were telling us and Steve about what they knew so far and Steve (as a charter skipper and ex-commercial fisherman) tried to correct a few of their misconceptions. Anyway we caught a few bream, tagged about 25 and kept a few for the table. When the tide slackened we statrted swinging about on tthe anchor and losing tackle so we moved inshore of the main reef to try for plaice, rays and hounds. No rays, no hounds BUT other species made up for it a bit even though the fishing was a bit slow. We had a few more bream, a brill (nearly 4lb), dogfish, tub gurnard, plaice, pollack, pout, turbot (5lb) and ballan wrasse. Biggest fish was my turbot and I also managed to fluke six species. [Report by Jim} |
Friday March 7th - Hayling (Northney) - Valkyrie (Glenn Cairns)Cancelled - Too wet and windy |
Sunday April 20th - Littlehampton - Lynander (Dick Legget)Cancelled - Nasty case of wind |
Wednesday 23rd April - Littlehampton - Jenifers Pride (Steve Edwards)More bream |
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Still being keen after their recent trips four club members (Jim, Mick, Roy and Peter) arranged an extra day out
on Jenifers Pride. We were joined by two from one of the JP's regular individuals (Harry and Wayne).
The weather was OK. A bit of a choppy ride out but it was alright oncce we were at anchor. Straight into bream. They were not huge but there were a few males about the two or two and a half pound size and we had a few female. All the females and most of the males went back. We fished for the bream until the slack tide and then the anchot was hauled and we drifted with tthe wind as we turned our attention to the plaice. We only caught half a dozen or so plaice and four dabs and all the flatfish were a bit too small to eat (apart from one big dab that Roy caught) and they all went back to grow on Having had enough bream, when we got some tide again we targetted rays and smoothhounds. Then after an unsuccessful hour or so it was time to prepare the bream we had kept and clean up a bit as we headed back in. Between us we caught six species - bream, dab, dogfish, garfish, plaice and pout. Biggest fish - who knows! - it was a bream but we did not weigh any of them and I had five species (no garfish). [Report by Jim} |
Saturday 19th April - Aberystwyth - Celtic Spirit (Sean Roache)Welsh trip |
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Whilst visiting the middle lad in university & rather than spend another day in the pubs & restaurants, I managed to
drag the Evans lads on a short inshore trip out of Aberystwyth over the Easter period.
I was enthusiastic, they were't & neither was the skipper but I talked them all into it. The skippers talked some
mates & his Mrs into coming & off we went.
Rhys had common blennies, dabs, whiting, lsds & bull huss. Lewis had blennies, dabs, whiting, & lsds Liam , dabs, whiting & lsds (when he took his hands out of his pockets). I had blennies, dabs, whiting, lsds, bull huss & a 20lb tope (biggest caught). The idea of fishing for small stuff was bait fish for the tope as it was supposed to be too early for mackerel but the others fished for the mackerel & caught a few in the afternoon. Skipper was pleased as we had done better than he thought we would for this time of year. So I may give it a bash again end of May when I return & pick Rhys up. The tope, bull huss & monkfish fishing hots up apparently if anyone fancies it? Aberystwyth, Westest Wales, is not the easiest of places to get to, I must admit, but might as well have a dabble while I'm down there. [Report by Phil} |
Sunday April 20th - Littlehampton - Lynander (Dick Legget)Bream Galore |
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What a great day. Rained (Poured!) but we had fish. The weather forecast was bad at first but getting better as the day went on. The choice was cancel or have a late start. No contest!. The eight of us were on the boat and heading out just after 11.00am. It started out raining and kept on for about five hours which helped to flatten the sea and the conditions improved all day until we came back on a virtualy calm. Lynander was the only boat out from Littlehamton - all the other crews had wimped out and so misssed out on a great days sport. We were into quality bream straight away and they just kept coming. We kept a few of the larger males to take home but returned most of the uninjured ones. Most of the bream were between two and two and a half pounds. I suppose we must have put back nearly 100. As the tide turned and we swung in towards the rock a few worms attracted a few good sized wrasse (up to 3lb) and during the day some pollack also made an appearance (they were not huge but good eating size). Dangling a bait in midwater also found a couple of garfish. AND the pout pretty well left us alone (only 5 or 6 caught all day). Biggest fish was a close call, my bream at a shade over 3lbs just beat Roy's ballan wrasse which was just a bit larger than half a dozen other large bream and the biggest pollack. Mick and Roy shared the honours for most species. A fantastic day of bream fishing - GOOD call not to cancel - THANK YOU Dickie [Report by Jim] |
Sunday 13th April - Dover - Jolly Fisherman (Paul Alexander)Sun and Sea and Bass and Cod |
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This was originally booked as cod trip but Paul gave us notice that we would be going to try for a few Bass as well.
Because of the "May weed" the water clarity kept changing so we moved about between three or four different wrecks.
We would have fish then they would go off and Paul would move the drift to one of the other wrecks. We were all using artificials (side-winders, storms, lead heads etc). Linda seemed to be the best at the cod getting one practically every drop but everyone had plenty to take home. None of the cod were particularly large but all were of a good eating size 3-4lb. The bass were not quite so plentiful but what they lacked in quantity the maade up for in quality. The biggest two both weighed in att 7lb 8oz and all of them wwere in fantastic condition. The only other species that turned up were a few pout, one whiting aand a little tub gurnard. Mick Doody and Phil Evans haad the two big fish and Phil also hadd the most species (4) All in all an excellent days fishing. Full marks to Paul for keeping us on the fish all day. Lokking forward to our next Dover trip (May 25th), Cross fingers for the weather. [Report by Jim] |
Thursday 10th March - Littlehampton - Jenifers Pride (Steve Edwards)THE BREAM ARE IN |
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Being in need of more fishing I booked myself on to one of Steve's regular Thursday individuals trips. As Harry ALWAYS says "A lovely day". BUT we also had fish. Steve had a plan. First - we went to the rock and joined a lot of others trying for bass. We did not catch many but most of us got at least one and a lonely pollack also came aboard. We did see a couple of the little commercial boats hauling in BIG bass (double figure maybe?) but they were float fishing with fair sized pout and whiting while we were all using stingers. Scond session was on the edge for bream which were not exactly suicidal. The biggest one weighed in at 3lb 8oz (down to me). Young Ollie (Sunday name Oliver), who is only six, got the hang of it and not only caught some bream but, all by himself, caught the only cod - Well done Ollie. We finished up with about half an hour or so plaice fishing and actually had a few of those to add to the bag. A great day out - Steve's plan came together. [Report by Jim} |
Wednesday April 9th - Hayling (Northney) - Valkyrie 7 (Glenn Cairns)Plenty of Pollack |
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Peter and I joined pne of Glenn's "Individuals" wrecking trips.
No wind and a nice flat sea so a comfortable two and a half hour trip out into the channel. The water looked a bit
clearer than of late but Glen was clearly concerned that it might still be a bit to cloudy for the artificials.
We got nothing at all from the second despite losing a few sidewinders. Glen clearly said "Its ony a small tide so we can anchor all day if we have to". ON THE THIRD WRECK we got into fish straight away and Glen said "thats more like it" and developed a big grin. The fish continually to come on every drift until we packed in and started gutting and filleting as we headed for port. EVERYBODY had caught pollack, with a lot of them in the 5-10 lb range. Biggest fish wweiged was one of 13.5 lbs to a guy called Wolseley but everyone had plenty of fish to take home. Peter and I did not weigh any of ours so we called it even between us. [Report by Jim] |
Sat/Sun 5/6th April - Weymouth - Wild Frontier II (Clem Carter)Southerly wind caused cancellation. |
Sunday 16th March - Dover - Jolly Fisherman (Paul Alexander)A lovely day trying to catch cod. |
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Apparently the previous day had been pretty hopeles for all the boats that fished inshore so Paul headed the boat out to sea to see if we could do better out there. A bit bumpy on the way out but nobody fell over and nobody was sick. It was the end of the ebb tide when we started fishing and the water was much cloudier than we had hoped so it was not a great surprise when the artificials failed to do the business. It was a bit disappointing when the worm baits also failed to produce much (apart from doggies and pout) although a couple of sizeable whiting also turned up. Then as the tide got away it was back to the artificials which finally produced a few codling (on sidewinders) although most were too small to keep. Then as the drift got too fast and the codling stopped we went inshore near the harbour entrance with baits but that, as expected, only meant dogs and pout with the occasional whiting. At the end of the day ther were only 4 species caught. Three (Roy, Mick and myself) had the full set and the biggest fish was one of my codling (four and a half pounds). A very enjoyable day out on the sea in the sunshine drinking copious amounts of tea and coffee. [Report by Jim] |
Friday 14th March - Dover - Ocean Warrior (Dave Elliot)The first club coalfish for years |
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Trip: Individuals with Ocean Warrior 3 Newhaven Farooq Shah and I went on a mid channel wrecking trip, targeting Pollack. Gratefully, there was absolutely no wind but this had been replaced by thick fog. We managed to steam out 2.5 hours to the first wreck for the Pouting to get the sidewinder lures as soon as we hit the bottom. Eventually we had a trickle of tide and one or two Pollack, for 9 anglers, per drift. On our third wreck, my rod doubled over 30 winds up. The fish stripped the braid down to the backing before I could turn her. This happened twice again whereby I would manage to get back a significant amount of line and the fish would crash dive back to the deck. Eventually we got her to the net. It is the largest Coalfish caught on Ocean Warrior 3 and made the Sea Angling News cover page for April. Farooq caught one Pollack at 9lb and several Pout. I caught the 16lb Coalfish (Biggest of the day), 3 Pollack (Between 6lb and 9Lb) and again several Pout. [Report by Tabish] |
Friday 13th March - Littlehampton - Jenifers Pride (Steve Edwards)Foggy Foggy day! |
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Earlier in the week, a phone call from Steve gave two of us a chance of a day out on Jenifers Pride. When we phone Steve the night before, he us warned us that fog was forecast and to take care on the way down. We both arrived in plenty of time but a couple of the others only made it by foregoing breakfast. It was a great day out because the sea was like a millpond, although it was exceedingly foggy all day. The sun did peek through for about half an hour and then completely disappeared again. Roy and I did not catch a lot. He had a relly good undulate ray (14lb 4oz) but I only managed dogfish and (very small) whiting. The other four guys on the boat did a bit better. There was a very sizeeable whiting, a nice thornback, a 5lb cod and 3 congers (biggest 45lb) Then we came back to the mooring using the navigator (even in river entrance) because it was so foggy. As soon as we got inland (before Bury Hill) there was no fog at all so a much esier drive back. [Report by Jim} |
Sunday 9th March - Littlehampton - Jenifers Pride (Steve Edwards)Five go to Littlehampton |
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A beautiful day out with Steve Edwards from Littlehampton and fish to report as well! We stopped about 5 miles offshore over a hole hoping for Conger or Rays. We were however frustrated by hoardes of small Whiting. So much so we moved another 4/5 miles offshore where there were a lot fewer Whiting but Conger and Rays were there and in fighting form. Mick Doody took honours for the day with the biggest of his 2 Conger guestimated at 40lbs, a 13lb 10oz Thornback Ray, a 12lb 6oz, Undulate Ray, Pout, Whiting and Dogfish. Peter Talbot had a nice Undulate of 12lb 7oz plus Whiting and Dogfish. Roy Hebburn had 6 Conger to 35lb plus Whiting and Dogfish. Jason Weller had 3 Congers plus Whiting and Dogfish. Chris Goddard had 1 Conger plus Whiting and Dogfish. All Conger and Rays were returned alive and about 10 decent fish were lost. A great time was had by the 5 anglers basking in the unseasonal sunshine and thanks to Steve for the plentiful tea! [Report by Roy} |
Friday March 7th - Hayling (Northney) - Valkyrie 7 (Glenn Cairns)Second best option! |
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Six of us were hoping to join a few others on a wrecking trip with Glenn but due to the weather (SSW 20mph) that was out
of the question but six of us and a couple of others settled for a trip to the Nab and the overfalls for rays (and
anything else).
Bumpy on the way out but fine once the anchor went down. At the Nab Peter caught a conger of about 25 lb and I lost a small-eyed ray of 5 or 6 lbs. I know it was that big because my broken line got tangled with Mick's and he pulled it in, On the overfalls, amongst the dogfish we did manage to get a few blondes (14 - 16lbs). Biggest blonde was 16lb 4oz and there was another of 16lb and one of 14lb. Only 4 species actually caught (dogfish, pout and blonde ray and spotted ray) Biggest GCSAC fish was Peter Thatcher's eel and five of us tied for the species count with only 2 each. [Report by Jim] |
Sunday 22 February - Dover - Jolly Fisherman (Paul Alexander)Cancelled - High winds from the South and SW - Big waves |
Wednesday 19th February - Littlehampton - Jenifers Pride (Steve Edwards)A short breaak in the weather |
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A break in the weather let Peter Thatcher and myself Mick Doody fish for the second time this year.
We had a late start 9.30 great forecast sea was flat but a pea Soup. After steaming for 3.5 miles we anchored , a few whiting dogs and 1 pout came aboard. Then Peter had a 8lb undulate ray followed by mick with a 15lb undulate , Steve the skipper had 2 small undulates . As the tide changed Mick had a conger estimated at 35lb with another Undulate of 10lb. On the final count: Peter had 4 species conger 10lb. Undulate 8lb whiting and dogfish. Mick had 5 species. Conger 35lb Undulate 15lb whiting dogfish and pout What a great days fishing we did not expect to catch anything ! [Report by Mick} |
Monday 3rd February - Hayling - Valkyrie (Glenn Cairns)Cancelled due to bad weather |
Sunday 12th January - Dover - Jolly Fisherman (Paul Alexander)First of the year |
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Some of us doubted that the trip would be on, but in the event, the weather was not bad at all and we ventured
right across the channel.
The cod grounds were not producing at anchor or on the drift (with artificials) but there were plenty of whiting about. We did manage to find one cod and three pollack on a small wreck but it was hard going so we went back to baits at anchor [NOTE - the worms from "Bills Baits" were excellent] The wind was with the tide all day so fishing was comfortable and we did catch eight different species which was a bit of a surprise in January. The fish caught were: one Codling, lots of dogfish, a red gurnard, a tub gurnard (about 3lb), 3 pollack, a few poorcod, quite alot of pout and lots of whiting (to 2lb) Peter Talbot's codling was the biggest fish (about 3.5 lb)and Mick Doody and I (Jim Grant) both had 6 species. Not a bad day at all especially after all the weather. [Report by Jim] |
2013 reports HERE |