JANUARY 2010

Happy New Year to you all and tight lines for 2010. The first trip of 2010 was a magazine article for boat fishing monthly with Dave Barham and co and with the recent trips fresh in my mind expectations were high. As is always the way when you have the added pressure of performing for the cameras things didn’t go quite to plan and the fishing was nothing like it had been. We did nevertheless peg away at it and managed to catch 20 or so Pollack for the cameras with 6 or so being doubles up to 14lb ish. Not the awesome day I was wishing for but we did what was necessary for the article and made the best of a bad day. After speaking to other skippers it seemed we had all struggled and some had only seen a couple of fish all day so we didn’t fair to badly I suppose.

DECEMBER 09

Well December was a pleasant surprise for me with the weather and the fishing.

The first trip was with a few regulars and because no one had been to sea for so long due to the bad weather it was a bit of a mission to find the fish but find them we did.

We managed to catch a dollop of Pollack with some cracking upper doubles and the best 3 going over 20lb with matt hams best going 23lb 2oz and new boat record. Top man hambone that’s 2 boat records for you with your 32lb ling as well.

Two more trips in Jan that both went well including the hunting lodge club boys amongst the action catching a boat load of Pollack up to 18lb, well done boys see you again soon.

SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER, NOVEMBER 09.

September started well with Richard barrens crew on for a shark trip. 1 hour into the drift and the first shark was on and at 80lb + it was a nice one to. With a fish early on past experience suggested a good day and more sharks but it was not to be and no more runs came.

AUGUST 09

Not a great month with a fair bit of wind around.

One very good evening trip on an inshore wreck when we had 60 Pollack to well into double figures with just four anglers onboard, another trip on the reef one evening with my old mate Clive from clives tackle and bait and he managed the best of a few Pollack with a 16lber which is a superb fish from the reef.

The last trip of the month was a wreck trip with 30 odd eels to 50lb and a few Pollack on the drift.

JULY 09

Well its definitely summer because the wind is blowing like a goodun and July what should be a prime month is almost a blow out.

2 devastating trips on the shark front. The first was with a regular crowd and after waiting all day for a run we eventually get one which bites through the 300lb wire trace 5 minutes into the fight with matt ham sick as a pig after parting company with the fish.

The next trip again saw only one shark hooked but this was the one we were waiting for and after 50mins Paul James passed the rod over to his mate as he was knackered and the fish just kept diving time after time at a rate of knots like I have never seen but after one hour and 10 mins the line fell slack and once again 375lb wire trace was bitten through. I could have cried, as I would just like to have seen what we were attached to.

JUNE 09

June was an average month when the weather allowed with plenty of Pollack on the reef but no real monsters and a nice few cod about on the wrecks up east and a few eels on the smaller tides as well.

One trip stood out for me with Jon Mitchell, Barry James, Andy Gwyther and Danny b. we steamed off a bit as the weather was good and the fishing was out of this world. We managed 90 Pollack to 19lb and 20 cod to 19 lb as well with every drift seeing a stream of quality fish and an absolute dream day in the sun to boot.

MAY 09

A few reef trips in may with steady results but not really setting the world alight and the seagals girls out for a day on the reef. They managed a nice few Pollack and a nice few ling to take home and I hope they enjoyed the day as much as I did.

Some good fishing on the wrecks as well with loads of cod about and Gary [garfish] landing a beaut of 19lb and plenty of Pollack well into double figures.

The last weekend of may was the European champs out of Plymouth so the pressure was on to perform and perform we did catching 51 eels to 50lb making us top boat on day one. Day two was a bit slower as we were restricted to the rutts due to the weather but we managed 21 eels to 44lb putting us second on day two and second overall. Not bad for my first taste of the comps. Ironically one of the skippers saw fit to bitch about the small boats over the radio but my small boat landed a lot more eels than his

big boat so chin up captain, you no who you are.

APRIL 09

As usual in April you find a few nice ling around and the Plymouth command club got amongst them with a nice day up east on the wrecks with around 30 ling between 15 and 20 lb ended up on the deck falling to our drifted baits.

The reefs were starting to show a few Pollack and cod to my anglers but no monsters with Barry James catching the best cod of around 15lb.

Next crowd was Donald smiths bunch that managed lots of Pollack but all small fish that day unfortunately.

MARCH 09

March is never a good month for weather and the wind blows well usually and 2009 was no exception.

Two trips managed with a scratchy day pollackin with matt hams crowd with a few Pollack and the first nice cod of the year with a brace of 16 and 18lb.

The other trip was regulars rich tippets crew and the Pollack were not playing ball so after a couple of moves we found some ling feeding and managed to save the day with 15 or so fish to just over 20lb.

FEBRUARY 09

My favourite month for winter fishing for Pollack and this year was the same. Four or five superb trips with good numbers of double figure Pollack each day with some pushing 20lb.

The best trip was with holsworthy club and it was winter pollackin at its best with non-stop action and on several drifts we caught six 15lb + Pollack and by 2pm I suggested we headed in as we had caught more fish than we could carry. What an awesome day.

JANUARY 09

Happy New Year all. Nothing to report for Jan, as the winds did not relent.

NOVEMBER DECEMBER 08

OCTOBER 2008

Well I know its a bit early but looking at the long range forecast I have decided to come out of the water to make a few improvements to the boat, (trim tabs ect) so I don't think their will be much to report for October from here on.

Saturday 11th was the first trip as bad weather had put pay to earlier trips. with a stiff easterly I took some lads from princess yachts out chasing eels and  im sad to say it was an awful day with only one small eel landed and a nice cod of 15lb but otherwise  it was useless. I cant explain it but this year the eeling has either been superb or awful, as the next trip proved.

We anchored a wreck a few miles off salcombe and from the minute we anchored until we left it was non stop action with dozens and dozens of eels landed. we had 5 or more over 60lb, a 70lber and the best going to Billy fcuk fcuk again of 81lb. well done again mate , he is a machine this bloke with big eels always coming his way.

Well that's it , im sorry it was so long since I updated the site but I will keep on top of it from now on. Tight lines and I will see you in November hopefully with tales of the first winter pollack.

SEPTEMBER 2008

The first week in September I was on my hols with my family in Spain but I still managed to sneak off with my travel rod while the rest went shopping and I snuck out a belting mullet of 7lb 12oz. I weighed it on my scales as last year I had 2 mullet I estimated to be over 8lb so I wanted to catch a good one to weigh to see if my estimation was accurate and I now know I wasn't far out.

Anyway back home and the first trip was a sharky. We fished all day without even a sniff but just as we were thinking of doing the offsky the closest balloon started coming back towards the boat against the tide. we wound down and struck but connected with thin air. I then decided it was worth hanging on a bit longer and low and behold their in the slick was a blue of about 100lb. He circled the boat for about 30mins getting closer and closer until eventually it began attacking the dubby bags attached to the boat. At one stage we were lowering baits into its mouth with a hook in only for old fergal to spit them out again. The next thing we had lost sight of the beast when it was once again attacking the bags and I actually lifted the bag with fergal still attached half his body length out of the water. Utterly amazing and although we never caught, the anglers said it was a true sight seeing the sharks at such close quarters for so long.

Next weekend saw me and a couple of mates on a jolly chasing the old bas with a nice result. We managed 5 bass with the best two going to Billy fcuk fcuk on his bass début  of 9lb 10oz and 8lb 8oz respectively.  He is some jammy bugger but he tells me its all skill.

The last weekend was a bit of a disaster as Saturday I did the east rutts and a few wrecks for 4 small pollack. Sunday I decided to steam off a bit to try and find better results but ended up doing a 120mile round trip for about 8 small pollack, totally pants so not a good end to the month.

AUGUST 2008

Well all in all august was a late starter as I didn't manage to get out until Saturday 23rd due to poor weather and because of the prolonged break I had lost touch with the fish a bit. I tried a couple of wrecks about 27 miles from Plymouth with very poor results only to move well inshore for the last couple of hours and salvage the day with some nice pollack into double figures.

The next trip was the following Thursday evening with a steam up to the east chasing the blondes with a local club. We managed 5 blondes in the short session with the best going 22lb to shore ace Rob Wheaton.

Next was Saturday 30th with Mart Harrison's crowd on for a pollackin trip with a cracking day with loads of pollack well into doubles with the best 2 going 17lb and 18lb if my memory serves me right. Martyn fished all day for a cod but only managed pollack after pollack and he decided it was time for a snack handing me his rod and guess what I caught, you guessed it a nice big fat cod. sorry mate, your names on a spring whacker.

So august had finished with a bang and the last day was reserved for a days sharking for 3 anglers. We were well rewarded again with a marvelous blue of 71lb for Gary, another smaller one for young matt and a third fish lost shortly after the strike. A nice finish to a hard month.

JULY 2008

Well what a month its been. The first set of small tides and it was snake chasing time and the Saturday saw us on a wreck some 25 miles out with loads of eels in the 50/60lb class and the best going well over 70lb to Martin Harrison. A big well done mart what a way to qualify for the British conger club.

Next day saw a party of six anglers on a deeper one some 30 odd miles up to the east. we arrived at slack water so it was on with the pirks. One hour later and 35 cod had hit the deck with 4 of them over 20lb. I even managed a drop myself and caught the biggest one of the day at 24lb.

Then the tide started to push so it was down with the anchor and on with the eel baits. We had a good few hours of superb fishing with Bill Trevarthen {conger extraordinaire} having the biggest eel with a lunker of 72lb.

Next weekend was bigger tides so it was pollackin time and my anglers managed some cracking fish with loads  into double figures with the biggest going just short of 18lb. we also managed a few cod up to 15lb for good measure.

Well as well as predicting some big eels for July I also said we might have a stab at the old blonde ray and we managed a trip near the catlins with the cockney wizard and a few of the lads from the power station. In total we had 11 blondies with the best two going 23lb and 21lb with 6 other doubles.

Well that's it for July and if every month was like that I would be the happiest man on the planet. next month hopefully more of the same and the first of the blue sharks may have paid us a visit and maybe even a bass or two, till then keep your rods bent.

JUNE 2008

June saw the influx of large numbers of cod which was a welcome surprise with several visits to the wrecks up east producing encouraging numbers of cod between 5 and 12lb and some nice Pollack to low doubles thrown in for good measure.

The reefs up to the east started to show signs of livening up as well with a party of anglers from reading catching a fair few Pollack and ling and a nice cod in the morning and the anchor down in the afternoon for an eel or two. The eeling turned out to be a complete disaster as a lost net on the wreck saw loads of gear lost and only a handful of eels and ling landed. The tail end of June saw me have a holiday out in France with a couple of mates and yep you've guessed it more fishing but that's another story. well that's it for June, I will be back at the end of July hopefully with stories of monster eels, maybe a blonde ray or two and anything else we manage to snare, till then tight lines.

APRIL & MAY 2008

Hello readers and welcome to the first of many skippers logs on this website . I hope you will find them interesting, helpful and entertaining. I can promise you it will be honest not fantasy with warts and all.

Well here goes, the boat was lowered into the water for the first time on Wednesday 23 April and sea trials were done over the following days. now that the correct prop has been fitted she can achieve speeds of 24 knots+ and handles the sea superbly.

The first couple of trips if Im honest were pretty poor with some nice whiting, a few small ling and not much else to show for a lot of effort.

A trip up to the east saw an improvement with a good haul of ling in the 15-20lb class, but the congering was appalling with nothing more than a few straps being caught.

The pollacking by may on the reefs was starting to liven up nicely and some superb fishing was had with many fish into doubles being taken regularly.

Then saw a party of five anglers on board visiting a wreck a fair old way up to the east with an awesome days fishing enjoyed. We caught over 500lb of pollack up to 14lb and ended up leaving early because we had caught much more fish than we could ever give away so we all agreed the ethical thing to do was leave them for another day or more likely a netter!.

The eels seemed to be waking up a bit as may went on with a few inshore trips providing some good sport and eventually my crews started seeing some bigger eels in the 50lb+ class with Tommy Griffiths landing a PB cracker of 62lb, also ling up to 22lb were starting to put in an appearance.

The pollack meanwhile on the bigger tides were providing great sport consistently for my crews on one particular mark down to the west, and all of a sudden it was  June.