23/01/09 - Lavington - Merretts Lake

Weight – 41lb 6oz
Catch – 14 Bream, 11 Carp, 4 Roach, 2 Crucian
Weather – Rainy start, quickly clearing. Mostly bright & sunny.
Water Temp– 6.5c > 6.5c

An e-mail from Mark AKA "Slider" on Wednesday revealed he had the day off and would I come out to play. We eventually decided on Merritt Lake, because they allow keepnets, which apparently was important to Mark – bless!

He also felt my last blog entry was rubbish, because I didn’t mention him beating me on my "home" venue and relieving me of a golden nugget. Some people just want all the glory.

Merretts is Mark’s club water, so I needed to return the favour and beat him on his home water. The lake has 30 or so pegs, with an island at 1 end and plenty of open water. Apparently the lake had been fishing well recently, so fingers were firmly crossed for a good day. However heavy overnight rain could put a dampener on things? We chose a couple of pegs that would offer shelter from the forecast wind.

I started on the straight lead fishing double or tripe corn, whilst setting up the pole. After 90 mins I landed 4 carp and lost 1, so at least there were a few fish willing to feed.

On the pole, I set up 2 rigs to fish at 13m, which was 8ft deep. I was hoping to catch roach & skimmers, and Mark thought that we would we catch a few carp on pole line as well. The silvers rig was 0.8g Jean Francois, with .10 bottom & 22 silverfish hook & the carp rig was 4x16 Chianti, .13 bottom & 18 B911.

I cupped 2 balls of groundbait (Black Lake and Black Mussel & Squid), with a pinch of caster & pinkie. Having let that settle for ½ hour, 1st put with the silvers rigs produced a 3lb carp and the 2nd put in resulted in another about 1lb. To be honest I wasn’t expecting any carp to come over the groundbait, but since they were showing, I switched to the carp rig but never had a bite. A switch back to the silvers rig resulted in a skimmer, but bites soon tailed off.

At this time of year, it’s difficult to assess when and by how much to top up. I decided to cup a small ball, plus another pinch of casters. A few more skimmers followed, but again bites tailed off. Mark in the meantime only had a couple of carp and his pole line was only producing roach, so I made sure he knew I was battering him – that will teach him to send me cocky texts ;¬)

I felt topping up with a ball of groundbait wasnt sufficient and decided to top with some chopped worm, 20/25 caster, plus a small of groundbait. This seemed to do the trick, after an initially slow start, I had a purple patch of 30/40 minutes when every put in I was coming back with a skimmer or a carp, including 1 of 5lb, which took a while to get out on 6 elastic.

Throughout the session I was feeding my margin with caster & chopped worm, but only caught a few fish and no carp, so with an hour to go, 2 handfuls of caster, maggot & chopped worm went into the margins. In the last hour my long line became a bit dodgy, however Mark started to catch after adopting a shit or bust attitude, feeding 2 cups of fed.

My 1st put in the margin after letting the swim settle produced the biggest carp of the day at 5lb 6oz on tripe red maggot. I thought about another go, but Mark needed to go and I was more than happy with my day. My silvers net went 11lb 5oz (including a 12oz crucian that missed the keepnet!), whilst the carp went 30lb 1oz.
The majority of my fish on the pole fell to single maggot, fished mostly 1/2cm over depth, all on my silvers rig.
Mark weighed 19lb – so let that be a lesson to you! 1-1 for the year now.

As the afternoon turned to evening the wind dropped and we had a very pleasant end to the day.

My New Fishing Boat

Well it's official, with these photos I can announce the building of my new center console fishing boat.

It seems like forever in the research and design. Looking at countless numbers of other boats, new and used. Liking some hating some.

Ultimately not finding what I wanted made me design it my self.

The hull and basic design is by a Fijian company, The Fiberglass Shop. The boat is an Islander 28 Center Console.

Then I started to make changes and add things.

Like: Built in ice boxes, fresh and salt water washes, The seat in front of the console and the one behind the driver, padded coaming around the aft deck, a custom T-top and bow rail, toe slots and rod holders. The list goes on but I will post photos as the build continues.

I am also having a positive floatation alloy pod by Armstrong Nautical products, installed to mount the Suzuki 200 hp motor on.

All said and done I should get it in a few weeks. Fingers are crossed.

These two shot are before the antifouling and the top rub rail.

Antifouling and rub rail being completed.

Fishing to get out of the heat

It has been said, "fishing is a relaxing sport", but this is out of hand.

Granted here in Fiji it is summer time and it is hot. Not just a little hot, but really hot, the kind of hot that makes you move slow. The kind of hot where there is no point drying off after a shower, cause you going to be sweating in two minutes.
I was on the beach when I saw Tavaita sitting in knee deep water fishing. Then the little boy, Paris, shows up and starts splashing around and yelling. Now with all that comotion going on we all know that there is not a fish within 100 meters.
Deterred? Never.
Why? It's too damn hot to care.
Besides, if you are in the water you might as well throw in a line, you never know, you just might catch something.

Tight lines and Stay cool

Not a great success.

A bad days fishing beats a good days work

Well went out fishing last night with Mr Mark Andre, at 5.30 we grabbed a burger, and then straight out to the North Coast of jersey (Greve de Lecq Cliff mark).
Had a quick look without the gear checking if it was safe enough with swell/tide etc, then we thought we should give it a go.
We got the gear and then went up slopes through some bushes, then down the cliff. Then we arrived at the destenation, the fishing spot.
At this point all aroud us was white foam from the swell hitting against the rocks i got asked the question "Do you feel safe here" and off course i am going to say yes i am a nutcase.
So we started to fish, me only the 1 rod encase things got a bit nasty and we would of had to get off the rock's quickly. Plus my light gear wouldnt of had a chance with the conditions.
Fished it for a good hour but it just wasn't to be we was more foccused on the swell behind us to be worried about trying to catch fish. Then a big one arrived we were both waiting for it , we knew instantly to get off that rock Aasp before we were swimming.

So back up the cliff we went to the car, after getting our breath back from the trek, we decided to check out Greve De Lecq Pier but there was too many people that were already fishing there.
So we left them too it, when moving around the north coast thinking of were to go next, having very little petrol in the car we checked out Bouley Bay (not to be) then Rozel was the next option, of which we took after seing there was nobody fishing there.
So i set up my 2 rods, as Mark sets up his 4 (forgetting his rigs at home meaning he had to make them on the spot).
9pm by now both of us thinking it was midnight already we was quite shocked, so i had one out for the conger which wasnt touched all night. Then was trying for anything with the other rod, got to the point were i was using a float to catch small Pollack to keep me occupied (Mark still wanting a go with mine when his 4 rods are already out which left me with 1 rod lol). But good laugh all in all between the both of us:
5 Pollack (biggest 14......oz)
1 Dogfish
2 pout
Not quite the fishing session we was hoping for but that fishing ayyyy.

17/01/09 - Lands End - Match Lake

Weight – 3lb 12oz
Catch – 10 Roach, 2 Perch, 1 Ide, 1 Tench.
Weather – Mild. Calm to start, becoming increasingly windy & cloudy.
Water Temp– 5.5c > 5.5c
Match – Open – 11th overall.

Today’s match saw 14 of us on Match Lake that has been fishing poorly recently, but hopefully with the ice now gone it would be better. I drew peg 21, which I wasn’t completely happy with, particularly since 20 & 22 were in, so I didn’t have as much room as I would like.

Although it had been mild all week, except for a few slightly frosty nights, the water temperature was lower than I would expect, however a lot of ice would have melted during the week.

It took me an hour before I caught my 1st fish on maggot, but I struggled all match. I simply couldn’t get a run of fish together. Not many carp were caught today and even those that were caught a number were foul hooked. Although I tried for a carp, fishing corn & pellet I didn’t have a proper bite and I could only catch on maggot, using a light rig.

I had a few liners, so there was obviously a few carp in the swim, I even tried fishing mid depth with maggot without success, but they just weren’t feeding. I suspect the carp were just sitting in the swim, which was unsettling the silvers.

Rich on peg 22, came 2nd in the silvers with 13lb, whilst Alan on 20 had 20lb (incl. 3 carp, 2 of which were foul hooked).

Andy France won the match from peg 19 with 29lb.

I haven’t had such a poor run of weights for quite a while. Since the summer, the weather has certainly played its part in the poor fishing, but hopefully as we start to head towards spring things will start to improve.

Dubai and Sharja fish markets, United Arab Emirates

11/01/09 - Lands End - Johns Lake

Weight – 7lb 13oz
Catch – 2 Perch, 1 Mirror Carp, 1 Bream, 1 Crucian
Weather – 1st mild day, cloudy & windy. Lake covered in thick ice.
Water Temp– 4.5c > 4.5c
Match – Open – 6th overall, 2nd in silvers, 2nd on lake

Today was suppose to be the 4th round of the Lands End Winter League, but Mike had decided to cancel the match, due to thick ice still covering the venue. Tony Rixon decided to run a knock up on Sydney’s & Johns Lake for those that still wished to fish. Someone had to win the money, so I decided to fish.

19 of us had turned up for the 9am draw and fishing would be from 11am. Everyone wanted Sydney’s lake, but I drew peg 41 on Johns Lake. At least it was a deep peg, but the lake was very clear and I fully expected a tough match.

On arrival at my peg, I found a boat in the water and a sledgehammer on the bank. Obviously someone had already tried to test the thickness of the ice. Well I quickly jumped in the boat and set about bashing the ice, nearly tipping over at 1 point when I over extended with the hammer – which brought some amusement from those gathered on the bank! I got as far 9m, but others wanted the use the boat, so I had to settle at 9m.

At 11am I was ready, but because the ice was so thick, not everyone was, so the start time was put back 30 mins. Since I was ready to start fishing, I decided to go in search of an icebreaker to try and break the ice up to the aerator at 14m. I stood on the spit next to the aerator & it took me 25mins to break the remainder of the ice, which meant I now had a long channel, but loads of floating ice that proved problematic for most of the match.

At the all in I cupped in some chopped maggot & predator plus at 10m and a pinch of micro pellet & maggot at 14m. I only set up 2 rigs a light Jean Francios 0.2g, with .08 bottom & 22 silverfish hook attached to 4 latex and Roach 4x12, .13 bottom (later changed to .10), 20 B911 attached to doubled 6 elastic. Both rigs were light for the 6ft swim, but due to the water clarity I wanted the bait to look as natural as possible, plus I wanted 2 rigs as security just in case a few carp show.

After nearly 90 mins I was still biteless. I had swapped swims & rigs, but felt the fishing under the aerator would offer the best chance of catching. So far I had been very cautious with my feed, literally a pinch of bait every 30 minutes. Eventually I caught a perch on double red maggot on the heavy rig and then another on the light rig, before my little catching spell came to an end with a Crucian.

I really needed a few more to show, because I could see Tony Rixon & Garry Wall catching on Sydney’s and the word on the grapevine was everyone was catching on Sydney’s. So I just kept plugging away on the 14m line, still feeding a pinch of micro pellet & few maggots, hoping for the crucians to show in numbers, or even a bream.

I kept rotating rigs, trying to be patient. Fortunately I landed a 3lb carp on corn (heavy rig) and lastly a 3lb Bream on single maggot on the light rig, which pulled plenty of 4 latex, which was interesting in the ice. With that Bream, I knew I had beaten Alan Oram on peg 68, who had managed a few crucians and I was hoping I could claim the 1st or 2nd silvers prize, which I duly did with 4lb 10oz. Alan’s crucians went 4lb 6oz.

Despite all the ice, most people caught. Personally I was pleased with how the match went, although a little disappointed with a couple of lost fish and missed bites, but the fish didn’t really want to feed. Hopefully today will be the last day of thick ice as we are due to some mild weather.

Tony won the match from Sydney’s lake with 21lb and Anton Page won the silvers with 8lb again from Sydneys.

Pollack Wreck Fishing (Jan 2009)

Went out Wreck fishing yesterday i was on a charterboat (Anna 2). We left St Helier Harbour at 8am and headed out to the banks to catch some live sandeels. Started off not so well catching very little so moved on to a differnt sand bank, which was a wise move after getting plenty there.
We then steamed out to the Wreck miles offshore and then started to drift fish for some Pollack. 1st drift we had 2 Pollack biggest 16lb then we thought we were going to have a very good days fishing. Had a few more drifts with getting 1 or 2 Pollack a drift all above 10lb.

Fishing started to ease off a bit with getting 1 every other drift. Jez a angler on the boat hooked into a nice fish 30 ft or so off the bottom, and 120 ft away from the wreck, he thought it might have been a coalfish as the are known to come up off the bottom, but no it was a pollack of 18lb 4oz.

Everyones hopes were now up, should have seen Oliver Heart's face he was getting worried someone might of beat his Record. (He holds the current Jersey boat Pollack record of 21lb 14oz) - caught on the same wreck 10 years ago, and caught in January.
So all in all 16+ fish we caught (2 ling (up to 19lb) 14 Pollack (smallest 10lb) and a few Pouting.
Yet again another great day out fishing.

Video of me catching a GT in Oman

GT fishing in Oman

We have just returned from an extended vacation that included Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Fujairah. All of those are part of the United Arab Emirates. Oman, which is not an Emirate. We also toured Melbourne, the Great Ocean Road, all of Tasmania
and Sydney. Wow, that was a lot.
Fortunately we got a chance to fish for big GT’s in Oman. Now that in itself is rather special, fishing in exotic locations for Giant Trevally, but here is the kicker, we did this aboard a 41ft center console with twin Suzuki 250hp four strokes. It was fast and quiet.

Before the fish story, a little lead up to it. I was communicating with the fishing company, Ocean Active, about times and pick up when I was informed what I had heard earlier. It was the largest red tide in how many generations. The fishing has been terrible with massive fish die off’s. The deaths are due to low oxygen levels in the ocean. The red tide is so massive and thick that it uses up all of the available oxygen in the water and the fish cannot breath. They literally die of suffocation. So, we are offered our money back or postponement.
It was decided red tide or not we where going fishing.

There was no illusion about our odds of catching fish. It was going to be hard fought and few and far between.
We were picked up at our hotel Le Meridian at 6:30AM. We had to drive from the hotel in Fujairah, 35 minutes up the coast to the border check point into Oman, manned by armed military. Once we entered Oman. It was like a time warp. The United Arab Emirates are very modern and developed. New highways, giant buildings and shopping like you have never seen. Dibba, Oman on the other hand was a little sleepy fishing town. Quiet streets and lots of goats roaming around.
We arrived at the marina just as the sun was rising. What a spectacular sight it was. Giant Dhows every where, which are traditional Arab fishing boats. Long boats and center consoles. The little marina was a hive of activity and this only added to our excitement.
We settled in for a 45minute cruise up the coast to what was hoped to be a good spot to start our morning fishing.
The morning was amazing. Not a could in the sky and dead calm. It was as if we were flying over the water.
We sighted schools of Skip Jack tuna, attempted a few casts, and watched the tuna disappear.
The first spot saw the tides a bit off so it was off and flying for another 15minutes.
The second spot saw us hugging a shipping lane and drifting over a rock that rose from 100mt to 23mt.
Jigging was in order. 250grm knife jigs rigged with a 9/0 suicide hook. Long 200lb leader and 100lb braid. All connected to a Stella 20000 and a T/curve rod.
Drop down 30mt and jig them back up. Now if you have never done this type of fishing, then let me tell you. Go to the gym and start training now and maybe in 3months you will be ready. I am no slouch, but this is hard work. I am glad we did not do it all day.
On what was to be our last drift and drop, my jig was hammered. I mean it was like being connected to a freight train.
As 100lb braid peeled of the reel, I was literally dragged to the edge of the boat where I finally braced myself on the rail with my left had.
It was time for me to gain my composure and put a little hurt on this fish.
I new right away it was a GT. It fought dirty the whole way. I finally got the upper hand and then it was just a matter of pumping it up from the depths. When it finally came to the surface I think we both were done for. My arms were shaking with adrenalin and I new they would be hurting later.
A couple of photos and a quick release saw this big GT swim away stronger than me.
A few more drifts and a couple of bites but no takers. Time to move.
The next spot saw us drifting along a shear wall and chucking giant poppers at the base of it. A couple of follows and then a strike. This time I was hooked up to a Mack truck. As line peeled of again I moved myself to the rear of the boat but it was too late. The big GT found its home and won it freedom.
After that things went quiet again.
We tried a few different spots but to no avail. The water was stained red and getting worse as the tide shifted.
We decided to try a few spots on our way back. This turned into casting practice and arm training. Nothing biting and no sign of bait. It was time to enjoy the boat ride back at a leisurely pace.
Overall we had a great time and I learned a few things.
First, it is a lot of work casting big poppers for giant fish.
Second, even thought our boat was huge, its fish ability left a lot to be desired.
Third, electronics are a must for jigging. The fish finder on board this boat was wholly inadequate and mad finding marks and fish very hard.
I would definitely recommend Ocean Active to anyone wanting to fish in the Emirates. The captain F C Lubbe was knowledgeable and friendly. He even let me drive the boat.
Even though it was an off day, I could see the potential for many big fish.
That seems to be my charter curse. Every charter I have been on turns out to be the worst day of fishing the boat has ever had. Luckily I still have a good time and try to learn something from the crew or captain.
Fishing is like that, so I always keep an open mind and a sense of humor about me. After all that is why it is called fishing and not catching.

Tight lines and screaming drags
FW

08/01/09 - Bullock Farm - Rushcombe

Weight – 8lb 2oz
Catch – 54 Gold, Brown & White Goldfish, 1 Common Carp
Weather – Cold, mostly cloudy. Lake covered in thick ice.
Water Temp– 5.0c > 5.5c

You have to wonder why we do it? Instead of sitting at home in the warm, relaxing, I feel the need to go fishing in freezing conditions. The simple fact is I enjoy my fishing I want to go as often as possible.

So where to go? I considered going on the Avon at Lacock, but I wasn’t confident of catching in the current weather conditions. I also considered going to Horseshoe, but I was concerned that since the lake isn’t regularly fished the fish may have completely shut down. I settled on Rushcombe Lake at Bullocks, because it should provide regular bites.

When I arrived the ice was much thicker than expected, so much so that I could stand on it, although I didn’t stray to far the bank! I tried breaking the ice, but wasn’t getting very far. The aerator was on Match Lake, providing some ice free swims, but I decided to take the water temperature before setting up and it was only 2c. There was no way I was going to catch. All the aerator had done was circulate the cold water and proved what Tony & Des had said on Sunday at Viaduct. Checking the water temperature on Rushcombe revealed a water temperature of 5c, if only I could break the ice. At this point I spotted an overturned boat, next the shed, however it had a hole in the hull and didn’t look very sea worthy. Well I managed to break the ice to 4m, but I couldn’t push the boat beyond 4m because the boat was filling up with water and the ice was too thick.

Whilst I had a big hole to fish, I couldn’t fish any further than 4m and the swim was only 2ft deep. I only set up 1 rig, Jolly 4x10, .08 bottom and 22 silver fish hook. Initially I feed black lake slop, but felt I could overfeeding the swim, so soon switched to feeding red atomic cloud, plus a few pinkies every 2 or 3 fish. The water was clear and only being shallow I needed to patient.

After the 1st hour I had 8 fish, so I decided to target 60 fish for my 5 hour session. As the session progressed, I decided to set up a 2nd swim to the left of the 1st and I began to swap left & right to keep the fish coming.

1st hr = 8 fish, 2nd hr = 14, 3rd hr = 8, 4th hr = 12, 5th hr = 13

Best bait on the day was single red pinkie or maggot. The float had to dotted right down to see the bites and I lost a couple of fish, due to the fish being lightly hooked, but at least I caught.

04/01/09 - Viaduct - Spring

Weight – 2lb 6oz
Catch – 47 Roach, 8 Rudd, 2 Bream
Weather – Freezing, mostly cloudy with odd sunny spell.
Water Temp– 4.5c > 4.5c
Match – Veals Winter League – rd 8 – 14th overall, 6th in section

It’s been freezing cold now for 10 days or so and its really affecting the fishing. A severe overnight frost (-5c) meant all the lakes were iced over and Steve was out in his boat breaking the ice, with the aerators on.

This caused a bit of controversy, speaking to Tony Rixon & Des Shipp they had suggested to Steve to leave the aerators off to improve the fishing, preferring to break their own ice. Time would tell whether the pegs around the aerators would perform. One change from the last round was replacing Middle Lake with Match Lake, simply because Middle fished so badly last round and the current weather would probably make it worst.

I drew peg 3 on Spring, which I was happy with, but it was an island peg, when I couldn’t reach the island, although I was close to the aerator, so at least I didn’t need to break too much ice. Des informed me that on Wednesday the anglers in this area didn’t get a bite until the last hour, so a hard day was in prospect – like I didn’t already know!

I was right on the edge of where the ice had cleared and the good news was I could fish the waggler (Crystal Insert Waggler, .09 bottom & 22 match) 20/25m out, so at least I could fish beyond the pole line.
On the pole line (13m) I set 2 silver rigs, a wire roach 4x12, 07 bottom & 24 hook, with spread out styls & a Jean Francios 0.2g, .08 bottom & 22 silverfish hook with bulk & 2 droppers. There didn’t seem to be any point setting up any carp rigs, because of the weather, although I had a lead rod already set up in case I could reach the island.

At the all in, a small ball of Black Lake & a few pinkies went in at 13m, a small ball of bread crumb went in at 11m to my right and a few maggots were catapulted on the waggler line, which is where I started.
After 30 minutes I had tried all 3 swims without any bites and it was starting to look grim. A switch back to the waggler and the float didn’t settle properly because of the tiny roach attached. At least I hadn’t blanked. A few more roach came to the waggler, before bites dried up.

An hour in, I was back on the 13m pole and I still couldn’t get a bite on this line. I needed to make a decision - another ball of groundbait or some chopped maggot, which has got me out of trouble before. I decided on chopped maggot that seemed to have transformed the peg and I started to get bites every put in. As the match progressed I switched between the pole (& rigs) and waggler. I would have periods where I would get fish every cast and other periods were I couldn’t catch. I concentrated more on the waggler, because the average size of fish was better than the pole, including a couple of 4oz fish.

The pegs in my mini section, which did the best, were those anglers who had to break the ice, Rich Coles & Brian Slipper opposite the aerator struggled.

Only 27lb won the match from Campbell, with 8lb claiming 2nd. It really fished very hard with 22 blanks. With so many blanks, I was hoping to break into the top 20 for the individual league, however although I collected 10pts I slipped from 21st to 22nd. The rounds at Stafford Moor really cost me, had I collected only another 10 pts during that weekend I would have come 8th overall, which would have been a truer reflection of how my league went.

On the team front, I was the only 1 to weigh in and we finished last on the day and 11th overall, so a bit of a come down from last years league win.

1st - Chris Davis - Westerleigh 98pts
2nd - Mike Nicholls - Charlies Angels 94.5
3rd - Adam Palmer - Sedges Mosella 84
4th - Mark Broomsgrove - Sensas Thyers 83.5
5th - Tony Rixon - Avon Angling 80
6th - Ryan Shipp - Westerleigh 77 (222-5)
7th - Vince Brown - Sedges Mosella 77 (182-3)
8th - Jon Gray - Somerset Angling 75.5
9th - Eric Fouracre - Sedges Mosella 75
10th - Clayton Hudson - Avon Angling 74
21st - Ken Rayner - Maver Veals Red 66

At the end of the match I heard something which I didn’t expect, but it just illustrates how hard the fishing is at the moment. Tony Rixon may not go fishing this Wednesday, because he’s fed up with the poor weather!

After the presentations, Vince Shipp presented me with a hatful of money (literally), approximately £105 following a whip round to say thanks for organising the league. It was very gratefully appeciated.