Popular Post mike farrants Posted December 30, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted December 30, 2021 (edited) Well- with all the festivities, terrible weather, and family down I wasn't hopeful for another trip out in pugwash this year - but with Boxing day looking like the only break in the weather me and phil were on our best behaviour Xmas day and suggested a boxing day shopping trip for the other halves - permission granted and armed without new xmas fishing gloves we set of at 10am (HT) from weymouth - first for mackerel or squid, then to anchor up at a favourite mark of ours for rays, conger, gurnard, whiting etc Forecast was 6-7mph westerly freshening to 8-10mph - plenty calm enough in Weymouth bay - once we were out it felt much calmer. We headed straight for Portland's North entrance for a few drifts, I tried for squid, while phil went with the mackerel feathers - he mentioned he was 'in' by the time i had looked round, he said "oh yes" as the rod bounced over - a string of 5 came over the gunwales, the biggest was a monster! Phil was delighted and amazed at his Boxing day mackerel - but it was short lived - that's all the mackerel we caught - and no squid - with such a lovely day & fresh bait taken care of we didn't want to waste unnecessary time drifting - so we tried the east entrance (Chequers) for 1 drift for squid but to no avail. we soon anchored up close in off Portland harbour on what turned out to be more mud than shingle in around 50ft of water, the boat settled nicely and in the sun out fo the wind there was no need for coats! lovely. we sat for a few hours enjoying the empty bay basked in sun, with a turkey sandwich and a mince pie or two = what a life! Me and phil decided the first into a dogfish would buy the first round in The Boot - we both had a mackerel bait down on the new Sakuma Manta hooks (thanks @GPSguru), and i also put the feathers down baited with mackerel belly hoping for whiting/bream/gurnard I was soon into a medium thornie, then the feathers rattled, phil had also had an enquiry so i jumped on the spare rod and promptly secured buying the first round with the days first Dog - only for phil to declare that the dog he pulled up shortly after was on for ages but he didn't want to buy the beers! I think he's played this game before. through the afternoon I had a couple of medium Thornies and a couple of Dogs, same for Phil - 1 thornie and a few dogs, to add to the mackerel he had earlier. Pondering the last drop we thought we would go big - so down went the fresh mackerel heads - wasn't long before I was in - something big - rod bent over, head shakes, taking line, convinced it was a big conger we cleared the other lines out the way - we were surprised to see a big ray come up backwards - soon on board and weighed - my PB Thornie at 14lb. after that we packed up from what was a very successful and enjoyable day and headed in to the marina for a cold one at the Boot - lovely sunset and i let phil drive the boat back to the harbour entrance - he loved it! Here's the pics for Jon What a wonderful way to end my first year of boat ownership and my 2nd year in weymouth - what a place to live! roll on 2022! Edited December 30, 2021 by mike farrants suzook12, Andy135, JDP and 5 others 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick Posted December 30, 2021 Share Posted December 30, 2021 well done getting out , nice pics,2nd to last is best ,can`t beat a nice mincepie. mike farrants 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted December 30, 2021 Share Posted December 30, 2021 Yep, gotta hand it to you - very well done. Envious of your ability to get out fishing over the Xmas period too (I'm stuck with the in-laws in Cornwall and there was no room in the car for any fishing gear 😭). Nice catches and photos. The mince pie pic was my favourite - hmmm, mince pies 😍 mike farrants 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saintly Fish Posted December 30, 2021 Share Posted December 30, 2021 Well done Mike, you continue to shame us all! Some nice rays there and wow, that was a giant mackerel. Looks like nearly a 2lb'r?? Last pic was my fav! 🍻 mike farrants 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odyssey Posted December 30, 2021 Share Posted December 30, 2021 Nice session with good company followed by a pint, very well played sir a lovely day out 🙂 mike farrants 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thejollysinker Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 cracking day out by the sound of it and some great photos too 🙂 That's a nice fish, the Thornie you caught and your mate's Mackerel looks a specimen (I think it's 1lb 14oz for the south coast). Great to see a nice end to your fishing year and hope you have a better one in 2022 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thejollysinker Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 On 12/30/2021 at 10:26 AM, Andy135 said: there was no room in the car for any fishing gear ...... what about on top? Come on Andy, you telling me you couldn't strap a rod on the roof? or secrete a reel in the glovebox..... I reckon you saw the weather forecast for the coming week and decided festivities outweighed going out and getting battered by the elements by a long chalk.... what sort of fisherman are you 🤣 Andy135 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 12 minutes ago, thejollysinker said: what about on top? Come on Andy, you telling me you couldn't strap a rod on the roof? or secrete a reel in the glovebox..... I reckon you saw the weather forecast for the coming week and decided festivities outweighed going out and getting battered by the elements by a long chalk.... what sort of fisherman are you 🤣 Who can blame him. Geoff.☺️ thejollysinker 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 22 minutes ago, thejollysinker said: what about on top? Come on Andy, you telling me you couldn't strap a rod on the roof? or secrete a reel in the glovebox..... I reckon you saw the weather forecast for the coming week and decided festivities outweighed going out and getting battered by the elements by a long chalk.... what sort of fisherman are you 🤣 Fair call. I could probably have strapped a rod on the rack alongside the roof box. But definitely no room for a stinky tackle box in the car though. Manky old bait smells on a 4 hour journey to the south-west would have the family puking 🤮🤣. thejollysinker 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thejollysinker Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 14 minutes ago, Andy135 said: Fair call. I could probably have strapped a rod on the rack alongside the roof box. But definitely no room for a stinky tackle box in the car though. Manky old bait smells on a 4 hour journey to the south-west would have the family puking 🤮🤣. family puking... I've suffered my fair share over the years... I'll let you off 🤣 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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