Teignmouth Friday 15th

[thejollysinker]

Down to the boat before dawn and got her to the pontoon for loading just in time for my mate to show up and help me load the mountain of gear for a long session.

It was misty and still and I was able to get the hammer down on the way out to some banks I had fancied for a while with the sea being almost flat calm. We stopped off at a couple of wrecks on the way out and in hindsight should have stayed for longer. We managed some pollack and big pout with just a few short drifts, biggest going 3+lbs and I lost a good fish with my drag set too tight ffs!

Anyway, with no time to spare we set off again on a SE heading to a mark  about 26 miles out. The weather was exceptional and it was a real experience to be out that far in such calm conditions. When we arrived we sent a couple of lines down on heavy gear and drifted for 1/2 hour before deciding to anchor up in front of an overfall in 180ft of water.... Well, what can I say, experience counts for a lot and with my lack of experience (or a brain for that matter), we had a hell of a job keeping a kilo of lead down with 50lb braid and a hell of a job reeling it back up, with or without a dogfish or pouting on the end 😅 Spring tides in that depth is no joke and I wasn't laughing, especially when it came to getting the anchor in....

Deciding that what were doing wasn't working well, I made the decision to up anchor and motor back inshore to some more familiar ground before the forecasted wind got up. I tried the normal Alderney ring method and moving up tide, the buoy took forever to get down the side of the boat with the rode being so taught with the force of the current and here is where it all went wrong...  as the buoy got to the stern, instead of waiting for a bit longer I gave it a bit of welly which sucked the buoy straight into the engine leg, stalling the motor and the ring got caught on the arse end of the gearbox (damaged the prop a bit too). Of course within seconds the current started to swing us around and I must admit to panicking. I threw the bait table into the boat and raised the leg then jumped into the well with my safety knife exposed ready to cut it if necessary (I would have gone in had I needed to...) but I managed to push it off before too much grip from the current took hold and the panic was over. Choice was to stay until the tide eased or pull it with some help from my crew... I went for the latter. Took nearly 20 minutes to get it to the point where it broke free and then it was back on the buoy for another pull which worked fine this time. 

We went in to this other mark only to find a trawler right on it which was disappointing so I quickly selected another possible point to drop anchor for the rest of the day. We caught the usual suspects here, Whiting (one big one), Doggies, pout and a lovely Grey Gurnard. The fog rolled in for an hour, the waves got bigger and bigger as the wind and tide increased then the fog rolled out over to Exmouth side and we decided to call it quits.

On the way in the sun was in my eyes and I concentrated hard knowing that there are 'random' buoys in the area and lo and behold, I managed to run straight over one which I saw only because I turned to check the peehole.... I couldn't believe it, here we go again... anyway, shutting the engine down quickly and me running for the transom again saw it float off harmlessly, thank goodness.

Got back in just after 7pm, used 55 litres of juice for a total of 60.9NM and none of the big fish I had dreamed about the night before 🤣

We were lucky enough however to witness a new speed record for the harbour set by some wanker in the biggest power boat I've seen on the river and by my estimates he must have hit at least 50kts down the channel between the yachts, unbelievable 🤬 I hope they have him on camera because he could easily have killed someone massaging his own ego 😔

PS. I learnt an awful lot on Friday 😐

PPS. sorry about the lack of good photos 😬

 

 

 

Edited April 19, 2022 by thejollysinker

[Saintly Fish]

Well that did sound like an exciting day. Even if for all the wrong reasons. Hey, lesson learnt and nobody got hurt, so not all bad. 
you caught some fish and had a day afloat, what's not to like??

[thejollysinker]

1 minute ago, Saintly Fish said:

Well that did sound like an exciting day. Even if for all the wrong reasons. Hey, lesson learnt and nobody got hurt, so not all bad. 
you caught some fish and had a day afloat, what's not to like??

it was and like the saying goes, 'everyday's a school day' 🙂

[Saintly Fish]

1 minute ago, thejollysinker said:

it was and like the saying goes, 'everyday's a school day' 🙂

Exactly! You are wiser and more cautious now! 

[Dicky]

All's well that ends well. Do you have a triangle on the rode to keep the buoy well in front of the boat?

[GPSguru]

4 hours ago, thejollysinker said:

Down to the boat before dawn and got her to the pontoon for loading just in time for my mate to show up and help me load the mountain of gear for a long session.

It was misty and still and I was able to get the hammer down on the way out to some banks I had fancied for a while with the sea being almost flat calm. We stopped off at a couple of wrecks on the way out and in hindsight should have stayed for longer. We managed some pollack and big pout with just a few short drifts, biggest going 3+lbs and I lost a good fish with my drag set too tight ffs!

Anyway, with no time to spare we set off again on a SE heading to a mark  about 26 miles out. The weather was exceptional and it was a real experience to be out that far in such calm conditions. When we arrived we sent a couple of lines down on heavy gear and drifted for 1/2 hour before deciding to anchor up in front of an overfall in 180ft of water.... Well, what can I say, experience counts for a lot and with my lack of experience (or a brain for that matter), we had a hell of a job keeping a kilo of lead down with 50lb braid and a hell of a job reeling it back up, with or without a dogfish or pouting on the end 😅 Spring tides in that depth is no joke and I wasn't laughing, especially when it came to getting the anchor in....

Deciding that what were doing wasn't working well, I made the decision to up anchor and motor back inshore to some more familiar ground before the forecasted wind got up. I tried the normal Alderney ring method and moving up tide, the buoy took forever to get down the side of the boat with the rode being so taught with the force of the current and here is where it all went wrong...  as the buoy got to the stern, instead of waiting for a bit longer I gave it a bit of welly which sucked the buoy straight into the engine leg, stalling the motor and the ring got caught on the arse end of the gearbox (damaged the prop a bit too). Of course within seconds the current started to swing us around and I must admit to panicking. I threw the bait table into the boat and raised the leg then jumped into the well with my safety knife exposed ready to cut it if necessary (I would have gone in had I needed to...) but I managed to push it off before too much grip from the current took hold and the panic was over. Choice was to stay until the tide eased or pull it with some help from my crew... I went for the latter. Took nearly 20 minutes to get it to the point where it broke free and then it was back on the buoy for another pull which worked fine this time. 

We went in to this other mark only to find a trawler fight on it which was disappointing so I quickly selected another possible point to drop anchor for the rest of the day. We caught the usual suspects here, Whiting (one big one), Doggies, pout and a lovely Grey Gurnard. The fog rolled in for an hour, the waves got bigger and bigger as the wind and tide increased then the fog rolled out over to Exmouth side and we decided to call it quits.

On the way in the sun was in my eyes and I concentrated hard knowing that there are 'random' buoys in the area and lo and behold, I managed to run straight over one which I saw only because I turned to check the peehole.... I couldn't believe it, here we go again... anyway, shutting the engine down quickly and me running for the transom again saw it float off harmlessly, thank goodness.

Got back in just after 7pm, used 55 litres of juice for a total of 60.9NM and none of the big fish I had dreamed about the night before 🤣

We were lucky enough however to witness a new speed record for the harbour set by some wanker in the biggest power boat I've seen on the river and by my estimates he must have hit at least 50kts down the channel between the yachts, unbelievable 🤬 I hope they have him on camera because he could easily have killed someone massaging his own ego 😔

PS. I learnt an awful lot on Friday 😐

PPS. sorry about the lack of good photos 😬

 

 

 

 

Hmmm ....... perhaps not a good idea to anchor in 180ft on a full moon spring tide 🤣😂 ....... but you were well prepared when the warp snagged, so well done on that.

I know those banks well, and I know of many anglers that have fished them, however, the only fish that seem to be on those banks are dogs and Gurnards.

I have drifted those banks a few times when shark fishing, and have never seen a fish on the sounder !

At 26 miles you were within spitting distance (3.8nm) of a line of excellent wrecks , the Regestroom, modavia, Dwyer, rosten, and lord Hailsham. All of these were liable to fish well for Pollock and sometimes Cod.

I guess the wreck you stopped at was the meatboat ?

 

 

[Andy135]

Wow! What a day! Well done for such quick thinking and glad that all's well that ends well. At least you caught some fish too - a blank day would have been unbearable 😬

[mike farrants]

size of that whiting!

[thejollysinker]

18 hours ago, Dicky said:

All's well that ends well. Do you have a triangle on the rode to keep the buoy well in front of the boat?

Indeed!

Triangle on the rode? that's a new one on me... can you explain further please?

thanks,

Gary

[thejollysinker]

18 hours ago, GPSguru said:

 

Hmmm ....... perhaps not a good idea to anchor in 180ft on a full moon spring tide 🤣😂 ....... but you were well prepared when the warp snagged, so well done on that.

I know those banks well, and I know of many anglers that have fished them, however, the only fish that seem to be on those banks are dogs and Gurnards.

I have drifted those banks a few times when shark fishing, and have never seen a fish on the sounder !

At 26 miles you were within spitting distance (3.8nm) of a line of excellent wrecks , the Regestroom, modavia, Dwyer, rosten, and lord Hailsham. All of these were liable to fish well for Pollock and sometimes Cod.

I guess the wreck you stopped at was the meatboat ?

 

 

"Hmmm ....... perhaps not a good idea to anchor in 180ft on a full moon spring tide"....  you're not wrong there Ian... I learnt a valuable lesson the hard way 🤣

You know, there's Pout on them too, small ones... caught on the 30lb class with a two hook rig and felt like a monster reeling them in 😂

Should have just made it a wrecking day by the sound of it but hindsight is a wonderful thing 😆

I still haven't got round to listing all the wrecks on my tablet and without my gps hooked up indoors I couldn't say which 'wrecks' we stopped at. Just to iterate, they were on a SE heading from Teignmouth, first one about 7 miles and the next probably 3-4 miles further? BTW, which one is the meatboat?

Edited April 19, 2022 by thejollysinker

[thejollysinker]

4 hours ago, mike farrants said:

size of that whiting!

I couldn't believe it either 😆

[thejollysinker]

3 hours ago, JonC said:

Lens magic is going on there. Yesterday @KennyPowerswas Editing my fish on his phone and made it look longer than me. 

I wouldn't know how... It takes me forever to get my photos to load as it is without buggering around with them 🤣

[Dicky]

5 hours ago, thejollysinker said:

Indeed!

Triangle on the rode? that's a new one on me... can you explain further please?

thanks,

Gary

It's basically a stainless triangle with a small loop welded on one point. You attach it to your anchor rode between the buoy and the bow of the boat. It stops the buoy being pushed up under the boat and keeps it up tide where you can see it. Makes it easier to take a wide berth when retrieving using the Alderney method. I have looked online but can't find a picture of one. I have heard of people using a stick with a couple of hitches around it to keep in place.

[Saintly Fish]

5 hours ago, thejollysinker said:

Indeed!

Triangle on the rode? that's a new one on me... can you explain further please?

thanks,

Gary

Gary, I think I have one of these triangles somewhere. If I can find it you'll be welcome to it! 

[GPSguru]

5 hours ago, thejollysinker said:

"Hmmm ....... perhaps not a good idea to anchor in 180ft on a full moon spring tide"....  you're not wrong there Ian... I learnt a valuable lesson the hard way 🤣

You know, there's Pout on them too, small ones... caught on the 30lb class with a two hook rig and felt like a monster reeling them in 😂

Should have just made it a wrecking day by the sound of it but hindsight is a wonderful thing 😆

I still haven't got round to listing all the wrecks on my tablet and without my gps hooked up indoors I couldn't say which 'wrecks' we stopped at. Just to iterate, they were on a SE heading from Teignmouth, first one about 7 miles and the next probably 3-4 miles further? BTW, which one is the meatboat?

 

It is difficult to see, but I would guess that you stopped at the 'Rota' which is about 10miles, and then you may have fished the 'meatboat' which is at about 15miles

 

Here is the chart taken as a screen grab off my PC, to give you an idea of the locations.

 

 

 

This is the same chert zoomed so that you came see the cluster of large wrecks to the North (about 3 miles) of when you were fishing

 

[thejollysinker]

7 hours ago, Dicky said:

It's basically a stainless triangle with a small loop welded on one point. You attach it to your anchor rode between the buoy and the bow of the boat. It stops the buoy being pushed up under the boat and keeps it up tide where you can see it. Makes it easier to take a wide berth when retrieving using the Alderney method. I have looked online but can't find a picture of one. I have heard of people using a stick with a couple of hitches around it to keep in place.

Thanks for that. I’ve found what you’re talking about and looks ideal. I can make one of those so I’ll be sure to employ it in future. Would have made a difference 😊

[thejollysinker]

7 hours ago, Saintly Fish said:

Gary, I think I have one of these triangles somewhere. If I can find it you'll be welcome to it! 

 That’s very kind of you, thanks. It’s the ‘ if I can find it’ bit that’s tickling me 🤣 

[thejollysinker]

7 hours ago, GPSguru said:

 

It is difficult to see, but I would guess that you stopped at the 'Rota' which is about 10miles, and then you may have fished the 'meatboat' which is at about 15miles

 

Here is the chart taken as a screen grab off my PC, to give you an idea of the locations.

 

 

 

This is the same chert zoomed so that you came see the cluster of large wrecks to the North (about 3 miles) of when you were fishing

 

More likely the Bretagne and then Glocliffe looking at that. Wasn’t paying that much attention to distances so I may have led you up the garden path a bit…. 😬 

 

[Saintly Fish]

29 minutes ago, thejollysinker said:

 That’s very kind of you, thanks. It’s the ‘ if I can find it’ bit that’s tickling me 🤣 

Well, I think I know where it is. But it's been there for a while and may not be where I seem to think it is! 🤷🏻‍♂️

[mike farrants]

et voila 

the design means no knots, and simple to attach and take off - ive heard mixed reviews though - i prefer the bouy near the boat, as it keeps the rope (mine sinks) higher up in the water and taught/taut/tort nearer the boat - i worry that when you start to move off and the bouy moves away the rope will sink further and you cant see it then or grab it

[thejollysinker]

10 hours ago, Saintly Fish said:

Well, I think I know where it is. But it's been there for a while and may not be where I seem to think it is! 🤷🏻‍♂️

I used to be able to lay my hands on stuff just like that, amongst the tons of 'stuff' I've kept over the years... but sadly these days I seem to lose even large items, then swear to God someone has stolen or moved it then find it weeks later, much to the amusement of the missus 🤣

No worries if you can't find it Neil, I may be able to knock one up.... or something that loosely resembles one 😅

[thejollysinker]

8 hours ago, mike farrants said:

et voila 

the design means no knots, and simple to attach and take off - ive heard mixed reviews though - i prefer the bouy near the boat, as it keeps the rope (mine sinks) higher up in the water and taught/taut/tort nearer the boat - i worry that when you start to move off and the bouy moves away the rope will sink further and you cant see it then or grab it

C'est bon!

I can see where you're coming from with that logic but I'd like to try one out, see what the difference actually is. The buoy does sit literally right under my bow and sometimes the wind blows it to starboard (this would help), but I always prefer to retrieve on the port side where I have a clear deck etc.

Thanks for the pic 🙂

[Saintly Fish]

15 minutes ago, thejollysinker said:

I used to be able to lay my hands on stuff just like that, amongst the tons of 'stuff' I've kept over the years... but sadly these days I seem to lose even large items, then swear to God someone has stolen or moved it then find it weeks later, much to the amusement of the missus 🤣

No worries if you can't find it Neil, I may be able to knock one up.... or something that loosely resembles one 😅

Found it!! 
Not where I thought it was though.

 

[Andy135]

1 hour ago, Saintly Fish said:

Found it!! 
Not where I thought it was though.

 

Has it been in front of your computer screen all this time?

[Saintly Fish]

1 minute ago, Andy135 said:

Has it been in front of your computer screen all this time?

No I was wearing it round my neck.