Popular Post GPSguru Posted September 20, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted September 20, 2022 (edited) It is a little over a month since I have been out, but the forecast was good, so a trip to the Skerries it was. The crew for the day was Kyle, and the Skerries are probably his favourite mark. I picked up Kyle at 7:00am and the outside temperature was 7C, so quite chilly. We launched and were making our way out to sea at 7:40am. The sea was flat, so it was a very comfortable run to the mark at a steady 25knts. At 08:30 we were on the Skerries and ready to fish. I was expecting more boats to be out, but there were only a handful. I guess in some quarters, going fishing on the funeral day of our Queen would be frowned upon, however, I wasn’t exactly on her Christmas card list and TBH we have had enough of our own family despair and a funeral over the past month. The Skerries is a mark where you really need a neap tide, and that was exactly the conditions we had today. Our first drift took us diagonally across the banks at 1.2knts, 223 degrees true. Although we had plenty of frozen Mack, I dropped the tinsels to see what was about, and had a full string before the tinsels hit the bottom. Another few drops saw us with plenty of bait and enough to replenish the freezer. I was first in with a decent Plaice of 2½lb, and that was to be the stamp of the larger keepers. We were also getting a huge number of smaller Plaice that were quite plump, but we decided to release them. Kyle is the king of the postage stamp Plaice, and he had a few of those. Also in the mix were the usual hordes of Gurnards, however, Kyle caught a really decent Grey that went just over a pound, and for a Grey that is a stonking fish. Interestingly, Kyle and I were using different baits for the Plaice as an experiment, but that also had an effect on the Gurnards, he caught all Grey’s and I caught all Tub’s. By 1:30pm we had 9 keeper Plaice, and a shed load of Mack in the coolbox, so we decided to call it a day and head for home, which was an uneventful trip at 27knts. A total trip of 44nm. A decent Grey for Kyle The average stamp of the keepers To give you an idea of the Skerries banks size, that is the charter boat Gemini on the outer edge of the banks, we are almost in the middle of the banks. Edited September 20, 2022 by GPSguru Saintly Fish, suzook12, thejollysinker and 4 others 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saintly Fish Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 Nice fishing as always Ian. it certainly was a day to be fishing not sat home watching the pomp. (However I understand some enjoy that kinda thing)! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suzook12 Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 29 minutes ago, Saintly Fish said: sat home watching the pomp! I always thought you were a Saints fan, but turns out you are a closet Pompey fan after all..... 🤣 Saintly Fish and mike farrants 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suzook12 Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 Good fishing mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saintly Fish Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 21 minutes ago, suzook12 said: I always thought you were a Saints fan, but turns out you are a closet Pompey fan after all..... 🤣 Wash your mouth out Steve!! 😠 GPSguru 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 6 hours ago, GPSguru said: It is a little over a month since I have been out, but the forecast was good, so a trip to the Skerries it was. The crew for the day was Kyle, and the Skerries are probably his favourite mark. I picked up Kyle at 7:00am and the outside temperature was 7C, so quite chilly. We launched and were making our way out to sea at 7:40am. The sea was flat, so it was a very comfortable run to the mark at a steady 25knts. At 08:30 we were on the Skerries and ready to fish. I was expecting more boats to be out, but there were only a handful. I guess in some quarters, going fishing on the funeral day of our Queen would be frowned upon, however, I wasn’t exactly on her Christmas card list and TBH we have had enough of our own family despair and a funeral over the past month. The Skerries is a mark where you really need a neap tide, and that was exactly the conditions we had today. Our first drift took us diagonally across the banks at 1.2knts, 223 degrees true. Although we had plenty of frozen Mack, I dropped the tinsels to see what was about, and had a full string before the tinsels hit the bottom. Another few drops saw us with plenty of bait and enough to replenish the freezer. I was first in with a decent Plaice of 2½lb, and that was to be the stamp of the larger keepers. We were also getting a huge number of smaller Plaice that were quite plump, but we decided to release them. Kyle is the king of the postage stamp Plaice, and he had a few of those. Also in the mix were the usual hordes of Gurnards, however, Kyle caught a really decent Grey that went just over a pound, and for a Grey that is a stonking fish. Interestingly, Kyle and I were using different baits for the Plaice as an experiment, but that also had an effect on the Gurnards, he caught all Grey’s and I caught all Tub’s. By 1:30pm we had 9 keeper Plaice, and a shed load of Mack in the coolbox, so we decided to call it a day and head for home, which was an uneventful trip at 27knts. A total trip of 44nm. A decent Grey for Kyle The average stamp of the keepers To give you an idea of the Skerries banks size, that is the charter boat Gemini on the outer edge of the banks, we are almost in the middle in the middle of the banks. Nice to be back out there and some nice fish to show for it @GPSguru well done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 Very nice results! Lovely fish. And well done to Kyle for his gurnard. What were the baits being used that differentiated between the greys and the tubs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike farrants Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 looks like a cracking day out Ian! i want to bag a plaice - not sure where's best in Weymouth - they used to frequent the mussel beds - but they got destroyed in a storm. will have to give the bay a go! is it getting late in the season for them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GPSguru Posted September 20, 2022 Author Share Posted September 20, 2022 1 hour ago, Andy135 said: Very nice results! Lovely fish. And well done to Kyle for his gurnard. What were the baits being used that differentiated between the greys and the tubs? Kyle was using mack strip tipped with squid, and I was using king prawn tipped with squid ! Andy135 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GPSguru Posted September 20, 2022 Author Share Posted September 20, 2022 1 hour ago, mike farrants said: is it getting late in the season for them? No, autumn, right up to the middle of November is the best time for them as they have had all summer to fatten up. mike farrants 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dicky Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 Nice one Ian. I am looking to get down in the next 3 weeks as we haven't managed to get down there this year yet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GPSguru Posted September 20, 2022 Author Share Posted September 20, 2022 52 minutes ago, Dicky said: Nice one Ian. I am looking to get down in the next 3 weeks as we haven't managed to get down there this year yet The ratio of keepers to throwbacks is about 1:1, which I guess is OK. Stick around the area that I sent to you, and you should be OK, however if you get a diagonal drift of 220 - 230 degrees (quite common) you can drift from the inside edge to the outside edge to find the fish. Dicky 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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