Popular Post GPSguru Posted January 2, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted January 2, 2023 (edited) Finally, a weather window, albeit quite small and sort of unreliable, but it had to be worth a go ! Last night's weather forecast was saying no, but I had a sneaking suspicion that it would be Ok come the morning, and it was. The wind was light WNW, and although cold, there are plenty of sheltered options. After de-icing the Jeep, the temp was 2c when I picked up Kyle at 07:00. A quick trip to Tesco to put 48L of fuel in, and we were on the slipway at 07:45 and launched at 07:50. We had decided that as we were only out for the morning, it would be inshore fishing at the Orestone to see if the Whiting were around, and maybe pick up another squid or two. Two of my mates were heading to the wrecks, and they will tell me all I need to know about the wreck population 😉 We arrived at the Orestone at 08:15 and made a couple of drifts, with nothing to show, not even a nibble. The Orestone can be a strange place, and it is often a matter of finding where the little sods are hiding. We decided to drift the deeper mud to gravel area on the other side of the mark. First drift and bingo, we were straight into very decent Whiting and also picked up a decent Squid. From about 09:00 onwards the area we were drifting began to fill with boats that were Cod fishing at anchor, it made drifting a bit more complicated, but it was OK. We didn't see any Cod caught, but we did see them land some Whiting and dogs. Our rigs were the usual Hookai 3 string with the bottom hook baited (Mack / Squid), we do that in case there are some Mackerel about. Using this method before we have had all sorts, Codling, Pollock, Mackerel, Gurnard, and even Dogs. The stamp of the Whiting was excellent, with the smallest going about 1lb and the biggest a tad under 2lb, luckily there were no pin's in amongst them. The action was quite steady with Kyle taking 22 and me 19. We also had 3 squid between us. Soon it was 12:30 and time to head back in. An excellent trip out, not far at 17Nm, but the return was good with 41 Whiting and 3 Squid. A couple of pics This was the general stamp of the Whiting The Squid Edited January 3, 2023 by GPSguru Malc, mick, Geoff and 4 others 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saintly Fish Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 Good fishing there Ian. One of my favourite conditions is a blue sky , flat seas and a slight chill in the air. 👍🏻 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 Cracking day out. Good work. Those whiting look lovely - just the right size for the table. Nice squid too 👍 Is it usual to find squid this late (or even early?) in the year? I had a vague recollection that they head into deeper waters after autumn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike farrants Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 cracking use of a short window - the last few weeks have been awful (and next few weeks) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike farrants Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 1 hour ago, Andy135 said: Is it usual to find squid this late (or even early?) in the year? I had a vague recollection that they head into deeper waters after autumn. there are generally 2 runs - autumn and spring - although we were catching them all winter last year! - provided the conditions are right! Andy135 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GPSguru Posted January 3, 2023 Author Share Posted January 3, 2023 3 hours ago, Andy135 said: Is it usual to find squid this late (or even early?) in the year? I had a vague recollection that they head into deeper waters after autumn. They usually stay until mid to late Jan, then they appear briefly again in April, but yes, weather permitting, the best and most productive time is the Autumn. I usually catch them on a mark, which is a favourite for Cod ! (probably the only Cod mark in the Bay), so I think it is pretty obvious what attracts the Cod. I tend not to target the Cod as they are not prolific enough to make it worthwhile, generally the fish caught are Codling (3lb - 5lb), but there was a 20lb + caught there a couple of years ago. JonC and Andy135 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonC Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 Good stuff again. Have you ever sent squid back down live as bait? Is that a Fing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike farrants Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 28 minutes ago, JonC said: Good stuff again. Have you ever sent squid back down live as bait? Is that a Fing? good call........ ive never heard of it - not sure how you would ensure the squid stays alive, but its a good call! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saintly Fish Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 14 minutes ago, mike farrants said: good call........ ive never heard of it - not sure how you would ensure the squid stays alive, but its a good call! Don't matter if it doesn't really. Would still be the freshest dead bait ever! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 57 minutes ago, mike farrants said: not sure how you would ensure the squid stays alive or stays on the hook! You'd have to whip it's body to the hook & line, leaving only its tentacles free. Basically the same presentation as a dead bait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GPSguru Posted January 3, 2023 Author Share Posted January 3, 2023 1 hour ago, JonC said: Good stuff again. Have you ever sent squid back down live as bait? Is that a Fing? No, but I would if I needed to. Strangely enough, the best bait for whiting is Squid, especially the head and tentacles of a small squid. Kyle definitely had the biggest fish using that as bait. Also, we both noticed that bites were quicker when a strip of squid was on the hook, as opposed to slower bites with just mackerel belly strip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike farrants Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 can be done - but i'd imagine it'd get hammered by whiting before a cod got near it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnyswamp Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 A good morning and some nice Whiting there, we don't get them anywhere near that size up here (Bristol Channel) We did have one decent year in early nineties IIRC, quite a few 2lb plus around for a while Be interested on what your mates had off the wrecks, we were supposed to be out of Weymouth this Sunday but not looking likely now so I'll have the rest of the week off (been looking for a new car also) and take my boat out Friday if weather holds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post GPSguru Posted January 4, 2023 Author Popular Post Share Posted January 4, 2023 (edited) 3 hours ago, jonnyswamp said: Be interested on what your mates had off the wrecks, we were supposed to be out of Weymouth this Sunday but not looking likely now so I'll have the rest of the week off (been looking for a new car also) and take my boat out Friday if weather holds Peter did OK on the inshore wrecks, he visited two at about 9 miles out, he had 10 Pollock from about 5lb to 8lb......... like this, Edited January 4, 2023 by GPSguru jonnyswamp, Andy135, mike farrants and 2 others 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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