Popular Post Andy135 Posted October 24, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted October 24, 2023 So perhaps the title is a bit click-baity, but what was supposed to be a two day sharking trip on Odyssey, with @Odyssey to celebrate @Saintly Fish's birthday got blown out and turned into a Dad's & Lads reefing session, with Neil and I keen to get some proper use out of our SPJ gear. We locked out at dawn but as we left the shelter of Milford Haven it became obvious that the conditions hadn't yet improved like they were supposed to... I blame Michael Fish for that 😖. So plan B was quickly formulated to visit the inshore islands for some drifting for pollack followed by downtiding at anchor to see what was home while the weather settled. The short answer was... not a lot. Some small pollack and poor cod on the drift and at anchor just a solitary dogfish to the skipper (#welljell!) and an inquisitive squid that followed my baited feathers to the surface but didn't commit himself to the bait. As the conditions eased we motored out to a series of reefs - the plan was to drift for some better pollack. Neil and I were to experiment with our SPJ gear over slack water and we didn't have to wait long for the fish. Lots of hits and lots of table sized pollack over the gunnels in short order. They were hitting the jigs consistently, just off the bottom. Any colour would do, as long as it was about two turns up from the sea floor. Other species also fell to the jigs. Neil had a scad if I remember correctly, and Leo had a PB which I'll leave to Neil to share the details of 👍. It didn't take long for the fish box to fill up and we called it a day after one of our crew nearly vomited himself overboard... #somepeoplearejustnotcutoutforboating So, a great day's fishing snatched from the jaws of defeat. JAWS will have to wait until next season however. A big thank you to @Odyssey for hosting and skippering 👍. thejollysinker, daio web, Hoop and 8 others 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonC Posted October 24, 2023 Share Posted October 24, 2023 Well done finally getting out 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted October 24, 2023 Author Share Posted October 24, 2023 14 minutes ago, JonC said: Well done finally getting out 👍 Yep, it took us long enough! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonC Posted October 24, 2023 Share Posted October 24, 2023 9 minutes ago, Andy135 said: Yep, it took us long enough! Waited until I was out of the country. Andy135 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted October 24, 2023 Share Posted October 24, 2023 Be some nice fillets there @Andy135 well done shame about not getting offshore but salvaged a decent session… poxy-weather 🙄 Andy135 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odyssey Posted October 24, 2023 Share Posted October 24, 2023 (edited) Sadly the weather window was shorter than planned…. It flattened off at lunchtime but it was bit of a washing machine when we first headed out. Fair dos they soldiered on and had some good sport 🙂 Final count was: Scad, dogs, poor cod, pout, coalfish, pollack and wrasse. So not too shabby given the circumstances and time of year. I managed to enjoy a lovely bit of pollack for tea last night and lot more in the freezer 🙂 Was great to have the guys out, sadly not quite what we had planned but maybe next time can find something with big teeth for the guys 😁 2024 diary is open….. Edited October 24, 2023 by Odyssey Malc, Andy135 and Josh 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daio web Posted October 24, 2023 Share Posted October 24, 2023 great report and pics thanks for sharing 🐳 Andy135 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnyswamp Posted October 24, 2023 Share Posted October 24, 2023 There is some tremendous sport to be had in amongst those islands and offshore reefs Nice one 👍 Andy135 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnyswamp Posted October 24, 2023 Share Posted October 24, 2023 BTW, did you loose many jigs? those reefs can be very tackle hungry Andy135 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted October 24, 2023 Author Share Posted October 24, 2023 9 minutes ago, jonnyswamp said: BTW, did you loose many jigs? those reefs can be very tackle hungry Yep, I lost four or five, and @Saintly Fish was down to his very last one. 😲🤣 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnyswamp Posted October 24, 2023 Share Posted October 24, 2023 21 minutes ago, Andy135 said: Yep, I lost four or five, and @Saintly Fish was down to his very last one. 😲🤣 Any particular colour doing better than others on the jigs ? Silver dreams used to work very well, also black feathers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted October 24, 2023 Author Share Posted October 24, 2023 3 minutes ago, jonnyswamp said: Any particular colour doing better than others on the jigs ? Silver dreams used to work very well, also black feathers No one colour that outperformed the others, they were hitting them all. What I did notice however was that I was able to fish for longer on each drop if I used a slimmer, teardrop shaped jig. The flat, butterfly style jigs would catch the tide and head off past the stern more quickly, so I got less fishing time per drop with those ones. Also harder to feel the bottom with them. jonnyswamp 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odyssey Posted October 24, 2023 Share Posted October 24, 2023 (edited) What was noticeable was that jigs out fished “normal” feathers by a wide margin…. Its certainly got me thinking about SPJ and running dedicated SPJ trips next year…. Edited October 25, 2023 by Odyssey jonnyswamp, mike farrants, suzook12 and 1 other 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted October 24, 2023 Author Share Posted October 24, 2023 19 minutes ago, Odyssey said: What was noticeable was that jigs out fished “normal” feathers by a wide margin…. Ots certainly gif be thinking about SPJ a d running dedicated SPJ trips next year…. Let me know. I've been thinking about a repeat session on jigs, and I'll bring my coolbox next time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted October 24, 2023 Author Share Posted October 24, 2023 6 hours ago, Josh said: Be some nice fillets there @Andy135 well done shame about not getting offshore but salvaged a decent session… poxy-weather 🙄 @Josh the weather has put the kibosh on several planned big trips this year... strange one, it was reliably unreliable 😖 captin slows old outlaw and Josh 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GPSguru Posted October 24, 2023 Share Posted October 24, 2023 5 hours ago, Andy135 said: Yep, I lost four or five, and @Saintly Fish was down to his very last one. 😲🤣 I carry about 30 on the boat, some days you lose none, other days you lose one almost every other drop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captin slows old outlaw Posted October 25, 2023 Share Posted October 25, 2023 well happy birthday neal (belated), i am so glad you had a good time out there, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odyssey Posted October 25, 2023 Share Posted October 25, 2023 (edited) 13 hours ago, Andy135 said: Let me know. I've been thinking about a repeat session on jigs, and I'll bring my coolbox next time! I’ve already started looking a new rod and reel 🤣🤣🤣🤣 but there maybe a promo trip in May…. Experienced jiggers welcome to come and get some fish for the camera Edited October 25, 2023 by Odyssey Andy135 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted October 25, 2023 Author Share Posted October 25, 2023 1 minute ago, Odyssey said: I’ve already started looking a new rod and reel 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Talk to @Terry Smith at Jigabite. He knows what's what 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GPSguru Posted October 25, 2023 Share Posted October 25, 2023 36 minutes ago, Odyssey said: I’ve already started looking a new rod and reel 🤣🤣🤣🤣 but there maybe a promo trip in May…. Experienced jiggers welcome to come and get some fish for the camera Talk to Terry, but I would suggest a Temple Reef rod and a Maxel Rage reel. Both of mine have been faultless. My Hearty Rise rods are a tad too beefy for general SPJ, but fine for the larger pollock on the deeper wrecks (250 ft and more). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odyssey Posted October 25, 2023 Share Posted October 25, 2023 3 hours ago, GPSguru said: Talk to Terry, but I would suggest a Temple Reef rod and a Maxel Rage reel. Both of mine have been faultless. My Hearty Rise rods are a tad too beefy for general SPJ, but fine for the larger pollock on the deeper wrecks (250 ft and more). I’ll have a look but I suspect it’ll break my budget…. I’m a poor skipper who has endless trips blown off due to weather…. 😞 Geoff and GPSguru 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted October 25, 2023 Author Share Posted October 25, 2023 2 hours ago, Odyssey said: I’ll have a look but I suspect it’ll break my budget…. I’m a poor skipper who has endless trips blown off due to weather…. 😞 As you saw with Leo's fish, you can quite easily start off with a spinning rod and a slow jig. It's easier to work the jig with a dedicated jigging rod, but perfectly possible to catch good fish using a slow jig without the full rod & reel set up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thejollysinker Posted October 25, 2023 Share Posted October 25, 2023 Those boys look happy 😊 made the most of it and a successful day out. Nice report, shame no dogs for you though 🤪🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted October 25, 2023 Author Share Posted October 25, 2023 21 minutes ago, thejollysinker said: Those boys look happy 😊 made the most of it and a successful day out. Nice report, shame no dogs for you though 🤪🙂 Yeah, I was miffed I didn't catch one. Maybe I should sell my SPJ gear if I can't catch doggies on jigs... thejollysinker 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnyswamp Posted October 25, 2023 Share Posted October 25, 2023 7 hours ago, Odyssey said: I’ve already started looking a new rod and reel 🤣🤣🤣🤣 but there maybe a promo trip in May…. Experienced jiggers welcome to come and get some fish for the camera How many can you take and what cost Luke, we're looking for a few trips down your way next year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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