Popular Post GPSguru Posted January 15 Popular Post Share Posted January 15 (edited) Cold, but it looked doable, so Kyle and I launched in the dark at 0700. Launching was easy on the top of the spring flood, with the water almost to the top of the slip. Temp was 2C so not too bad. One of the big issues with an open boat is that there is nowhere to hide !, so we were both wrapped up in multi layers to ensure we retained some temperature. First stop (still dark) was the Orestone for some fresh Mack. We only had about 30 mins to spare as I needed to get the correct drift pattern on the Skerries. We could see plenty of activity on the sounder but no takers, also the drifts were fast as it was the top of the spring tides. Kyle managed a couple of small whiting before we moved on. Sea was flat calm, but I kept the speed down to 26kts in order that we minimized wind chill. 30min later we were on the banks, but still needed to motor right down to Start point and the tide rips as our plan was to drift for a winter turbot. Once at the chosen mark, the tide was ripping through and the sea was quite rough in the designated tide rip / overfalls area, but at no time did we feel unsafe. Unfortunately the drift speed was way too high, so after another 45mins we decided to move back to a Plaice mark, however, Kyle did get a dogfish, which luckily was the only one of the day. 3.5Nm took us back to our Plaice mark on the inner edge of the banks, it was mirror flat and the sun was beginning to peep through, adding a little warmth. The Plaice baits went down and were almost immediately taken by Whiting, but the stamp of these fish was 1 ½ to 2lb, so good sport on Plaice gear, with the biggest going a little over 2lb. At 11:45 it was time to move to our Ray mark and drop the pin as the tide was beginning to pick up after slack. Although it was mirror flat the spring tide was racing through the banks, so I dropped the pick in 55ft and then l let out 70m (200ft), which not only made sure the pick would hold, but it also put us fishing in 90ft. For bait, we had frozen mack, frozen cuttle, squid, and Prawn. Cocktail baits went down of cuttle head and mack fillet. Within a minute or two the rods were nodding with whiting trying to demolish the baits. Kyle had the first proper bite, and it came off on the surface near the stern, and we both assumed it was a smallish smoothound. 15 minutes later and Kyle was in again and this time it came to the net OK, and was a Spurdog of about 4lb. I mentioned to Kyle that we should go to 100lb hook lengths as the Spurs will bite off, and that is exactly what happened on the next fish. That is pretty much the way it went for the rest of the session, with the pack hunting Spurs picking up the Ray baits, and we didn't lose any more with 100lb snoods. At 2:00pm it was time to pull the pick, and I could feel the strain when we motored around the pick with the strong tide bowing the warp, but it pulled OK, and we were soon motoring back. We landed back at the all tide sand slip at 3:00pm, and we didn't run aground 🤣, low tide was 2:47pm, and it was very low at 0.6m. The sand slip was muddy with the tide that low, and I had to be careful of the dropoff with the trailer. The boat loaded easily and a bunch of gig rowers were taking bets as to whether we would tow out OK, little did they know that I am Land Rover trained and also hold a BORDA off road training certificate. Kyle was well impressed as I selected 4 low in the Jeep (Select track transmission), and just tickled the auto box to pull us straight up the slip without any wheel spin from the all terrain tyres, as they moved us through 3" of soft estuary mud So, not a great day, but an OK day, with 24 Whiting to a little over 2lb and 7 Spurs to 7lb. Kyle took 4 of the whiting for eating and the rest went back. A long day, and a round trip of almost 50Nm. Kyle with one of the spurs The stamp of the Whiting, this one is about 1½ lb Edited January 16 by GPSguru Andy135, thejollysinker, Geoff and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 A good day afloat. Well done the pair of you. 👍 Shame you only managed the one dogfish though 😉 GPSguru 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike farrants Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 Nice one - I do love whiting in panko crumb - delicious! GPSguru 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daio web Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 great report bud thanks for sharing 🐳 GPSguru 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonC Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 1 hour ago, mike farrants said: Nice one - I do love whiting in panko crumb - delicious! I had whiting from the weekend for dinner last night, not nothing to fancy, dipped in egg, rolled in flour then shallow fried. Very nice. GPSguru 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GPSguru Posted January 16 Author Share Posted January 16 2 hours ago, JonC said: I had whiting from the weekend for dinner last night, not nothing to fancy, dipped in egg, rolled in flour then shallow fried. Very nice. Years ago I did some and it was very bland, but it seems a lot of folk rate it as a good eating fish. Kyle cooked his exactly the same as you and he told me he prefers it to pollock, so maybe I will try it again sometime 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saintly Fish Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 Not a bad day in the cold Ian, Andy and I had such a bad day he's failed to put up a report! GPSguru 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 1 hour ago, Saintly Fish said: Not a bad day in the cold Ian, Andy and I had such a bad day he's failed to put up a report! Oi! You're fully capable of posting a report too you know... But yes, it was tough going. Think I'll try tying on some hooks next time. daio web 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saintly Fish Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 4 hours ago, Andy135 said: Oi! You're fully capable of posting a report too you know... Rule of the boat is and always has been that the guest writes the report!! 👅 Bet you're "bricking" it !! Andy135 and daio web 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post GPSguru Posted January 17 Author Popular Post Share Posted January 17 After the demise of my 5 year old Gopro 7 Black, which, like most other Gopro's had been unreliable from the start, but produced excellent video, I have replaced it with a DJI Action 4, which is the main competitor to the Gopro 12. So a short test Video that was shot in 4K30, processed over bluetooth on my phone using 'Light Cut' and the output to Youtube at 1080p. Doing this retains the sharpness a colour depth of 4K video. It was shot in Rock Steady mode, which retains the motion of the boat. I am sat there looking like a spare part as my rods are on the A frame slightly behind the camera, and we have 60 secs of Kyle landing a Whiting whilst we are at anchor. Andy135, Dicky, thejollysinker and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 7 minutes ago, GPSguru said: After the demise of my 5 year old Gopro 7 Black, which, like most other Gopro's had been unreliable from the start, but produced excellent video, I have replaced it with a DJI Action 4, which is the main competitor to the Gopro 12. So a short test Video that was shot in 4K30, processed over bluetooth on my phone using 'Light Cut' and the output to Youtube at 1080p. Doing this retains the sharpness a colour depth of 4K video. It was shot in Rock Steady mode, which retains the motion of the boat. I am sat there looking like a spare part as my rods are on the A frame slightly behind the camera, and we have 60 secs of Kyle landing a Whiting whilst we are at anchor. Lovely conditions to be afloat. Video seems good quality. 👍 GPSguru and Geoff 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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