Editorial
PHEW WHAT A SCORCHER!
Well the weather is certainly surpassing all expectations
and boat anglers and charter skippers are enjoying a
bonanza of angling opportunities…even the weekends
are staying settled. Let’s hope this remains for the rest of
the summer – although a little rain would go down well
in the garden.
FISHERIES BILL
The government has finally released its, much leaked,
draft fisheries bill, “Sustainable fisheries for future
generations”. While it is commendable that the behind
the scenes work of the Angling Trust, and others, has
resulted in recreational angling being recognised and
included in this draft the overall feeling is that it’s a bit of
a missed chance. Some recognition of sea angling did
feature in the final White Paper, after previous versions had
remained silent. The government may have listened but
they seem only to be paying lip services to anglers.
For the record, the white paper states “We will consider
how we can further integrate recreational angling within
the new fisheries framework recognising the societal
benefits of this activity and impacts on some stocks” and
“We will learn from best practice in other fisheries
nations, such as Iceland and New Zealand, where the
commercial fishing industry and the recreational sector
works in closer partnership with government while
making a greater financial contribution.”
These statements are vague and were so heavily
qualified that sea anglers are unlikely to be convinced
that much of a ‘Brexit Dividend’ is coming their way. It’s
important that the Angling Trust and its allies keep
up the pressure. I understand the Angling Trust will be
following this up by seeking further meetings to press
the case. Watch this space.
BASS BAG LIMIT HOPES RAISED
It seems that we may be winning the battle of the bass.
Following the Angling Trust and Save Our Sea Bass
ramping up pressure on the European Commission. New
scientific advice from ICES revealed that bass mortality
from sea anglers is much lower than estimated last year.
The Trust and SOSB vigorously lobbied both the
European Commissioner for Fisheries, Karmenu Vella,
along with fisheries ministers and UK MPs.
As we all know, the previous estimates of 1,627 tonnes
taken by RSA were widely viewed as unfair and a gross
over estimation. So this year commercial hook and line
and net fishermen could continue landing bass,
effectively privatising the bass fishery. The Angling Trust,
Save our Sea Bass and European Anglers Alliance have
now been liaising with the scientists to arrive at an
estimate that reflects the true picture of what anglers
take every year. This lobbying has resulted in ICES
revising down our take by a whopping 87%. So now the
estimates of recreational removals from 2016 have been
estimated at only 212t, rather than 1627t. The Angling
Trust is now calling on all anglers to get behind
the campaign to re-establish a bag limit as soon as
possible for the remainder of 2018.
SNOWBEE YOUR CATCHES WINNER FOR JULY
The Winner of this month’s
Snowbee Big Fish competition is
Chris Copper who bagged a lovely
bream while on Lewis Hodder’s
boat Pegasus from Lyme Bay. You
can see his fish on page 84.
Chris gets to fish the Big Fish Final
where he’ll be in with a chance of
winning £1000 of tackle!
Email editor@saltwaterboatangling.co.uk
with your fish and you could be a winner next month.
Tight Lines!
Tim Macpherson
Saltwater Boat Angling
PUBLISHER/MANAGING EDITOR:
Tim Macpherson, publisher@saltwaterpublishing.co.uk 07721361367
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR:
Jim Whippy, editor@saltwaterboatangling.co.uk 07718766388
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Saltwater Boat Angling 3
 Contents
6 News 34 Whippy Afloat
8 Your catches
More of your magnificent catches
Jim is making up for the windy weather earlier in
the year by getting out as often as possible in
Lucky G.

12 Icelandic Joy
England’s Andy Smith tells how he won a Bronze
38 Teddie Boys in Minehead
John Sherlock has spent 60 years fishing from
medal in the EFSA European Boat Championships boats around the UK in this occasional series he
held in Olafsvik, Iceland starts in Minehead with his favourite boat

17 UK CHARTER BOATS 40 Conger Championships

Mike Millman describes the epic fun
sponsored by

18
at this years event
Poole Species Hunt
Tim Macpherson goes on the annual species hunt
in Poole in the SWBA team.

22 Sam’s Snake Pit

Sam Wadman goes after some
big eels from Brixham

42 Tale of two sharks

First of a two-part tale about how expert sharking
skipper David Turner bagged to monster

26 Holyhead rebirth
Tim Macpherson goes to Holyhead to see how
Gethyn Owen has rebooted his charter business
after the Beast from the East devastated the marina

30 Charter Boat reports

The latest from charter boats around the coast

4 Saltwater Boat Angling

44 Match Tactics
Des Westmore continues his series by looking at
66 Diary of a Dinghy Angler
Jeff Smiths diary describes his angling in June
three way beads and how they can be used in
match fishing 70 Lifejackets
47 UK KAYAKING
72
How much is a life worth?

Alderney Rings
48 Skerries magic
Kyle Waterhouse and his mate Ben Wallis
How to use this useful
and ubiquitous anchoring technique
fish the famous Devon banks

77 TACKLE TALK
52 Northumberland Kayak Comp
78 Summer Travel Rods
We look at a further selection of rods
How Irene Hodgson got on when competing available for angling travellers
in this great north eastern based event

56 Monsters in Miniature
Mark Radcliffe goes species hunting in the Ocean
Kayak Classic in Plymouth Sound

80 Feathers and Sebiki’s

Jim Whippy reviews those summer tackle staples

61 PRACTICAL BOATING
sponsored by

62 Latrex 340 with Selva

Saltwater Boat angling is the very first to try the
new Latrex inshore fishing boat in the UK. Simon

82
Everett gets to try her in Salcombe
Tackle Shorts
Gadgets and gizmos

84 More Your catches

So many fish pictures we needed another page

90 Next Month
Cover picture
Ben Wallis with a blonde ray.
Photo by Kyle Waterhouse

Saltwater Boat Angling 5

 This JOHN BARDEN MEMORIAL
PLAICE COMPETITION
Month We reported a few months ago, the
death of John Barden, member of
Bexhill SAC. The club have inaugurated
Latest News from around a new plaice competition in his
the UK and beyond honour and the first one was held on
Saturday 14th July.
Fittingly his son, Brett Barden, caught
the heaviest fish which weighed 3lbs
1oz and was also the overall winner
with a 6lbs 9ozs bag of plaice.
In second place with a 3lbs 8oz bag
was John’s grandson Alfie Barden. To
cap it off one of his great fishing
friends Bob Tindall came third with a
2lbs 10ozs bag. A lovely conclusion to Ling Dentition
the first competition.

Anglers Against Single use

plastic in the Tackle Trade
There is a new group in town aiming
to help stop using the dreaded
plastic. Anglers Against Single-Use
Plastic In The Tackle Trade is a
Facebook site set up by a concerned
angler and in just 24 hrs gained 1000
members (including the Editor).
The point is to try and put pressure
on the tackle trade to reduce the
amount of plastic packaging. It’s
about us all accepting that there is a
serious problem with single-use
plastics in the environment and
banging our heads together to
explore and implement solutions.
This group is already full of tackle
shop owners, managers and
workers, tackle companies,
consultants, sponsored anglers and
fishery owners.
An admirable initiative and one we
hope anglers and the trade can work
together on.

GARMIN ANNOUNCES
LIVE SCANNING SONAR
More news from busy electronics company Garmin as they energise the sonar
market yet again with Panoptix LiveScope. It is the first and only live scanning
sonar for recreational fishing. Panoptix LiveScope™ gives anglers higher
resolution images of structure, bait and fish swimming below and around a
boat. Garmin’s Panoptix™ technology was the first to deliver live sonar images in
real-time; forwards, backwards, sideways and below the boat, even while
stationary. As Garmin say “Now, thanks to the active scanning capabilities of
Panoptix LiveScope, anglers can see images and movement so clear and precise
that it’s even possible to distinguish
between species of fish.”
For more go to www.garmin.com

6 Saltwater Boat Angling

 RICHARD YOUNG WINS
2018 LOOE SHARK FESTIVAL
THE SHARK ANGLING CLUB OF
GREAT BRITAIN held its annual
Festival over 3 days in July. The
event is based out of out of Looe
and this year a total of 45 anglers
took part. The boats taking part
were Swallow ll, Mystique ll, Force
Ten, Borlewen ll, Top Cat, Typhoon,
Sowenna, Meer Kat and Bee Cool
(all from Looe) who were joined by
Pegasus of Lyme and Aquila of
Mevagissey.
National Line
Recycling
scheme
A group of Sussex
anglers has started
a new line recycling
scheme with the help of MCB
Seafoods and the Global Ghost
Gear Initiative. Launched in March
this year, it is called the Anglers
National Line Recycling Scheme
(ANLRS).
Fishing line doesn’t biodegrade,
it becomes brittle and breaks
down into micro-plastics. So, any
scheme which tries to mitigate
this is well worth supporting.
The line is collected in bins,
supplied by MCB Seafoods, and
sent for reprocessing to Plastix,
in Denmark. The bins will be in
tackle shops, angling clubs and
on charters boats for anglers to
dispose of their old line.
For more information go to
www.anglers-nlrs.co.uk
The conditions were challenging
with high temperatures and no
drift reducing what should’ve been
rubby-dubby trails to rubby-dubby
columns. Despite this over the
three days 71 sharks were caught &
released and all swam away
strongly.
SO, THE WINNERS WERE:
Skipper with most sharks
DAN MARGETTS OF SOWENNA
14 sharks
GONE FISHING BOAT CLUB LAUNCHES
AND TAKES DELIVERY OF NEW BOATS
Gone Fishing Boat Club was
launched earlier this month at
the MDL marina day at Mercury
Yacht Harbour, Hamble. This new
boat club offers its members the
opportunity to get out on the
water for a monthly fee starting
from £115, but without the
expense of boat ownership.
Bexhill Sea Angling Festival announces
date for annual boat competition
The dates for the 20187 Festival
have been announced. Organised
by the Bexhill Sea Angling Club,
The event will take place from
7am to 3pm on Sunday 16th
September with the reserve date
set for Sunday 23rd September.
To find out more contact:
Skipper with biggest shark
PHIL CURTIS OF TYPHOON
116 points (130lbs)
Angler with most points
Bob Woodman 603.5 points
Angler with most sharks
Bob Woodman 7 sharks
Third place STEVE COSTICK
107.5 points (82.5 lbs estimate)
Runner Up MARTIN SHIPP
108 points (112 lbs estimate)
Winner RICHARD YOUNG
116 points (130lbs)
Day 1 largest fish JOHN SHAW
106.5 points (98 lbs estimate)
Day 2 largest fish RICHARD
YOUNG
116 points (130 lbs estimate)
Day 3 largest fish BOB
WOODMAN
98.5 points (75 lbs estimate)
We’ll be running a full report on
this in the next issue.
The first boat named ‘Invincible’
after the famous wreck on the
south coast, has been receiving
lots of interest and the first
members have now signed up.
GFBC are now in discussions to
purchase boat 2 with the view to
have 5 boats at the Hamble base.
They plan to establish more
bases round the UK.
For more information contact:
012381 841764
info@gonefishingboatclub.com
www.gonefishingboatclub.com
barry.bertin@btopenworld.com or
go to www.bexhillseafestival.co.uk
Saltwater Boat Angling 7
 Email your catch pictures to:
editor@saltwaterboatingling.co.uk
Your Catches
and you could win £1000 of Snowbee tackle
by qualifying for our BIG FISH FINAL

1 2

3
8 Saltwater Boat Angling
 1

It’s a Cracker
IAN NAPIER with a cod of
21lb caught on Mistress Linda out
of Poole Harbour skippered by Phil
Higgins (07860 794183).

2 ERIC WRIGHT’S 10lb 8oz

thornback caught on John Old’s
boat High Flyer2

3 ANDY SMITH with a

cracking smoothound of 19lb 8oz
caught on his own boat.

4 DEAN JONES with a 17lb

4 smoothound caught on board

Gethyn Owen's boat My Way II

5 ANDREW HEWETT with a

12lb 6oz cod caught from Plymouth
on his own boat Genevieve

6 TIM JOHN, from Bridgend,

with a cracking 50lb tope caught on
his own boat out of Swansea. He
caught it using a whole mackerel on
a running ledger.

6
Saltwater Boat Angling 9
Your Catches

8
10

9 11
10 Saltwater Boat Angling
 7

It’s a Cracker
12 EARIC NIXON with a
cracking cod caught on Silver
Spray II out from Poole

8 CAROLYN FOWLER, fishing

out of Lymington at the Needles
caught this lovely bass weighing
8lb 11oz, with husband Garry on
their boat, Gracy May.

9 PAUL MILKINS with a

monstrous blonde ray of 17Ib 4oz
caught on FLAMER IV.

10 A rarity on these pages; a

36lb angler fish caught by ROBERT
TATCHELL using a baited pirk
aboard Kenny Grahams Oberon
from Culivoe in Shetland.

11
13 STEVE TIPPLES with a
fabulous smoothound caught on
Donald Sewell’s boat My Way out of
Penarth in South Wales.

12 CLIVE HODGES with a

cracking double figure bass caught
off Littlehampton in his own boat.

13 PLANET SEA FISHING

owner DAVID PROUDFOOT with a
cracking bull huss on board Gethyn
Owen›s My way 2 out of Holyhead.

14 PAUL WOODFINE with a

38lb tope from Littlehampton
caught on a Mackerel flapper and
10/0 hook

14

Saltwater Boat Angling 11


England’s Andy Smith tells
how he won a Bronze medal
in the EFSA European Boat
D
Championships held in
Olafsvik, Iceland
ue to my commitments at the EFSA
Headquarters meeting, I was unable to fish a
practice session but having fished in Olafsvik the
year before, this was not too much of a handicap,
particularly as the English members gave me complete
details of their catches. The rules for the championships
made it important to fish for different species, with each
species caught scoring 15 points. This coupled with the
fact that ‘unclassified’ species were awarded 10 points,
12 Saltwater Boat Angling
JOY
compared with 2 points for a cod or coalfish, made it
extremely important to find those other species. I
therefore decided not to target cod, which I was sure I
would pick up anyway as a bi-catch.
All sorts
On the first day I was on a small slow boat and very early
on it was obvious that we were likely to be fishing inshore.
I therefore stuck with an inline pirk all day and this proved
to be very successful. On the first drop I caught a plaice
which was unclassified and brought me 25 points. This was
followed by another plaice, dabs, cod, wolf fish, haddock
and finally on the last drop, a sculpin or sea scorpion. This
was the only sculpin caught during the championships
and won me a trophy for the longest sculpin! I managed to
win the boat fairly comfortably and felt fairly optimistic for
the rest of the Championships. Having said that, I was cold
and wet and just wanted a warm shower.
The town of Olafsvik Á

Saltwater Boat Angling 13

 One of Andy's
many cod
Snow covered mountains make an
impressive backdrop

Same again
The second day was a complete washout, with force 9 winds
and driving rain but there is a saying in Iceland that if the
weather is bad just wait and Wednesday was a much better
day. I found myself on the same boat as Monday and that
was a distinct advantage for me. My catch for the day was
another six species, except I swapped coalfish for the sculpin
and won the boat by a similar margin. Up to this point I had
fished inshore using my trusted in-line pirk, catching decent
but not very large fish. This gave me a maximum score of
200% along with eight other double boat winners, including
England’s Nigel Hearn and Scott Gibson from Scotland. Close
behind them were the England pair, Ash Currier on 199.37%
and Mike Smith on 197.73%.

ggest
Alan Bird had bi
coalfish

Bigger fish
The last day’s fishing proved to be very different as I was on a
larger, faster boat and we sped away to the west and much
deeper water. I scaled up my gear and we all fished for cod,
coalfish and red fish. The average size of cod that was
coming in was around 25lb and some of them were larger.
On two occasions I had hooked a large cod on the bottom
only to be smashed up by a large coalfish half the way up.
Valerie Balban, of Gibraltar, brought up one of these monster
coalfish that was 110cm long and must have weighed about
35lb. At this point I was struggling to pick up any other
species than cod and was well behind on points but I slowly
clawed my way back picking up coalfish, haddock and red
fish. With about an hour to go the skipper suggested we

14 Saltwater Boat Angling

move inshore to catch wolf fish and dabs. At this point I think
I was leading the boat by 2 points. Out came the in-line pirk
again and I began to pick up dabs on a regular basis.
Turbo charged
I then felt a small bite, pulled into it and the fish shot off. I
knew it wasn’t a cod, coalfish, haddock or dab, so what was
it? Perhaps a decent plaice I thought but when the fish hit
the surface it was a small halibut of perhaps 6 to 8lb. When
the fish saw the boat it dived to the bottom again and I
gingerly retrieved it on my size 2 hook. When the fish was
landed and returned, I knew I had won the boat and had
300%. There had been eight people on 200% the night
before, so I wondered how many had again won their boat. I
was met at the jetty by Petter Skudal of Norway and Scott
Gibson of Scotland who informed me that only three of us
had 300%. They obviously wondered how many fish points I
had accumulated, as this would be the tie breaker between
us. The answer was not enough but I had won a European
bronze pin and I am very proud of that. My thanks to EFSA
Iceland for organising such an excellent championships. I
hope to be back again sometime to enjoy the excellent
fishing and Icelandic hospitality.

Results
In gold pin position was Petter Skudal from Norway, Scott
Gibson from Scotland took the silver pin and from England, it
was Andy Smith who was proud to be presented with the
bronze pin by the EFSA Chairman Horst Schneider. Just out
of the pins in 4th place was Ash Currier with a credible score
of 299.37% and Nigel Hearn took 6th with 298.29%. England
members won three of the best fish awards, Alan Bird with a
118cm coalfish, Rob Quinn with a 46cm redfish and Andy
Smith with a Sculpin of 22cm.

Ray & Ash celebrate

their 2nd place in
the pairs
Scott, Peter and Andy

Pairs
Petter Skudal and his partner Lars Hellum, won the gold
medals in the pairs with the English duo of Ray Barron and
Ash Currier taking the runner up spot.

England 2019
At the end of the presentation, the EFSA chairmen
Horst Schneider handed the EFSA flag to Kim Bowden,
who received it on behalf of EFSA England, the hosts
for the 2019 European Boat and Line Championships
in Weymouth.

Inline pirk rig

Andy’s rig certainly worked well while he
was looking for different species as others
tried pirks and shads in the traditional
way. Some 25 years ago while fishing the
European Boat Championships in Norway
the weather prevented us from going
deep and we were restricted to a shallow
sheltered bay. I rigged up a similar inline
pirk as Andy’s but used a plain chrome
pirk. It was a real red letter day as I
boated 54 dabs to win my boat. The
dimensions of Andy’s rig are one hook on a trace below the pirk of 15cms, complete with flashers and beads and the other
hook 20cm above the pirk on a 15cm trace with beads but no flashers. It’s neat, rarely tangles and works well for flatfish.
Give it a try instead of a spreader and you may be surprised with the results. Jim Whippy

Saltwater Boat Angling 15

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 Saltwater Boat Angling

CHARTER
BOAT
ANGLING
Poole Species Hunt 18
Snake Pit 22
Holyhead Reborn 26
Charter boat reports 30
Teddie Boys of Minehead 38

Competitions, practical tips, kit reviews,

techniques and fishing experiences
PAGES 17-39
Charter Boat UK is sponsored by
 Poole
Species Hunt UK Charter Boats
sponsored by

Rob Shattock, of the

WAC One Out team,
with a 14lb undulate ray

Cuckoo Wrasse

Tim Macpherson reports

on how the Saltwater team
fared in this annual, and
very popular, event

18 Saltwater Boat Angling

I
t’s amazing how quickly the year
turns over. It really doesn’t seem
like 12 months since we last
competed in one of the most
enjoyable boat angling competitions
of the year, bearing in mind we’re
involved in quite a few this year.
The concept is very simple – over 20
teams of four anglers each fishing two
teams to a boat. As a species hunt
each team only needs to catch one of
over 40 species found in the waters off
Poole. Most species get 2 points each
with mini species only counting as
one point.
The weather was perfect and all the
boats were packed as we set off. Our
team was on Phil Higgins' boat
Mistress Linda along with WAC one
Out – one of the Weymouth Angling
Centre teams in the competition. There
were some formidable anglers in their
team including Neil Cottingham, but of
course we had Jim Whippy and Jim
Pressley two equally experienced and
successful competition anglers, the
fourth team member was our dinghy
A fine 14lb undulate ray
diarist, Jeff Smith, a great all round
angler but a species hunt virgin.
As with all these species hunts we’d
pre-tied a bunch of rigs for all sorts of
different types of fish from big
smoothound and rays down to
paternosters with size 12-14 hooks for
the mini species.
We had done pretty well in previous
years amassing 34 and 30 points
respectively with 17 plus species both
times, so I was confident we could
better that. However, because of the
relatively short tide and an epic
amount of ‘mayrot’ lingering in the
water the fishing seemed to be much
harder and much slower than in
previous years.
The 2018 Saltwater team
We started off trying to catch rays, but
managed only a spotted ray amongst
dogfish, bream and a bonus mackerel.
WAC One out surged into a 4-point
lead with 8 species to 6 by the time we
upped anchor and went off in search
of flatfish. I bagged my first ever brill
and we had a turbot for each team
but, although we were all catching,
most fish were duplicates species so
didn’t count – someone had a dab but
no one could land a plaice something I
can usualyy do without trying very
The mystery wrasse
hard in my usual East Sussex patch. At
this point, WAC One Out were still
leading us but only by 2 points – 12
species to 10.
Poole Patch
So, to the famous Poole Patch which
is, as most will know, an area of rocky
reef a couple of miles off shore. This is
always the bit of the competition I
enjoy most (and not, as some wag
joked, because I only ever catch small
stuff). The thing is, it is great fun and
you really don’t know what you are
going to pull up. It does also require a
bit of skill and some very small hooks.
Jim and I had rigged up some
paternoster rigs with fine line and size
12 hooks – all you need it’s a tiny
morsel of rag and off you go.
Wrasse
Kayak competitions are very often
made up of an element of this kind of
fishing, which is why not having Kayak
champ Kyle on the team was a serious
drawback – fortunately Jeff Smith
filled his boots admirably. In the end,
we had five out of the six common
species and one we couldn’t identify –
nothing like any wrasse I’d seen
before. We took it in for adjudication
(it could have been worth 2 points and
catapulted us up the table) but no one
could positively identify it and it was
classified as a ballan – much to our
chagrin. The one wrasse species we
missed out on was the rock cook – and
boy we tried. We also landed blenny’s,
gobies, pout, but try as we might we
couldn’t bag a poor cod.
While three of us were doing this, one
of the team members was trying to
catch a garfish – they seem to
accumulate around the patch – in
previous years this has been a
Á
successful ploy – not this year. I
also spent 45 minutes trying to
Saltwater Boat Angling 19
 Baillions wrasse
tempt one of the many strap congers
which roam the reef but without
success. Jim Pressley, however did
manage to successfully target a
pollack. In the end, we did pretty well
at this and managed to close the gap
on our fellow team to just 2 points.
Elusive species
So, Phil moved us off to some ground
where we might be able to catch an
elusive ray, plaice or maybe a bonus
bass or whiting. That was when one of
the Weymouth team members bagged
the two best fish of the day – he lifted
into something weighty and straight
away we all knew it was a ray…but
which type? After quite a scrap up
came a 14lb undulate ray - what a
cracker. He proceeded to pull put
another one slightly smaller. After that
success, we up anchored and drifted
around on three different marks
without either team really adding to
the total, although I hooked and
carelessly lost something which I am
sure was a plaice.
So, the hunt came to an end and we
steamed back to port – stopping only
to have a quick drift across the ferry
crossing, a spot where shore anglers
quite often pick up nice sized plaice or
even a bass on a lure. We all furiously
tried everything for the final twenty
minutes of the competition but only
managed a couple of pout.
The results
Our team caught 17 species in all:
Turbot, brill, dab, spotted ray, black
bream, pollack, tub gurnard, mackerel,
pout, lesser spotted dog ish, cuckoo,
goldsinny, ballan, baillions, blenny,
goby, and scorpion fish.
Which totalled 27 points – we thought
that would be competitive although
WAC1out had 28 points – so we hadn’t
20 Saltwater Boat Angling
Jeff’s spotted ray
caught them but it was mighty close.
They’d caught smoothhound, undulate
and a tope so we’d had 20 odd species
between the two teams. Not bad,
although since there is a total of 50
species swimming about in those
waters it puts our efforts into
perspective. Conspicuous absentees
were congers, plaice, bass, codling,
blonde rays, bull huss and the other
two gurrnards, red and grey.
The winning team, the Lymington
Raider, turned out to have 38 points –
which is a great effort at around 25
species. They had been practicing but
as we all know with competitions you
can practice all you like when it comes
to the day things sometimes don’t
work out.
The final top ten
1st: Lymington Raiders
2nd: Oceans Eleven -7
3rd: Bluezone  since 1968 and he is the ling
4th: Isle of Wight A team,
Weymouth Angling XXX,
Caulkheads  Association (PBA). He is a popular,
7th: Lonis
8th: Poole Town Danglers &
WAC one out
10th: IBAC 2, WACZZZ and
Saltwater Boat Angling
So, we finished in a respectable
position but well down on the last two
years. Its all a bit of fun and the craic
afterwards is always worth staying for.
The winning team
Bream for Jim
Phil Higgins and Mistress
Linda
Mistress Linda is a Bullet DS38
twin engine charter special with a
comprehensive electronics
package and back-up systems,
MCA Approved CAT 2. It’s a
comfortable boat with plenty of
room for ten anglers (we were
only eight) and it’s licensed for
twelve. Facilities include a red hot
kettle (once the first fish comes
aboard) hot and cold fresh water,
ladies facilities with a toilet/
shower. The wheelhouse is heated
and has cooking facilities to heat
your food.
As with most charter boats these
days Phil encourages catch and
release and, of course, only fish
above the minimum legal landing
size may be kept.
Phil has been fishing since he was
a boy and has been chartering
serving director of the
Professional Boatmans
well informed, friendly and very
competitive skipper who really
worked hard for us over the
course of the day.
Skipper Phil
To contact Phil:
Email:
info@mistresslindacharters.com
Tel: 07860 794183
Facebook: Mistress Linda Poole
Charters
Web: Charterboats.co.uk
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Photo: Orkney Boats
Images for illustration purposes only
 SIZE MATTERS
Conger Eels are not everyone’s cup of
tea. They’re sinister looking and slimy,
they grow to huge sizes and have a
cold, wicked look in their eye. They

IN THE ‘SNAKE PIT’

are one of the most impressive sea
beasts we have in our British waters,
in my opinion. The UK record stands
at an impressive 133lb 4oz, caught
out of Brixham back in the mid 90’s.

SAM WADMAN BRAVES THE ‘PIT’ Every year, there are specimens over
this weight landed commercially. The

AND LANDS A MONSTER!

British Conger Club keep records and
there have been fish landed of 210lb,
170lb and 155lb in the fish markets of
Devon and Cornwall in recent years.
UK CHARTER BOATS It’s quite incredible that the record
SPONSORED BY has stood at 133lb 4oz for so long
with fish of that size around.
A test of your mettle
Perhaps the waning interest in conger
fishing as a sport has had much to do
with this. It’s certainly not as popular
as it was back in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s.
Nevertheless, for ‘big fish’ specialists
around the UK, the conger eel offers a
realistic chance to come face to face
with a serious adversary. These giant
eels are going to test you, your tackle
and your skills to their limits.......and
there’s a very real chance of bagging
yourself a record breaker as well!

Size Matters

One man that’s on the case and

looking for these ‘giant snakes’
whenever the tides and weather
allows, is Kev Mckie. Kev is one of the
new generation of skippers that are
popping up around the UK. At just 38,
he’s young and keen. He’s hungry for
success and dedicated to providing
his customers with an excellent level
of service and always going the extra
mile (quite literally!) to find the fish.
Size Matters
He now owns and runs the very
impressive boat ‘Size Matters’ out of
Plymouth during the summer season.
He has been fortunate to have had
My 58lb Snake and new personal best...Happy Days!

22 Saltwater Boat Angling

 Bernie Forshaw with a fantastic coalie
the previous owner, Graham
Hannaford, pass on all his 40 years
experience of fishing from this
famous port. Combine that with Kev’s
own vast experience, buckets of
passion and a 60 mile ticket on the
boat........this man means business!
‘This was like the opening of the floodgates
as from then on, they came in their droves.
The action was thick and fast.........
the Snake Pit was open!’
Plymouth has a history of producing
big eels and Kev is doing his best to
find them. With his 60-mile ticket he is
able to push out further than most
boats and in doing so gets to the less
fished wrecks. This makes all the
difference and Kev has made some
very impressive catches. Huge
numbers of eels are the norm on his
wrecking trips and so far, he’s got 90lb
class fish under his belt. Size Matters
under Grahams ownership had a
handful of fish over 100lb to a best of
106. It’s just a matter of time before
Kev is pulling his first 100lb’er over the
gunwales, that’s for sure.
Booked up for months
Being as successful as he is; Kev is in
demand. ‘Size Matters’ is booked up
months and months ahead at a time.
It was back last November that myself
and Dan Rogers (my fellow finalist on
the BBC Big Fish TV Show) managed
Ling dentition
Herefordshire. A great bunch, all of
whom had made the journey to
Plymouth with just one thing on their
minds......A giant conger Eel!
Fully loaded with bait
As we headed out across Plymouth
Sound the next morning aboard the
very spacious Size Matters, Kev
explained that we were in for a long
day. The wreck he had in mind was
to secure the last 2 places on one of
around three and a half hours away.
his Conger trips. A big Conger Eel had
With the journey time each way and
always been something I fancied
fishing the ebb tide down on the
having a go at and it was also a great
wreck, he reckoned we’d be on the
opportunity to catch up with Dan.
water for at least 12 hours.
We had two days booked with Kev as
The boat was fully loaded with fresh
it’s a long way to go just for the day
mackerel and cuttlefish from the
and luckily for us, the weather was
quayside in Plymouth. There were at
looking good. We arranged to meet
least 4 huge fish boxes rammed with
him and the other anglers the night
kilos and kilos of the stuff. According
before for a beer and some grub so
to Kev, his conger tactics centre
we could all get acquainted before
around keeping the scent trail going
the off. We were a group of ten with
and that means changing baits
guys from Wales, Sussex, Hampshire,
regularly. Hence there being huge
Merseyside, Somerset and
amounts of the stuff!
Saltwater Boat Angling 23
 As we ploughed on out to sea we
passed the time swapping fishy tales,
drinking tea and preparing our rigs
and tackle. Kev recommended we
keep things simple and go for a
running ledger rig with a running
trace of no less than 250lb mono. The
hook-length itself should be 400lb
mono and finished off with a strong
10/0 or 12/0 hook, depending on bait
size. 50lb class gear and 80lb braid
Mike Sherwood with a cracking eel
were the order of the day. To me this
makes perfect sense; if you do hook
into that 100lb eel of a lifetime you
want to have the best chance you can
of successfully extracting it from the
wreck. Simple as that.
Cracking coalfish
We arrived at the wreck a little early
and had half an hour to kill before the
ebb got going so we made a few
drifts across the structure. We all
dropped down rubber eels of various
types and colours to see if we could
nail a few pollack for extra bait. They
were fairly obliging and we stuck a
few in the box, just in case the conger
fancied something different. One of
the anglers, Bernie, also caught a
cracking coalfish. It was the first time I
had ever seen one in the flesh, they’re
very beautiful fish.
Kev then dropped the anchor and
carefully positioned us uptide of the
wreck. We were close enough to
ensure the eels could smell our baits
but far enough to allow us a good
chance of getting the fish up and
away from the ironwork. Once we
were settled in Kev explained his
tactics to us; it was all about
teamwork.
24 Saltwater Boat Angling
Keeping the bait fresh
and fishing in rotation
The main principle was that you had
to put a fresh bait on every 15
minutes, bites or not. Keeping fresh
scent streaming down into the wreck
was the key to drawing the eels out
and getting them actively searching
out our offerings. If the scent trail
stops then the eels lose interest. We
fished in rotation on the deck of the
boat as well, dropping your bait in by
the wheel house and then slowly
moving down to the stern as the
other anglers rebaited and dropped
in behind you. It was a great system as
it kept the scent going in and gave
every angler their chances at the back
of the boat. It also largely eliminated
the risk of tangles.
This system relies on everyone doing
their bit fostering great camaraderie The ‘Snake Pit’ Crew
on the deck. I opted to hang back on
the fishing to start with as I wanted to
get some photos for this article. It was ‘We totted up th
quiet at first but the anticipation was
electric. Kev was chopping up baits and reckoned we’d had
like a machine and encouraging us all
to keep changing for a fresh one and to a best
rotating round the deck.
First take, Not bad
then frantic activity
About half an hour in, one of the It really was some of the most hectic
anglers signalled that he was getting fishing I have witnessed. Everywhere I
a typical conger bite and wound looked was a photo opportunity.
down into the first eel of the trip. It
At times, there were 3 or 4 anglers
was a modest sized eel and put a nice
bend in Robins rod. This was like the
playing big eels simultaneously at the
stern. There were fumbling hands
opening of the floodgates as from
frantically trying to nick another
then on, they came in their droves.
flapper on at the bait table and
The action was thick and fast.........the
anglers wrestling with eels on the
Snake Pit was open!
deck for their trophy shot. It was
going off! Kev was either weighing
fish in a huge sling, T-baring smaller
ones off over the side or chopping up
mackerel and re-baiting for us. It was
crazy. There was eel slime everywhere
and big smiles on faces all around the
boat. We were certainly getting plenty
of fish, the bigger ones were pushing
50lb’s in weight and giving a very
good account of themselves. It was
turning into quite the day.
Time for me to give it a go
I was having a great time watching
the other guys wrestle with their eels
and getting some super photos in the
process. After a few hours though, the
temptation got too much and I
dropped a bait down for myself.
First eel of the trip for Robin Hemmings
Typically, the action was just starting

he eels caught
d about 60 between us
t of 54 lb.
d at all.’
to slow and although I got a few bites
and dropped a couple of eels I never
actually got my hands on one.
Eventually, the tide slackened right off
so we pulled the anchor and headed
for home. The journey back flew by as
we all laughed and talked about the
day’s antics. We totted up the eels
caught and reckoned we’d had about
60 between us to a best of 54 lb.
Not bad at all.
The discussion soon turned to plans
for the following day and we had to
make a decision.
Kev reckoned if we returned to the
same wreck then we would have
given the smaller eels toothache and
stand a good chance of getting
through to the bigger specimens. The
only problem was that the wind was
set to increase in the morning which
meant it might be impossible to keep
the anchor in place that far offshore.
Back to the same wreck
Alternatively, we could try another
wreck 20 miles closer in where fishing
would be 100% possible, but we’d
probably have to work through the
smaller eels again. It didn’t take long
for a unanimous decision to be made;
we all opted to take a punt on the
same wreck for the chance of bigger
eels. If we couldn’t anchor and lost a
bit of time coming back in to another
wreck then so be it. It had to be worth
a shot.
More carnage,
including 30lb ling
The next day was a little more lively at
sea, that was quite noticeable.
Thankfully the anchor held for us and
we were able to fish effectively. The
eels were much quicker on to the
baits this time and the average sizes
were definitely up, which was
encouraging to see. I had left the
camera to one side and was
concentrating on finding myself a few
eels instead.
I had a few smaller fish but nothing
worth hauling on to the deck for
weighing. Once again, there were
scenes of total conger carnage going
on all around me as rods bent double
under the strain. We also had a few
nice ling come over the side, one in
particular that was pushing 30lbs.
Although I was getting a few nice
eels, the bigger ones seemed to be
avoiding my baits. Of course, it’s a
numbers game when there’s a group
of experienced anglers all fishing from
a boat together like this. I just kept on
rebaiting and switching up my baits
every 15 minutes, knowing that all I
needed was one go
od bite from one good fish to change
everything. Persistence paid off in the
end and I eventually got my chance.
A typical big bite
There was some indication at my rod
tip and I wound down hard into a
typically delicate conger bite. The
50lb class Penn Tuna Stick I was using
then took on an alarming curve as a
big eel tried its best to get back to the
wreck. I wasn’t having any of it
though and cranked like crazy to get
it up and away from the ironwork.
Eventually, the pressure of the heavy
tackle wore the eel down and I slowly
started to win the battle. There were a
couple of crash dives as it saw the
light but the fish was soon spinning
on the surface ready to be brought
onboard. It was a beauty, certainly a
new personal best and worthy of
hoisting up on the scales.
58lb Eel
Kev and I wrestled the eel into the
sling and raised it up. It’s always hard
to weigh fish accurately on a boat
with the motion of the ocean, but I
settled on a weight of 58lb as an
average from the wildly swinging
needle. This eel was pretty much
twice the size of any I’ve ever caught
in the past so I was made up. It was
also the biggest boated during our
two days out. What an experience it
had been! I was going home happy.
In total, we’d had about 130
Congers over our two days
fishing. It was a great couple of
days on a great boat with a top
skipper; what’s not to like? PB’s
were smashed, friendships were
formed and we all had tales to
tell when we got home. Conger
fishing may not be fashionable
these days, but sometimes the
best things in life aren’t......who
wants to follow the crowd
anyway?
If you fancy fishing with Kev
Mckie on ‘Size Matters’ then give
him a call on 07999 628511 or
check out www.
mckiesfishingcharters.co.uk
- you won’t regret it!
Saltwater Boat Angling 25
Holyhead reborn UK Charter Boats
sponsored by

In February, the ‘beast from the east’

wrecked eighty boats and caused
millions of pounds-worth of
damage to Holyhead Marina.

Tim Macpherson
went to Holyhead to meet
charter skipper Gethyn Owen
and find out how he’s rebuilt his
business and, of course, sample
some of the excellent fishing on
offer.

S
o, to North Wales. I think we
were all shocked by the pictures
of devastation we saw in
Holyhead last winter – wrecked
and sunk boats and epic amounts of
damage. All three charter boats based
there were destroyed in the disaster. As
we reported shortly afterwards, two of
the skippers were able to get kitted-out
with new boats and get their
businesses back on track pretty swiftly,
First fish of the day for Vic
thanks to speedy insurance claims and
the help of people from all over the
country raising a fighting-fund for
them.
I have to confess a double incentive to
this trip, I spent three years in North
Wales in my university days and it’s
where I met my wife so, going back
after so long was a welcome trip down
memory lane. I couldn’t have picked a
better weekend with calm, settled,
sunny weather forecast and Gethyn had
been giving me regular updates on the
state of the fishing - generally excellent
was the word. I arrived in Holyhead in
blazing sunshine and 25° heat, not what
I usually expect from the weather in
North Wales.
The marina
The marina suffered extensive damage
with pontoons being ripped from their
moorings and boats forced up onto the
rocks below the marina yard. There
were a number of wind farm service
boats moored up and one of these was
blown off its mooring by the force of
the wind. This was a was a massively
heavy boat and, as it was pushed
around the harbour, it took a lot of
boats with it, causing most of the
sinkings, including Gethyn’s boat, My
Way.
The concrete pontoons are now all
piled up on the foreshore and there are
still a number of damaged boats in the

26 Saltwater Boat Angling

boatyard, including what’s left of the
charter boat, Bad Boyz. But the
marina is functioning enough for the
charter boats and, although it means
the boats are on moorings only
accessible by tenders, it is at least
nearly back to normal.
The word is Stenna will be investing
in rebuilding the marina in the near
future, so let’s hope that’s the case.
The crew
We had six other anglers on board,
David Proudfoot owner and
publisher of Planet Sea Fishing
(planetseafishing.co.uk) who was
down from Scotland for a few days of
welsh fishing, one of Gethyn’s
regulars, Keith Heaton from Wigan,
who was also there for a week of
fishing. Three lads from Liverpool,
Martin Bailey, Daniel Atherton and
Darren Jones (who I believe had
never been fishing before). Finally,
there was Vic Craig from Harrogate,
another regular to North Wales.
The day’s fishing
I was looking forward to trying the
waters off Anglesey – the last time I
had been fishing from North Wales
was sometime in the 80s, so this
would be an interesting trip. We were
targeting big elasmobranchs;
smooth-hounds, rays, huss etc. So, on
a beautiful, still morning, we set off
out of the harbour and round the
nearly two-mile-long breakwater
with the distant mountains of
Snowdonia as a backdrop – a rare
beauty of a morning with the heat
beginning to build up even at
8.30am.
We didn’t have to travel far for the
first mark, a short steam north out of
the harbour, and Gethyn set the hook
about a mile off South Porthwan
point.
Shortage of crabs
We were targeting smooth-hounds
on this mark and using peeler crab
on simple running rigs with size 4/0
to 6/0 hooks. Gethyn supplies crabs
to various tackle and bait suppliers
and he was explaining that this year’s
cold weather in March set back the
peel by a month. Instead of the
peelers gradually increasing in
numbers, there was a sudden
explosion when the sea started to
warm up in May. This is a pattern
which has been replicated right
around our coast line. The prolonged
cold has had an effect on all our
marine life, cuttle fish breeding has
been late and there have been
reports of mass die-offs in some
places, particularly in shallow-water
species.
Back to the fishing, we set our baits
and waited but, not for long, as the
first fish came on board within a
short space of time. At this point,
though, they only put in an
appearance for anglers on the back
of the boat, clearly the scent trail
from the crabs was drawing fish
towards the boat, despite the fact
there was pretty much not tide.
Bully for the huss
We also started to land bull huss
amongst the smoothies and they
were all a decent size. I decided to
use a relatively light rod and a fixed-
spool reel in order to really get some
fight out of the fish and this was
something I’d noticed a couple of
other anglers on the boat had been
doing, too. It certainly made for
exciting fishing as a procession of
very nice fish came to the boat.
The tide began to pick up and, after a
few hours, Gethyn decided it was
time to up anchor, go and find some
mackerel, and go hunting for some
rays on a different mark south round
the North Stack. By now, we’d boated
at least ten smooth-hounds and a
Á
number of really decent-sized
bull huss.
Saltwater Boat Angling 27

South Stack
So, we steamed away to the South
Stack. It is a spectacular place to fish
and, at this time of year, the cliffs
around the Stack are covered in
guillemots, razorbills and kittiwakes
with the odd puffin interspersed. It is
always one of the major bonuses of
fishing in boats in stunning places like
this, you see some spectacular wildlife,
most of which you’d never usually see
from the shore. We see these auks
regularly off the Sussex coast but never
in such number and not in breeding
colonies.
Shocking decline
However, having been to Holyhead a
few times in the early ‘80s (and similar
places in Scotland) I was shocked at
how few birds there were. The auks and
kittiwakes were confined to a relatively
small area of the headland where as I
remember them being all along the
cliff-face. The decline is due to a
combination of overfishing of sand eels,
their staple diet, and of global warming
and rising sea temperatures. Without
the abundance of food these birds can’t
raise enough young.
We drifted around the Stack and,
despite the general decline in fish, we
could see a mass of fish on the fish-
finder which we were hoping would be
mackerel. A porpoise was hunting close
by the boat so we knew the fish were
there however, they turned out to be
herring. One of the guys got lucky and
hooked one. Despite spending the best
part of an hour there, we caught just
one very small mackerel. We tried a
couple of other marks for mackerel and,
apart from a lone pollack, we blanked
with the feathers
Rays of sunshine
So, we moved on to another mark and
started to fish with fish and squid baits.
28 Saltwater Boat Angling
A bull huss for Keith Heaton
Gethyn wanted us to sample some of
the excellent ray fishing that can be
had. Blondes, spotted, small-eyed and
thornback abound. Gethyn had some
fresh mackerel from the previous day so
this provided a nice, firm piece of meat
to offer the rays. We were anchored a
couple of miles offshore from Rhosneigr
A ray coming to the net
in Crigyll Bay with the tide at its
strongest by now.
The bull huss started to bite (along with
dogfish) and a steady stream of these
fish, plus the odd smooth-hound, were
being boated. Then, I got a different
kind of bite. That familiar rattle when a
ray settles on the bait. I have to say I
didn’t call it, because I didn’t want to
look silly it could, after all, have been
another lesser-spotted dogfish.
Lone rays
Once I’d lifted the rod, hooked it and
then felt the fight, it seemed clear to me
by the way the fish was moving, and
that undulating fight as the wings
flapped, that this was a ray. But which
type. I didn’t call I until I could see it …
and it was a thornback. But hooked in
the wing, when I picked the rod up I
must have dragged the rig out of its
mouth and winged it. Shortly after,
David Proudfoot had one, too, and at
last we thought we’d found some
decent rays. Sadly, they were the only
ones – the rays weren’t playing today.
While I was landing this fish, we
witnessed some very odd behaviour. As
I was bringing the ray up through the
water column, I could see a very large
bull huss following behind it. For a
moment, I thought it was also hooked
but, as we put the net out it, dropped
away into the depths. This behaviour
was repeated a few times, including on
one occasion while one of us was
bringing in a near double-figure huss
and an even bigger one, must have
been 15lbs-plus. Why this was
happening was unclear. I’ve seen it with
bass, it is common if you catch a big
female to see two or three smaller
males following her up, and also with
plaice, but I’ve never seen huss do this.
Incidentally, while we were waiting,
though, we were treated to Scottish
pies and sausage sandwiches followed
by arctic roll and lashings of tea and
coffee!
The fish of the day
The final highlight of the day is one of
those incidents which is so common on
these trips. Dean Jones, who’d
apparently had a very bad night’s sleep
in a tent, hooked into something very
interesting. It took him a while to get
the fight right but he held on doggedly
as the fish, clearly a decent-sized beast,
refused to come to give in. Eventually,
after an epic battle, it came to the boat
 The biggest of the day A decent bull huss

– a fish clearly bigger than anything

we’d had to date (and there had been
quite a few double-figure huss and
smoothies during the day). Gethyn
netted in, unhooked it and quickly got
his sling out and weighed it … 17lb 1oz
smooth-hound! What a cracker and
caught by a relative novice to sea
fishing. Really great to see.

That was almost the last fish we boated

before heading back to port, a happy
crew, not too sunburned, and looking
forward to a pint or two in the evening
sunshine.

My Way II and Gethyn Owen Federation of Sea

Once the ‘beast from the east’ had done its worst, Gethyn Anglers and the
was left with a wrecked boat and potentially no income. Federation of Welsh
Thankfully, the insurance company acted quickly and Anglers.
Gethyn was able to locate and buy a replacement boat, Gethyn was a member
which he found on Hayling Island. My Way II is a spacious Skipper Gethyn
of the Welsh National
35foot Offshore 105 powered by an impressive IVECO Boat Angling Team and
420hp engine. She cruises at 12knots with a top speed of has represented Wales in two Home Nations
25knots. She is licenses and insured for up to ten anglers Championships – 2003 Weymouth, England, and 2004
with rods and tackle available. Milford Haven, Wales, and also one World Championship.
The 41st World Boat Angling Championships held in
The cabin is fitted with state of the art Raymarine Weymouth, England is where Gethyn finished 9th overall
electronics including Navionics mapping software plus a and helped Wales to its highest placing ever of 4th overall. 
gas hob and grill, with hit drinks and snacks supplied free.
There is also a ladies and children’s toilet facility. Contact Facebook: www.facebook.com/GOAngling/
Web: www.goangling.co.uk
Gethyn has been fishing from the tender age of five-years-
Tel: 07971 924046
old, a keen angler all his life, both from the shore and the
boat. He qualified as a Level 2 Angling Coach via the Welsh My Way is sponsored by Pure Fishing (UK) Ltd

Saltwater Boat Angling 29


Brixham: Optimist: Nigel Lihou
What a month it has been for Optimist
here in Brixham. Back in April the turbo
went on the engine and decisions
needed to be made; spend more on the
engine or source a replacement. The
latter proved to be the way forward and
after several abortive chases around the
south coast and a wanted ad in FAFB we
found a replacement in Jersey. It was
then shipped from Guernsey to Poole.
That meant a day out to Poole to collect
it followed by two weeks’ hard work to
fit it. The new engine is now in and more
economical.
Back on the fishing and half day trips to
the inshore wrecks are producing some
nice sized pouting and pollack, with the
occasional whiting. Full days have been
Poole: Silver Spray: Sam Cumming
9 year
old Adam
the next
genration on
Silver Spray
The last month has been flat out down
in Poole, we have only had to cancel one
trip due to weather which certainly makes
a change from last year’s early summer.
The May bloom is pretty much gone now
both inshore and out in the Channel and
its disappearance brought the arrival of
the first shoals of mackerel. With fresh bait,
available tope fishing started strongly
for the year with plenty of male fish over
slack water period coming from various
marks. We have even seen tope to over
20lb whilst we’ve been ray fishing in Poole
Bay, only a couple of miles from the shore
so should be a good season for them. The
bream fishing continues to be frantic and
it doesn’t seem like there are many marks
where you don’t get at least a few of them
these days.
We have also had a new species this
30 Saltwater Boat Angling
Bob with a
wrestiling
spent on the Skerries hunting plaice
bull huss
and rays which, this year, is proving on Optimist
a little harder. However, when we Charters
hit them they are relatively plump
specimens.
A party came down from Lancashire
for a week’s fishing. They certainly
tested our fish finding abilities because
in the week they were here the forecast
was for easterlies all week. Brixham
faces east even though it’s
on the South coast. We managed to get mouth of the Dart which is
around Start Point to Lannacombe for sheltered from the easterlies. We also
a day on the rough ground, returning found a couple of other productive marks,
via the Skerries. We also had a couple one producing bull huss up to 9.5lb
of days on the inshore wrecks and one (pictured).
day cancelled because of the swell. Their Contact: Nigel Lihou Optimist Charters,
final day was a lumpy ride round to the 07817136505, www.optimistcharters.co.uk
Nick Smith
stunning tub
Silver Spray II
Kelvin
Hindmarch
for his 1lb
2oz streaked
month gurnard on
for us, Silver Spray
a rare
occasion
these days, well done to Kelvin Hindmarch
for his 1lb 2oz streaked gurnard (pictured).
Apparently, this equals the current British
Record. Further afield in the channel
fishing is plodding along nicely with
mostly cod on the wrecks with the pollack
having moved further off to the rough
ground marks. We’ve now done our first
trip to Cherbourg for the season and next
year we will be running our first trips down
to Guernsey so get in touch for more
details and the dates. Thanks to everyone Malcolm
for fishing with us on Silver Spray and out Nightingale
of Poole over the last few months. 14lb pollock
Contact www.silverspraycharters.co.uk Silver Spray II
07787375836
 Weymouth: Al’s Spirit: Adrian Brown
Alfred Brockwell, an HGV driver from
Queensborough, Isle of Sheppey in
Kent landed a Bull Huss weighing in
at 16lb 7oz - a new Weymouth Port
Record.
Weymouth Angling Centre are
running the Weymouth Charter
Boat Specimen Hunt and anyone
fishing on a charter boat from the
North eastern charter boat reports from Sam Harris
Mick Smith with a cod
on Kelsey Leigh
Davey Collinson with
a ling on Kelsey Leigh
FOR A FULL LIST OF CHARTER BOATS PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 86
town are eligible to enter for £5.00.
This is its second year. If you break
a British record you win £3,000 and
a Weymouth port record wins you
£1,500 - do check out W.A.C. website
for more details....
For more information please Bull Huss
contact Adrian on M: 07976 522184
E: alsspirit@deepsea.co.uk Allan Brown
on Al’s Spirit
Cracking ling
on JFK II
North Shields:
JFK II:
Allan Skinner
JFKII had a red-letter day with eight
double figured ling and cod taken. Colin
Donnelly had the best ling of 22.5lbs
which is the biggest so far this season on
North east coast as far as we know. Russell
Smith also had ling of 13lbs and 11.5lbs
in a 45-50 fish haul. There have also been
plenty fish in the 2-4lbs mark coming
aboard other boats in the 5-6lbs range
with the occasional fish of 9-10lb pictured
is a nice ling of 17lbs for Davy Collinson.
Main Tel: 0780 8684358;
Alt Tel: 0191 2764863
Davy Collinson 17lb
ling JFK TWO
Tyneside:
Kelsey Leigh:
Lee
Kelsey Leigh had a haul of
200 cod to 5lb on a wreck
off shore. Also, Ian Stanfield
caught a notable ling of
12lb ling on muppets with
squid and mackerel. Prawns
have also been accounting
for cod
Contact Lee on
0797-4252450
Saltwater Boat Angling 31
Weymouth: FlamerIV: Colin Penny
Bob Spencer from Southampton on his first
Chris with a Mick Doody trip aboard Flamer IV landed his personal
23Ib tope Undulate Ray best plaice weighing 4Ib 8oz. Bob was using
12Ib 8oz a two-hook plaice trace with pink attractor
beads on and size 2/0 Sakuma Stinger hooks
baited with ragworm and squid strips.
Fishing on the reefs and banks has been
particularly good this month with good
catches of rays, tope, bull huss, congers,
black bream and smoothounds.
Amongst others; Paul Milkins landed a
Bob Spencer 17Ib 4oz Blonde Ray, Chris Wall had a 23Ib
4lb 8oz tope, Ian Slater boated a 13Ib starry
Plaice smoothound and Mick Doody 12Ib 8oz
undulate ray.
The plaice fishing has been excellent:
Norbert Albstmeijer had a specimen of 4Ib
3oz, David Gorham a 4Ib fish, Toby Haylett
one of 3Ib 11oz Plaice, and Jon Hatlett one
of 3Ib 10 oz.
These have been landed along with some
good-sized turbot and brill.
A date for the diary: July 27th - The
Weymouth Turbot and Brill Competition,
October 26th - Flamer IV v Supanova II -
Flatty Competition,
Contact Colin on 079689727276 or
lamer4 ishing.co.uk

Weymouth:
Sally Ann Jo:
Colin Baker
Contact Colin on:
colinbaker1260@gmail.com
www.sallyanncharters.co.uk
07814301708
A couple of
further shorts for
you
Simon Adams with a bull huss on
Andy Griggs Cats Whiskers (MDB
Charters) caught on squid and
mackerel - around 6lb and Simon
Adams with a pollack of 13lb caught
on board Valkyrie skippered by Glen
Cairns during a mid-channel session.
Simon Adams
Yarmouth: High
More from the Flyer 2: John Old
Weymouth We’ve had another decent east coast
Specimen Hunt thornback ray amongst many other fish, it
weighed in at 12lb 5oz and fell to Paul Ryan
They have had a Jonathan Rollason
of Norwich using on herring baits.
great first half of 22lb 8oz Spurdog
Contact John Old 07920043979
the year down in
www.eastangliancharters.co.uk
Weymouth with
eastanglingcharters@gmail.com
some cracking
fish entered into
Paul Ryan
the year-long
Specimen
Hunt. Alfred
Brockwell from
the Isle of Sheppey had a 16lb 7oz Buss
Huss which beating Pete Whiteman’s
15lb 10oz on Meerkat-Charters - thisbeat
the current Port Record of 15lb 12oz. The
fish was kept in the live bait tank then
weighed in and witnessed at Weymouth
Angling Centre before being released
back into the bay. Alfred and Al’s Spirit
are now in the running for the Break a
Port Record prize money.
The Specimen Hunt is a year-long
competition, it’s £5 for the whole year
and anglers can enter species caught on
any participating Charter Boat. They just
need to complete the entry forms either
in the Weymouth Angling Centre or on
board with the skippers.

32 Saltwater Boat Angling

 Bob White Memorial Trophy
The Annual Bob White Memorial Open Boat
Competition was held on Saturday 7th July
out of Amble, Northumberland. Anglers were
allowed to fish from charter and private boats
and also kayaks. This year’s total of entries was
an incredible 173 fishing from 46 boats, with
135 of the rods weighing in. The conditions
were perfect with a flat calm sea and very little
wind.
This was a Heaviest Single Fish Competition
and the winner, with a cod of 7lb 14oz was
Henry Douglas who fished from Sea Scape.
Second was Keith Dunn with a pollack of 7lb 3
1/4 oz. He fished from Sarah M. Third was
Gary Allan with a pollack of 6lb 11 3/4 oz. He
was on Bolds Coquet. The Specimen Award
went to Stu Holland for a lesser spotted
dogfish of 2lb 12 3/4 oz. The lady winner
Anne Marie Biggin with a cod of 4lb 3 oz. The
junior winner was Jake Harvey with a cod of
3lb 10 3/4 oz. Every junior taking part received
a prize whether they caught a fish or not.
A magnificent total of over £4,760 raised
for St. Oswalds Hospice, Newcastle and the
R.N.L.I.
Bob White was a very popular Amble
charter boat Skipper who passed away from
cancer and this competition is held each year
in his memory. The competition is organised
by the Amble Angling Club and one of the
mainstays of this is Norma Irwin, owner of
Henry Douglas
the Amble Angling Centre
For information on charter boats out of with cod of 7lb
Amble you can contact Norma on 01665- 14oz winner of
711200. Well done to the organisers and the Bob White
all of the competitors. Trophy

Brightlingsea: Sophie Lea: Lee Bolingbroke

had to go far to go to catch them.
Thames Getting mackerel for bait to fish for
Tope them though is as always tiresome,
so we are recommending anglers
to buy them from fresh from a
supermarket, round our way
Morisons seems to have the
freshest. The biggest fish last
month was a tope caught by
Great weather and great fishing Derick Mole on his boat Eastern
but the football is getting in the Promise. It was a nice fifty-seven-
way of some anglers booking trips pound fish. Most of the fish have
and yes, I know, there is always been between twenty and forty
something, we are never happy pounds but they are still great
us charter skippers, weather is our sport.
normal gripe. I got off the plane
from Portugal after a nice break SMOOTHOUNDS BUT
with my family and NO CRABS
have been out on Smoothounds now being
charter ever since. caught and, once again,
these fish are running in
TOPE places we rarely see them.
The fishing has This has taken us all buy
been terrific with surprise and it is probably
a great run of tope John Sargeant, to do with food supply. We
coming through, Lee and Michael have been setting hermit
and we have not Buerk crab pots in our normal
Phil Bingham
with a 16lb
Thornback
areas but we are struggling to
catch half a dozen hermits per
setting which isn’t great for our
anglers. We have put this shortage
down to the Beast from the East
which has killed hundreds of crabs
and other crustaceans and stocks
may need two or three years to
recover.
NATIONAL TREASURES?
I recently just had the pleasure of
taking out two national treasures
on Sophie Lea; Michael Buerk
and John Sergeant. They are
making a TV program about their
adventures on boats as they sail
around the UK to Falmouth which
will be broadcasted on channel
five towards the end of the year
- not expert anglers but fantastic
fun to be with and I’ll be certainly
looking out for the programme
when it is aired.
Contact Lee on Info@
sophieleacharters.co.uk
07774482856 www.
sophieleacharters.co.uk
Steve with
a Hound

Sam Sansom
Lyme Regis: Pegasus: Lewis Hodder: Pegasus 26lb tope
Another brilliant spell of weather with species on the boat with one angler
only 2 days cancelled in June none so far catching 14! If you’re interested in species
in July – that’s more like it! The fishing has fishing give Lyme Regis a go it’s light, easy,
been good as well; wrecking trips have fishing and there’s loads to catch!
seen bass to around 5lb, lots of pollack to Anchoring further offshore has
13lb and a few cod up to around 8lb. There produced some great tope fishing,
are plenty of congers at anchor but I rarely although nothing massive. We’ve had
get anglers wanting to heaps of fish up to 26lb with
sample the great sport lots in the 15-20lb range.,
to be had with the Vicky Taylor Amongst the tope have been
eels on the Lyme Bay 12lb pollack undulate rays, thornback rays, Lewis Hodder
wrecks. Inshore fishing huss, congers, spurdogs and with a 13lb
has produced loads the odd smoothound. This pollack
of different species, is, of course, not forgetting
everything from some big black bream to over
double figure ‘hounds 4lb and turbot too with the
to gobies! On a recent best going 9lb!
species competition, To book or enquire call or
we managed 22 text 07519160020.

FOR A FULL LIST OF CHARTER BOATS PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 86 Saltwater Boat Angling 33
Jim is making up for the
windy weather earlier
in the year by getting
out as often as possible
in Lucky G.

Colin gets his bream

Targets
My new crew member, Colin, keeps
giving me targets he would like to
catch. Anyone reading this article in
previous months will remember I
had found him a thornback ray on
one of our trips and I even managed
to track down a cod for him, no easy
job along the south coast this year.
Then he told me he would like to
catch a black bream. I took on the
challenge but not before I had
rummaged about in the garage to
find my ground baiting contraption
called ‘The Edge’.

Bring them on
The metal trap door that opens
when a large weight fixed to the to
a central rod strikes the seabed and
pushes up to release the catch at
the top. It had been a few years
since I had taken the bait dispenser,
or whatever you like to call it, out
The Edge ‘baitdropper’
with me. When we still had our
regular club boat matches I would
always use it in the bream
competition as they can be brought
on the feed easily with a trail of fish
bits and pieces. Editor Tim was with
us hoping for some bream action as
well. There was a good tide running
as I stopped the boat over a
favourite bream mark near the

34 Saltwater Boat Angling

 their lines and within 30 seconds Colin was playing a
Ammo rubby lively bream. It was one of the darkest bream I have ever
dubby was seen but I was so relieved to have found him another of
added to his fish targets. Things will get harder from now on as he’s
the mix talking about catching his first tope. We will have to see
about that one sometime in the future!

First mackerel
We were out again a few days later. Tim was off fishing in
Wales with Gethyn Owen, so it was just Colin and myself.
It was flat calm, so we shot off to the Tower and had a drift
for mackerel. Surprise, surprise, we managed to find half a
dozen beauties, the first of the year. I decided push off out
to the edge of the shipping lane 14 miles out. Although I
In goes the rubby dubby hadn’t mentioned it to Colin, I was thinking of trying for a
tope. First drop down with a decent side of fresh mackerel
and Colin lands a bass, followed by a dogfish and a
whiting. With nothing else showing any interest we
abandoned the tope quest for now and had a few drifts
over a bank hoping for a turbot.

The result

Royal Sovereign Buoy, a mile to the north of the light

tower.

Huss
When we started fishing the first lot of ground bait,
complete with some prepared frozen chum from Ammo
baits, went well downstream. The next lot brought the
fish nearer the boat as the tide had started to ease. I
happened to mention to the others that we may pick up
the odd small bull huss, as I had caught a couple here on
previous trips. First fish up was a dogfish but soon after I
did pick up our first bream of the year. Nothing big but it
was a start. Then the first bull huss came up, only a tiny
one of less than 2lbs. This was followed by one just about
every drop on Tim’s rod. Tim and Colin kept catching
them, yet I hooked another couple of bream while they
were plundering the bull huss nursery.

Desperate
By the time the tide had slackened off and Colin still
hadn’t had a bream I was getting desperate. I had been
using some bream rigs made for an EFSA bream
competition in Portugal that had worked well, so I
managed to find a spare one for him to rig up with. On Tim starts with a small smooth hound
the slack tide we up anchored and I took ‘Lucky G’ out to
the Light tower. When the other two were baited up and
ready, I nosed the boat right up to the massive concrete Last gasp
side of the tower. This is not easy, as the water swirls

Á
With no takes over the banks, nothing was going to plan
round the structure and can draw you into it. Anyway, I today, but I had one option left. When Colin got on
got to within three feet of it and yelled ‘go’. They dropped the boat in the morning he had mentioned he

Saltwater Boat Angling 35

would like four nice plaice
to take home. Twenty
minutes later I had the
boat over the plaice
grounds and the
spreaders, baited with
lugworm tipped with
squid, bobbing along the
bottom. The plaice were
there but with little tide
the bites were timid and
the fish small. An hour
later the tide was running
and the better fish came
on the feed. We managed
to find four good plaice of
around 2lbs a piece and
we returned home happy,
into an increasingly
choppy sea.
Short break
At the beginning of July
Tim found himself a few
hours off from the
magazine, so with the
weather forecast looking
good we planned a short
trip. We caught the 9.30
lock and went along
towards Beachy Head. It
was very misty and
despite the good forecast
the breeze began to
freshen. We started as the
tide dropped to low, with
a few drifts using a
mixture of lugworm,
squid and mackerel.
Within minutes Tim had
picked up a small
smooth hound that took
a lugworm on his
spreader. I found a single
mackerel and that was it.
No tide
By now by now it was
low tide slack, so we
took a decision to move
while there was no tide
and put the anchor
down for the first of the
flood. I took ‘Lucky G’ to a
mark a couple of
hundred yards from the
‘Horse’, a local rocky reef
with a view to drawing
some bream off the reef.
As soon as the anchor
was down, I set about
cutting up some squid
36 Saltwater Boat Angling
and mackerel for our bait
dropper. It didn’t take long
to work as Tim’s rod
bounced up and down he
pulled in a double shot of
bream. For the next hour
and a half, we caught
bream regularly, the only
other species to be hooked
were a single scad and a
jumbo mackerel. The fish
were nearly all small
females and were returned
alive. By the time we
pulled anchor we had
boated about 15 bream
and enjoyed the spirited
fight they put up on our
4m Artico X power rods
that certainly allow the fish
to give a good account of
themselves.
Rod ties
Keeping my rods together
and easy to transport is
always a pain for me. I
don’t want to break them
down after every trip and
take the reels off, as they
are used regularly, so I don’t
use rod bags. Rod ties are
the things for me but I’m
forever losing them. I find
the ones from Fladen
Fishing are very flexible
and cheap but do the job
and with care will last a
season.
Norway adventure
Next time I will be afloat
with Tim will be off
Saltstraumen, Brygge, in
Norway. I have a light
travel rod I use in Florida
but needed a 20/30 lb
travel rod for the heavier
work, thinking of big cod,
coalfish and halibut. The
one I found was only £30
and is a real beauty. It’s from
a new company called
Fishzone and is a smart
looking rod in royal blue. At
7’ it breaks down to just
60cm (23”) and comes with
a very classy carrying case.
I’m hoping to put some
serious bends in that rod
before we return,
All the benefits of sea angling without the hassle
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 Channel
adventures
ON TEDDIE BOY CHARTERS FROM MINEHEAD
John Sherlock has
spent 60 years
fishing from boats
around the UK -
in this occasional
series he looks at
some of the charter
boats and skippers
he’s come across. Minehead harbour
Hooked on fishing since the age of 3,
some 60 years ago, when my father
first took me to Swanage pier in
Dorset catching plaice, sole, pouting
and small wrasse to name a few I, like
many others, have spent a lifetime
searching for that new angling
experience. I have always fished from
boats and as I get older find myself
wanting to spend more time afloat
searching for that bigger or better fish
along with new species.
I hope that I can share some of my
experiences on some of these boats
with you and you can try for
yourselves new ports and new
species. Although a resident of
Devon, with the varied waters of the
west country at my disposal, I
frequently find myself being drawn to
the waters of the Bristol Channel
where I regularly fish on Teddie Boy
out of Minehead.
THE BOAT
Teddie Boy is an 8m AMC North Sea
Catamaran powered by twin 350hp
outboards with a cruising speed of 20
knots and a top speed in excess of 30
knots. The boat is fitted with a side
door which makes boarding easier
especially for those less able bodied.
38 Saltwater Boat Angling
boat. Bait is also be supplied at extra
cost. Specialist baits such as peeler
crab or worm are avialble at a harbour
side kiosk, run by local angling guide
Craig Buttler ( 01643 705255). He is
open from 10am daily but from 6 am
by arrangement.
THE FISH
The fishing at times can be
exceptional as many as 15 species can
be caught in a single day. The rays,
There is a flush toilet on-board and
the skipper, Michael Webber-Griffiths,
makes a mean cup of tea.
Michael is one of the youngest charter
skippers in the country at just 20
years of age. Although young in years,
Michael has a wealth of experience
having fished with his father all his life
aboard the charter boat Osprey, also
out of Minehead.
THE PORT
Minehead is situated on the North
Somerset coast on the edge of
Exmoor and a fishing trip gives
spectacular views of some of the
highest cliffs in the country and an
John Sherlock
opportunity for some superb
with a blonde ray on Teddie Boy
photographs. The trips can be as short
as 4 hours over a high tide or 8 hours
or more over low tides. Minehead is a
tidal harbour that dries out over low huss and conger eels tend to stay all
water so you can find yourself year with smoothounds making an
boarding at any time, I even went on appearance as early as late March and
one that started at 3am. last winter staying on into December.
Tope follow soon afterwards and
COST AND TACKLE HIRE some caught are in excess of 60lbs.
Prices vary from £25 for 4 hours or £40 The smoothounds and bull huss all
and above for 8 hours or more. reach high double figures and rays
Michael can hire you everything you into double figures. Blonde, small
need for the day for £10. The tackle is eyed, thornback and spotted rays are
supplied by Fladen who sponsor the all caught and on occasion I have
seen over 30 boated. Cod appear in
early Autumn, recently catches have
been sporadic but fish up to 30lb
have been caught. From November,
packs of spurdogs arrive and can give
excellent sport.
Skipper Michael with a Bristol Channel tope
Up tiding or Down tiding?
If you are inexperienced I would
recommend fishing down tide. This is
where you would normally fish from
the stern of the boat and lower your
weight to the seabed. Weights of up
to 1lb are required. The normal
practice is to then thumb the spool
and bounce the lead 2 or 3 times on
the bottom to get your bait away
from the boat and to allow it to sit on
the sea bed.
TACKLE
Tackle needs to be strong in the
ferocious tides. For down-tide I would
recommend a 20lb class rod with a
good tip action for bite detection and
cushioning when playing a fish, an
uptide rod need to be able to cast up
to 10ozs. The rod should be paired
with a good quality reel with a
smooth drag. Braid is great when
fishing down tide and can be used up
to 60lb breaking strain but always
with a mono shock leader to protect
the braid from abrasion. If using
mono then breaking strains up to
30lb tend to be used either with or
without a shock leader as only a
gentle lob is required. Terminal tackle
is very simple with a single hook
running ledger all that is required for
most situations.
BAITS
Fish and squid baits are widely used
for most species with worm being
favoured for the cod and peeler crab
for the smoothounds. I have
increasingly seen hard backed crab
used for the smoothounds and have
used them myself with success, they
also prevent you catching Dogfish
which can reach plague proportions.
Michael can be contacted on
07894 536672 for the individuals
trips or even a full boat charter.
He also has a website is
www.teddieboycharters.co.uk
and uses Facebook to keep his
regulars updated on forthcoming
trips and last minute spaces.
Saltwater Boat Angling 39
 The BRITISH CONGER CLUB’S
55th MEMBERS CHAMPIONSHIP
Mike Millman reports
on the latest in this
long-running and
popular competition
In perfect weather over the two days
of competition the five-strong charter
boat fleet of Ace’s High, Sea Angler II,
Typhoon, Tamesis and Crusader left
Plymouth’s historic Barbican at 6am.
The early start was to make the most
of the flooding, neap, tide that was to
begin two hours later at wrecks within
twenty miles of the Devon coast.
Fishing was limited to five-and-a-half
hours for each day and within the
total of eleven hours 199 eels were
recorded. However, the much
anticipated big specimens were
uncooperative.
40 Saltwater Boat Angling
Minimum weight for fish at the scales
was 40lbs and the only ‘weigher’ on
day one was caught by Paul Maris of
Bishop Stortford, who fished from Roy
Strevens’ Tamesis. The scales revealed
it to be a decent fish of 40lbs 7ozs.
Fishing conditions remained
unchanged on day two which was a
rare treat.
Champion eel
Only one eel was clearly much above
the minimum size and this was taken
by last year’s champion, Peter
Thatcher, of Guildford Deep Sea
Anglers who was aboard Ian Holman’s
Ace’s High.
Six hours later, it was weighed on the
dock at 53lbs 4ozs, making its captor
the first back-to-back champion since
Maureen Walsh achieved the Peter Thatcher
distinction in 2001/2 with eels of the 2018 BCC :
55lbs 4ozs and 52lbs 10ozs. Champion
Top team
The Team Championship was won by
the Longer, Stronger, Conger Squad
of Steve Holyer, Steve Dawe, John
Locker and Sam James who had a
total of 1,520lbs points. Runners up
were The Black Rat, with team
members of Ken Johnson, Joe
Connolly, David Hawkswood and Alan
Mason, with a 1480 score.
The Reg Quest memorial Trophy
This is presented for the greatest
number of eels landed over the two
days and it went to John Locker of
Truro who had a total of sixteen fish.
The cash raised (through a separate
John locker wirth the Reg quast trophy
entry fee) for this trophy will go, as
always, to the Royal National Lifeboat
Institution. The trophies were
presented by club Chairman Paul
Sweetman.
Annual General Meeting
The Championship was preceded on
the Friday by the Annual General
Meeting and the presentation of
trophies won in 2017. There was a
lively debate on a proposal by the
committee that future Championships
should be run on a catch-and-release
basis, a concept which is now gaining
some support. Several of the longer-
term members said that whilst
conservation would always be a major
part of the club, this would be a step
too far, pointing out that the
minimum weight of 40lbs ensured
that only a small number of fish reach
the scales.
The total of four recorded in the 2017
Championship, and three the
previous year, endorsed this view.
Such was the division on the issue it
was decided to hold it over pending a
wider-based opinion.
A proposal that the 20, 30, and 50lb
line-class trophies should be
The Sea Angler Team
re-allocated as there had been no
entries for any of these classes in at
least the last ten years had unanimous
support.
A proposal that juniors should be
allowed to fish the Championship
came in for much criticism on safety
grounds and the decision was also
held-over pending more investigation
on safety and insurance aspects.
The awards
2017 presentations
Angling Magazine Cup
(Heaviest Fish) Chris Goddard 73lbs
Electric Blue Trophy for the
Heaviest Fish weighed at sea: Chris
Goddard 73lbs
Bill Shapland Trophy for the Best
Fish by a woman Kath Lavis 48lbs
Scampi Cup for the Heaviest fish
from a Reef : Kath Lavis
Fuller Cup for Best in the Own Boat
Category.: Kath Lavis
Saltwind Cup for Best by a Life
Member : Miles Burden
Eileen Hunkin Memorial Cup for the
Heaviest Qualifier : Rob Thomas
(90lb fish)
The Top Boat Award for the
heaviest eel in 2017: Paul Whittall of
Weymouth’s Offshore Rebel
Thompson Medal Winners were:
Silver Chris Goddard 73-0-0 WAS
Wreck. Miles Burden 70-0-0 WAS
Wreck, Bronze Peter Thatcher 55-14-0
Wreck. Michael Herron 57-0-0 WAS
Wreck. Silver: Junior Matthew Lavis
65-0-0 WAS Wreck.
The heritage of the
Championship
The British Conger Club was formed
in 1962 and its first Championship
was fished in its second year, from
Littlehampton, the birthplace of the
club. Until 1968, it was open to all
comers then, with membership
growing rapidly, it became a
members-only competition at
nominated ports. For many years, the
Conger Club has been conservation-
minded, and this is now playing a
major role and ninety-eight percent
of all eels caught are released.
Another expression of the
Championship, operated in the early
1970s, were heats fished out of seven
English Channel ports. The winners
going forward to a final on the
Brixham boat, Our Unity. It was
realised that this was unfair on
competitors who would fish out of
Plymouth where, due to its stature in
wreck-angling, the entry was always
100-plus while at smaller ports no
more than twenty would compete.
Contact:
secretary@britishcongerclub.org.uk
www.britishcongerclub.org.uk
facebook.com British-CongerClub-
265767206966662/
Saltwater Boat Angling 41
TWO
MAKO’S
David Turner reminisces
about a couple of shark
trips from the 70’s.
Part one
A trip in some appalling
weather
A fishing friend of mine at the time,
Phil Taylor, and myself had just
recently passed our driving tests. Phil
had bought a Ford Anglia and I had
an Austin A40, this was to be our first
long distance trip, from Oxford to
Falmouth. In the days before the M5
this was a ten hour trip across
country. We arrived in Falmouth at
around 5 oclock. We were staying at a
famous old Falmouth venue; the
Chain Locker. The landlord, Bobby
Drennan, who was also the official
weighmaster for the Falmouth Shark
Angling Club and SACGB in Falmouth.
Porbeagles
The first couple of days resulted in a
handful of small blues. On the
Tuesday things took an unexpected
turn for the better. We were fishing
with the legendary Robin Vinnicombe
on “Huntress”, Robin was paying out
my line at the start of the session
42 Saltwater Boat Angling
when he turned
to me and said
“Here you are
Dave, there’s
one on”. The
first bait in the
water for the
day must have
dropped right
on the nose of the shark, as Robin was
paying out the line it just kept going!
After a brief 15 min tussle a porbeagle
lay on the deck, never a common
occurrence off Falmouth and this one
looked like a personal best. Less than
half an hour later Phil had a take on
his line and after a brief scrap,
porbeagle number two came aboard.
Lying side by side on the deck it was
difficult to tell which one was bigger.
Small blues
The rest of the day produced four or
five small blues and then it came to
the moment of truth at the weigh in.
Phils fish turned out to be the biggest
and by quite a margin despite both
fish looking of similar size lying on the
deck. Phil’s fish turned
the scales at 120lb
compared with mine
at 102lb.
Nevertheless, two
reasonable fish and if
we caught no more for
the week it would have
been a good and
worthwhile
achievement all round.
But there was more to
come……
Weather report
The following day dawned with
reasonable weather but by the time
we had travelled half way across
Falmouth Bay grey clouds were
already moving in from the west and
the wind was freshening rapidly. We
carried on, missing a day due to
weather was a rare event when
fishing with Robin; it was not for the
faint hearted. We started our drift
about a mile deep of the Manacles
but already it was becoming
uncomfortable and the rain had
now started.
Seven foot swell
We endured it for another two hours
but by now the rain was horizontal
and the seas were running at about
seven foot on a long Atlantic swell. In
those days, there were few items of
waterproof clothing available so we
wore fishermen’s smocks that kept
the wind out and the rain – for a
while. Apart from Phil and myself, the
rest of the crew that day were day
trippers on their first (and probably
last) sharking trip, by now they were
all huddled in the corner of the
wheelhouse wishing the world
would end.
Last knockings
With only one small blue caught and
the weather still deteriorating Robin
decided to call I a day. We started to
reel in the lines, the last one to come
in was the stern line which had the
only Penn 10/0 attached, the rest
being 9/0’s. Phil had drawn this line
on that day but before we got to it
the 10/0 gave a few short clicks on t
he ratchet. “Would you believe it”,
said Rob.
Phil picked up the rod and started to
reel in whilst Rob and myself
continued reeling in the remaining
two lines. “It’s only a small one”, said
Phil in a tone of voice that suggested,
“I’m soaking wet and now I have
got to sit here and wind in another
small blue”
Certainly not a small one
The other lines in, Robin picked up
the gaff to get the fish in as quickly as
possible. It was not to be, the rod
arched and Phil as lifted out of the
fighting chair, yard after yard of line
screamed from the reel. “mako!”
shouted Rob as a black, streamlined
shape rocketed out of the water 150
yards from the boat. The big fish spun
in mid-air and re-entered the water as
it had left, head first. It then
proceeded to swim at speed off the
starboard bow.
The sea was too rough to start the
engine so this was going to be a tricky
battle with a high risk of ending badly.
Again, it left the water, spun in mid-air
and landed with an audible splash
despite the howling wind and driving
rain. It then turned and swam rapidly
around the stern at which point Phil
had to pass the rod around the
mizzen mast and under the mizzen
boom whilst I held on to his smock to
stop him going over. Three times he
performed this maneuver in total as
the big fish swam to and fro.
Gnashing teeth
Again, the fish left the water, and
again, and again. Eight times in total
but the most spectacular jump and a
sight I will never forget is when a large
wave, about seven-foot high rose up
about thirty feet from the boat, out of
the side of this wave appeared an
enormous head, shaking violently
from side to side with rows of large,
needle shaped teeth gnashing
audibly together before the mighty
fish sank back into the wave.
The battle lasted an hour and ten
minutes before the first flying gaff
went in, throughout the whole time
everyone was expecting the line to go
slack as the combination of big fish
and atrocious weather combined to
load events in favour of the fish but,
on that day, Neptune smiled on us.
The day trippers had come back to life
at the spectacle of the big mako
leaping from the water and now
assisted in hauling it on board. Safely
on the deck the journey home started,
staying in the lee of the Lizard
peninsula kept Huntress out of the
worst of the weather but it was far
from a smooth trip home.
A big crowd and a line
class record
Despite the pouring rain, about 100
people were waiting on Custom
House Quay when we got in and there
were no shortage of volunteers to
assist lifting the big fish onto the
scales attached to the davit at the rear
of Taylors Garage. Bobby Drennan
officially recorded the weight at 370lb.
That year, 1970, the SACGB had just
introduced line class records and, as
this was the first mako caught, it took
the 80lb class record, the record still
stands today. That year also, the
Bacardi Rum Company started
sponsoring a competition which
awarded a prize of £1.00/lb for the
biggest shark caught between June
and September plus £50 for the
biggest shark caught each month. Phil
won both. He also came very close to
achieving the grand slam as, within 24
hours he caught blue, porbeagle and
mako sharks but, unfortunately, not
on the same day.
David Turner is a long standing
shark angler and charter skipper
based in the West Country
Next month we’ll follow this up with
part II and a spectacular fight with a
real monster.
Saltwater Boat Angling 43
M ATC H TAC T IC S 26
A STICKY
ISSUE! This month,
Des Westmore
looks at glued rigs

STONFO’S ROUND TWO-WAY BEADS

AND THE ENGLAND TEAM’S FAVOURITE
TWO-WAY BEAD; THE SASAME

A
long the way in this series we
have touched several times on the
techniques employed by match
fishermen when constructing rigs, in particular
‘glued rigs’. These rigs are most commonly,
but by no means always, paternoster rigs
and the glued part of their description refers
to the use of ‘stops’ glued to the rig body in
place of the usual fixed stop-knots, movable
using the items of tackle they already have
and adhesives that are around the home.
Unfortunately, it’s not quite that easy and
the successful switch to glued-rigs will mean
investing in some purpose-built gear if the
transition is to work successfully.
GLUE TYPES
The first component you need to look at is
find something a bit cheaper as Loctite 406
works out at around £20.00 for a 20g bottle.
Enter Tronix Pro’s rig glue - highlighted in this
month’s Tackle Talk section of the magazine. At
less than half the price of the Loctite, this is a
significant saving and, from what I am hearing,
SEA MATCH ESSENTIALS
GLUE TUBING

stop-knots, crimps or any number of other
methods employed by inventive anglers to fix
rig-building items in place.
FEEDBACK
The main advantages gained are the
preservation of line strength due to the
reduced number of knots or risk of damage
due to over-hard crimping. From some of
the feedback I have been getting, it would
appear that some readers are running into
problems with rig-making due to breakages of
components and glued stops that move and
render the rig useless. When I have looked into
the problems people are having, from what I
can glean, most of the problems are because
anglers are experimenting with glued rigs
your choice of adhesive. Don’t use general
purpose super-glues sold in hardware stores
and the like. They are not specifically intended
for use with plastics and are often very brittle.
Loctite 406, which was specifically developed
for industrial use with rubbers and plastics, was
the one recommended to me and that is what
I have used so far and can report no problems
with it with the fluorocarbon I use, which is BLUEZONE AND STONFO CALIBRATED
Stren. BEADS FOR USE AS GLUED STOPS AND
OR BUFFER BEADS
TRONIX RIG GLUE
I know that some of the other England team
members have experimented with other
adhesives but, so far, my only experience is
with 406 and I see nearly no reason to change
it. I say ‘nearly’ because it would be good to

44 Saltwater Boat Angling

 it produces a very reliable joint, so I will be
A TWO-WAY BEAD TRAPPED A TWO-WAY BEAD TRAPPED BETWEEN
BETWEEN LENGTHS OF GLUED TWO GLUED, CALIBRATED BORE BEADS looking to do some back-to-back tests in the
CALIBRATED BORE TUBING future.

CALIBRATE MATERIALS TO
YOUR LINE
Having got your glue, you need suitable
components for gluing. This is where most of
the problems which anglers have reported
stem from. To create an effective glued joint,
you need to use beads and tubing which are
calibrated to suit specific line diameters. If you
just take a bog-standard bead, unless you strike
it lucky, you will probably end up with a hole
in the bead that is too big, resulting in an over-
CHARTER BOAT
MATCH ANGLERS thick bond line, leading to a weak joint. Two
options are available to solve this; calibrated
bore tubing, which you cut to length and glue
in place, or calibrated beads. Both have their
place. If you are looking for stealth and finesse,
then beads are the way to go. If strength of the
joint is possibly an issue, then the bond line in
a section of tubing is bigger in terms of surface
area and therefore stronger.

TUBING AND LINE DIAMETER

TOP MATCH ANGLER, ROLF MARSCHALEK, SHOWS HOW IT IS DONE
DURING THE RECENT POOLE SPECIES MATCH - SEE PAGE 18 FOR MORE
Either way, you need to pick a size that is
around .1mm bigger than the line you are
using. Therefore, if the line you are using is 0.4-
0.45mm diameter, pick a bead or tubing that is
.5mm bore diameter. This is enough to allow
the glue to wick up inside the bead or tube by
natural capillary action. If you used .5mm line
with a 0.5mm bead, this cannot happen. The
make of beads I have had recommended to
me and use are Stonfo. These beads come in
a wide range of sizes from 0.3mm to 1.2mm.
If you are looking to build really light rigs,
Bluezone Fishing sell micro and mini-micro
beads under their own brand name. These can
be used either as glued stops or as very neat
buffer-beads between a glued-stop bead and
a rotating-bead. The addition of buffer-beads
helps maximise the free rotation of the bead
carrying the snood.
For glue tube I use, again because it has
been recommended to me by match fishermen
who have learned the hard way, Sea Match
Essentials. This is available in .1mm increments
from 0.4mm through to 0.9mm. I use it on my
heavy-duty rigs, selecting the 0.9mm for some
0.8mm rig bodies. Given that you can
cut it to whatever length you require,

“TO CREATE AN
EFFECTIVE GLUED
JOINT, YOU NEED TO
USE BEADS AND TUBING
WHICH ARE CALIBRATED
TO SUIT SPECIFIC LINE
DIAMETERS.”
Saltwater Boat Angling 45
 CLIFF NEWBOLD USING A LONMG ANGLERS PREPARING
PATERNPSTER BOOM RIG FOR A MATCH

there should be no problems regarding

strength but beware of cutting it too long
as there is a limit to how far the glue will wick
before setting. Luckily, the tubing is transparent,
so you can see if there is a problem.
Finally, there is the two-way beads
themselves and there is quite a bit of choice
here. I have used two-way beads for many
years now, especially for bream traces and, until
recently, always used them with either fixed
or movable stop-knots. The two makes I had
always selected were this from Mustad, the first
ones I ever bought, and those from UK Hooks. I
have never myself suffered a failure with either
of these makes.

VARIETY OF BRANDS
AVAILABLE
Other brands widely available are Fladen,
Zebco and again Stonfo. Stonfo’s are,
interestingly, round, while most others are
more oval or barrel shaped. Talking with the
members of the England teams that I know
their preference is for ‘Sasame P-405’s’ - a
Japanese brand. In hard competition use, these
are the only beads they know of that have
never failed, or ‘blown up’ as it was described,
when a big fish has grabbed a bait. Looking at
them, they are certainly top-quality in terms
of finish and moulding, while their clarity is
exceptional (very important when fishing
in the gin-clear waters that are sometimes
encountered abroad). As with all the other
products reviewed here, all the two-way beads
come in different sizes. The cheaper ones
with be sized ‘small’, ‘large’ etc, while the more
expensive ones will quote the line diameters
which they are intended for.
I hope this has been useful and
has perhaps gone some way to help
alleviate any problems you may be
encountering.

Some useful websites for the products

discussed are:
www.cromwell.co.uk Loctite 406
www.tronixfishing.com Fishing Rig Glue
www.christchurchanglingcentre.co.uk Glue
Tubing, Stonfo and Sasame beads
www.bluezonefishing.co.uk Sasame beads
and Bluezone Micro and Mini Micro beads
www.uk-hooks.com Own-brand beads

46 Saltwater Boat Angling

 Saltwater Boat Angling

UK
KAYAKING

Skerries Rays 48
Northumberland Kayak Comp 52
Monsters in Miniature 56

Competitions, practical tips, kit reviews,

techniques and fishing experiences
PAGES 47-59
BLONDE RAYS
on the Skerries Banks
Kyle Waterhouse
recounts his
experiences
fishing the
famous Devon
banks
The skerries banks are an iconic
fishing venue found in Start Bay
on the south-east coast of Devon.
Here a unique set of tidal
conditions has scoured a series of
sand and shingle banks which
provide a haven for bottom
dwelling species such as plaice
and rays. These prolific banks are
renowned for offering some fine
spring fishing way before
anywhere else wakes up. Boat
anglers have been enjoying this
venue for decades though these
days it’s also well within the
range of modern fishing kayaks
and was set to be the venue I’d
attempt to find my first ever
blonde ray. Ben's specimen Blonde Ray

Not really a fan..until now!

Annoyingly I’d missed out on
catching a blonde ray last season
whilst down in Penzance for our big
kayak meet. Everyone around me
was catching them though I just
couldn’t tear myself away from the
prolific live baiting and reef fishing
Kyle Waterhouse for long enough to bother targeting
one! I didn’t mind too much at that
time as I do admit back then they
didn’t really do it for me. I was never
a fan of ray fishing though I’ve since
changed my mind completely and
they now make up a much larger
part of my fishing as I find them
strangely fascinating.

48 Saltwater Boat Angling

All marks look fishy
Knowing I could get a blonde much
closer to home than Penzance was ideal
and though I’m certainly a newcomer
when it comes to fishing for them, I
have spent plenty of time on the
skerries targeting plaice, so had a rough
idea where I needed to head. Locating
a good ray mark on somewhere like
the skerries banks isn’t particularly
difficult, though it does require a little
bit of thought. A quick look on a marine
chart or in my case my G2 Vision chart,
would show some fantastically fishy
looking ground and it is hard to narrow
it down as it all looks so good.
Deep water fish
The skerries covers seemingly quite a
big area of around 7km though a large
part of it is very shallow and at low
water it comes up to less than 15ft in
some areas. Typically, most ray anglers
here tend to anchor on the edge of the
banks where they drop off into deeper
A nice thornback ray
water. Blonde rays prefer a bit more
depth and though I’m sure the odd one
probably still gets caught in the
shallows, I knew I’d feel far more
confident with some depth underneath
me. So, with that in mind I plotted some
waypoints in an area just off the back of
the banks in around 70-90ft.
Here we could drop anchor and
position baits down tide into the drop
off where we could ambush any Rays
making there way along the sharp
contour change. It’s an area where
sand-eels and other bait fish, crabs and
prawns are likely to congregate. I’d be
fishing with my good friend Ben and it
was the first time either of us had fished
for rays here and though we knew the
area was prolific for big fish, we weren’t
sure what to expect.
Thankfully, the weather was gloriously
Á
flat and sunny, so we knew we could
push right out to the two-mile
mark where we wanted to get to.
Saltwater Boat Angling 49
 More rods equals more fish!

gation
cs. Not for navi
y of Navioni
Map Courtes

It doesn’t take too long to get out that
kind of distance in our Hobie’s and in no
time at all we were on the mark and
anchored beside each other.
More is better
For some reason we’d both decided to
use three rods each that day and
though it’s something I’ve been
experimenting with more often, I think
we had both come to the same
conclusion that more is better! The the
fact that both of us have roots in carp
angling meant staring at three rod tips
was also quite nostalgic and having an
extra rod each also gave
us the chance to mix up
the baits to see what
would work. We had a
good selection with us
including launce, sandeel,
squid, mackerel and even
some worm.
Rays coming thick
and fast was fantastic sport. In three consecutive
After this, things went a bit nuts and we casts, I managed to catch my first ever
struggled to keep a single rod in the blonde ray, a thornback and a small
water at one point, let alone three! The eyed! To say I was chuffed was an
rays were coming thick and fast and it understatement as I had not

Tackle
These would be mounted on 4/0 Sakuma Manta hooks and fished pennel style on
long flowing 50lb traces. A 5oz watch lead on a zip slider was enough to hold
bottom in the neap tide we were fishing.
I find the key to getting the best presentation with this rig is to ensure you cast it
away from the kayak. Having a bit more line out reduces the angle that it enters the
water and allows the whole lot to settle nicely on the seabed. By simply lowering it
down I find the rig bounces about and drags when the kayak moves, which isn’t
ideal as it can lift the bait off the bottom and away from any approaching rays.

Before long we had our six traps set along the back of the steep bank and we were
confident we’d soon find a fish if there were any about. All that bait was sure to
provide a strong scent trail and thankfully, we didn’t have to wait long. Ben struck
into the first fish of the day no more ten minutes after casting out and looking at the
bend in his rod it was clearly a decent ray too. After a brief tussle, he soon had a nice
small-eyed on board which had taken a whole launce bait. This was great and it’s A large Sandeel mounted
such a good feeling when a fish comes along right away as you can relax, knowing on a pennel rig
you’re in the right area.

50 Saltwater Boat Angling

 they certainly weren’t small either and were enough to give us
the run around.

This ray wasn’t going anywhere

Eventually it went a bit quiet, so we decided to move position
slightly to put our anchors further up the bank. Sometimes a
small move like this is required to land back on the mark as
often the anchor can slip, or the tide will position you slightly
off where you want to be. This worked, and Ben was soon
latched into a totally different beast altogether. This ray wasn’t
going anywhere and at one point I was convinced he was
snagged on the bottom! His rod was totally buckled over and
he couldn’t move it to begin with. The big fish eventually kited
in the tide some 60ft below him and we knew it was going to
be a special one if he could get the better of it.

I pulled up my anchor, so I could get in close to help and after

several big and powerful runs he finally had it up near the
surface. What a sight, it was by far the biggest ray I’ve ever
seen, and Ben really struggled getting it on board as it was so

Mackerel and squid cocktail

with a pink muppet attractor My first blonde ray and the first of three species
in three casts!
anticipated three species of ray in a day, let
alone in three casts. The bites were all solid
runs too and the rays were really tearing off
with the baits and giving a great account of
themselves once hooked.

Ben was having the same fortune on his

kayak and we both couldn’t quite believe
how lucky we’d been. We must have
dropped right on them and though we’d
done a bit of homework with our charts, we
hadn’t expected so much action in the
seemingly slack neap tide. They were really
having it and though they weren’t huge fish

Small Eyed Ray

heavy. It was an awesome blonde and had

taken a whole launce, which seemed to be
the bait of the day for us both and my
guess is the rays were in this area hunting
them.

25lb plus? We’ll never know

After a few photos, the fish was slipped
back into the water where it swam
gracefully back down to the depths.
Without a set of scales between us we had
no idea how big it went though it had to
be over 25lb and potentially even closer to
30lb. We’ll never know for sure though
that angling memory is one we both won’t
be forgetting any time soon and for once
Ben’s eight-hour drive home was done
with a smile!

Saltwater Boat Angling 51

NORTHUMBERLAND
KAYAK FISHING
COMPETITION 2018
Irene Hodgson reports
on how she got on in
this prestigious North
Eastern kayaking event
T
his year has seen us have to make
the horrible decision to cancel
IRENE, PETER AND A NON
the first scheduled date – just like
ANGLING OBSERVER AT THE START
we had to last year. It was, as ever, due
to poor weather and unsafe sea state. I
made the call early hours of the Friday
morning as I drove past the launch site
on my way back to station whilst at work.
South shore at Blyth was hit yet again by
big seas caused by north/north easterly
winds. The forecast was not showing any
improvement for the following weekend
so we arranged a new date and flooded
THE PRIZE TABLE
social media with the changes.
Anyone who runs sea angling
THE RNLI CREW competitions knows there’s only one thing
we can’t predict and that’s the weather. For
the following week the winds were forecast
to drop off, instead of the continued high
northerly winds we’d been experiencing. The
forecast suggested Saturday’s weather was
going to be as near to perfect as you could
get so I made the call and set a new date for
2nd of June, my neck was on the line.
52 Saltwater Boat Angling
ANGLING REPORTS
LOOKING GOOD
With phone calls to the local RNLI boat crew
and harbour master to inform them of the
second change of dates along with apologies
for the short notice given, the only fly in
the ointment was that I hadn’t been able to
contact the coastal warden for the key to
access at the launch site. This would mean
competitors would have to carry the kayaks
down a flight of stone steps to the beach.
With good fishing reports from by the local
charter boats even the fish had showed up
for us, so we were all set.
Saturday morning, early doors, was as
perfect as we could ask for; zero wind with
a slight cloud cover and warm. So, after I
dropped my son Ben off, I headed to Blyth.
There I found daughter, Becky, had the
registration running like clockwork, and
seeing a steady stream of guy’s pulling in
with cars topped with kayaks. Happy days.
CUNNING PLAN
INCLUDING BISCUITS
With last minute calls to the Port of Blyth
and the coast guard we headed for the
beach and the safety briefing which my
partner, Peter, runs. In this he gives tide
times and direction, boundaries and

restricted areas, so off we went. My plan
was to launch last, head straight for a mark
where I know the cod feed, catch a big fish
then come back in for tea and biscuits. I
wish. Once out not far off the pier I dropped
my first lure down, a small savage gear
sand-eel. After a few jigs, I’m strait into a
fish which looking at the bend on my rod is
a good one. Sure enough up comes a prime
north sea codling, estimated 4lb-5lb. That’ll
do me for starters, don’t you just love it
when a plan comes together.
TECHNOLOGY DISASTER
With a good fish in the hold of the
Kaskazi, I could relax and enjoy my
fishing. Most of the others had gone way
off towards the Windmills. It just proves
you don’t have to go miles to land nice
sized fish, in my case with a little local
knowledge. Then my fish-finder decided
to stop working so I’m back to the bad old
days of drift and hope. I took this chance
to have a paddle out and see how the rest
are getting on.
GETTING READY
TO LAUNCH
THE GRANNY FISH
GOOD FISHING
It seems that the fishing hadn’t disappointed
with everyone catching. Some of the lads
were also landing fantastic sized mackerel.
It’s good to see Andy Rose. last year’s winner,
has made it back up to defend his title. But
when he shows me his his best fish I know
mine is bigger, so sorry Andy, not this year.
Lunch time I head in for a cuppa to see
that Becky and Les Weller, local IFCA Chair
and organiser of the Mull of Galloway Sea
Angling Festival, have got the prize table laid
out and are well organised for the weigh-in.
“MY PLAN WAS TO
LAUNCH LAST, HEAD
STRAIGHT FOR A MARK
WHERE I KNOW THE
COD FEED, CATCH A
BIG FISH THEN COME
BACK IN FOR TEA AND
BISCUITS.”
A NICE COD
IN THE BOAT
THE BEACH
AT SUNSET
GRANNY FISH AND
THE BIG ORANGE BOAT
Back on the water for the afternoon session, I
joined a good mate Terry Willoughby who is
fishing close in. Terry is one of the best kayak
anglers I know and a good laugh to be with,
then two minutes later we were joined by
the RNLI boat who had come out to see how
were getting on. Seeing these guys on the
water reminds why we’re here, there can’t be
a better sight if you’re in trouble than the big
orange boat coming for you. I sit watching
Terry pull in a few fish before having my
turn. But, instead of the codling I assume I’ve
hooked, up comes the biggest granny fish
(scorpion fish) I’ve seen in my life. This thing
was huge so after a quick photo it gets sent
on its way with the help of my long nose
pliers and a quick flick.
NOW FOR THE WEIGH IN
Around 14:30 everyone starts heading for
the beach as its off the water by 15:00pm to
start the weigh-in. The harbour master
informed us there was a large ship
Saltwater Boat Angling 53
 other anglers. I leave it all to husband Peter,
daughter Becky and Les Weller. So, I was
chuffed with my fourth place. When it was
time to choose my prize I didn’t hesitate
to go for the Typhoon 60lt roll top dry bag.
Ever since Typhoon sent us the donations
Becky got her eye on the dry-bag, being a
A NICE COD kayak coach this was right up her street, so I
AT THE WEIGH IN donated my prize to her for all the hard work
and the military precision she runs the day.
leaving port at 4 o clock so we needed
to stop early to give us time to clear BIG THANKS TO
the area. Everybody mucks in and we get THE SPONSORS
all the kayaks pulled up the beach and then For the past 3 years I have run this
the stone steps. I weigh my fish in and find competition I have had the backing of some
I’m well up in the places – that is until John brilliant sponsors, The Compleat Angler of
Kent turns up with an absolute belter fish Alnwick, Railblaza, Navionics UK, North-
that weighs-in at 5lb 12oz. So that’s neither east Kayak and Paddles, and Saltwater
myself nor Andy Rose not taking the top Boat Angling were the first on board. Then
spot this year. It’s great to see the lifeboat Flambeau, Channel Kayaks, and North-east
crew who have turned up to watch and to Tackle and Supplies followed. This year we
JOHN KENT; finally meet Julie Robertson the local RNLI welcomed Typhoon International, Bungee
THE WINNING KAYAKER Community Safety Officer who chatted to us Spongee, Alan Skinner from the local charter
about their Respect the Water Campaign. boat; JFK 2, and SMG Distribution. Each year
I get blown away by the level of support
RESULTS AND THE WINNER IS….? of these companies give, and anyone who
And so to the results, and yes he did it. Well organises competitions will tell you each
1st
done to John Kent this year’s winner with year it’s their generosity that allows us to
John Kent 5lb 12oz cod
a cod of 5lb 12oz. He just pipped second continue. Even more worthwhile is the fact
2nd
Stephen Taylor 5lb 10oz cod place Stephen Taylor who had cod of 5lb that we are able to raise so much for
3rd 10oz. Terry took 3rd, and 4th went to yours the RNLI.
Terry Willoughby 4lb 4oz cod truly followed by Anth Davidson in 5th
4th John’s prize was a set of C-tugs supplied
Irene Hodgson 4lb 1oz cod by Railblaza. This year we decided to have
5th more prizes and a smaller raffle which
Anth Davisdon 4lb 0oz cod meant that nearly all that weighed-in
6th took a prize away. I’d like to extend a huge
G Jobson 3lb 14oz cod thank you to all who turned out and made
7th
it a fantastic day, the fantastic support we
Brian Scott 3lb 12oz cod
received is always appreciated.
8th
Ian Crawford 3lb 3oz cod
9th CO-ORGANISERS
Soames Robinson 3lb 1oz cod On the day of the competition I play no
Alan Gibbons 3lb 1oz cod part in the organising, decision making or
Andrew McGee 3lb 1oz cod weigh-in. I put the show together through
the year allowing me to compete with the

54 Saltwater Boat Angling

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MONSTERS
The punk of the mini species world
- Tompot Blenny

Mark Radcliffe goes Species hunting is a rapidly growing contributed to this as participants

species hunting at
area of kayak fishing with more and began to realise the value of a black
more anglers keeping a tally of the goby, or scorpion fish to their

the Ocean kayak

weird and wonderful fish they capture competition total but for many this has
each year. I have, so far, caught 65 UK carried over into their pleasure angling

classic, in Plymouth
saltwater species from the kayak; from where the joy of seeing something
the tiny common goby to 100lb plus that you have never caught before

Sound, and is
common skate and I am always come onboard the yak, no matter how

surprised by a couple
looking for venues and opportunities small, is greater than that of yet
to add one more to the list. another cod or smoothound.

of unusual catches
Growing trend Last weekend saw the annual Ocean
The growth in species events has Kayak Classic held in Plymouth Sound,

56 Saltwater Boat Angling

where kayak anglers from all over the
country come to compete. For myself
and several friends its an opportunity,
not only to take part in the event, but
to spend a few days prior hunting
down some of the miniature monsters
that live in these sheltered waters.
This venue truly is a mini species lucky
dip where every year anglers catch
strange specimens that give the
organisers a nightmare when trying to
identify them for the comp. Often its
only when you get home and look at
the pictures clearly on a laptop that
you realise just what you have caught.
Wide variety of habitats;
wide variety of species
Plymouth Sound offers a massive
variety of habitats which is probably
why there are so many varieties of
these mini monsters. The harbour
walls and Mountbatten breakwater
offer shelter to thousands of shannies,
scorpion fish and various gobies. If you
head out to the deep water in the
middle of the sound the mud is home
to the gloriously coloured red band
fish. Yet further out around the
breakwater itself, and the fort, the
mixed bottom constantly throws up
surprises including the stunning
leopard spotted goby.
Black goby
Dragonette
Going small
Obviously when fishing for smaller
species you need to go small. Kayak
anglers don’t tend to go as light as the
shore LRF guys because we are always
moving with tide or wind, so more
weight is normally used to control the
baits or lures. The usual set up is a 7-
28g rod with a 2000 class reel. My
choice is the HTO Rockfish Revolution
with the Rockfish 2000. A 10lb braid,
some 8lb fluorocarbon and a simple
trace with hook sizes from 10 – 18 will
catch you most things. Baits are tiny
pieces of ragworm or maddies, often
nothing more that the suggestion of a
piece of worm hanging from the hook.
Trial run at the breakwater
Thursday saw myself, and buddy Ben,
fishing around Mountbatten
Breakwater. At low-water we are in just
18 inches of clear water over the
boulders and the key is to drop your
baits in the dark areas between the
rocks. These can be surprisingly deep
with the weight dropping another 6 or
7 foot before it hits the bottom. You
need to keep in constant contact with
the weight to avoid it snagging, lifting
and dropping – bouncing it around
the crevices. Bites can be instant with
a multitude of goldsinney wrasse. But
soon enough the shannies moved in
and started to come up one after the
other. These tiny fish love shallow
Saltwater Boat Angling 57
 Me, finding the red bands
water around structure and we have
caught them in less than four inches of
water before, sight fishing them as
they attack the baits.
The punk of the sea
As the water dropped I found myself
reaching over boulders and dropping
the baits down into the pools, a few
tries later and I had one of my
favourite fish onboard – the tompot
blenny. These fantastic looking fish
really are the punks of the mini fish
world with their protruding eyebrows
and aggressive nature. They love to try
and bite you and should they get hold
of your finger they really don’t want to
let go.
Tadpole
I left Ben to it shortly after, but when
he came in I was wishing I hadn’t. The
grin on his face told me he had caught
something rare. He had been working
his baits around the boulders of
Ben's aptly named tadpole fish
58 Saltwater Boat Angling
Moutbatten and suddenly had vertical burrows up to three feet deep
something slightly larger than the in the mud in the deep water. They are
usual suspects - a tadpole fish. This fish only found if a few locations around
is looks exactly as you would expect.. a the UK but Plymouth Sound seems to
giant tadpole. I’ve
never seen one in Not many UK species come more colourful
real life and this that the red band fish
was the second
that Ben has
caught, his first
being in Lowestoft.
Not being the
jealous type I
obviously
congratulated him
heartily whilst
inside was thinking
- if only I’d stayed out longer. hold a thriving population of them.
They are easy to locate on the sonar,
Red band fish you are essentially paddling over
Friday saw myself, Ben and Martin barren ground and then it looks like
heading out to the breakwater. You someone has dumped a load of
can’t paddle all that way without first spaghetti on the screen.
stopping on the red band fish marks.
These stunning looking fish live in Small sabiki’s are the best tactic and
once dropped down it isn’t long
before you feel the extra weight as
these aggressive predators attack the
lures. They truly are one of the most
unusual looking UK species. Often
deep-water species tend to be dull in
colour but these are bright red with
glorious purple frills around the fins.
What they lack in size they make up
for in splendour.
To the fort
After a few drops on these it was time
to head around the fort to see what
else we could find. I love this kind of
 Fish as close to the structure as you dare
The super spiny scorpion fish
fishing where you never know what is
going to come up. Martin was soon
finding a variety of gobies black and
sand. I was finding the appropriately
named dragonette as well as another
of my favourites the scorpion fish. Why
one fish needs so many spines I don’t
The mighty leopard
spotted goby for Kyle
know but watching these guys hunt in
shallow water is an awe-inspiring
experience.
The bites were never ending, often
from the countless goldsinney wrasse
but amongst them you never knew
what else there was going to be. The
ultimate target was the leopard
spotted goby, something none of us
had caught before but that didn’t
come today.
Different story
Returning to the same area whilst
fishing the tournament there seemed
to be fewer wrasse feeding which gave
the other fish a chance to find the
baits. I had numerous dragonettes,
black gobies, scorpion fish, rock
gobies and shannies but both Martin
and Kyle found the elusive leopard
spotted goby.
Another one added to their list which I
have yet to catch. Ryan was catching
numerous small fish which we
thought were sand gobies, but it was
only after looking at the pics at home
where he realised that one of them
was in fact a Stephens Goby, yet
another new species and yet another
one that I haven’t caught. With this
type of fishing you are always learning
and having to research into the tiny
differences between the species, in
fact I did catch a blenny that I am sure
is something new but have yet been
able to positively identify.
Over the three days there were in
excess of 30 species caught from the
relatively small area of the sound
showing just how much of a species
hunters dream venue this can be, but
the ones that really excite me are the
small ones. From this one venue I
know there are Couches Bream,
Tadpole Fish, Leopard Spotted Gobies,
Topknot, and Stephens Gobies all
available and all of which I have yet to
catch.
Now it is just a case of finding the
time to get back and start getting to
grips with more of these monsters in
miniature.
Saltwater Boat Angling 59
Protect the future
of your fishing.
Love your fishing? Then help us protect it. Angling is under threat from
pollution, poaching, commercial over-fishing, restrictions to access, bad
legislation and more...
Join us to unite all anglers, stand up for our sport, fight for its future and
get people fishing!

Join the Angling Trust today

Call: 0844 77 00 616 www.anglingtrust.net
 Saltwater Boat Angling

PRACTICAL
BOATING

Latrex 340 review 62

Dingy diary 66
How much is a life worth? 70
Alderney rings 74

Practical tips, boat, engine

and electronics reviews
PAGES 61-76
Practical Boating isSponsored by
 S e l v a 9.9
ex 3 4 with
Lat r
Saltwater Boat Angling is the very first to try the
new Latrex inshore ishing boat in the UK. Simon
Everett gets to try her in Salcombe
There has always been a market for small, portable
dinghies that can be used around the harbours and
estuaries for easy, simple fishing trips. The sea angling
legend, Brian Harris, was a massive exponent of dinghy
angling, he even wrote a book specifically on the
subject. The Latrex 340 is brand new onto the market
and we were the first to get her afloat for a couple of
days in Salcombe, which gives plenty of time to really
get a feel for a boat.
The Latrex range is made by a small, family firm in
Latvia and distributed in the UK by Selva UK using their
62 Saltwater Boat Angling
PRACTICAL
BOATING
Sponsored by
dealers to provide geographical distribution around the
country. These boats are fully certified and offer an
affordable, safe and effective modern dinghy. The layup
is a true double skinned moulding with the hull and full
liner for the deck. As standard they are given 300 litres
of foam buoyancy injected fore and aft, providing some
degree of insulation as a secondary benefit around the
lockers. Full foam injection is an option, but it will add
weight, if that is a consideration. One of the benefits of
the Latrex is how light she is for ease of man-handling
at launch and recovery.

More space than you might
imagine and enough speed
for inshore use
Generous freeboard
The internal freeboard is very
generous for a dinghy too, with the
boat sitting higher in the water
than a Dory she provides a more
secure feeling when afloat and the
extra freeboard helps to shrug off
waves from passing steamers and
the build up over the bar. The
simple layout of having a single
thwart amidships and locker top
seating at either end has been tried
and tested over many years. It is the
most logical layout for a dinghy and
provided you were well organised
three chaps could fish in an estuary
or harbour situation with light
tackle. To be fair, the boat is
perfectly comfortable for two, with
room to move about and stow your
gear. We sat one at either end which
gave us the entire boat virtually to
spread ourselves about.
The forgotten art
Rowing is almost a forgotten art
these days, but it is a surprisingly
useful skill and the Latrex comes
from a country where rowing is still
used as a main means of
propulsion. It is extremely quiet
when done properly and rowing is a
very effective method for trolling
inshore, you can also cover a
surprising amount of ground with
the oars. There are two sets of
rowlocks, not that the builders
expect you to have two banks of
oars, but it does mean there is the
option to row from the forward seat
if fully loaded. With a pile of gear
and four other people aboard the
swinging room is too reduced to
row properly from the thwart, but
you can very effectively from the
bow seat. Using a set of oars is not
to be dismissed out of hand. Being
light, the Latrex moves through the
water very easily with minimum
effort.
Stable and balanced
Stability is also a question that
arises around the use of small boats.
It just needs sensible approach but
the Latrex is a very beamy boat and
we purposely tried her for stability,
even stood right on the gunwale
edge of the thwart, she was
nowhere near going over. The flat
hull section provides great load
carrying ability without increasing
the draft too much and means she
comes on the plane with very little
Saltwater Boat Angling 63

Two rod holders are useful for rod management or trolling
power, skimming the water like a
self-propelled ski. To combat rough
water there are very exaggerated
reverse chines that start right on the
bow. The chines add strength to the
hull sides and act in two ways, they
create hydrodynamic lift when
underway and act as wave
deflectors to minimise thrown spray.
In turns the edges of the chines also
provide grip to reduce the amount
of side slip which a flat hull is bound
to have. I was surprised how well
they worked and the ride across
some quite big waves was better
than I was expecting. I would say
though, that two days sat on a rigid
moulding told us that you need
some kind of cushioning! We also
found all our gear wanted to migrate
aft while underway, this is
something I have noticed on the ali
deck of the inflatable too. It is a small
niggle easily overcome with the
judicious use of a sheet of that non-
slip rubber matting, but it is
something to be aware of.
Top hat fitting for neat fuel
line rigging
The outboard
We had the little boat for two whole
days, which gave us plenty of time
to explore her handling and we
64 Saltwater Boat Angling
grew quite fond of her in that time.
The Selva 9.9hp Piranha is a little
gem of an engine too. The humble
thumper has a lot going for it. Is a
time proven engine configuration
with immense reliability, the
greatest simplicity and incredible
fuel economy without resorting to
the complication of electronics.
At the end of two long days on
the water we had used just 4.3 litres
of fuel running around the harbour
with several blasts at full throttle on
appropriate stretches outside the
speed limit, which saw 9.8 knots on
the Garmin 78s GPS. At that speed
the engine is working hard, but at
6.5 – 7 knots she was running at
about mid throttle and the little
engine purred happily without the
vibration that everyone is afraid of
with a single cylinder. I think we
have just become too used to the
luxury of multi cylinder engines and
with only a little less expectation
the benefits of the single will soon
grow on you. The electric start with
the battery housed under the
cowling is a very neat asset and one
that adds minimal weight and no
cabling to route.
Neat layout
Talking of routing cables, I was
impressed with the neatness of the
stern layout on the Latrex, there is a
conduit with a rubber top hat for the
fuel line to run from the tank to the
engine, on a small harbour dinghy
that is not expected at all and is a
very neat touch. A simple boat
which has been produced with care
by a family firm and that offers
something that has been largely
forgotten.
The aft locker fits the 12.5
litre tank perfectly
Forty years ago these boats were
seen in every harbour in huge
numbers, all the children learned
how to row and handle a boat on
them, inshore dinghy fishing was
common and there were a plethora
of choices. With the advent of
marinas, the tender became a luxury
rather than a necessity and dinghies
took a back seat. Now, there is a
resurgence of interest and the
possibilities that dinghy, or small
boat, fishing provides is once again
becoming recognised. Inflatables
have taken hold in a big way, but
often because the hard boat option
simply wasn’t available.
With the Latrex at the same price
point as an equivalent sized
inflatable, that choice is not quite so
clear cut anymore. If you are using a
trailer, then a rigid boat has a lot
going for it over the same sized
inflatable.
Specifications
LOA 3.45m
Beam 1.45m
Weight 80kgs
Freeboard 52cm
Payload 285kgs
CE Cat D for 3 people.
Recommended power
2.5hp – 10hp
Price
From Boat only £1495.00 incl
VAT
As tested with Selva 9.9hp
Piranha and loose inventory
£3650 incl VAT
Both boat and engine available
through the UK Selva dealers.
Test boat kindly supplied by:
SW Marine of Salcombe.

FANTASTIC SUMMER
Jeff Smith continues his
Dinghy Diary with a look
back at his toping in June
D I N G H Y
D I A R I ES
JUNE 2018
Aren't we having a fantastic
summer! Constant light winds have
meant that I've been able to go to
sea on several occasions although,
recently, we've experienced some
easterly winds which have, on
occasion, curtailed events
66 Saltwater Boat Angling
somewhat. Tricky to forecast
accurately, being
unpredictable in the
extreme, and often
producing an
uncomfortable sea,
'easterlies' are often
associated with poor
fishing in my area but I'm
not entirely convinced that
this is always the case.
Washing-machine wind and
a species hunt
Often a 'predicted' easterly will
result in nothing more than a flat-
calm sea and I took advantage of
this to sneak in a couple of hours
Sponsored by
after bass, with lures, one sunny
afternoon, only to be
unceremoniously kicked in the
backside when, within seconds, the
mirror-like conditions turned into a
'washing machine'. Luckily, I was
only a couple of miles off so scuttled
home with my tail between my legs
not, though, before I'd caught a few.
Early in the month, I was invited to
take part as a Saltwater Boat
Angling team member, in the Poole
Species Hunt (details of which can
be found on page 18 of this issue).
Now, I'll freely admit that I'm no
match angler and, initially, felt
slightly out of my depth. However, it
was extremely interesting and
enjoyable to watch the experts at
work, admiring their skills and
techniques many of which can be
applied to dinghy fishing.
Tope
My tope fishing adventures
continued into June although early
trips, rather disappointingly,
produced small bags of fish,
particularly from the deep-water
marks which, sometimes, seemed to
be completely barren. A few years
ago, whilst learning about the
habits of the local tope population,
I'd been told by a charter skipper
that the bigger fish moved closer
inshore, to shallower grounds,
during June.
An exploratory trip with my mate,
Brian Norman, in his Orkney
Fastliner 19 proved this to be the
case and, although they took some
finding, we managed to score a few
decent fish by the end of the day.
So, we managed to establish some
new locations in just 30 feet of
water to try on future trips.
Martynas 48lb tope
A tope measuring in at 64 inches
Interestingly, we also experienced
several dropped runs - the reason
for which would become apparent
on following trips.
Returning to try again
The area we were fishing is noted
for fast tide races and can only be
tackled effectively on 'neaps '. So, on
the next tide cycle, I was keen to
return for another attempt. As usual,
having decided that the conditions
were right, it was a last-minute
decision to go. Being a week day, I
struggled to find someone to join
me until Martynas Pranaitis
volunteered to sit on the 'crew' seat.
Martynas is a dead-keen all-round
angler who specialises in lure
fishing but had, up to that point,
very little experience of tope fishing.
His personal best tope was just 3lb,
and the largest fish he'd caught of
any species was a 20lb pike.
Bass shoals but no mackerel
The area I'd chosen, involved
anchoring the down-tide slopes of a
bank but our arrival was delayed
when, en-route, some frenzied bird
activity gave away the presence of
bass shoals. We enjoyed some good
sport for a while, casting soft plastic
minnows, and surface plugs.
Unfortunately, I was unable to
locate any mackerel for fresh tope
bait but Martynas had brought
along some recently-caught
Á
samples which I suggested
he used. We didn't have to wait
too long for the action to begin.
Saltwater Boat Angling 67
Some decent fish for a
novice tope angler
It's great fun for me to see someone
who has never experienced tope
before enjoying their fight and
Martynas was suitably impressed by
their strength and speed, especially
in the shallow water we were
fishing. Seven fish came to the boat
and they were all of a really good
size with a minimum weight of 25lb,
topped by a 48lb specimen and, of
course, a new personal best for my
crew mate.

Enthusiasm
In his excitement, Martynas wanted
to film or photograph most of the
fish and, as he was new to this kind
of fishing, I didn't really have a
problem with this, although, I did
manage to eventually persuade him A lovely bass for Jeff
to T-bar release the last fish of the
day without bringing it on board.
At least his enthusiasm gave me a unwillingness to take anything were almost completely ignored.
good chance to practice my tope- other than Martynas' fresh mackerel Indeed, the takes that I did
handling skills (details of which can baits, which they hit very hard. This experience, and which I'm
be found in the May issue). Plus, we hit was often signalled by a absolutely certain were from tope
got some good quality shots and screaming reel clicker and the 30lb due to the teeth marks that were
footage. Kenzaki rod (an ideal tool for the left on the bait, were tentative
task) bending violently. In contrast, affairs always resulting in the bluey
Only fresh fish bait would do my frozen bluey baits, usually so being dropped.
What stood out on this trip, successful when fishing the deeper To prove a point, once I'd decided
however, was the tope’s marks for generally smaller fish, that Martynas had had enough fun,

Brian's tope Another tope for Martynas

68 Saltwater Boat Angling


I cunningly swapped one of my
frozen baits for a fresh mackerel and
it almost immediately resulted in a
positive take. My only tope of the
session.
It's highly possible that these
bigger-than-average fish are more
selective about what they eat -
perhaps because there is simply less
competition for food in this
environment. What also became
apparent was that when the tope
were around, and we were getting
runs, we weren't experiencing any
nuisance dogfish takes.
Mackerel!
Once the tide had turned to flood, I
repositioned the boat to the mark
where Brian and I had so much
success on the earlier trip. The tope
completely switched off and we
didn't get another take. Perhaps
because we'd run out of fresh bait.
Ironically, on the way home, we
again spotted several groups of
birds working but, this time, it
wasn't just bass that were the cause
of the commotion but mackerel too.
We quickly filled the cool box with
valuable bait for the future, and
perhaps the odd one or two for the
fish smoker.
Smooth-hound
These fish have also been quite
prolific in our area this month and
have provided many of our charter
boats with a 'staple' for crews to
enjoy. I've always had a tremendous
respect for 'hounds' and, as a
sporting species, I feel that they are
vastly underrated. Before my boat
angling career began, I would often
enjoy sport with smooth-hound
from our local beaches but I don't
think they're allowed to show their
true potential on standard beach
gear. In a dinghy, however, it's a
completely different story,
especially if something like a 12lb
UK class outfit can be used. These
speed merchants can be
tremendous fun to catch, especially
when they reach double figures.
I've had a couple of trips this month
specifically to target them and sport
has been excellent on both
occasions, producing multiple fish
catches with some excellent
specimens and, very often, two fish
on at once.
Prawns?
Usually I'd be happy to use standard
squid baits for convenience when
after hounds. Although, if I've been
able to secure crab baits, they have
proved to be far more productive.
On a recent trip out with Brian, he
introduced me to a bait that I'd not
tried before; frozen, raw king
prawns. They proved to be
devastatingly effective, possibly
because of the strong scent they
emit. On a later, solo, trip I tested
them against squid strips on a
second rod and the prawns won the
day by a country mile.
Deadly smoothound bait
Easy and convenient to use and
store, (they are still work well
following re-freezing), we
discovered the most effective way
to fish them was by threading them
on to a long shank 3/0 hook in a
similar fashion to a worm bait,
lightly binding them with very thin
bait-elastic in case nuisance species
are present. My hook preference is
the Sakuma 545 manta extra, which
I've found to be extremely reliable
tied to a 40lb 4ft Amnesia snood
employed on a standard running
leger rig.
Undulate rays
Although I rarely specifically target
them, undulate ray are also very
common in our area and are often
caught from the same marks
(usually mixed substrate) that
produce hounds. Protected, as an
endangered species since 2009 in
European Union waters, undulates
have become something of a
success story in recent years and
even provide our local shore anglers
with some excellent sport.
In the past I've caught them to 19lb
from my own dinghy and several
record-breaking specimens have
been reported (returned unclaimed
obviously) from boats working from
my local port.
It was a welcome sight indeed when
this one showed up on one of my
'hound' excursions at 17lb 4oz.
Finally, I promised in last month's
instalment that I'd show you some
thick-lipped mullet action but,
despite my local river seemingly
teeming with the species, I've
singularly failed on this score simply
because I've not had the chance to
try.
Too many fish … too little time!
Jeff’s cracking undulate
Saltwater Boat Angling 69
Sponsored by

Life Jackets
There are various types of lifejackets on the
market with specific features aimed at different
sports. Lifejackets can come with or without
harness attachments or with different types
of firing mechanisms and buckle fastenings.
There are also different lifejackets for children with
specific functions aimed at younger boaters.

There are many features on a lifejacket that can greatly enhance your chances of survival and buy
you extra time to be found alive in the water. Some of these features are now standard on the
majority of lifejackets.

Lifejacket buoyancy is measured in Newtons (N). Ten Newtons equals 1kg of flotation. There are
four European standards for lifejackets. All lifejackets must carry the CE mark. Newton ratings are
relative to the weight of the intended user. Make sure the lifejacket you choose is the correct size
for you and that it has the right Newton rating for your weight. A level 150 lifejacket designed for a
child or young adult will not sufficiently float an adult. If you are buying for an adult you must get a
level 150 lifejacket designed for an adult's weight.

A flashing light or strobe on your lifejacket makes you much easier to find at night or in poor
visibility and can be easily attached.
A waterproof flare is another good addition to increase your chances of being found. There are
flares on the market that have two ends, enabling them to produce both a daytime orange smoke
and a red night flare. They are waterproof up to 30m. A flare pouch can be added to your lifejacket.

There are three inflation methods for gas-only lifejackets.

It is important to know which method your
lifejacket uses and how it works.

Manual
Manually inflated lifejackets are operated
by pulling a string, which pushes a firing
pin into the CO2 canister, inflating the
lifejacket. Automatic and hydrostatic
lifejackets both have a manual pull string
as back up.
For uses where there is a possibility of
unwanted automatic inflation.

Pull a lanyard
CO2 canister is fired - Jacket inflates
in approximately 5 seconds
Can also be inflated orally

70 Saltwater Boat Angling

Standard Automatic Hammar
Capsule fires within 5 seconds Works on water pressure, when submerged in 10cm
of entry into water. of water.
No accidental inflation.
Mechanism pierces Cylinder mounted inside the Lifejacket inflation chamber
canister, inflating Can also be inflated orally.
Lifejacket in
approximately Check the gas cylinder is
5 seconds tightly screwed in.
Can also be The screw in CO2 cylinders
inflated orally in lifejackets can work Hammar
themselves loose and hydrostatic
should be checked for inflator
tightness every month.
Always carry re-arming
kits for each type of
lifejacket you have
onboard. If a
lifejacket
is accidentally
inflated, you
will be able to
get it ready
for use again
straight
away.

GOOD LIFEJACKETS CAN BE PURCHASED FOR AROUND £70 –

AND REMEMBER WHAT PRICE A LIFE?

Saltwater Boat Angling 71

SAVE UP TO 25%
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 RING
THE
ALDERNEY

A guide to using the buff

and ring to retrieve an anchor

Introduction
The modern small boat angler tends Dropping the anchor
to spend most of his time afloat 3
1. You need plenty of chain, at least
drifting for cod, pollack or bass over
three times the boat length
wrecks and reefs. In the early part
2. A suitable sized anchor
of the year it will be drifting for
3. Anchor rope of more than three
plaice and turbot if there are suitable
times the depth to be anchored
banks in the area. This means when
4. Secure the rope at the bow then
it comes to anchoring down to
feed the rope back into the deck
target fish such as bream,
area and load into container
smoothound, conger, rays or bull
5. Clip the buoy onto the Alderney
huss they can be inexperienced at
ring, load the chain, anchor and
anchoring and the problems this
buoy and you are ready to go
can involve. This is particularly
true when anchoring rocky ground
where the anchor can easily
become snagged. The most 1 4
effective way to get a snagged
anchor free, apart from sending a
diver down, is to blast it out using
an Alderney ring and large buoy.
This method is also a safe way to lift
any anchor without needing to
climb onto the bow of the boat.

THE BASICS
To anchor a boat successfully you
need to have plenty of rope and
particularly plenty of chain. The
anchor rope needs to be at least
three times the depth of water you 2 5
intend anchoring. The chain, as a
rule of thumb, should be three
times the length of the boat. More
importantly it should weigh more
than your anchor for the Alderney
ring to work properly. The reason
it should be heavier than the
anchor comes when the anchor is
lifted, as it works as a counter
balance to the anchor and stops it
from sliding back through the
ring to the bottom again.

74 Saltwater Boat Angling

THE RING
At some time before you go afloat the Alderney ring should be
slid onto the anchor rope. This may mean removing the anchor
first. The buoy that will do all the work will be fitted with a short
piece of stout rope and a shackle and spring clip. This is to clip it
onto the ring when the anchor is dropped over the side. Some
people prefer to only clip this onto the rope when the anchor is
about to be lifted, but this can prove difficult in a strong wind,
spring tide or heavy sea. The better option is to do it as the anchor
hits the bottom, clip on the buoy and start feeding out the rope
until it tightens up to the cleat on the bow. The buoy also shows
you exactly where the rope is after the anchor is dropped, avoiding
getting the rope round the propeller before the rope tightens up.

DROPPING ANCHOR
First find the spot you want to fish using the sonar, then B
steam up tide a couple of hundred yards, put the boat into
neutral with the bow into the tide and drop the anchor
over the side, hold onto the ring and let the rope slide
through feeding line out steadily. Once the anchor hits the
bottom, clip the buoy on to the Alderney ring and continue
letting out the rest of the rope until it tightens up to the
cleat on the bow. Get your partner or crew to watch that
the rope doesn’t get near the propeller while the rope is
feeding out, otherwise it is pretty straight forward.

A. Drop anchor to the bottom and hold the ring

B. Then let the rope out under control
C. The rope will tighten as the boat runs back in
the tide
D. When the anchor grips the buoy will settle just
in front of the bow

A
C

D Á

Saltwater Boat Angling 75

RETRIEVING THE ANCHOR
If you have never used this system before, try it out in a flat sea.
Confidence will grow every time you try it. After clearing the
side of the boat that the anchor is going to be retrieved, start
the engine and steer forward at 25 degrees from the anchor
rope. Once again get your partner to watch that the buoy
comes down the correct side of the boat and doesn’t get
trapped underneath the hull. As you pass the buoy straighten
up and run parallel to the rope. The buoy will slide back down
the rope until it is over the anchor. A little more throttle and
the buoy will force the anchor up, as you continue going
forward the buoy will slide back to the anchor and if the chain
is the right weight it will then float under the buoy. Throttle
back, turn side on to the buoy, put engine in neutral and feed
the rope back into the anchor box and lift buoy and anchor
into the boat.
1a. Before you move forward check
the buoy is on the right side
2a. Steer at 45 degrees from the rope
3a. The buoy slides back down the rope
4a. Give a bit more throttle to lift the
anchor and slide the buoy down to it
5a. The rope comes in easily as the
anchor will float under the buoy
1a
2a
76 Saltwater Boat Angling
WATCH OUT
With practice, it really is that easy but there are a few things to
watch out for. If the wind is blowing side on to the boat it can
push the boat over the rope. This will mean making sure the
buoy is on the right side of the boat before you move forward
and a little more throttle may be needed to keep the boat on
the right side of the rope. When feeding the rope back in with
the engine in neutral, the breeze can push the boat towards
the rope, especially if it’s a floating rope. By being aware and
keeping a close watch on the rope at all times trouble can be
avoided.
The complete retrieval system can be purchased for just £25
plus postage from: Stainless Steve at Lymington.
Phone 01590 674988
or go on line to www.stainless-steve.co.uk
3a
4a
5a
 Saltwater Boat Angling

TACKLE
TALK

Travel Rods 78
Feathers and sebiki’s 80
Tackle shorts 82

8 pages of tackle and reviews

PAGES 77-84
TACKLE TALK
more travel rods

Last month we Nomura Hiro Narita

highlighted a few travel
rods which reader might Travel Lure Rods
find useful for travelling A series of 5 sectioned ultra-compact
rods, developed for the modern city
– we didn’t have enough fishing or traveler life style anglers, with
space to cover all of the a really short transport length they will
ones we found so here are fit in most bags and suitcases and allow
a few more. Furthermore, for easy transportation. The rods have
ultra-thin but very strong blanks which
in last month’s issue we offer superb strength whilst fighting the
published an incorrect largest of predators!
description and price for • 5 Sections
• Breaks down to 44cm
one of the rods so here
• 6ft 6” 20-50g
it is again with the • Rod weight 134g
correct details. • Team this rod up with a 3000-size reel for best results

78 Saltwater Boat Angling

Daiwa 3 Piece
Saltiga
Airportable 8 5
Travel rod
The AIRPORTABLE is a multi-
piece, high performance,
offshore rod for travelling
giving a performance level
anglers demand from a SALTIGA
rod, but with the section
construction that allows for
easy transport.
FEATURES
• X45 blank technology
• HVF High Volume Fibre carbon
• Fuji Titanium SiC K-Guides
• Fuji reel seat with a double
screw lock
• Casting weight 40/120g
Not a cheap option but well
wort the investment if you plan
a lot of overseas fishing.
Retails at £299
Fin-Nor Tidal
Traveler
Perfect travel rod, comes in
four pieces. A great travel
rod for the globetrotting sea
angler. This 2.4m four-piece
powerhouse will tame even
heavy opponents with ease.
High tech products of
uncompromising quality with
a long tradition for use in
extreme situations. With its
roots in big game angling,
today’s product range boasts
optimal products for a range
of other forms of sea angling,
which will also prove popular
with freshwater big specimen
hunters.
Retails at between
£79 and £100

Rovex Lure Pro

9 Quad Casting
25 to 50gm
The Rovex lure pro quad is one
of my favourite rods to take on
holiday. It is a 4-piece travel rod
which is suitable for
fishing both in the
UK and overseas
Beautifully finished
and with very good
action. It can sling
quite sizable lures
a long way with a
lovely casting action
and is powerful
enough to take in
double figure bass
and pollack. Always
in my luggage
when I travel. When
assembled it has
the feel of a modern
style lure rod and
you struggle to tell
that it is a travel
model rather than
Penn Squadron II
215 Travel Boat
A new range of travel rod for the offshore
a conventional 2-piece rod. The sea angler, constructed of 5 piece sections
powerful carbon blank has a this rod packs down easily for transportation
fast action which helps both and has a modern, sporting blank action.
with casting and the Built from a carbon composite blank,
playing of large fish. these rods are very light in weight with slim
The look and feel of diameters yet offering incredible durability
the Lure Pro Quad and strength. The modern design and
far exceeds what construction allows these rods to offer high
you would expect at performance when casting and they work
this price and makes well with both braided and mono lines.
the rod a great buy Each rod is fitted throughout with high
if you want good quality and reliable guides. They feature a
fishing qualities at a tough metal reel seat with a comfortable
reasonable price. EVA handle for a secure grip. The 5-piece
The fittings are also construction makes it easy to take this rod
good with lightweight with you anywhere, even abroad.
ceramic lined guides, The Penn Squadron II Travel Boat is
low profile screw available in a 7ft length and in various
winch reel seat and a power classes for you to choose from. Each
slim EVA handle. rod has a stunning white, black and red
Comes with a hard colour scheme and is supplied with a cloth
cordura travel tube. bag for easy transportation.
Costs £49.99 from RRP at around £60
most stockists

Saltwater Boat Angling 79

 m e is w e ll a n d truly upon us
Summer ti erel
’s ti m e to g e t out the mack
and it
h o u g h w e cli n g to the name
feathers. Alt d e w it h a variety of
a re m a
feathers most T hey also cover
more
t m a te ri a ls .
differen sh ing. Here are a
few
m a c k e re l fi
than just s a v a ilable and wha
t
f th e lu re
examples o
they catch.

Sabiki
Both the Fishcatchers Sabiki’s
and the Sasame ones
shown here are distributed by Blu
ezone Fishing.
Anyone who has used Sabiki’s
will know they are
great for a wide range of small
species but are mostly
used for sand eels, either when
needed for bait or for
finding that extra species in a spe
cies hunt. When
mackerel are hard to find sometim
es it will be the
Sabiki’s that find them. Best fish
I had on one was a
12lb cod in Norway. Had to tak
e it easy getting that
one in. The Fishcatcher Sabiki’s
have six size 14
hooks on 6lb snoods. Main line
is 12lb mono. The
Sasame Sabiki’s have five hooks
with 2kg snoods
and 4kg main line.

80 Saltwater Boat Angling

 Silver Tease
Silver Shrimps have been around for some while now and
these shown here are called Silver Tease from Fishzone.
They are another lure that will catch several species.
Although made originally to replace the original feathers for
catching mackerel they have proved excellent for bass
(when we could still catch them) but will also attract codling,
pollack, scad and garfish, plus several others on occasions.
The four 1/0 hooks are attached to 50lb mono.

Mustad Ayaka (mini shrimps)

Mini shrimps are one of the most universal fish catching lures I
have ever used, as they catch just about everything. In my own
experience I have had all the usual species such as mackerel,
scad, garfish, whiting, pout, gurnard, bream, cod, pollack and
bass, along with some unlikely ones including, flounder, red
band, red fish, small tope, small ling, smooth hound, even a
dogfish. They are fitted with five size 4 hooks on 25lb mono
and can be used baited or un-baited.

Luminous sand eel and feather rig

Another one from the Fishcatchers range by Bluezone
Fishing is this combo of plastic and feathers that would
be handy to take on holiday to Scotland, Iceland or Nor-
way, as it is a very good lure for catching haddock. Will
also catch mackerel, codling, pollack and whiting in cer-
tain conditions. They come with three lures fitted with
60lb mono throughout.

Saltwater Boat Angling 81

TACKLE TALK
tackle shorts

Varivas Catfish Hooks

Anglers aiming to catch
large specimen fish could
do far worse than look to
hooks developed to tackle
Catfish on lakes and rivers
throughout the world. These
fish can grow to over 200lb so
anything developed for them
should be strong enough to
do the job on pretty much
all UK species. The most
distinctive feature of most
Catfish hooks is the angular
shape, short length and wide
gape. The Varivas Catfish
hook, shown here in size 8/0 is
no exception. This shape was
developed so that a bulky bait
can be used without the risk
of masking the hook point;
just the job when targeting
species like big cod with large
squid or cuttle baits. The long,
curved and super-sharp point,
combined with a neat barb,
also go a long way to ensuring
that a hooked fish stays
hooked. The forged bend and
4X wire construction mean
there are no concerns about
the hook’s strength while the
turned-out eye suits both
knots and snells.
Available in sizes 1 – 4/0 in
packets of ten and sizes 6/0
and 8/0 in packets of five, with
all packets costing £4.50, these
are not cheap hooks but are
top quality. The wide range of
sizes should cover species such
as rays, hounds cod & conger.
Go to www.veals.co.uk/
acatalog/Varivas-Catfish-
Hook-7119.html for more
information.

Snowbee Sun and Tubertinis Gorilla UC-4

Stripping Gloves
Sun & Stripping gloves offer maximum
UPF50+ protection from the harmful effects
of the sun’s UV rays. The high density
microfibre & lycra back provides 50+ UPF,
while the synthetic suede leather palm has
double reinforcing patches where you need
it most. The backs of the hands are well
protected by the gloves lightweight, quick
drying breathable material whilst the palms
and fingers are protected from line burns and
contact with fast spinning fly reels!
• Synthetic suede palm for extra grip
• Stretch Lycra back provides sun protection
and comfort
• Prevents cuts & grazes on fingers when
stripping
• Left and right hand gloves
• Colour : Sand/Grey
Cut off fingers give you the necessary feel for
changing flies etc. without having to take the
gloves off Available from £20.99 at Rokmax
and other outlets
If you are looking for a great fluorocarbon at a great price, then you should definitely add Tubertini’s
Gorilla UC-4 to your short list. Available in 100m spools ranging from 0.12mm to 0.50mm diameter
with prices from £7.99-£9.99, Gorilla UC-4 is competitively priced to say the very least. Don’t however
be fooled that this price means you are buying a poor-quality product, mass produced in a generic
factory, based in a low-cost supply chain. Tubertini’s lines are produced by the Kyoritsu Shoji
Company in Japan and, quoting Tubertini’s web site; “They only work with polymers for high tenacity
monofilament, specific for sport fishing, this company doesn’t produce for other industrial sectors”.
Impressive blurb to say the least but the product appears to do it justice. Gorilla UC-4
is a very clear fluorocarbon with no milkiness. It is also very limp yet abrasion
resistant making it perfect rig building material. Claimed breaking strains are
high – 14.85kg for 0.35mm diameter, – and while this has not been tested
for this review, many anglers will buy using the diameter as their yard-stick
rather than the strength.
The review sample was purchased from Christchurch Angling Centre,
www.christchurchanglingcentre.co.uk while more information can be seen
at www.tubertini-sea.co.uk/Tubertini_Lines.html with prices from £7.99-£9.99
Tronixpro Rig Glue
The use of glue while rig making is becoming excellent value. This is not a re-badged multi-
more and more popular as anglers discover purpose super glue, but is specially formulated
that multiple rigs can be made easily to suit the plastics encountered in rig making.
and quickly with exactly the same It can be used to glue beads or tubing in place,
dimensions. Glue rigs mean line both as stops on paternoster style rigs and also
strength is also not compromised by as bait-stops on snoods, and as it works on both
multiple knots or the danger of over- nylon and braid, can be used to add security
tightened crimps. Of course, under- to knots. A coating of Tronixpro rig glue on a
pinning these benefits has to be a leader knot makes it pass through rod rings
good glue and if that glue comes easier and also helps it resist abrasion.
in at a good price, that is an added Retails at £8. Take a look at www.
benefit too. Tronixpro’s Top Fishing tronixfishing.com/product/tronixpro/
Rig Glue comes in at around £8.00 tronixpro-swivels-links/tronixpro-rig-glue/ for
for a 15g tube which makes it more details.

82 Saltwater Boat Angling

 01704 807654

TELBOY’S TACKLE
Telboy’s Tackle, located in beautiful Amlwch on
Anglesey is a family run business with a fantastic
customer service review by all of Its visitors.

Terry the owner has been fishing for 50+ years

and is now handing down his experience and
knowledge to anyone who wishes to learn and
is on a budget. He can provide everything that
you need to start fishing at under £50.00 which is
amazing.

If you would like to find out some more infor-

mation on the products, Telboy’s tackle offers or
the fishing Terry can provide you with. Give him a call on
01407 832965 or visit his website at www.telboystackle.
co.uk

Full range of Shamrock Rigs Available at Telboy’s. Visit us in store or

order on-line with free deliveries for all orders over £10, available to
the whole of the UK. Prices starting from Only£1.60!

01407832965 sales@telboystackle.co.uk www.telboystackle.co.uk

Your Catches

15

16
18

WINNER!
of the Snowbee
YOUR CATCHES
draw for July

17 19
84 Saltwater Boat Angling
 This last couple of months have been so good and we’ve had so
15

It’s a Cracker
many pictures sent in here are some more of Your Catches. DOUGIE GAY
Email your catch pictures to: editor@saltwaterboatingling.co.uk from Musselborough with a cuckoo
and you could win £1000 of Snowbee tackle wrasse caught on Seagem 2 from
Scrabster, skippered by Gerald
by qualifying for our BIG FISH FINAL Davidson returned alive

16
20 PETE WILKINS
with a 1lb 12oz red Gurnard on
Lyme Bay’s Pegasus

17 KEVIN GREEN
with a 23lb 8oz blonde ray
caught on Supanova II from Poole

18 EDDIE WATSON
with a conger of 56lb Caught
on Sally Ann Jo from Weymouth

19 CHRIS COOPER
with a 3lb bream caught on
Pegasus from Lyme Bay

20 A big conger caught on

Sally Ann Jo from Weymouth

21 A tope taken on
Sophie Lea from Brightlingsea

21

Saltwater Boat Angling 85

SALTWATER
BOAT ANGLING
UK Charter Boat Directory
These pages are devoted to providing anglers with a comprehensive list of Charter Boats,
organised by counties, indicating which port they are working from.
CHANNEL ISLANDS

Port Boat name Skipper Contact No. Website Email

Alderney Avante Dave Venn 07781 115 132 www.deepsea.co.uk davevenn4@gmail.com

CORNWALL
Falmouth Patina May David Rogers 07889275907 PremierchartersFalmouth@Gmail.com
Falmouth Madeline May David Turner 07849099175 www.cornishsharkfishing.co.uk thesharkfisherman@gmail.com
Hayle San Pablo 111 Dougie Wright 07974 409567 divewright.com divewright@btinternet.com
Looe Mystique 11 Dave Bond 07900 472252 deepsea.co.uk mystiquebond@aol.com
Looe Swallow II Murray Collings 07831 616316 murraylooe@icloud.com
Mevagissey Bessie Vee II Bernard Hunkin 01726 871074 www.bessievee.co.uk
Newquay Mystique Wayne Row 07974 021796 www.fishnewquay.co.uk wayne@fishnewquay.co.uk
Penzance Celtic Fox Mark Johns 07971 281888 www.penzanceboatfishing.co.uk celticfox@btconnect.com

Devon
Axmouth OUTCAST III John Wallington 07968953184 www.bassprocharters.co.uk basspro@btinternet.com
Brixham Kellys Hero Dave Saunders 07970 642354 kellysherocharters.com kellyshero@btopenworld.com
Brixham Obsession Kevin Wyatt 07964053347 kevinwyatt69@gmail.com
Brixham Off the Hook Paul Bowden 07815867805 www.offthehookcharters.co.uk offthehookcharter@outlook.com
Brixham Optimist Nigel Lihou 07817 136505 www.optimistfishingcharter.co.uk nigellihou@btinternet.co.uk
Exmouth Rose Ann Mike Baker 07752 879170 www.deepsea.co.uk/england/
south-west/exmouth/rose-ann/ skipperbaker@blueyonder.co.uk
Plymouth Crusader Kevin Lavis 07841678297 fortunephotos@hotmail.co.uk
Plymouth Size Matters Kevin McKie 07890 428630 fishsizemattets@yahoo.co.uk

Dorset
Lyme Regis Amaretto IV Steve Sweet 07836 591084 www.amarettosportfishing.co.uk amarettofsh@aol.com
Lyme Regis Lyme Bay Charters Lewis Hodder 07519 160020 www.lymebaycharters.com lewis.hodder@hotmail.co.uk
Lyme Regis Neptune Steve Postles 07717752544 steve.jurassic@yahoo.co.uk
Poole Aries II Duncan Purchase 07759 736360 aries2@btinternet.com
Poole Danny boy 2 Terry Allen 07973 561518 terry@allen640.fsnet.co.uk
Poole Mistress Linda Philip Higgins 07860 794183 www.mistresslindacharters.com philip.higgins@virginmedia.com
Poole She will Do Ray Smith 07979081934 seafishing-poole.com ray.smithboat@btinternet.com
Poole Trueblue Steve Porter 07967 598669 steveporter007@ntlworld.com
Poole Silver Spray Sam Cumming 07787375386 info@silverspraycharters.co.uk
Portland Fins-up Danel Clarke 07734383440 www.fins-up.co.uk finsupfishing@hotmail.com
Weymouth Al's Spirit Adrian Brown 07976 522184 www.deepsea.co.uk/england/
south-west/weymouth/alsspirit/ ambrown65@btinternet.com
Weymouth Flamer IV Colin Penny 07968 972736 www.flamer4fishing.co.uk colinpennyfu2@gmail.com
Weymouth Gypsy Trad Casey 07799 775612 www.linecaughtfish.net tradcasey@aol.com
weymouth Lucy Ann Martin parkes 07919 020407 www.deepsea.co.uk/england/
south-west/weymouth/lucy-ann/ parkes_martin@sky.com
Weymouth Meerkat Ryan Casey 07776 182782 www.deepsea.co.uk/england/
south-west/weymouth/meerkat/ ryancasey1@hotmail.com
Weymouth Offshore Rebel Paul Whittall 07860 571615 www.deepsea.co.uk pwhittall@aol.com
Weymouth Peace and plenty Jamie pullin 07886 931406 www.boatangling.com jay@deepsea.co.uk
Weymouth Sally Ann Jo Colin Baker 07814 301708 www.sallyanncharters.co.uk colinbaker@tesco.net
Weymouth Supanova II Lyle Stantiford 07976 876667 www.deepsea.co.uk/england/
south-west/weymouth/supanova-ii lyle@deepsea.co.uk

86 Saltwater Boat Angling

 Essex
Port Boat name Skipper Contact No. Website Email
Bradwell On Sea Chinook 3 Phil White 07786 080771 www.philwhitecharters.co.uk philwhite31@aol.com
Southend Marlin Ray Martin 07788275110

Hampshire
Hayling Island Malaki Barry Handley 07771 538244 www.deepsea.co.uk/england/
south-east/hayling-island/malaki/ bfhmalaki@aol.com
Keyhaven Reel Easy Kevin Williams 07712 645549 reeleasycharters.co.uk fixitkevin@aol.com
Langstone Harbour Moonshine Pete Churchill 07889 449667 PASChurchill@ntlworld.com
Langstone Harbour Starfish David Chapman 07974 810865 www.deepsea.co.uk/england/
south-east/langstone-harbour/starfish starfish@deepsea.co.uk
Lymington Great Escape Chris Bray 07813 618829 lymingtoncharterfishing.co.uk chris@lymingtoncharterfishing.co.uk
Lymington Manta Ray atom49@sky.com
Lymington White Maiden Les Jones 07585 335783 sea-fishing.net ltjones2004@yahoo.co.uk
Portsmouth Sea Juicer Rob Hickin 07919 102069 sea-juicer.co.uk rob@sea-juicer.co.uk
Lymington Voyager Kevin Duell 07843208597 www.charterboats-uk.co.uk/externallink/
?url=www.seafishinginfo.co.uk
MDL Port Hamble Marina Gone Fishing Boat Club Members 01489 668380 www.gonefishingboatclub.com info@gonefishingboatclub.com

Kent
Queenborough Dentex II Steve Harris 07827255739 fishingdentexcharters@gmail.com
Queenborough Hurricane Gareth John 07778 028397 hurricanecharters11@yahoo.com
Ramsgate Bonwey Charters Paul Cumbers 07854322856 bonweycharters@gmail.com
Ramsgate Pace Arrow Paul Foreman 07880940346 paul.r.forman@googlemail.com

NORFOLK
Great Yarmouth High Flyer II Jon Old 07920 043979 eastangliancharters@gmail.com

somerset
Minehead Orca Albert Hartgen 01643 703687 ajhartgen@btconnect.com
Minehead Osprey Steve webber 07967362132

sussex
Brighton Brigand Charters Steve Green 07572065543 brigandcharters.com
Brighton Brighton Diver Paul Dyer 07901 822375 brightondiver.com paul@brightondiver.com
Brighton Rough Diamond 2 Iain Barron 07739 732332 www.litelinecharters.co.uk
Chichester Flamer2 Mac Mclaughlin 07795 631553 sussexseacharters.co.uk enquiries@sussexseacharters.co.uk
Chichester Something Fishy Adam Shaw 07900086085 www.somethingfishycharters.co.uk info@somethingfishycharters.co.uk
Chichester Tempus Fugit Dale Ford 07763 469850 tempusfugit seafishing dford5@sky.com
Chichester Harbour Kelley's Hero III Bex Florence 07956 012481 www.kelleys-hero.com
Eastbourne Aladard Phil Batt 07801189759
Eastbourne Deep Blue Steve Bradshaw 07403198775
Eastbourne Misty Blue John Hipfen 07540 223875
Littlehampton Final Answer V. & D. Parker 07850 312068 www.ourjoy.co.uk ourjoyboat@gmail.com

& Yorkshire
Shoreham She Likes It II Mark Vale 07754 324270 www.sussexfishing.co.uk mark@sussexfishing.co.uk

Tyne and Wear

Sunderland Sapphire Peter Stubbs 07854 819924

Tynemouth JFK II Allan Skinner 07808 684358 www.jfk-two.com
Whitby Shy-Torque III Richard Ward 07733 233352 www.shy-torque2000.com richardward384@yahoo.co.uk
Hartlepool Famous Dave Lumley 07887 516285

Northern Ireland
Portrush Predator Charters Hamish Currie 07720 440117 predatorireland.com info@predatorireland.com

TO BE ADDED TO NEXT MONTHS LISTING PLEASE CALL Ross Hyland on 0203 475 6814
Saltwater Boat Angling 87
 UK Charter Boat Directory
SCOTLAND
Port Boat name Skipper Contact No. Website Email
Tighnabruaich MFV Morag Donald Clark 01700 811538 www.dcmarineboattrips.co.uk donald@dcmarine.co.uk
Eyemouth Bee Cool Will 07585003786 www.beecoolfish.co.uk will@beecoolfish.co.uk
Eyemouth Silver Sky Jim Easingwood 07780 823884 www.marinquest.co.uk info@marinequest.co.uk
Eyemouth The Oceanic Derek Anderson www.aquamarine-charters.co.uk skipper@aquamarine-charters.co.uk
Eyemouth The Sagittarius Martin www.aquamarine-charters.co.uk skipper@aquamarine-charters.co.uk
Dunstaffnage Blue Fin Roger Eaton 07776 053658 www.blue-fin-charters.co.uk bluefinoban@aol.com
Kyleakin, Skye Spirit of Adventure Nigel Smith 01471 822716 www.the-spirit-of-adventure.co.uk seaprobe@msn.com
Stromness Jean Elaine Andy Cuthbertson 07774 407093 andy@jeanelaine.co.uk
Arbroath Girl Katherine Jim Smith 07752470621 alex_arbroath@hotmail.com

WALES
Anglesey Seekat c Jon Shaw 07770 816460 www.angleseyfishing.com jon@angleseyfishing.com
Milford Haven Blue Thunder Will Fenneberg 07789 492228 bluethundercharters.com will@fenneberg.co.uk
Penarth Anchorman5 Dave Bobbett 07974 101888 www.charterboats-uk.co.uk/anchorman5/
Holyhead My Way Gethyn Owen 07971924046 goangling.co.uk infor@ghoangling.co.uk

For details of how to get your boat listed please contact Ross Hyland on
0203 4756814 or go to: www.saltwaterboatangling.co.uk and click on the
charter boat directory link on the home page.

88 Saltwater Boat Angling

 02034765814

Call: Kevin on 07964053347

OBSESSION
BRIXHAM
THE HOME OF
BIG’UNS
AND
WHOPPERS

• Large 40’Porchester
• COP 60 miles
• 12+2 persons
• Rod and Reel hire
• Hot drinks
• Oven and heated wheelhouse
• Individuals and groups welcome

10% discount for emergency services personnel

Wreck • Reef • Skerries • Diving • Sharking • Bespoke Charter

If you want to advertise

www.charterboats-uk.co.uk/obsession-brixham
here then contact Ross on
02034765814
HIGH FLYER
Great Yarmouth
FULL TIME SKIPPER
Onboard toilets
Single bookings taken
Beginners welcome
Gift vouchers
available
07920043979
www.eastangliancharters.co.uk

email: eastangliancharters@gmail.com
 Next Month
B O AT C O M P E T I T I O N S
For details go to the Facebook page

Weymouth and Portland Skippers Association

2018 – Weymouth Competition dates
October 25th Bream Competition

2019 – Weymouth Competition dates

October 18th – Bream Competition
Check on the Competitions page on www.deepsea.co.uk for
places available on participating boats and Book your place.
All competitions have a £10 per person entry fee with the
cash being given out as prizes for Winner, 2nd and 3rd places,

••
plus a trophy to keep. www.deepsea.co.uk  

Manx Festival 4th -5th August

Halibut drama in Norway

••
Bexhill Sea Angling Festival Boat Species Hunt
South West Ling Stories Sunday 23rd September

Mull Tope Festival Mull of Galloway Boat Festival 25th-26th August

2018 Shark Festival SPONSORED BY SALTWATER BOAT ANGLING

••
PLUS ALL OUR REGULARS 40th Angling Trust Wyvern Region
Small Boat Championships
Charter Boats Salcombe on 22nd and 23rd of September.

••
This is a popular West Country boat match which attracts
Practical boating hundreds of anglers. If you want more information please
contact Mike Spiller on 071404433397
Kayaks Rosslare Boat Festival September 8th-15th
Match Tactics SPONSORED BY SALTWATER BOAT ANGLING

The Cork Small Boat Festival 14th-19th September

E F S A B O AT M AT C H E S 2 0 1 8
EFSA Game Championships
September - 14 to 20 Ponta Delgada, Azores
EFSA England Species Championships
October 16 and 17 Penzance
More information can be obtained from the EFSA England
website http://www.efsa-england.com/ Diary of Events.

September issue on sale August 31st

90 Saltwater Boat Angling
E C Leisurecraft Ltd
A range of Outboard and Shaft Drive Diesel.
Pilot House, Cruiser and Open Boats from 5 to 10 Metres
Ecleisurecraft.co.uk 01702568482 Sales@ecleisurecraft.co.uk

The Ocqueteau Ostrea range of boats

“We haven't invented the sea, just the lifestyle that goes with it...”

Our dealers

www.clarkeandcarter.co.uk www.whyboats.com www.madogboatsales.com