POOLE DOLPHINS SEA ANGLING CLUB.
Boat report for Sunday Oct 13th. We had a new boat sunday. Chopsea, Skipper Malcolm. The weather forecast was cloudy with light s.w breeze. Tide first of springs so Malcolm sugested we try the six mile bank. Possible Rays,Bream, and Tope around. On the mark fishing was slow. We had 3 Rays. A move was sugested. Now the action started. We had a few small Tope playing around plus Gurnard, Bream and Bull Huss.Midday the big Tope turned up. Caught us all off guard. Real rod bending bites. Hooks bitten off. Several fish lost. On went the 150lb bs trace line. We were now getting fish to the side of the boat. Double figure in weight. All went quiet at the turn of thr tide. But with aching arms and backs we headed home happy. Thanks to Malcolm for a vood day.
SUNDAY CHARTER TRIP, AUGUST 11TH 2024.
Not sure the weather men got the forecast right. 8 o’clock off the quay and it is very misty all down the harbour. Still misty when we reach the entrance and head out to the 6 mile bank. Should have the anchor in by 09-30 low water. Mist has thinned and we are fishing, hope the sun burns off this mist. A bit of a chop on the sea and the wind is rising, some blue sky in the distance. Fish are non existent and sea getting real lumpy. Phil wants to find fish and moves to Saddler Bank. Fish feeding here. Tope, and Gurnard immediately. Not long after Bass, more Tope and Small Eyed Ray, Brill, Conger. One lucky person found three Mackeral. Several of us tried but no more. In the end we had 10 Tope, 4 Bass, 1 Brill, 1 Conger, 2 Tub Gurnard, Some Black Bream and a couple of Doggies, and a Plaice. Starting to lose the tide so we up anchor and move inshore to drift for Plaice. Start drifting end of Swash Channel. Fishing slow, only 1 Plaice and a couple of Bream. To end the day the sun did come out about 1o’clock but breeze persisted. I think luck was on our side considering it was an easterly breeze. Best fish of the day was a 10lb Bass. Returned alive after weighing. Enjoyable day. Thanks Phil.
POOLE DOLPHINS SUNDAY CHARTER BOAT TRIP JULY 14th
Lovely sunny day, light breeze forecast. Speaking to Phil the fishing was slow to start but picked up later . Looking at the result sheet some nice fish were caught. Best of the bunch, Phil Thomas had a Turbot, a Tope and some Bream. Keith Trim three Small Eyed ray, three Tope and three Plaice up to 2lb.Roger had two Tope, four Plaice, Steve had a Smooth Hound, two Tope and a Bream. Also caught were some Dogfish and Mackeral.
Our next trip is booked for August 11th. Boat full already. Boat fully booked for the rest of the year at the moment which is nice to have.
Tony Partridge.
Sunday Charter Boat Report October 22nd
A strange week leading up to our date, the forecast was changing every day and we did not know whether we could go right up to Saturday morning when Phil was able to give us the green light.
It was a very small tide, so Phil headed out to the 6 mile bank where we anchored up for the last of the ebb. One or two rays came in, together with several small conger and the odd dogfish. Slack water was a bit messy, with the boat swinging around as the wind fluctuated. Phil re-anchored for the flood tide, a much better situation with the wind and tide inharmony. Again, a couple of rays, a smoothhound and several conger once again, but things were a bit slow. Phil considered going inshore for the plaice, but reports from another boat suggested very little was happening there, so we came inshore a little further and anchored over another bank for the last hour.
One surprise was a 6 inch mackerel caught by Phil Thomaswho then used it as bait and landed a 12 ½ pound blonde ray. Oh for some more fresh bait!.
All in all, an enjoyable day, with nothing hugely exciting but fish came aboard on a regular basis.
Dave Potts also caught a lesser spotted dogfish of 2 ¼ pounds, 75% of the areas specimen.
Phil Thomas came out on top, with Dave Doig second and Dave Potts third.
Next trip is on November 19th.
Charter Boat trip 20th August
Finally, we were able to run our species hunt, after 2 previous attempts were thwarted by holidays and bad weather.
The day started nice and calm, with sunny spells and a forecast of no more than force 4 all day. A pleasant change from much of the previous weeks.
We began by drifting from the chain ferry back towards Brownsea. 2 or 3 bass were caught but there was substantial weed which limited our success. Never mind, onwards and down to the piers where a smattering of plaice, gurnard and the odd bream came aboard. Out then to a bank area where skate were found, along with small conger. Phil Thomas had a nice undulate of 13 -2. Back in to Poole Patch where we were completely thrown; expecting a range of wrasse, we were inundated with tiny pout, many in the 5-6 cm range. The bottom must have been knee deep in them, they hit the bait before it even reached the bottom. Everyone quickly got their quota of 5 so we moved on. Just 1 ballan was found. Back out to the inner banks for one last go, again, a few bits and pieces and a conger of approx. 15lb to Dave Doig.
Back to dry land and a chance to reflect on an interesting day. Overall, 15 species were boated, a few fewer than we had hoped but the lack of mini species accounted for that. All seemed to feel that the day had been a success and all being well, another hunt will take place next year.
Phil Thomas was an easy winner with 10 species, followed by Keith Trim and Tony Partridge.
Thanks to Phil for chasing around, trying all the options to give us a range of species.
Charter Boat trip May 21st
Whereas last month we had a fantastic morning and a really horrid afternoon when the heavens opened and the wind got up; this time it was almost the reverse!
A stiff north-easterly and a tide running from west to east made drifting for plaice very unnatural and nothing happened. We then tried anchoring looking for the bream but again the boat was staggering all over the place. We did have the odd fish or two but again it was very difficult.
Phil then took us out to the Sadler for slack water and at last the boat began to behave as the ebb tide began. Fishing was slow, just 1 small eyed ray came to the boat to Dave Doig so Phil took us back to a rocky mark and once again we tried to find the bream.
This time – success! Some 30 or so came to the boat in not much more than an hour, along with a couple of small conger and dogfish. Feathering for mackerel also produced some results so some fresh bait for our next trip was secured. By this time, the wind had dropped considerably and it turned out to be a very pleasant afternoon. Many thanks to Phil for trying his hardest to find the fish for us in very difficult circumstances; let’s hope the weather gods are on our side on our future trips this year.
We are hoping to make our next trip a full on species hunt where anything that swims will count!
April 23rd Charter Boat Report
The forecast earlier in the week had been entirelyunpredictable, so it was a very nice surprise to meet atFisherman’s Dock with no wind and a sunny outlook.
We headed out into the bay and Phil anchored over a mark for bream. Whilst other boats were apparently struggling to find many fish, we hit them almost immediately, and the bream were coming in regularly, with several doubles, they were that prolific.
A couple of small conger, a few dogfish and pout, and a single smoothhound made up most of the catch. One surprise element was a treble to Dave Doig; a bream in the middle and a mackerel either side, the latter taking the trailing hooks in mid water as the bream was reeled in! By the time the tide started to ease around midday, Phil informed us that we had over 80 bream, the vast majority safely returned to the sea. The largest were around 1 ½ lbs.
We then headed out to some inshore banks, with the hope of finding a ray or two over slack water, but by the time we anchored the weather was taking a turn for the worse. The wind picked up dramatically, going from nothing to a good force 4 in about 15 minutes. Then the rain started, and was quite heavy. We had hoped to catch the start of the flood tide but with only a couple of dogfish up to that point Phil decided to up anchor and we headed back towards the harbour, stopping for a drift or two for plaice at the back of Hook Sands and then the Swash Channel. It was really quite unpleasant in the wind and rain, but we did manage 3 or 4 plaice, and a bonus small turbot to Keith Trim.
Our time was up by this point and we retreated back to shore; fortunately the rain eased by the time we got back on solid ground, everyone was quite pleased with that!
As they say in football, it was very much a game of 2 halves, superb in the first half but the weather really spoiled the second half.
Many thanks to Phil, he really put us amongst the fish in the morning but even he could do nothing about the weather in the latter part of the day. Now looking forward to our next trip on May 21st when hopefully the weather will be kinder to us.
March 19th Charter Boat Report
The original idea on Friday beforehand was to go ‘round the corner’ towards Kimmeridge as reports of early black bream had been circulating; however the weather turned against us on Sunday morning and only once we were on the boat did Phil tell us that we would not be going breaming but instead would fish the banks area until the tide proved too strong, and then we would retreat closer to the shore to avoid the worst conditions.
Fishing all day was difficult and fish hard to come by. Early on we had a few small conger, and a blonde ray to Dave Potts. We tried several other bank areas and finished up on the Sadler, catching a few dogfish and a few small whiting. Phil Thomas unfortunately lost a good ray, having scaled down to find out what smaller fish might be about. Such is fishing!
March is usually a difficult month, summer fish have yet to arrive and winter fish have often moved away, and so it proved this year.
Phil tried so hard to find the fish, thanks for his efforts, but an enjoyable and rain free day nevertheless.
Dave Potts came out on top, followed by Dave Doig, Phil Thomas, and Axel Paull.
Next trip is on April 23rd, roll on the better weather.
January
Our first trip of the new year was greeted with anticipation, especially as last year’s later trips were lost to bad weather.
The forecast was not too bright; a calm morning with the wind picking up to a F5 or F6 from lunchtime onwards.
Phil headed out with a full boat to the inner banks where we quickly found the whiting in hungry mood. A few pouting and a few small conger also were taken. Around midday, Phil retreated back closer to land and to the Sadler Bank area to try 2 marks. Much the same with the whiting particularly around. One or two dogfish also as well as a surprise couple of decent dabs. Unfortunately no rays were found on any marks.
We upanchored just after 4 and headed back to the dockside.
All enjoyed the day and thanks to Phil for keeping up with the fish recording with many whiting coming over the side and to an enjoyable day.
All looking forward to the next trip and soon to be warmer weather.
Charter boat report 16th October
For a long time leading up to the 16th, the weather forecast looked grim and we all expected to be confined to shore, but a tight window miraculously appeared in the forecast onWednesday, and even more surprisingly stayed in position, so we were able to get out after all.
Phil headed Mistress Linda out to an area of banks a few miles out and we set anchor. The tide was just starting to floodand we began to find a few fish. Rays were the main target and well done to Lewis Jordan for landing a fabulous blond ray of 16lb 9oz. Steve Collins also landed a smoothhound of 8lb.
After a while when the tide was in full flow, Phil took us back inshore a bit to another bank area in slightly shallower water.Similar results to our first location. A few other species made up our haul, a small conger, a tope, scad, dogfish and gurnard.
As forecast, the wind was beginning to crank up and around 1500, Phil headed back towards the harbour and we had an hour or so in the Swash channel, expecting to find a plaice or two. That didn’t work out as the black bream didn’t give them a chance! Some 20 bream, many sizeable were landed, along with a gurnard and a relatively rare red mullet to Keith. By now the rain was quite heavy and the wind was getting up to force 6 or thereabouts so it was time to head back to the dockside.
All in all, a very enjoyable day with a variety of fish being landed.
Steve Collins and Dave Doig tied for first place, with Phil Thomas in third
Sincere thanks to Phil Higgins for a very enjoyable and productive day.
Charter Boat report September 18th
A beautiful morning with very little wind but a wee bit chilly first thing.
7 of us headed out on Mistress Linda. As the tide was a small neap and with the weather as it was, it gave us a rare opportunity to head for the outer banks. When we got there we were facing the latter parts of the tide but there was enough flow to get a scent trail going.
First fish on board was a nice 8 – 12 bull huss to Dave Doig, soon followed by a blonde ray of about 10lb to Keith Trim.
As slack water approached, the tope began to show, initially on the smaller side but a couple of better ones bit through nylon traces. Finally one was brought to the boat by Keith Trim and was estimated by our skipper to be a minimum of 20lb. Phil Thomas also had a blonde ray of 10 – 12.
Fishing slowed over slack water, then picked up as the tide turned but fishing was slow. Phil then decided to go back in near to Bournemouth pier with plaice and gurnard in mind with the slight chance of a trigger fish. Several small plaice were caught with a few just sizeable, a couple of gurnards but no triggers.
It was then time to head back to the dockside; all in all an enjoyable day, everybody caught and we look forward to our next trip.
Charter Boat Re port August 21st 2022
The weather was OK-ish, force 4 south westerly, which wasn’t ideal as we had a neap and ebbing tide for most of the day.
We headed out into Swanage Bay and were able to get a dozen or so mackerel so we were able to begin with some fresh bait. We headed for the outer banks area and tried an initial drift to see if we could find a turbot or two.Unfortunately our drift was very slow, a combination of a weak ebbing tide and a south westerly holding us back. One ray only was the outcome so Phil anchored up and we started fishing with our fresh bait.
Bites were hard to come by, but 3 rays were caught, the best being a 15lb blonde. One or two bream showed along with a couple of small conger. 2 very good fish were lost, one almost certainly a large tope and the second a very good ray.
The tide dropped away quite quickly and as very little was happening, Phil decided to go back inshore to another bank area to see if we could get more action. Not a huge amount happened though we did catch some small and perfectly formed smooth hounds which must have been all of 10 or 11 inches long.
We then headed back to the dockside; thanks to Phil for giving us the opportunity to fish offshore for the first time this year.All in all a slow day but at least the rain that was threatened didn’t happen.
Next trip is on September 18th.
Charter Boat Report – January 23rd
For once, the weather was kind, and the trip went ahead as planned.
5 Club members took part, unfortunately 1 had to pull out due to a Covid infection.
Phil took Mistress Linda out into Poole Bay and set anchor.
Fish came aboard in quick succession, mostly whiting, some were undersize but several were sizeable.
A couple of moves were tried, the fish kept coming, though nothing of any size came to the boat.
Fish caught included whiting, small conger, gurnard, dogfishand a relatively unusual dab.
Jay Hemming came out on top, with Phil Thomas second.
All in all, a busy day for all involved.
Hi guys,
I know we were impacted by several trips being blown off; also we were fishing spring tides on almost all our trips that did go ahead, so we were restricted to inshore fishing, often in the shallow water off the piers, so we had very few fish of size all year, just a few rays up to no more than about 12lb.
I’m hoping we can improve on that next year; the dates we have and more neap tides should enable us to get offshore more often, weather permitting of course.
So, let me have your views please.
We also introduced a new scoring system, where sizeable fish attracted a multiplier of 4, with the aim of encouraging us to target bigger fish and thus help conservation by letting the little chaps have time to grow. Phil Higgins willingly kept records of catches for us, split between sizeable and undersize fish so the mechanics worked well. Even my spreadsheet calculator did the business.
We did have one potential issue regarding mackerel. They are not listed as a separate species on our score sheet so count as ‘other’ which score 4 points but with the multiplier of 4 gave a points value of 16. This did skew one trip’s results somewhat as only one member benefitted, perfectly within the rules I must add. We since clarified the situation by saying that mackerel would only count if they were caught on any 3-hook rig that was not being worked as if feathering for bait.This could still be something of a grey area, so an option would be to just not count mackerel at all. What do you think?
In response to several members requesting more winter trips, I have included trips for next year in January, February and December in addition to our March – November trips originally planned. We also have 2 additional trips in December this year, the 5th and the 29th. This year’s extra dates will not count towards this year’s points championship but all dates next year will. Please support these winter trips, especially if you were one of those who suggested we should have them a couple of months ago, so let me have names please for this year’s dates!
Finally, I have tried to improve our communications by using e-mail such as this, also we now have a Whatsapp group, thus avoiding many, many phone calls. Has it worked for you, could we do better in any way?
So, comments please on this, and anything else you would like to raise.
sep 19th 2021
An interesting but quiet day from a fish point of view. The weather was very pleasant when we set off, a slight wind and clear visibility.
We started off by looking for some mackerel, and groups of diving gulls soon gave the game away. The whitebait were boiling on the surface, being forced up by the mackerel below. Every time we moved towards a boil, it disappeared and reappeared some 50 metres away! Nevertheless, we managed to get some fresh mackerel for bait, so headed off to a bank area some 6 miles from the harbour entrance and anchored up as the tide slackened. Fishing was slow; a few small eyed rays, one gurnard, one strap conger. The only fish of merit was a reasonable blonde ray, around 10lbs to a guest.
Once the tine turned and picked up, Phil moved to an area to the east of the Sadler, but barely a bite was had in over an hour, a lot of weed in the tidal flow didn’t help us.
Phil then decided to move inshore off the piers, again, fishing was slow, with a few small plaice and a couple of bream coming on board.
Overall, a pleasant day, a bit of rain mid afternoon, but the fishing was not at its best. One aspect of interest, not a dogfish was to be seen!
Next month we have a neap tide, so, weather permitting, we plan to head for the outer banks and deeper water, where we had considerable success this time last year
Sunday July 25th 2021
Weather was fairly calm with rain at times, but not too much to spoil the day.
Expectations were not too high, as most boats had struggled to find the fish all last week.
We started off with a couple of drifts for bass at the harbour entrance; Dave Potts had most success with a luminous lure. We then headed east and tried again for bass on the drift; Dave again had 1 and a guest had a couple but it was slow going. As slack water approached, Phil set the anchor, hoping for a ray or two. Phil Thomas had a nice undulate of 11lb and Dave again scored with a small eyed ray. A couple of dogfish too but not much was showing. Perhaps the highlight was that Dave D caught several mackerel, more than Phil and other boats had seen during the whole of the previous week. Where have they all gone? Even with fresh bait we couldn’t get many fish showing much interest. Soon the tide was too strong so Phil took us in for a brief bit of plaice fishing inshore off Southborne. Again, a few small fish came on board but sport was slow once again. We then retired gracefully back to the quayside.
All in all, something of a disappointing day, though Phil tried his hardest to find fish for us. Nevertheless, we all enjoyed the day, including a couple of guests, one of them, Moses, had never fished before, but he caught plaice which pleased him no end. I suspect we may be seeing more of him in the future.
Next trip August 22nd, we’re all looking forward to that.
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Sunday 13th June
The weather was remarkable, the sea with barely a ripple.
Our plans changed; Dancing Ledge was not performing at all so Phil took us east to a rocky mark, looking for the bream. Within a few seconds of hitting the bottom, rods were bending and a succession of bream to around 2lb quickly came to the boat. We were clearly in the right place; other boats who subsequently joined us on the mark had far less success than we did.
As the tide began to slacken, we headed off further east and had a brief drift to see if we could find any flatfish, but they weren’t playing.
On then to another mark where we anchored to fish slack water and the start of the ebb tide. Plenty of dogfish for all, one small spotted ray and a rare grey gurnard to Jay came aboard but the bigger rays or tope didn’t show.
Heading back home we had a brief drift over some banks for bass but nothing showed interest in our lures.
All in all, a very enjoyable day, and everyone caught. Phil tried a number of options for us and whilst we didn’t find the bigger fish a very enjoyable day was had by all.Phil Thomas came 1st, Danny Williamson was 2nd and Jay Hemming was 3rd.
We had our first evening boat trip monday 26th april.first big thanks to andy adams for having his side door to his boat has made my life a lot easier to fill the trip with our less mobile members.The evening was pleasant but with bit of a nip in the air.Fishing was very slow despite a high tide.Dave reeve came out on top with the 10 points [bless him].fish caught were dogfish, plaice,conger,and pouting.
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Charter boat 18/04/2021 with Mistress Linda 1st trip after lock down.
We were all greeted by a lively sunny, calm day, a bit chilly first thing, but all very pleased to be afloat again.
We all met up with our newest member, Cliff Brand at the Customs House steps.
We got away sharpish at 08.00, to catch the tide at a bank about 6 miles from the Haven. Fishing was a bit slow, a few strap congers and dogfish came aboard.
Phil then headed inshore as the tide picked up and we drifted for plaice about a mile off Bournemouth pier. Again, fishing was slow, possibly as the water temperature is apparently a degree or so cooler than expected for the time of year, probably explains why the bream have yet to show. Not so many plaice landed as Phil had on board on Saturday, so again we moved , out this time to the Sadler Bank. 4 rays came here, 3 to Jay Hemming, who also caught the first mackerel of the season, on a worm fished on the bottom! A few pin whiting and dogfish made up the catch.
One last move to the back of Hook Sands for one last try for plaice, just 1 or 2 this time.
Back into the harbour and dry land once again.
Overall, a quiet but very enjoyable day. Phil tried very hard to find fish for us, we were far more successful than other boats out, so thanks to Phil for all his efforts, it certainly paid off.
Jay Hemming was 1st, Dave Doig 2nd and Dave Potts 3rd.
A very enjoyable day with variety of fishing and plenty of good humoured banter to boot. All are looking forward to our next trip on the 16th May, venue likely to be Dancing Ledge, assuming the bream have started to show.
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Charter boat today. 11/10/2020
Table top to start with, tide falling away, fairly slow with several but bootlace conger, 1 ray, a few small bream and pout.
Phil then went inshore to the piers around midday, 20 or so small plaice, only 1 worth keeping, small bream and other bits and pieces.
1st Jay Hemming
2nd Phil Thomas
3rd Dave Potts
4th Dave Doig
5th Chris McKenzie.