Latest Fishing Reports: Sea Urchin IIl
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22/10/2024
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
22 Oct 2024 by Andy Savage
What a smashing day out at Whitby today. We had a beautiful clear day with plenty of sunshine for the most part.
With huge 6m Spring tides over the weekend, I didn’t want to be out at sea. But today with the tides dropping down, all the lads were keen to get going this morning. I’d explained that it was going to be a 16oz lead day for drifting the rough ground as there was a fresh Westerly breeze blowing. As it turned out, it was perfectly manageable and we could keep in touch with the bottom and keep the fish coming.
First stop was the five mile ground, but the first four drifts produced very little. I moved us to the other end of the ground and we started to find a few fish each drift. Squid was the bait of choice for most, as the Mackerel have drifted away again. Hokkai’s and Muppet traces (shock!) were the end gear just like usual. We had an hour on the five mile taking a mix of Codling, Ling and Haddock. Nothing massive, but a few in the boxes and a few returned.
After a couple of quiet drifts I opted to push out a couple of miles, as we were losing the tide and there was a ledge I wanted to try with a slow drift. That worked ok and we kept ticking over until slack water, when it went very quiet. It wasn’t until the Ebb tide kicked in that we were back in business. The drift line wasn’t perfect with the offshore wind, but every drift we took fish from where I thought they’d be.
For the last couple of hours we ran out to the nine mile ground. We had a good first drift with Dennis Emeny taking the biggest Codling of the day at 7lb 8oz and Nige Snowden taking an 8lb Ling. Matt Snowden took a surprise Octopus which was returned unharmed.
After a duff start, we caught fairly consistently all day, with everyone keeping a few for the freezer and returning plenty as well. Thanks for a thoroughly enjoyable day lads. Good angling -
14/10/2024
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
14 Oct 2024 by Andy Savage
Managed to squeeze one out today……. A fishing trip in-between the poor weather that is!! ��
Yesterday we had 10ft of swell and rough seas at Whitby. The weather forecast gave it to drop away a bit through the night, leaving around 4ft this morning with light winds for most of the day. Hopefully they would be right, as it wouldn’t take much breeze to spoil things. Giving due consideration, I decided to give it a try.
With the lads aboard, firstly we had an unproductive 20 minute Mackerel hunt (which I thought might well be the case). It was a 4.8m tide and everyone was keen to try a few wrecks, so we got stuck in. The inshore waters were looking a bit green and mucky, so we headed offshore to try some further out. Using the Ebb tide, we ran for an hour or so to our first wreck. It looked like there was plenty of feed around it as we set the boat up.
First drift saw us put up five nice clean Codling with bright white bellies which was encouraging. They fell to squid hookbaits on a mix of muppet traces and Daylights. The next half an hour saw fish every drift, then unexplainably sport just dried up. We moved on to the next wreck, arriving just as we were running into slack water, giving us a nice slow drift. This time I counted thirteen fish on the first drift! Clearly a few at home. A productive half an hour around slack saw everyone getting amongst the fish. Nothing massive, but plenty of lovely clean Codling around 3-4lb with Alan Kwok taking the biggest at 6lb 8oz.
Once the flood tide started to push through, the Codling stopped feeding and we got plagued by Haddock. They were coming up two at a time on the Daylights. I thought it best that we moved on as they were only just around “size” and I wanted to try and find something bigger. We fished another two wrecks, but they weren’t anywhere near as productive. The first drift was the best on each, then it just progressively tailed off.
To finish the day we had a couple of drifts on rough ground, which gave us a few to finish with. Codling dominated the boxes today, with only a handful of strap Ling to 7lb. Everyone got some fish for the table today which was great. Thanks lads. -
08/10/2024
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
8 Oct 2024 by Andy Savage
First catch report aboard Sea Urchin for a couple of weeks.
After a decent set of Northerly winds, today we finally had the opportunity to get out and Mark Johnson had the boat booked along with five friends. The tides are dropping a bit, but we still had a 5m tide to contend with which would present some challenging conditions later in the day. First job was to see if there were any Mackerel left and we had three drifts which only gave us a dozen or so. We knocked it on the head as we didn’t want to waste too much time as we had a SE wind against a flood tide, which would hold us nicely on the wrecks.
We ran south to fish a couple of wrecks in the six mile stream. First stop, first drift and pleasingly we had five rods out of six take a fish; a mix of small Ling and Codling was a nice start. We had some steady sport for around an hour, but nothing exceptional was caught until Jono’s rod went over with something more substantial. His pimped up squid bait was snaffled by a lovely Cod of 11lb which won him the boat sweepstake.
The wind showed no sign of dropping away on the turn of tide, so I knew we would have too fast a drift to stay on the wrecks once the Ebb got going. We agreed to try a couple more wrecks through slack water (which were unproductive) then head to the rough ground for the remainder of the day. We had an hour on the five mile ground first and found odd pockets of fish, but the consistency wasn’t there. With the drift speed up to 1.7 knots the lads had to work hard to keep the bait on the deck. 16oz definitely helped in this situation.
We pushed out another couple of miles for the afternoon, to lose a touch more tide and hopefully find a few better fish. It was patchy to start with, but then the wind eased a touch and the sun came out. This seemed to have the desired effect and the last hour gave us a much better run of fish. We had a few Ling around the 7lb mark and some nice clean Codling to 4lb to finish off a really enjoyable day.
It wasn’t a red letter day, but there were signs that there’s still quite a few fish knocking about. Thanks for coming lads -
16/09/2024
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
16 Sep 2024 by Andy Savage
With the building tides going over 5m today, but light winds forecast; we had a much sloppier start to the day than I’d hoped for. The NW breeze really spoilt things. We struggled for over an hour to get enough fresh mackerel for bait for the day, then had a few drifts on the rough ground at three miles as the wind was holding us up on the drift.
After half a dozen drifts with only a few small fish coming up, we moved out to the five mile ground. The drift was slow enough for us to try a couple of wrecks and the wind began to fall away on the run in to slack water. We fished two wrecks for a handful of small Codling, the best going 4lb or so.
As the Flood Tide came through, we ran out a couple of miles to try some more ground marks. As the tide grew we had a few productive drifts. Martin Novo and Bryan Stanton had 13lb and 14lb respectively on the same drift with a couple in the 7-9lb class boated as well by some of the other lads. Next drift, Chris Chatham also took a 13lb Ling and a couple of other 6-8lb fish came up to keep it company. After a hard morning, it was nice to get a few, but unfortunately it was shortlived.
Once the Flood Tide got away properly, we were up to 1.5knots on the drift and the sport died off. We plugged away for the remainder of the afternoon, but once again, it was another hard day at sea, with very few fish caught. Despite the mediocre fishing, I’d like to say a massive thank you to all the lads for the positivity and great chats all day.
Thanks very much for coming, I really enjoyed your company and hope I can deliver a more productive trip next time -
08/09/2024
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
8 Sep 2024 by Andy Savage
Weekend catch report aboard Sea Urchin.
We had the back end of the Spring Tides to work with the last two days; a 5.4m on Saturday and a 5.2m today. This was always going to present challenging fishing conditions, as almost the entire weekend would be spent drifting the various rough ground marks. We’ve been struggling to find many fish on the ground with the copious amounts of feed in the water, so it was a case of cross your fingers and hope for the best.
Luckily there were rafts of Mackerel to get us started; one drift gave loads of bait for each of the days. We started of trying the three mile ground, but with the tide pushing the boat through at almost two knots, moved out to the five mile ground, which was also unproductive. Both days gave very slow starts with just a couple of fish boated by late morning. A move out to the nine mile ground gave us the best results.
With us fishing the WCSA Autumn Festival, we were really looking for one big fish, and the lads understood that and credit to them, they all battled on both days. We found one patch which gave us fish on Saturday and today, so we spent a few hours there maximising it. Neil Fell-Edwards has fished with me for a couple of years and has been after a double figure Ling for that time. I was made up for him yesterday when he caught himself an 11lb 13oz fish giving him a new Pb. Well done Neil.
Today the same ground gave us an even better result when on only his second boat fishing trip, Richard Szpijak hooked into what looked like the bottom. He just couldn’t move it with the light rod he was using……then I saw it “nod”! After confirming it was indeed a fish, Richard wrestled for about five minutes with what was obviously a very good fish. As he was fishing under the boat, we didn’t see the fish approaching, but then a massive head appeared and the body just kept on coming. After only two trips, he now has a new Pb Ling of 23lb 3oz!! When your luck’s in, it’s in!
The fishing was hard all weekend and I really want to thanks the lads for being fantastic company and sticking with it, even when the lines were streaming and we weren’t getting anything. Well done lads. -
31/08/2024
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
31 Aug 2024 by Andy Savage
Today I once again had the pleasure of The Keel Inn Fishing Club from Barnsley aboard. They came with a slightly depleted crew, with only five anglers able to make the trip this time, but they more than made up for it with the brilliant banter they have.
After encouraging results yesterday and with ESE winds forecast for the afternoon, we had a chat and the lads were happy to run south to some wrecks in a similar area as the day before, which involved a bit of a steam, pushing tide. The sea was almost flat clam when we arrived at the first wreck and when three rods of the five went straight in I breathed a sigh of relief; there were a few feeding fish at home. Like the previous day, the stamp of mainly Ling was decent again.
In fairly short order, “Chips” Mallin bumped two (or maybe the same) what he said felt like big fish. Next drift he was into another chunk as his Mackerel baited muppet trace was snaffled. After a slow but steady scrap I scooped up a nice Ling which weighed in at 16lb 14oz. Next drift, we had four fish on at once which resulted in a brace of 8lb Ling, an 11lb 13oz Cod for Tog Edwards and a 13lb 2oz Ling for Gaz Jones. It was like we could do no wrong!
The wreck kept us entertained for a couple of hours and as the sport slowed a little, we had a run down another couple of miles to a nicely spread wreck. We were on the run into slack water, so the drift speed had slowed from 1.2knots down to 0.4knots. The wind blew us gently across the wreck and we got plagued with 3-4lb strap Ling every drift, which isn’t ideal as they don’t go back to the water very well after capture. Just as I was about to move us, Daz Tango hooked a slightly better one a smidge under double figures, but that was the best we got.
Another chat, and we agreed to go and have the last hour on the same wreck that we started the day on, to see if we could get one of the monsters that Chips had lost off. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be, but the lads got a couple of smaller Ling each drift to keep it interesting.
For once; the weather was ok, the fishing wasn’t bad and the company was excellent. Thanks very much lads for a fantastic day out. -
30/08/2024
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
30 Aug 2024 by Andy Savage
After a week off for a family holiday, it was back to sea again yesterday.
With a small neap tide, I hoped to spend the day wreck hopping, but unfortunately it just didn’t turn out that way. The only part of the day that went to plan was catching plenty of Mackerel to start off. With a WNW breeze, the wind pushed us out to sea across the tide (which I don’t like) and we tried three wrecks for nothing at all. Then we found one wreck that did one or two fish a drift for half an hour, but then it dried up.
We then tried rough ground at five miles, three miles and another wreck for literally nothing. It was a headbanger of a day and I was as disappointed with the day as the lads were, despite the effort we all put in.
Today with light winds “forecast” and still only a moderate tide, we agreed to have a go on a few wrecks, but to run south to try and get away from the massive amounts of feed that I believe is blighting the sport at Whitby at present. It was one of my fishing days, so there were only seven of us fishing, giving plenty of room. First drift on the first wreck and we had three rods in, wrestling up three reasonable Ling in the 6-8lb class which was a relief after the previous day.
Just as we were getting stuck into a few fish, the wind lifted and whoever guessed the weather should give their head a wobble!! We were treated to NW winds in the 15-17mph range which really made it lumpy and tricky fishing conditions. Credit where credit’s due, the lads just carried on taking fish every drift. We didn’t find anything massive, but a nice stamp of Ling including a couple of doubles to Dave Sharp and Simon West were good to see. We didn’t have loads of Codling, but we did take a couple over 6lb.
Mackerel on muppet traces dominated, but Squid still did a few. Streaming lines meant the shad’s didn’t get a look in.
Thanks for a really enjoyable day lads. -
17/08/2024
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
17 Aug 2024 by Andy Savage
I had a group of my Saturday regulars on today. It’s always really enjoyable for me to have regular anglers aboard. Firstly, they’re always excellent company and secondly, they’re good anglers, so I can base my angling decisions on whether they’re catching or not.
Today we had a slightly larger tide (4.7m). The W/SW winds were forecast to be a touch stronger, so all in all, I left Whitby without a real plan for the day.
We clonked a load of Mackerel at the Bell Buoy in about twenty minutes, then went to a nearby wreck to see how it looked for drifting. The lines were running back a touch with the fresh offshore breeze, but when I checked with the anglers, they said they were paying off very little line which was encouraging. We fished two nearby wrecks for absolutely nothing, then had a couple of drifts on rough ground for one undersized Codling. It was decision time…..
I spoke with the boys and we chose to run south to try some different wrecks in the same area we fished yesterday. Thankfully, the breeze dropped away as we steamed down and the drift wasn’t bad at all on the first wreck we fished. Unfortunately, we lost more gear than fish we caught. After four drifts, we pressed on.
It was a day for bait fishing today. Most went with 16oz leads on muppet bait traces, baited with Squid and/or Mackerel #standard We took a few fish off the next wreck and then it died off; and that turned out to be today’s pattern…..catch a few, then move on. One thing that was different from yesterday was the lack of strap Ling we caught. We got pestered by them yesterday, but today we took more Codling than Ling. We wreck hopped for the remainder of the day, taking fish here and there. The average size was much better than yesterday, but the overall quantity was nowhere near as good. Quality not quantity it would be fair to say.
Steve Martin took the biggest fish of the day. Firstly he snapped a 12” inches off his rod when he got stuck in a wreck. Then, despite the offer of using one of my rods, he cranked up a 13lb 12oz Cod! Well done Steve. -
16/08/2024
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
16 Aug 2024 by Andy Savage
One out of three ain’t good……
I haven’t posted individual reports from my last two trips because quite simply; the fishing wasn’t very good and we only caught odd small fish. The lads who were on the trips fished hard and I did my best to find a few, but it just wasn’t to be. Strap Ling around 3-5lb were the mainstay with an odd Codling and Pollock. It got to me a bit in the end and I know I wasn’t my normal self, as I hate it when I can’t deliver for the anglers. It felt like every decision I made wasn’t the right one and if I didn’t have bad luck, I wouldn’t have any luck at all!!
Thankfully, today saw an improvement with a bit more consistent sport. With it being a small tide we were destined for a day on the wrecks. I opted to run south and try a few down past Robin Hoods Bay. The first one we stopped at gave us one, two or three fish each drift for an hour. Quite a lot were undersized Ling, but there were a few better ones among them.
Most of the lads were using fresh Mackerel fillets or squid and Mackerel combo’s on muppet traces. I saw a couple of sets of Hokkai’s go over but they just got attacked by the Mackerel. Shads did produce a few fish, but it was probably a 50/50 ratio of foul hooked to hooked fair and square. The water still has a funny green colour to it and visibility doesn't appear to be very good. After a couple of less productive drifts, we moved on and that formed the pattern for the day.
We fished four wrecks in total and caught from them all. Slack water was around 1100hrs and with a bit of SW wind, we kept moving throughout, which helped keep the bites coming. The last wreck we fished is one of my favourites and today it didn’t disappoint. We only had time for half a dozen drifts, but it did 4-6 fish a drift until the wind pepped up a bit and spoiled the drift line.
Ian Kellock was top rod today and took a fish almost every drift, all day. Biggest fish fell to Peter Burton, a Ling of just over 11lb, which had the remnant’s of a set of Black Hokkai’s in it, which someone had snapped off on recently! Most bizarre capture was Len Brumwell with a Scallop which clamped on his bait.
Thanks for a great day lads and restoring a bit of my morale. Onwards an Upwards.......hopefully things keep on improving. -
06/08/2024
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
6 Aug 2024 by Andy Savage
It’s been an enjoyable but busy couple of weeks since I last did a report.
The first week was spent fishing in Norway with my good friend Ian Kellock. The fishing I experienced in Torsvag was just brilliant. I wasn’t bothered in the slightest about bait fishing for monsters and spent the majority of the time fishing with light lure rods and slow-pitch jigs.
We didn’t encounter anything enormous by Norwegian standards but the sport was excellent. I had hoped for a few nice Haddock (which I got) and a 20lb Coalie (which evaded me); so we’ve got unfinished business next year.
The real enjoyment came from exploring the massive areas of rough ground and working things out for ourselves. We both think and fish similarly, so it was a recipe for an epic week. Cheers Ian.
Arriving back in the U.K. I was straight back at it with three trips over Friday and the weekend. Unfortunately for the lads I had aboard, the fishing was a real struggle. There’s masses of feed on the ground and the fish just don’t seem to be dialled in to feeding. We picked up odd fish here and there, but unless you were after big-dog Mackerel, it was a tough gig.
Today was a Lure Fishing competition, with £150 for first place and £50 for second. No bait was allowed at all and the lads got stuck in with the lures all day. It wasn’t the easiest of fishing conditions and the more experienced lure anglers shone through in the end. Ian Kellock taking first place and Tony Firman second.
It’s looking like a couple of days off again with the current forecast, but hopefully things pick up with the next set of neap tides. Thanks to everyone who has made the trip over and fished hard. I really appreciate the support.
Cheers, Andy
