Latest Fishing Reports: Sea Urchin IIl
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17/06/2024
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
17 Jun 2024 by Andy Savage
For the last two days we’ve had fairly similar sort of outcomes in terms of the fishing results. The sport hasn’t been frantic, but there are fish almost everywhere that you try.
Sunday was a group of mixed experience anglers and we started off trying to find a few Mackerel. I don’t like to waste too much time trying for them until they’re here in numbers. After two drifts we had amassed about a dozen and then we moved off to try some wrecks with it being a small neap tide. Each wreck we tried we had a few fish, but it wasn’t fantastic.
I don’t really like weekend fishing, as there are so many more boats about than during the week, which on the small tides makes it difficult to get a clear run at the wrecks you want to fish. Looking south it was very busy, with a couple of the of the other Charters boats and loads of buzzers zooming around. I watched quite a few boats run past us, then went in the opposite direction, heading North.
It was much quieter up there (for a change) and we spent the rest of the day wreck hopping. Everyone had a few to take home, but we were mainly plagued by strap Ling on the fresh Mackerel. The biggest fish we took was only around 5lb, so no great shakes in that department.
Today was a great group of lads. Simon Ulyott always books the boat for his friends and I always look forward to their days as they’re excellent company. We planned to have a similar sort of day as Sunday, but went south this time as today there was only a couple of boats out, so we could pick the wrecks we wanted to fish. The Mackerel drift produced only four fish so we moved onto some wrecks.
In a similar vein, we just got a few from each wreck, but they had probably all been visited during the weekend. Every now and then we managed to find a better fish, and Jon Cammack went for quality over quantity taking the biggest fish sweep with a 9lb 12oz Ling, backed up with a 7lb Codling. With most of the boys using Squid on muppet traces, we had a few more Codling today, amongst the strap Ling.
I’ve really enjoyed the last few days and it’s been great to finally string a few days together at last. Thanks to everyone for their support -
15/06/2024
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
15 Jun 2024 by Andy Savage
Today I had the pleasure of the Milnrow Sea Anglers aboard for their first trip of the year. The six lads had booked the boat for a day out on the wrecks. I didn’t do a catch report for my last trip (Thursday 13th), because quite simply it was very poor fishing. We tried everything for very little return, so I was hoping for a marked improvement today.
We headed out with around an hour until slack water. Instead of wasting time trying to catch Mackerel we dropped straight on a wreck a couple of miles from the pier ends. With us losing tide, I’d recommended going in with bait traces (as opposed to Shads) and we hit the ground running, taking up to four fish a drift for the next couple of hours. After the last trip, I was relieved to get a few fish. The water looked to have cleared out a bit and we took mainly Codling and strap Ling, with an odd Gurnard and Pouting.
Once sport slowed up, we moved on, having a quick drop for Mackerel whilst on our way to the next wreck. With the tide now running some of the lads switched over to Shads and they worked well for the rest of the day, which suggests the water clarity is improving again.
We fished a further four wrecks while moving progressively further south. I noticed that the further south we went, the lads on Shads were not catching many fish clean in the mouth and the slower the sport appeared to be overall; so just after dinner we ran back north a few miles. That did the trick and we ended the day in a similar vein as we started. I don’t accurately count numbers of fish, but I’m fairly sure that today the Shads must have equalled the bait caught fish.
Pink and white were the standout colours today on the Shads and Hokkai’s. If we put fresh Mackerel on we got pestered by strap Ling, so we mainly stuck with Squid, or Shads which the Codling showed a preference for.
We caught no monsters today, with the biggest Ling being around 7lb and Codling to just over 5lb; but the most pleasing aspect was the consistency. With experienced anglers aboard, they knew when to make the changes to get the best from the day…….and the banter was brilliant!! Thanks lads. -
03/06/2024
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
3 Jun 2024 by Andy Savage
The weather forecast today wasn’t settled enough in the morning to run the 14hr trip we had booked in the diary, so unfortunately we had to put that to one side.
With the winds due to fall away from midday I thought it would be a great opportunity to have a few hours fishing in the afternoon/evening with a few mates……none of them were available so I went with the three reprobates in the pictures!!
Ian, Dave and Tony love their lure fishing (as do I) so we agreed that we would try fishing hard inside on the rough ground where we Uptide fish in the winter. It is fantastic fun and can be very productive on light tackle.
We all had three or four rods setup each, so we could quickly switch between tactics. A regular bait fishing rod with a muppet trace, a lighter shad fishing rod, a light lure rod and/or a slow pitch jigging rod.
Initially we ran North a couple of miles, stopping occasionally to check the water colour/clarity. We generally find the clearer water is necessary for the lures and shads to work properly. What I saw didn’t thrill me at all. It was very green and with not much clarity, I thought we would struggle…..and initially we did!
We all tried for over an hour in the rough ground with the light tackle, but all we managed was two lost small fish and a tiny Whiting. Plan B was definitely required. I thought our best chance of success was to try a couple of wrecks, where hopefully the fish would be a bit more concentrated, so we moved out to a nearby one.
This had the desired effect and first drift three out of four rods had a fish. We initially went with squid on muppet traces, but then quickly started switching methods as we knew there were plenty of fish around.
For the next few hours we fished away and caught fish on all four methods, but the highlight was definitely at slack water when the four of us were using 10-50g jigging rods, 4oz leads and small shads in 40m of water catching quality Codling of 4-5lb.
It was an absolute pleasure to spend a few hours with likeminded anglers and we never stopped learning new things. Definitely my most enjoyable session this year….thanks lads -
02/06/2024
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
2 Jun 2024 by Andy Savage
Today was a “Tick Over” type of day…..We didn’t smash it out of the park, but equally, it wasn’t a complete wash out!
I had a great bunch of lads on, and with everyone being aboard for 0615hrs, we had a nice early hop. After a couple of days of moderate Northerly winds, I thought the inshore grounds might still be a bit green, so opted to run out to try a few wrecks. First stop at 12 miles was a wreck we filled up on a couple of weeks ago; but today the water resembled a “Kermit the Frog Smoothie” with the May-Bloom. After only three drifts and three Pouting, we pressed on for another eight miles.
Next stop was a bit more encouraging as I drifted over the small wreck, it was lit up nicely on the echo sounder, so clearly some fish in residence. The boys went over with a mix of muppet bait traces and Hokkai’s baited with Squid or Mackerel and we started to pick off a fish or two each drift. Paul Mawson took a nice Ling just under double figures and we had a reasonable stamp of Codling 3-4lb, plus Haddock and a couple of Coalie’s. We persevered through slack water and waited for the flood tide to come through, before eventually moving on another five miles to what turned out to be, our last wreck of the day.
The drift line allowed us to run along the substantial wreck and we spent the next couple of hours taking 2-3 fish a drift. As mentioned, the sport wasn’t electric, but it was consistent. Everyone managed a few fish and Joe Fender took a nice new Pb Codling of 6lb 12oz, which was great to see. Just towards the end of the day we were joined by “Sammy the Seal” and after stripping off a couple of fish, sport dried up. We agreed to have one more drift and pleasingly, Will Freeman connected with a nice Pollock which he wound as fast as he could, while we all laughed and waited for the seal to nick it. Thankfully he managed to land the fish and we headed back into Whitby.
As alluded to earlier; it was far from a Red Letter Day, but the lads all fished well and kept at it consistently. Thanks for coming everyone -
25/05/2024
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
25 May 2024 by Andy Savage
Not the report that I had hoped to post, but you have to take the rough with the smooth and I think context is important. Tell the good and the bad is what I say.
The last two days have once again been a real struggle caused by what we believe to be May Bloom in the water. May Bloom is common at this time of year, and is (broadly speaking) an algae bloom caused by increased sunlight and rising temperatures, which reduces the amount of oxygen in the water. The fish don’t like it and sport always suffers due to its presence, but a decent bit of wind can break it up fairly quickly.
With the tides being on the large side, both days were spent on a mix of wrecks and rough ground. On Friday, we left a bit earlier to arrive at a couple of wrecks at slack water, but after trying four wrecks for just a handful of small Codling and Pouting, we moved onto the rough ground. We tried the five mile, seven mile and nine mile areas but we barely took a life.
Then the Easterly wind lifted after dinner and the lines were streaming so bad, that we called it a day mid afternoon. Bait traces, Shads and squid baited Hokkai’s were all used, but it was a tough gig, with very little in the fish boxes. The lads aboard were all very patient and thankfully there were no “Freezer Fillers” aboard, so spirits were positive all day.
Today we started on the three mile ground and had a few drifts while waiting for the tide to ease so we could drop on a wreck. Pleasingly, we actually got a few fish each drift, including the first “Scout” Mackerel of the year.
We fished two wrecks through slack, with the first being terrible. Trying another one near where we started, we took 2-4 Codling a drift for half an hour. Nothing enormous, but a couple around 5lb were great to see.
After that we fished the three mile, five mile and seven mile ground for very little return. Thankfully the second slack water in the afternoon gave us another dozen Codling to keep, but it wasn’t great. Same baits and tactics were employed as usual and the lads fished well. It’s just a shame the fish weren’t responsive.
Hopefully the next report will be a bit more positive. -
20/05/2024
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
20 May 2024 by Andy Savage
After two quite decent days, the last two have been fairly poor by contrast. Sunday saw a group of mixed experience anglers aboard, and with the wind still coming from the Northerly quarter, we planned a similar day as Saturday when we did ok.
Thankfully, the fog had lifted, so it was nice not to be glued to the radar as we ran North. Starting off on a few wrecks, we had literally an odd Pouting and few undersized Codling and tiny Ling. Jamie Britton managed to trip up a Codling of 5lb 8oz, but other than that it was pretty dire. On the turn of tide, I decided to move us onto some ground marks, running back towards Whitby. We picked up an odd strap Ling and Codling, but there was nothing to shout about. The lads used the regular tactics, but disappointingly it turned out to be a poor day on the fish catching front.
Today I had Alan and his friends on who fish with me regularly. They had asked for a 12hr trip so we got away just after 0500hrs and with the poor results of the previous day etched firmly in my mind, we ran off to try a couple of wrecks further out. First stop at 12 miles kept us going for an hour or so, with one or two fish each drift. Ling were the dominant species, but they were all straps, so we moved on.
Thankfully the next wreck was lit up a treat with lots of fish and feed marking, but it took a few drifts to nail down where we could catch them. With that sorted, we had a couple of hours fishing away steadily until we lost the tide, at which point the sport dried up. We had some nice Codling around the 5lb mark and unsurprisingly, with all the feed marks, there were Coalie’s on the hunt!
Simon was clipping them regularly with the Slow Pitch Jig, but they also came to the squid and Mackerel bait traces as well. The average size was in the 2-3lb range, which isn’t the norm for round here (we usually get a smaller stamp); but was good to see nonetheless.
Once the Flood Tide came through the drift picked up and finished the day with a few fish off a final wreck and then the last hour on some rough ground. The day wasn’t a disaster by any stretch, but I’ll be honest….I’d hoped for better. -
18/05/2024
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
18 May 2024 by Andy Savage
Well that was a day of two halves!! When you look at the images, you’d think the pictures were taken on different days.
I had a group of regular experienced anglers aboard today. With a somewhat “potentially iffy” looking forecast with North Westerly winds, I gave everyone the option of cancelling, but with almost everyone keen to have a go, we left just after 0600hrs with the radar on and headed out into the fog. With four hours of the Ebb tide to fish, we started on a couple of wrecks only 3.5 miles from the pier ends. The first one produced a few Codling, with my cousin Dave Coverdale taking the biggest at a 5lb, but the action died off after 40 minutes or so.
We hopped to the one next door and whilst this one wasn’t heaving with fish, we took a good sized Codling (along with a few smaller samples) each drift. Dave Bewley took the biggest off that wreck with a nice Cod of 9lb 4oz and Neil Fell-Edwards had a new Pb Codling of 6lb 2oz. For the remainder of the Ebb we fished a further three wrecks and picked fish off all of them. Nothing enormous, but every drift saw a couple dragged up. The usual suspects of muppet traces or Hokkai’s baited with squid or Mackerel did the business as #standard.
Once the Flood Tide pushed through, we had wind and tide together, which made the drift a bit quick for fishing the wrecks effectively, so we spent the afternoon on the rough ground. The five mile ground looked very green, so after only one drift we moved out a couple of miles and found a bit more water clarity. This also coincided with the fog lifting and a beautiful afternoon spent in the sun.
That kept us entertained for around 90 minutes taking a few each drift, then we finished up on the nine mile ground. Everyone fished well and the rods ticked over nicely all day, which to be honest far exceeded my expectations. It was another day spent in great company so a big thanks to all the lads….top dangling today -
16/05/2024
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
16 May 2024 by Andy Savage
It’s fair to say, that today was the most productive day we’ve had this year! Mark Johnson, Bob Nicholls and Jeff Hoggard had the boat booked for themselves and are great anglers and always fantastic company.
Having looked at the forecast the day before, it appeared that the Northerly wind would begin to lift a bit, late morning which could make for difficult fishing conditions. The lads were all happy to get away early and make the most of the favourable early morning conditions. We departed shortly after 0400hrs just as first light broke, and ran 90 minutes North across a flat, glassy sea…..it was a stunning morning. However, it turned out to be short lived as we ran into a fog bank after 7 miles and spent the rest of the day on the radar!!
On arrival at the first wreck there were feedmarks everywhere; I’ve never seen that wreck “lit up” so much. I set up the first drift and with the small tide and no wind, we barely moved. Within a minute the rods were buckled over and we had a great three hour stint, clumping plenty of fish. The first half prior to slack water, we had mainly Codling, but a good stamp; with Bob taking the biggest at 8lb and Jeff chipping in with a couple of 7’s along with plenty in the 4-5lb class.
As we lost the Ebb Tide, the Ling came on the feed and we had a number of fish in the 6-8lb range, then Jeff took the biggest of the day at a very honest 9lb 15oz winning the “Greatest Angler Trophy” that they always fish for.
Muppet bait traces with Squid or Mackerel dominated, but Bob also did well on a set of Gummimacks.
We chose to run to another wreck six miles away to finish off the day. The wind had just begun to lift a notch as we arrived, but pleasingly all three rods went in again on the first drift. It fished well for about 45 minutes with a nice mix of Codling and Ling and a couple of Pollock, then gradually as the wind increased and the lines started streaming, sport slowed right down. We took only five fish in the last 45 minutes before calling it a day at 1130hrs and steaming back to Whitby.
A fantastic day out, with great fishing and great company….see you in July lads. -
15/05/2024
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
15 May 2024 by Andy Savage
After a long weekend off with pesky South Easterly winds, today we had a nice settled day with a small neap tide. With a group of my regular experienced anglers aboard, I knew we’d have a good day before I even cast off from the pontoon. Everyone was on early, so we got away just after 0600hrs using the last of the Ebb and ran North to have a go on a few of the inshore wrecks, as there are signs that the water is beginning to clear out nicely.
First stop there wasn’t much tide, but we had half a dozen drifts and picked up a couple of fish each drift. Ian Kellock took the best Codling at just over 5lb. We pushed on after 45 minutes or so and tried a couple of small wrecks, for very little return. The drift line of the boat had us running straight out to sea, which I don’t think is the best as we were crossing the small wrecks, as opposed to running along them. I moved us to a bigger wreck to give us more time on the drift and that worked quite well.
We spent the next couple of hours picking away nicely. We caught plenty on squid baited muppet traces, but we also had a good return on the shads. Just as I was about to move on Charlie Hewitt connected with something a bit better and without incident, he brought up a nice Ling just short of 11lb. We fished a further three wrecks for the day which all produced fish, it was just a lovely day out.
Sean O Brien hadn’t done much Shad Fishing before, but was keen to have a go and I think he did a great job, catching regularly throughout the day. The lads christened him “Sean the Shad” which made me chuckle.
Everyone got a fair few fish today, but considering their experience and the small wrecking tide, it didn’t surprise me at all.
There was a lot of mickey taking and great banter all day. One of my most entertaining and enjoyable of the year. Thanks lads. -
11/05/2024
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
11 May 2024 by Andy Savage
To go, or not to go……that is the question!
With a decent weather “forecast” yesterday, giving mainly light winds, we had a run out. It was a Spring Tide (5.6m), but without the wind, it would certainly be fishable (as it was the day before). A group of mixed experience anglers joined us for the day.
With less than 2 hours before slack water, we started the day on the 5 mile rough ground, with a view to dropping on a nearby wreck at slack. We clipped a few fish on squid baited Hokkai’s just as the tide began to ease, then shuffled across to the wreck. The wreck gave us a fair few fish to Squid baited muppet traces, but nothing of any size. The biggest Codling being around 4lb.
As the Ebb tide got away, we fished the seven mile ground and then moved out to the nine mile ground. Simon and Diane Mulgrave fished with their lines running under the boat all day and caught consistently in very tricky conditions. Most people struggle under the boat, but they both handled it like Pro’s.
Unlike the forecast predicted, on the turn of tide the South Easterly wind began to lift and build. Within the hour, we went from 1.2 knots on the drift to 2.5 knots (which was almost unfishable).
Credit to everyone aboard, they kept plugging away. The lines were streaming off even with 16oz leads, but odd fish kept coming up. Mainly Whiting and an odd Codling. Soran Barber took the sweepstake with a Codling less than 5lb. It very quickly turned into a day that if I had known the actual outcome of the weather, I would have cancelled in a heartbeat.
I completely understand that anglers want to get out fishing, but sometimes it’s not about dangerous sea conditions. In my mind, there is absolutely no point going out to sea when you won’t be able to fish effectively. Fishing is meant to be fun and enjoyable, not a war of attrition. The South Easterly winds this weekend, whilst not strong, are enough to make fishing conditions very difficult/pointless.
All I can say is, I rely on your support and business to keep Sea Urchin going, but I’m not prepared to take anglers out to fish when I know in my heart of hearts, that we’ll be flogging the proverbial “Dead Horse”
If you’ve managed to get to this point in the post without falling asleep, well done.
