Latest Fishing Reports: Galloper
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03/2020
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
Mar 2020 by Scott Belbin
Our best few trips were shortly before we had to stop going. We did three trips on the bounce with 72, 93 and 80 thorn-backs between 7 or 8 anglers. As usual most fish were returned alive and we kept just a few males for the table. There were a few decent females mixed in each trip with several low doubles and a nice pair one after the other both going over 16lbs (it was a bit lumpy and hard to get an accurate weight). Often we were the only boat within sight and we could fish in comfort with out having to seek extra shelter.
Regarding any trips in the coming weeks and months. At the moment we are unable to take trips and even myself and stacey are abiding by the rules and only leaving the house for essential goods. Over the coming weeks and months we will take it week by week depending on what rules are tightened or relaxed. If you’re booked in for a trip please bear with me and I will evaluate it nearer the time. If you wish to book for a future trip please feel free to do so. We promise not to spent your deposits on bulk buying loo roll and instead keep them separate in case they need to be returned to you.
If you fancy a trip and wish to know my availability please call 07956411528 and I will update you with our current plans or visit my website and have a look at the availability page at http://www.essexseafishing.co.uk/availability/
Please keep an eye on the essex sea fishing page for more reports old and new over the coming weeks. -
02/2020
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
Feb 2020 by Scott Belbin
Despite the seemingly relentless gales February has been fairly kind to us on the blackwater. The blackwater estuary has continued to provide great sport in all but the worst conditions. Luckily where most of the fish have been showing is very well sheltered from the south and west so we can fish in a gale of wind and its no rougher than on the mooring most of the time. The sprats have gone now although plenty of herring remain, but this doesn’t seem to be having an adverse effect on the fishing. Last week Carl and young Billy-roy hired the boat for just the two of them and they had a great days fishing. It was their second trip with me and Billy-roy had remembered so much from his first trip. He was casting on his own and did a great job of reeling in some decent thorn-backs all on his own. The lads had steady fishing all day and managed 31 rays between them as well as a few whiting and a dogfish for good measure. They are already planning their next trip for later in the year. We have had days with more rays on board but this was undoubtably a good day between two people, in February on a windy day.
We have only been able to get further offshore on the occasional day to be honest but this should improve in the coming weeks and we should see a bit more variety in the fish we catch. The rays seem pretty wide spread now so we should be cooking on gas for a while inshore.
I have plenty of spaces coming up including this weekend coming.
For more information, regular reports and available dates please visit www.essexseafishing.co.uk follow us on facebook or subscribe to our youtube channel -
01/2020
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
Jan 2020 by Scott Belbin
The year has got off to a great start for us here on the blackwater estuary. There may have been lots of sprats around but the thorn-back rays have still been feeding well. The mild weather has undoubtably helped this and they have shown in both size and numbers. The best of the fishing has been well within the shelter of the estuary so we have been able to fish in all but the worst weather. Our best trip in January was 42 rays to 14.8lbs. we saw double figure fish mixed in most trips and plenty of happy anglers. As long as we don’t see any prolonged cold spells the rays should be here for the spring now. Although at times it was mostly rays we caught we did see a few other bits and bobs with the usual whiting dogfish and dabs showing. When conditions allowed we headed further afield and even had a couple of tiny codling, hopefully we will see some of their larger relatives as the sprats move off in the coming weeks. I have several spaces coming up at weekends as well as midweek availability and evening as we get into the summer. For more information, regular reports and availability please visit
www.essexseafishing.co.uk
find us on facebook
or call on 07956411528 -
01/2020
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
Jan 2020 by Scott Belbin
We have managed to get a couple of trips out to start the new year off. The weather hasn’t been perfect but we are lucky that the sheltered waters of the blackwater estuary and surrounding areas mean we can got out in most weather if we want. Happily there are still plenty of fish to be caught giving us good reason to head out. The sprats have arrived in the estuary which has distracted many of the bigger whiting although there are still numbers of smaller whiting taking our baits. The last couple of trips have produced a few nice dabs for us with out even targeting them. Dad had a trip booked with a few of his regulars the other day. There were only 3-4 anglers on board and they still managed 79 dabs on a nice leisurely day in the comfort of the estuary. There have been plenty of whiting mixed in to make for a busy day on the right tides.The mild weather has kept the thorn-back rays and dogfish feeding. The fish are a bit lethargic and finicky but we are still seeing a few in the right places. Last weekend we headed out in a load of wind with the Maldon sea anglers on board. We spent the morning catching dabs,pouting and whiting with a 5 bearded rockling making a surprise appearance. We moved for the afternoon to target some rays. The fishing took a while to get going but the lads had 10 thornbacks and lost a couple more as well as catching some more whiting and dogfish. The biggest ray went to martin and just went over double figures. On the way in the lads commented that they were pleased they had made the effort to go out and I was pleased we could find a few fish on a windy day.
I have a few spaces coming up if you wish to get out soon, if the weather stays this mild the rays should move inshore in numbers in the next few weeks. If we get the weather and tides we will be heading further off in search of spurdog and alike which I think will also happen early this year so please book early so you don’t miss out.
For more information, regular reports and availability please visit
Essexseafishing.co.uk
Follow the essexseafishing page on facebook
Or call 07956411528 -
12/2019
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
Dec 2019 by Scott Belbin
Despite loosing a few trips to weather in December we have still got afloat here and there. On the last trip there were still hoards of whiting but a few roker mixed in with them. Most trips we have seen 6-12 roker which isn’t great guns but they put a decent bend in the rod and are a welcome break from the whiting. On the right tides the estuary is producing plenty of dabs which can be a bit of fun on a windy day and gets you afloat. on our first trip in december Robert even managed a small bass so you never can tell. I have plenty of spaces over Christmas and into the new year. So please get in touch if you fancy getting out over the Christmas break there is still plenty to be caught and you wont catch them sitting at home!
We will start to head offshore soon in search of the first spurdogs of the season, I wont publish any catches until the end of the season though (around april).
Please keep an eye on my website www.essexseafishing.co.uk or facebook or call me on 07956411528 -
12/2019
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
Dec 2019 by Scott Belbin
Thought I would put a report on here to cover the last few weeks. we launched our new boat at the start of November. She’s a blyth catamaran 10 meters long by 5 meters wide. The byth hull is popular throughout the country with both anglers and skippers alike. She is fast stable and spacious, the anglers have given us nothing but positive feed back so far so we are very pleased. We will soon be putting our old boat the evolution up for sale after antifouling her ect so please get in touch if you are interested.
the fishing has been busy but not necessarily with what we would like to see. The thorn-back rays have been hard to find at times but most days we are able to get a few aboard to put a decent bend in the rod. The numbers of dogfish have thinned a bit with the drop in water temperature but we are still seeing a few mixed in. the whiting appear to be in vast numbers. most are 10-12 inches but we have had a few better ones mixed in. with the numbers that are there its no surprise there are better ones just through the law of averages. At times we have fished paternosters for flatties and the whiting are that thick we are hooking them before the bait hits the bottom. often within a minute or two there’s one on every hook. Its almost like mackerel fishing. we had our first dabs the other week and they make a nice change to the whiting. We even had a small codling the other day it went back in so at least we know there’s one out there!
As ever for more information, regular reports and more please visit www.essexseafishing.co.uk or call 07956411528 -
11/2019
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
Nov 2019 by Scott Belbin
Once again I have left it too long between my reports on here. As ever we have been busy and the fishing has been too. since my last report on here we saw good numbers of roker through the early autumn with 48 being our best trip in October. there have been loads of whiting and dogfish around too which have kept us busy. To be honest they can be a pain at times but they keep the rods going and its normally ‘fish a cast’ for them. Inshore the dogs and whiting are interspersed with the odd roker, late smooth-hound and bass or even an elusive codling.
Offshore the fishing has been very good when we had the weather. we pushed off a few times and got amongst the bass each time. There was some great sport to be had in shallow water using 4-8oz leads and light rods is hard to beat. On one trip with fred and the lads the bait fishing was particularly good. The best of the fishing came in 2 hours as the tide came right and with several fish between 6lb and 8.2lbs coming to the boat the lads were so pleased they opted out of the next mark and decided to head home early to catch the football! Another trip saw another group of lads enjoying several hours of bass on lures (feathers proving to be most effective) the fish were so numerous one even engulfed a breakaway lead and got hooked on that! I couldn’t put a number on how many we had but I know a couple of the lads had 30-50 each. Needless to say they only kept 1 each although it would have been nice for them to have been allowed to keep some more. We had the weather to head off again last week but since the ban on bass came back into effect after October 31st I cant get any takers for bass trips.
We have managed our first few trips on the new boat with great feedback from everybody on board. The first fish aboard was unsurprisingly a dogfish but it didn’t take too long before the first whiting and roker joined it. I will report more on the new boat soon.
Most of our trips now will be inshore for whiting, dogfish and roker with the odd codling thrown in if we’re lucky. Hopefully the dabs will start to show soon as they will provide some sport on light tackle close to home. When the weather allows we will try to get offshore and see what’s about. I have spaces into December and january but next years weekend dates are starting to fill up so please get in touch if you wish to book a specific date or type of fishing.
As ever I do weekly reports on my website and facebook page as well as available dates so for more information please visit
www.essexseafishing.co.uk
or call 07956411528 -
09/2019
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
Sep 2019 by Scott Belbin
although there are still a few summer fish around most have moved off now and the best of the summer fish have gone. We had a great summer here on the blackwater with good numbers of bass and smooth-hounds. often these fish were close to home which maximised our fishing time and minimised cancellations. With the one bass per angler regulations there were often times when the lads could stop of bass on the way out or way in and concentrate on the hounds and general fishing for the rest of the day. fishing for hounds in shallow water is one of my favourites and many of our anglers look forwards to their arrival each year. We had good numbers of double figure fish through out most of the summer. there were often fish mid doubles but we couldn’t seem to get over 17.2lbs as the big girls always seemed to get away. luckily for us they tend to show for one last set of tides before moving off and we got amongst them.
One of the days Dave had ended up hiring the boat by himself. Dave has just got back into sea angling and is very keen to learn. He has picked up loads over the last few months and with the boat to himself could build his confidence in casting ect. We had to work hard to avoid the weed which come loose from further up river and on the mud flats as it started to die off. We moved a couple of times and found a nice clear mark with a few fish. he lost a nice size bass just short of the net and was re-casting when his other rod nearly left the boat! After a good scrap he soon had a new PB smooth-hound and the biggest of the year on board the ‘Galloper’. It was a fine fish of 22.13lbs which went very well in little more than 4ft of water! We had a few more bass and hounds that day but nothing to match this fish.
The majority of the hounds have moved off now, there are still a few small ones mixed in with our general trips. These are mostly producing thorn-back rays, dogfish and whiting with the odd hound or bass mixed in. further offshore we will still see better numbers of bass and I still have a few spaces on the banks in October. I also have plenty of space up until Christmas and into next year I cant promise any cod but I can promise you will have more chance of catching one if you wet a line than if you stay at home.
For more information, weekly reports and availability please visit www.essexseafishing.co.uk
Find us on facebook or call 07956411528 -
08/2019
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
Aug 2019 by Scott Belbin
summer 2019 keeps marching on, as I write it doesn’t look much like summer out side my window but we will be back out fishing again very soon. Our run of good weather may have come to an end but the good fishing has continued. The larger hounds moved further afield towards to end of last month. There is still some good fishing to be had within the sheltered areas but the direction of wind and size of the tide need to be right to make it worth while. We have snuck a few days in when these work in our favour and of course the weather has been pleasant on several days in between. when we have got out we have found some nice mixed fishing. the average size of smooth-hound has been down on the earlier part of the year but there are still good numbers and a few double figure fish showing among them. The thorn-back rays have been showing in numbers too. these are a smaller stamp of fish than we tend to see in the spring or autumn but there are still a few better fish in there and they will be bigger as time goes on. We are still seeing plenty of bass on most trips. The lads have had some lovely chunky fish and sometimes in very shallow water. The other day we were fishing in such shallow clear water I could see the anchor! Its hard to beat catching a 3-4lb bass on light gear in water like this. Watching them dart around all over the place as they have nowhere else to go. The bass should hang around until the end of October in places and I have offered some offshore bass trips up accordingly. Hopefully we are due an Indian summer. The highlight of last month for me was a ‘nearly’ fish. this area isn’t known for its variety of species, I have seen several on the boat over the years (we’re up to 32 on CBUK) so something different is always nice. I got a surprise when we were packing up the other day. I was hauling the anchor and the last few lads were winding in when Dave’s reached the surface and there was a red mullet hanging off of his 4/0 hook! Although these fish show regularly in nets in the autumn around here its not what we were expecting while fishing for hounds. I shut the capstan down and darted for the net but as dave lifted it in it fell off, sat on the surface a few moments then swam off.
Some fish do make it on the boat and if you want to join us please visit
www.essexseafishing.co.uk
follow the essex sea fishing page on facebook
or call scott on 07956411528 for more information -
07/2019
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
Jul 2019 by Scott Belbin
Yet again I have neglected to put a report on here for a while so I thought it was time for a quick update on the fishing here in the blackwater. So far the summer has been kind to us here at mersea island. Although the weather may not have been as settled as last year we have still had loads of nice days and lost very few trips. The smooth-hounds have been in good numbers and size so far this year. Most trips are seeing plenty of hounds with the odd double figure fish thrown in. some trips have seen good numbers of doubles and the biggest that has made it onto the boat so far was 15.10lbs although several others have been close behind and with the numbers of decent fish around there’s plenty of time for the first 20lber to come out.
The bass fishing has been great so far this year, there have been great numbers coming out at times on our general inshore trips with most falling to worm baits or when conditions suit we have been catching several at a time on feathers. We might have a go for them offshore soon and will offer offshore trips for bass until the end of October.
The thorn-backs have thinned out a little now and moved further offshore. We should still see one or two on our general trips and numbers offshore at times but we should see them return in numbers in the late summer early autumn.
There have been a few tope around again this year, they showed early (probably due to the early spring we had) and our first trips saw good numbers of mackerel too. unfortunately the unsettle weather seems to have dispersed the mackerel inshore so we had to source bait from else where on our last trips. We should get another trip or two in before they move off.
We have also seen a few other bits and bobs mixed in such as the odd stingray or gurnard to brighten up our trips. Altogether it seems to be shaping up to be a good summer here in the blackwater.
I have a few dates left over the summer and I am taking bookings for the autumn too. hopefully we will see the summer weather continue long into the autumn and allow us to get offshore and target the bass.
I keep my availability up to date on here along with regular reports on my facebook page and website. For more information please visit www.essexseafishing.co.uk find us on facebook under essex sea fishing, subscribe to our youtube channel or call on 07956411528
