Latest Fishing Reports: Galloper
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01/2018
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
Jan 2018 by Scott Belbin
As im sure you may have gathered by now 2018 has started off well for the blackwater estuary boats. The fishing isn’t exactly ‘on fire’ but it is a vast improvement on what we have seen of late. The rise in temperature has made the thorn-back rays start to move. We seem to get a few decent fish amongst them throughout January and February and so far 2018 hasn’t disappointed with the biggest so far falling to Graham at 15.5lbs.
there have been a few more codling showing too and a better stamp. Many of these fish are fresh in and still taking our baits despite a large influx of sprats and herring. Bites are finicky and easily missed so the key is small baits, keep them fresh by changing regularly and allow bites to develop (sit on your hands a while). There arnt hoards crawling up the lines but our best trip so far is 11 codling and the top rod landing 5 of those. We would usually expect numbers to increase as the bait fish leave and the cod get back on the bottom over the course of the next few weeks so fingers crossed.
Alongside the codling and rays we have seen plenty of whiting at times and some are a decent size (for this area) as well as the odd dab, pouting and even a couple of highly sought after dogfish!
I have plenty of spaces over the coming weeks for individuals and groups, remember we can often get out when others cant due to the shelter offered locally.
For more information, reports and availability please visit www.essexseafishing.co.uk , follow us on facebook or call scott on 07956411528 -
11/2017
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
Nov 2017 by Scott Belbin
As ever its been a while since my last report on here. This autumn has been promising as expected. Its been an improvement on last year (which isn’t too hard). As im sure you will have gathered from other reports from this area. The last few weeks have seen us catching codling on all but one trip. They are mostly small and we’ve seen between 1 and 3 per trip which is alwost as many in a trip as the whole of last season! There are currently heaps of whiting keeping us busy in the between and although as ever the majority are small there is the odd bigger one around too. The colder weather has thinned out the bulk of the thorn-back rays and dogfish. However we are still scratching a few together to mix in with the rest of the days catch. The last set of tides saw the return of the dabs, the lads had a few hours fishing for them with 10-15 per angler coming out. These add to the relatively varied catches we are seeing at the moment and make a great standby for a windy winters day.
We are available right through the winter and have spaces throughout December and January. We are lucky enough to have plenty of sheltered places to fish so if your keen to get out there’s no need to cancel.
Ive added a few pictures to my page on here of some of the codling we have seen so far. They aren’t monsters but it should give you an idea of what’s coming out.
For more information, regular updates and available dates please visit my website www.essexseafishing.co.uk or call me on 07956411528 -
09/2017
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
Sep 2017 by Scott Belbin
Its been a long time since my last report on here. We had a few nice fish over the summer and the weather was ok on the whole. there were a few decent smooth-hounds about here and there along with some nice bass and the usual mixed bags of thorn-backs, dogfish and such like to make the days up. When it has been windy the blackwater estuary has produced the goods too. On the right tides we can do well in here and avoid the weed too. One morning with just two lads aboard we managed around 15 sizable bass (although most were returned due to the 1 bass per angler bag limit). We have also snuck out a few ballen and corkwing wrasse which aren’t too common around here. The river also produced the first codling of the season on my dads boat ‘Razorbill 3’ way back in august. It was only a small fish but hopefully a good sign of things to come in the fast approaching cod season. With that in mind im not expecting great guns from the cod but we should definitely see an improvement on last year (although that’s not hard as they barely showed). There were good numbers of little codletts along the shore in places in the spring so these fish are likely to return in the 12-18 inch bracket this autumn. Fingers crossed we should see a few bigger fish mixed in too along with the usual autumn run of thorn-backs, dogfish whiting ect. Although I may be a bit laxed on here with reports ect I keep my available dates as up to date as possible and my reports on my website and facebook are usually quite popular. For more information, reports and availability please visit
www.essexseafishing.co.uk
find us on facebook
or phone 07956411528 -
04/2017
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
Apr 2017 by Scott Belbin
Yet again its been too long since my last report on here. As ever we’ve been busy aboard the ‘Galloper’ with lots of people wanting to get out and enjoy the great weather we’ve been experiencing this spring. Nowadays spring time primarily means thorn-back rays (also known as roker) in the thames estuary. As is well publicised we are fortunate enough to have a well managed local population at the moment. Although we now catch them through out the year the thorn-backs are in their best numbers now with lots of big females coming inshore to breed and feed along with their smaller male counterparts. Although the weather doesn’t cost us many trips throughout the year we particularly benefit at this time of year when the thorn-backs can often be found in good numbers right into the sheltered waters of the black water estuary. We have been seeing great numbers of fish come aboard with 30-40 rays commonplace nowadays. There have been some good fish amongst them too with lots of heavily laden females being caught and of course always returned aboard the ‘Galloper’. Mixed in with the thorn-backs there are numbers of dogfish and whiting along with the odd pouting. The first few bass and smooth-hounds have shown in the last few weeks which is a sure sign that summers rapidly approaching.
To mix things up for my self as well as my anglers I still put the odd offshore trip in this time of year to target the brief run of spurdogs we have off here. I was lucky enough to happen upon a couple of marks for these getting on for 10 years ago now and have seen some decent fish come aboard over the years. On a recent trip off there with a group of regulars we found a few spurs, no monsters but some nice fish none the less with the biggest just shy of 12lbs. there was room for me to fish that trip which I always jump at the chance of being an obsessive angler my self. after getting the lads started in the morning with the first spurdog, I was lucky enough to realise a long awaited ambition of catching a blonde ray on my home grounds. She was no giant at just over 12lbs but I was very pleased to catch her . my luck really was in that day. We managed around 20 thorn-backs, a nice bass of 5-6lbs and a couple of pouting and whiting to go along with the constant stream of dogfish for the day.
Over the coming weeks we should continue to see good numbers of thorn-back rays as they start to creep further afield. We will see increasing numbers of smooth-hounds and bass mixed in with them until we make our first trips to target the smooth-hounds.
If you wish to see more regular reports from me as well as available dates, occasional poor quality fishing clips and more information please visit www.essexseafishing.co.uk or find us on facebook. Otherwise please call on 07956411528 -
02/2017
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
Feb 2017 by Scott Belbin
Ive not got many trips to report on after having the ‘galloper’ out for a few weeks. She’s undergone a fair overhaul with a precautionary engine reconditioning too. I must admit its been a struggle being trapped on land for so long but hopefully a few missed trips now will pay off over the next few years. I don’t think we’ve missed a great deal to be honest with a combination of cold weather and loads of bait fish such as sprats putting the fish off. I managed to commandeer my dads boat the ‘ Razorbill3’ on a fine day a couple of weeks ago and got one of my parties afloat. The weather was spot on and we even managed to get amongst a few roker. There seems to be a run of decent fish in places at this time of year as ive mentioned before. Graham had two nice double figure fish with the biggest topping out at over 18lbs on dads scales (although I would place it nearer 16lbs to be honest) and a smashing fish any time of year. The ‘Galloper’ now has her engine back in place and she’s looking spanking ready for the season. I have a few spaces coming up in the coming weeks where a raise in temperatures should kick things off for the thorn-backs. For more information, weekly reports and available dates please visit www.essexseafishing.co.uk or call 07956411528
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01/2017
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
Jan 2017 by Scott Belbin
Since my last report we have had some lovely days afloat. On all the trips we have done over the past month we have been lucky enough to be out on unseasonably flat calm days. However for one reason or another we have ended up fishing almost entirely within the confines of the blackwater estuary. Depending on the tide on any given day we have been splitting most days between targeting dabs or targeting thorn-back rays. Although they may not be the most exiting fish the dabs have done us proud and helped fill the void left by this seasons lack of cod in our area. there was a fair mix of sizes from postage stamps to some stonking door mats the biggest of which went 335mm long (sorry I didn’t bother weighing it). The thorn-backs have also varied in size but there were a few better ones mixed in with the biggest going 10.2lbs and our best day 12 along with lots of whiting and dabs. Earlier in December we had a fair surprise as Dave Harris (who is a regular aboard the ‘Galloper’) pulled a haddock over the side. I think he miss-took it for a slinky codling at first and I must admit I had to do a double take to make sure it wasn’t some kind of disfigured whiting. I have fished here all of my life having grown up on charter boats and have never seen one caught here before. I had heard of them coming out in the 70’s and early 80’s aboard my dads charter boats but this was a first aboard one of my boats and made a change from whiting!
Over the last few days things have been sounding a little more promising for those who have ventured beyond the estuary with a few more thorn-backs getting about so hopefully by the time I’m out again and the dabs move out we should have something sizable to target. The last few years have produced some of the biggest thorn-backs through out January and February locally so fingers crossed we can get amongst them. As for the mythical creature known as the thames estuary cod I’m not going to hold my breathe but I will say that there is a lot more chance of catching one if you wet a line than there is by sitting on the sofa.
For more information, regular updates and available dates please visit www.essexseafishing.co.uk or call 07956411528
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12/2016
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
Dec 2016 by Scott Belbin
Yet again its been a while since my last report but as I’m sure many of you would have gathered by now there hasn’t been loads for us to shout about this cod season. Disregarding the cod (of which I have only seen 3 aboard my boat since September) there have been lots of fish about to keep the rod tips going. There have been vast numbers of hungry whiting about all autumn, many are the usual small fish but there have been a few better ones mixed in at times. Last week we had one at 44cms long which is quite big by our standards. There were good numbers of dogfish and thorn-back rays both in the blackwater estuary and further afield although most of these have dried up with the drop in water temperature of the last few weeks. At the moment our latest blessing has come in the form of the humble dab. After a drought for the last 10 years or so they have flooded back into the estuary over the last couple of weeks in higher numbers then ever. They make a nice change from whiting and the bigger ones can be good eating. We can only hope they hang around for the next few weeks to keep us occupied . I have plenty of space over the Christmas period if you fancy getting out as well as one or two offshore trips planned before hand. For more information, available dates and weekly updates please visit www.essexseafishing.co.uk or phone 07956411528
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09/2016
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
Sep 2016 by Scott Belbin
Yet again it has been far too long since my last report on here so I must apologise. It has been a busy summer aboard the ‘Galloper’ with some good fishing and weather to match it meaning we had to cancel very few trips. The main target of our summer trips have been the smooth-hounds which were around in good numbers and decent size yet again. the bass were in good numbers in the blackwater estuary its self. This occupied us on many evening trips and provided some great sport on light tackle. There were vast numbers of undersized bass in here and on most occasions a few decent fish too. Once the water had warmed up the rays and dogfish moved further offshore for the summer. We didn’t spend a lot of time fishing for them through out the summer months as the hounds were such good sport. now the summer species are on their way out we have turned our attention back to the thorn-back rays and thankfully they have started to move back in on numbers. Last weekend was quite windy which is when the blackwater comes in to its own. Many of the boats sought shelter in the estuary its self and were rewarded with some respectable catches. My party had 14 aboard the ‘Galloper’ on Sunday but some of the other charter boats had getting on for 30 rays. along with thorn-back rays several other species came out of the estuary over the weekend such as whiting, dogfish, silver eel, bass and gurnard. Ive no doubt over the coming months we will be back in the estuary which (as I often bang on about) is one of our biggest assets. The sheltered fishing it provides often saves a cancelled trip and the fuss of trying to re-organise so if your cancelled else where then it can be worth calling one of the mersea, bradwell or brightlingsea boats. We should see some cod mixed in too over the next few months both in the blackwater and further afield on our usual marks. I write regular reports on my website and Facebook page and the calendar is usually as up to date as It can be. For more information, available dates and reports please visit www.essexseafishing.co.uk or call 07956411528
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07/2016
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
Jul 2016 by Scott Belbin
Its been a while since my last report on here so I thought I’d best do a quick update on what’s been happening at mersea. In my last write up I reported the arrival of the first decent smooth-hounds this season and I’m pleased to say they are still showing. Over the past couple of moths we have seen some great fish and decent numbers at times too. We have been lucky enough to catch them in the really shallow water on several occasions too. This in my opinion is some of the best sport fishing to be had in the country when it goes right. Most of the time we can fish light and they scrap hard with nowhere to go but out, towards or just do a lap of the boat! So far this year our biggest is over 18lbs and was unlucky enough to fall to me. Hopefully we can find one a little bigger before the season finishes as there’s plenty of time yet. Besides smooth-hounds we have had a few roker mixed in. these are generally smaller than the spring run although there are still some decent fish in places. There have been a few mackerel in places but they are hit and miss even if conditions are right for them. We have found one or two bass although they were all released before the 1st of july they were still nice to catch. Over the next few weeks we should see the sport for smooth-hounds continue with thorn-backs amongst other species such as bass making up our general trips. I have a few dates available for offshore bass trips before the end of September but it is one bass per anglers for the pot. You can however release as many as you can catch.
I update my website and facebook page regularly with pictures, reports and available dates so for more information please visit www.essexseafishing.co.uk or call 07956411528 -
05/2016
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
May 2016 by Scott Belbin
its been a while since my last report on here so i thought i'd update you all. as ive no doubt you've gathered from the other reports on here we have had a great run of thorn-back rays again this spring. these fish can provide great sport and a decent feed so they are always a welcome. over the last few weeks we have seen the arrival of the summer species with a few bass and smooth-hounds mixed in too which makes things a little more interesting. we had our first try for some decent hounds the other week and weren't disappointing. it was a steady mornings fishing with some nice fish in the 8-10lbs range showing. there were a few smaller than this and one or two bigger at 12lbs for stephen and 15.3lbs for martin. we moved closer to home for some thorn-back rays for the afternoon and had a mixture of bass and hounds too. we finished the day up with 30 odd hounds as well as several bass and a few roker so were all happy. when this weather abates (which it will) then we will be targeting the hounds again and at some point targeting tope too. even if it doesn't though there's some good fishing to be had in the more sheltered waters for the rays.
this weekend i hope to target the smooth-hounds at some point along with the rays and maybe find a bass or two. i happen to have spaces saturday and possible sunday too if your interested please call me.
i update my website and facebook pages regularly so for more information, available dates and reports please visit www.essexseafishing.co.uk or call 07956411528
