Latest Fishing Reports: Silver Spray II
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13/06/2011
Fishing Report by Sam Cumming
13 Jun 2011 by Sam Cumming
Since the middle of May we have been busy with reef fishing in Poole bay, Alderney trips and the start of the bassing.
The reef fishing has produced good numbers of bream with 3lb fish not uncommon and fish averaging 2lbs. As well as the bream we have enjoyed a good selection of other fish with 10 species a day not uncommon. We have had 4 species of ray with blondes to 24lb, undulates to 14lb, smalled eyed rays to 12lb and a few spotted rays as well. There have been some nice plaice and we also caught our first dover sole on Silver Spray. This fish was caught as part of the Hudson Green Challenge which is a charity species hunt. On that day the tope boat San Gina 2 from Swanage skipper by Tom Greasty caught 16 species while Silver Spray was joint second with 11 species. Best specimen was a fine 18lb undulate caught on Crimson tide. The challenge raised more than £1000 for charity.
On our latest Alderney trip we were pleased to have Andy Ford from Sky TVs tightlines programme on board together with a camera crew. We were certainly hoping that the presence of the cameras weren’t going to put a curse on the fishing or the weather. Day 1 was a bumpy crossing with a fresh SW wind. Plenty of nice pollack on the wrecks around the hurd deep with live mackerel taking the better fish. Day 2 saw an increase in wind and tough fishing conditions. Fish of the day was a 17.5lb turbot caught by Gerry Reed. Day 3 and with improving conditions the quantity of flatfish increased. A nice 5lb brill for Mark Edwards who also caught 6 turbot as well! Friday and the wind has dropped away. We are off for some codding on the way home. The cod got bigger as the day went on. a 22lber for James Craft was topped with a 25lber for Mark Edwards who then followed this up with a 32lber which is a new boat record. The Alderney film will be made into 4 separate features and should be broadcast on Sky Sports Tight Lines from the beginning of July.
The bass season has just started with our first trip on the offshore banks providing excellent sport on live mackerel baits. There were plenty of bass to 7lb and a dozen congers to50lb on a nearby wreck over slack.
As I’m writing this the rain is pouring and the wind is howling. It’s more like February than June. I hope that we can get out to sea again soon as the fishing both inshore and further off is really good at present.
For all the pictures please see http://silverspray.blogspot.com/ -
03/2011
Fishing Report by Sam Cumming
Mar 2011 by Sam Cumming
The weather in the second half of February has meant that we have only managed 4 trips this month but when we have managed to get out the fishing has been excellent. The blonde rays and congers have continued with double figure spurdogs not uncommon. The ground that we have been fishing 15 miles from Poole has now got one more claim to fame being the first spot where we have had all 5 main species of ray: blonde, spotted, undulate, thornback and small eyed in one month. Within the next couple of weeks, hopefully with better weather, we will see the first wreck trip of the year for Pollack and the beginning of the plaice and turbot fishing down on the shambles bank off Portland. When the temperature on land picks up a little bit more we can start towing for sand eels on the shambles to take with us on the wreck trips to use as live baits.
We have now been to the Shambles and caught our first plaice and turbot. More importantly we got some eels and had a great day on the Pollack with 60+ fish to 15lb more of that next month. -
15/09/2010
Fishing Report by Sam Cumming
15 Sep 2010 by Sam Cumming
The bass fishing on the offshore bass has been patchy but on the best days there have been plenty of fish in the 5-10lb region with both live mackerel and sidewinders working well. Our “Big Fish Days” when we fish a wreck and then move to a bank have proven to be very popular with congers to 50lb, tope to 30lb and some nice blonde rays which have just appeared in numbers. The shambles is fishing well with 12 flats on our last trip with the best turbot going to 14lb. Plenty of mackerel and sandeels for bait. The sharking has been frustrating with choppy conditions almost every day. 2 hook ups while wreck fishing but neither fish brought along side.
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15/08/2010
Fishing Report by Sam Cumming
15 Aug 2010 by Sam Cumming
The neap tides have fished well on some of the inshore wrecks south of Poole. It has not been uncommon to see 20 – 30 congers in one session along with plenty of good sized tope on the slack water. One such day saw 18 snakes and 16 tope brought to the side of the boat in just a few hours along with a nice Pollack for one of our younger anglers Nicolas Barlow.
Mackerel are as plentiful as ever this year with scad and garfish falling to the feathers as well. Using the mackerel for bait the grounds at Dancing Ledge and in Poole Bay have provided excellent reef fishing. With most of the bream moving to the offshore wrecks for the autumn it gives the hard fighting rays a chance to get to the baits. We have seen all 5 main species of ray with blondes and undulates being the most abundant.
Bassing is well under way now with double figure fish not uncommon on a spring tide. One trip to the isle of white waited until the last two drifts to give up the goods with 3 fish weighing in at 7lb, 9.5lb and 10lb on live mackerel, proving that persistence does pay off. Freelining is also throwing up some very nice bass with the biggest 10lb 9oz falling to Taylor Anderson
Sam Cumming
Co-skipper Silver Spray -
15/07/2010
Fishing Report by Sam Cumming
15 Jul 2010 by Sam Cumming
We have now finished our Alderney trips for 2010. The fifth trip was one of our best for the variety and quality of fish as well as the excellent weather. Day One: Wrecking our side of the channel was slow with only a few pollack in the boat and a bucket of mackerel. We finished up on a wreck about an hour from Alderney with plenty of nice pollack up to 14lb on live mackerel on the drift. A bonus fish was a nice John Dory for Johnny Grummet. A quick anchoring session produced an 80lb+ conger for 76 year old Stanley Adams from West Brom. Day Two: Drifting for the turbot and brill proved a winner with around 20 fish on the boat for the day along with a 15lb blonde ray. Day Three: Another day on the drift for the turbot produced a 17lb angler fish for Jonny Grummett along with another 9 flats amongst which was an equal boat record turbot for Alex Miles at 23lb. Day Four: A fast and furious session on the cod on the way home produced plenty of double figure cod mixed in with some large Pollack, an 18lb ling and more congers on the slack. All in all an amazing trip for everyone. We are looking forward to Alderney in 2011 and will start planning in October.
From Poole the wrecks are still fishing well with good numbers of cod, pollack and ling showing. Fishing at anchor has matched this with plenty of congers, tope to 50lb and blonde rays. The bass fishing has been slow but we managed increasing numbers on the last spring tide on the offshore banks. Freelining live mackerel off the Purbecks has produced a number of larger fish with the best so far an 8.5lber for John Ellis from Swansea. Evening reef trips off the Purbecks have produced some good bream around 3lb as well as bonus undulates, congers and smoothies.
We are now looking forward to sharking in August with our first fish being hooked a lively 100lber which dropped the hook after 5minutes including a pass of the boat. Bass fishing should reach a peak with 10lb+ fish on the cards. -
15/06/2010
Fishing Report by Sam Cumming
15 Jun 2010 by Sam Cumming
The summer season is well and truly underway out of Poole now with shorts, t-shirts and plenty of sun block accompanying most trips. The fishing is following suit with bream catches off the Purbecks pecking in the 120’s and reaching a plump 3lb 14oz. We are happy to report all female bream, no matter the size, have been returned alive as it is there breeding season. Thanks to all the anglers for cooperating with this. We look forward to more good bream catches both inshore and offshore later on in the autumn.
After another two Alderney trips we are pleased to report that the catches of turbot and brill on the banks have stayed on a par with the first trip. The biggest turbot being a new personal best for Colin Jones at 11lb 4oz and another 100% specimen brill falling to Paul Bainbridge. The banks fishing on this side of the channel has produced the biggest fish with a 19lb turbot following last months 23lber. This fish was one of 9 caught by John Tisdale and Ian Wilkinson from Cornwall.
The wrecking has really been the highlight of the summer so far for us with the Pollack continuing in numbers well into the double figures on artificial lures. The cod have started to show in numbers on the brittle stars with fish around the 15lb mark not uncommon. Good hits have also come off the wrecks. One wreck producing 50 fish to 24lb on the return journey from Alderney, the best day of quality cod fishing the boat has had. These fish have also been accompanied by ling to 24lb, some surprise deep water brill to 8lb and congers on the slack. The biggest of which is the largest the boat has ever seen measuring at 7ft 5ins long and 24ins in girth. Unfortunately we did not have a set of scales big enough to weigh her properly so she was returned alive to fight another day. We would be pleased to receive any information on how to estimate weight from measurements on big conger.
The first bassing trips of the season got underway with the fish being slightly smaller than usual but in good numbers. With large amounts of joey mackerel showing both inshore and in deeper waters we are certain the bigger fish shall not be far behind. -
15/05/2010
Fishing Report by Sam Cumming
15 May 2010 by Sam Cumming
Well Spring arrived at last with some calmer, warmer weather. The bream arrived in numbers about two weeks later than last year. We have had good catches from rock marks in Poole Bay with the best fish between 2 and 3lb but plenty of medium size fish to keep rod tips rattling. Colin Jones from Gloucester had 23 fish to 2lb 8oz at the end of April. The first good catches of bream have been made off the Purbecks and our attentions will switch there during May and June when we will be looking for 4lb fish.
The turbot fishing on the banks has been excellent. On the banks off Alderney we had good numbers of turbot to 10lb. Many of the smaller fish were returned to fight another day. There we some nice brill with best a specimen of 6lb 8oz being caught by Neil Harrison form Wantage. The Shambles is also fishing well and our boat record was pushed up to 23lb by Robin Holloway with superb fish that nearly 4 inches thick. This was one of 7 that day.
Offshore we have had plenty of Pollack on the wrecks with live sandeels providing the best sport. The good news is that there are early signs of cod both on the wrecks and on the brittle star grounds. We expect the catch rate to increase over the next few weeks. Conger fishing has also been excellent with our best a fine fish of 70lb.
The mackerel have now arrived in the Bay so that’s a sure sign that summer is on the way. We are looking forward to our first bass trips both drift the offshore banks with lures and live baits and also freelining with live mackerel on the Purbeck reefs. Offshore the numbers of cod will increase on the brittle stars and the tope will start to feature in increasing numbers.
Our revised website is now up and running. There are videos, a new notice board and easy links to our blog, facebook and U-tube pages. Facebook is updated by Sam and he would be glad to have you as a friend of Silver Spray.
For all the pictures please see http://silverspray.blogspot.com/
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13/04/2010
Fishing Report by Sam Cumming
13 Apr 2010 by Sam Cumming
The banks fishing off Poole has continued to be excellent with good catches of blonde rays and spurdogs. There have also been some nice cod and congers in the mix as well. Over the last weekend James Howarth from Christchurch decided to have a trip afloat instead of his usual carp fishing. He managed 2 spurs the best of which was weighed at 20lb before being returned alive. This fish was very close to the Wessex record fish of 20lb 7oz which we caught on the same mark last year. James mate Tristan added a 12lb cod so that there was something for supper! Our best blonde ray this month was a 24lb caught by Greg David from Wantage.
When the weather has permitted we have ventured up to 40 miles offshore to fish on the wrecks. There have been good numbers of Pollack caught on artificial lures. Dave Faulker had a cracking fish of 17lb 8oz on a blue sidewinder. He followed it up with a 13lber on the next drift! Kelvin Hindmarch from Overton had a great ling of 29lb on a wreck 20 miles to the SW of Poole. We have only just found this one and it has tremendous potential for congers which seem to be everywhere on the ground around the wreckage. The best congers this month have reached the 50lb mark but there are bigger ones to come.
The first bream have been reported and numbers are expected to increase with the warmer weather. We are also expecting the turbot fishing to take off soon.
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15/03/2010
Fishing Report by Sam Cumming
15 Mar 2010 by Sam Cumming
March Report
On the banks the fishing has continued to be excellent on the neap tides with plenty of blonde rays, congers and big spurdogs. We have also had some bonus pollack, cod and bass to go with the main catch. Sky sports have made a film of our banks fishing and you can see this soon on Tight Lines which is broadcast on Friday evenings. While presenter Andy Ford and the film crew were aboard we had cod to 15lb, congers to 35lb and 10 spurdogs all in double figures. It will be shown on Tight lines Friday 9th April at 18.30 on Sky Sports 2
The plaice have started to appear on the Shambles and the best was a lovely fish of 4lb 8oz which fell to Bournemouth angler Dave Jensen. Turbot have been slow which is perhaps linked to the shortage of sandeels. We managed 1 eel in 2 20 minute tows. The water seems to be too cold and the eels are still buried in the sand. On the offshore wrecks we have found a few Pollack to 14lb and congers to 50lb.
We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the bream in April together with the turbot on the banks and increasing numbers of Pollack and cod on the offshore wrecks.
For all the pictures please see http://silverspray.blogspot.com/
