Latest Fishing Reports: Dawn Venture

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  • 01/01/2024 Fishing Report by dominic wilson

    1 Jan 2024 by dominic wilson

    So with atrocious weather blowing, now seemed like a good time to add last year's statistics.
    We landed 80 tope upto 51lb
    Spurdogs to 20lb
    Smoothound to 13.5lb(scottish record)
    Bullhuss to 18lb
    Pollack to 9lb
    Haddock to 3.5
    And 18 other species!!
    We are taking bookings for 2024 with NO price change on 2023
    Max 10 anglers but sole exclusive use Charters are available
    Full tackle packages available for hire
    Text, whatsapp, email or messenger & telephone(07739231331)

  • 02/01/2023 Fishing Report by dominic wilson

    2 Jan 2023 by dominic wilson

    As we say farewell to 2022 and hello to 2023 I thought it was time to display the largest fish of the year and let new and returning customers that bookings are now being taken for 2023.
    Please phone,text,email or whatsapp me for details.
    Biggest of 2022:
    common skate...202lb
    tope.....51lb
    spurdog....23lb
    huss....18lb
    pollack....9lb
    cod...5lb
    haddock...3.5lb
    mackerel...3.5lb
    seatrout...3.5lb
    lobster ....5lb
    cuckoo wrasse.... 1lb

    25 different species landed in 2022

    the photo is of the 51lb tope landed by "pilchard Paul"

  • 03/08/2022 Fishing Report by dominic wilson

    3 Aug 2022 by dominic wilson

    Dawn Venture is the newest fishing vessel out of portpatrick and those of you who have booked onto "Optimist" will actually go to sea on this 38ft Ocean Ranger Aquastar powered by twin 315hp cummings 6bta engines with turbos.
    Theres plenty of fishing space for upto 10 anglers on a vessel that is more than capable of handling inclement weather whilst providing a stable fishing platform.
    In relation to the fishing, we have landed 23 species of fish so far this year with the more unusual being scorpion fish,cuckoo wrasse and scad.
    Best of the best are listed below:
    common skate....202lb
    tope...26lb
    huss...14lb
    spurdog...22.5lb
    pollack...6lb
    cod....3.5lb
    haddock...3.5lb

    September is a great month for fishing and spaces are still available mon-fri.....please ring/text to book on 07739231331

  • 27/03/2021 Fishing Report by dominic wilson

    27 Mar 2021 by dominic wilson

    Optimist is now back from its Girvan maintenance period and ready to work for you.
    Targets to beat this year:

    Common Skate : 214lb
    Tope : 46lb
    Spurdog : 24lb
    Bullhuss : 21lb
    Smoothound: 16lb
    Pollack : 13lb
    Cod : 6lb
    Haddock : 4lb

    Bookings are being taken for this year
    Phone Dominic on 07739231331
    Tight lines(hopefully)

  • 09/09/2020 Fishing Report by dominic wilson

    9 Sep 2020 by dominic wilson

    So "OPTIMIST" continues to sit in the sheds at Girvan awaiting repair.The new gearbox has been purchased and as the insurance company used various clauses and sections within the policy to decline the claim in full,A financial package had to be formulated between myself and the repairers(Alexander Noble & sons Ltd) to allow work to progress. These negotiations were successful and with a lockdown backlog and other contractual work to complete and to relieve pressure on a completion date plus the windy season is starting to show its hand,it was agreed that the boat would stay in the repair shed until the end of February.
    To that end,with circumstances beyond my control,I am unable to honour any dates booked for the rest of the year,for which I am truly sorry.
    I am now taking bookings for 2021...please ring early ( mob 07739231331)to get the best tides for your chosen species.
    All the best to everyone and thankyou for your continued support

  • 04/08/2020 Fishing Report by dominic wilson

    4 Aug 2020 by dominic wilson

    It is with sadness and frustration that I have to suspend all trips on OPTIMIST until (at the earliest) 12th September 2020 due to massive and catastrophic mechanical failure... The gearbox is cracked, all couplings ruptured, shaft bent, stern seal arrangement shattered stern seal housing undergoing inspection as is the rudderstock arrangement.... Its not good news and won't be cheap. I apologise for the inconvenience caused and will try to contact all individuals booked on the boat upto 12/9/2020.I thankyou all for your support at this time and hope to take you all fishing again soon.....

  • 22/07/2020 Fishing Report by dominic wilson

    22 Jul 2020 by dominic wilson

    So, I have to post some bad news... The boat has suffered catastrophic mechanical failure and was today, put on a low loader and transported to Nobles boat yard at Girvan. Repair time and refloating dates are as of yet unknown. Prior to this disaster, mackerel were prolific, plenty of pollack and coalies on the wrecks, huss to 13lb,tope to 40lb,spurs to a whopping 23lb!!,pollack out of the weeds to 4lb,plenty of pan size haddock along with all the other usual summer species plus a lone dab and a big scorpion fish. We also landed 2 common skate at 138lb and 106lb on big coalfish flappers.... Hard fighting males in only 55ft of water! When I know more, I will let you all know dates to work to but all trips are suspended at the moment... I apologise to one and all for the inconvenience caused and I value your support.
    If anyone has any QQQQ's please ring me on 07739231331

    Paul is pictured with the 138lb skate

  • 24/06/2020 Fishing Report by dominic wilson

    24 Jun 2020 by dominic wilson

    So we managed our 2nd trip out yesterday and we had a great day afloat, strings and strings of mackerel, 13 spurdogs all over 12lb with 2 at 20lb,2 huss at 5lb,whiting,codling,haddock,coley,gurnard,sandeel and doggies... And the sun shone all day.
    Pictured is one of the 20lb spurs

  • 29/12/2019 Fishing Report by dominic wilson

    29 Dec 2019 by dominic wilson

    So,2019 is drawing to a close and it seemed like a good time to summarise the year....We landed 6 common skate with the best at 201lb and the rest 171-193lb.We landed over 35 tope with the 2 best at 47lb and 45lb respectively.Spurdogs were numerous and some days they were in plague proportions ! the best however went 24lb with many others at 22/23lb and quite a few over the 20lb mark.It doesn't seem unreasonable to get 1 over 25lb in 2020.Bullhuss were quite plentiful with plenty in the 15-18lb range and the best at 19.5lb(which skipper dom landed!) Smoothounds were scarce with only a couple landed with the best at 5lb.The pollack fishing was dire with poor numbers and the best at 5lb right upto the end of the season and when the water cleared out in late October til mid November we averaged over 50 fish a session with the best at 8lb and 9.5lb and again these were caught in the harbour entrance.We caught quite a few wrasse this year with the best ballan pushing 3lb and quite a few cuckoos (male and female) upto 1lb.returns of cod,haddock and whiting were variable and I put this down to the massive increase in spurdog numbers.We caught 35 species this year plus a new one.....pilchard!
    Again this year,we struggled with the windy weather and it tore the bookings book apart! That said,I have invested in a new vessel...."OPTIMIST" which is a 32ft heavy build offshore that is licenced for 10+2 crew and has a 400hp Iveco engine + turbo under the deck combined with a 5 blade propeller giving a cruising speed of 12-14kts and top speed of 18-20kt.It also has 2 bunks onboard,a gas hob with twin burners,a toilet and a live bait well

    As always,bookings are being taken for the following year and 2020 is no exception! I have the tidebooks for next year to assist in tide/day/date selection.
    With the added speed,I am now looking to venture further afield on the longer trips....it would not be unfeasible to fish the deep water marks off the Mull of Galloway and south of it and also venturing off to the coast of Northern Ireland and perhaps 2/3 days away to the Isle of Mann.
    Phone me on 07739231331 for a chat

    The attached photo is of Wullie Shaw and his 24lb spurdog

  • 10/11/2019 Fishing Report by dominic wilson

    10 Nov 2019 by dominic wilson

    Reporting period 8-10 November....

    The wind eased and we managed to get to sea on the Friday and sunday.Having noted on the Wednesday that the water was gin clear and temperature was up at 13.5c,I thought it would be worth trying for the pollack later in the day and it was.Through Friday we drift fished for codling,haddock,gurnards and a couple of mackerel.The bottom fishing failed to produce and so we went lightline pollacking under the headlands and took over 50 fish in 2 hours with the best sport occurring in the last 30mins before dark and again the best fish(es) came from the harbour entrance with the biggest at 9.5lb and the best of the year.Saturday was blown off and sunday produced the same results except that we caught 2 huss (17lb and 9.5lb) and more good pollack from the headlands and harbour entrance,with the best at 8lb
    .Choice of lure for the pollack was rhubarb and custard 6" sidewinders.
    Species caught over the weekend were: cod,haddock,whiting,rock cod,pouting,poor cod,ling(tiny!),pollack,coalfish,grey gurnard,tub gurnard,mackerel,huss,LSD

    The attached photo is the 9.5lb pollack

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