Latest Fishing Reports: Sea Urchin IIl
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17/06/2025
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
17 Jun 2025 by Andy Savage
Another really enjoyable day out on Sea Urchin today. The tides are still around 5m so it would be another mixed days fishing of ground and wrecks. I was a little wary of what the weather would be like, as the forecast gave 11-13mph SW winds, which could potentially cause us some problems.
We did the Mackerel bash in about 15 minutes today, it was string after string, then we dropped onto the rough ground at three miles to see how that looked.
Just as we arrived a weather front pushed through and a stiff breeze had us flying along for half an hour with the lines streaming back. Despite that, we still managed to find a few fish. Marek Kawka having the biggest with a 7lb Ling on a speed jig. The wind dropped away and we spent the next hour running different lines and a mixture of Codling, Haddock and Ling came up to mainly baited Hokkai’s.
As the action slowed we ran out to the five mile ground, to hopefully have a go on a wreck or two as the tide eased. Wrong!! Another squall pushed through and the lines streamed again. The three drifts we did produced very little, so with the wind still blowing I took us out another couple of miles, resigned to not getting on a wreck. As we arrived, typically the wind dropped away, so we cracked on to a wreck a couple of miles away.
It was literally slack water when we arrived and thankfully we found a few fish of a better size. Dave Worsfold had the biggest Cod of the day with a plump 8lb 8oz fish. Charlie Hewitt took a Ling of a similar size and there were quite a few 3-4lb Codling which are ideal for the table. Once the Ebb Tide got away, we had an hour on the nine mile ground for some small Haddock and Codling, then ran back into the seven mile ground to finish.
We had a decent drift line and pleasingly had a really good last half hour, with some nice size Codling coming up. Charlie Hewitt definitely deserves a mention as he spent almost all day fishing the Shads and along with catching consistently, he took a lovely brace of five pound Codling to end with. Top angling Charlie.
Thanks to everyone for being such great company, I really enjoyed having you all aboard -
15/06/2025
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
15 Jun 2025 by Andy Savage
Weekend catch report aboard Sea Urchin……
We’ve got Spring tides at the moment with both days having just over 5m tides. This would mean that the majority of the days would be spent drifting rough ground and then maybe a chance at a wreck or two at slack water.
Saturday saw Aidy Broddle and a group of mates book the boat. We headed out to try and get a few Mackerel for bait, but failed miserably, with only half a dozen caught. We had plenty of Squid, so it wasn’t an issue.
Starting off on the five mile ground, we picked up a few small fish, then moved to a nearby wreck as the Flood Tide eased. The wrecks were covered in feed and we only managed a handful of fish off the three we tried. Kev Cook taking the biggest with a Ling just over 9lb.
Once the Ebb came through, we ran out to the seven mile ground and there were a fair few fish about to keep the rods going. We had a good drift line allowing us to run along one of the ridges perfectly and we caught a mix of mainly Haddock and Codling. The stamp of Haddock wasn’t bad at all, but the lads sportingly put them all back. Everyone was in great spirits all day, and although the fishing wasn’t amazing, it was a day spent in great company. Look forward to seeing you again next year lads.
Today saw much more challenging weather conditions. The fresh Westerly winds made the first three hours a bit sloppy. We tried for a few Mackerel again and after the first area was devoid, we had a short move and thankfully everyone caught plenty. With the winds making the lines stream, the wrecks were never an option today. Once the drift slowed at slack water (the lines were still streaming, so you can’t fish wrecks properly), we tried a couple of prominent features on the rough ground.
As the Ebb tide got away we had a nice spell picking up a few better Ling in the 5-6lb range and Adrian took the biggest of the day at 9lb 12oz. We kept on the move for the rest of the day, with a move out to nine miles being a bit slow, we dropped back into seven to end with a couple of better sized Codling.
As expected, it wasn’t easy today, but despite the conditions, we still managed to find a few. Thanks lads. -
07/06/2025
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
7 Jun 2025 by Andy Savage
Today was the first trip of the year for The Keel Inn fishing club from Barnsley. I always look forward to them, they’re a fantastic group of lads who have fished with me since I’ve had Sea Urchin.
Still on the Neap Tides, we planned to get some fresh Mackerel and then try a few wrecks. I had a similar plan to the previous day in my mind…..stick with the wrecks through the Ebb Tide and then be prepared to move to rough ground when the Flood came through.
We got the fresh Mackerel from the same three mile ground as yesterday; but with it being a Saturday, there were more boats knocking about and less choice of wrecks to go at. I opted to try one I hadn’t fished for a couple of weeks; (although I’m confident it has been fished by other anglers), which was a decent size and matched the drift line perfectly. The lads are all very adept wreck anglers, so it was no surprise that they got off to a good start. First drift saw four nice plump Codling come up to the mainly Mackerel baited muppet traces, which set the precedence for the next hour or so. We took a few fish each drift with a nice average size; most being 3-4lb and lovely clean fish.
Once sport slowed, we moved on a couple of times during the rest of the Ebb to keep a fish or two coming up. Slack water wasn’t very good for us today, we caught very little at all and I hoped for better as the new Flood tide pushed through. We had an hour on the wrecks on the new tide, but it wasn’t productive at all. Once we got to drifting at nearly 1 Knot, I took us back to the rough ground that fished well yesterday. Over the next three drifts some small Codling and Ling came up which the lads chucked back.
We had the last hour on a couple of wrecks which gave a few more quality Codling. We didn’t get anything huge today, the boat sweep was drawn with two 5lb 11oz Ling.
That said, everyone got a few and the banter was relentless as always. Thanks lads, great to catch up again. -
06/06/2025
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
6 Jun 2025 by Andy Savage
Two Day Report Aboard Sea Urchin
Thursday 5th June.........A lovely day out with the “Driffield Farmers” today, who have fished regularly with me since I’ve had the boat. With a dinky 4.3m Neap Tide we were destined to spend the day wreck hopping unless the wind got up and spoilt things. For the third trip in a row we ran out to some ground at three miles and gathered plenty of fresh Mackerel for bait.
I fancied running south and having a go on some of the plentiful wrecks in the area. With slack water around 0900-0930hrs we had a couple of hours of the Ebb left to fish.
After a short steam, the first wreck produced one solitary Codling in three drifts, which was disappointing; so we pressed on to the next. This was a bit better and we picked off two or three mainly Codling each run over, but nothing sensational. Gary Grantham took the biggest Codling at a smidge over 6lb and a Ling of 8lb. Once the action eased, we just moved on again.
Slack water threw up a few a few strap Ling and tonnes of Pouting, which wasn’t what I’d hoped for. A move to a big wreck for the start of the Flood Tide did the trick for an hour, with some consistent sport. The wind was holding up the boat on the drift now, so the boys got more time to catch. After a slow start, Norman Taylor got in the groove and took a fish or two most drifts; amongst them was the biggest Cod of the day at 9lb 4oz. All the fish fell for standard bait tactics, nobody had a go with the Shads today. Squid and Mackerel cocktails on muppet traces was the go to method.
As the afternoon progressed, the lads fancied a few fresh Mackerel to take home, so we dropped on the three mile ground again and got plenty of sport. Norman and Gary both fish really well today. They’re masters at controlling the tackle and I know that if the fish are feeding, they’ll catch them.
I really enjoyed the day, as always. The fishing wasn’t electric, but everyone got a few fish, which seems to be the way at the moment. Thanks lads.
Friday 6th June
Today was a day of four seasons ……well almost! I had a group of my regular experienced anglers aboard who, were all geared up for a day on the wrecks with it being a 4.4m Neap Tide.
The weather forecast wasn’t looking settled for the whole day, with a front scheduled to push through mid-late morning, but then settling down. With that in mind, I opted to stay fairly close to Whitby and the rough ground, so I had an alternative plan if the wrecks weren’t an option. We started off on the feathers to collect a bit of fresh Mackerel to go with the Squid, then ran south again to a wreck which as far as I knew hadn’t been fished for a week or so. We almost had the wind against the tide which slowed things down nicely.
Pleasingly, the first stop kept us ticking over nicely for an hour, with a few fish every run through. To start with we were inundated with Ling as most lads went down with a bit of fresh Mackerel on. There weren’t any big fish among them, but most were decent eating size. There were a few Codling amongst them and Carl Madin had a plump 5lb fish as the best of the morning.
Sport slowed and we moved on to another wreck; then I could see the snotty weather approaching. Within twenty minutes, the temperature dropped, it had chopped up and the lines were streaming. I thought it futile to stay on the wrecks with streaming lines, so we ran a couple of miles back to some rough ground. We stopped on the ground for the next two hours, right through slack water. The wind kept the boat drifting and although the conditions weren’t easy, the lads fished well and took 8-12 fish most drifts. There were plenty of throwbacks amongst them, but also some beautiful clean Codling. Joe Clough also had a nice 11lb 8oz Ling.
Once the front passed through the wind dropped away and the sun came out, so we spent the rest of the day trying a few more wrecks. With experienced anglers aboard we caught consistently all day and there were plenty for the freezer for those who wanted them.
Conversation and banter was brilliant today and we had a lot of laughs. Brilliant day, thanks lads. -
31/05/2025
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
31 May 2025 by Andy Savage
The last week aboard Sea Urchin has been primarily aimed at repainting the deck….
The preparation took far longer than I estimated, with the surface needing taking back to the original fibreglass before applying the new Flow Coat.
I got there in the end, but must say a big thanks to Dave Jenkins (Sea Spray Skipper), who gave me a lift with the sanding and my old mate Ian Kellock who measured out the Flow Coat mixes for me to paint. It really is appreciated lads.
Today we got a break in the weather and managed to have a run out. It was a 5.2m Spring tide which would mean a day spent on both wrecks and rough ground. With a group of experienced anglers aboard we planned to start on a patch of rough ground three miles out and then drop onto a couple of wrecks as soon as the tide allowed.
There appears to be a few more Mackerel kicking about now, as a couple of lads went in with feathers whilst most went with bait. After only a few minutes, strings of Mackerel started coming, so everyone had a go to gather a bit of fresh bait to compliment the Dirty Squid.With slack water being around 1030hrs we spent half an hour drifting some ridges and gullies, but the lines weren’t streaming away like I thought they might. That was good enough for me, so I moved to take us to a nearby wreck for a few drifts.
Everyone went down with either baited Hokkai’s or Muppet traces and thankfully there were a few fish at home. We spent the next ninety minutes or so picking up a few fish each drift. Codling were the mainstay with most in the 2-3lb range; a few around 4lb and Jeff Turner took the biggest at a very honest 9lb 12oz along with his first Octopus.
At slack water, a few strap Ling made an appearance along with the usual Pouting and once the Ebb tide got away we pushed out to the 5, 7 & 9 mile ground for the rest of the day. The rough ground didn’t fish anywhere as near as good as the two wrecks we tried. The five mile yielded mainly Haddock and Whiting with a couple of Codling, so we moved out to seven miles. We hit pockets of fish there and had a couple of occasions where five rods went in at once with nice sized Ling and Cod. I gambled with a move out to nine miles, which wasn’t good at all and sadly sport tailed off to end the day.
The weather wasn't bad at all. The company was excellent as always and everyone got a few to take home.
Thanks to everyone for coming along -
29/05/2025
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
29 May 2025 by Andy Savage
With the fresh winds of late, I haven’t been able to get out fishing; hence the lack of catch reports.
I forget who I was talking to now; but on the wheelhouse window on Sea Urchin I always display the current British Record Boat caught fish. The angler I was talking to suggested about maybe putting up the Sea Urchin boat caught records.
I had never thought about doing that and liked the idea, so I’ve been through my records and put my own list together for the last five years since I’ve had the boat.
I love a bit of competition, so going forwards; anyone who breaks a listed species record will win a free 10hr trip aboard Sea Urchin. -
19/05/2025
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
19 May 2025 by Andy Savage
After a blustery weekend, it was looking touch and go for today. The winds were remaining in the North, but had reduced significantly and the residual swell was at around 4ft; but with a nice 4.7m tide I chose to bring the lads through and have a run out.
Once again we had a mixed group of differing experience levels aboard, we headed out North just before 0700hrs with the Flood tide pushing through nicely. If we could get away with it, I planned to spend the day on the inshore wrecks. A couple of weeks ago we had a fairly decent day in this area, so I had a similar plan in my mind. First wreck of the day, the wind was very light and we got a nice drift, with five fish coming up. That cheered me right up, as I was concerned that the weekend winds might have stirred things up a bit, but that wasn’t the case.
We fished away steadily for the next three quarters of an hour, taking mainly Codling each drift. Robert Blackburn took the biggest Codling at 6lb 8oz on a Rhubarb & Custard Shad baited with a bit of Squid. All the rest came to baited Hokkai’s or Muppets Traces. Once sport slowed down a bit, we pushed on to the next wreck and that was how the day panned out. Catch a few, sport slows up; move to the next wreck.
The wind did lift a bit during the morning, making the lines stream a touch, which made it a bit more difficult for the less experienced lads. That said, they soon got to grips with it and we continued to pick off fish each drift.
Slack water was fairly quiet today, the Pouting were feeding with a vengeance, but little else showed much interest. Martin Eccles hooked into something a little better when a 7lb Ling stuck its head out of the wreck to take his Squid. His Dad Keith followed it up with a similar size one a short while later.
Once the Ebb tide came through, the drift line changed and we started heading back towards Whitby. With a different drift line we could fish wrecks which matched the boats drift that we hadn’t fished in the morning and managed to keep picking up fish.
It wasn’t a Red Letter Day by any stretch, but everyone got a few and the sport was fairly consistent. Overall, the signs are positive. Good Angling lads -
14/05/2025
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
14 May 2025 by Andy Savage
It’s been great to get a couple of days fishing in; even though the conditions haven’t been the easiest with the Spring Tides.
Yesterday I had a lovely mixed group aboard with differing levels of angling experience. Light winds were forecast for most of the day, which is ideal on a 5.2m tide. The plan of attack was to try wrecks around slack water and rough ground when the tide was running. First stop was a wreck three miles from the harbour and after three drifts and only one small Codling, we moved on.
The next one yielded a few more fish, with Richard Gotts taking a nice 4lb Codling as the biggest. There were quite a few lads getting stuck each drift, so a change to rough ground was required. We spent the next few hours fishing the rough ground. Firstly the five mile ground (which was quiet), then we pushed out to nine miles to lose as much tide as possible to help the lads who were struggling to control their gear.
Odd fish kept coming up, mainly Codling and a few Pouting to the baited Hokkai’s. Experienced angler Steve Scott spent most of the day fishing Shads and picked up fish consistently. The biggest problem for most of the other lads was streaming lines…..
It’s essential when lines are streaming on rough ground to continually keep winding up and resetting the gear during a drift. The vast majority of bites come when the lines are almost vertical, so just dropping down and dragging the gear along somewhere near the bottom rarely yields much at all, as the bait flies along the ground and the fish don’t get time to find it. Despite my advice and encouragement it was certainly tough fishing for the less experienced anglers who didn’t quite grasp the importance of the constant resetting of the gear. That said, there were plenty of laughs with Dave and Del keeping us entertained.
Today was one of my own fishing days. The forecast wasn’t great at all, with 12-14mph Northerlies for most of the day. If it had been a regular 10hr trip with anglers I didn’t know, I would definitely have cancelled. The conditions weren’t dangerous, but they were definitely going to be challenging. Friends Ian Kellock and Simon West were still happy to have a go, so we got the 0700hrs bridge and planned to spend our time fishing Shads on rough ground for the majority of the day.
Taking account of the fresh Northerly wind as we left the harbour, it was obvious that we wouldn’t be fishing any wrecks today. Instead, we opted to just push straight out to the nine mile ground and spend the day drifting.
After a sloppy hours run, we were going over the seven mile ground and decided to have a break and try a couple of drifts to see if there was anyone at home…..bad move! After only a Gurnard and Pouting we continued to the original destination!
Once we arrived on the nine mile, we set up a drift and away we went. The Ebb tide was running and the Northerly wind was pushing us back to land. We were all fishing with Shads and it took next to no time at all before we started picking off fish. With the big tide and strong wind, we had only 3-4 minutes to fish vertically (and get a bite) before winding up and resetting. Once the tide was running, we all worked out our routine and caught fairly consistently on a host of different colour and sizes of Shads.
I set up each drift on the outer edges of the ground and we just let it run for probably half an hour or so, covering loads of different areas. Between the three of us there weren’t many dry spells where one of us wasn’t bringing up a fish. It was brilliant fun and we had the usual mickey-taking. Simon got a good ribbing about his Westin Flatfish shads, then dropped down and caught a Codling on them to keep us quiet!!
We fished on until we lost the Ebb Tide in the afternoon and the fishing slowed up again as the wind built. After a brilliant day it was time to run back home with the wind behind us. We didn’t catch anything massive, but we caught well all day between us. On the Shad front, no colour particularly stood out, no size stood out, but a well presented shad got taken willingly. I love mastering challenging conditions, so today was definitely right up there as one of my favourites. -
07/05/2025
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
7 May 2025 by Andy Savage
After a really enjoyable day species hunting yesterday; today we had a day on the wrecks. The anglers were a mixed group with wildly differing angling experience; from first time boat fishing, to hundreds of days spent at sea! With a dinky 4.4m tide and light winds forecast, I hoped we could get the full day in on the wrecks.
With the water starting to clear up a bit, I chose to try some of the inshore wrecks first and see if any new residents had arrived. If this failed I planned to push out a bit further, as I don’t like to run out a long way unnecessarily.
After a bit of instruction for the lads on my hire tackle and a half hour steam, we dropped onto the first wreck of the day. Most lads went in with a Squid bait on a muppet trace start off with. Thankfully it took less than a minute before a couple of rods were in and a couple of Codling were pulled aboard. To summarise a bit; the first wreck fished well for an hour with multiple fish each run. Steve Mason taking the best Codling at 6lb 8oz and everyone getting off the mark.
Once sport slowed a little we moved on to the next wreck (and that was the pattern of the day). The stamp of Codling were nice today, with most fish in the 3-4lb range and some lovely bright white fish in amongst the wreck residents. Really positive signs at last. We wreck hopped all day, some were more productive than others, but they all did fish.
Two anglers are definitely worthy of mention today. Antanas Jarosius was on my hire tackle and his first time wrecking at Whitby. I showed him what to do once and he fished like a pro all day. I was genuinely impressed with his consistency. He put together a lovely box of fish and on the second wreck of the day took a beautiful Cod of 11lb 8oz….top angling.
Ian Kellock is part of the furniture on Sea Urchin and he had a really decent day, fishing mainly with Shads. It’s great to see that when Ian gets a few, other anglers are willing to give them a try.
Today was the best days wrecking to date this year, with everyone getting a few and some nice fish amongst them.
The lads were all brilliant company and I thoroughly enjoyed it myself. Massive well done to everyone. -
06/05/2025
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
6 May 2025 by Andy Savage
After some moderate Northerlies over the bank holiday weekend, I wasn’t 100% convinced about having a run out today.
A group of lads from the Civil Service Sports Club had come from far and wide and booked the boat for the day to have a Species Hunt and with them already being in Whitby, we obviously decided to give it a go.
Today wasn’t about trying to catch the usual suspects of just Cod and Ling. Each fish caught was recorded and allocated points. The more species of fish caught; the more points gained. Most points overall would be declared the winner.
We set off with a short run to some rough ground around some wrecks at three miles to get the day going. I didn’t know if the water would be clear enough after the weekend, but surprisingly, it wasn’t too bad. The lads got stuck straight in and started picking up plenty of fish each drift, keeping me busy recording them. We drifted the ground for a couple of hours and everyone started to build their scoresheet up. This style of fishing requires good preparation to excel. Lots of rigs pre-tied, some with beads, some with bling, some looking more like Christmas Trees! It was brilliant to see so many different tactics being used. These boys knew their stuff…
Throughout the course of the day, we tried fishing hard inside, three miles, five miles and then a couple of wrecks to finish. As expected, hard inside wasn’t very good, but we caught consistently everywhere else. Nothing enormous was landed, but that wasn’t the aim of the day. A 10lb Cod scored the same points as a 10oz Codling.
Having recorded all the fish, I knew it was fairly close between John Wright and Andy Kaczmarczyk, and while organiser Gareth totted things up on the way back in, it turned out that they actually drew, with 175 points each, which is pretty rare in this kind of event.
To put a few stats on the day…. Total fish landed between the eight anglers was 240 fish, consisting of 14 different species. Codling, Ling, Haddock, Pollock, Coalfish, Mackerel, Plaice, Dab, Gurnard, Scorpion Fish, Wrasse, Whiting, Pouting & Poor Cod.
I love these type of days and the lads were all fantastic company. Well done lads, brilliant angling
