Latest Fishing Reports: Sea Urchin IIl
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23/08/2021
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
23 Aug 2021 by Andy Savage
Today we spent the day, getting completely "anchored"!!
In the summer when the water is clear and the tides are running hot; with the exception of "slack water" the majority of the day is spent drifting rough ground. Whilst the rough ground can and has been productive, I have been wanting to try to add another tactical string to my/Sea Urchin's bow. Anglers who I've spoken to from the South Coast regularly anchor wrecks to fish for Cod, Ling and Conger, so I thought there must be some scope to try this around Whitby. If it means that I can get a few extra fish for the anglers on board in difficult conditions, I'm more than happy to give it a go.
With only crew on board, it gave us the time to practice in difficult conditions, so today we sorted out the mechanics of getting the drift right, drop off point right, right length of rope, right anchor, allowing for wind etc. Things went quite well and once we had achieved what we wanted, we had a couple of drops down ourselves.
We had a few Codling up to 8lb between us, plus the usual Pouting and Whiting. Considering the conditions today, with only two of us having a drop down, I was pleased with how things went.
It's early days, but I'm pretty excited with what the future may hold...... -
19/08/2021
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
19 Aug 2021 by Andy Savage
Some good quality fish landed with some good quality angling today.
Starting the day off with a few wrecks as the Ebb tide finished wasn’t great; we picked off a few Codling, but nothing of note. Just as slack water approached things kicked into gear nicely, with a run of quality Codling coming aboard; including a brace of 8’s and the biggest falling to Don “Wang” at 11lb 8oz.
The flood tide forced us to retreat to the rough ground, where we took a few nice Ling. Bait fishing dominated today, with the usual suspects of squid and Mackerel doing the business. Muppets on pennel rigs took the lionshare.
We were surrounded by seals, dolphins and whales throughout the day, which was nice for the anglers to see. -
18/08/2021
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
18 Aug 2021 by Andy Savage
After two days off with poor weather, and today’s forecast looking a bit “Meh”!! It was with a degree of uncertainty that we had a run out today. Would the fish play ball, or not.
It was a bit “chewy” at first as we made our way up to some wrecks punching the NW wind.
But once there, the first two wrecks we fished produced 2-3 Codling each drift in the 2-4lb range, which was very welcome. We had a flurry of bites just as the flood tide got away, with more Codling coming aboard, then all of a sudden, things went very quiet. Up until that point, only one small Ling had come aboard.
With the change of tide, the drift speed went up to 1.4 knots, so we went and fished some ground marks, where we picked off a number of mainly Ling throughout the afternoon. The best three fish weighed in between 9lb 8oz and 10lb 4oz. It wasn’t the best day ever, but everyone took home a few fish and the company was great as usual. -
11/08/2021
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
11 Aug 2021 by Andy Savage
Another thoroughly enjoyable day on Sea Urchin today. I get as much pleasure from seeing an experienced angler catch a new PB, as I do seeing a new angler catch their first fish.
Some of today’s anglers were in the latter group, having never fished before at all.
We were pleased they chose us to start their fishing journey and although the learning curve was steep, they soon got to grips with using the reels and how to keep the bait tapping the bottom. We started off with a Mackerel “Fest” to gather some bait, then set about trying to extract some Ling and Codling from the rough ground.
I was genuinely surprised at how quickly the fish started coming, with whole Mackerel fillets fished on bait traces “doing to do” for plenty of Ling in the 3-6lb category.
The Codling were on the smaller side today, with the best one going 4lb, but everyone had a good few fish and we ended with a few more fresh Mackerel to take home for the pan.
If you’re interested in a starter trip, we are more than happy to help, just drop me a line to sort out a booking. The lads all did brilliantly today….hope they enjoy the fish. -
10/08/2021
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
10 Aug 2021 by Andy Savage
They’re back…….it’s “big tide” time again! We’re just entering a week of 5m+ tides which can sometimes make the fishing difficult.
Today we spent more time fishing on the rough ground, than we did the wrecks. That didn’t deter today’s group though. In fact the two wrecks we did have a go on produced very little, but the rough ground delivered a reasonable picking of mainly Ling and Codling.
Sea Urchin veteran Alan Knaggs was aboard and helped himself to a decent haul with his biggest Ling just nudging double figures. Well done Alan, top rod as usual! Nick Gray and his mate Neil picked a few nice fish off as well; hooking this brace of Ling at literally the same time.
It was probably 50/50 in terms of the fish falling to Hokkai’s or baited Muppet rigs, but the muppet rigs baited with Squid and Mackerel pulled in the bigger fish today.
The sun came through nicely in the afternoon, making it an enjoyable day in good company. Well done to everyone, hope you all enjoy your fish. -
03/08/2021
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
3 Aug 2021 by Andy Savage
They say that form is temporary……but class is permanent.
Jamie Skow proved the theory today, when he followed up his 20lb Cod on his last trip out, with rafts of fish again today. Jamie booked the boat for himself and two friends and hit it right off from the start. Fishing on the inshore wrecks again, the water was a bit green following the recent swell, but it didn’t deter the fish one bit.
We fished four wrecks during the day, with the last one being very productive. All three anglers were regularly playing fish at the same time. Codling dominated today, with fish up to 8lb 8oz, but we also had Ling up to 9lb, Pollock and Wrasse.
A whole Squid on a pennel rig with a muppet took the majority of the fish. Jamie, Ian Kellock and James all fished well, caught well and got a great reward for some top angling. -
02/08/2021
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
2 Aug 2021 by Andy Savage
What a “swell” day out we had today!
A group of seasoned anglers on board today, who coped admirably with the conditions. We had quite a lot of swell, but light winds and a small tide. Choosing to stay on the inshore wrecks, we moved from wreck to wreck picking away nicely, right through the flood tide. Cod, Ling and Pollock were coming aboard every drift, with a few better specimens amongst them.
Alan took the biggest Ling of the day at 13lb 8oz (although the picture doesn’t do it justice). Mackerel was the dominant bait today, fished on either bait traces or Hokkai’s.
Once the Ebb tide started we found a productive wreck which entertained us with a good few fish every drift until we came home. Everyone took away a decent fry today.
Well done boys. -
30/07/2021
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
30 Jul 2021 by Andy Savage
Today was a day for mainly teaching and learning. In amongst the ten anglers, we had a group of six lads on board who had not sea fished before. They were keen to learn how; which is something we take pride in doing on Sea Urchin. Using all the gear provided by us, the lads quickly got to grips with keeping the lead tapping the bottom on the drift and started picking off Codling and Ling from the rough ground on our baited muppet rigs.
We then moved to a wreck for slack water (yes, we do fish wrecks with people on hire tackle, instead of fishing on rough ground all the time), where we picked off some better fish. Dave Oxborough had a nice 6lb Ling and Andy the Skipper had a lovely Cod just short of double figures at 9lb 12oz, which fell for a big mackerel fillet.
Once the ebb tide was away again, we moved back to rough ground and finished where we left off, picking away nicely with more Codling and Ling. Another enjoyable day with a great group of lads. -
27/07/2021
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
27 Jul 2021 by Andy Savage
Well I didn’t really expect that…..
We’ve got some big tides running at the moment, which has certainly made for some challenging fishing conditions. We had a run off today with a fantastic bunch of lads. Arriving at a wreck around an hour before slack water, the first couple of drifts yielded only a Ling and a Cod, then as the flood tide slowed, we started to pick off some nice Codling in the 4-6lb bracket every drift.
This continued until the ebb tide got away once more. A move inside to another wreck saw more quality codling come aboard. Almost all the fish fell to squid today, mostly on bait traces with muppets.
All in all, it was a thoroughly nice day out, with a decent picking of fish. We ended the day with a bit of Mackerel carnage on the way back. Great day out lads, thanks a lot. -
21/07/2021
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
21 Jul 2021 by Andy Savage
They just keep on coming at the moment…….
Today saw the first of the 14hr Sea Urchin trips take place. The original plan had been to run off to wrecks in the 30 mile range to try and extract a big fish or two. But after a great days fishing inshore yesterday, the lads agreed that it would be better to stay inside, rather than risk a monster steam out to distant wrecks, which may well end badly. So we just fished a bit longer, inshore!
It proved to be the right choice, as we had a brilliant day, with far more fishing than travelling. All the lads were seasoned anglers and got stuck straight in. Catching Ling into double figures, a good stamp of Codling and a handful of nice Pollock.
Top rod today certainly went to Jamie (who crews on Sea Urchin), when he chose to spend his day off fishing!! He caught consistently from the off and ended up landing a new PB Cod of 20lb 4oz. What a result.
Everyone caught plenty of fish from the wrecks we visited, but yet again, the ebb was better than the flood. Squid once again dominated the captures, but mackerel and shads still produced a few. Hopefully the great fishing will continue for a while yet.
