Latest Fishing Reports: Sea Urchin IIl
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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 -
22/04/2025
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
22 Apr 2025 by Andy Savage
Two day report aboard Sea Urchin…. With the forecast giving fairly light SE winds with a small neap tide on Monday, we opted to run North and try a couple of wrecks. As we ran to the first wreck, I couldn’t help noticing that the conditions were not as I expected. There was a bit of breeze and when we reached our destination, the first drift gave a couple of small Codling, but the lines were streaming.
We tried three different wrecks and caught nothing other than an odd Pouting. I’m still not sure if it was the fact there were no fish on the wrecks, or the streaming lines that made the fishing so poor. A change of plan was needed!
We ran out to the five mile ground for a couple of drifts and caught one small Haddock. I was now getting fed up with the lack of sport, so we pushed straight out to the nine mile ground and spent the remainder of the day drifting that. There were plenty of bites out there, but the average stamp of fish was small, with the majority chucked back (although they were probably in size, as 35cm is ridiculously small for keeping a Codling). It was far from the day I hoped to deliver for the lads.
Today was a better weather day, with the forecast being more accurate. Very light SW winds greeted us as we ran south to try a few wrecks. First stop at 12 miles saw a steady 45 minutes fishing. With a few fish each drift of mainly Codling, I was optimistic for what the rest of the day might hold. We ran on another five miles to the next wreck and bang, we caught next to nothing!
The water was as clear as I’ve seen it anywhere this year and you could see the fish come up from a long way down. We tried another two wrecks for the same result and I then admitted defeat and we started to nose our way back home, stopping on a few wrecks on the way.
We gathered a few fish here and there and Gary Rowstron caught the first Mackerel of the year. Other than that, it was another disappointing day. The anglers have been fantastic, which makes me more annoyed when things don’t go to plan.
I make no secret of the fact that I don’t like Spring fishing, you can be zero or hero every day. I’ve been zero the last two days….sorry boys. -
20/04/2025
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
20 Apr 2025 by Andy Savage
It’s been a while…..what with a family holiday and pants weather etc; but the wind finally eased back a bit and we got the chance to have a run out today.
As it was a tiny 4.4m neap tide, wrecking was the order of the day. With it being a Sunday and seven other Charter boats in action, finding offshore wrecks in range wasn’t easy. Once I knew where everyone else was headed, I opted to push tide and head North to some wrecks at 20-25 miles. I’m not keen on running out that far, but it was definitely going to be the best option to find a few fish in the clearer water.
We arrived at the first wreck around 0930hrs and I noted that it was marking a lot of feed around it. Hopefully the predators would be in amongst them. Thankfully after a long steam we got amongst some fish for a good few drifts. All Codling, with eight fish being the best drift and a nice stamp with mainly 3-5lb fish. After a hour, things had really slowed down, so I opted to push on another five miles.
Arriving at a small wreck just before slack water, the drift was very slow and it appeared the Pouting were feeding but the Cod weren’t. Almost bang on slack Toby Plotzitzka hooked a fish that put a little bend in his 80lb Class Rod! To be fair I hadn’t a clue that it was a bit better sized fish, but in fairly short order he wrestled up a nice Ling of 11lb 2oz! Once the tide Ebb tide got away, the Codling came back on the feed and we fished away steadily for another hour or so, taking fish every drift. As expected, muppet bait traces dominated, baited with Squid or Mackerel (Frozen). No surprise the Ling came to Mackerel….
A lovely group of lads who fished well and everyone got a few fish. At this time of year, I’d class that as a decent enough day…..shame the steam took so long. A massive thanks to everyone for coming, you were great company. Big thanks to my son Will, who was on crewing duties.
Also, massive congratulations to Toby who’s Ling also took first prize and £1000 in the WCSA Spring Competition. -
26/03/2025
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
26 Mar 2025 by Andy Savage
What a beautiful day out……. With a reasonable weather forecast and a group of Sea Urchin regulars aboard who were happy to have a run offshore; I had a spring in my step as I made my way to the boat this morning.
We had already agreed in advance to try an area of rough ground that I haven’t fished before, which involved a long run out. I was happy to do it, as all the lads were experienced anglers and knew that we could potentially be running out there for nothing, but….. “He Who Dares Rodders”!!
We used the Ebb Tide to run North and with everyone having at least a couple of different outfits, most people started off on bait traces with Squid to try and get a fish under their belts, before trying the lures.
First drift saw half a dozen small Codling and Haddock, which indicated there were a few fish down there. Ian Kellock had a couple on a Shad and most people switched straight over as we all love the lures.
We ran a few drifts for the next hour, exploring different areas; picking up fish every run, until we lost the tide. A couple of miles away there was a wreck to try, so we headed there for slack water. Everyone was on bait now due to the lack of tide, but we could only muster a couple of Codling each drift and as soon as the tide turned, we went back to the ground marks and Shads. Things kicked in nicely once the Flood got going and we had some solid sport on the Shads for the rest of the day. We found one area that held a few better fish when we covered it and we had a couple of better sized Pollock and Codling.
Shads probably took 90% of the fish caught today and Ian Kellock was top rod with 25-30 fish on his own. If the average size had been 3-5lb it would have been the best day for ages, but there were alot of throwbacks (they were take-able size), but the lads only take better size fish. There was no best colour on the Shads, everything seemed to work today. Everyone caught plenty and the banter was epic as always. Tony Firman deserves a special mention for persevering with the Slow-Pitch jigs and getting his Pollock in far from ideal conditions for them.
Thanks lads, brilliant day, really enjoyed your company as always. -
21/03/2025
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
21 Mar 2025 by Andy Savage
Sea Urchin update and two day report.......
After losing the whole of the previous week or so with poor weather conditions, things had settled down enough to get out on Wednesday and Thursday this week.On Wednesday Josephine O'flynn-Ulliot had booked the boat for her son Mal's 17th Birthday. Dad and the boys fancied having a day out Uptiding. All four had never done sea fishing from a boat before, so with such a small group, it was the type of day I love; as it means I can spend the time teaching and helping them to get the best from the day, with no distractions.
With a mid morning start we headed South towards Hawsker with the 4.9m Ebb Tide running nicely. Once the anchor was down we went through the rudimentary's of using the tackle, how to bait up and how to recognise the bites and strike etc. With the rods duly despatched (two on Crab Cart and two on Squid and Black Lug) we awaited the action to commence. After a few minutes signs of feeding fish materialised and Dad Kaylem was straight into the first Codling of the day on Crab Cart. Whilst only small, it was nice to get a fish under the belt early on. We fished on for the next hour or so and caught a few more small Codling. Cart was definitely the better of the two bait options we tried.
As we lost the tide we pushed a bit further south and pressed repeat for another hour, taking a few more Codling and got constant attention from the Lobsters which kept dropping off at the surface! At slack water, we ran back up towards Saltwick to catch the first of the Flood Tide and finish the day there. We'd talked about different species all day, and once the tide turned we managed to add another couple of other species to the fish caught list; with Dogfish, Pouting and Whiting making an appearance to round things off. The action wasn't frantic, but for their first time trying, the lads did brilliantly and they all caught fish and had a few fillets to take home. The company makes the trip; the fish are a bonus!
On Thursday with tides dropping away a bit I had advised the lads that were booked on that I thought the best opportunity would be to run off to get to some clearer water. Using the tide we planned to maybe try a couple of wrecks and then drift some ground marks out in the 20 mile stream. We got away just after 0600hrs for the 2hr plus run out on the Flood tide; arriving around 0830hrs. For the first couple of drifts on the rough ground, everyone went over with mainly muppet bait traces, baited with Squid. There were numerous fish caught each drift, but disappointingly they were all small; a mix of Codling, Haddock and Blue Mouth Rockfish.
We continued to change depths and areas for the next few hours, but unfortunately we never tracked down a Codling over 3lb. Experienced Sea Urchin regulars, Ian Kellock and Dave Sharp switched over to trying Shads fairly quickly and they started clipping a few fish on them which was good to see. The majority of the fish were hooked fair and square in the mouth, which indicates that the water clarity was good enough for the fish to see the lure properly.
Whilst I don't want to try and make it out to be a brilliant day (in terms of quality fish captures), there were plenty of fish about and we caught quite a number of species.....Cod, Haddock, Ling, Pollock, Whiting, Pouting, Poor Cod, Blue Mouth Rock Fish. If the average size of the Codling had been 3-5lb it would have gone down as a decent day, but unfortunately they weren't. With the majority of feeding fish being on the small side, some of the lads switched over to baited Hokkai's which were more productive than the bigger baits. The lads who travelled down from Sunderland brought the Cooked Prawns that they like to use, but the hooks got stripped very quickly, or small fish hung themselves.
We stopped at a wreck on the way back for 45 minutes, but after only four small Codling and a few sets of lost gear, we called it a day and headed home. As I have mentioned already, I'm not a fan of running "right" offshore, but I honestly think that at the moment it will give us the best opportunity of getting a few fish. Dave Sharp and Ian Kellock rang the changes all day and Dave told me he had seventeen fish and Ian had fifteen or so. They weren't all keepers, but at least it wasn't a complete catastrophe. Thanks to everyone for having the run out and giving it a go.I find that March and April are the hardest two months of the year. We're in that transition period from the fish moving off the close inshore marks where we Uptide and new fish taking up residence on the wrecks and running the rough ground closer to Whitby. Over the next few weeks, I'm sure we'll see improvements on the inshore marks, but until then, running off is my favoured option if the weather permits.
To summarise this long report........the fishing has been very hard recently and it probably will be for the next couple of weeks. If you like fishing with the Shads and Lures and don't mind a run off, the water is clear enough out there to get a few fish, but you probably won't fill your freezer.
Please don't think for one minute I'm being pessimistic, but I would rather manage expectations. If every report I posted said "We Smashed It", it would be a lie and I'm not prepared to do that. The genuine anglers understand that we can only and catch what is feeding on the day. Balance is important, at the moment it's hard, but next could be epic! I'll always keep you informed, for better or worse. -
08/03/2025
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
8 Mar 2025 by Andy Savage
It’s been a couple of months since we’ve had the opportunity to have a go on the wrecks, but today was a dinky 4.4m Neap tide which was ideal for it. With the winds from the South East, it could have gone a bit pear-shaped if they lifted, but thankfully, it was a beautiful day out in Springlike weather.
I had a group of mixed experience anglers aboard, who were happy to run offshore to try a few wrecks in the 20 mile stream. Whilst I really don’t like spending hours steaming back and forth, I’m happy to do it if I think it’s going to give us the best opportunity of finding a few fish. To make the most of the day, we headed off early and arrived at the first stop at 0830hrs with the tide Flooding against the SE wind. This resulted in the boat being held up on the drift and we literally crept across the wreck, which is ideal as it is a bit snaggy!
The first half a dozen drifts saw fish each run through falling to mainly Squid baited muppet traces. They were all small bright white Codling, but it wasn’t really what I’d hoped for. Then for some reason, the Pouting decided to muscle in on the action and they were stripping hooks and hanging themselves and just generally being a nuisance. Change of plan required…..
There were another couple of small wrecks nearby, so I opted to give them a go whilst the drift speed was so slow. Unfortunately that turned out to be a complete waste of time, as we just lost three sets of gear and never had a bite; never mind a fish. As we’d already had a few Codling from the first wreck and with plenty of different areas still to try, we dropped back onto it and set up a drift right at the very top end.
First run over and we put up four nice Codling between 3-5lb, pressure off!! Thankfully we had 3-6 fish every drift for the remainder of the day. Everyone got a few and whilst we didn’t find anything enormous our biggest Codling went 6lb 8oz, but the average stamp was much improved from the morning.
Squid, or Squid & Mackerel did the majority of the bites today. Big thanks to the lads for a really enjoyable day out. -
02/03/2025
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
2 Mar 2025 by Andy Savage
Two day report aboard Sea Urchin. It’s been a weekend of two halves…..
Saturday saw a lovely mixed group of anglers aboard. After a reasonable day on Friday, I pointed Sea Urchin south and ran back to the same area to see if the fish would oblige us again. With light SW winds, the conditions were lovely and the lads got stuck in with the usual baits of Squid, Black Lug and Crab Cart as the Ebb Tide was just nicely away. Barry Allcock had two Codling up before I’d even explained how to bait and cast to the anglers on hire tackle, which gave me some optimism for the day.
Unfortunately, that was fairly short lived as after half a dozen fish, the action dried up. I nudged us further south to find a little more tide and we had a few more small Codling, but there were no flushes of fish moving through. Unfortunately, this was the pattern for the rest of the Ebb. Catch a few after a move and then sport dried up. I hoped the Flood tide might be better, but sadly, that was even worse. With the big Spring running through, we never even put up a fish for the last couple of hours. Everyone kept at it, but it wasn’t the day I hoped to deliver.
Today was a similar day as Saturday…except that today the fish were feeding and bites were consistent throughout. We headed back to the same area that I favour at this time of year and Tony Firman had fish straight away whilst I got the six lads on hire tackle going. Colin Frankland and five friends had good bait, listened to the advice offered and caught steadily all day. There was always a rod top nodding somewhere on the boat and Codling came up regularly.
Squid and Black Lug, Cart, Live Worm all did fish today. Nothing was a standout bait, as everything got a response. Tony Firman took the biggest at just over 6lb, which was a nice clean fish.
Massive thanks to everyone for coming, you were excellent company. Look forward to seeing you again soon. -
28/02/2025
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
28 Feb 2025 by Andy Savage
A sharp overnight frost had me scraping the windows on Sea Urchin this morning, but thankfully it turned out to be a beautiful sunny day spent with a fantastic bunch of lads.
We’re back in big Spring Tide phase at the moment and today saw a 5.5m which was Ebbing nicely as we left the harbour. I chose to push tide and run South down towards Robin Hoods Bay as I always feel at this time of year there’s a chance of a better fish that way.
After a 30 minute steam, we had the anchor down and the lads got organised; fishing with a mixture of Dirty Squid, Black Lugworm and Crab Cart. It didn’t take too long before the rod tips started twitching and a few small Codling started to come up. There were quite a few tentative rattles which didn’t develop and sure enough Lobsters were the likely culprits as a couple were caught amongst the Codling. After a steady hour we chose to have a move a bit further down, to find a touch more tide.
We had similar results here as well, with fairly regular bites around the boat. Whilst the sport wasn’t frantic, it was much better than the last couple of Uptiding trips, with everyone getting in on the sport. Surprisingly, slack water even did a few fish today. As the first sniff of the Flood tide came through we repositioned the boat to make sure the anchor didn’t get jammed. As soon as we got going the bites started up again.
In all honesty, the consistency of the bites around the boat exceeded my expectations. Some of the lads had quiet spells during the day, but from a Skippers perspective, there was always something happening somewhere.
The average stamp of Codling wasn’t exceptional, with Ian Kellock taking the biggest one at 5lb 8oz amongst the dozen fish he caught. Everyone came armed with good bait today; which is essential. Overall, Crab Cart was the most effective, but Squid & Blacks received more attention on the Ebb. We had four moves during the day and caught at all four, I was happy with that. The chat and laughs amongst the anglers was brilliant and the day flew by for me. Hopefully tomorrow will yield similar results for us.
Thanks lads, you were brilliant company. -
06/02/2025
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
6 Feb 2025 by Andy Savage
The last wrecking trip we ran was on the 27th December, so with perfect tide and weather conditions today, we had another go.
I’d explained to the lads that it’s a high risk strategy running off a long way in the winter, but they were happy to give it a try. We headed out at first light for a two hour steam North to the first wreck. The fishing conditions were perfect with all the lines being vertical and a lovely slow drift straight along the wreck. Unfortunately that meant nothing to the fish, as in half a dozen drifts we caught nothing but a strap Ling. It was at that point that we saw a pair of seals moving around us. Unsure if they had put the fish down, we pushed on to the next wreck.
We didn’t do much better on the second wreck. Each drift there were Pouting clattering the baits and a few hung themselves. We did catch a handful of small Codling, and I even took a picture of a 3lb fish that Paul Hargreaves caught, just in case we didn’t get anything else!! After 45 minutes or so, we pushed on to another wreck, which would have us arrive just as the tide was running into slack. It was only a small piece of scrap, so hopefully the lack of tide would allow us a bit more time to extract a fish or two.
Thankfully, after giving the “all in” four rods went over almost immediately and I breathed a sigh of relief! We spent the rest of the day drifting slowly across the wreck, taking 2,3 or 4 each time.
The biggest fish were a pair of Ling at 9lb 8oz to Chris and 8lb to Andy; plus a Codling just over 7lb to Joe Clough. Muppet traces with Squid and/or Mackerel seemed to work well. Although one of the lads put down a set of Daylights and took a triple shot of Pouting and a double shot of Codling.
The weather was fantastic all day and whilst we didn’t break any records, everyone got a few fish. When we set off, I feared the worse, but hoped for the best; and at the end of the day we were probably somewhere in between. It wasn’t too bad. The company and weather were fantastic, so thanks for a lovely day out lads. -
03/02/2025
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
3 Feb 2025 by Andy Savage
They say that a picture paints a thousand words……..don’t be fooled is my advice! Whilst there were some lovely clean fish caught over the last two days, the fishing has been rock hard and the quantity of fish caught has been poor.
After a reasonable days sport on Saturday, I hoped for something similar on Sundaonday. For whatever reason, it just didn’t materialise that way.
We kept on the move, had decent bait, fished with the right gear, but the fish just weren’t feeding well. Each stop would see a few bites/fish on arrival, but there seemed to be no flushes of fish moving through and it just died off.
The weather and sea conditions weren’t perfect, but there were decent periods both days, where it was spot on. We just didn’t seem to be able to string together a decent run of bites. No bait was best, the fish that we caught came to the usual suspects of. Squid, Lug and/or Cart randomly. I found it very frustrating, so I’m sure the anglers must have as well.
Over the two days, Ian Kellock took the biggest Codling at 6lb 8oz and Dave Sharp had a surprise Pollock of 5lb 12oz first drop at a new spot today. We’ve got to take the rough with the smooth and I know it’s a cliche, but “it’s called fishing, not catching”.
I’m grateful to all the lads who’ve been out with us and I really wish I could have produced more productive trips. That said, everyone was excellent company and the chat and banter made the days go too quickly. Thanks a lot.
Hopefully the fishing will improve again soon and give us more consistent sport.
Tight Lines
Andy
