Birdsnest Master does it again!

Birdsnest Master took a trip down to Parkshore during the week and managed to land himself a PB from the shore with a 7lb Starry Smoothound! He also managed a 3lb one whilst packing up. Well done mate.

July Great news!!!!

Finally managed to get out on Saturday the 14th and Sunday the 15th of July! Only had one trip in June which resulted in a few Makerel from Chesil beach.

We fished Parkshore on the 14th and thought it would be a good show with the tides and weather conditions. That was not the case though as the dreaded solent weed just became too much to handle! After we had packed up I decided to go and have a chat with one of the guys who was fishing a club meet that night, he told me that they had had a great nights fishing and next to no weed until the tide turned! They had had between then a good few Smoothounds with the biggest being around 14lb!

Of course after hearing this myself and Birdsnest Master had to go back for another shot the next evening! We arrived at 20.00 with H/W being at 00.30, we had live Peeler and Ragworms for bait and plenty of time to catch us something. Fishing started off slow with alot of weed still but after an hour or so the weed died off and finally the weights got a hold of the bottom. At around 22.30 the bites started and Birdsnest had the first fish of the night which was a small Bass of around 3oz's!!!! He then had a 2oz Bream and then a better fish, a Smoothound of around 2lb. By this point I was starting to think that it was going to be another ass whopping for me but I hadn't given up hope of getting a decent Smutt.

Finally at around 23.50 my rod smacked right over the stand!!! I had just put out a lovely big Rag and Peeler cocktail and this proved too much for them to resist, after a good fight and thinking that I had lost it where it swam towards the shore so fast I couldn't keep up, I landed a Smoothound of around or just under 10lb! To say the least I was over the moon. Forgot to take the scales out the car and it would have taken to long to go back for them so I will just have to guess the weight. The fish was returned to fight another day. Oh forgot I had a tiny Bream as well just before, new species for me.

June wash out!

Well June has been a bit of a wash out really with some pretty nasty weather making fishing a no go, oh and I have been busy with DIY!!!

May update. Bagstar gets whooped!

Steves Bass from Southbourne
Steves Sole from Southbourne

Birdsnest masters 5lb Small Eyed Ray from Southbourne

Been a while again since my last update and Birdsnest Master has kicked my arse up and down the beach for the last month! I have managed next to nothing whilst he has been catching some monsters.

Birdsnest Masters Small Eyed Ray from Hordle

We have had a few more trips to Southbourne and had a few fish there (well Birdsnest Master has!). We have fished Hill Head, Barton On Sea and been for a good look around the Warsash area, so venues have been varied to say the least. Birdsnest Master has had his first Smooth Hound from the beach at Southbourne and also had one which weighed in at just under 15lb on Becky M a charter boat skippered by Dave S who has been in the buiseness for a long time. I still only managed 3 Mackerel whilst out on the boat!

The trip out on Becky M was our first trip on a boat fishing and I doubt it will be are last after having such a good time despite me hardly catching! Just to see evryone else getting a few made it good fun and there was a few different species caught. Birdsnest Masters Smooth Hound was measured, weighed, tagged and returned to fight another day. The other species caught on the day were Bass, Thornback ray, Black Bream and Dog fish.

We also popped down to Dorset last weekend and had a bash with the feathers at Seatown but with no luck we called it a day after an hour. Slightly unusual not to catch them at this time of year but the wind has been pretty bad of late.

April 6th, Southbourne

Me and Birdsnest decided to try somewhere new for a change and after hearing that the Rays have been making an early show, we decided to give Southbourne a try. We fished from 21.00 till 01.00, H/W was 01.30 but after the gates to the car park were closed at mid night we decided to call it a day.

It started off very promising after a friend of ours caught a 2lb Bass on his first cast, this was caught on a running ledger rig and a single ragworm. After this he had a small pout and then Birdsnest caught a small Sole, which was a bit of a surprise this early in the year! Our friend then had a Sole of around a lb in weight and I managed a small pout to finish the night.

All fish were caught on ragworm after switching from sandeels when there was no sign of any Rays to be had. It was a very mild night for the time of year and the conditions were very calm.

April 5th Been a while!

Due to the changes on Blogger I have not bothered posting for a while, but I have signed up to the new stuff and im back! We have now formed a club through the WSF website called the Hampshire Hookers Angling Club or H.H.A.C for short, it is only a friendly club and the aim is to get people on the south coast together to fish local meets. The first meet for the club was held on the 1st of April at Hayling island, after a few changes. The meet was a complete success other than a lack of fish on the day and everyone had a good time.

I have been out alot lately during the day and night fishing all over the place, I have had a few trips to Eastney, chasing Plaice during the day and a few trips to Milford for the early rays, as yet I have not had a ray but Birdsnest Master managed a nice 2lb small eyed ray the other night.

I meet up with a guy from the WSF site called Howie and he was a great help teaching me how to Pendulum cast and showing the hotspots at Eastney. I have never been a big fan of fishing at this time of year nor fishing in the Portsmouth area, but after giving it a try during the day I will be back next year for another try.

Quick update

Not been out much lately and when we have, all we have caught is pout and whiting. Fished Milford last week but blanked and I will be out fishing Eastney next week.

Rod's for the adventures....

I have now been out and used my Kompressor Sport which I got to accompany my two Zziplex rod's, one of which I have now stripped down and began to rebuild thanks to alot of help from Stan M of http://www.alba-rods.co.uk/....... The Zziplex im rebuilding is an old Formula T which im led to believe is 20 years old, I have finished varnishing the blank and have also done the underwhip, just got to get the eye's on and coat with resin then im done. I will put a few pics on here when it is finished.
The Century I managed to pick up for £150 and it has only been used once! The shrink wrap on the butt only had one reel mark on it when I got it and there is not a mark on it!