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WELCOME TO THE SKIPPERS LOG Entry Entered 25th July 2008 Here we are coming to the end of July, where does the time go ??? Several cancellations
during the month tell us once again the British summer is underway. Rick had a nice John Dory a week or so ago which found itself sliding down my neck (lovely). A couple of good sized Red Bream were taken by visiting anglers on Malc Jones ‘Sea Angler 2’ from a wreck a few miles out, This is a species that seems to be making a welcome comeback to this part of the country; Rick and I found a few (although not as big as this latest pair) on a lump of rock to the east of the port a couple of years ago, perhaps it’s time to have a proper Bream Trip to see what we can find. As all who have to visit the ‘pumps’ will know, the cost of fuel has increased at an alarming rate and the charter fleet have not been impervious to these increases, to a large extent skippers have tried to cover the additional cost but to be fair we have to make a living and some of this cost has had to be passed on to you guys. Most anglers appreciate this, and know they are still getting good value. Our thanks to you for your support. The next few weeks should be interesting with a mixture of reef-wreck-shark and bass trips booked in, lets hope the weather and our ‘gilled’ friends come out to play… That’s it folks for this one so
stay safe see you soon.. Frank Entry Entered 2nd June 2008 Here we are again guys and gals with our latest update. For those of you yet to get afloat take my advise and do it , the fishing is first class. Spring Pollack to 17lb, Cod high doubles , Conger in the 50s and a smattering of Bass , what a wealth of quality fishing we have out of this port . Our reefs came alive almost
overnight from the Rutts to the east the Eddystone to the south and the
Hands Deeps to the west all fishing their socks off , the sport has been
arm aching. Yesterday (1st June) Rick and
I took a group of local anglers on a wreck sorty to see what was
happening away from the reefs. Yep you guessed it, quality fishing , Alan (who organised the trip) and the lads accounted for 20 or so Cod to 17lb and a similar amount of Pollack to the same weight a real good days fishing. So as I say if you haven’t got
afloat yet , get booked in and get out there …… Stay safe hope to see you soon. Frank Entry Entered 01st May 2008 Well….. here we are again .. the start of another season ,full of expectations and high hopes for the coming months. The winter period supplied us with
our fair share of disappointing weather and fishing…. When the weather
broke boy didn’t we do well. The Pollacking
was absolutely stunning along with a healthy sprinkling of good
winter Cod. Check out my mate J.W on
our picture gallery to see the Quality of these fish, all I can say
is, roll on the Spring Pollack run. Secret Star came out of the water for her spring wash and scrub, she looks a feels all the better for it although I still have the deck to do (need a couple of dry days and nights). The Ling have been very obliging
with fish in 20lb class providing good sport and and a good companion to
a plate of chips…….. My latest trips have been with the anchor down enticing the “denizens of the deep” out of their rusting lairs and with eels in 50lb class coming Over the gunnels they were a great
success (see Colin
with his 56lb). Rick and me are out over the coming
weekend searching for the first signs of our golden beauts. I’ll let
you know what we find next time.. Keep safe, see you soon.. Frank Entry Entered 06th October 2007 Where to start , now that’s a question….. The long awaited summer finally popped it’s head out and let us get on with business of catching fish. I must say we’ve had a remarkably good run of quality fish not just on Secret Star but on all the Plymouth fleet. Wrecking for conger has produced some fine results for both local and visiting anglers, I took a group of lads from the Midlands to a wreck that a few days before was producing Pollack to 18lb and Cod to 16lb with the thought in my head of another good day ahead, if only these guys had been here a few days earlier (how many times do we hear that?). We did try another wreck with the same result, as the tide was slackening it was decided to drop anchor and this really did save my bacon as the eels came out to play and the guys went home having had a very enjoyable day. The first shark trip of the summer was with a group of anglers on a stag do, 17 anglers between Secret Star, Bounty and my old mate Dave on Amoco. I had managed to collect a good dollop of Mackerel and bucket of Pollack livers from my previous trip, which would be the basis for our rubby dubby, we feathered a few fresh Mackerel to get us going. The conditions were perfect, silky smooth seas and clear sky the only sounds coming from the gulls sitting in the slick trail. We had three wonderful Blues to the boat ranging from 45lb to 85lb and another Blue lost on the surface, which we reckoned to be in the 110 lb class… Quality fishing. Ian on Bounty also had three to the boat with Dave (fishing a couple of miles outside me) not getting a single run. ! That’s fishing. The Bass were very obliging once we located them, the problem for us was finding the bait, pin Mackerel or at least smalls were and still are a bit thin on the ground, some days several hours being spent searching for them, the results have been most welcomed with several specimens over the magic 10lbs. I feel made up when I see an anglers delight to catch a “fish of a lifetime” and for some reason this species seems to be the one that anglers have adopted as the in fish to catch. For me the thrill of hooking a big Pollack in two hundred plus feet of water and knowing there’s nothing you can do but hang on and wait for that power dive to slow, what a feeling, bloody marvellous.. My next trip is a visit to a distant wreck with my son Rick and a couple of mates for (you guessed it) those wonderful golden beauties………. I’ll let you know how it goes. Lets hope the cracking weather continues. Keep safe, see you soon. Entry Entered 2nd July 2007 Since I last wrote, the Secret Star has been to sea a grand total of eighteen days thanks to this great British weather. Seven of these days were in May when we managed a few spring Bass, the best being a little over 11 ½ lbs taken on live launce by my son and part time crewman Rick. Alas this ‘spring run’ was short lived and the shiny spiney’s are again as scarce as the proverbiable rocking horse droppings…. On the weekend of the 2nd / 3rd June a group of twenty or so members of a Welsh club were booked on the Secret Star, Bounty and Crusader. The conditions on the first day dictated that we should stay on the inshore reefs and wrecks and boy was it a struggle, although there were good markings on most everything we went to, nothing wanted to play and it wasn’t until late in the afternoon that a few fish came over the gunnels. Unfortunately all three boats suffered casualties due to the conditions and this was reflected in the number sailing on day two. This was a far better day not only weather wise but also fish wise. Outside wrecks was the order of the day with a tad of anchor time for all boat’s, which resulted in some reasonable eels with two personal bests on our boat. When the tide slackened we had a few drifts and hit into Cod, which were well received, a few Whiting and Pollock made up the rest of the catch. I hope the guys had as good a weekend as I did and I look forward to seeing them again. We’ve had some good catches of Cod and Pollack on the reefs when the weather let us. Our last trip was the Conger Champs. On the 23rd & 24th June once again day one was pretty sloppy but it was decided to go for wrecks. Baitfish was playing hard to get but we managed to put a few fresh Mackerel in the bait box. At the chosen wreck the pick was prepared and shot away but didn’t hold so up it came, shot two came back in as well but it held fast on the third time of asking. Baits went down and within ten minutes the first eel came over the side. At the end of play the seven anglers had a total of seventy-seven eels with only one retained for the scales. This fish weighing fifty-three pounds ten ounces proved to be the best of the comp for day one. Day two was far better wind wise but the rain persisted for much of the morning, the pick set on the first time of asking and once again an eel was on it’s way up within twenty minutes…. Fifty-Five eels for my five anglers with three retained for the scales. The overall winning boat was my good friend Richard Mathews on Crusader with a beauty of sixty-eight pounds. Well-done mate… Once again we had a terrific couple of days on the boat and my son Rick and I thank all the anglers on board for making it such a memorable weekend. This past week has been a wipe out and looking at the long-range forecast things don’t look like improving very soon. That’s it for now, so keep safe, see you soon..
Entry Entered 19th May 2007 Easter Monday was another grand day a few nice Pollack in the morning and a couple of good sized Whiting whetted the appetite for our Conger session. As we had managed to feather up a descent supply of Mackerel and Herring it was just a question of which of the three wrecks close to us to visit. Choice made, pick down, kettle on, pasties in the oven what could be better? Conger, that’s what… A little over three hours later we hauled the pick up with only a couple of “straps” to show for the effort oh well that’s fishing. The rest of April proved to be a bit hit and miss, a few nice Pollack the odd Cod and a nice Conger for one of a trio of guys from a local gym. By and large an average April. May started as April ended with a good deal of fine weather, bait is plentiful Mackerel, Herring and Launce (Greater Sand eel) . Thursday 3rd was a recognisance to the offshore reefs with Launce for bait. After a good bit of searching we finally found some good sized Pollack and in good numbers. Fishing in waters ranging from two hundred feet plus, rising to less than eighty, really gives this great fighting fish a chance to shine, for rod bending dives and arm aching power this truly is a quality sport fish. Saturday 5th saw a group of six from a local hostelry aboard, although wrecking was their initial choice they took my advice and we headed for the reef. First stop the Eddystone reef where launce were surrendering themselves to our small white feathers in strings of six , after a few drifts we had more than enough of this superb live bait to last the day. Next stop the same bit of reef as Thursday would be our starting point….and there we stayed for most of the tide, everyone on board having heart stopping encounters with these golden beauties. We had faces on board with ear to ear smiles and some great banter and this for me is a great day. See you and keep safe….Frank.
Entry Entered 8th April 2007 April has arrived with much awaited calm, warm conditions just the weather to check out some of our offshore wrecks and inshore reefs. Bait is in good supply with launce (greater sand eel) mackerel and herring readily available Secret Stars first Easter trip took us to the Eddystone Reef where some pretty good quality Pollock were found, these were taken using live launce (see rig of the month) all the fish were in the 8 to 12 lb class and put up a good scrap, we also had a few ling the biggest 15lb. Trip number two took us to a couple of offshore wrecks, having feathered up a good supply of launce and a few mackerel our spirits were high as we put Secret Star in gear and headed for our first wreck seventeen miles to the south east . With three or four miles to run we picked up a pod of twenty or so Dolphins riding our bow wave, what a cracking sight. As we approached the wreck the first "buff" was spotted yep you guessed it NETS boxing the wreck in. We continued on to the next hulk and sure enough more nets we did find a net free wreck on our next move but this only produced a few ling of no great size (I guess the netters had done their job to well on this hulk). As the day was cracking on we decided to move back to some wrecks closer to home this was the right move as good Pollack to 12lb were at home on both wrecks which sit about a mile apart. Our next trip (Easter Monday) will be for Pollack in the morning and conger in the afternoon , we'll let you know how we get on...
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