28th June

For those of you that wish to self cater this wonderful two storey annexe has just come on the market. Situated in a secluded location with views across Longis Bay it is the ideal location for your fishing break, sleeps 4. Take a look at this site and then make the call to book!! We thoroughly recommend it.

http://www.lespourciauxalderney.co.uk/#

25th June

Cracking weather so who cares about the fishing. Glorious sunshine, clear blue skies and barely a ripple on the sea. The bank fishing is slowing up it would appear with Turbot numbers dropping away, not yet replaced by much in the way of Brill but I'm sure it will come. Bass improving in numbers all the time but not in full swing yet. Plenty of Tope if you like the sport. Wrecks showing Pollack but you'll need to get further away from the island for the Cod action.

Reports of plenty of Mullet again around the shore. Plenty of Pollack as well, Bass on the plugs and fly to 6lb, plenty of Mackerel for the BBQ's and Garfish being caught.

Last night was the first in a line of meetings with regards to the States of Alderney introducing protective legislation for fish stocks. There is a report here on the link. http://www.channelonline.tv/channelonline_guernseynews/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=489583

Various topics were discussed besides what is in the news report. Hot potatoes were charter boats and inshore netting, anglers wishing to ban inshore netting due to the destructive nature to spawning stocks and with nets up the beach making the possibilities of angling at time nigh on impossible and commercials wishing to have over 10m vessels banned from the three mile limit...............I could ramble.........shall keep you posted as things develop.

18th June

ALDERNEY ANGLING HELP ENGLAND TO SILVER!!

We were very proud to part sponsor the England Home International Boat boys in their recent Home Nations event in Ireland. Using the Bayzand range of jellyworms they managed to achieve a very creditable second place on away territory. Ray Ashby the England manager said "Unfortunately we just missed out on the Gold medals. The jellies worked very well for the Pollack and Coalfish of which there were plenty. The bright orange colours, red and blacks were favourite. We went into day two with a small lead, won two of the three boats on day two, but lost the third boat to the Irish who ran out winners by the smallest of margins. We had to settle for silver and we’ll be hoping to go one better next year when England host the event in Weymouth ."

Congratulations to the lads, they'll be tough to beat on home waters!

15th June

What's going on?? Fishing nearly every day at the moment.....paradise! Had a go for a Mullet last night down on the quay having seen a massive shoal over the weekend when picking the lads up to go fishing. Had the Thick Lippeds on the feed a couple of times but all I managed was this tiny Golden Grey. Due to the photographer it was a job to get a picture at all! This explains the shock on my face (go on take the flippin picture). Meanwhile the photographer is pictured with his first ever Turbot and a nice Bass, well done Lee! The last picture is of someone's feet that some of you might recognise. Yep, you guessed it, the lack of size gives it away eh? They belong to Dick Smith who has been having some terrific fun in his kayak with Ballans, jumbo sized Mackerel, Gars to 2lb, Bass and Pollack all caught on stuff I know nothing about. Jig Heads and rubber lures are mentioned in conversations I have with Dick and I think this ties in with LRF, HRF's, HRT's and other stuff I don't understand but what ever it is Dicky is having a wonderful time with it all. Oh the size of the Wrasse, he tells me it was around 6lb but comparing it to his feet I'd say 12oz :-).

14th June

Thanks to Lee for the following picture of that wonderful Turbot I caught in the kayak last week. Lee was fishing on board Trio III skippered by Bumble who helped out no end on the day.

A nice forecast and a 'fixed' boat saw us out playing over the weekend. Biggish tides saw us try for some Bass which worked, not massively but enough fish to 6lb to provide plenty of fun. Several Turbot came to boot too. On the rough ground we found Huss to just shy of double figures and a few Tope to 35lb. 

Shore sport seeing some Huss at night, the odd Eel too and one or two Bass falling to static bats. Mullet are around by day to bread, Bass being receptive to lures in general and Mackerel, Gars and Pollack making up the rest. Report this morning of a Brill caught last night whilst one of the lads was fishing for Tope.

9th June

Fine weather, small tides and plenty of Turbot reported so I just had to 'nip' out for a 'short paddle' to chance my arm. Third attempt at this, having said that the previous tries were minor compared to yesterday, and I succeeded on the third drift with a little beauty of 4lb plus. Chuffed to nuts! I had another first as well, on launching rolled the kayak in the surf, all a good laugh eh? Kayaking..........love it!!

Fishing not much different to previously reported. The Turbot seemed to be thinning out but its been a good week for them but no monsters reported, heard of a 25lb fish from Guernsey but none like it up here. Good numbers though. A little bit more Bass about and there's an increase of Cod out on the wrecks though. 

6th June

Glorious weather yesterday and a repaired boat saw us flying out to the banks for some flatfish fishing. During the week there'd been mixed reports of numbers of fish thinning out but given the events of 'boat ownership' recently we weren't too bothered whether we caught or not, just being out was pleasure enough. Oily seas greeted us on arrival and an empty bank, no other boats and no long lines, brilliant. We sorted our drift out easy enough and the day trundled along at a leisurely pace. Boats came and went and all through the day we managed a steady stream of fish including Turbot, Brill, Mackerel, Dogs and other bits. Nothing too big on our boat but Jersey maestro Paul Bisson (pictured below) managed a cracking fish at 13lb aboard his boat Fishful Thinking. We had more than our fair share so all in all a good day, till the final knocking when the pleasures of 'boat ownership' came back to haunt!! Next trip........roll out the kayak!

Robert Clowes very kindly sent me the picture below of his Tub Gurnard of 6lb 4oz, cracking fish caught aboard Ian Nobles Samuel Irvin.

3rd June

Good days and bad days on the Turbot. it is evident that the fish are moving around the banks so well worth trying one of the smaller and more obscure banks that tend not to be fished. Some good fish being caught with a double figure fish always on the cards. Brill rather on the quiet side, generally they run later than the Brill but the last couple of years that's not been the case so maybe this year they are reverting back to normal. More Bass on the increase to live launce and such. Your probably better offering a joey mackerel for a belter! Plenty of Tope still showing with fish in the 25lb to 45lb common. Odd Huss too. Reports of a 6lb plus Gurnard too! wrecks showing Pollack close to the island, odd Cod showing too. More Cod further north in mid channel.

Shore fishing slowly getting better, one or two Bass reported on the plugs and flies, 2lb to 4lb fish. Pollack are around in really strong numbers. Gars, Mackerel make up the rest of what is around.

Since I last updated I have managed a couple of trips in the kayak. Boat still broken so got to get afloat somehow! Yesterdays trip I got to do the first half of what I wanted to achieve but didn't get the result, second half I was going to Bass fish but blew out as I couldn't find any live launce or mackerel. The other trip was spent plugging and I had a terrific time in amongst the tidal stream whipping out around 20 Pollack with over half over 3lb, best didn't top 5lb though but great sport. I did mange a Bass too and some Mackerel, great day out!

26th May

Mixed reports on the Turbot this week, more bad than good so is it all over? Not sure, Wild Frontier had a cracking day with a load of novices aboard, some of the other boats had a few but not all singing and dancing like it has been. Still we have had a great run, watch this space to see if it continues. A few Bass starting to show, plenty of Tope as always and some Bull Huss on the same ground. Mackerel have been hard to come by too this week, plenty of Launce though.

Last weekend saw 6 boats arrive from the Poole Bay Small Boat Angling Club. Great bunch of guys who are willing to try new things, share knowledge and generally help out. Its a pleasure to have them around. They as per usual had a great time fishing and playing hard. Good night out Saturday too which I thoroughly enjoyed. Fish wise they obviously had a go at the Turbot and succeeded, one or two Brill came out as well but what really got them going was the Tope fishing. Fishing light on 6/12lb gear they had fabulous fun. Below I got some pictures from Charlie Chapman and his son Dan, scoffing lunch, Charlie into a good Tope and Dan pictured with a quality Huss of around 11lb and a personal best Tope of 46lb.

21st May

We're up to our neck in it here with work, stock all over the place, things to sort, things to do so yesterday I went kayaking!! First time since November I've put my bum on that seat and off I paddled. Target was a Turbot and given the perfect tides and perfect weather then it was a rare chance to try one of the offshore banks with the South Banks the target. However getting there wasn't all straight forward but having negotiated the back of the island I arrived at the Banks just as slack happened. Probably a little late. I was delayed though by catching Pollack, Mackerel and Launce. I also tried a smaller bank closer in and got distracted. Anyway I had one long drift through before the ebb got away and then seeked shelter closer to Alderney whereby I found a massive back eddy sheltered from the tide and I was able to drag baits around a clean bottom real slow. No bites but knowledge gained I then went and had some fun with Bass on the Launce that I managed to keep alive. Drifting through 4 knots of tide over pinnacles and reefs I had terrific fun with the best Bass going 4lb to 5lb, the biggest I saw would have gone 7 or 8lb but as I'd already hooked a Bass on the Eel I was using he decided on chomping my weight, next that weight will be a Dexter Wedge! Great fun, back in for 9pm flippin exhausted. Hopefully that's rekindled me to just find the time and whatever the work load just to get out there, great fun!!

19th May

The new Daiwa Saltist single and two speed reels have just come in to stock. Cracking little reels with oodles of power and given there size makes them a cracking piece of kit on a braid set up for the boat. http://www.alderneyangling.com/daiwa1.htm

Last night on Smuggler Kevin Dudridge managed a cracking 23lb turbot which was by far the biggest in a catch of around 25 fish between three anglers. Then this morning first drift.......bang, one of 18lb as well!

18th May

More Raglou Eels listed on my Plugs and Lures page in the Mail Order section of the site. 

Good numbers of Turbot around still, the odd Brill being thrown in for good measure as well. Plenty of bait around with Mackerel and Launce on the banks. Lots of Tope reported too. First of the Bass showing as well, happy days. 

12th May

Good numbers of Turbot being caught on the offshore banks with fish to 14lb reported from yesterday. just the two charter boats here as well, shame. Lots of Tope being caught as well.

Here is a nice flattie caught today by Bruce 'Shirley Temple' Hurson weighing in at 12lb 4oz caught aboard Dick Smiths boat. This was one of seven landed, not bad for a couple of hours ;-)

A cracking photo and fish below, here we have Shane who was aboard Rob Thompsons Shogun last week with a 45lb Tope.

Shore sport showing more Gars and Pollack to 4lb. A short session for myself down one of the cliff marks resulted in 4 dogfish. One or two Bass showing on the plugs. No reports of Mullet so not sure if they are still there as they were in previous numbers.

The new and long awaited Red Gill Evo's have arrived. Available in two sizes (4"/115mm and 7"/178mm) they come in 10 different colours of which we are stocking 8 of them. In blister packs of 4's and 3's according to size they are £4.95 per packet, special offer for three. Take a look  here to find them. 

7th May

Another windy weekend to look forward to. Shall probably sneak up somewhere and have a dabble though. Several of you have asked how the Tope fishing has been and up until yesterday no-one had really had a go for them, now they have and the fishing as expected was phenomenal. Lots of fish in the 20lb to 40lb range. All good sport and even better all these fish as expected get returned. 

I have 3 second hand Daiwa Sandstorms 13' rung for fixed spool for sale. Drop an email ( mark@alderneyangling.com ) for a price for one or all three with location of delivery if interested. They're in good condition, hardly used with slight markings. Bargain for someone.

6th May

Quick update on the fishing, plenty of Turbot to report, lots of small fish being returned which is common sense and good news. Having aid that these small fish are still a legal size, boats reporting around 15 to 20 fish which makes the day worthwhile. Other than Turbot no-one is trying much else other than wrecking. The first of the Cod starting to show but mainly its Pollack to 16lb and if your lucky at slack tide the odd Ling. Plenty of Mackerel in now north of the island.

Shore sport much the same. Pollack and Gars around the end of the Breakwater and Raz. Those Mullet are still about! A solitary Codling caught from the Breakwater, small Bream too reported on baits on the bottom. I went last night for a few hours, just a lot of Pout for me and a decent Edible Crab.......bonus!

26th April

Cracking picture below of young Zac Eastwood with a 5lb 8oz Mullet previously reported. Well done Zac!! They're still there!

24th April

The Mullet are still there. Yesterday local 'gentleman anglers' Blake Jackson and Steve Mellor had a couple of fish out. Saw some absolute lunking great fish too. As you can see from the pictures you can fish out of the car if you wish! James Madsen from Bristol pictured with one of his many fish on his recent visit and Nigel 'Happy' Bowditch with one of the better ones. Maybe it wasn't a double!! 

23rd April

Some good news for some regarding traveling to Alderney. Alderney Shipping has launched a passenger service within one of its freight ships. Now its not cruise liner facilities but for fishermen it could be ideal not just on the price of getting here but also because you won't be limited to baggage. The route is from Poole to Alderney, departing Poole on a Monday afternoon with return trips on any following Wednesday. It has started immediately with prices ranging from £65 one way or £110 return. Catering for up to a maximum of 12 people it does offer an alternative. There is also a route from Guernsey to Alderney with costs at £25 one way and £40 return with sailings to Guernsey on a Tuesday and return on a Wednesday. For more details you can ring 01202 678732 or 01481 824484. Currently it is for the summer season only April to September.

21st April

If you enjoy your competition boat fishing then there is a cracking competition being held of Lymington in mid May. Opportunities abound for many different species of fish and will no doubt also include their run of Cod they get there this time of year. It is a species hunt for pairs but up to 10 of any one species counted. Fish earn points and cards are marked on each boat with the skipper as the adjudicator. All good fun. If you need entrance forms and competition rules drop me an email on mark@alderneyangling.com and I can forward them to you.