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29th June

Weather once again this week has been very poor for the visiting charter boats, thus making any kind of fishing very difficult. However Valkyrie managed to find a dozen Turbot yesterday and 1 Brill with all fish falling in the 8lb to 13lb bracket. Another boat found Bass to 10lb on the banks. Bream, black ones, have been fairly steady with up to 50 on a session, with these Gurnards, Bull Huss, Congers and Dogfish have been caught as well. So it seems a little better than last week, lets hope the weather improves so we can all enjoy a bit of fine weather.

25th June

Weather not too pleasant again, buckets of rain and plenty of wind. Shame the guy below isn't benefiting from it!!

Saturdays session with the kids produced Pollack, Garfish, Mackerel and Wrasse. Not a huge amount of fish but enough to keep them amused as you can see.

I never went yesterday, wind wasn't bad but I would imagine the sea state wouldn't have been to pleasant for my boat. It hammered down with rain most of the day as well so stayed in and hung some doors instead! Must be worth brownie points!!

22nd June

Windy weather kept the boats inshore this week and none of the boats excelled fish wise, difficult for everyone including the skippers who have to work extra hard to find fish for their customers and of course for anglers disappointed that they can't get to the grounds that they want to. However the week has turned up a mix of fish and the talk of town is the amount of Couches Sea Bream. For most boats it was a first fish ever and certainly for anglers it was the first time they have seen such a beautiful and exotic fish. They are great eating too. Shore anglers reading this will be licking their lips in anticipation as this is a species that comes in close to the shoreline, several fish over 3lb were caught with, of the dozen or so caught, 2lb was mentioned fairly often! Could be a good season and maybe now is time to target them. Several Brill were caught as well as Blondes, Bull Huss, Congers from cleanish ground, Gurnards, Tope and 4 Codling. So lots of species, some of it surprising but overall it was scratching a barrel compared to Alderneys normal high standards.

20th June

Boat fishing has taken a turn for the worse this week. Normally the flatfish go a bit quiet end of July and August (although they never last year) but it seems they've switched off now which is a shame. Hopefully they'll come back on as they tend to do towards the end of the season. There are a few bass about as we demonstrated the weekend, Shogun got in to some nice fish. The back up species of Tope, Bull Huss and Bream have failed to save the day too, lets hope there is an upturn soon. I need to mention this however, and its not desperation in order to talk about quality fish, I would have mentioned it even if there were 40 flatfish per boat all over 20lb .......................... honest! Read it quick .......... 2lb plus Garfish caught aboard Valkyrie this morning!!

Mullet to 5lb 4oz were caught over the weekend from the coastline, Jersey lads were over and managed to find fish. Plenty of Pollack, Gars, with a few Mackerel and for those searching out the rocky ledges and bays with their plugging gear, well they are finding a few Bass.

18th June

We had a day of two halfs yesterday and that wasn't half in the Albert and half in the Coronation! Early start as per usual with Tope the quarry, however we had a few obstacles to clear first. One was getting the Mackerel and secondly getting to the mark wasn't going to be easy. We started close in for the Mackerel around the Breakwater and just picked up odd fish, so we headed out to cross the Swinge, however we had to go the long way round. The big spring tide and the leftovers of two days of windy weather left an uncomfortable sea for us to travel in. Anyway after a couple of stop offs we were three miles north of the island but there were plenty there. Having done that we headed to the mark where we knew the Tope were. We could already see from the distant that it was never going to be easy due to the aforementioned tide and swell/chop conditions. We looked anyway. Where we had to head to is amongst some rocks which given there position push the tides (around 7 to 9 knots on large springs) in different directions especially on the spring tides so it is a case of finding a 'path' through the overfalls. Once done you fish a massive back eddy in calm conditions, do your fishing and then get out before the tide ebbs away. In better conditions it is far simpler but today we wanted to go Toping, and today wasn't ideal conditions................and we failed. It simply wasn't safe enough to get to where we needed to be. We did try going in from another direction but it wasn't going to happen. So the first couple of hours totally wasted we then headed off for a sandbank to see if we could find a flatfish. One 7lb Pollack, a couple of missed bites and a bait well full of live Launce  and that was the first half of the day complete.

I often get asked when you go fishing why do you go for so long? Often we are out from 7am and rarely do we get back before we see the next 7. Anyway today is the reason why. We fished around the many sandbanks around the island trying to locate the Bass and we were successful. Straight away we found three fish before a couple of blank drifts saw us venture away to find them. The fish were on and off all afternoon but in the end we managed approaching, if not over, 40 Bass with many fish in the 4-8lb bracket. A great session which made a great day for the three of us and one that makes it easier to go to work on a Monday morning! (That's Gary and Jamie speak, I've got a hobby not a job!)

When we did travel home late evening on the same part of the tide in which we left for the Tope in morning, we had a look at where we tried to go in the morning only to inevitably see the sea had settled down, tide was racing through but it never had the swelly and choppy conditions of earlier in the day, was it tempting to run in and have a go for the Tope....................yes it was! 

The photos are of our best fish for each of us, as you can see I have the biggest hands and yes I was clearing the path for Jamie and Gary to get in amongst the real specimens..............what a skipper, puts them on the fish and let them catch the biggest! I did catch the most though ;-)

16th June

Is this a good day or a bad day? Three Turbot into double figures and a 7lb Brill. I guess some would say not good and others not bad. This is the best part of a catch of fish aboard Alderney Felix II yesterday for Peter Youngs party. Peter is a regular visitor to Alderney but unfortunately couldn't make the trip this time due to ill health. However he has been on the phone keeping up to date, we wish you well Peter and good to hear you are on the right side of recovery. Elsewhere the boats made a run for it Thursday and Friday due to a couple of windy days but Stuart has managed to get these boys afloat and fishing. I guess that is the advantage of flying in and booking a local boat.

14th June

Turbot and Brill have gone off the boil, from the back end of last week the fishing has been quiet. I would have thought these spring tides would have seen it come back on again but it hasn't. Reflecting on what has happened this year with the high sea temperature at the start of the season and what normally happens with a lull in the summer months then maybe the lack of fish should come as no surprise. It is though hard to predict what will happen. In normal seasons there is a lull at some point during July and through August with the flatties coming back on for September. Maybe this year with the cracking start there was maybe the fish have done what they come up on the banks for and this is the lull. Luckily however there is good sport with Tope and Bream which with the fun sport that they can provide on light tackle is giving the anglers something to cheer about. Best Bream reported to me was a fish of 6lb on board Tiger Lily, whom also had 5 Turbot to 17lb 8oz. Plenty of Tope about but not giving you any more ideas than that!

11th June

Got out again yesterday. Cod were still the target and this time we headed well East in to the Channel to a wreck in 250 feet of water. Immediately we got there we found fish, Pollack and Cod (Yippee!). An easier day than Friday but we still had to keep looking for the fish around the wreck. No doubt though, despite the depth of water we were probably spooking them with noise and the sounder. The day finished with about 30 Pollack, 13 Cod and 2 Ling, best Pollack around 12/13lb, and we did have quite a few doubles, and the best Cod went 25lb with only 2 fish not making double figures. Another enjoyable day afloat in the sunshine a million miles from land!

Normans Cod of 23lb gave him a hard time but it was all smiles in the end and chips for the Cod!

Jamie Sugden with his best Cod, I can't remember how big this was but it wasn't as big as his grin!

9th June

Wow........done it..........got afloat yesterday and what a lovely feeling. It's been a while now but I am back in the groove and hopefully I'll get my weekly dose of salt air in my lungs cos I have missed it in a bad way! Fishing wise it wasn't great, I headed west looking for Cod and exploring new ground to me so I was never armed with a great game plan. However with flat calm conditions moving around was easy enough. First wreck was nigh on 30 miles off, this we stuck with the first half of the day despite a net running along it. We managed a few Pollack, not big, best fish 7lb, and a cracking 29lb Ling which Martin Huddart caught. The commercial boat responsible for the net came along and pulled it in, only 20 fish in it so that was the signal to move away. When we arrived at the next mark, still some way offshore, we were greeted to the gorgeous sighting of a Pilot Whale. Bonus. We drifted away and managed a few more Pollack and a nice plump 12lb Cod. Moved off again, this time spotting a dolphin, to a wreck closer to Alderney and the shipping lanes and although we connected with a lot of good fish we somehow managed to lose more than we landed. All in all though it was great to be out, not a lot of fish for the 80 odd miles we traveled but good fun.

Martin with his 29lb Ling-a-Ding!                Myself with a 12lb Cod 

Saturday our session on the Breakwater produced a nice Pollack for Daphne Burland and couple of Garfish, one of which was massive, a very creditable 1lb 8oz to youngster Gab Hamon. Fog was really bad which made it all eerie, notice the yacht in the background of Gabs picture.

6th June

Below is Roger Lowe’s Group of 6 anglers all out aboard Alderney Felix II, our local charter boat. From the group three had never caught Turbot before, two had never caught Brill before and one had never caught a Bass. They all have  now thanks to Stuart. There were also two Alderney Grand Slams amongst the group (Turbot, Brill and Bass on same day to the same angler. On one drift the three species also came to net!) There were 5 personal bests with Turbot to 15 ½lb and Brill to 7 ½lb and Bass to 8 ½lb. Other species caught were Pollack, Garfish, Weaver fish and Mackerel galore.

2nd June

Mark and Terry Marriner, landlord and lady of The Coronation, fishing for the first time ever from the Breakwater which resulted in a dozen or so fish. Garfish, Mackerel and Pollack came out during their session.

Local lads getting amongst the fun on another session with myself. 

The new Tiger Lily blasting her way in to harbour. A regular visitor to Alderney from Weymouth this is Chris Caines' 5th Tiger Lily but first Cat.

An 8lb Bass was caught in the harbour last night and one of the young lads, Treeve Perry, had a Golden Grey from one of the harbour walls on smelly ragworm. So when my Ragworm dies don't it still catches fish!! :-).

1st June

Just a quickie, another cracking Blonde yesterday on Stuart Troughts boat Alderney Felix II. Again the angler was Howie Gaydon and although the picture doesn't do the fish justice it did pull the scales down to 34lb/35lb.

31st May

Windy weather conditions have restricted the boats close to the island within a mile or so. Only Smuggler 5 managed to get down and away from it and was rewarded with a dozen or so flatfish. The other boats opted for light rods and spun for Pollack, Wrasse and Bass with the odd Mackerel. Alderney Felix II stuck to the bank fishing and their reward was a fine Blonde Ray of 31lb 6oz as well as a 14lb Turbot and a nice size Brill amongst the better of their catch.

Shore sport as before but in addition there has been dogfish reported from the Breakwater.

30th May

Here is Adam from the group of guys below..........see he did catch some fish.

29th May

I've just read my last post...............glorious weather.........my butt! Vicious northerly winds we were confronted with Sunday and Monday, some Bank Holiday that was! Anyway, I have some pictures for you to enjoy which were taken during a four day trip with Stuart Trought and Alderney Felix II by a group of guys from the Portsmouth area led by Dan Sissons. They had a terrific time with Stuart and rather than steal their thunder there will be a full report appearing on the this site: www.beachandboat.co.uk (copy and paste) where you will find forums and catch reports.

This trio of pictures sees Dan, Simon (just!) and Pete.

And this set Pete, Chris and Dan again with the picture of Pete not just showing a fine Brill of 7lb 14oz but also showing the vast amount of room on Alderney Felix II. Ad is missing from this set of pics but I assure you he did catch some. Remember to take a look at the above site quoted above.

Valkyrie is a regular visitor to Alderney and the week before last arrived with some chums of mine from Southampton. The pictures below shows Steven Hazell with a 35lb Tope and his first ever flatfish, a Brill of 5 and a Turbot of 6lb.

Shore sport consisting of the usual. I had a tough session Saturday with the kids on the breakwater with just three fish, 2 Gars and a Pollack for 2 hours but generally it has been better. Bass being caught regularly to 3lb.

Today I am canceling my boat trips with my mates from home due to a breezy forecast, force 5 is forecasted regularly during their stay so we will be rescheduling. They didn't fancy doing the tiling after all! ;-)

25th May

Glorious weather we are having at the moment which means plenty of boats getting afloat and anglers dusting their gear off and trundling off to the local shore marks. Its good to see things kicking off at last on a business side albeit late. Boat sport has tailed off as the tides have dropped away during the week, flattie sport particularly. Plenty of fish were about but a lot of small stuff, best fish reported to me was 17lb. Quite a few Blondes about, a stack of Tope and Bass are showing up on the usual marks. Wrecks are showing plenty of Pollack, some good reports of Cod as well.

Due to our work commitments through out the winter I have only just got started on my shore trips for the youngsters. Plenty of fish from the Breakwater. Sunday we only managed 15 minutes fishing due to the swell pushing the top of the wall as soon as we arrived, the 5 youngsters got 7 gars between them with none of them blanking. Off we went to the local quay and never saw another fish! Yesterday I went back to the Breakwater with two beginners and in a 2 hour session which involved mainly tuition and setting the gear up we still managed 12 Garfish, a Mackerel and a Pollack.

I've also just received some photos from some anglers from Hungerford (my thanks to them if they log on to the site) enclosing photo's of Turbot caught aboard our local boat Alderney Felix. Very pleased with the weeks fishing they had but the bit that has just hit me is there is a photo of a Sea Trout that they never mentioned they caught, 5lb 6oz it went. It was caught on a 4" silver lure from the Breakwater. Amazing!

This weekend I am hoping to get my boat cleaned up and anti fouled and start out on my own fishing once again. Next week sees the arrival of a couple of my buddies from England so we'll give it a bash from Wednesday to Sunday. If the weather beats us then it will be a working break for him, tiling, plaster boarding and any other loose jobs I can find for them!! I'll break the news gently when he gets here!

18th May

Its the end of another breezy week making life afloat very difficult. Brill have been around in good numbers, put those a long with a few Turbot and there have been a few fish of the various banks. Nothing big though which is a shame but it seems different patterns of fishing on different tides. Tope fishing has been phenomenal, on board Valkyrie this week it was all go on one of the morning sessions with hook ups taking place within a minute of the bait being on the bottom and very often all the anglers were in to fish together. Best fish I think fell to Steve Harder which was close to 50lb if it wasn't and ray Barron had a 41lb fish caught on a Fladen Multi Quiver Rod!

From the shore there is plenty on the float. I also reported recently of a successful nights Congering for some anglers, well apparently they had Eels on three of their nights over here so when targeted they are obviously about.

14th May

A couple of fish piccys below both featuring John Deam from Teignemouth. One is a small Bass caught from Plattes Saline which was one of several to 2lb, this wasn't the biggest. Also numerous Pollack were caught at the other end of the beach by his fishing partner. On another session featuring more Bass and Wrasse was this lovely 1lb 14oz Couches Sea Bream. Unfortunately the sun has made it look too silvery but it was beautifully marked as they are with the red colour and blue patches around its dorsal.

12th May

Poor weather conditions put paid to any boat fishing this week but some  of the boys decided that their holidays were booked and they'll do some shore fishing. They done ok too, plenty of Wrasse to keep them amused, plus a few Pollack and Garfish but their highlight was two Conger Eels last night. No weights were given to me but being boat anglers they know a good Eel when they see one, the biggest was around 6 feet long and it was just their description of it showed to me it was a good fish. The other was smaller and 'released' at the waters edge. Well done lads.

5th May

Good days and bad days in the boats with no particular pattern. One of the windiest days produced the most flats so the you would think in calmer conditions when anglers can fish better then they would catch more, unfortunately not the case. Tim Hoare who crews for Chris Tett on Peace and Plenty is pictured below with a fine 12lb Bass which was caught in the harbour after the 'punters' had gone to their B&B's, bet that went down well! What I want to know is did he take the money for the heaviest fish on that trip?!! From the shore we have had the first reports of Mackerel so it is full on now.

30th April

It has fished steadily in the boats towards the end of last week with enough flatties about to keep everyone happy. Glen Cairns (Valkyrie) was particularly pleased with his crew for the week. Only one of the 6 fish with any sort of regularity but because of this they paid extra attention to what they were being told and had a reasonable week. Not many real biggies have been landed but this fine fish of 23lb fell to Andy Leadham towards the end of the week before aboard Josh Simmonds Revolution.

27th April

Turbots thinned out as the week wore on but there were some bonus fish for some anglers, a couple of 19lb'ers were caught, 13lb fish reported and other double figure fish. a few Brill mixed in as well but not so many Bass.

Below is a picture of that 4lb 9oz Plaice caught earlier in the week, thanks to James for sending it in. Jasper Osbourne caught it and tried to send me up the wrong 'garden path' as to where he caught it. For his misdemeanors I will now tell everyone......................................ok, no I won't, but it was local ;-)

23rd April (more news!)

Just had one of those cracking little stories that is good to hear. Two local anglers, one "..hasn't been fishing for ages..." and the other lad hasn't been fishing for 8 years. First cast 4lb 9oz Plaice (hopefully I'll get a picture later) which was a shock to them, good conditioned fish which was really thick. During the session they had Dogfish, Pout and a dozen or so Pollack. Fair play to them for getting out and having a bash.

23rd April

Shore sport improving all the time with more Garfish to 1lb8oz, Bass to 4lb and plenty of Pollack. Only a matter of time before Mackerel caught, report of some in a boat that was only a few hundred yards of shore. Plenty of Wrasse to and those Bream are still about.

Boat sport has been curtailed with 'thick' water. There appears to be plenty of fish there as fish are being caught at slack water but catches diminish once the tide gets underway and stirs all the sediment back up. It will clear soon though.

19th April

Shore reports consisting of more Bream and Bass. A cracking fish was lost on the surface to a local rod this morning. The lads are struggling in the boats, spring tides probably not helping. Plenty of Tope about though which provides a lot of fun.

16th April

Here are some photos for a change. Left to right, all fish were personal bests. The beers were on Stu Bridgeman when he caught this cracking fish, which was reported earlier, 27lb this beauty went and it was one of the best Turbot ever caught aboard Smuggler 5. Next is Kevin Duddidge with a Brill of 8lb 8oz, there seems to be a few of these about which is early really. And not to be out done local angler and 'Mullet' expert Dick Smith caught this beautifully marked Turbot of just over 9lb.

11th April

You know how sometimes you can make a statement like 'there's loads of fish out there' then you go and blank, or 'we had sunshine all week' then you go to the same place and it pees with rain and blows a hooly. Well I made statement a couple of days ago of '...no big fish reported yet'. There is now, Smuggler V landed a Turbot of 27lb yesterday in amongst a reasonable catch of Turbot and Brill. At the other end of the scale the numbers of fish are being made up of smaller fish which again bodes well for future sport as the vast majority of these smaller fish go back.

Around the shores sport is made up of Mullet to 4lb 8oz, Pollack, Wrasse and plenty of Garfish. Schoolie Bass have fallen to most silver shaped lures but plugs aren't really proving their worth................yet!

7th April

Cracking weather at the moment allowing boats to get out and clear the cobwebs. There appears to be plenty of Bass about, and Turbot and Brill making regular appearances, no big fish reported though as of yet.

A night session last night for a couple of local rods produced 2 Conger Eels. Daylight sessions seeing quite a few Bass again, Pollack, Garfish, Wrasse and some small Bream. Given the relatively high water temperatures I wonder how long we will have to wait for the Mackerel this year, they are within a few miles of the island so it won't be long!

3rd April

Shore sport still the same, a few Mullet, a few Bass, albeit on the small side and small Bream are fairly plentiful. Out in the boat we have had the first reports of Turbot with a satisfying day aboard one of the visiting Charter boats. Best fish only 8lb but the numbers appear to be there unlike this time last year when sport was sparse to say the least. I guess it is something to do with the higher than normal water temperature. Wrecks are stacked up with Pollack close to the island and Bass, although not in good numbers were on every mark fished, even in Hurds Deep!

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Last modified: July 30, 2007