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30th June

Aha.......................an improvement in the weather at last. The weekends forecast looks absolutely fantastic, the best of the spring/summer so far. I have some good mates over for a few days, (well one good mate and a MONG!) so will be afloat and really looking forward to it. Turbot and Brill on the banks in reasonable numbers, a few Bass reported so we will be giving that a go. Hopefully we'll manage to see some fish in to double figures, not many reported though so we'll need a bit of luck on our side for that. Some wrecking planned too which I am really looking forward too as reports have been good with plenty of rather large Cod caught and hopefully I'll get the Ling I need for my species hunt. Last weekend saw an abysmal Sunday, plenty of Alderney fog meant swelly and breezy conditions so we stayed close to the island. We opted to go Tope fishing and they never played ball, a drift up and down the Swinge saw a poor return of just dogfish. Monday was different as we anchored a wreck in the Channel. Eels to 40lb but I lost an absolute clonker, the biggest eel I have ever latched in too. In less than three minutes it bit its way through 150lb nylon! Plenty of Pollack but no size too them. Once we had a box with no Cod showing we came back to the island and anchored a bank for Ray. They never showed neither but we did manage a couple of nice Brill and then a mix of Black Bream, Dogs, Pout and more Pollack.

Shore fishing, as it was with all the pelagic species showing well. Some Bass falling to lures but having to work hard for them. Young Nigel is doing some bottom fishing with baits and looking for Eels, none have shown but he has had some stonking Huss with the best at 13lb plus! Picture below:

25th June

Everyone is thinking the same at the moment if you live in the English Channel area, just where is the Summer? Very difficult to get afloat and this is having an adverse effect on our sport. This week was very challenging for the boats that arrived from the UK, fair play to the anglers that gave it a good crack though in unfavorable conditions. The tides were small so Bassing was out of the question, anchoring opportunities would have been good but few took that option especially as it was a struggle to find shelter from the strong 'breeze' so bank fishing was the only option for most. The drift speed was too quick due to the wind strength much of the time so this for most of the boats accounted for few fish being caught plus seas conditions were not in favour. However Turbot and Brill appear to be here, more Brill than Turbot I have to say but a good forecast next week will give us a better insight.

Shore sport tailed off too as the tides dropped away, beginning of the week Bass and Pollack were falling to lures with the Savage Gear Sandeels proving most effective, plenty of Wrasse, Gars and Mackerel through out the week reported though.

16th June

Species 2011 Challenge update here.

12th June

Two cracking fish caught aboard Lymington based Shogun this week, a 24lb Cod caught north of here and a cracking Turbot caught in 'orrible conditions during the week. The flatfish fishing has been hit and miss but some boats have still done really well, Silver Spray from Poole had a couple of red letter days with quite a few double figure fish with the best topping out at 17lb 8oz, film crew aboard as well for the TV so all too look forward too. Tope fishing has yet again been fantastic. Bass are increasing in numbers and reports of the the first of the Black Bream. Pollack, Cod and ling all to the north of the island. Blondes, Gurnards and Couches Sea Bream to 3lb amongst other fish caught this week.

I managed a couple of trips in the boat this week, Thursday I was lure fishing and we managed Bass, Pollack and Wrasse and then yesterday I was species hunting and first drift on the Schole I managed a Tub Gurnard, number 39 for 2011! The sea  conditions weren't great and the plan was to head further south for a Ray or two (well one would be nice so long as it was on my rod!) but we held firm. Just as well as we boated a succession of Bass, Brill and Turbot plus more tasty Gurnards. I have a fascination for them I don't know why?? The sea flattened so I did opt to move and this is where it all went wrong. Anchored up on a bit of mixed hard ground on a bank dropping sharply from 52' to 80' we were confident. In two hours though Gary and I had about 30 doggies and no sign of anything else, the wind 'freshened' causing white tops everywhere, water fell from the sky too and we had a long plod home! Once in the Swinge we had a drift, no touches. Then we went around to the east end of the island hoping for a Blonde but only managed Pout, more Doggies, and a delightful Red Gurnard.

10th June

Fieona's Blog:
Tonight, I thought Mark was acting weird. We had made plans to meet at a nice restaurant for dinner.
I was shopping with my friends all day long, so I thought he was upset at the fact that I was a bit late, but he made no comment on it. Conversation wasn't flowing, so I suggested that we go somewhere quiet so we could talk. He agreed, but he didn't say much. I asked him what was wrong;
He said, 'Nothing..' I asked him if it was my fault that he was upset. He said he wasn't upset, that it had nothing to do with me, and not to worry about it.
On the way home, I told him that I loved him. He smiled slightly, and kept walking. I couldn't explain his behavior I don't know why he didn't say, 'I love you, too.'
When we got home, I felt as if I had lost him completely, as if he wanted nothing to do with me anymore. He just sat there quietly, and watched TV and put his teletext on. He continued to seem distant and absent.
Finally, with silence all around us, I decided to go to bed. About 15 minutes later, he came to bed. But I still felt that he was distracted, and his thoughts were somewhere else.
He fell asleep - I cried. I don't know what to do. I'm almost sure that his thoughts are with someone else. My life is a disaster.
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Mark's Blog:
Boat wouldn't start, can't figure it out.

Sorry couldn't resist that one!!

6th June

We have two fantastic braid offers below but of course that's not why I've logged on here, I never promote much tackle on this page like I should if I had half a head screwed on, better than that I've added two species to my species count for the year, not any old two neither, they were on my 'difficult' list!! Update here.

Managed this Red Gurnard today as well, nice fish!

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1st June

Its been another good week of fishing around the island and beyond. Fishing the sandbanks is still producing plenty of flatties. The Turbot seem to be away from their earlier haunts and now can be caught on many of the smaller banks and even right up to the coastline. A couple of shore caught ones have been reported in this last fortnight, this follows on from seeing a few caught last Winter as well. Maybe a sign of healthy fish stocks? Maybe ask a scientist!!  Lots of small fish of which good numbers are being returned and it now appears to be an accepted practice that if you want good fishing then we need to return fish to give them a chance to spawn, none of this commercial size limit nonsense whereby maybe a fish is caught and not even had a chance of one spawning season. Best fish this week, that I was told of, was caught aboard Arthur Savage's Lymington based charter boat Private Venture which dropped the scales to 21lb, angler was Glen Toms. Where the Turbot have moved off they have been replaced with good number so Brill, again lots of smaller fish but some good ones to 9lb have been landed. Bass are starting to increase in numbers as well, live baits a must. Plenty of Tope which provide great fun on light tackle. Further off on the wrecks there are plenty of Pollack to 14lb, Cod too showing in reasonable numbers, the odd Ling as well. I managed a trip mid week and sampled some good wreck fishing with a mix of Cod and Pollack. After half a day of that I went down on the banks picking a couple of friends as I passed the island so we could try our hand at the Turbot and Brill. Not great success but very pleasant with 4 fish to boot. Nigel Dupont pictured below with a nice sized Brill, his best ever!

Shore sport is rather exciting with lures for Pollack and Bass. Some mornings the Bass are alive having rounded up shoals of whitebait in corners of bays or around rocky ledges, this is the best time without doubt and although sport only lasts for an hour or so it is full on whilst it is there. Plenty of Gars, Mackies and Wrasse too. The very odd Turbot I mentioned earlier but not much coming on bottom baits.

I'm a frequent visitor to www.planetseafishing.com due its wealth of information for the keen angler, of course I also put reports on there. Their latest addition are these absolutely brilliant pages on species identification and more importantly rigs. The species identification is comprehensive with pictures of fish as opposed to drawings with good descriptive detail too, that's on this link http://issuu.com/djpthurso/docs/psf-species-book . Even more impressive though was the rigs book. Just when you thought you knew most of the rigs out there a flick through this will extend your imagination further. There are some cracking rigs in here to cover every angle of your fishing, easy to build too, take a look here http://issuu.com/djpthurso/docs/psf-book-of-rigs.

25th May

A mixed bag weather wise this week but most charters made it over. Seemed to affect the fishing too as that was a mixed bag too. Shogun seemed to have the best of it with Turbot to the right side of 14lb, a few Brill and some Bass. Tope fishing was good for them as well on the day they chose with around 20 fish to 50lb. Take a look at Robs website on www.beyondthebluecharters.co.uk or you tube for a video he took playing out the Tope on fixed spool jigging gear, phenomenal fun.

Fie and I 'snuk' out for an afternoon at anchor taking advantage of the small tides and calm weather looking for Rays and Gurnards. Although action wasn't fast and furious as it can be on this particular mark we did have Conger, Dogs, Pollack, Gurnards, Pout and Mackerel, a bit of fun and a bit for tea! I added to my species count too for the year (report here) whilst Fie managed her first ever Red Gurnard.

24th May

Another massive gap between updates, sorry about that. Plenty of Turbot were being caught at the beginning of this period, it thinned out in the last 10 days with Turbot numbers being replaced by better numbers of Brill but not to the level the Turbot were. However some cracking Brill caught though with fish around 9lb almost common place. I just had some anglers in the shop whom were aboard Poole based True Blue today who hit a purple patch of Turbot with a good number of fish which suggest the Turbot have moved from their usual locations! The lads had some good fishing with one lucky lad finding 9 flats to his rod alone! One or two bass showing too, well more than one or two of course, when the effort goes in some good fishing can be had. Tope fishing at times is quite incredible with these mini sharks running to 55lb.

Shore sport much the same. Bass falling to lures, soft plastics as opposed to hard lures. Plenty of Gars, Pollack to 5lb and one or two Mackerel. A small Turbot was caught from the Breakwater, I believe it may have gone around 2lb. Tozer as we know him caught a Smoothound which I believe he targeted, well done that man!

Our new boat arrived last Thursday so after a quick clean up and a run on the usual checks we had two days fishing over the weekend. First day was spent firstly on the Schole Bank where we found it slow but did manage to find Turbot, Brill, Bass, and of course I was sneaking out mini species to add to my species hunt which you can read here. We shortened the day down by heading off for some Tope action, young Matthew stayed on the boat, Jamie left to do the family duties and Fieona came out to play which was great. We filled the bait tank with live mackerel and once we got the pick in Matthew dropped his terminal gear, as it was descending he started to ask the question 'How long before the Tope come..................oh I'm in!!!' Perfect!! We then enjoyed 3 hours of manic fishing with Fieona and Matt catching 5 or 6 a piece, think I managed something similar but I had to spend some time fishing for a Huss for my species quest.....................nailed it!

The following day saw us out in some uncomfortable weather, a good day to test the boat which passed with flying colours, unfortunately I never, I was just one colour but different shades..................green. So the boat had more than one christening on her first Alderney adventures! With difficult fishing conditions, after a move or two we did manage to find some Pollack and Dogs but it was Dave that nailed the day with two 17lb Blondes, one after the other. With an increasing wind, swell and 'surfy' conditions we had to give in. First impressions of the boat though are good and we are really looking forward to some great fishing and boating

Pictures below are Brian Gourley with a plump Turbot and David Cheal with his first ever Brill, both IOW lads over on an enjoyable charter with Colin Dukes on local boat Smuggler, Jamie with a nice Brill too caught on Saturday, Matt cuddled up to his best Tope and Dave with one of his 17lb Blondes.

8th May

Still plenty fishies here, doesn't change much in a day does it? I got out on Saturday night and achieved my 30th species for the year which you can find here.

7th May

I never realised its been so long since my last update. Boat fishing has been really good if you are after a Turbot or two. Following on from last seasons excellent catches it appears we have a repeat for this year. Good numbers located on the normal banks but with a lot of small fish; doubles do occur though pretty regularly and the best flattie I heard this week was one of 17lb.  We must continue to return the smaller fish to enable them to spawn. A Turbot does not spawn its first season until it is 35cm to 40cm long which is why many boats and anglers fish to an 18" limit. Plenty of Tope reported too with good fishing enjoyed on the reefier marks, fish running to around 45lb and if one 'catches the tide' you are in for an incredible scrap. Plenty of Pollack reported on the wrecks too.

Shore sport has been good this week too with a flurry of Bass caught all round the island on soft plastics and hard plugs. The best session was by a local rod that caught half a dozen in a single evening session that included 2 of 6lb and one of 9lb! Another lad has managed 13 during the course of the week after work, good fishing.

I've struggled to find time to go fishing and locally managed only one session since the boat trip reported below. I went to conquer my 3 Bearded Rockling and chose a venue with a grueling climb, but despite finding another half a dozen Shore Rockling I never made contact with the elusive one. I did get a nice 4lb Pollack for tea though. I was also fortunate enough to be invited to fish on the River Test for some Brown and Rainbow Trout fly angling. A very enjoyable day doing something different and despite having an appalling cast managed to find 2 Brown Trout, which of our syndicate of 6 was joint top rod. I dropped a corker of about 6lb at the net trying to bully the last bit over the rim of the landing net and the fly popped out!

On the quarry an Alderney habit is developing, lack of rod hours going in but reward for effort is high. Trout and Carp easily caught still with the record for a Brown Trout smashed to bits this week with a fish of 7lb 4oz. Good news is he is still in there as it is catch and release only.

26th April

A good trip was enjoyed aboard Smuggler, our local charter boat, on Sunday. Plenty of flatties were caught with the best a Turbot at 13lb. With 7 on the boat I was bottom rod on just 3! 17 Turbot and Brill were caught before I got one in the net and the stick was flying, I wish I had a set of ear muffs! However when I got the Turbot and Brill I did switch to other species for my species hunt (which I have added too here) but I had already been hammered! In our company was Alan Heywood and his two sons, very novice but they did as they should and listened to the skipper and they caught the same as the 'experienced' four..........just goes to show ya eh? Know it alls we're not!! Now they are blessed with that knowledge forever. Pictured below is Ben with the best previously mentioned, Dave got out too and had his first ever Brill, amazed he'd never caught one before...............maybe cos he has been out with me for the past 7 years (there's theme going on here!). Its much the same for everyone else on the banks. The previous day Colin did well with another group of anglers.

Shore sport is providing lots of activity with some decent Pollack, Mackerel and Gars. One or two Black Bream reported too? Not sure why they are here??

23rd April

Plenty going on here, its come alive! Starting in the quarry the Carp fishing is easy, however I a not taking nothing away from Nigel who is catching most of them but the two pictured below were crackers, both high teen fish. I wasn't there then but he did beat me a couple of evenings ago 10 to 2 with both of us having a mix of Mirrors and Commons. I also managed a rather nice looking Brown Trout before I switched to the Carp. Fie got in on the act too with a cracking Trout, no picture as the fish was rather tired and the concern was to get it returned sooner than later.

Shore sport, plenty of Gars, some big Mullet around, Mackerel already from the Breakwater and one or two Bass reported. Its all good! Picture below of young Zac Eastwood with a personal best Mullet of 8lb 13oz, a absolute cracking fish caught in the harbour in a NE wind. His Dad Chris is in the picture to ensure he gets his hands on it too!

Boat sport, hit and miss with the Turbot and Brill this week but more hits than misses. Plenty of bait around too to make things easier. These tides we should see some good fishing.

I've got my species chase underway again, a quick update here http://www.alderneyangling.com/species_hunt_2011.htm

18th April

Back from the Florida Keys (photo's are on our Facebook page), had a great time there and now back to normality, well as normality is in Alderney........what a fantastic place to come home too! Fishing wise I have a bit of a handle on what has been happening. Shore sport turning out Pollack and Wrasse in good numbers with both species running to around 4lb. Garfish are around too which is useful bait wise as I have a trip booked with Smuggler this weekend whilst we await delivery of our new boat. One or two Bass to 5lb falling to plugs but not too many, they will increase in numbers over the next month or so. Some good Mullet around too with an 8lb 13oz fish the best landed, lots spotted cruising the rock marks to double figures, same as last year! First of the charter boats have arrived and returning good catches of Turbot. Lots of small fish amongst them which are being returned. In Corbletts quarry the Carp are in the shallows feeding heavily on the natural food. Nigel Bowditch managed two cracking fish on the same session, both around 19lb plus, photos to follow on those. Plenty of Brown Trout too.

Send mail to chris@alderneyangling.com with questions or comments about this web site.
Last modified: February 06, 2011