Alderney
Angling.com
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2nd November Reports from the shore are slow. If you want them there are Conger to be caught, a few sole (going to try tonight), but probably the best fish to target at present is a decent Bass. In Braye harbour there has been a few around the bay and quay with some good fish lost. Bream and Mullet should increase in numbers. Out in the boat on Sunday I had one of those trips which kept coming with problems that should have told me to stay at home. Steering cable popped out the head before I even launched, an increasing wind in stead of decreasing etc. Any way I got a 7lb 8oz Pollack to the boat, dropped a Bass, and Fieona got a bass of 3lb 4oz, a small pollack and garfish. Just inside of us was a boat that managed 11 bass to 7lb on plugs. 6th November Mullet proving worthwhile targeting as are Bass, Conger and if your not sick of the sight of them Pollack. There are a few Couches about too but Sole are proving a bit scarce. Still no sign of the Tope. I'm off on holiday till 19th of the month. If you are coming over and want to place bait orders that is fine. Leave a message on the machine on 01481 824884 as the shop will still be open but on limited hours. You will get a returns call. Shop will be open 9 to 1 on Saturday, 1 to 5.30 on Mondays and 4 to 6 on the other days whilst I am away. Champion of Champions Final is on when I get back so I will be looking forward to that and meeting the guys. See you soon 22nd November Back again! Champion of champions final were held over the weekend. Out in the boat sport was slow with exception to the first 90 minutes where there were 4 Brill, 1 Turbot, a decent Bass dropped, a Gurnard and a few other bits. The biggest flattie was around 5lb. On the Breakwater the lads faired ok. Sizeable were 8 species. Ballan and Cuckoo Wrasse, Pollack, Garfish, Red Gurnard, Black and Couches Bream, and one Pout. 80 fish were caught and released with exception to 2 fish and the biggest fish was a 7lb 12oz Pollack. One highlight to make a point of was when the boys were float fishing off the end of the Breakwater catching fish on a regular basis it was noted it had gone quiet. There were a couple of seagulls hovering and dropping tentatively to the water when a grey shape was spotted cruising through the floats. A Tope, or maybe some, had obviously got a whiff of the chum trail set up for the gars and decided to put in an appearance. Ten minutes later the fishing was full on again till the tide eased. Look out for full report of winners etc in the Sea Angling News next month. So for a boat report its looking a little slow. Other anglers that have been out have seen a few bream, a few brill and a few bass, nothing to do handstands and stuff about, good forecast tomorrow so I will have a crack so long as I fit my steering cable this afternoon ok. On the shore there is a bit more. Breakwater is probably your best bet for fish. Elsewhere Tope have shown to 37lb but not in numbers. Sole are up to 5 per rod weighing to 3lb. Mullet are shoaling up nicely now with several fish between 6 and 7lb. Trigger fish too have been reported fairly regularly. A few eels have been about too, nothing it would appear though over 30lb in the last couple of weeks whilst I've been away but no doubt I haven't managed to get all the catches in through the shop. Take note of winter opening hours on my other page. 25th November Trip in my own boat yesterday. Had high expectations that never really materialized. Headed out later than planned due to electrical failure which needed to be resolved so missed the best of the tide for the Bass and Pollack. Did manage 6 around two pound. Come away from that and searched around for some Bream and managed just the one, about 2lb as well. Did have three successive Cuckoo Wrasse on three successive drifts.......left that alone. Got to Milieu which is half way between Alderney and France in 130' water. It's made up of a rocky/rough bottom with three pinnacles in the area. Arrived earlier than planned so had the full run down, slack and build up of tide. Dropped a good fish which may have been a Cod, had the nod nod feel about it. Dropped another fish, and missed some Bull Huss. They're amazing aren't they? The perfect escape artists. Gave them plenty of line, felt plenty of weight, hit them hard, they're on, wind them of the bottom and wow...........they're off again! Are my hooks too blunt? Feel ok. Next drop....rattle rattle rattle. It's Bream or Pout, wind in then cos there is a bit of weight there, and blow me over a Pout about a pound is foul hooked through the upper back...............yes my hooks are sharp, but they don't catch Bull Huss!!! Got that rant out my system. Didn't land anything of note, just plenty of pout here. The sunset lovely so I steamed home. 26th November I managed half a day yesterday. Concentrated on Pollack and Bass. Tried four different marks before I found any fish of note. The last hour as the sun fell was brilliant fun. Didn't find any Bass but got in to some fine Pollack with the three best fish around 8lb. Quite a bit of fish in the 2 to 4lb range, might not be your cup of tea but it was great fun on light gear. 27th November All day yesterday, couldn't resist the Pollack fishing and the potential of some Bass. Fishing was real slow for the best party of the day and I thought the day before wasn't going to repeat itself but sure enough it did. I had Pollack and one Bass for the best part of the day till I got in to that last hour in which I caught something like 60 to 70 lb of Pollack averaging 5lb a piece. So much fun! On the shore the Bream seem to be on the increase with good numbers all week but not big fish. 2lb would be a fair report on the regular size of the better specimens. Bass seem to have gone quiet but fish still show. Wrasse to 5lb are have been caught and no doubt bigger ones are there. Congering has been slow this week. Mullet in good numbers with lots of fish reported in the 5 to 6lb range. Garfish still about in numbers. 2nd December Mullet sport proving to be ok with plenty of fish in the 5 to 6lb range still. Not much else being reported but there are fish about. Breakwater probably being your best bet. Sole, Red Mullet and a few Bream reported from Plattes Saline. I've had another two short boat trips after the Pollack. Both trips producing fish although the latter trip saw my biggest reef caught Pollack come out, 11lb 8oz or thereabouts, boat was bobbing too much to be totally accurate. On the same trip I had an encounter with a Tope which followed up two Pollack I had caught. The top fish was around 5lb and the lower fish was 2lb. As I leant in too grab the top fish a grey shape loomed below the boat and disappeared. Almost sure at what I saw I lowered the fish back in and for 20 or so seconds I had the Tope on the surface trying to have his fair share of the smaller Pollack. Having had a good view of the Tope I took the fish out of the water at which point he looked for the fish one more time before he made his descent to the bottom. Size wise...........even now I wish I paid even more attention. He was big and had no problem mouthing the 2lb Pollack, when I came in I said he was 8 feet long as he seemed to be the length of my cockpit but that seems too big but most definitely he was 6 to 7 feet long. 10th December Shore fishing is improving dramatically as the water temperature drops and as we come in to the Spring tides. Mullet fishing is showing plenty of fish in the 5lb to 6lb range and as of this week they are hitting the baits that are hard on the bottom so whether we will se a repeat of last year where they were virtually swimming up the beach in to your bait box then we will have to wait and see. Bream have shoaled up better than they were now the Tope numbers have eased off, but not big fish, best you can expect is 2lb 8oz. Bass have increased with lots of fish reported this week, several around the 8lb. Lots of bits too, Red Gurnards, Red Mullet, Cuckoo Wrasse amongst the unusual species with Small Eyed and Spotted Ray coming out too. Garfish about still, several fish again reported around 1lb 8oz. No-one fishing for Congers and Huss but they will be there. Out in the boats there seem to be a few Turbot about, not big fish though, with some Brill to 9lb. A few Bass and Pollack are in good numbers. Blondes are in good numbers too, fish to 35lb have been landed on longlines. 21st December Sorry about lack of updates, I lost some crucial bits and couldn't cope without my brother-in-law putting it all back again. Working computers isn't as easy as the fishing.........and that is basically how the fishing is, easy. OK, easy if you know how and we have had some guys over here from Teignemouth who obviously know how!! Roy Repton, Tim Bird, Wayne Butler and John Deem had a terrific time with many species with codling, sole, gurnards and mullet coming out in the same catches. The mullet fishing was pretty good for them, lots of fish between 4lb and 6lb, enough around 7lb and the two best fish were 8lb 11oz and 8lb 12oz. They were sure they lost double figure fish and saw plenty of them, one fish of 7lb 12oz was landed whilst being 'shadowed' by a far bigger fish. A double figure Bass was lost at the net on Roy's rod whilst fishing the Breakwater. Difficult here to drop net decent fish and despite Wayne's best efforts the swell one the day. Quite a few Sole were caught with the best couple of fish just small ounces away from the 3lb mark. Red Mullet to 1lb 6oz were caught and as I said lots of other bits too which made interesting fishing. I don't know the outcome on the eel fishing. Meanwhile Steve Harder and Nigel Bowditch had 5 days over here. Having a go for the Rays and Mullet, succeeding in the latter only with some good fish of their own. Steve hooked a definite double only for the fish to roll the line and take off like an exocet to Burrhou! Plenty of Bream and some small Bass too. For Steve again (Nigel used all his luck in the recent festival), he had four Red Mullet in as many casts plus they had their share of bits too. Not sure if that included the codling, for sure though the West Country boys had 7 or 8 fish. Steve and Nige also managed a session with the eels and landed a few. Local lads have got amongst the action too. Gary Maurice has found Sole ok, not big fish though, he has found some Ray too, best being a small eyed of 11lb 12oz. I had a report too of a Spotted but on hindsight it may well have been a small Blonde. But generally the fishing is good at the moment and with the excellent Mullet fishing set to continue we also await the second run of Bream which will hopefully bring the bigger fish closer to shore.No solid reports for the boat angling. Last lot of inclement weather I got my engine serviced and it's still out. Steve Jenkins managed Bream to 2lb 8oz with baited feathers on the drift plus a squid about 4lb! Meanwhile there are plenty of these in the harbour. 31st December Quite a good week from the shore. Bass to 8lb, Smoothhounds too 6lb 12oz and dogfish from the Targets. Russell and Ian up from Jersey have managed a good week. Amongst their bits and pieces they have managed a 14lb 8oz Undulate Ray from the back of the island plus a decent run of Mullet with the best fish topping 10lb by a couple of ounces. There is also Bream, Pollack, Sole featuring high in the bulk of the catches. Myself, well I managed a shore session yesterday with Fieona. It was her first go with a 'proper' beach rod and after one casting lesson before Christmas she was shoved in to the deep end in darkness. Proud to say she did well, distance and direction improved as the evening wore on!! To her credit she caught a Pollack and a small Bass. I managed a Red Mullet, Sole, Dogfish and Pout. Around us there was some Mullet to 6lb, plus more Pollack and Sole. I've also managed two trips in the boat this week, both short ones. The first was Monday and this one was with Fieona. Both of us had Pollack to 8lb 8oz and around 15 fish. Then on Wednesday I had more fish but nothing over 5lb.............however I had another of those Tope moments! I had struggled to find the Pollack, the cuttle they have been feeding on aren't there in the same numbers so I think the fish have thinned out. Anyway as it approached darkness I hit a shoal of Pollack grouped up like mackerel, but disappointingly they weren't big fish so the fun element wasn't there, till two grey shapes loomed beneath the boat. I think what had happened was the pack of Tope had shoaled up the Pollack, hence the smaller fish, and I was just in the right place at the right time. Anyway for 20 minutes the fishing was frenetic, especially with the Tope keep following the fish to the boat. that's twice that has happened, I swear next time I will have a large trace ready for a bit better sport!! After this I anchored up for a couple of hours in darkness in one of the bays but only managed Couches and Black Bream to 12oz in plague proportions plus a few pout. Just leaves me to wish you all the best for 2005 and thanks for reading my reports. |
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