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More for the 23rd!

Fieona's fishing career took another step towards folding again this afternoon. Last time she  was allowed to go she beat me with a load of Bream. Anyway today I took her Mulleting and Fieona spanked me again. Joking aside it was a fantastic sight seeing her float bobbing about and start to head in an easterly direction with me screaming at her HIT IT! Then the anticipation hits you doesn't it, you really want her to land it. Playing the fish like a real pro she got it to the net with a last few nervous moments as Mr. Mullet tried to get some cover behind a ledge. Pleased as punch I was as it glided in to the net and relief set in. We got it unhooked, weighed (flippin 5lb it was, her first Mullet ever, stylish) and photographed. Not a great piccy as the lens was smeared and I couldn't get it clean! The rest of the session.................well I couldn't focus could I! Dick, Bill and Matt were out again on the same mark as yesterday but only managed the 3 today, Dick got them all with the best at 6lb 5oz. 

23rd December

Along time since an update I see, nearly forgot I had this site! 15th, 16th and 17th the fishing started to tail off which is probably why I lost the enthusiasm to update, that was a fantastic spell of fishing we experienced. After that those anglers departed and as far as I am aware no-one really ventured out. I base this on the fact we never sold any bait neither which drove me to get out last night before the worm finally did pass away. Hordes of Black Bream and Pout, with a solitary Bass making an appearance. I was trying for the Sole but of course they never had a chance to find the worm baits.

We're in to a settled spell of weather again and the Mullet are leaping around. Local anglers Bill Walden, Dick Smith and his son Matt had a bash yesterday and managed fish to over 7lb. All caught and caught well, Bills best went 5lb 3oz. Bigger fish were seen jumping which always prove frustrating, enough was seen for the boys to believe there were quite a few doubles amongst them. Pictured is Dick with his best of the year at 7lb 5oz. Before listing the photo I was asked to doctor the chin which I have managed to do!!

14th December

Its ironic, we virtually blanked in the boat the day before yesterday on the Bass and yet I'm getting plenty of reports of shore caught Bass. Local anglers have been getting a few on the plugs and Darren Stephens from Bristol landed this cracker of 10lb 2oz on ledgered bait.

13th December

I took Steve Ace out to experience the fantastic plugging that I have been enjoying of late..............it was the worst day of his holiday so far! It never happened for us which was a real disappointment with just the one fish to talk about which was only on the 3lb mark. We had a few follow ups but that was it. Glorious day though especially after the weekends atrocious weather.

Steve is pictured below again with a 38lb Tope that he caught the night before. Loads of Bream being reported still and a couple of small Eels. The other group of anglers from Teignemouth, Roy Repton, John Deam and Tim Bird, are accumulating a lot of species with some good catches of Bass to 11lb odd with the best session so far 14. I must emphasise this is from the shore. They have had a few Red Mullet to with the best fish 2lb, Sole to 2lb 8oz and they are racking up a lot of Mullet now with the best fish 5lb 6oz. Some terrific fishing is happening here.

11th December.......another update

On the Breakwater tonight with one of the groups. Plenty of Bream to over 4lb but the lads soon got fed up with that. Switching baits to Tope as we were leaving and one of them managed a run but the fish dropped the bait twice. 

Here too is one of those boulders deposited on the Breakwater.

11th December update...............

Mr. Ace has just achieved a life time ambition. On bread he has just landed this fine Mullet of 10lb 4oz caught at long range from one of the rock marks. What else can I say, just take a butchers at this..........

11th December

Weather has settled down somewhat now, we have 2 groups of good anglers on the island with plenty of experience between them. One lot have been here since last Thursday and the other lads arrived yesterday. They're just settling into it while the former group continue to find quality fish. Phytos Yianni caught a marvelous Small Eyed Ray last night which went 13lb 2oz plus a mix of Bream, Dogs and Pout. The other half of the group fished Commercial Quay and Steve Ace managed two Congers, one of 33lb and one of 43lb.

Here is that link from Sundays weather. Some of the spray from the waves were easily 150' high and you can see the whole Breakwater just swamped in water. Some of the photo's show water crashing down on the boats moored inside the harbour. There is one of a white cruiser, to give you some idea of dimensions to put it in perspective that boat is 33' long. The Breakwater is 800-900m long and the top of it is 40-50' above sea level. The sea was awesome. http://www.cwgsy.net/private/alderneyangling/swamped/index.htm

10th December

What a weekend of windy weather that was. I have some spectacular photos being linked in to the site later, better than I have taken so far!

Fishing wise has been quite productive for one of the groups of anglers over. Last night they tucked up on one of the rock marks and had a reasonable session with 1 Codling, several Black Bream, several Bass to 4lb and a couple of Red Mullet to 1lb 12oz. A nice fish was lost too as the leader parted, the suspect was a Bass. Martin Wright pictured below with the larger of the two Red Mullet.

9th December.......more

Pictured below is Phytos from Bristol with a cracking 7lb 6oz Mullet which was one of several in obviously a difficult session this morning.

9th December

Shore fishing..............yes there is a bit going on amazingly! A few Bream, Pollack and bits reported. Bass to 4lb. Quite a few anglers have arrived in the last couple of days so they're getting a ready for a battering and a soaking, however they should find marks fishable out of the wind down the bottom of the cliffs. We are stuck in a rut with these wind at the moment, today we have WNW 40-50mph with gusts up to around 65 mph. Good direction for spectacular shots of the Breakwater as you can see below. Sundays forecast is abysmal with forecasted winds of 50-60 mph but from the West. I took these photographs some three quarters of a mile away and each shot shows all 3/4 mile of the Breakwater which stands 50' high. Those of you that fish the Breakwater know how big this sea is! The large building on the right is Fort Grosnez.

2nd December

Everyone is probably aware of the atrocious weather we are having in the English Channel today. This afternoon I nipped out to take some photo's, not the best scenery I have seen caused by the swell conditions we can get here. The best time would have been the full ebb tide which had only just started when I got down to the Breakwater with the better part to come at dusk, not good for photo's. Small tides as well so not totally spectacular but for those of you that like to fish the Breakwater (or the Lights) it gives you some idea of the size of some of the waves that were breaking while I was there. It was half tide down.

Breakwater from Fort Albert

End of the Breakwater getting swamped

Swell even running and breaking inside harbour against wind!

How many gallons is that!

Lights taking one over.

29th November

Shore fishing has been pants since last Thursday. However still plenty of Bream about but not much else reported. Odd Codling, no mention of shore caught Bass, odd Gurnard and Couches as well. We have had some pretty decent weather too but night time with the New moon has made bites and fish hard to come by. 

Managed to get out on a glorious day on Tuesday, flat calm and perfect conditions. Day started with a power failure but soon got that sorted and we were away. In the whole day we had a fantastic half an hour where we must have been in the vicinity of a fairly large shoal of Bass. Very quickly we managed 6 fish in that space of time and we also had follow ups on the lures, at one point Ben had 8, maybe 10, Bass follow his lure to the top. Quite amusing to see them put the brakes on when they got to the boat and then stare at each other in what looked like amazement before departing for the depths. After that we hit the best bit of the tide.............nowt! Best fish were around the 6lb mark. During the day we managed a few Gars and Pollack as well, just as well to keep us amused.

23rd November

I don't really need to do this update as it is the same again. That's right, I went fishing, plugging actually..........said it wouldn't be any different, It was a hard day for 10 Bass between two of us and the stamp of fish seemed to be smaller. Still excellent fun though. A big highlight of the last couple of trips has been to see a pair of Peregrine Falcons driving small flocks of birds out to sea and bombarding them to get their prey. Yesterday we saw it three times, twice there were about 15/20 birds all tightly bunched and the Falcons appeared to be trying to separate one out which they did successfully. Then it was a case of dropping on it from above at phenomenal speeds to take it out. We saw them succeed once at this. The third time the pair were chasing really hard at low level around the rocks! Absolutely marvelous to watch as all three were swerving and darting all over the place, the little one escaped somehow; and then once it all died down I reverted it to what happens beneath the wave tops. Stroked my plug and had another cast ;-)

17th November

Woke up this morning to increased wind, certainly cooler and some drizzle. Did I fancy it after yesterday? I didn't really but had promised Jamie a day out so forced myself out. After an hour I was regretting it, no signs of any Bass, after two hours I was only too pleased to be there, Jamie managed three at that point to my one. Feeling justified we persisted and at the point of saying we have had enough and having tried all the marks we knew Jamie had a follow up on a tangled lure. On went the surface poppers and what a crazy afternoon of fishing we had. Lures being smashed from beneath as Bass attacked them, several times we saw two maybe three fish follow a lure to the boat and at the last moment of the lure being raised from the water one would grab it and peel line off, or not grab it! It was great. Not sure how many we had, but we seemed to settle for 18, 9 each which was fair enough considering I was taking a right tanking earlier and  not big fish, best was about 5lb but its not always about having the biggest is it? Quality fishing, that's what it was.

16th November

Oh dear..........sneaked out again today. Small tides, wrong part of the tide but what the hell. No wind again so it had to be done, took my beloved plugging rod out again on the boat, first three fish went 9lb, 8lb and 7lb..........well it could have been that good! The second fish I lost, along with the plug alas when my line parted. Hate that when it happens, for the sake of the fish that is. Finished the day with 10 Bass between the two of us (took island newcomer Ben Barnes today and he managed two PB's) plus 10 or so Pollack and a Gar too. What's tomorrows forecast.........

15th November

More codling reported, and sole. More interestingly though a couple of anglers this week have had tremendous takes whereby rods are flying seawards and then have had their snoods bitten off. Sure sign of one or two Tope about. Mullet still playing hard to get though, best fish 4lb 10oz, but other fish more than making up for it in the way of Bass are fairly easy to target and obviously still plenty of Bream. Steve Baker pictured below with a 2lb Sole.

13th November

Three anglers fished Platte Saline last night and had a reasonable session. A mixture of Bream, Pollack, a couple of Codling to 4lb, a Sole close to 2lb, a couple of Bass to 3lb 8oz Pouting. During the day they went Wrassing and managed fish to 4lb. 

12th November

I couldn't resist the weather this afternoon and nipped out for a bit of plugging. Flat calm, good tides..........beats working! Took a friend, Mike Spiller, who just happened to be in the shop when I mentioned it and he put his big sad eyes on, boy what a sucker I am. So peace and quiet spoilt he tagged along. All went well, fish were there to start with, Mike dropped two good fish and before we knew it we had 4. Went a little quiet again but we added the odd fish with the best fish nudging 6lb. Sun was getting low and we were reflecting on the good couple of ours we had when Mike almost stopped breathing amongst his spluttering at what he had witnessed, I turned around in time to see a massooof Bass run of with his plug. Mikes reaction was superb, he was gobsmacked as line peeled of his reel. Once he calmed down he managed to utter the words 'that must have been a double, so if I lose it I did see it!'. After a bit of coaxing and some nervous tension the net was slid under the fish, it was Mikes personal best and he had already told me that he had never caught a double before. This one went a stonking 11lb 8oz or thereabouts. As you can see from the pictures I never got a decent one which is why I've out two up of it. One more fish was caught but it wasn't quite the same after that.......

10th November

Photos below show young William Vooght with a couple of Bass which went 5lb 8oz and 6lb. Both PB's for the youngster, caught aboard my boat whilst plugging, they were part of a 7 fish haul. We then went off for  a Tope or two, only managed the one before the weather turned for the worse and we made our trek for the harbour.

Shore sport still very good with Black Bream dominant, bags to 15 fish per rod to 4lb. Mullet seem almost absent the last few days. Other bits and pieces being caught as well which ahve included Wrasse to 4lb, Bass, etc. Weather less than perfect with 30mph winds from North or North West.

8th November

Apologies to the boys involved for taking so long to get these pictures up but as promised I get there in the end. A four day stop over which included a day aboard Stuart Troughts Alderney Felix. I don't think Stuart spotted the camera other wise he had given us a smile. If you want to fly out next year then do book quickly, Stuart is getting more and more popular as he finds the fish and he has settled down it seems with a very good crew member too in the way of Howie Gaydon. I get a lot of good reports about the pair of them. Flying over is more convenient too. The pictures are of Shaun and Kevin Hyde, Kevin I believe is a top chef.

7th November

Usual reports of plenty of Bream and the normal bits which I know doesn't excite but this morning three bits of more unusual incidents. Firstly it would appear the couple of lads over at the moment landed a White Bream ( updated 8th November: I've just identified this, unfortunately it is a Black Bream), first I have heard of in Alderney? The second bit of news is that recently one angler was hand lining for Pollack, had a bit of an exceptional take and bought a head back to the boat. I think that is further proof of Porgies around, not much else would do that. Thirdly, one of the part time commercial boys had not 1 but 2 Marbled Electric Rays on a trot which was set within casting distance of the land. 

Its typical of Alderney, never quite know what is going to happen next and the thing that makes me stop and think is that it is such a small area, and yet so many things happen here.

6th November........again

Watch or set your recorders (or is it SKY plus nowadays!) for Thursday 8pm on Channel 4. River Cottage is on and it is based around food as usual, but more importantly Alderney plays a big part in the programme. We ate allsorts, not giving anything away but well worth a watch. Quite a bit of fishing too in between the cooking, you'll see me doing what I do best....................................holding a landing net! ;-)

6th November

Took another day off yesterday, what a life eh! Windy week coming up so I thought a day in the boat wouldn't go amiss. I would have invited Fieona as well but after the spanking she gave me on Sunday it was best not too, she wouldn't have minded covering the shop anyway? Digressing, Fie is contesting my report below, she claims it was 9 Bream she caught, I thought it was 9 fish, how wrong could  I be? Leave that for you to decide.

Anyway, small tides I wanted to try something different from the normal joys of Bassing on a plug, so I went to to some ground to the west of the island which centres around a large rock. This I thought would give me some lee from the tide to enable to get baits to the bottom; realising that results might be minimal and be prepared to move around to find the best bits I was hoping for Ray (if there was sand around the base), if not Smoothounds, which if you remember from my ramblings from the year before I believe they are here in good numbers and sizes. Arriving for the start off the ebb was ideal.  I quickly settled in to some Bull Huss, with the best fish around 10lb. Not what I was looking for so I slipped some rope back to find cleaner ground. Squid on one rod, Hermit crab on another. Immediately lots of bites on the crab, Bream I thought, scaled the hooks down, still missing the bites. The other rod baited with squid wasn't getting the same bites so maybe not Bream. Whilst messing around with the crab I did drop a nice fish on the squid baits which felt like a Smut. Baited that again and scaled the hooks down on the crab baits, changed to peeler too. Hooked a Smut on the squid, missed bites on the crab yet again. Tide was boring through yet I was on just 12oz of lead, a right bonus but the boat was dancing around a bit in the confused sea, not good for my sea legs. Squid bait back down, messed around albeit frustratingly with the crab rod, squid rod nodding away, picked it leant it to it and it started running towards me. This was a good fish on. It came up towards the boat and hung underneath, I inched it up desperate to see what I was just about to lose! My 20/30 was being tested. Leader knot appeared and I could see the grey/white of a Tope, I was pleased that I saw what it was but I think the Tope wasn't too pleased at what he saw, he now started to run and I started think WHOOPS, maybe has he only just realised he is hooked. I never really saw the real size of it but over the next 20 minutes I was thinking I have a truly massive fish on. My best Tope to date is 60lb, and this felt good. Anyway, during that 20 minutes I was wondering what I would do with it once it come alongside the boat, how much would it beat the British record by? You know all these things we do when we have a good fish on. There was no need to worry! Once I got him back to the boat the poor thing was lassoed behind both pectoral fins around my trace and most of the time when he wasn't making runs I was dragging him across the tide. It was at these moments I was thinking he was deciding his next move whilst I was drawing breath, this obviously wasn't the case. I estimated at the time he was a good 45lb, having just seen a photograph on the new SAN he might have been a little more but I'll settle for 45lb. He swam off ok, seemingly none the worse for his 20 minute tussle.

The tide had died and slack produced nothing which was surprising. I re-anchored twice for the flood, second time found more fish in the way of Tope, Smuts to 11lb 8oz, Bream to 3lb and Dogfish. Tide increased and the angle of it changed around the rock, I should have moved but weather was deteriorating and if I was going to pull the anchor I would be going home. Sat it out for another 90 minutes with just missed bites and another reasonable fish lost. I think that was a Ray, 200lb nylon parted or bitten through above the hook but the trace line had taken a fair bit of abuse so I think a combination of that and a pair of jaws clamping on it proved there was a weakness. Anchor up and steamed for home quite satisfied that I had a reasonable day and knowing that my knowledge had just improved. Its great here in the Summer with plenty of boats around so you get to find out the better marks and where the fish are, but in the Winter it is just me..............loads of sea and to find the better marks is like looking for a needle in a haystack!

Shore sport consisting of plenty of Black Bream still. Bass falling to plugs. One angler had a nice size Cuckoo Wrasse and a Triggerfish in the same session.

4th November

Took advantage of the wonderful weather by having a fishing trip with Fieona and the dogs down Telegraph Bay today. Fieona hasn't fished from  the shore for a very long time, on todays results if I get my way her next trip is some time away too! Absolutely stuffed me, she had 5 Black bream and 4 Wrasse to my 3 Bream. Just to compound the misery I lost what must have been a reasonable fish when my rod was taking flying lessons out of the rod rest! Fab day anyway, dressed in t-shirts, caught the sun and it is Bonfire night tomorrow, weird!

3rd November

It has been a wonderful week weather wise, flat calm as there has been no winds, warm and dry too, what a difference to the last couple of years. Plenty of fish too but no real quality to them. Highlights of the week is a Red Mullet up round the 2lb mark, a Black Bream of 3lb 1oz and a Couches Bream of 1lb 7oz but these are individual fish. Plenty of Black Bream about which is probably spoiling the rest of the fishing whereby we expect more Red mullet, Couches and Sole, they have been about but the Bream make the competition for food more aggressive. Some boys over last weekend experienced some good plug fishing, best session was 6 fish which included a brace of 6lb'ers. One or two Bull Huss at night have been caught too. Mullet have been difficult to locate but fish to 4lb have been landed.

26th October

This week has seen very little in the way of anglers going fishing so it is hard to gauge what is there and what's not. For sure there is still a stack of Black Bream available with better fish up and around 3lb 8oz. Bottom species falling to worm and squid baits are Couches Bream to 2lb, Red Gurnards to 1lb 7oz, Red Mullet to 1lb 15oz, Dogfish, Bass and the other bits. Mullet seem to be a bit hard to find, when they are the best fish seem to be around 4lb but I am sure there is more to be had. 

I sneaked out a couple of times this week. Monday I took good friends Nigel and William Vooght out to have a go for Bass and Tope. The Bass we were successful at with 6 fish to 6lb boated, a few Pollack and a Gar, everything was plug caught. In the afternoon we moved off for the Tope, we were on a poor part of the tide for them but had a go nonetheless. We anchored in three areas for them, managed just the one around 25lb and with deteriorating weather we called it a day and headed for shelter. Yesterday I got Fieona's permission to disappear again. Spent the whole day on my own (bliss!) plugging away. Fantastic day weather wise, no wind, big tide I just had to do well! The fish were there but I didn't get the hook ups as I imagined I would. Finicky on the take I managed to drop 9! One I had on for more than several minutes too!! I did mange to boat 8 with the best fish over 8lb. Also had 4/5 Pollack, and a Gar. Those sort of days make it for me without a doubt!

20th October

Last two days have been spent in the boat. Today was a bit fruitless and a waste of time, being so knackered doesn't help to hold your attention! Plugging early produced one Bass which went around 7lb, we had loads of follow ups but the small tides made the fish a wee bit shy. Baits on the bottom never really happened for us and we could hear the pub calling! Yesterday we went for Pollack off a reef in the morning, good fun on the jellies and light rods with the better fish reaching over 9lb. A short session trying for a colourful Wrasse resulted in a few fish but we soon had to move off otherwise we would have missed the Tope. That was fantastic with fish on every bait we dropped virtually with the best one over 40lb. Steve lost a cracking fish which held deep and steadily peeled line away, unfortunately his braid gave out.

We have quite a few anglers over fishing from the shore. I'm not totally up to speed with what they are catching but Fieona has told me that they have landed Conger to 30lb, Black Bream of which there are plenty still, and have decided to go Wrassing today. 

Pictures below have been sent in by Steve Harder, with thanks Steve, they are of himself with a Bull Huss at 10lb 2oz, Mark Plowman at 9lb  8oz and Nigel Bowditch at 8lb 2oz. All caught on the night before the Festival started and if caught during the event would have qualified!

18th October

Tuesdays plans were put paid too as regards venturing to far out in the boat so after poking our nose out in to The Swinge and getting caught in a load of rain we took the 'soft' option and fished the harbour. I'm not going to say too much because this was now Steve's sort of fishing and he took swift revenge for his mauling on the bass by getting the most fish, most species and the better  sized ones of what was caught. I wasn't too concerned though because I will be taking him plugging again so he has another sweet reminder of life's cruel and twisted fates! We had a mix of fish between us although my contribution numbers wise was OK I just wished I could have added a species he couldn't catch. We (He) had Red Mullets, Couches, Black Bream and others amongst our (his) tally. 

Following day we were off on the rocks to sample the Bream and Mullet fishing. Steve was keen to learn the float fishing methods that we employ. we never found it as easy as last week but we found Bream to 2lb and Mullet to 3lb 12oz. Today we tried to improve the weights by trying different venues and although we found fish we never achieved this target. Good fishing though.  

Out in the boat tomorrow and Saturday, hopefully the wind will be kind to us.

15th October

This week I have the pleasure of entertaining Sea Angler writer Steve Souter doing some feature stuff on the fishing around the island. We are trying to create features that involve other species that Alderney is not renowned for, however it looks like the weather, which like today was a 4/5, will put pay to most of what I would like to try to do. Anyway what ever we do we will create something I am sure.

Steve landed here yesterday at 3.30pm and by 4.15pm he was plugging away for Bass. We had a few between us and gave him a taster. Today I was stumped with the tide as to what to do so opted to do the traditional Alderney thing and target a Turbot or two, lets face it no Alderney feature wouldn't be complete without our famed flatfish. This we achieved and moved on to my favourite fishing of plugging for Bass. This was a success as 7 to just shy of 10lb were landed, several were lost and a few 'hits' recorded, I won't reveal though who was top rod ;-)

Tomorrow we are off to do some different stuff if weather allows but I am sure we ill spend most of the week now on the shore :-(

13th October

Daily reporting took a back seat due to the amount of fishing I did so apologies for that. The last few days and nights were difficult, just as we expected the fishing too improve it actually took a dip from how it was earlier in the week with daytime proving better than night time. With the Festival now over I won't harp on the day to day activity but summarize it by mentioning that daytime fishing at times was exceptional with lots of Bream all round the island, plenty of Mullet and sprinkled in with that we had Bass, Golden Grey Mullets, Couches Sea Bream, Ballan Wrasse with several over 6lb all featuring, and then by night we saw plenty of Conger Eels which have been on the increase over the last 2 or 3 years plus we had a smattering of Bull Huss. Species that have been caught and not reported on were Trigger Fish, Codling and a couple of Plaice, both over 2lb but not meeting the qualifying level.

My own efforts never saw any fish reaching the qualifying level but I have had one of the best Festivals ever with my fishing partner Robbo, who is a novice angler, managing to get 2 fish on the board. I'll ask him for some advice for next year! Below he is pictured with a 4lb 11oz Wrasse (not a qualifier) and a 3lb 9oz Sole.

Again its not a qualifier but Bill Scott had a scramble for the very last weigh in with this Thick Lipped mullet which went 4lb 10oz, over qualifying weight but not good enough to beat the top5 already on the board.

Beneath is the final board with each category, the weight of each fish and its percentage of the Alderney record. (Saved a lot of typing ;-))

After the presentation I will do a full list of winners etc.

Boat sport exceptional with Bass and Bream all over, a few flatfish in the way of Brill and Turbot to 1llb as well. Our local boat Alderney Felix finding those species as well as Blonde Ray. I was lucky enough to be a board Valkyrie last Monday week when I hitched a lift back from the UK. When we arrived in Alderney the lads were keen to have a go for the Tope of which were running between 25lb and 45lb. All fish released. One lad hooked what appeared to be a small Porbeagle as well which after 10/15 minutes the lad was knackered and not prepared to let the fish run thus the line parted, very annoying as it would have been nice to see it.

10th October

Just got in from a longish session. Had to work this morning so never got fishing till 2.30pm but what a great session. Desperate now to get a fish on the board and tonight I thought it would happen. Every time I had a knock and picked up the rod I would feel the weight and think this is it. Excitement would turn to disappointment (strangely cos the fishing was fantastic) as I wound a double shot of something or other in. I even had a double shot of Mackerel pick up worm baits on the bottom, both were 15oz each! I also had doubles in LSD, Black Bream, Sole and Poor Cod. Also caught Wrasse, Red Mullet and Couches Bream. however the highlight of the night was my mates 3lb 8oz Sole!!

Not updating the board, forgot to look! Another day tomorrow, maybe there is a qualifier out there yet!

9th October

So much for my daily updates, guess what? I've been fishing too hard!! Anyway a quick run down of what has been going on. Weather has been glorious, probably not ideal but brilliant to be out in and makes a change from the usual dirt the weather throws up during the Festival. Day time fishing has been really good, especially on the float. Night time not so productive but some rods that are prepared to put up with the discomfort of the rock fishing whether that be awkward casting, difficult to get to marks or simply snagging up every other cast have been rewarded with good Huss and Eel fishing. Weather has turned in now with breezy winds and drizzle/rain but not for long as the nice weather will return for the end of the week. Best fish of the Festival so far has fallen to Dick Smith which is a 4lb 14oz Bream which is over 80% of the local record. Given that the fishing isn't on top form the board' is filling up, better tides to come should see a good end to the week. 103 have entered, down on previous years.

Since Saturdays great start my own fishing has struggled, Sunday was frustrating as an early start saw us looking for Mullet at first light which never materialized so we moved back to where we were on the Saturday hoping for Mullet and then the Bream. Mullet we had, but amazingly despite the numbers of Bream we had had they never showed for us. Sunday night I was back out on my own, missed a few bites but had to stop early as I was doing the mid night weigh in. Monday, up well before dawn for the Mullet and Bream again, a very disappointing morning session but in the afternoon it came alive. Loads of Mullet drifting around in rafts but couldn't get them to feed. I dropped in close for some Bream which we had, then noticed the Mullet behaving differently by swimming deeper. Put a bait in front of them and bang  I was in to one, but it was too small to qualify. Spooked the fish so dropped in close again for the Bream, best fish was 3lb which is great fun on the float. Packed up there and then had another go for an Eel, managed one Bass. Out again in a mo. I'm under pressure because I am the only one in my team not to have a fish on the board and with the Bream and Mullet board filled it makes it harder. Hopefully I'll get a chance to update daily if I can........

Here is the board (brackets is qualifying weight) as it stood at midnight Monday/Tuesday. Festival finishes Saturday mid day:

Conger Eel (25lb): 1. 35-0-0; 2. 34-0-0 (returned alive); 3. 32-8-0.

Couches Sea Bream (1lb 40z): 1. 1-13-0; 2. 1-11-06; 3. 1-5-10.

Ballan Wrasse (6lb): 1. 6-6-10 (returned alive).

Black Bream (3lb): 1. 4-14-12; 2. 3-9-12; 3. 3-7-10; 4. 3-5-2; 5. 3-4-12.

Sole (2lb 4oz): 1. 2-10-12.

Bass (6lb): Empty.

Thick Lipped Mullet (4lb 4oz): 1. 5-2-4 (returned alive); 2. 4-15-8; 3. 4-15-6; 4. 4-7-0; 5. 4-5-0.

Best Fish with an Alderney Record Under 5lb: 1. Scad (1lb) 1-0-12; 2. Red Mullet (2lb) 2-0-10

Best Fish with an Alderney Record Over 5lb: 1. Huss (8lb) 10-2-0; 2. Huss 9-12-8; 3. Pollack 5-1-10.

Garfish/Mackerel (1lb): 1. Gar 1-3-4; 2. Gar 1-0-8.

6th October

It all kicked off today at 12.00pm. Our fishing set off really well with Robbo and myself getting 20/25 Black Bream to 3lb 3oz which went to Robbo and beat the qualifying weight of 3lb, my best fish fell just half an ounce short. Only a few fish under 2lb. All caught on mullet gear of which I had one of those at 4lb, qualifying weight is 4lb 4oz. Then we went elsewhere once we got bombed of the rock we were on and had half a dozen wrasse on the same gear to 4lb 11oz. Tremendous fun. Some good fish weighed in at the first weigh in including Mullet to 4lb 15oz, Pollack at 5lb 1oz, one very good fish I need to wait half a day before reporting it, I don't want to steal the anglers glory as he is isolated on a rock waiting for the tide to recede so I'll give that to you later. More Bream over 3lb, a Garfish which qualified and more, didn't want to hang around as we wanted to get to our next mark.

5th October

It is the penultimate day to the start of the annual Alderney Shore Fishing Festival. It looks like another good turn out with cars arriving on the quay mid week to get round problems with hiring vehicles, anglers have now started to fly in and already we are seeing cars bombing around the island with rod tips poking out the back, out the windows and out of sunroofs it is a sight to behold!

It is a seven day extravaganza whereby if you are well in to it planning of weather and tides is of major importance as is sleep deprivation. However there are those, thankfully, who just enjoy being here amongst the atmosphere and don't need to go to those lengths and enjoy the week for what it is, a meeting of friends (and rivalries) and a very good chance of enjoying some terrific fishing.

There are nine categories whereby at the end of the week the best top 5 specimens in each category will be awarded prizes ranging from £50 to £150. There is a ladies category, a veteran category, team prizes, pairs and then the coveted Top UK Angler and Top CI Angler. I will be fishing as well as Fieona will have the reigns on the shop and it will be the most involved I have been in the four years I have been here, although at this point I have no plan and no gear ready, I am though thoroughly looking forward to it. Weather looks lovely which is unusual so keep logging on to this page daily for updates.

2nd October

I've just arrived back on the island after 10 days at tradeshows and such (2 footie matches including the 7-4 drubbing of Reading! Went Barbel fishing and caught a Chub, boat fishing with Valkyrie and we had Bass, Bream and Gurnard off Selsey), really hard work concentrating on the shows ;-) Anyway so not up to speed yet with what about. I have heard there are some good Bream, a few Mullet, small Soles and other bits. Signs of Tope too as this picture demonstrates, a fine fish of 33lb 8oz landed by Shaun Tromans, thanks for the picture Shaun.

Boat sport showing a few fish, mainly Bass on these spring tides but one or two Turbot and Brill starting to put in a regular appearance. Lots of Tope around the rock marks. On Monday on my return journey to Alderney I was with Glen on Valkyrie and we are pretty sure one of the lads hooked in to a Porgie, not a big one but for sure it fought differently to the Tope. Having nearly retrieved all his line after a ten minute struggle the angler wasn't prepared to let the fish run again and was playing scrooge with his line, the inevitable parting happened which was a shame and the angler flaked out! There were Tope to 45lb bought to the side, a few Bream and Bull Huss too.

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Last modified: January 03, 2008