20th May

A day of drifting!

 

Roger gets the first one of the day

Walking down to the harbor in the morning, it became very apparent that the weather gods were smiling. Unbroken blue sky, and the swells that had still been apparent the previous day had flattened away to nothing. It was perfect, crystal clear seas (unlike last years constant green soup) and very light winds. Everyone was anticipating a good day, and we weren't to be disappointed. Out to the banks, and on the first drift Roger was away with some stunning eating becoming firmly attached to his circle hook.

Muppet feathers up some HUGE launce

I've feathered launce on the inshore banks on the British side of the channel, but I looked around to see that Muppet was looking for some bait, and found these GIANT beauties!! The picture doesn't really do the eel justice, as you cant really see how broad it was across the shoulders!!

Trip organiser Andy Colmer gets in on the turbot action

Skipper Rob Thompson nets a biggie for Mesito

Fish were coming up regularly, sometimes two to a drift. Steve (Mesito) I noticed quite well bent into a fish, although we had also dragged up some huge kelp fronds, so I wasn't sure. But when Rob got the net out I took the shot above, which turned into......

Steve (Mesito) with the biggest Turbot of the trip

......the biggest flattie of the trip, a stunning 15lb's of mouth watering flesh!! And I know it certainly wont be wasted in Steve's household.....!!

Three fish off one drift

After taking some pictures of Steve's fish, I got back to the fishing, and straight away found one, as did another crew mate, Dodge. Three fish off the one drift!! Made for a nice photo!!

My new PB Brill...... 7lb 8oz

Up we went again over this magnificent and most productive bank. This time down, I had a sharp rattle, reminiscent of a pouting bite. Again it went, so I slipped out some line. Twenty seconds later, I clamped on the spool and raised the rod, to find something pulling back. I will go on public record now to suggest that Brill, despite being generally smaller, actually do protest to having hooks in their mouths. It scrapped quite well the whole one hundred and fifty feet to the surface, where I was also rather struck by its magnificent markings. But then, it did weigh 7lb 8oz, which was to be the biggest brill on the trip, and beat my previous pb by a full 3lb!!

Radka's first Turbot

So far, Radka had failed to connect to any flatfish. But she stayed focus to the task in hand, and it paid off on the following drift. A small and thin turbot fell to her hook. One of the main attractions of the trip for her, was the excellent food supply afterwards, so she was really quite disappointed when I told her that it would have to be released, as you can see in the photo above..........

A much smilier Radka....... and her PB Brill at 5lb

.....so imagine my relief when on the next drift she caught this stonker of a brill at 5lb...!! It really made her trip, which really made my trip!!

Totally becalmed........

By the end of the days drifting, we had broken the record for giant flatties aboard Shogun, with 14 falling to the boat. I had caught five of them, Radka three, so we had secured one of our main objectives for the trip, a supply of quality fish that would last us a while, of fish that we wouldn't even consider purchasing off the fishmongers slabs, because not only the price but the poor quality is prohibitive. The seas dropped away to nothing, and we returned happy, tired, thirsty and hungry, to the sanctuary of Alderney.