I know some of you may have already seen this in Sea Angler magazine last year but I thought I would share this for those of you that missed it.
Like many people our holiday plans for 2020 were scuppered due to the covid-19 pandemic. Although our plans were put on hold we were still keen to get away as we neared the end of a busy summer. We had originally planned to take the Galloper over to the channel isles for a couple of weeks but this was put on hold due to strict rules on entry to the islands. The same applied to our planned trip to Ireland after rules tightened a few weeks before our trip. With several of us now at a loose end for a couple of weeks mid-September we decided to take the Galloper away to the south coast somewhere. Our aim was to reach the south west but it would depend on the forecast at the time. We didn’t have the luxury of picking the best weather window, we had two weeks clear in the diary when it either would or wouldn’t happen. the dates soon came around and in the week leading up to them all eyes were on the weather forecast. As it happened the weather looked spot on for our journey down so we knew we could get somewhere. However the long range forecast looked a bit dubious so we would have to keep one eye on the weather at all times. As is often the case I try to do too much at once. I came in from my trip on the Sunday evening and we rushed around trying to load the Galloper up with stuff to cover every eventuality. We had all manor of fishing tackle with us, 4 adults worth of clothes and baggage, food and drink (like they don’t have shops on the south coast) and a rubber dingy! We even took sleeping bags and extra bedding in case we got caught with out digs as we had no accommodation booked. Luckily the Galloper carries weight well as she was pretty much groaning under the strain of all this stuff! We left in the early hours of the next morning, as it happens it took us longer than expected to set off as even more stuff was loaded aboard! We now had enough sweets and biscuits to give is all diabetes and goodness knows how many rolls of toilet paper. The forecast for our passage was good, at least that was a consolation for me as our late departure meant we would be pushing the tide for some of the way. As the sun rose we were treated to some fantastic views as we made our way along the south coast. We were tight to the shoreline from north foreland to Dover and enjoyed seeing the white cliffs bathed in early morning sunshine. However it doesn’t pay to hug the coastline all the way along and you may not realise it but the coast is made up of a series of bays and headlands. Even making a straight line from one headland to the other we often end up several miles from shore. We had not long passed Dungeness lighthouse into Rye bay when we could see lots of gannets working. We couldn’t resist stopping for a short while to see what they were feeding on. Stephen and uncle Steve chucked some feathers in and were rewarded with a couple of strings of mackerel. We didn’t hang around long before continuing our journey. The next land mark at the other end of the bay is beachy head with its two lighthouses and the sovereign light house off to the south. I was pleased to see these as they mark the start of us having some tide help us along once again.
Looking at the forecast for the week ahead we decided to head for the isle of wight to start with. If the forecast was right then we could shelter around the solent and behind the island its self this week. If the forecast improved we could head further west and we only needed a small weather window to get home as we could do it in 10 hours or less if need be.
So we took a line from beachy head to the isle of Wight, this took us just outside the rampion windfarm situated a few miles off of Shoreham. Once again it may surprise you how little we followed the coast its self. We now had to try and find digs for our selves and somewhere to berth the boat. The boat would be the most important thing to sort out of course. Luckily my brother had taken a day trip to the isle of Wight a week or so before hand and while he was there he checked out Yarmouth harbour for us. this was well situated for our fishing plans, the weather and had great facilities too. We contacted them and they warned us that the weather and covid madness meant it was very busy but as they had loads of swinging moorings outside of the harbour as a back up. Accommodation was our next head ache, in an ideal world we would have stayed in Yarmouth with just a gentle stroll to the boat each day. unfortunately due to covid, many places hadn’t opened all summer and those that were open were booked well in advance. Something we hadn’t been able to do. We ended up with a lovely apartment however it was in cowes which was a long way without a car!
We made our way up a very sunny, very calm and VERY busy Solent on a glorious afternoon. Our little fishing stop had contributed to us now pushing the tide once again. We eventually arrived at Yarmouth harbour and pulled in to unload our baggage for the night. The pontoon was right next to the que for the car ferry. No sooner had we tied up than I can hear some bloke shouting Oi! At me from above. I looked up wondering what I had done wrong and who I had upset now only to see a familiar face looking back down at me. After steaming over 10 hours and many miles around the coast I had pulled into Yarmouth only to see our Friend Dave Monk from our neighbouring port of Bradwell on sea. It is a small world we live in.
Our first morning fishing from Yarmouth was going the give us the best weather for the foreseeable future. With tides building too I was keen to make the most of this day and head as far offshore as possible. We were joined at the boat by Stephen Clarke who had travelled down by car to meet us. this was handy as Stephen would be our taxi to and from our digs for the next few days. Understandably we had to fuel up before setting off for the day, once this was done we got under way. With little to no knowledge of the area and the wrecks we were heavily reliant on our charts. I just had to check each wreck out with the sounder to see which took my fancy. Once we had located a suitable wreck we wanted to try and anchor it. to first one we tried to anchor was in a lot of water and even more tide as it happens. After several attempts and time wasted we gave up and headed back to shallower water just in time for the turn of the tide. the next wreck was far kinder to us, we had undulate ray, bull huss and conger from here before the tide died. We fished the next tide with a few more eels before heading back to the night. As we steamed in we could see birds working on a sand bank. they had been there on the way out but we had been in too much of a rush to stop. Now with the sea glassy calm and the sun still beaming down we could resist stopping. It turned out to be alive with bass here. We had some lovely fish on lures in the shallow water before heading in for the night.
The next morning the wind had started to freshen, we fished a wreck close to the one we had fished the previous day with similar results. The tide was running the other way to start with and with the sea building we struggled to get the anchor to hold. I had several attempts to get it to stay put but a big swell would catch us and pop the anchor every so often. There must have been a large number of eels there as for the brief times we were fishing there were fish on every rod! As the tide turned we called it a day here and sought shelter closer to shore. 10-15miles closer in and it was like a different day. we anchored a patch of reef where we spent the afternoon enjoying some great sport in the sun. we saw some lovely black bream and every now and then a conger would catch us out on the light gear. We were joined by some bottle nose dolphins on the steam in and of course we couldn’t pass the bass without a few drifts with lures.
The next few days we pretty windy from the north east, as is often the case the wind got stuck there for a while but we were lucky to have plenty of sheltered fishing and it remained sunny and dry. Over these windy days we spent more time chasing the bass. It may seem silly after catching countless bass all summer back at home but we didn’t wish wouldn’t pass up such quality fishing in poor weather conditions. At times it was a little mad out there and resembled fishing from a 10 ton surf board! Aside from the bass we tried some other areas tucked away behind the island. We found a few different species here too. The larger fish were huss and undulate rays, on the smaller side were some tiny smoothounds, wrasse, garfish and a blenny. Stephen Clarkes stay came to an end after the first week, with our private taxi now gone we decided this would be a good time to move ports. The wind was still stuck in the north east although forecast to ease at some point it was anybody’s guess when. We decided that as the northerly wind was easing we could make our way a little closer to home and just shelter closer to the shore if need be. We made for Brighton as we have friends that live close to there. We also know the port a little so knew that some of the other lads could join us for the day. on the way back we fished the kingsmere reef for a while. We had a great time with loads of conger and black bream. We then pulled into Brighton late in the evening and made our way to our digs for the night. The next morning we were joined by Wayne and Joe who had driven down for a day out with us. with everybody aboard we made our way out of the marina and steamed a long way offshore, the wind was forecast to ease and we were banking on it easing to make our plan work. As we got offshore there were still plenty of white tops around. I was hoping the wind would ease on the turn of the tide as forecast but it remained throughout the whole of the next tide which made things awkward. We had a drift around on a bank and checked out some wrecks as we worked our way back towards Brighton. With just odds and sods to show for our efforts we pulled back on to the kingsmere to salvage our day. typically by now the wind had eased too! It turned out to be lovely afternoon and into the evening as Joe and Wayne had their first congers and some more black bream.
With a fresh south-westerly and rain forecast for the next few days we made to most of the lull in the weather and headed back to Mersea the next day. on our way we took a bit of a detour to the Varne bank. we just caught the start of the tide here and had two drifts of the bank. uncle Steve had some greater weavers, we had one or two mackerel and a couple of tub gurnards to our efforts before the last leg of our journey home. We arrived back at Mersea and unloaded to mass of stuff we had carried around for the last week and a half. Much of which was just taken for a boat ride. At least we could learn from this and refine what we would take on our next trip away. Yes, after the success of this trip we planned to head away on 2021. Hopefully you will be able to read about this in Sea Angler magazine soon.
Back in Mersea for now, we have already got the year off to a good start with a few trips under our belt over the last few weeks. Looking at our diary things will start to get busy soon so if you require specific dates or specific tides then please get in touch asap and book your trips while I still have some availability.
Please take note, I have listed below my weekend availability until the end of June. As you can see weekend Dates are limited after February as things are getting booked up very well in advance. If you would like a weekend booking or a specific date/tide then please get in touch and book as soon as possible or it may be gone. Quite a few mid-week dates have already gone too to please don’t delay.
I do have availability mid-week if you fancy a trip out. Please contact me on 07956411528 to discuss availability.
NEXT SPACES
Not all dates are advertised, I have some midweek availability please contact me to discuss midweek dates.
20/02/22- boat from £420 less than 6 people larger groups welcome max 10 anglers
18/03/22- (Friday) 6 spaces @ £60pp
19/03/22- boat from £420 less than 6 people larger groups welcome max 10 anglers
10/04-22-4 spaces @ £100pp offshore trip max 6 anglers
16/04/22-5 spaces @ £60pp
17/04/22- boat from £420 less than 6 people larger groups welcome max 10 anglers
18/04/22- boat from £420 less than 6 people larger groups welcome max 10 anglers
01/05/22-2 spaces @ £70pp max 6 anglers
14/05/22-2 spaces @ £70pp max 6 anglers
20/05/22-6 spaces @ £60pp max 10 anglers
22/05/22-6 spaces @ £100pp offshore trip max 6 anglers
19/06/22-6 spaces @ £100pp offshore trip max 6 anglers
Please call me for more information on 07956411528
Dad (Stuart) has availability on the ‘Razorbill 3’ please call him on 07850234077
