Near Shore cod fishing

The question is not really answerable with any degree of certainty. A calm sea in one area, can be quite different in another. Also things can change in seconds. I've experienced both many times. Luckyly though my boat can withstand twice what I'd venture out in.

Thing with a bow rider is. It only takes one wave to cause a disaster, where as I've many times had three foot of water on the deck without a problem.
 
a good point well made and experienced myself many times living by the sea as a youth with it turning nasty in seconds as you say... to suppot the point, I recall dragging a guy out the sea at the age of 16 for that very reason.. he was a very experienced codliner in his 50's wading out to get his catch when a freak wave, in broad daylight, filled his chest waders and tipped him upside down in mid winter temps... he should have had his chest belt on but got complacent. he needed dragging to the shoreline and resusitating so it'd have been curtains for the bloke if I wasn't close by retrieving my catch from the long lines 50 yds down the beach... I've had a big respect for the sea since that day. The message Jimbooooooooo is giving me is one which is well taken.... a fishing buddy in another boat is required I reckon before venturing out further than the solent.

regarding the open versus closed bow concern... would fitting the bow cover help significantly? I realise it's a case of the bowrider not being the ideal boat for the job but I'm hoping taking these measures will decrease the risk of flooding significantly to the extent of going out being an acceptable risk.

On the point of confidence.. I've stacks of it, probably too much :-) but I'm no fool and will can the idea if other's experience shows me that it's simply too dangerous for this type of boat

thanks for the continued advice.. I'm in two minds at present and will not go further out than the Solent until I'm sure it's safe to do so.
 
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Certainly for me putting on the bow cover and spray canopy on my Bowrider closes the boat down nicely.

Now a bow cover is not going to keep off the worst of weather but we always take those covers with us "just in case" as it does make it more pleasant once the spray is starting to come over (although its never the front that gets wet anyway, its always the people sitting in the very rear that catch the spray coming over the front.

I have just measured some of my trips this summer out of Poole and we got to around 5 miles off the coast, but this was on very nice days and was for pleasure so the moment it got even the slightest bit lively we were running for home.
 
I sincerely believe you shouild go uot on a charter boat from Lymington before you commit your self and your family as you are so unsure
Stelican
done solent Poole Bay boating over 20 years
 
stelican said:
I sincerely believe you shouild go uot on a charter boat from Lymington before you commit your self and your family as you are so unsure
Stelican
done solent Poole Bay boating over 20 years
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sorry mate, probably not explained myself very well here.. I've been fishing in the north sea as a young'un to offshore marks a good 20 miles out in a small fishing craft so I have no qualms about going out fishing at distance.. I was with an experienced skipper at the time mind you. this is more about researching opinion about the suitability of a bowrider to do something similar but also making sure I've covered all the bases in terms of safety equipment and best practice recognising this is the first year of boat ownership, sorry for not making that clear....
 
If you can cover the bows, I'd feel alot happier, not convinced, but it's an improvement. You still have not got self draining decks and bearing in mind, I've many times had green water over my fly bridge. so your hardly home and dry.

You need to launch from some where, where your return is not restricted, Poole?? Keep clear of the headland and in open water. Dont get your self in shallow water or overfalls. Shallow, I mean 20 mtrs unless protected. Deep water is good.
 
I was checking the bluecharts on the PC earlier and located a spot about 3.5 miles out from Mudeford that has a depth of 23mtrs just past a shallower area (Christchurch ledge?).. I was thinking of giving that a go
 
Not to familiar of Mudeford, though must have passed it quite often. I cant really give you local knowledge, as I cruise anywhere between Solent, France Ireland Wales and Scotland. Back to the Welsh/ Irish bit at the moment. It dont sound so bad around there though. But I'm still not advising. That's your decision.
 
Here's my twopenny worth. I would be very nervous about straying 5 miles out in a bow rider for all the reasons already stated in this thread. If you have an on shore wind then it will be roughest near the shore. An offshore wind means the opposite and it would be very easy to get 5 miles out with the sea behind you and hence not realing what the sea state really is. But when you turn around into it you might quickly realise that it's rougher than you realisesd with waves potentially coming over your bow. It's a completely different matter going into the waves as opposed to having a following sea.

To be frank I wouldn't want to do what you hope to do in a bow rider. There's just too many risks involved. Stick to the coast and flat water, that's what they are designed for. Also in winter there's almost no one else out there to provide assistance if things go wrong, apart from the lifeboat. Don't put your lives at risk unnecessarily.
 
Plenty of good cod fishing inshore, just have to do your research on the local wrecks etc... Have a search on the WSF forum for Needles Codmaster posts... He's out in a launch inshore and some of the best i've ever seen!
 
Coming in late to this thread but as a bowrider user I endorse the frailty of these boats when it cust up rough. We always put the bow cover on unless we're staying close in. We avoid anything much more than an F3 because it's just not fun.

The point of no self draining cockpit is well made and very relevant. We copped a big one over the bow earlier this year (in the itchen when we got carved up by a fishing boat). Very scary and showed just how easy it would be to go under.

Partly because of that we're upgrading to a cuddy (bigger and more seaworthy).

I agree with the poster suggesting a change of boat. If you want to stay at that size perhaps a rib might be better.
 
I thought I'd resurrect this one now that I've heeded the advice and changed the boat to something a little more suitable for our waters.

Hopefully, the weather'll change soon and I can get the boat on the water..... it needs to, as I have the weekend of the 5th to 7th Feb pencilled in to take some friends out fishing... I intend to take them somewhere near the wreck to the north west of the fairway on the below diagram...

would any of the fishing forumites recommend alternative spots a short ride out from Lymington?

Many Thanks, Gary

Fishing.jpg
 
Gary

The wreck due east of the fairway is near the spoil grounds this is an area known locally as the car park. The ground is fairly featureless but check an area out with your sounder and find yourself a little bit of either a bank or hole. Anchor up tide of your found feature, fish down the back of a bank or in the bottom of a hole/gully. To be fair some of our club members that fish that area just get in the middle of all the boats drop the kook and start fishing. The trick with coding is big baits refreshed regularly to build up a scent trail and the fish should find you. There are also a fair few large whiting about and these imo taster better than cod.

A lot of our members launch at either xchurch or lymo the all listen and chatter on ch6 as well as monitoring ch16 Not saying you should but if you did you might pick up some info

Good luck

Martin
 
oGaryo said:
thanks Tom Tom... I've this weird subliminal message sort of feeling going on, that's telling me the investment in a GPS navigation system was of sound judgement.
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I hope it is a big one with enough buoyancy to help keep your boat afloat until help arrives.

oGaryo said:
but I'm no fool ......
..... I'm in two minds at present and will not go further out than the Solent until I'm sure it's safe to do so.
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It's not safe in a bow rider. IMO

My suggestion is to take a picture of your bow rider to your nearest RNLI station and ask them if you should range far in it in winter.
 
Major C... I've heeded the earlier advice and replaced the Bowrider with a Fletcher 19 GTS as guidance such as yours is well founded... despite SWMBO contesting the following statement on a daily basis..... I do listen and act on good advice occasionally ;) thanks for the guidance all the same, appreciated :)
 
maverickofpoole said:
Gary

The wreck due east of the fairway is near the spoil grounds this is an area known locally as the car park. The ground is fairly featureless but check an area out with your sounder and find yourself a little bit of either a bank or hole. Anchor up tide of your found feature, fish down the back of a bank or in the bottom of a hole/gully. To be fair some of our club members that fish that area just get in the middle of all the boats drop the kook and start fishing. The trick with coding is big baits refreshed regularly to build up a scent trail and the fish should find you. There are also a fair few large whiting about and these imo taster better than cod.

A lot of our members launch at either xchurch or lymo the all listen and chatter on ch6 as well as monitoring ch16 Not saying you should but if you did you might pick up some info

Good luck

Martin
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thanks very much for the advice... will definitely use it to good effect
 
hlb said:
Informing the coast guards is a waste of time, they will not do anything. Anyway you'll be sunk in five seconds, if it's going to happen.
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That's the crux of it - good weather and you will be OK but if it all goes wrong you have no backup.

If you are not wearing an exposure suit and end up in the water, at this time of year, you will have a maximum of 20 minutes before losing motor function in your arms and legs rendering you unable to help yourself. An exposure suit will extend this to about four hours but will be a. very expensive and b. difficult to work in.

I'm not scaremongering or being a pessimist - it is a fact you ignore at your peril.

Tom
 
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nonitoo said:
That's the crux of it - good weather and you will be OK but if it all goes wrong you have no backup.

If you are not wearing an exposure suit and end up in the water, at this time of year, you will have a maximum of 20 minutes before losing motor function in your arms and legs rendering you unable to help yourself. An exposure suit will extend this to about four hours.

I'm not scaremongering or being a pessimist - it is a fact you ignore at your peril.

Tom
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I concur with that. I did my powerboat level 2 inland on Grimwith Res on a cold frosty late november day.

Part of the course entailed getting into the water up to the waist to launch and recover the boat.
I had a 5mm? wetsuit on, anyway the thickest type for cold water, wet boots and gloves and I can attest that even then, it was darned cold. I lost feeling in my hands and feet in a couple of minutes and my legs started to become numb and sluggish within 5 mins. Was I glad when the boat finally sat square on the bunks and I could get out.


I took the powerboat level 2 coastal at Whitby at the begining of the following February and snow was on the ground.
This time the organisation on seeing the wetsuit I had brought, shook their head and lent me a drysuit.
Same story, launch and recover the boat, this time though I felt (reasonably) warm and comfortable. I would certainly have been happy to stay in for an hour or so without losing feeling in my legs.

If venturing out in the winter, on a small open cockpit boat, I would certainly think about investing £300 on a dry suit or maybe buy a good secondhand one. I thought my wetsuit would have been fine. How wrong I was.

Even a thick wetsuit for 70 or 80 quid worn under your normal clothes would prolong your life for maybe an hour or more in the winter water.

a 1000 gall / hour bilge pump aint gonna get the water out if it cuts up rough so a backup manual pump may be in order too, or at the least have a couple of buckets handy.

As the instructor told me "there's no leisure type bilge pump on the market as efficient as two frightened men armed with buckets". :)
 
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