Cliveshep
Well-Known Member
To all members who were so helpful last week over my post requesting help on a launch site and parking in Littlehampton last week a big thank you. We launched from Fisherman's Quay as suggested, and the car park alongside the Lifeboat proved invaluable at only £6.00 for the whole day. Fortunately we have a big 4x4 with a massive roof rack and were able to avoid paying another £6.00 for the trailer which is aluminium by up-ending it onto the rack and chaining it down.
There was some event going on with the lifeboat, the Thames sailing barge Alice, and a fisheries protection vessel taking part and loads of raggies and mobos cluttering up the channel but we got out safely in our little 4.0m inflatable tender and feathered for mackeral a couple of miles off shore.
Caught five little-uns which SWMBO was so pleased about as she hooked two or three of them, and she cooked them for tonight's tea for her and the kids. It's catching fish to eat that keeps SWMBO hooked, otherwise she'd kibosh all such trips as she can't be arsed with swanning around in a bouncing dinghy, she'd rather listen to music and read the paper on the parent craft and not otherwise get involved. Being now permanently on the river means the only opportunity to go boating elsewhere is to take the tender down on the trailer as she absolutely refuses to countenance going down the estuary - she's scared of waves she says which considering the difference between an Ocean 30 built for that and an inflatable which is not is a typically female kind of logic. We can put to sea in a dinghy but not in a cruiser!
Clearly, only five little fish to show for our efforts indicates the difference in available fish stocks now compared with the '70's when I last did that. Then one could fish for half an hour and get a box of big fat fish and be able to share with friends.
I have a question if someone could help out please?
Close by us on the slip today was a local professional gutting what looked like 4ft long sharks, he was expertly cutting them and skinning with a knife and pliers. I am guessing from a position of ignorance that they were Tope? He had gone out at the same time we did, came back just in front of us. He must have had a dozen or so in his boat. Can anyone tell me how he managed to catch such big fish and are they good to eat if you can catch them? One would feed the whole family I should have thought as by the time he had finished gutting and skinning them he had what looked like one big mother of a Rock Salmon joint left. All I could see in his boat from my vantage point was a float with a long pole on it with a flag on top, presumably he put something on the other end and dropped it in and let it "soak"? I should say that all of us hate angling passionately, we are interested in food not sport! I'd really love to know the equipment and technique if someone could kindly enlighten me.
There was some event going on with the lifeboat, the Thames sailing barge Alice, and a fisheries protection vessel taking part and loads of raggies and mobos cluttering up the channel but we got out safely in our little 4.0m inflatable tender and feathered for mackeral a couple of miles off shore.
Caught five little-uns which SWMBO was so pleased about as she hooked two or three of them, and she cooked them for tonight's tea for her and the kids. It's catching fish to eat that keeps SWMBO hooked, otherwise she'd kibosh all such trips as she can't be arsed with swanning around in a bouncing dinghy, she'd rather listen to music and read the paper on the parent craft and not otherwise get involved. Being now permanently on the river means the only opportunity to go boating elsewhere is to take the tender down on the trailer as she absolutely refuses to countenance going down the estuary - she's scared of waves she says which considering the difference between an Ocean 30 built for that and an inflatable which is not is a typically female kind of logic. We can put to sea in a dinghy but not in a cruiser!
Clearly, only five little fish to show for our efforts indicates the difference in available fish stocks now compared with the '70's when I last did that. Then one could fish for half an hour and get a box of big fat fish and be able to share with friends.
I have a question if someone could help out please?
Close by us on the slip today was a local professional gutting what looked like 4ft long sharks, he was expertly cutting them and skinning with a knife and pliers. I am guessing from a position of ignorance that they were Tope? He had gone out at the same time we did, came back just in front of us. He must have had a dozen or so in his boat. Can anyone tell me how he managed to catch such big fish and are they good to eat if you can catch them? One would feed the whole family I should have thought as by the time he had finished gutting and skinning them he had what looked like one big mother of a Rock Salmon joint left. All I could see in his boat from my vantage point was a float with a long pole on it with a flag on top, presumably he put something on the other end and dropped it in and let it "soak"? I should say that all of us hate angling passionately, we are interested in food not sport! I'd really love to know the equipment and technique if someone could kindly enlighten me.
