Friday decided to launch at Tanners Lane and take the ebb down to the Needles

Rigged up the yak ready for launch at 11am



the destination seemed a daunting prospect in the distance



getting closer!



nearly there



made it at last---------------took just over two hours





paddled on to the mark where I had the ray last week and anchored up

first fish was a doggie and second



so it was doggies and pout followed by a double shot of pout with a very small whiting



at about 4pm landed on Scratchells bay and took a break and rigged the sail for the return journey



decided to troll a shrimp rig on the way back and with less than a mile travelled caught my first mackie of the year



beautiful Alum Bay



saw a square rigger on the approach to Hurst



found Zzippys big hole



Lymington-Yarmouth ferries



Finally made it back to Tanners at 7pm




1 new species and 20 miles travelled-----well on the way to paddle fitness

After a days rest I was ready to go again on Sunday

Decided to travel west to West Bay for a change of scenery.Popped in for a look at West Bexington and at 0730 the mackie bashers were already out in force.

Arrived at West Bay harbour amid a flurry of activity from the assembled dive boats preparing to launch,was still able to drive down the slipway and rig up at the water's edge.There were a few fishing boats getting ready for launch too.



Launched around 0830 and made my way out of the entrance to the open sea.Had the trusty shrimp rig trolling behind with a dexter on the end and caught some mackerel on the paddle out.




Found a bouy about a mile offshore in about 50ft and started fishing.Doggies were taking everything,sandeeels,rag,squid,mackie!managed my usual couple of Pout aswell

Got bored after a while there so decided to head futher offshore to a feature that I had seen on the chartplotter.Got to the mark to discover another pot bouy(well handy) and a couple of dive flags----normally a good sign!



Well it wasn't, just more dogs and pout!

Heard on the weather broadcast that the wind was going to swing round to NE and as it started to pick up a bit I decided to head back inshore,trolling the shrimp rig as I went.





Soon had to stop feathering as I'd caught enough mackies to fill my little freezer! Enough to save me a quid or two for a few Tope/Conger trips.Decided to head back to the harbour.



It was a bit choppy re-entering the harbour but nothing serious.

After I'd de-rigged and loaded the yak on the van ready for home I took this pic-----looks like I made the right decision,the swell had picked up



Headed for home to get the 30 or so mackerel frozen for bait.By evening I was getting restless

decided to take my last chance of fishing for this weekend with an 11pm launch from Mudeford



The new sandbank can be a problem as it causes waves to break about 50 yds out of the entrance-took 3 over the bow straight on no problems and was on my way to the fishing grounds.

Made good progress and was soon in the area that I intended to fish,unusually saw no shore fishermen in the area,.Found a pot bouy in about 25ft and made fast.

Had fresh mackerel that I'd caught earlier in the day along with the usual rag and squid.

Was feeling fairly tired so decided to fish only two rods.One a Pennel with a couple of squid and the other with a paternoster set up with a 1/0 on top baited with rag or squid and on the bottom hook (a 3/0)a hefty fillet of fresh mackie.

The usual pout and doggies were caught-yawn

Then took a hefty knock on the euroboat with the paternoster rig.

What was it?

Didn't feel like a Conger---------had visions of all sorts of things it might have been during the fight where it continually peeled the 15lb mono from the little ABU.

Towards the end of the fight the fish started to show the characteristics of a Conger and sure enough



Conger no.1 for the year!!



the bugger did a death roll on the surface and it took a while to disentangle it from the trace but to see it swim away gracefully was the highlight of a brilliant weekend on the water

time to start planning next weekends adventure

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terrific post richi, i really enjoyed reading that. cheers!

Excellent! Paddle fitness you say? 20 miles? Yer crazy