wildcard

Tragic. According to this report all 4 anglers were recovered from the water. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/irelan...4276974678.html

Nice quote in the story - "We had a good laugh and joke at it all. They appeared to have a few little tiddlers."

Great pics. I would have to catch this fish even if it took a lifetime, but then it would be returned and pampered once again. Alan

Hey pasty boy I thought it was sheep you lads were interested in not snakes. Can you confirm a cornishman with more than 5 girlfriends is called a shepherd? Here's one for your bedroom wall DeenO. Alan

Great report worms with some cracking pics. I like to see the big ling coming up circling from the depths, the bigger the circle - the bigger the ling. I bet those big snakes tear your arms out, all muscle with a built in reverse gear to engage. Alan

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics...cords-fall.html Alan

Whoops, after giving Paul a spelling lesson you had a typo moment yourself DeenO. It is hackles I said not heckles. You and Barry remind me of these two old hecklers though Alan

There is a curious set of tides associated with the Whitby area which is compounded by the ‘coastal effect’. The coastal effect is the term given to the effect the geography of the land has on the direction and speed of the run. The Humber estuary is just south of here. Flooding tide Slack water Ebbing tide The ebbing tide will have vast amounts of fresh water in it from the Humber estuary. The estuary of the Humber is 8 miles wide and is not called 'the wash' for nothing. When the tide floods it will have mainly salt water in it. It would be my guess that this differing change in salinity and temperature is the reason congers do not inhabit our waters. I have no doubt though they do pass through but find the waters too changeable to become resident. Cod dont mind fresh water at all and are often caught in the rivers. Alan

I cant do that yet Barry because I havent finished toying with you and pasty boy. If you post a photo of your lily white hands I may reconsider. Alan

The payload of this boat is clearly stamped at 200kg. You could easily convert this vessel into a submarine by having Barry Luxton sit in it. Alan

Like all boats it will have pros and cons. Though no expert, I would imagine the wind may have a big influence on the drift of it. You may need bow thrusters to counteract this. I would think the Haynes manual on this model would be smaller than the average one though. Alan

Well Davey wasn't on a roll when I took the £100 wager off him though was he. I thought his bottom lip was going to hit the helm on the way Fishing four people is one not enough Foo, get yourself back to blighty my lad and make up the number. Best fishes, Al

Calamari is mainly sold for human consumption of course and is bleached to improve its appearance.This kills a lot of its smell. If you use unwashed squid such as Ilex or lolligo it is covered in the squids ink which is a natural attractant to fish. Most of the ink is just melanin with a chemical called tyrosinase which attracts some fish and irritates the eyes of others. Either way it stops them dead in their tracks. Of course you knew that DeenO and after a period of googling you will come back an expert on the subject. WD40 as a fish attractant How is the search for Lord Lucan going old chap, I heard you and Barry knew where he was? You would have us believe the softies and the pasty boys are the keepers of all the secrets. Alan

Oh you mean WD40? The reason I call you lads 'know it alls' is because you are. If Paul says Tutt Uttley anchored wrecks without success then that is a powerful argument to support the lack of congers in this area. He was a very well respected angler and skipper. I have anchored up over night myself on 'jem reef' which is well known for producing big ling and caught nothing but ling and pouting. No congers. Fishermen have set long lines for centuries along this coast both inshore and offshore and not caught any congers. But none of that seems to matter to you and Barry. You seem to think your superior skippers and your superior angling knowledge is the key to catching them - thats what gets my hackles up. As yet, there is no Loch Ness Monster Support Group - why don't you and Barry start one? Alan

Four of us fished today on my ex swiftcat and it was one of the best days I can remember. The new owner Dave Bruce and his friends Andrew Kitching, Neil Arnaud and myself opted for an early start - and we weren't disappointed. We normally only fish wrecks but had heard there were fish on the 9 mile ground so Davey thought he would have an easy day drifting the rough ground. The fish were there in abundance, but the average stamp was small. Cod up to 5lb were everywhere. The sport was fantastic though with a fish a drop, but they all went back. A move was called for. Back to what we do best then - wreck drift fishing for cod All I can say is the session that followed was one of the best I can remember. The blues brothers. Neil on the left with Andrew on the right. This fish was Andrews 2nd 16lber. Neil with a cod of 14.5lb. Dave with one of 18lb and Andrew with his second 16lb fish - all caught on the same drop. Me with a nice cod. Andrew with a bonus pair of double figure pollock. Dave with the sweep winning cod of 18lb. The stamp of fish was superb, and many double figure cod were landed, with only a few ling. Fantastic sport from the port of Hartlepool. Alan

Hi Norm, I did a bit of experimenting with big squid baits last year. I got some big Loligo squid (Argentinian) and huge foot long Ilex squid (Falklands Islands) both of which were frozen and unwashed. As you know the Calimari is washed and predominantly for human consumption, whereas the others contain most of the ink which is a big attractor to fish. The chinese takeaways also use them!. The longliners were using the unwashed squid as bait with some success, but being brown in colour they didn't have the advantage of the white Calimari as attractors. Real messy to use as well. Any thoughts? Alan

No we don't and the word you are looking for is breeding 'Deene'0. Bread is something we put butter one. But then you would need to be educated to know that, so I can see why you made the mistake Alan

You lads need t re-read my post. Morris Dancers is the legendary Whitby Street Luge racer; Morris Dancers. leading as usual This man is a legend in these parts, but then he had the breeding. His father Tap Dancers was the only man in Whitby who could stay a drinking session in 'The Fleece' on the 'Tetley Imperial' with the Whitby skippers drinking champion Stu 'Hollow Legs' Johnson. His mother River Dancers was the Ladies All England Freestyle Dog Whelk Snorkeling Champion even though she had prosthetic legs. Now thats pedigree Alan

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10623423 Alan

That makes them more intelligent than some people I know http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10598926 Alan

Ah well, http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/835297-workme...und-dead-badger Maybe they should have painted over it; Alan

Due to popular demand I have added two additional days to ‘The southern softies tour of Whitby’ Day 8 – The softies will be greeted by Morris Dancers before Bram Stoker takes them on the ‘Dracula tour’. This involves climbing the 199 steps to look for count Dracula in Whitby Abbey. Bram will be on hand to sign copies of his latest book ‘Fangs for the memory’ Day 9 – The softies will be greeted once again by Morris Dancers. Morris will give a sermon on the origins of Luge racing down Skelder bank before signing copies of his new best selling book ‘How to make an omelette from a pigs egg’. The tour will take place in September so any softies taking part are advised to bring a jumper. Alan

I bet a Haynes service manual would be quite thick for one of those Alan

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10670333 Alan

Hi Nick, it was a bit of a loaded question I asked you Once in parliament an mp asked another mp 'does the right honourable member still beat his wife?'- Of course he couldn't answer either yes or no. Hello Ivan, thought you had been quiet on this forum recently - nice to see you have arrived. I will call you tomorrow about the next trip. Barry - DeenO, I used to fish the Hartlepool ling grounds that Gary (biggacod) mentioned earlier in this thread. One thing I noticed when fishing for ling is we had to 'clear out' the smaller ones first to get to the bigger ones. The ling ground is (from memory) about 200ft deep and all the juvenile ling came up with their stomach linings blown and had to be killed. Is there a way to target the real big ling without catching the teenagers? Alan