tommy123

I see that the chieftain is leading the way again at Whitby. If you go and look at honest glenk, s site there is a photo and report (not by him by the way) of a trip last weekend and a 34lb cod being caught on the chieftain. That’s what you call BIG COD.

I am moving house at the moment and was clearing out the loft when I came across an old Whitby Gazette. Dated 15 April 2008. Would you believe it on the back page was an update of the spring angling festival and a picture of an angler Ian Conwell and his 6lb conger eel that he had caught off Whitby during the festival? Knot very big I know but just a tad more evidence that there about. Considering that the biggest fish that week was a cod of 6lb 7.5oz it wasn’t such a bad fish.

All getting just a tad tiresome now. Still funny. So going back to my original question about the ling and Pollack. Can anybody please state officially if the fish where the size that Glenk posted them or was it not the case and indeed if the fish where no where near what he said they where then why indeed did he fabricate the truth. Ps would a prize of say £1000 for the first angler to catch a conger off the north east coat be tempting to get you southern softies up north???

So has it been confirmed then Barry that the ling and Pollock that where posted by GlenK where (as I suspected) not anywhere near the size that he was claiming that they where then? If so why? Looking from a business point of view I would of thought that catching congers (or at least the possibility of catching congers) must be a positive view on attracting more anglers to Whitby and the surrounding area’s. I too have talked to commercial fishermen, divers and anglers all along the north east coast over the years and they seam to have a more positive outlook as to there not just being congers about but also the fact that they are catch able. We had a lot of excitement about halibut a few weeks ago when one or two where caught, maybe if somebody would catch a decent conger then we would have the same enthusiasm and interest. Think that someone should give it a (serious) try. Maybe have a competition and a trophy (could name it the JB Trophy) with some good prize money for the first boat to catch a conger. I Would have thought that you could get some serious sponsorship for such a competition.

Yes Elton the Whitby fishing school is apparently one of the best (if not the best) in the country, for training the youth of today who want to go to sea in the fishing industry or sea related work. I have been inside where they hold most of there training and the equipment and facilities are second to none. Government money and sponsorship has let this school develop to be able to train young men and women from all over the country.

Very good post and a realistic look into the future. Into days climate looking at catching less amount of fish, but bigger and different spices just could be something that the charter skippers are going to have to turn there hand too. The north east is a great haven for cod fishing, and drifting hard ground is an easy way for anglers and the charter boat skippers to work. The future may be different and if that is the case then I would hope that the angling industry is prepared for a tactical change and the anglers likewise. At the moment things are great for the cod anglers and the people who make there living taking them out to sea and long may it continue. But in these times of plenty it could be the ideal time to take time out an experiment for the future.

It amazes me how anglers (and party boat skippers) seam to love small tides and slack water. Simply because the boats aren’t designed to cast up into the tide and they have never perfected anchoring up on wreck and putting your bait into that wreck with a good tide going. Light boats with a bit of wind and tide running and its game over for the angler who cannot get to the bottom because he cannot cast down drift etc. Why any body would want to sit over a wreck with 10 or 12 jiggers banging up and down on top of it is beyond me. Now is anybody going to tell us what this ling and Pollock actually weighed.

It’s quite simple Barry. Anchoring up on wrecks from Whitby has never been perfected. Why, well because there has never been a need for it. I spoke to the late JB on fishing trips I had with him on this very subject. He said that there will be big ling and conger in the wrecks but Whitby skippers had certainly perfected fishing wrecks on the drift, but not at anchor. JB was (in my book) the most experienced charter boat skipper out of Whitby and one of the best small boat commercial fishermen. He Said to me that he had a lot to learn in regards to anchoring on wrecks and fishing them. So if he said the knowledge of that particular method of fishing wasn’t there (including himself) then I certainly took his word for it. Sadly JB never got the chance to perfect his hopes. Lets hope that some other charter skipper one day does.

Unfortunately that is not a 54lb ling or a 25lb Pollock.

Fabulous report, great photos and video weather looked great also. Tommy.

I thought that people have been actively encouraged to apply for positions on the new IFCA, s have a lot of angling rep, s applied and been turned down? Or have many anglers applied and been turned down. Tommy.

So nice to be able to discuss the good and the not so good things about Whitby as an angling destination without being ridiculed for having an opinion. Hello Mr Motorola loved your U-Tube links. I have fished with you before on chieftain. A few years ago now but I remember your party as being made up of a great bunch of anglers who had a vast angling experience behind them. Do you still go on chieftain? It’s good to be able to talk with someone who has actually experienced the different options you have of fishing from Whitby, rather than someone who says that fishing is great inshore of Whitby when they obviously have never experienced what you described in your post above. Like I said before, it is a plus for Whitby that you have the choice. Tommy.

Hi Allan and hi to all on anglers net. That is a very interesting post Allan and although I knew JB quite well (through fishing with him on chieftain and being quite friendly with him) I never knew that he was interested in that class of boat. On the subject of Whitby and how it stands as the one of the country’s best recreational sea angling venues. I have fished on many of the inshore angling boats and I found them to be very good, I found them a bit restrictive on what you fished for and how you fished, but if it’s drifting over hard ground and catching plenty of decent codlings then there isn’t many places (if any) that you will find around the coast of Britain that caters for this sort of angling. The port of Whitby also has a boat that does long reaching trips 150 miles plus. I had quite a few trips on the vessel (chieftain) and it was first class, the way the boat was run was second to none. The fishing was unbelievable. As I have mentioned before the fishing on the inshore boats is good, but this fishing was a totally different class. Of course you had to pay for the experience and it’s not everybody’s cup of tea (spending up to 5 days on a boat out in the middle of the North Sea) but it certainly made Whitby a much more exciting place as a fishing venue for me. The toilet or lack of them first thing on a morning and the general lack of facilities for anglers going to Whitby is very disappointing to say the least. But it is still up there among the best fishing venues I have had the pleasure of visiting. Tommy.