stan4massey

Had arranged the trip long before Bob at reefcat started advertising. Was last there in May this year. Anyway arrived in the Algarve on 1st Oct at around 8.30 a.m. to find 74 degrees, Checked the local charts and found temps dropping and winds picking up. Had phoned Bob but he was in UK but his equal partner Tony was available for a day or two. As it turned out the Wednesday was the only day that winds were favourable. before that 30-40knts) Anyway, ,met Tony at their temporary boat (?????????????????) would last me a lifetime! 28ft, rod holders, twin 150 hp outboards, top speed 38knts. I also managed to see the "real boat" for next year, 12 mtrs of high powered catamaran, flying bridge, rod holders, full sets of 20 through 130 Shimano gear, outriggers etc etc. On the wedensdey we set out for a 45min run to the canyons. The temporay boat was hitting 33 Knts and running calf high to the 3mtr swell I had brought 20/30/30-50 and 80-130 rods and equivelant reels. Tony and I talked it over and we agreed that I knew nothing about this area !!!!!!! Anyway we agreed on a spread and set a witch doctor on a 30mtr slam, 2 riggers on green machines with birds and black/red witches on the 20 gear on two flat lines and one centre rigger snap clip line. . After about twenty minutes towing with no strikes Tony suggested we changed to smaller lures (4 -6 inch smokers), he had a few of them and I had some green machines with smoker heads. We tripped over and lugged highier with the smokers and 4inch cabos and the fun began. I had the boat to myself and all strikes were mine. None of them big fish but 13 Skippys / boneys to 12-30lb (released by drop hook)Three dorado (for the pan) All, becuase of lure size took the 12 - 20lb gear. Excellent fun on a 12- 20 Penn reel with 12lb line. I have no tie up with Reefcat fishing but if you want some good fun fishing for a 2-3 hour flight and want to forget the " sewer sniffers" [apologies to the mullet anglers but they aint exactly sportfish or hard to catch). Anyway I know you guys despise us sportfishing anglers but you must admit it`s fun and a lot cheaper than Cairns. Putting together a trip for Cuba in Feb 2006. If interested PM me.

Aurthurcodbody, mailed you.

Possibly some older rules / regs regarding record catches could be utilised to decide. Not too sure of the current rules on B. Records but it used to be along the lines (boat fishing) leaving a UK port and returning to a UK port within 48hrs without landing on a foreign shore.

Happy Dude, nice pic. Depends what time your fishing Shimoni. If its around Nov. through Jan. its got good sails and YFT. I`ve never been with the Hemphills on a night trip for swords so I`m not sure where they`re actually fishing but doubt it`s the Malindi banks. They travel about 60miles out to some sea mounts. Wish I was going there now. States?? unfortunately no just Portugal. Try for some yellowfin big-eye & dorado. They had the Lagos tournament last weekend and apart from a few white marlin 7 blue marlin were hooked but only one landed. Not sure of the weight but it was 500+

Seahog, your right, I only posted it as a matter of interest as to the size of some fish taken on light gear. As you say,many of them are taken with the boat backing up on to the fish. The black marlin off Cairns in OZ in particular. They can have grander fish at the boat in under a minute. The instant they hook up, the boat is backed hard, the leader or swivel is touched by the deckie and its classed as a catch. On my last post a typo. The atlantic and pacific black M were in actual fact blue M

Happy Dude, that mako was off Malta about mid 70`s. May well still be a photo or two about somewhere. Good luck on your Kenya trip. If your on an overnight to Malindi marks it may well be the same sea mounts that Pat & Simon Hemphill fish for broadbill on night trips. Mako and broadbill are often together. They`re fishing out of Shimoni. At the moment I`m packing the 30 & 50 gear to fly off to sunnier climes on Saturday for a week.

Your multiply x 3 equation can be taken a lot further than that seahog. "A very safe margin at the extreme of the lower end! ... its safe to multiply the class of boat rod by X 3 In other words a 20lb class rod X 3 ..... would handle with ease a fish of 60lbs ... this is a very conservative estimate, that doesn’t include the amount of skill and experience the angler has." The IGFA world records on balanced tackle on 20lb test are slightly over the 60lb mark E.G. white pointer = 1,068lbs mako = 725lb 5oz porbeagle = 336lbs tiger shark 903lbs Black marlin (pacific) = 406lbs (atlantic)=714lb Black marlin = 1,051lbs atlantic cod = 98lb 12oz

Happy Dude, can only assume you aint been on board with a green mako. I`m all for conservation but a mako on the deck with its` normal anti-social attitude is being let off light with an AK47. Was only on board once with a 338lb mako (not my fish) and at the end of the day the game boat was wrecked, the gear was wrecked, the nerves were wrecked etc. Mako do not subscribe to the generally held principals of tag and release. Took a 12 guage and two bats to get this mother in the well. The bats came after to loads of the 12 guage.

Old Man of the Sea, fair enough, I accept that your intentions are sincere. There are one or two (to be exact one) who does keep a diary of everything that is said or done on a trip or on his boat and then maintains that diary ? data bank ? whatever you want to call it, for future use. Trust and actually accept that you are not like this dingbatt.

Old Man of the Sea, "I do not believe this is a subject for abstention." I would normally abstain from the more political issues or threads as I rarely have sufficient information to post in an authoratitive manner. I tend to fish more than worry too much about the politics. My reason for posting in this case may well be off base but I wonder. Your own posts are normally concise and well thought out. They make comments, address issues and invite information on a variety of issues. What they rarely do is give out your information. By that I do not mean personal information I refer to your own views. Above you say One possibility: "I believe you have a National Federation of Sea Anglers." Given the concise and knowledgable nature of your posts I would have thought you would know for a fact that a NFSA exists. "So, come on people, negative or positive, let’s be knowing about it. I do not believe this is a subject for abstention." Just another innocent request for input or additional information for the diary or data bank. I`ve never denied being a cynic and if I am being over cynical I apologise in advance but now and again you have to wonder.

IOI all I can say is I took that small Shimano telescopic to Portugal in April. There was not a lot of quality sea fishing at that time, (better now) but I did have a bit of fun with mullet to about 3lb, some sea bass on a short boat trip to the 4lb mark, bream from the shore 1/2 to 3/4lb. On a couple of days I visited the "barragems" {reservoirs} which are teeming with carp. Literally shoals of 30 - 50 carp on the surface and about 6 or 7 shoals visible at any time within ten yards of shore. A few tins of sweet corn later I had free-lined the corn for 16 carp one day to about 5lb and 9 in a 4 hour stint to 9lb. The average being 4lb (ish). The 9lb came to fly as did a few others but the majority, say 70% were all taken on that small Shimano.

Ian, strange bedfellows they may well be but It`s possible they may have to team up on another issue that`s looming and include divers in the company. I heard yesterday, from a very reliable source, that the MOD are looking at declaring some wrecks in a number of areas as war graves. Once that precedent has been set the wreck potential for anglers, commercials and divers could well be severely restricted. I`d have to be quick to say that I mean no dis-respect whatsoever to those killed in wartime sinkings and probably there is a very good case for their memory taking precedence over sporting and commercial considerations, a tricky situation.

Bass Boy, one I hav`nt heard mentioned is the Shimano Corsair. I picked one up a few months ago and it seem a servicable small reel. Its had no heavy or regular use as yet but I cant see any major problems with it. I use a Shimano baitrunner for salmon and this is the only other Shimano I`ve got. Someone may have used one more than I have and found problems, who knows.

can see a slight boob in my last post. In case anyone new is reading. " I wash everything I use in saltwater" obviously meant evrything I have used in saltwater I was down with fresh water.

Snatcher, got to agree they pay for themselves. Even the Shimano I got at £40+ will last a good few seasons if looked after and that`s good value for money. Some of the better telescopics are now using stainless guides with stainless ferrule re-inforcing, they should last the blank life. The older, far eastern or indeed some Scandinavian ones used chrome plated steel which just falls to bits in saltwater. I must admit I wash down everything I use in saltwater and that includes Penn International reels. I`m still regularily using an old white Mitchell 624 for bait and the likes and its as good as new and that must be twenty years old. When I get the time I may just strip down the Shimano, thread reinforce the joints and fit decent Fuji guides because the wee blank aint at all bad.

Got to agree with Ken, it`s getting a bit OTT. No point in spouting forth on some threads about releasing fish and conservation and then coming out with this sort of stuff. Talk about digging ones own grave. We know it`s intended as humour but the tree huggers will simply add it to their data and use it against anglers at some future date, they`ve got no sense of humour, (something to do with all the hamster food they eat)

IOI Its like any other rod, personal preference. There are some factors which relate to multi-piece rods which could help you decide. Multi-piece rods by virtue of the blank construction tend to be heavier length for length and weight for weight. Each spigot or ferrule has re-inforcing at the joint which adds to the weight. The greater the number of joints the heavier the rod. The additional joints also affect the action of the rod and generally make it feel more sloppy. This assumes you are talking about a general `occasional use' rod for the odd holiday bash. If your looking at serious then there are a multitude of quality travel rods by many manufacturers where these inherent problems have been addressed but at a price. Conoflex even have an excellent 4 piece 12ft surfcaster which can chuck a lead. Harrisons have four piece 12ft ledger rods that are superior to many `top brand' traditional section rod. Telescopic rods suffer from a history of cheap and nasty going back decades. This has nowadays been addressed and there are some good quality telescopic rods on the market from Shimano or Hiro (Portugal). The build of the telescopic rod eliminates the heavy joint, (the guides form the re-inforcing) and the action tends to be better as well as the rod being lighter. I have access to hundreds of different rods and blanks but earlier this year I needed a small travel rod and did`nt have time to make something up. I looked around and plumped for the Shimano Xsage telescopic. For what its intended and at the price (about £40+) I can`t really fault it and I`ve had some good light tackle fun with it. Nice light action and weighs next to nothing. Comes in a small alloy case about 12 inches long and extends to around 7ft. Not trying to push Shimano. As a general rule I steer clear of a lot of there stuff. As I said personal preference.

Think CT`s probably got it bagged. I would check a calendar if the sun stated that tomorrow was Thursday. No doubt something happened with some poor mutt and a hook but more than likely some isolated incident with a moron which the sun has blown out of all proportion (saves them doing it on page three). The times ?? probably a space filler in the full and certain knowledge if it`s bovine excrement then the sun will get the blame anyway. There`s also a fading celeb involved who

CT, do you mean that stuff written in the sun is not factual?????????? Woe is me, I am undone.

Can only speak personally on the ethical issue in that cats, dogs, budgies or any similar animals or mammals, or parts of them, (apart from fur or feathers used in fly or lure tying), being used for bait is reprehensible. From a fishing point of view the decision is simpler. The International Game Fish Association (IGFA) is the world governing body on salt and freshwater fishing. SFSA, NFSA, EFSA and hundreds of smaller clubs and organisations are affiliated to IGFA. Their angling regulations state quite clearly : "The following acts will disqualify a catch: Chumming with or using as bait the flesh, blood, skin or any part of mammals other than hair or pork rind used in lures designed for trolling or casting" unquote.

It appears to be in most European countries where it is known to inhabit waters. Allis shad is listed on Appendix II of the Bern Convention and Annexes II and V of the Habitats Directive. It is protected under Schedule 5 of the WCA 1981.

Sex ? is that not some sort of instrument used in jazz?????

LSD`s can be a total pain but that attitude seems well over the top.

Mick, depends a bit on your preferred style of fishing. You can take tarpon on drifted livebaits, float fished livebaits, spoons, saltwater fly or trolling. They tend to congregate inshore around channels, drop-offs etc and between deep water between bridge piers, moorings and the likes. Whatever your preferred method think along the lines of tuna circle hooks, sizes say 4/0 through 8/0 depending on bait. Local bait in season at the time is best, shrimp, mullet etc. If spinning you can do a lot worse than silver toby, copper toby etc in the 4-5inch range or large (old fashioned) copper Jim Vincent pike spoons. Whatever method you try use wire. Other things with teeth are also there, barracuda, shark etc. Trace min 3ft of 120 -150 test stainless (not or never plastic coated nonsense) Piano wire also works well. Main consideration is a quality hook sharpener. The inside of the mouth is like armour plate. The hooks must be as sharp as a hypodermic needle or you simply wont set them. A lot of sight fishing is done for tarpon which helps with setting the hook as the best chance comes when the fish has actually closed its` mouth over the bait or lure. If you can`t see the take dont be striking too soon, give it a second or two to close the mouth. Fish them night or day with probably dawn and dusk being best times. Fishing the piers or bridges you could do worse than a 3lb TC spinner or 20lb up-tider. Abu 7000 size reel or salmon / pike size spinning reel loaded with (a lot)20lb test mono. Fly fishing your looking at a 9-10ft 8/9 weight rod with fast tip action and 20lb tippet + loads of backing. (IGFA dont allow wire on fly leaders but if your not after records I`d use a short length, say 6-8inch. also helps sink the fly or lure). Be prepared for some acrobatics. Smokin` drags, Stan.

Do`nt mean I cant keep trying Linda