darnsarf

They were supposed to come to me. I take it I can expect them by the end of the week Nice finds. Took the Lincoln out today and had half a dozen Gars on it. Great fun. Plenty of tail walking. Takes a bit of getting used to but once you get used to the side cast its great.

Kev generally I use 2s 1/0s and 3/0s. That covers most options. Sometimes I will add 4s if i am after flatties

OK SM. A play in the bay could be ideal to start with and then move out with the tide. Be great to see you.

Yep I have the same one it is a tad tight and there is definately a knack to getting it on. You put your right arm in Your head through the spout Followed by the left, zip up so nowt gets out You do the dodgy crouch to get rid of air and the reverse to get back out. OHH..the dry suit pokey Ohh..the dry suit pokey etc A verse 2 would be welcome.... You can laugh but I bet you will be singing it the next time you put it on

Thats interesting. Will definately be trying them. What bait did you use?

Overrun: It will take me that long to get my life sorted anyway.. I'll wait. If you get to the car park early you might get there before the attandent sets up If not its £3 I think. Just come back from the old tackle shop and opened the bag up and found a Shakespear Lincoln Centrepin reel in there. How did that get in! (more explaining) Should be fun with the old Gars.

Overrun would be ideal conditions for you. You are spot on location wise (Clavell Tower). Dont worry about the distance the coast along there is fantastic and fishable. We can see how you get on and take it as far as you are comfortable with. Will probably head west towards Brandy Bay Was planning on getting there about 8ish to get some of the high tide and then move out a bit further with the tide. Bait Rag(Wrasse), Sandeel/Squid (Bass) and for everything else there's MAcky. A shallow lure is a good idea as well. PAintfly you know what direction I'll be heading if you can join up. The rest UNLUCKY! SM can you take some notes for me please! Will confirm details tonight.

Pollata roll might be possible with a clean yak Followed by a bacon roll in celebration

Can't get out this Saturday but Sunday is looking good. Ideal for those newbies who haven't yet got out. It should be like a mill pond on the south coast with just a slight predicted northerly and neap tides. With a bit of luck it should be near perfect conditions. (no Sun) I think it could justify a trip from Kimmeridge/Lulworth to Warbarrow. Not been able to fish my favorite spot this year due to work and poor weather. If anybody wants to join me just give me a shout.

Looks like you have just about got it. If you are wearing the right gear theres is no major panic needed. You can empty pockets if you need to. You should always enter from the seaward side as you can get a bit of help from some passing swell. The sea also helps keep you in touch with the yak without trying to plant the boat on your head.

Hats ? - don't get started on hats.... DOH! Seriously.. The ultimate cold weather hat is not surisingly the Russian style fleece hat. I have one made by shimano (how russian). You might look a t..t but at least you're a warm one. I have a Gortex Hooded Jacket that I can slip on if its really raining. I store that in a dry bag in the tankwell. For summer and general use the Tilley hat is fantastic with a beanie as back up.

Grant dont worry about the SB reference that just means hes got web feet. Get him in the car park they are useless on land

MJB .......DONT DO IT!!!

MJB You are right about the lack of resistance. This is why although I frequently use light line I rarely use a float lighter than 1.5oz. This combined with with fine wire aberdeen match hooks means that I miss very few bites. This is despite me crushing the barbs. Generally, you need to have your hand on the rod ready to strike quickly. Hence the way the rod holders are set up on my yak. With a boom swinging out either side of my shoulders it allows me to rest an arm on each armchair style with my hand restng on the rod ready to lift into the fish. You do not get so much self hooking as when ledgering and so you do need to concentrate, particularly when fishing 2 rods at night. To me this hands on approach is part of the attraction but its not everybodys cup of tea..

Welcome Nigel I can't help you but I have no doubt the Admiral of the Devon fleet will be sending out orders as we speak. You are not alone.............

Mark this has got to be one of the best posts we have had on here. Great report and some really usefull tips for us piking virgins. For the Wales trip I am getting the gear together now. Me being me will be going in with the float but the other gear you have listed is really useful. Don't tell anybody but I have a couple of Thundersticks that might just find their way into the tackle box.

MJB.. Nice fish bet they scrapped well. 10 out of 10 for the release. I hit on catch and release following fishing next to a club match at Seatown in Dorset. The beach was just carnage afterwards with dead or weak fish all along the HT line. I had to clean up the beach for the morning tourists. My own family was going to be one group of them. Rotting fish is not what you want to see in your holiday snaps.

Forthcoming that I did not see Go forth and fish...........................May the float be with you

Interesting. Try anything once. Mind you looks a bit like a a wind up.

If you need a hand testing SM

Wow. Where to begin. Firstly the rig Fatfish describes is your bog standard and highly effective sliding float rig (search internet for diagram). I use this 90% of the time. The only thing I would change is to use carp rubber beads either side of the lead bullet. This helps protect the rig and knots particularly during transit and casting. You tend to fish with lighter line than normal. (8-10lb) I also add a lead link clip between the float and top stop knot bead. You can then push in a 4.5mm lightstick for night fishing. Hook length depends on species. I tend to use longer (up to 6ft) for Pollock and big Bass this allows more natural bait movement in the water. 10lb for these is fine as long as you are not around rocks then its 15lb to 20lb with 2/0 fine wire match hooks. I use fine wire to help the hooks set easier. There is a chance that they may straighten but if you are only fishing 10lb line chances are that will go first. For other species tend to go with 3ft length. Hook sizes from 4 to 6/0 depending on target. The secret is to cover as much water as possible. Not only area but set the rig to the right depth for your target species. You do have to know the depth the different species feed in. For the Conger, Tope, Smoothound, Sole etc the baits were fished on the bottom or with the weight just off the bottom but the bait moving around on the floor. Bass and Pollock fish the bait just off the bottom. You do this by letting out line until the bullet hits the deck and then wind back the hook length and set the stop knot. Obviously Gars and Mackys and sometimes Bass and Pollock are to be had in the top 6ft. You can sometimes use different float set ups for these. The other thing to bear in mind is float size. The lighter the better the sport but for big baits, strong tides etc you may have to go up to 3oz. (Tope) The deepest i have successfully fished in is 60ft but I think a 3oz setup could take you deeper. Good Luck! Next stop fly fishing

Good points Grant. May start with mono anyway. Just in case braid is too direct. If you get my meaning.

Bass, Bass and more Bass. Little critters for the most part but great sport on light tackle. Final tally was 24 (give or take one or two). MOst around the half pound mark but 2 over one pound and one just shy of 2lb. Idyllic float sport. Had to just fish one rod in the end, it was so hectic. At one stage I was fishing a gully in just 2ft of water. The little B.....s still took the rag dragging the float and lightstick through the shallow water. Nearest we will ever get to flats fishing. Great Sport. Was actually after flatties. But any fish in a storm Thanks to barbless hooks. All returned for next year.

It was'nt that the forcasters were wrong. It was just thanks to the forecasters we were able to visit marks in the lee of the storm. Thats the beauty of the Solent. The eastern end last night was cutting up very nicely and the pilots had there hands full keeping the biggies in the channel due to the high winds. There was enough activity on channel 16 last night to show they actually got it right. The Hamble was perfect.