Otter of Poole

Stolen 30th July early hours, Wimborne Dorset Mariner 60hp 4 stroke EFI Serial no OP412907 Crime number 11353 Dorset Police. If you should come across this engine please contact Dorset Police quoting the reference number. Boat with main and aux outboards & trailer stolen. only hull recovered but stripped of all items. Thank you for reading

Great to get Otter out on the tide last Sunday and take full advantage of the ‘weather window’. Sitting here listening to the rain beating on the windows and the wind wining through the telephone wires, it hardly seems possible. Dropped our plans for the early start, as the wind was still howling at 05:00, and not wanting to go out on a falling tide, with no option to return quickly if all went sour. By the time we were heading out the wind had eased and come round from the east to a gentle southerly - skies clearing and the promise of a better day. Finding bait proved surprisingly easy although many were on the large size, 30 livelies in the tank, we were off to the first mark. The anticipation was electric. There were a few other boats already working hard and the word was this was going to be difficult. After half a dozen fruitless drifts and a bit of fine tuning of terminal gear the first enquiry from a proper bass had me connected to a polaris missile. I was totally convinced I was connected to a double for sure. I started to question my choice of light tackle to begin with, but I had no cause for concern, it performed brilliantly. After a fierce fight and several dives under the boat she came to the net. I couldn't believe it only went 7lbs 5oz but a cracking fish all the same . There was sadly a very sour note to the day brought on by the disgraceful behaviour of a charter skipper. We were right on the hot spot of the chosen mark, with Aquafresh some 50 yards behind us when Tomkat, an Arvor 25 skippered by John Skeggs out of Lymington, deliberately steamed at full tilt between our boats and directly over the mark. We could see him coming and tried to wave him off but to no avail. Jim had to retrieve his line to prevent being cut off. This was clearly done to upset the fishing prospects on that mark. Had we been on smaller craft it would also have been quite dangerous. This unfortunately is not the first occasion he has done this to us, so how many others have had this experience? What a disgrace to his profession – a deplorable and unsporting act that serves only to bring his profession into disrepute. Great advert John – well done! We tried to make the best of a fading tide, with just one more fish of 2lb 7oz. I stopped briefly on the way back for a couple of drifts on an inshore mark for naught. A few drops for fresh mackerel gave us full strings of joeys but no sizable fish, so back home for a bit of filleting practice. Hard work, occasionally frustrating, but a great day out. See you on the tide. Edit 28/5/08 I took the opportunity to speak with John Skeggs today ref. the above. He explained that there was genuinely no malicious intent on his part, he didn't notice we were fishing and apologised for the incident. I have to say that I personally would still not drive my craft between two angling boats 50 yards apart that were clearly on the drift on a known mark. That said, apology accepted. end of.

All gone quiet then!

I'd really like to know how that's done chap, ref GM. and where you get your information . GM defined. Requires that genetic material is transferred between organisms, or altered such that it makes a permanent change to the organism, breeding true for successive generations. If triploids are sterile, How does that work

Horses for courses chap. For an industry (fly fishing) that's worth almost 700 milion squid in England and Wales, it's perhaps a good job some anglers can and do fish the 'commercial fisheries' as you say, or there'd be no wild fish for you to worry. I would also say IMHO that the taste of any particular fish has a great deal more to do with species and environment/water quality. Crabs taste great but they eat sh*t all day! Come on boys and girls........must be hundreds of you out there that know something constructive.

mmmmmmmmmmmm How many have you tasted then....... and from where?

What can anyone tell me about Triploid Brown Trout?.......... Have you caught one? What was it like? Which fisheries stock them? Are they good for angling in a) rivers....... lakes Discuss...............................

Looks suspiciously like this was a farmed brood fish . Look closely at the fins!!! Pecs. are shorter, very rounded and all the fins are much thicker. Indicative of cage aquaculture. There is also a pinch point in the flesh just in front of the tail. This happens in some farmed fish when they are grown very quickly and become too fat. The flesh bloating the skin away from the spine near the tail. I'd put a fiver on it.