Genuine Picture... We're gonna need a bigger Blog!

If you did not see this you would not believe it!

This is a genuine picture of a Cod estimated at 17lb but we will never know its true weight.

One of our regular customers Dave Withinshaw gave me this magic picture towards the end of last year (2009) showing this Cod that had a run in with a Porbeagle Shark off of the Coast of Weymouth.

The customer was wrecking using a tiger shad and struck into a typical Cod bite. 
He then started the retrieve in usual the usual fashion but unlike any other normal day the Cod was pulled past the nose of a large Shark that had been cruising in the area!!

The fish locked up solid and then released, when the remains of the Cod reached the surface Dave saw the Shark following it up with its mouth open!!

Here is the resulting photo!! Ouch!!

The Shark took a large bite out of the Cod and put an alarming bend in our customer’s rod! 

What a sight that must have been!

Solent Cod

It has been a great season for the Cod again this year with skippers reporting captures as far back as September. We have had some fantastic pictures sent to us from some of the local charter skippers.

This first one is a picture of local angler Tony Wells with a 12lb Cod caught on squid using a standard pennel rig. The fish was caught recently from the back of the Needles on the Isle Of Wight.

This has been about the average size fish from this area this year. Tony’s skipper for the day was Arthur Savage the well known skipper of Private Venture from Lymington.

If you fancy a trip out with Arthur you can see his details by clicking this link.

Click Here For Arthur’s Details.

This next photo comes from another local skipper Geoff Semple, Geoff runs Lazy Daze from Beaulieu River and has had a very productive year. I myself went out with Geoff this summer and caught Black Bream and Smoothound and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

This picture is of Eddie Trueman with an 18lb Cod from the Solent earlier this week.

The fish was caught on the usual combo of squid and cuttlefish.

To see more fish like these check out our customer gallery on the link below.

Bells Of Hythe Customer Gallery.

I tied up this rig to show you the sort of thing these people have been using. (Incidentally, If you click on any the images on this blog they will enlarge so that you can see them more clearly.) The first picture shows you some of the components used to make the Cod rig.
You will see the Sonar attractor spoon and the specialist Sakuma 8/0 hooks. Note that the hook supplied with the Sonar spoon is not appropriate for this rig as it is way too small.

This next image shows how I tie my pennel as a fixed rig and not sliding. I have caught lots of fish on the retainer hook and I believe that simply wrapping your line around your retainer hook will not give it the stability to hook fish as well as the fixed hook system.

The final image shows the finished article complete with measurements so there are no grey areas. As you can see I have set the hooks to 7 inches, perfect for a couple of squid. Remember if you are like my brother and use a whole cuttlefish then you can extend the hook length to 8-9 inches and sometimes even 10!

                                                                                                  

As you may know I am getting interested in Kayak fishing recently and I was hoping to have an influx of Kayak caught Cod (there’s a mouthful!) but so far we have not had one picture of a Kayak caught Cod. Let’s hope one of our budding anglers reads this and gets paddling!

Study Carp, Fish For Carp, Catch Carp.....With Any Luck!

Hi my name is Damian Archer and I am 16 with a great passion for carp fishing. I have known Alan from Bells Of Hythe for 5 years and he has asked me to write this to give you an insight as to what I do and hopefully inspire other people to do what I am doing.

I am currently studying fish management at Sparsholt agriculture collage in Winchester. It is one of the best collages in Hampshire and the well known carp angler Simon Scott studied there and also works there as a tutor, it’s a great privilege to work along side him. 

The facilities are brilliant the tutors are friendly and helpful and they also treat you as an adult so that really helps you to get along. The collage also takes you on amazing trip that can be a once in a lifetime experience. 

For an example if you have ever watched the program “A passion for angling” then you will be familiar with Redmire Pool which has produced two British record carp “Clarissa” at 44lb and “The Bishop” at 51lb two respected fish in the carp anglers world.

While at sparsholt you get to go there and see it for with own eyes something very special. 

Another place you get to go to is Yately which is part of Cemex angling this has produced fish like “ Heather the leather” which has recently passed away. I got to go there and see this stunning fishery and do some tree work this evolved cutting down big trees in swims that could fall and injure people, this was very interesting to do. So if your reading this and you are in your last year at school and your interested in fishing then this is the course for you.

Recently I have been fishing a local lake near where I live, with a stocking of only seven carp! it’s a truly hard lake but boy do I have a story to tell! I’d been fishing this lake for about a year for the Tench and Crucian Carp and had some nice ones but one day I was fishing and all of a sudden I saw a dark shape swim 10 yards from the bank and straight away I could tell this was a big carp.

So for about two weeks every day after school I went down there and watched this fish by climbing trees and watching it’s feeding patterns.

I found by doing this, in the afternoon the fish where coming into a patch of lilies in the margins. I watched them do this for about a week, so that weekend I bought a loaf of bread and took my stalking rod down to see if I could bag one.

I cycled down and arrived about 6:30 in the afternoon perfect ! I set my rod up with just a korda wide gape size 6 on the line, you need a good strong hook because it is very weedy.

 I ripped up some bread and I spread it in the lilies I left it for 10 minutes to have a walk round the lake but by the time I got back the fish were already feeding. I baited my hook with a big lump of crust and I watched a fish feeding in the pads and slowly I lowered it into its path it came straight to it and then SLURP ! It took it!!

Whack!! I was in, with one surge of power from its tail it took me through two weed beds, I kept the rod low and pumped the fish back through the weed and after a short but powerful fight I put the net under the fish and shouted “YES” I could not believe it.

I lifted the net and saw that it was a monster, so I lowered the fish into the margins in my landing net and quickly phoned my dad and told him to bring down the camera.

A very short time later my dad arrived with the camera and we weighed the fish. It pulled the scales round to 33lb 8oz a new pb brilliant! I’ve never been so happy I got a load of pictures and then I carefully slipped her back to haunt this lake for another generation, result! 

About 2 weeks later I was down there fishing and I met an angler called Greg Alexander, a CC Moore bait consultant, I could not believe my eyes as I have seen Greg in loads of magazines and videos. He came down because he had heard via Al at Bells fishing shop that I had caught this fish so he thought he would have a go for it. Greg did catch one of the other commons from the lake at 23lb, but I don’t believe he has had the one I caught yet.

To my knowledge no one else has caught the fish since I had it and I have recently heard that Shaun Jarvis (another local carp fishing legend) is having a look.

I hope my article has been interesting and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Many Thanks

Damian Archer.

Ron Thompson Beach Shelter.

Hi There

It’s that time of year again when the weather starts to affect your fishing.
To be honest we have all underestimated the changes in temperature that can occur while out on a session. Nowhere is more effected by the elements than on the beach, the beach of course is the first line of defence and if you are not well protected it can lead to a miserable fishing session.

Allow me to introduce you to the Ron Thompson Beach Shelter.
It is light-weight and easy to erect and will not only protect you from the rain but more importantly (I think) it will cut off the wind chill by acting as a solid wind break. Sometimes the temperature on the beach is quite warm but because of the wind chill factor but it feels freezing because of the wind! We have these shelters in stock and in the following colours Red, Blue and Black. The RRP is £59.99 Bells Of Hythe Price £46.99.

http://www.bellsofhythe.com/products.asp?catid=48

What's happening...

I just spoke to Danny Panter following his trip to Town Quay last night for a full damage report and he had nothing on the big rod but he did have Dab and Whiting on his worm rod. Not much else caught last night on the entire pier.
Here is a file picture of Danny to prove that he can catch fish.

In happier news Neil Leighton managed three flounders from the Reclaimed land in Hythe this morning the biggest being 44cm!! He did not have any scales so we do not know the weight but 44cm I think would be about 2lb mark??

I am going to fish the Reclaimed Land next week so I will hopefully have some pictures of my self to put on here.

Kayaks are becoming the new Rock And Roll when it comes to sea fishing. When you are in a Kayak you are free to fish wherever you want to and you are not limited to fishing deep water. What I mean is you can fish 200 yards from the shore in only 2 foot of water if you want.
I have been working with my Fiance's father Tim Bayliss sourcing Kayak equipment to sell at the shop www.bellsofhythe.com.


Tim is a keen fisherman and has gone into the Kayak scene in a big way so along with his son Chris and his workmate Mick and his son Ben I am privileged to all the right information as to what I need to stock for local fishing.
Also I have some great pictures and videos at my disposal to share with our anglers. Incidentally Mick has a fantastic Blog on the go at the moment why not visit it and follow him?

http://mickskayak.blogspot.com/


First we looked at the Kayaks themselves. As with everything in life there are various makes and models and various price points that we needed to look into.

Here are some of the Kayaks we can now get..

Freedom Kayaks, Native Kayaks, Ocean Kayaks, Hobie Kayaks, Islander Kayaks, Teksport Kayak,s Perception Kayaks, RTM Kayaks and Wilderness Kayaks.

We have made sure that we can get all of these Kayaks at the right money so that we can be competitive when it comes to our retail prices.


Here is the Ocean Kayak Prowler 13..

It represents a very good very affordable sea fishing Kayak that will be very stable and handle most conditions that you will find on our south coast.


I have set up a poster to advertise our kayaks on our website..

As you can see the poster shows a lot of the brand names mentioned above and bang in the middle is Mick's son Ben with a fine Ray caught on his Ocean Kayak.

The yellow Ocean Kayak shown above is 13 foot long and is valued at only £584!
That is a very good price for a Kayak of this quality.

I have been looking into the correct type of fishing rods used from a Kayak and have come up with some crackers! We sourced this Abu Garcia Diamond Crest boat rod. This rod is a perfect mini rod for Kayak fishing, it separates into two pieces and when put together measures only 5 feet in length. The rod is like a boat rod in miniature ideal for Kayak angling.

We have also bought a lot of Lineaeffe reels that are very cheap but work fine with lures or light leads. They are only one ball bearing but they feel very strong and smooth. And at £7.99 you cannot go wrong.

 Our Kayak tackle site is live and ready to use. 

 http://www.bellsofhythe.com/department.asp?ID=6

I will let you all know as soon as the Kayak section becomes live, I cannot tell you how excited I am about it. I also have a Kayak fishing gallery on its way so get ready for action!!




Stay Tuned

                            Big Al. 

Fishing Just Got Very Interesting!

Hello my name is Alan Shergold and along with my Fiance Laura Bayliss we own Bells Of Hythe a fishing tackle shop in Hythe, Southampton right in the centre of the New Forest National Park and bordering The Solent.

As my profile picture suggests I like to carp fish but I will also dabble in boat, beach, fly.... well anything that means I get to hold a rod really.

Recently my old friend Shaun Jarvis (Rod Hutchinson, Essential Baits) appeared back on the Carp Scene and I have to say that I was quite excited indeed! He made some serious waves back in the 90's along with Steve Renyard (Ultima, Shimano, Richworth) when he fished Sowley Lake near Beaulieu and had some serious fish!

Shaun has set his sights on Nutsey Lake, Totton a Test Valley Angling Club water. It holds a lot of old carp and one big one weighing 50lb+!!

Terry Hearn (Dynamite Baits) did a bit on the lake for his last book and had most of the fish including the big one at 48lb, Terry sent me some awesome slides and the pictures came out great! Here is his picture of the Nutsey Biggun.

In true Shaun style he did indeed spend about 14 sessions on the 5 acre pit and managed on average 1 carp per session one of which weighed 52lb 14ozs!!

You guessed it the Big Mirror! Shellfish B5 does it again! Look at the size of that!

I do like it when the old carpies come back to the bank with a stonker straight off the bat!! Good work Shaun! I will keep you informed as to where Shaun is fishing next...

A lot of blanks reported this week including my own shop working bivvy tramps Mr Goeff West and Popadom Padroma. Goeff managed to blank Hightown in Ringwood for 4 days and Padroma pulled off a dramatic blank at Mopley this week! P45's in the post boys. Goeff is still using the CC Moore Odyssey XXX that he has had great success on this year, lets see how many blanks it takes to change his mind?? Winter carp fishing is a true test of loyalty when it comes to bait!

Anyway, if you have fished any of these lakes please let me know. I would love to see how you have approached them. 

On the Beach scene Town Quay in Southampton has thrown up some awesome Bass this week! We heard of an 8lb Bass earlier in the week but unless I see pictures I am never sure whether to print catch reports, today Danny Panter from Marchwood Army Base emailed me two pictures, a 5lb 7oz Bass

and a 9lb 9oz Bass

caught on live Pout by a Mr Steve Chesterton this week. His pictures are currently on the fishing news page of my website www.bellsofhythe.com.

Danny said he too had a good Bass on but lost it as it went under the pier, Steve however was fishing 60lb line straight through and did not lose any of his chances!! 60lb! That's some serious twine!!

Danny has tackled up a notch and is on the Quay as I type this trying for his monster! He got snapped to bits last night using 15lb line, not the normal thing to happen but when your fishing underneath a rusty pier that sort of line would not offer much resistance to an angry Bass, I would go 30lb-ish but Steve reckons you would be dead meat unless you step it up.

I will let you know if Danny strikes Silver or not..

Many Thanks.