Summer Madness!

This summer has not disappointed at all as far as fish catches have gone!

We have seen a lot of fish caught from the shore and from the boat and kayak.

First on our round up we see long time customer Gary Holland with a fantastic 11lb Bass caught from Southampton water around the Calshot area. Gary has also caught Tope, Smoothhound, Rays, Black Bream and many other species from Southampton Water this year.

He said “The Mackerel shoals and Bass numbers have been very high this year and when you can get through the weed the fishing has been amazing!”

Beaulieu River has also fished very well this year with many Smoothhound, Bass and Black Bream being caught from small boats and kayaks around its entrance. The skipper of charter boat ‘Lazy Daze’ Jeff Semple has had many good evening trips and landed plenty of good fish.

This picture is of shop regular Lee Woollon with a nice Starry Smoothhound of around 12lb caught while on a trip with Jeff. Lee caught the fish using live Peeler Crab purchase from us.

The shore fishing locally this year has been dominated by Sting Rays. There are various areas of sedge along our shoreline between Bucklers Hard and Limington River entrance and these sedges are situated on soft mud. It is this soft mud that Sting Rays find irresistible! The Sting Ray are here for mating and feeding and you will often see 5-6 smaller male Rays following 1 larger female.

These fish are really not a fan of Crab or Sandeel, they prefer very large bunches of Ragworm and when I say large bunches I mean between 5 and 8 large worms presented on a pennel rig.

Local anglers Steve Perry and Darren Mills have dominated the Stingray fishing and they have both had their fair share this year.    

This is Steve Perry with a fantastic Stingray.

And here is Darren Mills with another great fish.

Finally we have kept the best to last.

Anchorman Charter has had a great summer and the skipper’s wife Emma Mumford has had some great catches.

This is Emma with a beautiful Undulate Ray caught onboard Anchorman. These fish are classed as a species that are on the decline in certain areas and this one went back alive and well.

100th Blog Post and The Summer Is Here!

The warmer weather has finally arrived and with it comes the summer species!

Where to begin!?

We have now finally found a very reliable supplier for Large Live Devon Peeler Crab! We are selling them for £1.10 each and we are happy to post them out overnight at a cost of £10.

We have also started to stock Devon Frozen Baits, this bait company is producing some very cool unique products that are proving a success with our customers.

Mini Blueys:

Mini Mackerel:

From the Boats we have seen some great Black Bream catches from local marks such as the Christchurch Ledge. The rocky ledge is perfect breeding ground for Black Bream this time of year and they have arrived in there droves!

Lee Woollon with a 2lb Black Bream caught on 'Lazy Daze' charter boat:

Steve Perry with a 5lb Black Bream caught on 'Anchorman Charter' boat:

We had also had a vast number of Bass move into the Solent and fish have been recorded up to the magic double figure mark already this year.

George Prodromou with a 4lb Bass caught on the ‘Lazy Daze’ charter boat:

From the Shore we have seen Bass, Smoothhound, Black Bream, Spotted Rays, Sting Rays and many Mini Species.

The Bass have been showing on either Ragworm or Squid baits from Lepe, Marchwood, Pagham and the Reclaimed Land Hythe. A lot of the Bass have been he early season smaller fish with a few pushing towards the 5lb mark.

George West with a 3 1/2lb Bass from Gypsy Lane, Lepe:

With the invention of LRF we are seeing regular catches of mini species. This one is a ‘Shanny’.

Chris Bayliss supplied us with this picture of an LRF caught Shanny:

The Smoothhounds cam in about 3 weeks ago and have been regularly caught since using both Crab and Ragworm baits. Park Shore and Pagham have been to very consistent spots for Hounds this year but we have had no huge fish reported.

Steve Perry with a 13lb Smoothhound from Park Shore:

We have also seen various species of Rays caught from the Solent recently. There have been various reports for Stingrays from the boats fishing around the Brambles bank and further reports of Spotted Rays coming from the shore from marks such as Lepe Deep Water Mark.

Steve Perry with a Spotted Ray:

Another species that is trending well on everybody’s hit list is the Sting Ray. We have had some colossal fish caught this year from Sowley near Beaulieu.

This first fish was accidentally landed in a commercial anglers net at Sowley near Lymington and weighed in at a staggering 43 kilos (94lb!) If this fish was caught on a rod and line it would have beaten the all time British record of 72lb by an amazing 22lb!!

94lb Sting Ray:

These next fish are also from Sowley near Lymington. The anglers use large bunches of Ragworm on long flowing traces.

Paul Swainston with his 46lb plus beast!:

Steve Perry with 2 fine specimens:

As the fish get bigger this year we will of course keep you updated so make sure you check back onto the Blog over the next couple of weeks.

Cheers – Al.

Kayak Lure Fishing In Southampton Water.

Spring has sprung and the Kayak anglers are dusting off their set ups and hitting the water.

<’((((>-{   Three seafaring Kayaks   }-))))’>

Many of our guys are using their Kayaks to access areas that us Shore and Boat anglers cannot get near, it is true to say that Southampton with its deep water and industry covered shore line is an untapped resource for Bass and many other UK fish species.

<’((((>-{   A brave Kayak angler getting very close   }-))))’>

Let’s face it if you are in the water you are not trespassing on land, if you are in a kayak you can sit on 5” of water and access hundreds of fishing locations and if you do get a lecture from the harbour master you look a lot less menacing in a kayak than stood on a boat with 3 or 4 mates and are much more likely to just get asked to move. Kayak angling is more like stealth boat fishing really.

<’((((>-{   Three seafaring Kayaks   }-))))’>

There are many ways of fishing from a kayak, you can simply drift along with a Mackerel trace flowing out behind of your rig, anchor up and fish on the bottom with a lead or paddle into fishy looking areas and cast lures into hot spots.

<’((((>-{An angler making his way up Southampton Water}-))))’>

The lures used by kayak anglers vary greatly. For drifting along behind the kayak or casting away from the kayak over shallow ground a lot of anglers prefer the hard body plastic lures such as the Yo Zuri Crystal Minnows.

<’((((>-{Yo Zuri Crystal Minnow Red Head Lure}-))))’>

<’((((>-{Yo Zuri Crystal Minnow Mackerel Colour Lure}-))))’>

For casting away from the kayak or dropping down into shoals of mackerel some anglers prefer the Abu Toby style metal lures.

<’((((>-{   Sinking Metal Abu Toby Style Lure   }-))))’>

These lures are ideal for Bass and Sea Trout and will often induce bites time and time again in the same conditions.

<’((((>-{   6lb Lure Caught Bass   }-))))’>

To fish the Magazine Lane stretch of Southampton Water you park up and launch your kayak at Cracknore Hard for free. Cracknore hard is only ¾ mile south east of magazine lane and the journey up there is the perfect excuse to troll a lure.

<’((((>-{   Cracknore Hard Launch And Car Park   }-))))’>

On arrival to this particular spot at Marchwood you will first see the Marchwood Yatch Club pontoons, these pontoons are set in deeper water and hold some very large Bass under them. Anglers use live or dead pout as bait for the Bass on long flowing traces and fish around the 5-6lb mar are not uncommon.

You will also see the long wall that stretches ¾ of the way along the shore, this wall is also a good area to troll lures for Bass. At the end of the wall you will see a shingle beach, the beach section is good to fish from from the shore but not so great from the kayak as there are no real features there unless you head out deeper and find the drop off ledge just before the channel. The final spot is around the corner near the pier, this pier has Bass, Mullet, Mackerel, Black Bream, Gilthead Bream and a lot of mini species living around it.

<’((((>-{   Magazine lane Spots   }-))))’>

Now, is the point that we are supposed to tell you lot out there in reader land that kayak fishing in such a busy stretch of water is dangerous and that you should be very vigilant and carry a decent knife with you if you intend to anchor up and also the correct safety gear should be worm at all times, but, this is also the point where we say that most kayak anglers are the pioneering type that are fairly fearless, this means they are very aware of the risks involved and are usually much more sensible then any Yachtsmen that I have ever met. But seriously keep it safe guys and whenever possible get out there in pairs if only to get better fish pictures for us for our next blog!

Cheers.