|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Oystercat fishing trip 28 December 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Our
‘Aberthaw’ trip turned into a Minehead trip as the sea state on our
side of the channel was a bit lively this morning. Fishing was just ok,
we had plenty of congers, a couple of thornbacks, whiting and dogs...
but no cod! We stopped on the green grounds on the way home as the sea
state had dropped off so much, here we had some nice whiting and a few
dogs. Sorry for the lack of photos, my phone died first thing this
morning.
Skipper Dean
|
Heading out after a 45min delay due to a frozen swing bridge
|
Nigel Davies - thornback ray |
Oystercat fishing trip 23 December 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Average day aboard the Oystercat today, started on a new mark which was fairly quiet - a few whiting, dabs, spurdog and dogs; there was a lot of birds working south of us but I resisted temptation to start chasing what ever was pushing the sprats up.
Once the tide had changed we moved to target some flatties, which we found in ok numbers and good condition, along with pouting and small whiting; when the dogs became relentless we moved to a patch of rocks that have been consistent for good sized whiting - which we found a few of along with more pout, poor cod, huss and dogs.
We ended the day around 2:30pm having had plenty of insize whiting and dabs, pouting, poor cod, bull huss, spurdog and dogs.
Nice to make the most of the weather before the storm comes in!
Dean
|
Yet another dog - with spurs this time |
Swansea Bay triple, whiting, dogfish and a bloody rock |
A couple of more dogs, more welcome this time
|
Oystercat fishing trip 19 December 2017
Skipper John Elvins
Following the lead from the trip on Monday (18 Dec.) we ventured out to "the lemon bank" only to find that we went to the wrong place ...a little bank the shape of a lemon??? First Drop into the water by Colin Albert produced a great 2.5lb whiting photos to prove (PB for our colin who told me he is 42) went downhill from there dogs , dogs and dogs tried the ledges more Dogs. Came back into the bay to a secret mark (so foggy we did not know where we were) and had a good catch of plump Dabs to finish. Pleasant day all round, must remember to take more Curry next time!
Skipper John
|
Catch of the day - 2lb 8oz whiting
|
Could this be an award winner - Colin Albert 2lb 8oz whiting
|
Mumbles Belle fishing trip
19 November 2017
Skipper Vic Lilygreen
We had great weather & caught some "proper ones" for a change. Tried Mumbles on the ebb, had small whiting, dabs, grey, tub, & red gurnard so on low water moved out over the mud & got right into them 1.5+lb aplenty, with the odd bigger fish too, everybody had enough so we came in at 3.30pm. Kerry had the best one not sure of its weight but it was a lumper
Skipper Vic
|
Pick of the catch for Kerry Griffiths
|
Oystercat fishing trip 9 November 2017
Skipper John Elvins
Tried a short tip today fished just under 2 hr each way of slack tide. Not many anglers on board but I think they enjoyed the fishing trip.
Plenty of small fish keeping the rods nodding and Nigel Davies is back in the frame with 3 huss and some whiting as well. Enough size fish for Tom to have a cook up and two nice fish lost near the end. Skipper John Elvins
|
Nigel Davies with 1 of his 3 Huss
|
Nigel Davies into the whitings. Phil Bowen looking for same
|
|
Oystercat fishing trip 30 October 2017
Skipper John Elvins
Weather was a tad unkind, a lot lumpier than was expected.
Went to the Oyste rledges as planned but a broadside slop made for an uncomfortable session. Stuck it out as there were plenty of small Whiting and Huss being caught.
Gave in to the slop at mid day and came into the bay; conger, gurnard, pout, whiting and dabs kept the rods nodding.
Not a great days catch as most were returned but a steady rate of bites and fish all day.
John Martin shows the first of some sized whiting Phil Bowen with a huss (also me with one of 11.5lb) and 4 whiting at a time to John and Jon.
Skipper John Elvins
|
|
Phil Bowen Bullhuss |
John Elvins - Bullhuss 11.5 lb |
John Martin & Jon West lock lines and 4 whiting |
Oystercat fishing trip 29 October 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
A
very productive day aboard the Oystercat today; weather was a little
challenging to start but was comfortable in the afternoon.
100+
whiting (most small but enough large ones to keep richy happy), lots of
jumbo pout, poor cod, dabs, codling, dogs, bull huss, tub gurnard and
the belle of the ball - a topknot for Richie.
We completely ran out of bait by the end of the day; which is surprising given the amount we started with.
A very enjoyable way to spend a sunny Sunday!
Skipper Dean.
|
Colin Breen whiting show 1
|
Colin Breen whiting show 2 |
Colin Breen whiting show3
|
|
|
Oystercat fishing trip 29 October 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Richy Pearce keeping up with current fashion trends; here he is sporting a nice topknot, jammy or what!
Topknot (Zeugopterus punctatus)
This is a small strange flat fish the only kind of
that lives exclusively in rocky broken ground. It is a left eyed flat
fish
that feeds on small fish and crustaceans.
Skipper Dean |
Richie Pearce with Topknot
|
Topknot left eyed flat fish
|
Oystercat fishing trip 27 October 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Not too much to report from tonight's trip;
loads of dogs, lots of whiting, pouting, some nice bull huss to 13lb 8oz and congers.
Weather was very kind, so we had a very comfortable evening!
We have a load of bait and grub left, so going to have a few hrs out Sunday.
Skipper Dean. |
Oystercat fishing trip 27 October 2017
Skipper Richie Pearce
Daytime Oystercat fishing trip.
Not a brilliant day
Lots of species including
Whiting
Dabs
Grey Gurnard
Tub Gurnard
Dog fish
Bullhuss
Nothing spectacular to report
Tried a number of proven marks - fish kept us going
Let's hope the night shift on the Oystercat have more to report in the morning
Nigel E
|
Oystercat fishing trip 15 October 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Really
poor day aboard the Oystercat today; we went over the other side to get
some shelter from the southerly wind - we had a few conger to 21lb, a
few Huss and 7-8 small bass.
A few interesting sights - a big bull seal stuck around with us for
3-4hrs, I think that may have had been the reason the eels didn't want
to leave the wreck and feed.
Also,
more interesting was a Peregrine chasing a skylark god knows what
either of them were doing miles out to sea! The skylark flew into the
boat while trying to evade the falcon; we scoped it out of the sea,
allowed it to dry out and rest before it headed back to land.
Skipper Dean
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bird rescued after being chased bi a Peregrine Falcon |
Oystercat fishing trip 8 October 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
An
interesting trip on the Oystercat today, we headed way down channel
wrecking; fishing was steady, lower numbers of fish compared to our
Lundy island trips but better quality. We ended the day with pollack
to 13lb 8oz, Ling, haddock, bass, ballan wrasse, whiting, pouting
(jumbo wreck pouting!!) and poor cod. The pollock were stuffed to the
gills with 2-3 inch scad. We saw dolphins and lots of bird life,
including an artic skua - always a treat!!
Skipper Dean.
Comments:
The trip was superb, Dean nailed the spot yet again.
C Breen
Amazing
fishing! Well done guys. If your looking for people to come next time
let me know. Matt Taylor
Back
of the queue Matt, Bev and me first ...looks like Dean made up a rig
for Richie again. John Elvins
Richie's
rig had an uncanny similarity to a Portland rig I gave him the
other week while bassing. Once he lost that one to an absolute steam
train of pollack managing to get back to the wreck a minute or so
into the fight, he took another one of my rigs off the dash lol. I
picked his lures but he tied his hook links, so deserves some
credit? fair
play he's got gilling for pollack down to an art; all those trips
fishing next to John
Bevan has
paid off!
|
We
will have to start calling him Richie "marmalade" Pearce..more than Jammy, eh!! |
Richie Pearce - more pollack |
|
|
|
Richie Perace - ballen wrasse |
|
|
|
Colin Breen- bass |
Oystercat fishing trip 26 September 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Slow evening on the Oystercat; we had a couple of bream, pouting (a few jumbos too), a red mullet, a goldsinny wrasse, a nice codling, half a dozen bass and dogs. Mark Thomas was the top rod having the wrasse, red mullet and the biggest bass. A nasty beam on chop meant tea was on hold until we were back in the bay.
Skipper Dean
|
Mark's wrasse
|
Mark's red mullet |
Mark Thomas with the biggest bass of the trip |
Oystercat fishing trip 25 September 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Reasonable day on the Oystercat today, a 12-15 bass to just shy of 5lb, lots of pout, poor cod, a few mackerel, Huss, a lone bream and dogs.
Skipper Dean.
|
|
Ben Mordecai - Bass |
|
|
Mumbles Belle fishing trip 25 September 2017
Skipper Vic lilygreen
Not enough zero's! To describe how many growlers we caught today!
Went out on the mud to look for whiting & dabs, GROWLERS!
Came inside a bit onto the muddy stones for whiting & MORE GROWLERS!
We did have some MEGA GROWLERS, Kerry's photo of my Great White sized huss ended up with Kerry taking a selfie with the phone backwards!!!!!!!!!
Keith James also had a big one plus we had a few whiting, pouting, poor cod.
Weather was fabulous, grub wasn't too shabby either.
Skipper Vic |
|
Oystercat fishing trip 19 September 2017
Skipper John Elvins
With a near full boat we set off with on flat calm
sea and high spirits. Got the stove working and all awaiting the first
cuppa. Off to Oxwich to fish the low tide for "pan fish" was the plan.
Met by about 30 dolphins just off St Christophers Knoll again, and we
had company all the way to Oxwich with 10 at any one time under the bow.
Mackerel were abundant for a change but many sent back into the clear
water as too small to keep. Unable to determine which way the boat
wanted to settle in the tide in Oxwich so we went out to three mile
territory to await the tide picking up. Had a couple of Huss to 11lb and
lost a few bigger fish it seemed. Drifted for a while with the other
boats but only two Bass with one in size to keep. First aid carried out
to "nominated Skipper of the day" Phil under the watch full eye of
Richard (I've got tea) Pincott. Not a great days fishing but good
weather and company and every one took a dozen or so Mackerel home to
eat or freeze.
Skipper John |
Richard Pincott - Bass |
Frank Wilson - Bullhuss |
Keith James - Bullhuss |
|
|
Oystercat fishing trip 17 September 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
A slightly underwhelming day aboard the Oystercat today, the morning was highly productive but the afternoon was poor. We ended the day with 12-15 bass, 5 bream, a few pollack, a nice red mullet (1lb exactly), smooth hound, mackerel, poor cod, whiting, dogs and a few huss (should have pictures of the huss but Pete Jordan got bit by the biggest one so threw it back quickly.
Weather was pleasant, fishing was challenging at times!
Skipper Dean
|
Best bass caught by Richie Pearce
|
Neil Wilson - smoothhound
|
Red Mullet (1lb) for Dean Gifford
|
Bass for Colin Edwards and Craig Barnes
|
|
|
Nice bream for Peter Jordan
|
3 bass - Craig Barnes, Colin Albert, Colin Edwards
|
|
Shore Fishing Trip to Pendine Sands 17 September 2017
Leader Gerald Collier
8 Club members took a last minute trip to Pendine sands. Fished for about 3 1/2 hours, we had flounders, small bass, dogs and even a small tope. Nice day probably too calm for good fishing.
Gerald Collier
|
Gerald small bass |
Dnise all set to fish |
Mumbles Belle fishing trip 17 August 2017
Skipper Vic Lilygreen
Very average fishing day
had dogs, huss, smooth hounds, gurnards, mackerel, red mullet & a school bass, but no sign of any whiting (which I was hoping would show up) nor any flatties.
Lovely weather though, & the boat behaved itself for a change maybe its an omen for things to come  :D
Skipper Vic |
Oystercat fishing trip 16 September 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Very productive day today aboard the Oystercat; we had a steady stream
of fish all day in the way of blondes, spotted rays, congers, bull huss,
whiting, poor cod and dogs; it was interesting to see a lot of the
congers throwing up whiting as they came to the boat. Weather was very
kind while at sea, only about 30mins of rain all day - typically that
was when the fish decided it was time to feed hard!!
Dean.
|
Breakfast first prepared by head chef Jayson
What!! no whites
|
|
Jayson Whitehouse - blonde ray
|
Dean Gifford - spotted ray |
Jayson conger - Phil Bowen blode ray |
|
|
|
Phil with another ray |
Deand Gifford - with another blonde
|
Jayson Whitehouse pulling more rays
|
|
|
|
|
Weather's closing in and Jayson lands a Bull Huss
|
Rain is a comin - so are the rays this one ofr Phil Bowen |
Dean with a bullhuss this time. Look out behind you
|
|
Oystercat fishing trip 2 September 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Incredibly slow day aboard the Oystercat; started the day up east looking for rays - just a few dogs, moved to a wreck I can normally bank on having a few congers - just a few dogs; a few drifts for bass, nothing! moved back to the mixon, 10 rods fishing - different baits, rigs etc; not a bite! Langland reef: 2 bream, 1 hound, 1 little lobster, 3 huss and half a dozen dogs! Most people I spoke to yesterday fishing the swansea area really struggled and a few had weird things go wrong; including us with a battery overheating and needing to be removed from the bank. For some reason the fishing gods weren't happy yesterday; at least the weather gods were kind!
Skipper Dean.
|
Oystercat fishing trip 30 August 2017
Skipper John Elvins
With a flat calm sea and neap tide today it had to be a better day out compared to Sunday......WRONG. After 21/2 hours of jigging for mackerel we still did not have any . One consolation was meeting a Pod of Dolphins just off St Christoper's Knoll that stayed with us for about 10 minutes.
So frozen baits it was. Poor day with 3 bite offs and 5 tope landed with couple of Huss and near the end one mackerel taken on a hook that had been stripped clean by the dogs. Phil (I'm Back) Bowen had one tope, John Elvins one tope under 10lb, and John Bevan had 3 with the best at 19lb. Jon West had a huss just under double figures.
Jon caught a video of the dolphins to take home.
Rough ride back in and pride hurting, but a nice day out I suppose.
Skipper John
|
|
|
|
|
Oystercat fishing trip 27 August 2017
Skipper John Elvins
Today's Oystercat fishing trip was slow but steady with 3 juniors on board trying to get them on the Fish. Apologies to all those boats following the cat around on the ledges. But Dean "the Bass" Gifford was not skippering hence why we all had a blank Bass day. Mackerel hard to find again until a shoal passed under and everyone had a string. Great start for the 3 juniors. Then at anchor for the slack tide where a multi species catch was had. All 3 types of Gurnard, whiting, pout ,small conger, Huss to 11lb, dogs and I am sure a poor Cod! Best fish to John Elvins, after a few people had runs and drops, a 32lb tope. One thing which we experienced was a Huss disgorging itself and a load of small skate about 80mm long appeared. All three Juniors had Fish so hopfully we shall see them back for more.
Skipper John E
We had a great day out, Rhys really enjoyed his first trip, he can't wait to go again. Michael Cooze
Great day out! Really enjoyed. Jon has been taking lessons from Dean managing to angle the boat to put himself on the big fish! Great company and good feed as always .Matthew Taylor
| | | | |
|
Gurnard for Caelan Nicholls |
Kevin Nicholls - Bull Huss
|
Bull Huss for Rhys Cooze |
John Elvins - 32lb tope |
Bull Huss for John Elvins
|
Oystercat fishing trip 26 August 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
A lovely day down at Lundy aboard the Oystercat today; weather and sea state were great, lots of dolphins about along with a good numbers of porpoise and gannets feeding on the end of the island too; fishing was just ok, only weavers, mackerel and grey gunard at the Stanley; pollack, ballen wrasse, cuckoo wrasse, scad, poor cod and a few jumbo pout. Numbers of pollack were down a little bit still an enjoyable day!
Dean.
|
 Colin Albert - Pollack |
Cuckoo Wrasse |
Steve Absalom - Pollack |
|
|
Oystercat fishing trip 25 August 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Really
poor evenings fishing tonight on the Oystercat; a dozen or so bass.
Only 3 insize, 2 smooth hounds - one on a red gill on the drift!! A few
dogs and huss. At least the weather conditions made it a pleasant boat
ride!
Dean.
|
|
|
|
|
Oystercat fishing trip 20 August 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Poor day aboard the Oystercat today; 20 or so bass, only one fish well insize, a few others boarder line. A few pout, poor cod, dogs, Huss, smooth hound and a red mullet. Weather was a bit pants too, ah well, got to take the rough with the smooth.
Dean.
|
In size bass for Colin Breen
|
Oystercat fishing trip 13 August 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Very productive morning on the Oystercat - slowed up a little in the afternoon.
We ended the day with at least 40 bass, all on lures, most around the 40cm mark - a few bigger; breaming was very good also with around 45 caught throughout the day, most of the same stamp which was around three quarters to a pound.
We also had a few codling, pouting, poor cod, smooth hound, bull huss, dogs and mackerel - we had a shoal of mackerel pop up on the surface within yards of the side of the boat, which was nice to see.
Everyone had a bass and 2-3 bream to go home with, happy days!!
Dean
|
|
|
|
|
Good catch for Dean Gifford
|
|
|
Oystercat fishing trip 6 August 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Fairly productive evening trip aboard the Oystercat tonight; 35+ bass, only a handful in size - lots just under.
Over high water the bream were obliging with a dozen or so being caught before we swung off the rock, we also had pollack, codling, scad, dogs and huss.
The weather was very kind to us and everyone had a few fish to take home, a fantastic way to spend your evening!
Skippper Dean.
Brilliant afternoon/evening Dean...thanks. From Jon West |
Very nice bass for Jon West
|
|
|
|
A bass act - Jon West & Dean Gifford |
Mumbles Belle fishing trip 6 August 2017
Skipper Vic Lilygreen
Some dogs, some gurnard, 2 baby tope, 3 mackerel & an anemone stuck to a rock like a bowling ball (nice light tackle fishing Livio lol).
We got what we deserved, it started off lumpy & got progressivley worse, but at least I managed to get inside the wallets of 4 to help for the upkeep. Keep coming lads I will take your trip donations, it was worth it for the bacon rolls and steak & onion pie and the coffee.
Skipper Vic
|
Oystercat fishing trip 6 August 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
A
reasonable day aboard the Oystercat today; was unsure what the wind was
going to do so we stayed local; finished the day with lots of pouting,
corkwing, ballen, school bass, small black bream, mackerel, smooth hound
and dogs.
An early start and early finish but an enjoyable day all the same.
Dean.
We both had a great day.
Thanks Nigel and "skipper" Dean,
Michael and Ryan Cooze.
|
6.30am time to board Oystercat - Michael & Ryan Cooze
|
|
|
Video of first fish caught from Oystercat |
|
|
|
|
Soothhound for father and son - Ryan and Michael Cooze
|
Oystercat fishing trip 4 August 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
A
short trip on Friday evening. Winds
were a little fresher than expected, caught pouting, pollack,
corkwing, mackerel and dogs early on. Nice evening to be out on the
Oystercat. After the hot dogs we had more
pouting, wrasse, small pollack, small bass, small mackerel and a few
mini species too. The
mackerel turned in to a bass! And a tompot blenny upped the species
count.
Had a cuttlefish hammer the mackerel-near enough took its
head all the way off, but no conger or Huss wanted to play; they were
there as the pout would completely stop feeding for 10-15mins every so
often but we couldn't temp them!!
We
finished the evening having had lots of pouting, a few corkwing
wrasse, pollack, bass, mackerel, Tompot blenny, rock goby and a few
dogs. No congers wanted to come out and play but there's always next
time!
Skipper
Dean Gifford.
|
|
Time for a break from the fishing
|
Lovely grub - that's what you call a good bite
|
|
Oystercat fishing trip 1 August 2017
Skipper John Elvins
What can I say ... at least I had a chip in the camera for this trip. Forecast was for 23mph sw wind so we knew we would not get far, but with the actual wind speed being 30mph we only got as far as the SWIGG. Caught dogfish, a few mackerel and one Dab. When the wave size increased we went over to the strombus mark. Not much better shelter wise, we had a few dogfish, one small smoothhound and a pouting. When the tide slackened and the boat starting to turn broadside on, we decided to cut our losses and not drown any more worms.
Oh till next time eh!!
Skipper John Elvins
|
Oystercat fishing trip 29 July 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Quite a slow day aboard the Oystercat today; weather was poor first thing but we bounced our way down to Oxwich; on the way we were treated to a show where gannets and dolphins were feeding, we also had porpoises feeding along side us for much of the morning too.
We had a reasonable number of mackerel, a few pouting, dabs, tub and red gurnard along with the ever present dogs.
The sea state eased in the afternoon, allowing us to head offshore, we had a 10 or so bass, mostly small out on the banks before wind slowed our drift to less than a knot.
Fingers crossed for some better weather soon!!
Skipper Dean.
|
Dean Gifford - Red Gurnard
|
|
Oystercat fishing trip 25 July 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
A reasonable session on the Oystercat last night; we had 25 or so bass - most small but a few nice fish showed up to 4lb. At the end of the trip we enjoyed watching gannets and dolphins feeding around us off-shore, the dolphins came to play for a little while but went back to feeding soon after.
Skipper Dean.
|
Richard Pincott - 4lb bass
|
Mumbles Belle fishing trip 25 July 2017
Skipper Vic Lilygreen
Fishing today was poor, we had a nice thornback ray, a big plaice, & a big dab on the first drift, then not a bite on the second drift.
I wanted to go to Langland for the last 2hrs of ebb & first 2 of the flood, but when we looked at the Cherry Stones they looked naughty, & the wind was increasing so we stuck to the Strombus. We had loads of pouting, & a few wrasse but apart from giving you a bite we had nothing of any size, in fact a poor day.
Skipper Vic |
|
Oystercat fishing trip 23 July 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Weather was challenging aboard the Oystercat today, even so we had a reasonable day - loads of dogs, dabs, gurnard (grey and tub), whiting, scad, mackerel, a nice dragonet, smooth hounds and Huss while we sat out the ebb in shelter at Oxwich.
On the flood we headed off shore, ended the day having had 40+ bass, more scad and 2 codling on the drift using lures; most bass were small but enough good insize fish for people who wanted to take a fish.
Only sour note (other than the weather) was getting the anchor stuck - hopefully I'll be able to pick it up tomorrow.
Skipper Dean
|
|
Oystercat Marine Survey Trip 12 July 2012
Skipper Dean Gifford
Wed 12th July, cetacean survey, Gower to SW of
Lundy:
One whale, almost certainly Minke, twice seen briefly, in 50 minutes of
waiting, but not interested in coming close enough to be identified; widespread
groups of Common dolphin (166 in total, including two close to the Mixon, a
small pod off Paviland, and, offshore, several small pods of adults with (very)
young calves; Harbour porpoise were elusive but a smashing adult and calf
within 30m of Swansea breakwater!
Robert Colley
|
Mumbles Belle fishing trip 10 July 2017
Langland reef marks
Skipper Vic lilygreen
An eventful day, but not for fishing. Caught a smooth hound, a few bream, dabs and big mackerel.
|
Oystercat fishing trip 8 July 2017 - Lundy marks
Skipper Dean Gifford
We
had a great day down at Lundy today; only a few dolphin sightings on
the way down. We found plenty of bait on an offshore sand bank. Fishing
around the island was steady, quantity of fish was down slightly but
quality was up, we had pollack to 8lb 6oz (plenty in the 6lb class),
codling to 5lb, lots of ballen wrasse and a lone poor cod.
We
put the anchor down for a few hours where we had a few dogs, hooked 5
tope but only landed 2 - biggest 34lb and a few mackerel.
Conditions
were fantastic all day; the only complaint received was John Elvins
didn't bring enough food as the boys were hungry in the evening -
there's a first for everything!!
Skipper Dean Gifford
|
Richie Pearce - pollack
|
John Bevan & John Elvins - pollacks
|
Nigel Davies & Richie Pearce - pollacks
|
Jayson Whitehouse - cod |
|
|
|
Dean Gifford 34 lb tope
|
Oystercat fishing trip 4 July 2017
Skipper John Elvins
Great
to have on board some members from the States.
Slow start with an 80 minute drift for mackerel giving us
the baits we needed to try for Tope etc. off Oxwich. Slow start
down Oxwich with the occasional Dogfish, then just after 11:00 one smoothound, some small Bull Huss and
eventually two small Tope. No more runs so off we went to Langland to fish the mid tide. With three new members on board I gave
the lads a chance to bring in some fish. Both Jordi and Lewys seemed
to do well with the first tope and Huss. With Phil (I got a bigger
one) Bowen not being left out.
Off to Langland where we had a slow session an early
smoothy for Nigel and a bream for Ty Scott. After calling 30
mins to go that things got better and last knockings were a
12.5lb Huss for Ron Thomas, smoothy for Phil Bowen and I think the smile
says it all for Nigel's Bream of 2.5lb. Only thee bream all day and 1/3
of them went back. Good day at the office I say.
Skipper John Elvins
Yes
it was a great day's fishing and thank-you John for
looking after our new members so well. Fed them, gave them
expert tuition and hooked fish for them to land. You
made it a great day for them I'm sure, as you did for
us. Thanks John and pictures too !!!!!
Phil Bowen.
Great
to see our members from the USA had a good time.
Nigel Ellerton
|
3 new members from USA
Lewys, Jordi and Ron
Wonderful day fishing with the Mumbles Fishing Club. I think we made a fisherman of Lewys. .
The
boys (Lewys and Jordi) and I had a great time fishing with the
Mumbles Fishing Club, more kinds of shark fish than I knew existed.
Many thanks from Ron, Lewys & Jordi. |
Lewys caught the first fish
|
Ron caught a nice Bull Huss
|
|
|
|
Lewys with another bullhuss
|
Lewys caught a small tope
|
Ty Scott caught a bream, not as big as Nigel's
|
Ron Thomas caught 2.5lb bullhuss
|
|
Nigel Davies - bream, still not as big as Nigel's |
Oystercat Fishing trip & Air Show 2 July
Skipper Dean Gifford
Another slow day on the Oystercat today; started well
with low winds and lots of hungry mackerel filling the live well in less
than 30mins, again some 1lb+ chunky fish too. The reef was slow, only
half a dozen bream, codling, a few hounds, pouting and lots of little
Huss. Wind picked up between 11am and 1pm so we came back into the bay,
very slow; just dogs, a little bass, a single grey gurnard, one dab, a
few pouting, poor cod and a corkwing wrasse; the air show was good but
the wind really restricted where we could comfortably fish. A very nice
day out though.
Dean.
|
|
|
|
Oystercat Fishing trip & Air Show 1 July
Skipper Richie Pearce
A fairly slow but varied day aboard the Oystercat today; mackerel were patchy to start but following the congregations of gannets, gulls and razorbills paid dividends in the way of strings full of mackerel; some of very good size (1lb+). We then anchored on the reef where we had half a dozen bream biggest 3lb), pollack, codling, pouting, smooth hound, ballen wrasse, mackerel (biggest 1lb 6oz), tope, dogs and Huss. In the afternoon we came back to the bay to watch the air show, here we had: bass, conger eel, ballan wrasse, corkwing wrasse, poor cod, pouting, dab, pollack and dogs. Throughout the day there were a few periods of inactivity but 15 species without trying too hard and a few quality fish thrown in made for a reasonable day.
Dean.
|
Oystercat Fishing trip & Air Show 1 July
Skipper Richie Pearce
|
Oystercat Fishing trip & Air Show 1 July
Skipper Richie Pearce
Nigel Ellerton - 3lb bream
|
Oystercat Fishing trip & Air Show 1July
Skipper Richie Pearce
Dennis Foley 12lb smoothhound |
Oystercat Fishing trip & Air Show 1 July
Skipper Richie Pearce
That pesky 3lb bream and a 1.5lb mackerel for Richie Pearce
|
|
Mumbles Belle fishing trip 18 June 2017
Skipper Vic Lilygreen
Went out today & fished a few spots & eventually found some fish, As predicted Phil Cryer was the "Premier League Angler", & Phil Gavey handled Mumbles Belle as if he was born to it. Entering courses to move between waypoints, keeping on course between them. Motoring up on the anchor rope to assist lifting the anchor, setting the anchor to fish a mark, & navigating home, through both crowded locks as if they were empty, & coming onto the berth with very little effort. All in all a good day for all concerned, & enough fish for a good bbq tonight (those big bream taste lovely) dont they Phil.
Skipper Vic Lilygreen |
Oystercat fishing trip 18 June 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Mackerel
were more patchy than the day before, it took maybe 2 hours of
searching before the live wells were full.
We
travelled to a different area which is more noted for tope, in the
hope of staying away from the flotilla that descends on the reef on
sunny flat weekend days.
In
short - this was a poor choice; we only had 4 tope here for a few
hours fishing. We had a lot of aborted runs which leads me to think
there were only a few fish in the area so they had plenty of time to
check out the baits.
We
moved back up to the reef for the start of the ebb... here it was
poor also, for 3 hours only the odd smoothound, bull huss or dogfish
would make an appearance. Slowly the other boats started to leave
which seemed to have switched the bream and hounds on. Over the last
2 hours of the trip we had 30+ bream, most coming to some horrible
sticky, decomposing lug worm left from Wednesday's trip. Mostly small
fish but about 60% were in size.
We turned a very slow day into
a pretty enjoyable session by waiting it out. The day was very tough
for me, I was horribly hung over; it was very very warm and still so
trying to keep cool was a struggle; that was until I started putting
my feet in buckets of cool sea water around 2pm after the toping was
finished - I wish I'd thought of that at 9 am!!
So a pretty difficult day aboard the Oystercat today; mackerel were harder to find than yesterday but a hr or 2 saw us with full live wells. Tope didn't really want to play, lots of aborted runs for some reason; managed to get 4 on-board to 35lb.
Went back to Langland where it was incredibly quiet until the flotilla left - the bream came on late in the tide and we had 30+ in 2-3hours along with smooth hounds, pollack, pouting and bull huss.
Salvaged a reasonable day in the end but was hard going at times!
Skipper Dean Gifford.
|
Oystercat fishing trip 18 June 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
John France - Smoothhound 12.5lb
|
Oystercat fishing trip 18 June 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Colin Albert with another nice Tope
|
Oystercat fishing trip 18 June 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
|
Oystercat fishing trip 18 June 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
|
|
Oystercat fishing trip 18 June 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
John France & Colin Albert a right pair of Topes
|
Oystercat fishing trip 17 June 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Productive
day aboard the Oystercat.
Only
4 of us onboard - we made our way out on the first lock; quick drift
on an inshore wreck saw us have a few pouting for fresh bait options;
we moved further off shore where we found good numbers of mackerel -
30mins saw the live wells full so we headed up to the reef to fish
for tope.
Plenty of mackerel to start, 8 tope to 32lb,
smooth hounds to 14b, bull huss to 7lb, 15 or so bream (should have been
30+ but richy was too busy sun bathing to tend to his rod!!), pollack,
codling, pouting and only a few dogs.
Dean. |
Oystercat fishing trip 17 June 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
|
Oystercat fishing trip 17 June 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Dean Gifford - Smoothhound
|
Oystercat fishing trip 17 June 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
John France - Tope
|
Oystercat fishing trip 17 June 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Carl Isaac - Tope
|
Oystercat fishing trip 17 June 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Carl Isaac - Tope
|
Oystercat fishing trip 17 June 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Carl Isaac - Tope
|
Oystercat fishing trip 17 June 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Carl Isaac - Smoothhound
|
Oystercat fishing trip 17 June 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Pollack for Richie Pearce
|
Oystercat Fishing Trip 4 June 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Smoothhound caught by Dean Gifford displayed by Eline Hawkins
|
Oystercat Fishing Trip 4 June 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
9lb smoothound for Jeff James-Arnold
|
Oystercat Fishing Trip 4 June 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Fist smoothhound for Eline Hawkins
|
Oystercat Fishing Trip 3 June 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Even
though the wind hampered us a little today it was reasonably productive
day aboard the Oystercat.
We had a few bream, plenty of hounds, chunky
pollack, bull huss to 11lb, scad, loads of pouting, poor cod, dabs,
congers , dogs and the star of the show, a 4lb 12oz ballan wrasse!
Dean.
|
Oystercat Fishing Trip 3 June 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Peter Elliott - smoothhound
|
Oystercat Fishing Trip 3 June 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Smoothhound for Steve Absalom
|
Oystercat Fishing Trip 3 June 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Robert Davies - smoothhound
|
Oystercat Fishing Trip 3 June 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Mick Vernau
|
Oystercat Fishing Trip 3 June 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
|
Oystercat Fishing Trip 3 June 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
|
Oystercat Fishing Trip 3 June 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
|
Oystercat Fishing Trip 3 June 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Nice pollack for Robert davies
|
Oystercat Fishing Trip 3 June 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
John Thorne - Smoothhound
|
Oystercat Fishing Trip 3 June 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
|
Oystercat Fishing Trip 3 June 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Bull Huss foe Alan Cowhen
|
Oystercat Fishing Trip 3 June 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Smoothhound for Colton Jones
|
Oystercat Fishing Trip 3 June 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Bream for Colton Jones
|
|
Oystercat Fishing Trip 3 June 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Ballan Wrasse (4lb 12oz) for Colton Jones
|
Oystercat fishing trips 28 & 29 May 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
A
pretty slow weekend aboard the Oystercat; both days the reef delivered
for a few hrs over slack water but otherwise it was hard work to find a
few fish. We ended up with a reasonable selection of species: pollack,
black bream, codling, ballan wrasse, garfish, scad, smooth hounds,
bullhuss, pouting, dabs and dogs. Great were great, catching was a
little patchy.
Skipper Dean
|
Oystercat fishing trip 29 May 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
|
Oystercat fishing trip 29 May 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Nigel Ellerton - Ballan Wrasse
|
Oystercat fishing trip 29 May 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
|
Oystercat fishing trip 29 May 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Matt Taylor - Bream |
Oystercat fishing trip 29 May 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Dean Gifford - Pollacks |
Oystercat fishing trip 29 May 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Mal Davies - Bream |
Oystercat fishing trip 29 May 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Matt Taylor - Smoothhound
|
Oystercat fishing trip 29 May 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Nigel Davies - Smoothhound
|
Oystercat fishing trip 29 May 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Matt Taylor - Ballan Wrasse |
Oystercat fishing trip 29 May 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
|
Oystercat fishing trip 29 May 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Richie Pearce - moothhound
|
Oystercat fishing trip 28 May 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Ashley Hayley - pollack |
Oystercat fishing trip 28 May 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Dean Gifford - pollack
|
Oystercat fishing trip 28 May 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
|
Oystercat fishing trip 28 May 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Jayson Whitehouse - smooth hound
|
Oystercat fishing trip 28 May 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Pete Jordan - smooth hound
|
Oystercat fishing trip 28 May 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
|
Oystercat fishing trip 28 May 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
John Bevan - bull huss 10lb |
Oystercat fishing trip 28 May 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Nigel Ellerton - smooth hound |
Oystercat fishing trip 28 May 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Pete Jordan - smooth hound |
Oystercat fishing trip 28 May 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Ashley Hayley - smooth hound
|
Mumble Belle Fishing Trip 24 May 2017
Skipper Vic Lilygreen
It was a good day plenty of fish.
We had out target species of bream & codling 1.5lb and 2.5lb, we
also had smooth hounds to double figures, small huss, takeable pollack, I
even caught a garfish.
Problems still persist with the electrics & I am glad I have my
Navionics App on my tablet, a Sonarphone, and a hand held VHF.
I am beginningto think that Noah wired Mumbles Belle after he finished the Ark.
Vic
|
Jon West - Smooth hound
|
|
Oystercat fishing trip 19 May 2017
Skipper John Elvins
Who said things could not get worse?
Just sat down to upload some of our great photos of the day and even after telling Nigel E we had plenty ..........NO CHIP in camera....What a Hen up(play on words) yep no record of any catch and about 4 people had the camera in hand and never saw the alarm. No memory card.....
We had about 30 mackerel in 2hr then went outer Oxwich for the mid to high tide . 6 Male Tope to 35lb... Phil Bowen top fish, Les Chapman had two top weight 30lb
John Elvins 3 to 32lb. Then went to Langland after high, no way could we anchor with the strong Westerly against Ebb tide.
Into the bay to finish a couple of Nice Flounder For Phil Gavey and about 6 smoothy to around 8lb Les the biggest and Nigel Davies coming close. Just close yours eyes and imagine them is all I can Say. Sorry to those who wanted photos.
Skipper John elvins
|
Mumbles Belle fishing trip 17 May 2017
Skipper Vic Lilygreen
GOOD DAY ON BELLE
4 of us decided to see if the bream had arrived, unfortunately we had to punch the tide down to our mark, but it was a good workout for the 3 cyl Lister after a couple of months lay off for refurbishment.
We were into fish from the start, unfortunately it was a mixture of dogfish & small huss, I had one about 6-7lb which was returned before being photographed. Richie landed the only bream (our target species) why do people strike despite being advised not to? Some of the other bites were bream I am sure, but we only landed the one, (which was returned) We also had small Pollack, pouting, whiting (& more dogs & huss) until the tide started ebb too fast to make fishing enjoyable for light rods, so we punched the tide back up into Swansea Bay.
We decided to have a few drifts to see if we could get any plaice or dabs, so all "blinged up" we started to drift from Singleton Hospital towards Mumbles Pier, unfortunately the hounds had other ideas & we were attacked by them, & they really gave us some trouble on light rods & flatty traces, it was a matter of "Clear the deck" when somebody got ambushed by one. After the novelty wore off we decided to put the anchor down off Mumbles Pier to see if we could find any dabs, & this was an open invitation for the hounds to party. They took anything & everything dropped down for dabs, & I doubt there was a dab within a mile of this particular pack, & we eventually called it a day at 4.30 & made our way home, locking in about 5.30pm.
The boat went well & there were no problems with the electrics now we have had it sorted by an auto electrician, & the new "configuration" of the deck space made the "fishing experience" much more convenient, & the sliding window made handing tea out much easier. The chef has applied for a Michelin Star for his troubles
Skipper D Vic
|
Richie Pearce - nice bream |
John Jones - smoothhound
|
Oystercat fishing trip 14 May 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
We had a pretty slow day aboard the Oystercat today. A few pouting,
dogs, corkwing wrasse and gobies on an inshore wreck to start. Dogs,
dab, schoolies and a plaice on the cleaner ground.
The monotony was
broken up by a request by Mumbles lifeboat to take part in their
training exercises; Mark Thomas played the role of the casualty - who
after being diagnosed and appropriately treated, seemed to quite enjoy
getting tightly bound onto the stretcher.
In return the life boat crew
kindly allowed Craig and Mark on-board the lifeboat for a look around, while we did a
few more manoeuvres.
Enjoyable day, even though the fish were
uncooperative!
Skipper Dean Gifford
|
|
Goby |
Dean Gifford - Dab |
Call from Mumbles lifeboat requesting help in training exercise
|
Mark Thomas volunteers to act as injured crewman |
|
Injuries assessed and crewman immobilized |
Ready for transfer to lifeboat |
Lifeboat takes the injured crewman away for further tratment
|
|
Oystercat fishing trip 10 May 2017
Skipper John Elvins
"Mackerel are in Oxwich" was the rumor so fill your boots for summer bait was our thoughts. With a nasty broadside chop we sat it out in the moorings for 3 hours, got a couple of Dogs, 4 mackerel and about 7 Dabs. Off to the deep for low tide. Lots of small whiting and a couple of more dogs. Lets go to St Christopher's Knoll Bound to catch there (LOL). Mick had a nice take by a thornback and that was about it for the day.
Lovely weather, nice conditions no fish.
At least it can't be worse next time out eh.
Skipper John Elvins |
Mick Vernau - Thornback Ray
|
Oystercat fishing trip 7 May 2017 to Lundy
Skipper: Dean Gifford
Fantastic day down Lundy aboard the Oystercat today;
lots of pollack - smaller average size than normal but enough 3-5lb fish
to keep it interesting; along with codling, cuckoo and ballen wrasse
caught around the island, launce and weavers caught on the sand banks.
Intercepted a few dolphins on the way back so fished a
near by wreck while they played around the boat; only small pollack
there but lovely to see the dolphins close to the boat. Conditions
really couldn't have been better, mirror flat all day, glorious sunshine
and lots of fish... what more could you want!
Dean
|
Entertainment from dolphins on Lundy Trip
|
Richie Pearce - Ballan Wrasse |
Dean Gifford - Ballan wrasse |
Colin Albert - Cuckoo wrasse |
Ashley Haylet = Ballan wrasse |
Jayson Whitehouse - Pollack |
Colin Albert - 2 of a kind - Pollack |
Paul Eaton and Ashley Hayley with Pollack |
Dean Gifford - Pollack |
|
|
|
Richie Pearce - Pollack |
Alan Jones - Pollack |
|
Nigel Davies - Pollack
|
Jayson Whitehouse - Pollack |
Jayson Whitehouse - string of Launce
|
Oystercat fishing trip 19 April 2017
Skipper John Elvins
A nice forecast that meant a possible nice day out for the few members with their names down for the fishing trip.
A poor start however, with the wind against the tide continually pushing the boat over the anchor - so a move inshore to Kenfig Inner Patch was required.
Lots of Dogs to start with and then Albert Harris had a nice run felt a bit of weight and was snapped off. Skipper John slipped a crab bait down and soon had a Smooth hound of about 7lb. Lots more Dogfish then Les Chapman had a nice late Codling of 3.5lb.
As the tide Changed we went back out to the deeper Mark and soon got through the dogfish and found some two dozen huss to 12lb. with the odd pouting coming in for fresh bait.
I think all those on board enjoyed the day out and the fishing .
Skipper John Elvins
|
Smoothhound for John caught on crab bait |
3.5lb codling for Les Chapman
|
Nigel Davies - bull huss |
Albert had great difficulty in trying to stop the Huss biting HIM... |
... but got used to after he landed the biggest fish of the Day. |
3 good bull huss for Albert Harris |
Oystercat fishing trip 15 April 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
We had a reasonable day on the Oystercat today; plenty
of dabs, whiting and dogs as well as a few pollack, pouting, poor cod
and grey gurnard. We had a little comp for most species; naturally, I
won the comp having all the species above - a good bit of fun but
nothing unfortunately really interesting came out. Wind was very cold
but an enjoyable day none the less.
Skipper Dean
|
Helicopter and Lifeboat in action at the rescue
Mumbles Lifeboat and Air sea rescue helicopter were out to deal with
what proved to be a cliff faller off Pennard - a long operation with the
helicopter making many sector searches. |
Helicopter winching someone from the water
Mumbles Lifeboat and the
inshore boat were in attendance and after a period of time- the Air sea
helicopter appeared to winch someone from the water
|
|
Oystercat fishing trip 8 April 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Well over North Devon today - nice morning- little chilly though.
To steal a sporting term; today's trip on the Oystercat was a tale of two halves! The morning's trip over to Lynmouth was pants! A few rockling, huss, a lone conger and dogs were little reward for contending with the fierce tides, sloppy conditions and brisk easterly wind. We headed back to Welsh waters early afternoon to try a mark I've been dying to fish for ages; it turned out to be fairly productive; we had 30 or so rays - small eye, blonde and thornback ray (mostly small 'small eye ray') along with plenty of dogs. It all came good in the end!
Southeasterly winds are often a pain locally; as the winds were forecast to be light I decided to put a trip together to fish a wreck on the other side. It was a washout!
One reasonable conger, a bull huss, a few rockling and dogs were all we'd had for a few hours fishing.
Conditions were getting challenging so we came back to the Welsh side to try a mark I've wanted to fish for ages; Conditions were far more comfortable so everyone was happy to have some grub and a cupa. Fishing was productive with 30 or so rays coming in the 3 hours we were there, mostly small 'small eyes' but a few blondes and thornbacks thrown in also.
Sandeel was by far the most productive bait; unfortunately, rays weren't really in the plan so we only had a couple of packs between all of us. Mackerel and squid were picking up rays but attracted the dogs a lot quicker than the eel baits.
We got the anchor up and headed home around 5 pm, having turned what started as a very frustrating day into a reasonably successful one!
Skipper Dean.
|
Nice conger for Dean Gifford
|
Nice bull huss caught by Nigel Ellerton
Also good view of the North Devon coast in the background |
Small eye ray for Colin Albert
|
Blonde ray for Nigel Ellerton
|
Jayson Whitehouse bringing in his ray
|
Jayson Whitehouse and another ray
|
Thornback ray for Paul Eaton
|
Dean Gifford - small eye ray
|
Small bull huss for Nigel Ellerton |
John Bevan - small eye ray
|
Small eye ray - Nigel Ellerton
|
|
Oystercat fishing trip 7th April 2017
Skipper John Elvins
Only four anglers on board for this trip on a day that was the best weather of the year, so far. We stayed local to see what we could find, After 2 hour of just Dogfish taking the baits, the tide turned and the Huss moved to the lines. Phil (I'm just learning) Bowen once again out fished the rest of the anglers with 3 nice fish to 11lb.
Phil Gavey and Nigel Davies had fish just short of double weight numbers. All the skipper could manage was a nice thornback of 11lb. Cracking weather and all anglers had a fish worthy of a photo.
The radio was full of talk of dogfish blight down the Gower so all in all we did OK.
Skipper John Elvins
|
Bull Huss for Nigel Davies
|
Bull Huss 1 and 3 for Phil Bowen |
Bull Huss3 for Phil Bowen
|
Phil Gavey in on the huss catching
|
John Elvins with his only catch of the day - thornback ray
|
Oystercat fishing trip 2 April 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
The locks were closed for 2 weeks; so today was the first trip out in Swansea in a couple of weeks. Only 3 of us on board so we had plenty of space.
We started the day in Oxwich - normally we'd try drifting around this time of year to avoid the dogfish, but as there was only 3 of us - and the cat is a thirsty girl, I opted to stay put and fish through the blighters!
Fishing was pretty steady throughout the day with 60+ dabs and a few whiting being boated amongst the dogs. Small strips of mackerel (2cm x 1cm) out fished anything else for the dabs by a ratio of about 4:1.
We ended the day back in Swansea bay where we waited for the locks to open back up, here we had Pouting, dabs. dogs and a schoolie.
Skipper Dean Gifford
|
Dab hand, 3 at a time for Dean Gifford...
|
...then 2 more to be photographed |
2 dabs in the hand for Nigel Davies
|
Oystercat fishing trip 11 & 12 March 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Poor fishing aboard the Oystercat this weekend, Saturday, 11 March trip we went offshore only caught one bull huss for Les Chapman, one conger and dogs for the rest of the crew.
Sunday, 12 March the inshore trip was no better, a few whiting, a dab, a thornback (that did a very good cod impression!!) and dogs.
We were treated to porpoises feeding pretty close to the boat today. I should say 'got to take the rough with the smooth, blah, blah' but I hate not catching, lol!
Hopefully we'll have some better luck when the locks open back up.
Skipper Dean
|
Bull Huss for Les Chapman on the Saturday trip |
Nice size dab caught on the trip
|
Thornback ray for Dean Gifford
|
After bacon rolls for breakfast this was lunch
|
Oystercat fishing trip 19 February 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Challenging day aboard the Oystercat today; we started the day in Oxwich Bay where we had a few dabs, whiting and dogs.
We moved back to Swansea bay for the ebb where after a little searching around we found a few more of the same species and a small thornback ray.
Roger Davidge secured a last minute win in our final 30min competition, having had 5 whiting.
An interesting / frustrating point was watching large numbers kittiwakes and other small gulls picking up small bait fish off the sea surface in the classic 'working birds' formation for hours, but a few drifts through them with feathers yielded nothing; nor was there any really substantial marks on the sounder... were the bait fish just suicidal?
Who knows! Dean.
(Sorry no fish worth having their photos taken)
|
Oystercat fishing trip 18 February 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
An enjoyable day aboard the Oystercat today; we took the chance to head over to the other side of the channel to try a new wreck on these small tides.
The passage across was a little 'lively' but as expected, when we arrived the the wreck conditions were great! We had plenty of fish on the wreck, congers in the 20lb class, some nice bull huss and spurdogs.
When the tide became too strong for us we moved to a sandbank where Richie 'I've got a bad hand so I'm not fishing' Pearce made a miraculous recovery as soon as some good sized whiting started coming aboard.
We finished the day back on the wreck where the fresh whiting head and guts baits were taken quickly by more congers and spurs; typically the last few hours were the most productive of the day but everyone had a few nice fish.
It was a horrible February morning when we left the marina this morning, but was a glorious summer like evening when we returned, Great day out!!
Dean. |
Joe Snelling - Conger |
|
|
|
Dean Gifford - whiting |
|
|
3 Amigos - Pete Jordon, David Snelling, Colin Albert & bullhuss
|
Steven Baynton - bull huss |
Joe Snelling caught another conger
|
|
|
|
|
Colin Albert - conger |
|
|
Oystercat fishing trip 8 February 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Massive swell, we tried to get on an offshore wreck - no chance. Back in the bay, a few whiting, dabs, dogs and a codling (that took mackerel on a set of feathers - like most have this year!)
Moved onto an inshore wreck to finish the day, a few small conger and dogs.
In all, a pretty slow day; weather was lovely, swell was a pain!!
Dean
With a full boat an a gap in the weather big things expected. These turned out to be the size of the swells across the outer Bay marks. So after a 70minute boat ride we settled back to a mark inside the shelter of the Mumbles head. Very slow fishing with a few dabs nice whiting one small codling. we moved a few times to try to improve things but to no avail. last mark did produce two Conger for Phil Bowen and the rest shared a few Dogfish. Nice quick return up the river though with both locks on Free-flow.
Cold, crisp and dry but few fish...there's always next time!
Good day out and with great company.
John & Dean worked bloody hard yesterday too put us on the fish..
John I'm still stuffed after my 25 chilly hot dogs.
Phil Protheroe
|
|
|
|
|
Phil Bowen - yet another conger
|
Oystercat fishing trip 5 February 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Slow day today aboard the Oystercat; plenty of dogs in the morning, along with pin whiting, pouting and strap conger. We headed offshore for high water where we had congers to 15lb spurdogs to 10lb. We finished the day back inshore where we found whiting, dabs, pouting, dogs and a lone - probably lost conger (we were on a large shallowish sandbank) typically the last hr was the most productive of the day; phone was playing up so only picture is of a spurdog caught that had a tag on it - anyone know what organisation is using this style tag at the moment?
Started the trip inshore - a large swell was running which stopped us heading straight out deep. Only Small whiting, congers and dogs here.
As HW approached we headed SW of the scarweather bank - here we had a few spurs and conger. One spur had a tag in it - unfortunately, shortly after releasing it a seal appeared on the surface eating a spur; so I'm doubtful that one will ever be caught again!!
As the ebb started we moved to a near by wreck, here we had a few more congers to 20lb or so. Seal followed us to the wreck and tried to steal a hooked dog fish, enteraining if nothing else!
We ended the day back inshore catching more whiting and dabs.
Dean.
|
|
|
Tag on the caught spurdog |
Oystercat fishing trip - 22 January 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Last minute trip organised for yesterday (21st) started the day up east; only dogs, a whiting, a strap conger and edible crab to show for a 4-5hrs fishing. We moved back to the swigg area for the flood where we had a very hectic couple of hours; catching lots of whiting (double and treble hook ups), a few dabs, pouting, poor cod and only 2 dogs. Today's wrecking trip was abandoned due to poor weather conditions. There's always next time! Dean.
Richie Pearce - 3 whiting
|
|
Oystercat fishing trip - 21 January 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Really cold windy morning - Fished at Port Talbot to start, only dogs and small whiting. Wind started to push us over the anchor rope so moved to Sker where we found more tide but less fish!
As tide turned we headed over to a Sandbank SW of the SWIGG - A good move, even though is was a bit lumpy! Lots and Lots of whiting (2 or 3 whiting at at time most drops), few dabs, few pouting and a strap conger.
Richie Pearce - 2 whiting
|
Oystercay fishing trip - 18 January
Skipper Richie Pearce
Hey guys looks like the cod are starting to move in.
Richie Pearce took a full Oystercat out today and Phil Bowen got himself some supper.
Phil Bowen - cod 1 |
|
|
Oystercat fishing trip 15 January 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
A reasonable day aboard the Oystercat today. Lots of small fish in the way of whiting, school bass and dabs as well as a lone conger and a handful of dogs. Rods were rattling away for most of the day, so everyone was kept busy!
The SYSAC Cod Comp was cancelled (and rightfully so) but being a bigger boat, we kept the trip available because 1) the forecast was ok for us to head out, with a few restrictions where we could go; 2) I had a ton of worm ordered and didn't to bail on that; so had a few lb of prime back lug to use & blow down ready for freezing; my Mrs is pretty accommodating, but blowing down 7lb lug at home wouldn't end well for me, so decided far 'safer' to do it at sea!
Originally the trip was full, but gave people the option of dropping out if they didn't want to be stuck in the bay fishing for whiting and dabs; so ended up with just 6 of us - great as the tea rounds are easier!
We started the day by heading straight out to assess what the sea state would like; arriving at the SWIGG there was a reasonable swell running, so plan A was stuck to and we headed back inside to a small bit of wreckage in close.
Here we had a steady stream of whiting, dabs and schoolies. Dogfish were absent, which was a pleasant change. We'd have a few quiet periods, normally followed by a conger taking the small strip baits put down for the smaller fish. We only landed the one eel, not very big - but never are on this wreck.
As the peak of the tide had passed, we headed out, back towards the mumbles head where the sea state had settled enough for us to fish in some comfort. Initially, the tide was still running hard but soon eased and the fish came back on the feed - more of the same really, just whiting, dabs and schoolies.
Mostly small whiting, biggest going 1lb 12oz
One interesting point was there were still tons of birds working on baitfish pushed up a few miles south of us. I wonder what was pushing them up? We didn't have the weather conditions nor the crew onboard to really go chasing the birds; so we left them to it!
Dean
|
Richie Pearce - 1lb 12oz whiting |
Oystercat fishing trip 8 January 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
With the good forecast and small tide we took the chance of heading offshore to target some bigger fish. The day started with me setting the wrong time on my alarm, resulting in me being woken by a phone call asking where I am - Not the best start...
We finally cleared the pier at 8am; first mark was a wreck that's been a little hit and miss recently. It can be pretty difficult to anchor this wreck as it runs East to West (same direction as the tide runs), so the target only 15m or so wide in 30+m of water. It doesn't happen often but I got the boat in the right spot first try.
Congers came on pretty quickly, over the next 5 hours we enjoyed pretty good sport with plenty of conger eels coming in, most between 17lb and 25lb, biggest going 32lb.
A conger looked like it was going to challenge for the pool but turned out it was a smaller eel bit onto its own tail.
We also had a reasonable number of spurs to 14lb and a few huss.
Once the tide changed we moved just off the scarweather bank; here we found lots of dogs, but a few spurs, huss and a lone conger amongst them.
A pretty good day in all, weather was fantastic for January! We were also treated to porpoises feeding at the back of the boat for a little while!
Skipper Dean Gifford |
Martin Morgan - conger eel
|
Colin Albert - conger eel
|
Dean Gifford - conger eel |
|
|
|
Martin Morgan - conger eel
|
Dean Gofford - conger eel |
Conger eel biting own tail caught by Pete Jordan
|
|
Colin Albert - conger eel |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Oystercat
fishing trip 4 January 2017
Skipper John
Elvins
Well they say you have to take the
rough with the smooth and the good with the bad. We must be due a
great day out fishing soon!!!.
Only plus side when talking to
other boats they were either Dog fished to death or just like us a
smattering of smallish dabs and whiting. No stress, trying three
different marks the fishing seemed to improve just before we planned
the trip home. all those who wanted a pan full of fillets took enough
home but no monsters to talk of. Ralph our new "catch" of
2016 was the only photo taken more to prove to him that he can catch
fish. In fairness he held his own catch wise by the end of the day.
Skipper John Elvins
|
|
|
Mumbles Belle fishing trip - 3 January 2017
Skipper Vic Lilygreen
Was
it cold! After spending most of my journey to the marina with my feet
out either side of the scooter, I started the boat engine & started
to remove the ice from the windows, only to find that it was inside not
outside! Anyway we had an uneventful run out to the Green Grounds &
straight away we were into good whiting & dabs with an
uncharacteristic shortage of growlers! Of course this good fortune
couldn't last long & the forecast NW wind increased steadily until
it became a pain on our beam. I tried to rove the anchor warp but it
made no difference. By this time we each had a "good fry" so I suggested
making our way to the shelter of Mumbles, where we could fish in
comfort & put the grub on, so this is what we did. the fishing was
quiet with only a few small whiting & a few more dabs, but it was
very pleasant sat in the winter sunshine eating sausage rolls &
steak pies. Back in just after 4pm after a very enjoyable day,
especially seeing as it only needed a donation of £12 a head, all in
including, fuel, sausage roll, steak pie, & umpteen teas &
coffee's, us skippers spoil you lot lol.
Happy New Year.
Skipper VicLilygreen |
|
|
Oystercat fishing trip - 2 January 2017
Skipper Dean Gifford
Reasonable
day in the bay aboard the Oystercat today. Plenty of whiting and dabs
caught along with pouting, poor cod, dogs and bull huss. Whiting size
was down slightly on recent trips but plenty of good keepers amongst the
'bait sized' fish! Rich complained most of the day about not being able
to keep 2 rods in the water; as there were too many fish... I can deal
with that type of criticism. Weather was absolutely stunning in the
afternoon.
A low numbers trip so
we decided to stay local. The weather forecast was poor, but wind
direction being from the North East meant it shouldn't cause too much
trouble. We started the day close to Mumbles Head, here we had good
numbers of dabs along with plenty of pin whiting, dabs and dogs.
As
the ebb built in strength, we started to drag anchor so we moved to
some hard ground. Here we found plenty of whiting, mostly small but
enough big ones to keep everyone who wanted fish to take home happy.
A real pleasure to be out!
Skipper Dean
|
Richie Pearce - 2 whiting |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
