Langstone May 2017

I’m sitting in the Southsea Holiday camp after the best breakfast I can remember. The boat draw just finished and everyone knows which boat and position they are fishing in. So what will Langstone offer us Species League members today? This is the very first time the league has fished from the port and expectation is high.

It’s the fourth match of the season: Twenty-three eager species anglers including the Home Nations England team wait to board Dawn Venture, Predator, and Kelly’s Hero.

Bream and Smooth Hounds are the main targets but as always in these competitions all fish count, even the smallest.

The anglers have stashed all sorts of 2-hook rigs from size 10’s to 6/O’s. And everything in between. Baits for the day supplied to all:  6oz rag worm, frozen squid and mackerel. Bait management is important on these days. The preparation and presentation is becoming an art form.

The forecast isn’t great, with 3-4 southerly expected so we anticipate being restricted to fishing the Solent.  But once we leave the pontoons and venture out the wind isn’t that strong and we’re able to go further with the Nab Rocks and the Bullock Reef now a possibility. On Predator we anchor hoping for smooth hounds but find lots of dogfish and a couple of bream. Further out we have similar fare. At the reef we get some excellent fishing. Light rods, small fixed spools with braid here, 2 hook size 4’s paternoster style, small squid strips and rag doing the damage. As soon as rag is used on the bottom hook, lots of species, 3 types of wrasse, pouts, tompot blennies are added to the score list. For the bream: keep the baits moving slowly and lift into bites which are often finicky, then steady retrieve with drag set nice and loose, let them take line as they want. Lovely fighting fish

Anchor for the hounds, medium rod, 3/O hooks four foot flowing heavier traces with whole squid (half crab elastic wrapped is better but the bait pack didn’t include crab this time). Bang bites are fierce and the bigger fish go off like rockets. Great sport.

Great day for all, weather better than predicted. Which forecaster can we trust these days? Nice fish caught but almost all return to fight another day.

Well done Colin Searles, Richard Ferre and Cliff Williams on your boat wins

Thank you Ross, Laurie and Bex for putting us over the fish and big thanks to Langstone for providing us with an enjoyable day.

So it is off to Weymouth for match 5 on 23 June and we start all over again can’t wait.