"Knot for want of tying"

Today was a day of distinct contrasts for me, two fabulous fish with a dazzling display of angling ineptitude between them! I should however start this report at the beggining and that, as always, means a check on the weather and a call to the skipper.

I was booked to go fishing with Pat Carlin out of Weymouth in search of some Summer cod on the wrecks. I followed my usual routine of checking the Met Office web site, Winguru.com and XC weather to try and second guess whether the trip was likely to be on or not. The latter two both gave very benign forecasts whilst the Met Office in shore forecast was 3-4 going 5 with occasionally moderate seas and drizzle. Worse still, the Met office shipping forecast was giving force 6 with moderate to rough conditions for the Portland shipping area. Pat however was confident that conditions would be good and at 7pm on Friday night he confirmed the trip was on, leaving Weymouth at 7.30am and heading for mid channel. As it turned out the sea state was never more than smooth and we had glorious sunshine from 9.30am for the rest of the day - I reckon the Met Office use a random forecast generator sometimes!

Pat's main boat, "Channel Chieftain", is currently being used for wind farm maintenance in Germany so we would be going out on his "spare" boat - a 36' South Boats catamaran - the "Meridian Express". The Meridian is a classic modern angling Catamaran. Its island wheelhouse means the entire 36' length is fishable and it has the added bonus of a bench seat in the bow for sun bathing on long journeys. There can't be many charter operations in the country that can boast this range of hardware! The rest of the crew were made up of Jed, Brian and Aaron from Newbury, a couple from Minehead, two chaps from Wales and Pat's deck hand Rick.

Conditions were perfect although overcast. The water in the harbour was like a mirror and the air temperature a humid 19 degrees at 7am.

We were soon away from the dock and, with most of the other boats in the fleet taking advantage of the conditions, Weymouth Harbour resembled the start of a race more than a leisurely fishing port.

Pat had advised that our first wreck was some two hours steaming so we set about tying our rigs, a variety of artificials fished either "hopper" style or on a flying collar rig. I chose to fish a Kiddy Sidewinder in "rhubarb and custard" livery on a short hopper rig. We then settled in for the journey, eating breakfast and swapping fishing stories, without exaggerating too much!

As we neared the first wreck Pat told us we would only have about half an hour at this mark as it could only be fished on the flood. This is because the wreck rises some 70 to 80 feet from the sea bed very steeply at one end. If you are drifting "steep end first" then there is not enough time or space to reel a fish over the peak and you inevitably lose your gear.

The first drift was uneventful with just a large pout coming to the back of the boat.

The next drift was much better for me. I was fishing in the bow and hooked what felt like a very solid fish. I played the fish very steadily with what was probably and overly cautious drag setting. I started to gain line on the fish although it made a number of dogged, rather than explosive, runs - a cod I hoped. Finally I brought the fish to the surface and it was this smashing 16lb Ling. I was convinced that I was in fine form and would "bag up" today. How does the saying go though? Oh yes - "pride before a fall"!

16lb Ling

A couple more Pouts showed on this drift but no Cod. On the next drift the Minehead contingent got in on the act. Fishing a very sporting outfit this veteran of the Royal Marines had a smash and grab take from what was obviously a Pollack.

The skipper offers advice

The result

The next couple of drifts produced more pouts and several sets of lost gear as we hit the wreck increasingly quickly in a building tide. Pat called for lines to come up and we were off.

(Note - We fished a couple more wrecks in the vicinity and which wreck yielded which fish was difficult to keep track of so the following sequence of events takes place over more than one location!)

Whilst we didn't find any Cod there was plenty of sport with feisty Summer Pollack.

Brian, a relative novice at wreck fishing, was quickly in to his stride with what his brother Jed described as his first "proper fish".

Brian's "Proper" Fish

The senior half of the Welsh contingent showed us the way however, with the best Pollack of the day to that point.

The smile says it all!

So it was at this point in the proceedings that the wheels started to come off for me. I had managed to hook and lose a small Pollack, bringing it virtually to the surface before it spat the hook.

I then hooked a much better fish which let go within a few seconds. I raced back to the bottom and instantly found another fish which took a similarly aggressive run before letting go, so I thought. I retrieved my gear and was surprised to see I had lost my lure. I thought to myself (full of confidence) "must have been a Ling that took it last and it had bitten me off". After all, it couldn't have been anything to do with me could it?

With a number of nice Pollack coming aboard, everyone started to concentrate.

The junior half of the Welsh team concentrates as Jed from Newbury looks on

Jed took a nice Pollack next whilst the back of the boat seemed to be collecting large Pouts still.

Having attached a new lure I had another run from a very strong Pollack. As soon as it finished its first run and I applied pressure I felt the line go light. I had lost all my end gear - how could this be. Retrieval showed that the knot connecting my leader to the swivel had given up and I had the tell tale curly ends to prove it. I rapidly re-rigged and was ready for the next drift - a repeat performance with the knot giving out in exactly the same place. It is at this juncture I should confess that since the age of seven I have only learned one knot for terminal tackle, the half blood knot. Despite all the best advice suggesting this is an inadequate knot it is all I knew and I persevered.

Brian by this time was going from strength to strength bagging himself a nice double figure fish. He was using a red coloured "Bass Bandit" type lure - one to remember I think.

Brian's Pollack comes to the net

Brian's best fish

I was now on my third rig which I promptly lost - again with a failed knot. This was getting silly. Even my "Magic Hat" couldn't fix this.

Broken Again!

After losing my fifth good Pollack in as many drifts, and four of them certainly as a result of my half blood knots, I had to call in the experts.

Rick kindly re-tied my leader then showed me how to tie a half blood knot "with tuck". He then tied together a new rig for me using this knot and I prepared to go again.

Once again I lowered to the sea bed and started to wind. Once again I got a take, but a smaller one this time. Wracked with self doubt I entered a very tentative battle with what turned out to be a very modest Pollack, around 4lbs. I didn't care however that this fish was a good bit smaller than the average coming to the boat - I had stopped the rot. My rig had stayed in one piece and I was back in business.

Pat called for lines in again and we went to a final wreck for the last few drifts.

The first was unproductive for me, although a couple of fish came to other parts of the boat. On the second drift however I had a terrific hit. The fish took several long runs and, still scarred from my earlier experiences, I played the fish gingerly backing off the drag at every sign that the fish might dive.

Pat then asked me to steer the fish round the bow and land it on the other side - how could he do this!?! - it was hard enough for me keeping my terminal gear on the line without taking my fish for a walk and simultaneously climbing over various ropes and boat gear! Of course Pat knew I would find it easier to fight the fish from the new position and I wouldn't run the risk of breaking the line on the underside of the boat. Eventually the fish surfaced and a couple of minutes later it was in the net - a very welcome 12 pounder.

Phew - at last!

The final drift produced another nice Pollack for the Welsh team and then we were done.

The long trip home in the glorious sunshine gave me ample time to consider what might have been but for a little basic rig craft. Still, a lovely day on the water and a couple of quality fish as a bonus - I can't really complain. Hopefully, armed with my new knot, I won't suffer this type of humiliating experience again too soon. For the record I used rhubarb and custard sidewinders all day and I was not short of hook ups. I had read in Sea-Angling news that these were the hot lure and they, along with other red and yellow lures, were definitely the top attractor on this day.

As usual I snapped a number of other photos whilst out so here they are!

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