madpolka.co.uk

"Turbot Charged" Fishing on Supanova

If you asked most Anglers what Weymouth was famous for as a fishing venue they would probably respond with Bass angling in the Portland Race or fishing the Shambles Bank for quality flatfish. Today Lyle Stantiford, skipper of the excellent Supanova, took us to both venues and Weymouth duly surrendered her most prized treasures!

Lyle launched Supanova at the start of the year and it is testament to his skills as a skipper and growing reputation that he is already well ahead of his planned schedule for days at sea this year. The boat itself is a modern 8 metre fast angling catamaran. Its wheel house construction means that the entire length of the starboard side is fishable making it more spacious than some boats that are significantly longer.

The weather conditions today were excellent with bright sunshine all day to take the edge of a very cool Northerly breeze. The wind was forecast for a force five dropping throughout the day but with the wind direction staying in the North there was no sea running at any point and we were even comfortable in "the Race".

The crew, three other chaps from Wiltshire and a party of four from Southampton, were all aboard in good time and we passed under the raised bridge at 8 o'clock sharp.

Most of the rest of the charter fleet was also out today and the stone pier was already getting busy with anglers enjoying the fine weather.

"Sunrise over the Stone Pier"

It is only a short blast to the end of Portland Bill where the fierce tidal rips create the perfect hunting ground for that most prized of sporting fish - the Bass. Lyle set up the guys with hire rods and gave us all instructions on the technique. We would drift with live Eels on Portland rigs bumping the bottom until we came to the face of a huge ledge. Lyle would then call for us to bring lines up some 15 to 20 turns very quickly and then we would find the bottom again before repeating the drift. Well this is more difficult than it sounds as I would find out....

The first drift was set and we headed towards the shelf. The results were instant with two of the Wiltshire contingent imediatley contacting lively fighting fish. The result was two prime Bass, perfect for supper!

"Wiltshire open the scoring!"

I really struggled on this drift after we raised our lines to clear the shelf. I was wasn't sure whether I was feeling the bottom again or whether I was still at risk of catching the shelf and ended up in a tangle with two of the other guys on the rail. My Eel was lost and we had to remove my hook snood to repair the damage.

A hastily retied rig and we were off again. This time the whole boat got in a mess! Worse still after the tangles were untied I was reeling frantically to retrieve my line for the next drift and didn't seem to be making progress - I'd left the spool out of gear! I fortunately realised this before I'd emptied the spool but of course when I put it back in gear I snagged the bottom and lost the rig, weight, and leader. Having fished for 33 years I can honestly say this year has been the worst for self inflicted disasters - when will I learn?

Lyle decided that this part of the race was too tough for us and decided to join the majority of the other charter boats fishing the back of the race where the tidal rip stirs up the bottom over smaller ledges and mussel beds. Here we would be able to stay in touch with the bottom all the time and should get less tangles.

I hastily tied a new leader (using a knot from the Berkley web site which worked very well) and found a ready made Portland rig in my bag. This rig was one of Moonfleet Angling's excellent products and it certainly did the trick for me!

Lyle set the drift up and we were on our way. It was only a couple of minutes and I had a terrific snatch at my bait after which the rod went very solid. The bottom? It couldn't be as there was no line leaving the reel, it was just solid. I tried to pump and retrieve but all each lift did was give line which I then had to retrieve on the down stroke. Lyle came to investigate at which point there was a fairly small but perceptible head shake - it was a fish! It seemed like an age, but was probably only a couple of minutes, before I was able to make any ground on this fish at all. I was starting to wish I hadn't opted to use my 8lb Sonik boat rod and could bully the fish a bit more.

Eventually I started to make some ground on the fish and it became much more active. It also appeared to become significantly lighter than I had first thought. One of the most exhilarating light tackle battles I have experienced ensued and eventually the fish broke the surface having gathered two other lines on the way - potential for disaster. Lyle was swift with the net and a lovely 6.5lb Bass was mine - not a specimen weight but my personal best none the less.

"A PB for me!"

The crew now had its eye in and the next few drifts were all productive with a couple of fish coming on board with each drift. Fish of 2 to 3 lbs were about the average with odd larger fish of 4 to 5lbs thrown in for good measure.

I managed three more fish, two of them on the same Eel as our supply was dwindling fast!

"Another prime Bass"

As the live Sand Eels ran out and the tide dropped, so the Bass dried up too. Lyle called for lines up and it was time for an interlude in the days drama. We headed off to the west side of Portland Bill armed with feathers in search of Mackerel for bait. The Mackerel were distinctly patchy with lots of small fish as well as a few larger specimens. Eventually we had enough and it was time for act 2 - drifting the Shambles in search of a Turbot or a Brill.

The tackle here was exactly the same - a Portland Rig with a strong size 4/0 hook. The bait for this type of fishing is a long strip of mackerel hooked through the pointed end once. The technique is to give 40 to 50 feet of line to the fish when you feel a bite and then reel in to the fish rather than strike. The difficulty is identifying a bite however, as you are drifting over very uneven ground where every ripple and bump snatches at your weight causing the rod tip to bounce and quiver the whole time.

We all lowered our baits to the bottom in strict rotation to avoid tangles. I couldn't believe my luck, a bite straight away - or was it just the bottom? No, definitely a bite. I let line go as instructed and then wound in to the fish. It was there, then it wasn't, then it was back again. The result was a nice Garfish, not a flatty but a nice catch anyway.

It was the Southampton team that showed the rest of the crew how to catch flat fish however.

First up was this nice size eating fish.

"Turbot fo tea!"

Another drift and another fish for the Southampton contingent. This time a Brill to complete the set!

"Brill fishing in Weymouth"

A third member of the Southampton crew completed the sandwich with another Turbot. To this point I had always thought that good catches of Brill and Turbot were a myth - but no longer!

"And they just keep coming"

I was well off the pace with this type of fishing. I did eventually have an obvious bite and let the fish have some line. I think I got over excited though and started to retrieve too soon. The fish was there for an instant and then it was gone along with my prime Mackerel bait!

I did finally hook another fish which, when it surfaced, was another Bass, again of around 2 to 3 lbs. On the surface it gave a flick of its tail however and spat the hook. I wasn't too sad as I already had enough for my needs and I'd had the privilege of fighting the fish so probably a good way to release it!

A small tub gurnard fell to team Southampton but the day was rounded off with yet another prime flatty. This time another smashing Brill to even up the numbers.

"Brill Too"

I'm struggling to remember a day I've had afloat where the fish caught were of such a consistently high quality. We didn't encounter a single "Cat Shark", Pouting or Poor Cod all day and all of our captures were worthy of a photograph.

Whilst I would have loved to have got in on the flat fish action, my day was made by 9am with my very first fish! The Turbot will have to wait for another day.

Tackle Review

After a number of disasters, losing fish to broken knots, I got to thinking there must be more to it than just my technique. My main reel is about 8 or 9 years old now and has had a lot of use. I noticed that the drag was starting to become erratic and I think that maybe a sticking drag may have been a contributing factor.

Whether any of this is true or not it gave me the excuse I needed to invest in a new reel. This time I decided to opt for tried and tested quality and bought a Penn 310 GT2 - the successor to the hugely successful GTi series of reels. I absolutely love this reel. It has a very smooth running spool and the over sized "comfort handle" is much easier to use then the smaller version on my other similarly sized reels. I have used a lever drag for the last decade but this star drag seems equally as responsive to minor adjustments. Given that I "christened" it with a personal best Bass I am bound to like it though!