Latest Fishing Reports: Galloper
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08/2018
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
Aug 2018 by Scott Belbin
The last few months have seen us enjoy some of the best weather imaginable from west mersea and thankfully the fishing has been able to match it on most occasions. My last report on here was late spring so I will bring you briefly up to date from then.
By the time the main bulk of thorn-back rays started to move out at the start of june we already had the summer species around in good numbers to take their place. Smooth-hounds have been fairly consistent throughout the summer with good numbers of the smaller fish at times. This year saw the best season in several years for tope with most boats finding a few decent fish. our biggest went over 55lbs and was caught by billy who made the trip down from north Norfolk several times in search of tope and this was his biggest.
We started off the bass season with some cracking fish on board. the biggest so far fell to chris at 12.4lbs which came just an hour or so after a 10.12lbs bass for steve who was out that day. We have seen several mixed in with our general trips too and as ever the estuary is full of schoolies which are great fun on our 3-4hr trips. Unfortunately having to return all all of the bass has disappointed some of our anglers but they are a pleasure to catch anyway which keeps most people pleased.
There have been several stingrays come out the last few weeks, we were lucky enough to find a small one which matched to small angler who caught it. Charlie was a few days shy of 8 years old when he had his first stingray. These fish are as rare as hens teeth so im sure may a well seasoned angler would be envious of him or any others who managed to boat one this year.
Over the coming weeks the summer species should continue to keep us occupied, September approaches we should see the thorn-back rays picking up in numbers again. these will be mostly small fish at first but the stamp; should increase as the autumn progresses. There’s plenty of time for bass and hounds as yet but it wont be long until we start thinking about cod. After seeing a few more this spring hopes will be high that the blackwater estuary and beyond will be productive again throughout the winter.
I have a few spaces left in august and September, I keep my calendar and last minute bookings up to date on here but for more information, weekly reports and availability please visit www.essexseafishing.co.uk or call 07956411528
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05/2018
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
May 2018 by Scott Belbin
Its been another busy month aboard the ‘Galloper’ the main target for us inshore at this time of year are the thorn-back rays. We have come to expect high numbers of them since the local stocks were saved by strict commercial restrictions on them over 10 years ago and this year hasn’t disappointed us. They come in all sizes, the females are normally the bigger fish with a double figure male a rare sight. These fish taste great and skinning them is easy with a bit of practice (so im told). I try to encourage responsible angling on my boat so all females are returned alive and have been for several years. Along with the rays there have been plenty of other bits and bobs. We had had one or two bigger bass, a few more spurdogs and a spotted ray of 2.10lbs which was a first aboard my boat and quite rare in this area.
Over the coming weeks we will continue to target the thorn-backs and also turn our attention to the smooth-hounds which are showing early considering how late spring started. Im sure we will also head offshore where we can see anything turn up even the elusive dogfish!
Ive got plenty of spaces coming up and you can find a list of available dates on my cbuk page or my website along with regular reports and more information at www.essexseafishing.co.uk or call 07956411528 -
04/2018
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
Apr 2018 by Scott Belbin
Thought I’d put a report on here regarding a couple of good days we had on the spurdogs recently. My self and my anglers head off in search of the spurs every spring and are usually happy to see one or two fish mixed in with our usual species. Not many charter boats target spurs from essex and even less are regularly successful so we feel happy to see a few. The other week we were lucky enough to hit into one of the mythical spurdog packs two trips on the bounce. We picked up 47 on the first trip and over 80 on the second (which was absolute madness). That’s without the thorn-backs, dogfish and even a stray bass that turned up. For full report please see my website or facebook.
It is 10 years since I first had spurs off here and I we have caught more in these two trips than I have had on the boat in the last 10 years. Many of the lads who have been this weekend are regulars and fully understand how rare a trip like these two are. Most of the lads have been off here before and several have already been off here with me this year. We will try again for them but im sure it will still be as hit and miss as ever.
Please remember that with the offshore trips as with any trips it is no good waiting for somebody else to have a good day and then book up as the fish may be gone by the time you get out. always for for what your going to catch today. not what somebody else caught yesterday. Please book well in advance to get the best tides. -
04/2018
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
Apr 2018 by Scott Belbin
My apologies Its been a while since my last report on here again. the cold snap that hit us in the early part of the year had a negative affect on both the fishing and our bookings unfortunately. Thankfully the weather has sorted its self out now and so has the fishing so everything is back on track. As the water has warmed up the thorn-back rays have appeared in abundance as we have come to expect in recent years. The fish are now fairly wide spread so we can see good fishing in most weather conditions should we need to. There have been a few smooth-hounds and the odd bass mixed in too. This is a sure sign that summer is not too far away. the codling have been mid water feeding on the herring that moved in after the cold snap. This in turn has meant we have seen very few on rod and line. However the last weekend saw a few come out so hopefully we will see a showing of codling mixed in over the next week or so before they move off.
The ‘galloper’ is out of the water this week for a polish, antifoul and general jobs as well as her 5 year survey. She will be back in the water by Saturday with a fresh 60 mile code of practice on her.
I have plenty of space this coming weekend for individuals and group bookings so if you fancy making the most of the nice weather please contact me. In the mean time I try to keep my website up to date with reports, availability and lots more information or please call 07956411528 -
03/2018
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
Mar 2018 by Scott Belbin
Following on from my last report on here the fishing has been quite good to start off the year here at mersea. The weather has been pretty favourable until this week and we have managed to get most trips in. what we are hatching has varied quite a bit depending on the tides and where we can get to. As many others boats in the area have reported there have been far better numbers of codling than the last couple of seasons. Most trips are producing a few codling and thorn-back rays with 6-12 codling an average sort of trip. Our best trip so far this year has been 23 codling along with a few rays, pouting, a dogfish, a bass and lots of whiting up to 43cm! this cold snap seems to have slowed some of the fish up since then but I would expect it to improve as we approach the end of the season.
The dogfish and thorn-backs don’t tend to like the cold weather much but when we do get a couple of weeks of warmer weather they will soon push into our shallow coastal waters which warm up first. With any luck we will still have codling mixed in too which along with the other bits and bobs makes for some nice spring sport.
Please visit my website essexseafishing.co.uk or follow us on facebook for regular reports along with more information including availability.
Here’s some of my availability for the coming month
11/03/18 3 spaces @ £50pp max 8 anglers
18/03/18 8 spaces @ £50PP or boat £360 max 8 anglers
30/03/18 8 spaces @ £50PP or boat £360 max 8 anglers
31/03/18 8 spaces @ £50PP or boat £360 max 8 anglers
Please call for more information on 07956411528 -
01/2018
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
Jan 2018 by Scott Belbin
As im sure you may have gathered by now 2018 has started off well for the blackwater estuary boats. The fishing isn’t exactly ‘on fire’ but it is a vast improvement on what we have seen of late. The rise in temperature has made the thorn-back rays start to move. We seem to get a few decent fish amongst them throughout January and February and so far 2018 hasn’t disappointed with the biggest so far falling to Graham at 15.5lbs.
there have been a few more codling showing too and a better stamp. Many of these fish are fresh in and still taking our baits despite a large influx of sprats and herring. Bites are finicky and easily missed so the key is small baits, keep them fresh by changing regularly and allow bites to develop (sit on your hands a while). There arnt hoards crawling up the lines but our best trip so far is 11 codling and the top rod landing 5 of those. We would usually expect numbers to increase as the bait fish leave and the cod get back on the bottom over the course of the next few weeks so fingers crossed.
Alongside the codling and rays we have seen plenty of whiting at times and some are a decent size (for this area) as well as the odd dab, pouting and even a couple of highly sought after dogfish!
I have plenty of spaces over the coming weeks for individuals and groups, remember we can often get out when others cant due to the shelter offered locally.
For more information, reports and availability please visit www.essexseafishing.co.uk , follow us on facebook or call scott on 07956411528 -
11/2017
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
Nov 2017 by Scott Belbin
As ever its been a while since my last report on here. This autumn has been promising as expected. Its been an improvement on last year (which isn’t too hard). As im sure you will have gathered from other reports from this area. The last few weeks have seen us catching codling on all but one trip. They are mostly small and we’ve seen between 1 and 3 per trip which is alwost as many in a trip as the whole of last season! There are currently heaps of whiting keeping us busy in the between and although as ever the majority are small there is the odd bigger one around too. The colder weather has thinned out the bulk of the thorn-back rays and dogfish. However we are still scratching a few together to mix in with the rest of the days catch. The last set of tides saw the return of the dabs, the lads had a few hours fishing for them with 10-15 per angler coming out. These add to the relatively varied catches we are seeing at the moment and make a great standby for a windy winters day.
We are available right through the winter and have spaces throughout December and January. We are lucky enough to have plenty of sheltered places to fish so if your keen to get out there’s no need to cancel.
Ive added a few pictures to my page on here of some of the codling we have seen so far. They aren’t monsters but it should give you an idea of what’s coming out.
For more information, regular updates and available dates please visit my website www.essexseafishing.co.uk or call me on 07956411528 -
09/2017
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
Sep 2017 by Scott Belbin
Its been a long time since my last report on here. We had a few nice fish over the summer and the weather was ok on the whole. there were a few decent smooth-hounds about here and there along with some nice bass and the usual mixed bags of thorn-backs, dogfish and such like to make the days up. When it has been windy the blackwater estuary has produced the goods too. On the right tides we can do well in here and avoid the weed too. One morning with just two lads aboard we managed around 15 sizable bass (although most were returned due to the 1 bass per angler bag limit). We have also snuck out a few ballen and corkwing wrasse which aren’t too common around here. The river also produced the first codling of the season on my dads boat ‘Razorbill 3’ way back in august. It was only a small fish but hopefully a good sign of things to come in the fast approaching cod season. With that in mind im not expecting great guns from the cod but we should definitely see an improvement on last year (although that’s not hard as they barely showed). There were good numbers of little codletts along the shore in places in the spring so these fish are likely to return in the 12-18 inch bracket this autumn. Fingers crossed we should see a few bigger fish mixed in too along with the usual autumn run of thorn-backs, dogfish whiting ect. Although I may be a bit laxed on here with reports ect I keep my available dates as up to date as possible and my reports on my website and facebook are usually quite popular. For more information, reports and availability please visit
www.essexseafishing.co.uk
find us on facebook
or phone 07956411528 -
04/2017
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
Apr 2017 by Scott Belbin
Yet again its been too long since my last report on here. As ever we’ve been busy aboard the ‘Galloper’ with lots of people wanting to get out and enjoy the great weather we’ve been experiencing this spring. Nowadays spring time primarily means thorn-back rays (also known as roker) in the thames estuary. As is well publicised we are fortunate enough to have a well managed local population at the moment. Although we now catch them through out the year the thorn-backs are in their best numbers now with lots of big females coming inshore to breed and feed along with their smaller male counterparts. Although the weather doesn’t cost us many trips throughout the year we particularly benefit at this time of year when the thorn-backs can often be found in good numbers right into the sheltered waters of the black water estuary. We have been seeing great numbers of fish come aboard with 30-40 rays commonplace nowadays. There have been some good fish amongst them too with lots of heavily laden females being caught and of course always returned aboard the ‘Galloper’. Mixed in with the thorn-backs there are numbers of dogfish and whiting along with the odd pouting. The first few bass and smooth-hounds have shown in the last few weeks which is a sure sign that summers rapidly approaching.
To mix things up for my self as well as my anglers I still put the odd offshore trip in this time of year to target the brief run of spurdogs we have off here. I was lucky enough to happen upon a couple of marks for these getting on for 10 years ago now and have seen some decent fish come aboard over the years. On a recent trip off there with a group of regulars we found a few spurs, no monsters but some nice fish none the less with the biggest just shy of 12lbs. there was room for me to fish that trip which I always jump at the chance of being an obsessive angler my self. after getting the lads started in the morning with the first spurdog, I was lucky enough to realise a long awaited ambition of catching a blonde ray on my home grounds. She was no giant at just over 12lbs but I was very pleased to catch her . my luck really was in that day. We managed around 20 thorn-backs, a nice bass of 5-6lbs and a couple of pouting and whiting to go along with the constant stream of dogfish for the day.
Over the coming weeks we should continue to see good numbers of thorn-back rays as they start to creep further afield. We will see increasing numbers of smooth-hounds and bass mixed in with them until we make our first trips to target the smooth-hounds.
If you wish to see more regular reports from me as well as available dates, occasional poor quality fishing clips and more information please visit www.essexseafishing.co.uk or find us on facebook. Otherwise please call on 07956411528 -
02/2017
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
Feb 2017 by Scott Belbin
Ive not got many trips to report on after having the ‘galloper’ out for a few weeks. She’s undergone a fair overhaul with a precautionary engine reconditioning too. I must admit its been a struggle being trapped on land for so long but hopefully a few missed trips now will pay off over the next few years. I don’t think we’ve missed a great deal to be honest with a combination of cold weather and loads of bait fish such as sprats putting the fish off. I managed to commandeer my dads boat the ‘ Razorbill3’ on a fine day a couple of weeks ago and got one of my parties afloat. The weather was spot on and we even managed to get amongst a few roker. There seems to be a run of decent fish in places at this time of year as ive mentioned before. Graham had two nice double figure fish with the biggest topping out at over 18lbs on dads scales (although I would place it nearer 16lbs to be honest) and a smashing fish any time of year. The ‘Galloper’ now has her engine back in place and she’s looking spanking ready for the season. I have a few spaces coming up in the coming weeks where a raise in temperatures should kick things off for the thorn-backs. For more information, weekly reports and available dates please visit www.essexseafishing.co.uk or call 07956411528
