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Latest Fishing Reports: Lady Grace

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25/04/2013 Fishing Report by Scott Belbin

25 Apr 2013 by Scott Belbin

We headed out at 9am this morning to fish up to high water, it was a lovely still morning and I had aboard 2 couples that wanted to try their luck at their fishing. It started off a little quite with only Alan getting whiting bites but not much luck getting them in the boat, then Christine caught a nice whiting around 1.5lb, then once Christine had showed Alan how to do it he caught another whiting around the same size. Margaret, Alans wife, then told us that Alan had the lucky rod in the lucky spot on the boat so they swaped places and with that Margaret caught the first skate of the day which Alan was not best pleased he had given her his rod and place on the boat then. Margarets skate weighed in at 6.2lb. It was time to head home so they decided to give it another hour before heading in as they caught their first skate and were hoping for more action. Alan and Margaret then swaped places on the boat again where Alan then had a skate on around 4.5lb which we let go and Colin who felt unwell towards the end of the trip then caught the last skate around 5lb which took his mind off the sea sickness for a while. All 3 skate were males, they kept 2 for their dinner. A lovely day had by all.
25/04/2013 Fishing Report by Scott Belbin

25 Apr 2013 by Scott Belbin

We headed out at 9am this morning to fish up to high water, it was a lovely still morning and I had aboard 2 couples that wanted to try their luck at their fishing. It started off a little quite with only Alan getting whiting bites but not much luck getting them in the boat, then Christine caught a nice whiting around 1.5lb, then once Christine had showed Alan how to do it he caught another whiting around the same size. Margaret, Alans wife, then told us that Alan had the lucky rod in the lucky spot on the boat so they swaped places and with that Margaret caught the first skate of the day which Alan was not best pleased he had given her his rod and place on the boat then. Margarets skate weighed in at 6.2lb. It was time to head home so they decided to give it another hour before heading in as they caught their first skate and were hoping for more action. Alan and Margaret then swaped places on the boat again where Alan then had a skate on around 4.5lb which we let go and Colin who felt unwell towards the end of the trip then caught the last skate around 5lb which took his mind off the sea sickness for a while. All 3 skate were males, they kept 2 for their dinner. A lovely day had by all.
16/02/2013 Fishing Report by Scott Belbin

16 Feb 2013 by Scott Belbin

Today I was out on a fishing trip with Robbie who usually goes with Scott but as he was bringing his step son Michael they thought they would come out on Lady Grace for a few hours instead along with mum, Claire, who also goes with Scott too. As we headed out we couldnt have asked for a calmer day, it was like a sheet of glass. The sun struggled but failed to break through the clouds all day but neither the less it was a lovely mild day for fishing. While we were steaming out Robbie warned me he was trying out a 'special rig' which involved threading a slice of cork above the hook to work along the same principal as a pop-up like they use in carp fishing. Robbie said he was trying this rig out on my boat because he knew Scott would just laugh at him, especially if he didn't catch anything. Claire, Michael and I didn't seem convinced with his 'special rig' and had a little chuckle to ourselves on the way out. We headed out for the start of the flood and dropped anchor at our fishing spot. Now usually I would only be fishing out a mile or two in the River so it would only take about 20-30 minutes steaming before we anchored up but today we went further, we travelled for an hour before anchoring up. The reason for this is because there are alot of reports from the fishermen of the River being plagued with herring which is not something we caTotch on rod and line but because they are so thick under the water we struggle to fish for the codling. The herring will swim into your line and this will imitate bites so you are forever reeling in to check your bait which doesn't give the codling a chance to get on the hook. So I anchored further afield to avoid the herring. As we cast out waiting patiently seals popped their heads up around us on the boat. Not a good sign because if you do get a codling on then these seals will munch your catch up before you have time to reel it in, leaving you with just a codling head as your trophy. The seals seemed to be enjoying themselves, laying on their backs floating along the surface of the water, just chilling out. I left Robbie to his own devices with his special rig and concentrated on baiting and casting Claire and Michael's rods. Claire caught the first fish, a small whiting but the first couple of hours there seemed to be a tremendous amount of tide boaring past us, carrying nice clumps of weed which worked their way down our lines for us to build us muscles up on as we reeled in. As the tide eased back it was time for us to head home but since the fishing was much more comfortable we had a group vote and stayed out another hour. While I held my rod in my hand watching Michael's rod eagerly hoping to catch him a codling I felt a nod nod on my rod, finally, I leapt up with excitment and Mr cod nod nodded all the way in. I got Michael to reel in and I put fresh bait on his hook and cast him back out and did the same with Claire and not long after Michael was into a codling. His face was bright red from the struggle it was putting up but he was certainly enjoying himself. We got Michael's codling aboard and cast out hoping for a couple more but not long after we had to go in as time had flown past us and it was the end of our trip. There seemed to be a few funnels in the clouds form then disappear throughout the day and there seemed to be one following as we motored in, this one didn't disappear, it looked quite a powerful formation and you could see the swirling in the clouds above the funnel, but the funnel wasn't extending long enough for me to have any cause for concern but it was fasnating for Michael to see it form. As we headed home we discussed how sucessful Robbie's special rig had been. The scores on the doors were; Michael and I with 1 codling each, Claire with a whiting and Robbie nil. I think you can guess our conclusion on that rig.
08/12/2012 Fishing Report by Scott Belbin

8 Dec 2012 by Scott Belbin

I went out for just over a hour on my own in the River this morning bright and early for the first of the flood. After about 15minutes I was into a decent fish, putting up a great fight, I knew it was a cod but you can never tell how big it is until you see it as they all put up a great fight and are such fun to catch. As it got towards the surface I could see it was well hooked so I lifted it into the boat. My dad had just come out into the River and spotted me anchored up so came over to catch a glimpse of my 6.2lb cod and decided he wanted some of the action so tied his boat to my stern. After a short while we started to drift from the weight of 2 boats on one anchor so dad anchored up just beside me. We then had another boat decide to come and uptide me so the action died and I just caught a few whiting before heading in to do some work and start my boat trips. Definately worth getting up early for!
01/12/2012 Fishing Report by Scott Belbin

1 Dec 2012 by Scott Belbin

Another lovely day out of the water. Started today off with a bird watching trip this morning, saw lots of dunlin, blacktailed and bartailed Godwits, Curlew, Redshank and loads of Grebe and dabchicks out on the water too. Then we stumbled across an extremely tame or maybe just a very photogenic Cormorant that wasn't phased by use circling the mooring it was perched on. This afternoon I headed out with Robbie and his Step son Michael who hadn't been fishing before and at 11yrs old he was dying to give it ago. We anchored up and within 10 minutes Robbie had a decent fish on, unfortunately he was too keen and struck too early so lost it. Michael started catching his first whiting and then just after high water he hooked into his first codling. He is a quick learner, he soon got yhe hang of it and left his step dad on zero cod for the rest of the afternoon until on that very last cast when Robbie reeled his last rod in and caught a codling too. He was pleased he'd levelled with Michael. Although Michaels was bigger and he had caught a lovely whiting for his tea too! An enjoyable day had by all.
24/11/2012 Fishing Report by Scott Belbin

24 Nov 2012 by Scott Belbin

Today I headed out with Stewart and his son Tom of 10yrs old and Tom's friend Harry. We got to our mark just before high water and fished up until slack and luckily the tide started ebbing quite quickly. Tom showed his dad and friend how to do it by catching the first whiting, then his dad caught one and all of a sudden there was no stopping Tom, he was hauling in whiting every cast while Harry watched and waited patiently, finally Harry started catching a few whiting too and then quietly he reeled in his first ever codling. After a slow start Harry was neck and neck with Tom on the whiting front and had a codling too. Although his codling was sized, he let it go to live another day so he could catch it again next time he came out. Tom ended with 14 whiting and Harry had 13 whiting and 1 codling. We headed in from our 4hour trip with 2 very happy boys and a very pleased dad. I was even happier when I realised that all the big boats that had been out all day had struggled to catch codling, 3only had whiting all day and codling at all so we had one lucky codling aboard Lady Grace.
18/11/2012 Fishing Report by Scott Belbin

18 Nov 2012 by Scott Belbin

Scott, Uncle Steve and I went out for a couple of hours for the first of the ebb. We caught 4 codling, Scott and I had 2 each, while steve caught some whiting. A nice 2 hours out in the river. Glad I managed to keep up with Scott and catch as many as him.
17/11/2012 Fishing Report by Scott Belbin

17 Nov 2012 by Scott Belbin

Today I headed out with 4 beginners who had never been sea fishing before. Today's tide was a big spring tide, we set off a 9am when the tide had turned and had just started flooding, knowing that once we anchored up the tide should be well underway. We anchored on our first spot which after catching a few whiting realised that these 4 guys were very competative. It took a little while for them to get the hang of what a bite looked like with the boat rocking and the tide belting past. But once the first whiting was caught they seemed to be having a 'fish off' to see who could catch the most whiting and they were well away, baiting up and casting out all on their own. The real competition seemed to be between Tom and Colin who were neck and neck all day and wanted to stay out longer than originally booked so I suggested a move for the last couple of hours in the hope of picking up a cod on another mark not far from where we'd first anchored, Dave and Aden didn't seem fussed either way. They were all up for a move as long as they could still catch whiting too and carry on their competition. I did try explaining how whiting have a rattley bite whereas cod are much more fun to catch with their nodding action on the rod and they put up much more of a fight. I also told them if they csught a cod then it would best all those whiting hands down and they would immediately become the winner of the competition. After a very short while at our second mark Aden quietly reeled in the first cod of the day, it was only a small one and was undersized but nether the less it was still a cod and he said he could feel the difference in the resistance the cod had put up compared with the whiting and that meant he was the winner. There weren't as many whiting as this mark so Tom and Colin were eagerly watching their rods so they didn't miss a whiting and let the other catch more than they had. While it was quiter I got my sandwiches out and sure enough this did the trick, Tom was into a decent fish and having great fun playing it in and when it finally surfaced it revealed itself as a nice 5lb 15oz cod. The excitement on the boat was unreal, Aden's victory was stolen from him while the others starred flabergastered. I told them all to get their rods back in the water in the hope of picking up a few more before they had to head in as their wives had been calling and nagging them to see when they would be in. They all baited up and cast out and Dave had his first cod and while we eagerly waited for Colin to catch one so they'd all had one each, Tom snuck another cod into the boat. Unfortunately Colin didn't get his cod before we hand to haul the anchor and head home. Not only did Tom have the biggest cod of the day, not to mention the biggest cod on Lady Grace so far, but he also had the most. We finished with 4 cod and lots of whiting.
11/11/2012 Fishing Report by Scott Belbin

11 Nov 2012 by Scott Belbin

Well Saturday I let Scott take Lady Grace out for a short fishing trip in the River with 5 expert fishermen aboard, including Russell. I went along for the ride as I couldn't have Scott catching the first codling of the season aboard Lady Grace without me on there. We headed out for the first of the ebb where we set up anchor and caught alot of nice sized whiting through the day waiting eagerly for a codling but Mr Cod didn't show so Scott decided to have a move for the last hour and a half to try his luck on another mark. This second mark also produced a few whiting before the tide died off and we headed in. Sunday morning came and it was my turn to be skipper and I was determined to catch a codling today, as we headed out I told my fishing party that although it wasn't a competition between Scott and I, I would be deeply let down by them if we didn't catch a codling today and that they would have to swim back. We anchored up on the edge for the last of the flood and the first of the ebb where we proceeded to catch whiting in mixed sizes, not quite as big as the day before but still good fun for those that hadn't been fishing before. Just as I was contemplating moving down into the deeper water one of the lads had a decent bite which when he hooked into it, I knew it had to be a codling the way it was nodding so immediately got the net ready so we didn't have any chances of loosing it and success - we had our first 2lb codling of the season aboard Lady Grace with me as skipper. I had beat the old man! The sweet smell of success. Just as we all checked and rebaited our rods the seal popped his head up and swam round the boat and the tide had died a little so we didnt seem to get many bites so I headed off to my deeper mark where we anchored up for the last couple of hours. We caught more whiting and just on our last cast I had a lovely dab which I offered to the men to take home for their dinner which they did. So we had a second last cast before heading home joyously knowing we had beaten Scott with his experienced anglers the day before. To be fair, there was a fair jump in the height of tide which may have had something to do with it but we wont admit this to Scott, we will say it was pure skill on my part.
06/10/2012 Fishing Report by Scott Belbin

6 Oct 2012 by Scott Belbin

I had my first winter beginners fishing trip booked this weekend. I wouldnt usually take bookings quite yet as sometimes the codling can be slow coming in but I had heard of few being caught and was persuaded by the person wanting to go fishing, Daniel Cooper, to take my first booking this early in the season. He specifically wanted to go on 6th October as it was his girlfriend, Hannah's, birthday on the Friday and he booked it as a surprise as she had always wanted to go fishing. He hired the whole boat for 3hours. Saturday morning arrived and the pouring rain in the night had eased to light drizzle. By the time I had got my boat in ready and set the rods up it had dried out and the sun emerged through the clouds as we headed out through the moorings. Hannah was so excited. It was so different from their normal lifestyle of living in London. They are both medical students working towards becoming doctors next year which will then take a further 5-7 years to qualify as a doctor in the area they choose to specialise in. Hannah hopes to become an accident and emergency hospital doctor whereas Daniel is keen to be a physciatric doctor. On the way out the tide was down far enough I could show Hannah the wading birds, something I take for granted but she hasnt seen before. As we dropped the anchored and cast out waiting eagerly for our first fish we admired the view. Its not often I get a chance to stop and look at the beauty around me and really appreciate it, Im always on the go and never seem to stop. The view was breath-taking as we looked back on Mersea. Mersea seems to have its own weather system, above our heads was cloudy but Mersea was clear blue cloudless skies, but as the morning progressed the clouds disappeared above us as well. We started catching a few whiting which really pleased Hannah and Daniel as they had arrived later than expected and this limited their fishing time which always puts pressure on you as a skipper as it also limits their chances of catching anything. While we sat waiting and hoping for a codling the seal popped his head up in the distance which made Hannah's day, she wanted to see more of the seal and as we sat fishing the seal got closer and closer which really pleased her. After this we had a couple of nice plate sized whiting which Hannah and Daniel were keen to take home for their dinner so watched eagerly as I measured to make sure they were big enough to keep which fortunately they were. Unfortunately Mr Cod didnt come to play before it was time to haul the anchor but that didnt matter to Hannah and Daniel as they had enjoyed being out in the fresh country air with the glorious sunshine beaming down on them while out on a boat in the River Blackwater. When they left they were aiming for the Company Shed for a spot of lunch but before they had lunch there was something Daniel had planned to do. They headed off to the beach that they had ben looking back on from the boat earlier and Daniel proposed to Hannah and she said 'yes'. So it was a celebration lunch in the Company Shed for them and I had an email from Daniel later to thank me for helping them kick the day off so nicely. It is so nice to think I played a part in their special day of engagement, Daniel had told me he had looked at hiring so many different boats around the coast so to think he chose mine is a real credit to Lady Grace.