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  • 05/2022 Fishing Report by Scott Belbin on Galloper (Brightlingsea, Essex)

    May 2022 by Scott Belbin

    Report on-board Galloper

    A quick update on our offshore trips so far this year aboard the Galloper. We have been lucky enough to get lots of trips offshore so far this year. Unfortunately many were cancelled or changed to inshore trips due to weather but that is the nature of this kind of trip. We started off well with numbers of spurs and hounds from our very first trips. Although most of the hounds were small to start with they make a welcome change from the whiting and dogfish that eagerly robbed our baits throughout each trip. We had spurs on all but two trips and they varied in size and numbers from trip to trip. I often say that I am relieved when the first spur comes aboard the boat each trip as I know many other local boats don’t catch them at all or have just happened upon one or two here and there. So once the first one is aboard I can breath a sigh of relief. With consistent numbers showing early in the season and seeming to built it was a good reminder not to take them for granted when we had a couple of blanks on them. This is why I call them offshore trips rather than specifically spur trips. thankfully there were smooth-hounds, bass and thorn-back rays off there too to keep us busy. There were several ‘Spurgins’ who joined us this year and broke their ‘spurginity’ aboard the Galloper. Their new personnel bests are something to try and beat next year now. As ever there were lots of big pregnant female spurs showing. The biggest of which fell to Wayne Bennet at 18.8lbs and was one of 30 spurs we had that day. we were kept busy in between with lots of dogfish and whiting as well as a few thorn-back rays and smooth-hounds too.
    As I mentioned earlier although it’s great to catch them, its not just about the spur dogs. These trips can produce all sorts of surprises and that’s what keeps it interesting. One set of tides they were off the feed so we had a look around to see what else was about. We tried one of our offshore bass marks and could see loads of fish showing on the fish finder. We only hoped they were feeding. We sent down an array of lures although feathers seemed to be the most productive as it turned out most of the marks were herring. We had several long drifts here and filled two buckets with them. We didn’t just catch herring though as several bass did show as well as some launce, whiting and pouting and least expected were the 15 or so mackerel that were either very early for this year or late for last year! We did manage to get some fish at anchor too towards the end of the day. Dave had a nice sizable bass, a few small smooth-hounds and a roker showed too. Wayne also pulled a spur out on the last cast too. Happily the next time we got off there the spurs were playing ball again. Stephen Clarke started us off nicely with one of 17.8lbs. several more spurs came out as the day went on. Barry Wood stole the lime light that trip though with a lovely blonde ray of 14.8lbs. these are pretty rare off of the Essex coast so it was notable that this was the second blonde Barry has caught aboard the ‘Galloper’ in the last two years. he must be doing something right! This set of tides also produced some more nice bass too. These are always a welcome sight and hopefully a sign of things to come. I am currently arranging and offshore bass trip for this week (06/05) if you fancy joining us please get in touch.
    That’s about it for the spur dog trips this year. We will have to look forwards to next years trips. If you fancy joining us then please get in touch and I will put you on the list for next years trips.
    As I mentioned I am running an offshore bass trip this week but after that we are looking forwards to the tope fishing for our next run of offshore trips. These are for experienced anglers only and I don’t offer hire rods for this fishing. I only have a few suitable tides left for tope fishing this year. Spaces as follows
    21/05/22-2 spaces @ £100pp
    23/05/22-7 spaces @ £100pp or full boat hire from £700
    25/05/22-7 spaces @ £100pp or full boat hire from £700
    18/06/22 2 spaces @ £100pp
    19/06/22-4 spaces @ £100pp
    22/06/22-7 spaces @ £100pp or full boat hire from £700
    05/07/22-7 spaces @ £100pp or full boat hire from £700
    06/07/22-7 spaces @ £100pp or full boat hire from £700
    07/07/22-7 spaces @ £100pp or full boat hire from £700
    18/07/22-7 spaces @ £100pp or full boat hire from £700
    19/07/22-7 spaces @ £100pp or full boat hire from £700
    20/07/22-7 spaces @ £100pp or full boat hire from £700
    22/07/22-7 spaces @ £100pp or full boat hire from £700
    23/07/22-4 spaces @ £100pp
    Please call Scott on 07956411528 if you fancy an offshore or a general trip
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    UPCOMING INDIVIDUAL SPACES ONBOARD Galloper
    Fri 27/12/2024 3 Spaces 12 Hours £100.00pp
    Offshore trip
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    Sat 28/12/2024 8 Spaces 10 Hours £60.00pp
    General trip
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