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  • 12/11/2011 Fishing Report by Dave Pitman on Atlanta (Weymouth, Dorset)

    12 Nov 2011 by Dave Pitman

    Report on-board Atlanta

    Unseasonable Breaming

    This will be a slightly unusual diary entry as it has no photos of fish! Not because we didn't catch any and not because I forgot my camera, but because the frantic fishing and the challenging sea conditions made it impractical to stop to take the shots!

    Last month I posted a photo of a Black Bream which I confidently predicted would be my last of the season. With my next trip on the 12th of November I was certain the Bream would have moved on and we would concentrate on Winter species such as Whiting - how wrong this proved to be.

    The venue for the day was Dave Pitman's Atlanta out of Weymouth. The weather forecast had looked a little dodgy but as we got closer to the day they were predicting a definite window for the Saturday (an excellent stroke of luck).

    The crew was made up of me and Pops plus Mick, Jack and Mick's son from Lightwater, plus a young lad called Tim with his Dad and Uncle, and two late joiners from London.

    We slipped the dock at 7.45 and there wasn't a breath of wind. Whilst mist clung to the hills on land we were greeted with yet another fabulous Autumn sunrise over a very calm sea.



    Oh what a beautiful morning!

    As we headed around the bill to start our journey West however, we met the first of the residual South Westerly swell left from a few days of high winds. The water wasn't rough but there was a significant rise and fall in the water although this was made easier by the long intervals between waves. Fortunately the wind was with us and despite the motion in the boat we stayed dry and warm in the glorious sunshine.

    As we came around Bill Point we got an excellent view of where these large swells were breaking on the Western shore. Trying to take a photo, not drop the camera and not get thrown over the side by the 'beam on' sea was a challenge!



    Lumpy Water

    As we headed in to Lyme Bay the swell eased a little and throughout the day it calmer and calmer until it was 'slight' at most.

    We motored a few miles West of the Bill and Dee set the Anchor. Dave and Dee had explained that the Whiting hadn't really shown up in any numbers however the previous week-end had delivered a good catch of very late Bream and this was what we should target, with maybe an odd Cod thrown in for good measure.

    I set up with my standard Bream rig (a 2 hook size 4 Wessex Rig). I baited each hook with a ringlet of squid tipped with half a squid head.

    Well it only took a matter of seconds to find the first fish. Young Tim wound in to an athletic fish that proved to be a nice Bream - we were off and running! I also had an instant bite but only managed a small Dogfish. The fishing proved slow at this mark for most of us. A few Bream were caught (I had a couple and Pops had three) plus some Dogfish and the odd poor cod. We persevered for a couple of hours during which the highlight was a 3lb 8oz Bream for one of Tim's trio. I would normally have photo'd this fish but with a full crew and a fairly lively sea I decided it would cause more trouble than it was worth!

    At around 11.30 in the morning, with no signs of improvement, Dave called for lines up and we trotted a few more miles to the West to try and change our fortunes. Now this was a great call by the skipper. No sooner were we on anchor then we hit the fish. No plague of Dogfish here, just lovely plump bream.

    In a two hour session Pops and I managed around 30 Bream between us with many returned to fight another day. Tim showed he was top rod by catching them two at a time and netting a nice 3lb 6oz specimen.

    Towards the end of the session a couple of Pollack showed up as well with Pops and I each having a fish of around two to three pounds and one larger fish (around 6lbs) coming to the starboard side of the boat.

    We also saw one large fish break a line attached to an over tightened drag before one of the London guys leaned in to something very heavy. He started to fight the fish with lots of advice for the novice angler coming from all quarters. I decided to break from the frantic Breaming to get my camera out ready for the fish to surface. I was obviously the 'kiss of death' as the fish threw the hook and was gone - very disapointing.

    Saddest sight of the day was a Gannet who had managed to get a piece of old rope twisted round it's beak which it couldn't shift. It had obviously happened recently as the bird was still in good condition. The rope would undoubtedly prevent the Gannet from feeding and it was fated to starve we guessed. I don't think you can necessarily level any criticism at people for discarding the rope either as it looked like something that could easily have been washed overboard by accident or come from lost gear on a commercial boat - just bad luck I guess.

    With a full box of fish Dave called for lines up and we started the long trip home. This time we were punching in to a stiffening South Easterly and it suddenly felt a lot more like Winter than Autumn. Maybe it will be Whiting next time I'm out and the Bream will have remembered to migrate to their Winter homes!



    Start of Winter?

    Contact - steve@madpolka.co.uk

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