Latest Fishing Reports: Sea Urchin IIl
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15/05/2024
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
15 May 2024 by Andy Savage
After a long weekend off with pesky South Easterly winds, today we had a nice settled day with a small neap tide. With a group of my regular experienced anglers aboard, I knew we’d have a good day before I even cast off from the pontoon. Everyone was on early, so we got away just after 0600hrs using the last of the Ebb and ran North to have a go on a few of the inshore wrecks, as there are signs that the water is beginning to clear out nicely.
First stop there wasn’t much tide, but we had half a dozen drifts and picked up a couple of fish each drift. Ian Kellock took the best Codling at just over 5lb. We pushed on after 45 minutes or so and tried a couple of small wrecks, for very little return. The drift line of the boat had us running straight out to sea, which I don’t think is the best as we were crossing the small wrecks, as opposed to running along them. I moved us to a bigger wreck to give us more time on the drift and that worked quite well.
We spent the next couple of hours picking away nicely. We caught plenty on squid baited muppet traces, but we also had a good return on the shads. Just as I was about to move on Charlie Hewitt connected with something a bit better and without incident, he brought up a nice Ling just short of 11lb. We fished a further three wrecks for the day which all produced fish, it was just a lovely day out.
Sean O Brien hadn’t done much Shad Fishing before, but was keen to have a go and I think he did a great job, catching regularly throughout the day. The lads christened him “Sean the Shad” which made me chuckle.
Everyone got a fair few fish today, but considering their experience and the small wrecking tide, it didn’t surprise me at all.
There was a lot of mickey taking and great banter all day. One of my most entertaining and enjoyable of the year. Thanks lads. -
11/05/2024
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
11 May 2024 by Andy Savage
To go, or not to go……that is the question!
With a decent weather “forecast” yesterday, giving mainly light winds, we had a run out. It was a Spring Tide (5.6m), but without the wind, it would certainly be fishable (as it was the day before). A group of mixed experience anglers joined us for the day.
With less than 2 hours before slack water, we started the day on the 5 mile rough ground, with a view to dropping on a nearby wreck at slack. We clipped a few fish on squid baited Hokkai’s just as the tide began to ease, then shuffled across to the wreck. The wreck gave us a fair few fish to Squid baited muppet traces, but nothing of any size. The biggest Codling being around 4lb.
As the Ebb tide got away, we fished the seven mile ground and then moved out to the nine mile ground. Simon and Diane Mulgrave fished with their lines running under the boat all day and caught consistently in very tricky conditions. Most people struggle under the boat, but they both handled it like Pro’s.
Unlike the forecast predicted, on the turn of tide the South Easterly wind began to lift and build. Within the hour, we went from 1.2 knots on the drift to 2.5 knots (which was almost unfishable).
Credit to everyone aboard, they kept plugging away. The lines were streaming off even with 16oz leads, but odd fish kept coming up. Mainly Whiting and an odd Codling. Soran Barber took the sweepstake with a Codling less than 5lb. It very quickly turned into a day that if I had known the actual outcome of the weather, I would have cancelled in a heartbeat.
I completely understand that anglers want to get out fishing, but sometimes it’s not about dangerous sea conditions. In my mind, there is absolutely no point going out to sea when you won’t be able to fish effectively. Fishing is meant to be fun and enjoyable, not a war of attrition. The South Easterly winds this weekend, whilst not strong, are enough to make fishing conditions very difficult/pointless.
All I can say is, I rely on your support and business to keep Sea Urchin going, but I’m not prepared to take anglers out to fish when I know in my heart of hearts, that we’ll be flogging the proverbial “Dead Horse”
If you’ve managed to get to this point in the post without falling asleep, well done. -
06/05/2024
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
6 May 2024 by Andy Savage
Two day report aboard Sea Urchin……
Sunday was a 14hr trip and we planned to run offshore to try a couple of wrecks which are rarely visited. I had a great bunch aboard who understood the high risk strategy and were prepared to potentially run out there for nothing, but hoping (as I was) that we may contact a couple of bigger than average fish due to the lack of pressure.
After a 4hr steam with loads of banter we arrived at the first wreck, which was the smaller of the two. We ran four drifts for one small Codling and I moved us on. With an hour of the Ebb tide to go until slack water, we started drifting the next wreck. Pleasingly there were some fish present and some drifts saw a couple of fish, whilst others gave four or five. A mix of Codling and Ling kept us entertained until slack, when it quietened off.
We held out until the Flood came through and started catching again, with similar frequency as before. Unfortunately the wreck seemed to have some old net or rope through it as we lost quite a lot of gear. Pawel Perczynski had a good day taking a fish most drifts on baited Hokkai’s, whilst Ian Kellock won the sweep with a small Ling of only 5lb 8oz.
We rode it out for the remainder of the day, but it was a bit disappointing/frustrating that we didn’t find a fish over 5lb 8oz all day. But; as they say…..nothing ventured nothing gained.
Today we had a group of mixed experience anglers and a bigger tide. We planned to spend the day exploring the rough ground; running out to the five mile to start off. We took half a dozen Codling, then we pushed out a couple of miles and managed to find a few fish every drift and everyone was getting regular bites on the baited Hokkai’s. We took mainly Codling, some small and a few around the 4lb mark. We also had, Ling, Pollock, Coalie’s, Pouting, Whiting, Dab’s and a Cuckoo Wrasse!
With only eight anglers aboard, I had a go with the Shads and managed to pick up fish regularly all day. The water is definitely clearing out.
Star of the show was Charlotte Clough who tried hard all day and had a couple of lovely Codling. Thanks everyone, you were great company and fished really well. -
04/05/2024
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
4 May 2024 by Andy Savage
With a bit of settled weather we headed out today, with a group of experienced anglers who regularly fish with me. We decided to run off to a couple of wrecks in the 20 mile stream.
The water is certainly much clearer out there and I was hopeful we’d manage a fish or two. First stop, I set the drift up and we literally barely moved. The wind was holding us up on the drift, so we just tiptoed across the wreck. Each drift was well over five minutes.
We fished the last hour of the Ebb tide, taking 2 or 3 fish each drift consisting of mainly Codling. It wasn’t sensational fishing, but everyone got off the mark. Slack was pretty quiet, but once the Flood tide started, we had a flurry of strap Ling. We could probably have kept plugging away for the remainder of the day, but while we were out there I wanted to try a wreck which as far as I knew hadn’t been fished for a couple of months.
As we started the first drift, it was noticeable that the wind had lifted a touch and the lines were streaming a bit, which made it more challenging to fish. It took four drifts before I managed to nail down exactly where the fish were holding and we had to hit that spot every time, otherwise there were not many bites. With that sorted, we finished the day on this wreck, taking mainly Codling again, with an odd Ling, Pollock and Coalie. For the first time I can remember, we never took a single Pouting or Whiting all day long.
Muppet traces, bait with Squid and Hokkai’s on the second wreck baited with Squid were the best methods today. We had a boat sweepstake, but because of the swell, I couldn’t weigh the fish anything like accurately whilst at sea. So we took the best three fish back in. 3rd place went to Rich Anscombe with a 6lb 14oz Codling. 2nd went to Steve Martin with a 7lb Ling and Ryan Martin pipped his Dad with a 7lb 1oz Codling.
I had a really enjoyable day in great company. Thanks lads. -
01/05/2024
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
1 May 2024 by Andy Savage
Today we had good weather conditions (for a change), good sea conditions and a small neap tide; which were ideal for spending a day on the wrecks.
We ran North a few miles to try a couple of inshore wrecks. It was the first time I’d tried the area this year, as they seem to hold very few fish in the winter, due to the coloured water. First stop on the flood tide and after three drifts with only one Haddock to show for our efforts, we moved on.
As I set the drift on the second wreck, I noticed there were quite a few feed-marks around it so hoped for a better result. Thankfully that’s exactly what we got. We had a good couple of hours fishing taking a good few fish each drift, consisting of mainly Codling and Haddock, an odd strap Ling, plus the obligatory Pouting!!
Either baited Hokkai’s or muppet bait traces both using Squid did the majority of the bites as usual. Dave Sharp was crowned “King Pouting” when he had a “3-Up” on his Hokkai’s!! He redeemed himself by taking three fish in one drift on a Shad. Good angling Dave.
Ian Kellock led the way today, clumping a Codling a drift early on, on bait, then switched to a White Sandeel Shad and had a Codling hooked fair and square. We took half a dozen on the Shads today, which shows that the water has definitely got some clarity at last. Rich Guyatt also had a great morning, taking a fish or sometimes two each drift and put together a nice box of fish using mainly baited Hokkai’s. We fished another two wrecks until the Ebb tide came through. They both produced well, but whilst we had the quantity, we didn’t get much in the way of quality. Our biggest fish of the day being around 4lb.
The fishing on the afternoon Ebb wasn’t brilliant, but at least the sun came out to compensate! A big thanks to everyone for being great company and bringing me back some sanity after such a poor winter. Look forward to seeing you again soon -
19/03/2024
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
19 Mar 2024 by Andy Savage
Don’t be fooled by the pictures…..today was was a really tough fishing day, made into a thoroughly enjoyable day by the anglers aboard.
We had a small tide but the winds were a bit too fresh for running out to offshore wrecks. That gave us the option of fishing inside at anchor as the inshore wrecks and ground still haven’t sparked up yet. We headed South to make the most of the tide and after an hours run we put the anchor down. With the area receiving little pressure this winter, I hoped there would be a few willing resident Codling that would come and find us.
I was wrong, simple as that. We had dropped anchor in the fishy equivalent of Dogs Trust, with a constant stream of DogFish and Pouting snaffling the baits. Three moves later we conceded defeat and ran back a few miles towards Whitby; arriving about an hour before slack water. Before I’d even had chance to finish making the brews, I saw Chris Chatham bring up a Codling which was a relief. Thankfully an odd Codling started to make an appearance, but it certainly wasn’t prolific.
Once the bites dried up, we had a short move as it appeared there weren’t many fish running. I put us on a short anchor as we were about to lose the tide and start swinging about. Interestingly, as we lost the tide we had a bit of a flurry of Pollock. We don’t seem to get too many of them when Uptiding, but we had half a dozen of them today. With Charlie Hewitt taking the biggest at 6lb 12oz.
Most of the lads switched over to regular leads (as opposed to breakaway leads) while the boat was swinging and we kept picking up odd fish which certainly hasn’t been the case recently.
Once the Ebb Tide came through, things tailed off again and despite another three moves, we ended with only an odd fish here and there. I would have loved to be able to deliver a few more fish for the boys, but it just wasn’t to be.
From a personal perspective, it was great to have a group of “anglers” (not freezer fillers) aboard, most of whom I hadn’t seen this winter with the rubbish weather we’ve had. A good catch up with some great banter. Thanks very much to you all -
18/03/2024
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
18 Mar 2024 by Andy Savage
We had the weather today to have a run out and try a few wrecks. I haven’t been offshore since last year, so didn’t really know what to expect; but I wasn’t hugely optimistic having spoken with Rich Ward from Shy-Torque, who had tried recently. Almost with a sense of impending doom I pointed us North and headed out to some wrecks in the 20 mile stream.
Just to be clear; I much prefer to fish the inshore wrecks which saves so much time steaming around, but unfortunately at this time of year we’ve found them to hold very little until the water starts to clear out. The offshore wrecks are usually a little more prolific, hence the reason for heading out that far.
I had a great crew aboard today, who love wrecking and knew what to do, so at least I knew if the fish were present and feeding they’d catch them. We had half a dozen drifts on the first wreck (which had a huge seal mooching around it) for a grand total of two Pouting, a Plaice and a bitten off Codling!! Oh S**t…..Time to move on.
We arrived at the next wreck with 90 minutes or so until slack water. I breathed a sigh of relief as three fish came up on the second drift (we missed the wreck first drift with the wind blowing us out to sea). We then proceeded to have a few fish each drift for the next 3 hours. Our best drift saw six Codling come up, nothing massive, but good to get bites. As usual, a few patterns emerged as the day progressed. When the tide was at full speed, smaller baits on Hokkai’s did the business, but as it eased, muppet traces baited with Squid or Mackerel seemed best.
A couple of things worthy of mention: Sea Urchin regular Allan Knaggs was top rod today, with nine fish to keep plus throwbacks. He fished really well, especially with the lines streaming a bit after dinner. Tony Firman caught plenty of fish (mainly Coalie’s) using the Slow Pitched Jig which was good to see.
Once the Ebb Tide came through it slowed the fishing right down, so we had half an hour on a wreck on the way back in for another half a dozen fish. It wasn’t a Red Letter Day, but equally, it wasn’t a disaster. Great to spend a day in the sunshine in excellent company. Thanks lads. -
17/03/2024
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
17 Mar 2024 by Andy Savage
Well that’s been a very productive few days……
After two years in the water, it was time to lift Sea Urchin out for a good clean up. Thankfully there were no nasty surprises after inspecting the hull, rudder and prop, and it was just a case of rolling up my sleeves and getting stuck in.
First job after jet washing the hull was to wash it again; this time with a gentle soap solution, to remove any last bits of debris. After two years, the white hull had lots of discolouration and it was covered in yellowy brown stains caused primarily by the sunlight reflecting off the water. Starbright Hull Cleaner made short work of the task, bringing it back to bright white, so I could move onto preparing the underside for painting on the Antifoul.
Antifoul is essential for any vessel permanently moored in the water. It protects the hull from any type of marine growth, which in turn improves fuel efficiency, as the boat moves through the water with minimal drag. I don’t remove all the old Antifoul, but ensure the underside is scrubbed with a wire brush to remove any foreign matter.
Once that was completed, all that was left to do was apply two coats of Starbright Marine Polish with PTEF (which prolongs the staining to the GRP) to the hull and then one coat of International Cruiser 250 Antifoul to the underside. Last but not least was to replace the Sacrificial Anodes which help protect the metal of the boat which is permanently underwater from electrolytic corrosion.
Sadistically, I really enjoy doing the hard work and it only took me three full days to get the job done. It’s so rewarding to see her brought back to looking her absolute best. We’re back in the water now and looking forward to running off to some wrecks in the morning. -
03/03/2024
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
3 Mar 2024 by Andy Savage
It’s been great to get a few trips in recently, and today we had lovely weather conditions once again. With all the poor weather and the countless trips I’ve had to cancel, it was frustrating when a group of four people didn’t bother turning up today. I’m sure there were plenty of anglers who would have jumped at the chance to have a run out..…..
That left plenty of room on deck for the other anglers, and we set about running South for a days Uptiding. Only a 4.5m tide today, so we targeted the areas where we get the most tide. Bait was a bit of a compromise, as the shop in Whitby didn’t have any Black Lugworm, so we had Squid, Mussels and Mackerel. We arrived at the first stop with about two hours or so of the Flood tide remaining.
Once we got everyone fishing properly a few bites started coming. Mainly small Codling and a few Dogfish, but they were fairly consistent and it didn’t take long for everyone to get off the mark. Just as we began to lose the tide Sergejs hooked something a bit better and dragged up a 7lb 4oz Codling which was nice to see and turned out to be the biggest fish of the day. Slack water wasn’t too bad today. The boat held pretty steady and a selection of Whiting, Pouting, Doggie’s and a couple of Codling came up to much smaller baits and hooks.
The Ebb Tide in the afternoon saw much the same as the morning. Andy Townend had a much better “second half” and caught consistently for the rest of the day. He took the only Pollock of the day as well as a token Lobster (which went straight back), plus some nice Codling which he gave away to the other lads.
The bites dried up a bit in the last hour, but I think that was mainly down to everyone running out of bait. I can’t emphasise enough how crucial good bait in quantity is for Uptiding. It was a thoroughly enjoyable day for me, spent in good company. -
29/02/2024
Fishing Report by Andy Savage
29 Feb 2024 by Andy Savage
At the end of last week, I had the pleasure of Shaun Marchington, Bob Jones and Jack booking the boat for themselves. We’d had to cancel the three previous trips due to poor weather, so it was great to finally get them out.
With there only being the three of them, I provided an extra rod each, so they could fish with two rods and they were also happy for me to fish as well (which I don’t ordinarily do on regular trips).
With a 5.2m tide, we chose to head North; running up towards Port Mulgrave and then working our way back to Whitby. Bait for the day was Squid, Black Lugworm, Mackerel or Prawns, but it turned out that Squid and Worm did the most bites as usual.
On arrival at our first stop, we had to wait a while for the Ebb Tide to push through, so we just set off fishing one rod as the boat was swinging around. The boys picked up a few small Codling, whilst I switched to a lighter setup, fishing 2/0 hooks baited with small bits of Squid, which actually brought plenty of bites from small Codling, Whiting, and a single Dogfish. Once the tide picked up, the boat held steady and we got stuck in with two rods each. The bites came fairly regularly for around an hour, with a few flushes of fish moving through, which was good to see.
Once it quietened down we moved on and at the next stop we had a frantic 30 minutes where we caught a fair few 3-4lb Codling which was nice, but then it just died a death. Interestingly, that turned out to be a pattern we identified later on in the day. Two spots we fished had a better average size of Codling, but died completely after 30 minutes or so and three other spots we fished did more bites for longer, but the average size was smaller.
Over the course of the day we caught Codling, Whiting, Haddock, Pollock, Coalfish, Pouting, Poor Cod, and Dogfish. With the exception of one grey bellied fish, every other Codling we caught was absolutely pristine, bright white bellied and fresh run, which hopefully bodes well for the coming trips.
The lads were fantastic company and before we knew it, the day had flown by and it was time to head for home. Thanks boys, see you next time.
