Latest Fishing Reports: Galloper
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02/06/2025
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
2 Jun 2025 by Scott Belbin
I thought it was probably about time to put out my annual spurdog report. As many of my regulars know by now, I like to keep some of this stuff under my hat for various reasons.
In reality at times it would be better to put these up as we're catching them but It's not going to happen so if you want to join us you'll have to get booked in and take your chance with the rest of them next year.
Our season started better than last year but after that it was hard to get enough trips in to have a good look around offshore and locate these fish. There's no other boat in the area willing to put in the time, effort and miles that we do so it can be hard to locate them at times. Eventually the mother load of fish turned up (along with everything else). When there's that many fish offshore then a certain amount will overspill to the inshore grounds too occasionally. We had some mixed in inshore as well which is always nice to see.
I noticed lots of other boats happened upon a few too. One or two seemed to dine out on a hand full of fish lucked out over one or two days which was cute.
We had a several hard days and lots of successful days on spurs over the course of 6 months. Dad always said it's harder when targeting one specific species on a trip as you might have a good trip for other stuff and miss the target species which still feels disappointing. However it does feel great when we do find them by design and put the lads on some special fishing.
Our best day was truly remarkable. The weather was perfect and the fishing was chaotic to say the least. The lads were on multiple hook ups throughout most of the day as packs of spurs and hounds came through. There were loads of double figure fish and PBs for most anglers. Admittedly it was hard to keep an accurate tall but we finished with 82 spurs and 54 hounds. We also had 8 rays, loads of dogfish and a few whiting. There were some serious amounts of fish there that day and hopefully it's one we will all remember. Not quite matching our biggest ever day of 88 but getting close.
We had lots of other days with great numbers and double figure fish. On a quieter day I even managed to sneak out a double shot of small ones.
Although we experienced some great fishing I am a bit concerned that the general stamp seems to have dropped significantly and some areas just aren't producing at all. Hopefully it's just a lul and not due to commercial pressure since the reintroduction of commercial quota for spurs. Only time will tell.
For now, with our spur season wrapped up we will be targeting big tope as well as turning our attention to the offshore bass fishing as it improves. I have a few spaces left for tope and loads of availability for bass between now and December. We target them in various areas from shallow banks to deep water. On lures, static baits and live baits. Please get in touch if you fancy in offshore trip or even a general trip.
Next spaces
08/06- boat available for individuals and groups
15/06- 5 spaces @ £60pp
19/06- plaice and bass trip £115pp
22/06- 6 spaces @ £60pp
28/06- boat available for individuals and groups
Not all dates advertised please call 07956411528 for more information -
28/05/2025
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
28 May 2025 by Scott Belbin
Tony and the lads joined me the other day for a blustery smooth-hound trip. Armed with loads of crabs for bait and a great attitude as always we headed out to one of our many sheltered marks. Fishing was good from the first cast with screaming reels and bending rods as well as the usual chaos big hounds cause in shallow water. We knew there were some decent fish around as I'd seen several caught and more lost recently but tonight the lads were on form, drags were set and they had decent tackle. The biggest one of the trip went over 19lbs and there were lots more mid doubles too. This was just what we hoped for and very similar to last year's trip at this time when they had hounds to 17lbs. It's almost as if they know what they are doing!
We are so fortunate that we can offer fishing of this quality even in conditions like these. Hopefully the weather will improve soon but we can't complain about what we have been getting regardless of the weather.
I have spaces this weekend and the following week for groups and individuals.
Next spaces
01/06- tope fishing 1 space @ £100pp
07/06- 2 spaces @ £60pp
08/06- boat available for individuals and groups
15/06- 6 spaces @ £60pp
22/06- 5 spaces @ £60pp
Please call 07956411528 for more information
Not all dates advertised -
26/05/2025
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
26 May 2025 by Scott Belbin
We've been so lucky with the fishing available to us over the bank holidays despite the forecast. As is often the case the worst of the weather didn't materialize and we have enjoyed some surprisingly pleasant trips. Smooth-hounds have made up a lot of our catches and of various sizes depending on where we were fishing. One trip was very busy and I lost track of how many hounds we saw between 2-8lb. Other trips we've seen more in the 8-12lb size.
Bass have varied from trip to trip. We've caught them most places, some on bait and some on lures and feathers. In-between the very busy hound trip we had 8 keeper bass and several undersize. There's been a few rays each trip too and various other species such as Whiting, dogfish and dabs.
The sheltered marks we can fish really are our saving grace and it's great to be able to offer our anglers fishing of this standard and avoid the frustration of cancelling.
I have spaces this week over the school holidays if you want to join us please contact me on 07956411528
Next spaces
28/05- available for individuals and groups
29/05- available for individuals and groups
01/06- 2 spaces for tope fishing @ £100pp
07/06- 5 spaces @ £60pp
08/06- boat available for individuals and groups
Not all dates advertised -
26/05/2025
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
26 May 2025 by Scott Belbin
We've been so lucky with the fishing available to us over the bank holidays despite the forecast. As is often the case the worst of the weather didn't materialize and we have enjoyed some surprisingly pleasant trips. Smooth-hounds have made up a lot of our catches and of various sizes depending on where we were fishing. One trip was very busy and I lost track of how many hounds we saw between 2-8lb. Other trips we've seen more in the 8-12lb size.
Bass have varied from trip to trip. We've caught them most places, some on bait and some on lures and feathers. In-between the very busy hound trip we had 8 keeper bass and several undersize. There's been a few rays each trip too and various other species such as Whiting, dogfish and dabs.
The sheltered marks we can fish really are our saving grace and it's great to be able to offer our anglers fishing of this standard and avoid the frustration of cancelling.
I have spaces this week over the school holidays if you want to join us please contact me on 07956411528
Next spaces
28/05- available for individuals and groups
29/05- available for individuals and groups
01/06- 2 spaces for tope fishing @ £100pp
07/06- 5 spaces @ £60pp
08/06- boat available for individuals and groups
Not all dates advertised -
24/05/2025
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
24 May 2025 by Scott Belbin
We continue to find plenty of bass, hounds and rays among the other species lately. Nick had these three lovely fish the other day which you can see he's very pleased with. Other species included some unseasonably high numbers of whiting and dabs. Special mention goes out to Neil for his dab catching skills not exactly the plan in may but interesting to see so many coming in and tony will enjoy eating them.
Aside from the exciting prospect of dabs there's still loads of bass and hounds around. We also have specialist trips targeting tope or bass or plaice available over the next few weeks.
We are incredibly lucky to be able to offer some fantastic sheltered fishing inshore and I have spaces on Bank holiday Monday if you are keen to get out. The forecast has improved too.
Next spaces
26/05- 8 spaces @ £60pp
01/06- tope fishing 2 spaces @ £100pp
07/06- 5 spaces @ £60pp
08/06- boat available for individuals and groups
Not all dates advertised please call 07956411528 -
21/05/2025
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
21 May 2025 by Scott Belbin
The bass continue to feed hard now with some for the table and plenty returned. The lads enjoyed some sport with hounds, bass and a couple of rays mixed in too. The sun even came out eventually and the wind was on our side too. We had our first tope of the year too. Only small but hopefully a sign of things to come.
I have spaces this weekend and over the school holidays for groups and individuals.
Next spaces
24/05- midday to 9pm 3 spaces @ £60pp
26/05- individual spaces @ £60pp
01/06- tope trip 2 spaces @ £100pp
04/06- tope fishing 4 spaces @ £100pp
07/06- 4 spaces @ £100pp
08/06- boat available for individuals and groups
Not all dates advertised please call 07956411528 for more information -
19/05/2025
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
19 May 2025 by Scott Belbin
We had really nice mixed trip the other day. The stamp of bass we great with several between 4-7lbs, a few hounds and 15 rays which is pretty good going nowadays. The weather started grey but brightened up so who could ask for more. Special mention to young George who was on his first trip and did a fantastic job!
My next spaces are over the weekend and throughout the school holiday.
Next spaces
24/05- 12.30-9pm 4 spaces @ £60pp
26/05- boat available for individuals and groups
01/05- tope fishing 2 spaces @ £100pp
04/05- tope fishing 7 spaces @ £100pp
07/06- 4 spaces @ £60pp
08/06- boat available for individuals and groups
Not all dates advertised please call 07956411528 for more information -
17/05/2025
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
17 May 2025 by Scott Belbin
It was great to see some better hounds the other day. It was even better to share it with Stacey and the boys as well as our anglers. We had plenty of small bass and some small hounds with some decent ones in between. We even found a few rays too. We are lucky to have fish like this on our doorstep which meant we were able to get out and catch some decent fish while many others had to cancel. Sheltered marks like this are one of our biggest assets from brightlingsea and of course it helps that Galloper is a catamaran too.
The biggest hounds were pushing double figures and great sport fish obviously though a little big for Stanley. Lucky you there were some Stanley size ones there too.
The fishing really has kicked off here now and long may it continue. I have spaces for groups and individuals over the coming weeks so feel free to contact me.
Next spaces
19/05- boat available for groups
24/05- 4 spaces @ £60pp departing 12.30 return 8-9pm
26/05- boat available for individuals and groups
27-30- boat available for individuals and groups
01/06- tope fishing 2 spaces @ £100pp
07/06- 4 spaces @ £60pp
08/06- boat available for individuals and groups
Not all dates advertised please call 07956411528 for more information. -
16/05/2025
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
16 May 2025 by Scott Belbin
We continue to see some nice bass mixed in on our general trips as they stop spawning and start to feed hard. Together with smoothies and rays they make up our main targets at the moment. Of course there's still plenty of dogfish in between along with an unseasonal amount of whiting and dabs still showing.
There have been some decent hounds starting to show too which really know how to pull your string.
I'm looking forward to our first plaice trip of the year and we'll soon start our tope trips as well. If you want to join us for a general trip or something more specific then please get in touch and I'll offer you the most suitable tides for your trip.
Next spaces are over the bank holiday but not all available dates are advertised.
Next spaces
24/05- afternoon/evening trip 12.30 departure 4 spaces @ £60pp
26/05- boat available for individuals and groups
31/05- tope fishing 1 space @ £100pp
01/06- tope fishing 3 spaces @ £100pp
Please call 07956411528 for more information -
12/05/2025
Fishing Report by Scott Belbin
12 May 2025 by Scott Belbin
We've enjoyed some great mixed fishing on our general trips this week. There's been a bit of wind for a few days but we have still been able to put the lads on the fish thanks to our catamaran and the sheltered marks available from brightlingsea. the other day the lads had 40-50 small hounds, dogfish, whiting, dabs, pouting, rays and a few keeper bass amongst the schoolies. It was nice steady fishing all day in pleasant conditions.
There are some better hounds in places too. I can't wait to start fishing for tope shortly as well as heading off for plaice. If you want to join us for general mixed fishing or something more specific like tope, bass or plaice then please get in touch with me and I will send you some availability.
Next spaces are
24/05- boat available for individuals and groups
26/05- boat available for individuals and groups
31/05- tope fishing 3 spaces @ £100pp plus bait
01/06- tope fishing 2 spaces @ £100pp plus bait
07/06- 6 spaces @ £60pp
Not all dates advertised please call 07956411528 for more information
