Latest Fishing Reports: Silver Spray II
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02/2017
Fishing Report by Sam Cumming
Feb 2017 by Sam Cumming
Fishing has been a mixed bag over the last month with all of the changes in weather. It seems to have dropped off in the bay with just a few whiting left and a couple of rays here and there. We have been focusing our efforts on the banks off shore. The spurdogs have started steadily with some trips producing up half a dozen or so, I expect these catches to increase well into March as was the case last year. What makes these days so enjoyable is the variety of species that you see. Undulates, thornbacks, blonde rays, pollock, bull huss, whiting all making regular appearances lately. Dean Cook landed 8 whiting up to 3lb 8oz on large baits meant for spurdog on one day, a piece of luminous green tubing on a flowing trace his secret weapon. This Sunday will be our first trip out to the long distance wrecks to target pollock, with plenty of sprats marking on the sounder already we are hoping to get stuck straight into them.
Sam Cumming
Silver Spray -
01/2017
Fishing Report by Sam Cumming
Jan 2017 by Sam Cumming
The whiting fishing really turned on in late December with the biggest average stamp of fish I think I've ever seen off Poole. Fish between 3-4lb being caught two at a time is good fun on the light tackle. As I'm starting to see more and more markings of sprats on the sounder the whiting seem to be getting fatter and fatter, they really are one of the nicest eating fish around I just wish they stuck around for longer. Not put off by the small baits we have seen some smashing cod on the whiting gear, always putting up a hell of scrap. As well as the target species we have also seen a lot of mixed fish on the cod baits. Thornbacks, undulates, congers, smoothound and spotty rays are all in abundance. One of the highlights have been some of the big bass that continue to pop their heads up. Shane Barlow landed a monster 15lber whilst fishing in the bay with a squid and cuttlefish bait, the second biggest one we have ever seen. Fish of the Year for 2016 went to Pete Read for his 25lb 4oz spurdog caught in March, a brilliant catch even if she was a little camera shy before being returned. We have done our first trip out to the banks with success landing spurs to over 20lb and blonde rays as well. We look forward to doing more of this in the coming weeks.
Sam Cumming
Silver Spray II -
12/2016
Fishing Report by Sam Cumming
Dec 2016 by Sam Cumming
In the last monthly report I had a little grumble about the lack of mixed fish coming to the net on our cod trips. I'm happy to say it all changed fairly rapidly, only a couple days later I was eating my words as we landed about 70 congers in one day in between a few cod, I'm not sure I have ever seen so many congers in one sitting before. As well as the snakes, they have quietened down a bit since that day, we have seen the start of the whiting on the patches of sand off Poole. Gerry Reed's 3lb 4oz fish is leading the charge with that at the moment with plenty of fish around the 2lb mark taking the mackerel baits as well. On a recent trip Pete Knight braved some stiff south-westerly winds and was rewarded with a 10lb cod, 14lb pollock and new PB bass of 10lb 4oz all in one day. Probably our biggest of the year so far. Our last mention this month goes to Ed Braund who managed a 18lb 4oz undulate on light tackle followed on the next drop by a 22lb blonde, 40lb of ray in 2 drops not a bad way to start your day. From all of us at Silver Spray Charters thanks for making 2016 such a great year, merry Christmas and tight lines for 2017.
Sam Cumming
Silver Spray II -
11/2016
Fishing Report by Sam Cumming
Nov 2016 by Sam Cumming
Other than a couple of late trips to chase the flatfish around we have started to concentrate our efforts on the inshore cod fishing around the Needles, Isle of White. The flattie trips were much later than I've ever bothered with before but both produced high numbers of fish up into the 20's. Not all monsters, as you may expect for so late in the year, but good fun on the light gear with the best turbot going 8lb and the best brill 6lb 4oz. Over to the east of Poole the cod have started to arrive in numbers with the best day producing 6 fish to 18lb 8oz. Apart from a few spotted rays and tiny strap congers the mixed fish have been fairly thin on the ground compared to past years, until today that is when we returned over 30 eels between 10 and 40lb. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come, although they aren't everyone's favourite thing to catch it does ensure that people change their baits regularly when they are getting mauled every 10 minutes. A new addition to our winter cod trips has been the squid fishing in Poole Bay which has produced some massive squid up to 6lb. You tend to need the right conditions for them to feed but, depending on your preference, they either make great bait or a tasty bit of dinner. This next neap tide should hopefully see some bigger cod arrive, you never know when that monster might show up. Remember we are running our usual offer that the first person to catch a 30lb+ inshore cod this winter gets a free trip to Cherbourg in 2017.
Sam Cumming
Silver Spray II -
10/2016
Fishing Report by Sam Cumming
Oct 2016 by Sam Cumming
Although I haven't quite got round to doing the first trip to the Isle of White for the cod and whiting it is certainly feeling a bit more wintery this month. For the last couple of weeks wind from the east or northeast has kept us on our toes. Despite similar forecasts for high northeast winds and rain, we managed to get 3 out of 4 days in on our last trip to Alderney and Cherbourg this season. Fishing was good with 18 species coming to the boat over the 3 days. Highlight of the trip had to be a session at anchor on a wreck on the last day as we came back across the channel in an easterly 4. I've always heard lots of mythical stories of anglers catching big turbot when fishing for congers in front of a wreck but never seen one myself until now. Simon Ringrose, using a whole mackerel flapper on a heavy trace, landed a superb 16lb 4oz turbot to start the session off. The guys then got stuck into plenty of ling and congers followed by some decent bream as the tide cut away. Further inshore anglers have been getting stuck into plenty of tope and rays on the banks as well as the late run of bream on some of the reef marks. Last trip down for flats this weekend along with the first up to the Needles for the cod.
Sam Cumming
Silver Spray II -
09/2016
Fishing Report by Sam Cumming
Sep 2016 by Sam Cumming
As I write this particular monthly report I've just finished a trip which saw bass, tope, pollock, turbot and congers all in one day; a testament to the variety of species available at the moment. Although the fishing at anchor inshore has slowed up slightly, fishing on the drift is keeping us busy with good numbers of plaice on the light gear with many other species such as red mullet, dabs, smoothound, bream and gurnard as well. The last spring tide saw one of our best bass trips this year so far, with plenty of fish for the table and fish being returned too. Since the mackerel have moved on we have been using lures which means we get at least an hour extra on the banks as we don’t have to mess around with the live bait. Long distance the wrecks are producing some quality ling, the biggest so far going to Bob Morrison at 23lb. The cod and pollock are thin on the ground so the best fishing is at anchor with good numbers of tope and bream on show. By the time I write next month's report I will probably have done the first winter cod trip of the season.
Sam Cumming
Silver Spray II -
08/2016
Fishing Report by Sam Cumming
Aug 2016 by Sam Cumming
August '16:
Although august has been quite windy we have been lucky enough not to cancel any trips, the fish have been abundant right the way from Sandbanks chain ferry to Cherbourg breakwater. Talking of Cherbourg we have seen the return of the bass on some of the wrecks after a bizarrely quiet season last year. Fishing in 200 feet with a live mackerel really is an exciting way to target the species, especially when they average 7lb. Tope fishing has taken off in recent weeks with most days seeing in excess of 50 fish up to 50lb or so. The abundance of fresh mackerel and scad across the grounds certainly helps to whip them up into a feeding frenzy. Out on the wrecks we are still going strong with plenty of monster pollock taking the bigger lures and the last of the years cod still popping their heads up. It seems to be that we are seeing some of the biggest fish of the year now in the high teens when usually we would be thinking about winding the longer range trips down. Wayne Mcmanus landed another john dory of around 4lb on a recent Cherbourg trip, as one of the rarer fish we catch they are always a welcome sight. Still got 3 more trips across the channel before the end of the season, hoping for some good weather so we can target those big autumn wreck bream. I have spaces to go on combined Alderney and Cherbourg trips in September and October, if you're interested give me a call on 07787 375386.
Silver Spray II
Sam Cumming -
07/2016
Fishing Report by Sam Cumming
Jul 2016 by Sam Cumming
Well its finally July and we have been able to catch the first bass of the season for the table. Good numbers of small fish are out on the ground taking lures as well as the bigger fish usually taking the live baits. We have seen plenty of mackerel and scad out on the sand in Poole bay , probably the most I have seen for a few years. Next month will see the start of our free lining trips to target the bass on light gear. Further afield the fishing out in the Channel has continued to be excellent with large pollock still plentiful on certain marks along with cod and ling as well. We have been lucky enough to be treated to 2 john dory's in as many weeks both around the 4lb mark and both taking shads fished over wrecks. The first trip to Cherbourg this year was very successful with the middle day seeing 15 species come to the net including bream, cod, ling, whiting, tope and many others. Alderney has produced some cracking fishing on the banks, both brill and turbot are in abundance. Roy Turner producing our biggest of the year so far at 13lb 4oz.
Sam Cumming
Silver Spray II -
06/2016
Fishing Report by Sam Cumming
Jun 2016 by Sam Cumming
We have had some cracking fishing inshore of late which has helped to fill some of the gaps left by the bass trips we can't do until July. The bream have been of a really high quality so far with 3lb plus fish a daily occurrence rather than a rarity. I can't wait to see what size they go up to when they arrive on the wrecks in August. Keeping us busy over slack water have been the tope which have now arrived in numbers as the may bloom starts to clear in the water and the mackerel, hopefully, become more abundant. As I mentioned earlier we are holding off on doing bass fishing until July but it's been nice to see plenty of them out on the ground taking bream, ray and even tope baits. I think hopefully this is a good sign for when our season with them finally starts. Elsewhere across the channel we have been getting some nice sized turbot on the banks, last trip saw 4 doubles in 2 days, as well as good numbers of brill. The cod have been such a good size on the wrecks so far that I can't wait to start our long range Cherbourg trips next month to see what's lurking a bit further afield.
Sam Cumming
Silver Spray II -
05/2016
Fishing Report by Sam Cumming
May 2016 by Sam Cumming
Our first trip to Alderney went smoothly, although the forecast wasn't great for 2 of the days this was one occasion that we were happy the weather man was wrong as the wind got up to nothing more than a breeze. The fishing followed suit with two enjoyable days on the banks targeting the flatfish, we were glad we took some frozen mackerel as the bait fishing could only be described as slow. A big thank you to Mark Harding from Alderney Angling for all the hard work he puts in behind the scenes to make these trips such a nice experience for the anglers. The turbot fishing our side of the channel has also been ticking over nicely with Chris Stride boating our biggest of the year so far at 12lb. Fishing in Poole bay for the bream has continued to produce great days out. One or two fish around the 3lb 8oz mark are now starting to show along with plenty of smaller fish to keep the rod tips bouncing which are returned for another day. Finally it's off to the wrecks as we have seen the first of the cod and ling landed as the pollock thin out slightly. A bigger stamp than last year seems to be dotted around with our average size being around 10lb, enough to give a cracking fight on that light gear. Special mention goes to 10 year old Finley Palmer who showed the older lads how it's done with a 13lb cod on his 12-20 suveran along with a few pollock.
Sam Cumming
Silver Spray II
