Charter Boat: Reel Deal
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Boat and Skipper Details
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Availability Calendar
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Individual Spaces
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Reviews
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Location and directionsMap
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Bait & Tackle
Boat and Skipper Details
Free parking easy access to the boat. Rods and bait available. Brand new catermaran on deck toilet disabled friendly free tuition for beginners cooker oven grill dry storage, Now taking bookings for the shark season sponsored by veals mail order and varivas hooks along with top quality ammo baits now available to buy on eBay check out this quality bait
Dan Hawkins is a fully licensed skipper and experienced angler who has been around boats and a keen fisherman since an early age. Dan started fishing from Ilfracombe at the tender age of 5 with well Known local skipper Dave Clemence. Further experience was gained aboard various charter & commercial boats fishing for herrings and potting for lobster and crab with other well known denizens of the Ilfracombe fishing industry John & Eric Barbeary.
Unfortunately work got in the way from the age of 17 but Dan continued to fish from various ports until launching his own charter boat business at Watchet Marina in 2014 with a 28ft aqua bell (formally Fulmar of Minehead) progressing to a brand new fast catamaran in 2015.
December 2024
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N.B. Not all Skippers keep this dairy up-to-date. Always check with skippers before making any plans. Last calendar update: 26-Nov-2024 |
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Upcoming Individual Spaces on Reel Deal
| Fri 29/11/2024 | 3 Spaces | 8 Hours | £65.00pp |
bait fishing in the Bristol Channel huts eels rays dogs
Smooth-hound (Common) / Spotted Ray / Spurdog / Thornback Ray / Starry Smooth-hound.
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| Sat 30/11/2024 | 2 Spaces | 8 Hours | £65.00pp |
bait fishing in the Bristol Channel huts eels rays dogs
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| Tue 03/12/2024 | 6 Spaces | £65.00pp |
Need 4 more for trip go-ahead.
bait fishing in the Bristol Channel huts eels rays dogs
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| Sun 08/12/2024 | 2 Spaces | 4 Hours | £40.00pp |
bait fishing in the Bristol Channel huts eels rays dogs
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| Sat 21/12/2024 | 6 Spaces | 4 Hours | £40.00pp |
bait fishing in the Bristol Channel huts eels rays dogs
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| Fri 27/12/2024 | 6 Spaces | 8 Hours | £65.00pp |
bait fishing in the Bristol Channel huts eels rays dogs
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| Sat 28/12/2024 | 3 Spaces | 8 Hours | £65.00pp |
bait fishing in the Bristol Channel huts eels rays dogs
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| Tue 31/12/2024 | 6 Spaces | 8 Hours | £65.00pp |
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| Sat 04/01/2025 | 6 Spaces | 8 Hours | £65.00pp |
bait fishing in the Bristol Channel huts eels rays dogs
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Reviews
Summary:
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Nick Williams (17/07/2017)
This was not my first trip out with Dan on Reel Deal and it will not be my last. A cracking boat that puts you on the fish. His communication before the trip is first class and when on the boat he gets out of the wheel house to help those that need it. The charters I have been on we have not had to travel far from harbour to get to the fish. This makes a change from the 2.5hours it often takes to get to the fishing in south Devon. Great banter, great boat, great skipper and superb fishing what more could you ask for. As I wise man once said “I will be back”
Skippers Reponse: Thanks nick always a pleasure having you aboard and your always welcom just doing what I would want as an angler mate glad you had a good trip hope to see u soon thanks dan
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Dave Sanderson (18/02/2017)
We had a great day with a great skipper. I would certainly recommend Dan Hawkins to anybody that wants a brilliant days fishing.
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rich dean (23/03/2016)
A last minute trip was arranged today as the weather looked spot on for a few fish. 3 of us met dan at the marina on a lovely clear crisp morning.a quick chat on the plan of action for the day and we was soon heading out of the marina and into a flat calm sea.we started at a previous productive mark just past minehead and no soon as the anchor dug in and we cast out the bites were inatant...we had a few dogfish and as soon as the tide eased we were hopefull of some rays but it wasnt to be...so dan up anchored and moved 3 mile offshore to a large sandbank.we has to wait for for a while for the fish to come on the feed but it was worth the wait. Thornbacks were in a hungry mood and quite a few were soon unhooked and returned.we had whiting and of course some more dogfish then my rod gave a typical ray bite and just arched over and stayed there .. a few minutes later and a nice double figure blonde ray graced the decks.as the tide started getting some speed up we moved back inshore and to an old favourite patch of sand coral and shingle in the hope for more rays or perhaps a conger but the prolific small codling and whiting decided they was going to nail the bait as soon as it touched the seabed. March..aa we all know is a changeover time from winter species to summer species and it can be hard to "get on the fish " but as ever dan put the hard work in and did manage to get us some good sport on a wonderful spring day as well as landing numerous codling himself. With the tides dropping and also the air pressure going from a high pressure system to a low pressure im sure the fish wil be feeding with a vengeance over the next few days. A private boat who was fishing near us had a 4lb cod and charter boat "teddie boy" had ray ..conger..dogs and dropped a good smoothound at the net....it wont be long before them "hounds" will be here in great numbers....i myself cant wait to get carching them again ��. Another great aboard with great banter and plenty of tea and coffee.... Get yourself booked on for a great day out !
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damian Morgan (08/11/2015)
Perfect days fishing completely relaxed and had a good time highly recommended
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Gordon Meilack (19/06/2015)
A great day out with a patient, knowledgeable skipper and crew
Location
Bait & Tackle
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Reel Fun
Portishead, Somerset, South West, England
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Kelston Angling Supplies
Keynsham, Somerset, South West, England
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Weston Angling Centre
Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset, South West, England
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Colins Tackle
Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset, South West, England
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Taunton Enterprise Angling
Taunton, Somerset, South West, England
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Thyers Bait & Tackle
Highbridge, Somerset, South West, England
Catch Stats
- CBUK Catch Log: 34 Species have been caught onboard Reel Deal, including: Ballan Wrasse | Bass | Black Sea Bream | Blonde Ray | Blue Shark | Bluefin Tuna | Bull Huss | Coalfish (Coley/Saithe) | Cod | Conger Eel | Garfish | Greater Weever | Grey Mullet | Haddock | John Dory | Lamprey | Lesser Spotted Dogfish | Pollock | Porbeagle | Red Gurnard | Small-Eyed Ray | Smooth-hound (Common) | Spotted Ray | Spurdog | Starry Smooth-hound | Sunfish | Thornback Ray | Three Bearded Rockling | Thresher Shark | Tope | Trigger Fish | Tub Gurnard | Turbot | Whiting
- CBUK Record Breaking Catches: April 2019, 500 lb Porbeagle
Latest Catches 91 photos uploaded
8 oz John Dory
Aug-2018
1 lb 3 oz Garfish
13-Aug-2019
2 lb 6 oz Grey Mullet
10-Aug-2019
Latest Fishing Reports and News
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20/04/2017
Fishing Report by Shaun Collins-Lindsay
20 Apr 2017 by Shaun Collins-Lindsay
On the 20 April Clive and myself set off from Hampshire heading for North Devon to go fishing for Porbeagle sharks the closest realitive to the Great White. The day was perfect slightly over cast with light winds and a light tide. We arrived at Ilfracombe and met up with Dan our skipper on Reel Deal. We set off on our journey heading south towards Lundy Island, once we were past the Island Dan Checked the drift while the tackle was being set up. 6 rods were put over the side all set at different depths, the chum buckets were put out and the slick flattens the water nicely with all the dead baits sitting perfectly in the slick, it now was a waiting game. Whilst we were waiting for the either a screaming reel or waiting to see our floats start bobbing we started fishing for Pollock and Mackerel. A couple off Pollock were caught, Dan said that we were about to approach the reef were he would expect to catch a Shark. He wasn't wrong Dan noticed the middle float disappear, it was on and the battle started. This was a big Porbeagle she made lots of big runs but as we had a small team on board we all shared the pain. The way this shark was fighting Dan knew we were into a really big Porbeagle Shark, this fish would turn out to be the biggest fish that I have ever landed topping my black Marlin from Kenya. So after an hour and half of being beaten up by this powerful shark, she had tired and I was given the honours to bring her up to the boat. After a couple of desperate runs she came up to the boat, when she surfaced everyone was flabbergasted at the size of her, this Porbeagle was full of pup and massive in the range of 450lbs - 500lbs. Dan was going to tag her but as she had put up such a spirited fight we all agreed to release her straight away with out putting any more stress on her. She swam away from the boat perfectly back to the depths. So straight back into the fishing hoping to catch another monster it wasn't long until one broke the surface swimming around our floats , again everyone waiting in anticipation for those reels to start screaming but nothing happened, the hours past and we were just about to head for home when one of the reels started screaming the fight was on, this fish was using the boat to its advantage giving me a merry dance around the boat but after 15 Mins this shark managed to shake the hook. This was a fantastic day on board Reel Deal with a great skipper Dan Hawkins who put us on the Shark and what a Shark it was. Porbeagle 450lbs - 500lbs
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21/10/2014
Fishing Report by rich dean
21 Oct 2014 by rich dean
another fantastic day aboard reel deal again !
had plenty of action after a slow start in minehead bay but found the fish on a feeding frenzy about
1 mile offshore on some mixed ground.from the moment the anchor dug in until we had to leave fish of all species were coming aboard to all anglers.blonde ray,thornback ray,plenty of hounds up to 12lb,a bonus bass of about 4lb to neal and a lovely fighting conger of just under 26lb caught on light tackle to me.there was quite a lot of conger about as well as the ever present dogfish but this was great fun and we all had a good time aboard with plenty of hot drinks and the usual banter....
cant wait to book again ! very helpful and experienced skipper who can supply rod and reel as well as fish baits for a minimal amount. -
11/10/2014
Fishing Report by rich dean
11 Oct 2014 by rich dean
hi all
once again had a fantastic time aboard reel deal.
i caught 12 species over the two trips.my best day being saturday as i caught blonde,thornback,small eyed and spotted ray,as well as tope hounds dogs pout conger and plenty of other fish.dan got us on the fish very quickly and kept the tea and coffee going all day.looking forward to the next trip. -
02/10/2014
Fishing Report by rich dean
2 Oct 2014 by rich dean
me and my good friend nial fished a spur of the moment overnighter aboard reel deal with skipper dan .
the weather looked spot on for a trip down to sillary bay in search of tope. we left the marina at 11 oclock thursday night and the sea was flat calm with a forecast of 6 mph winds.it turned out to be completely wrong.by the time we got to foreland point the calm weather had deteriorated somewhat and we was being blown around by wind averaging 20-30 mph !the mark we wanted to get to was totally unfishable as a result of a small tide and the wind constantly swinging the boat around.we tucked in close to sillary bay and immediately started catching huss, dogs,codling and pout.the conditions made it impossible to present a bait confidentlydue to the gusting wind and swinging boat. so dan decided on a move further up channel to try to get the boat to sit better.we caught steadily until first light when we agreed a few drifts using jellys on the foreland ledge might throw up a bass or two,.fish were showing on the sounder but just wouldnt bite.we then moved further up channel to another reef for a couple of drifts but these too were fishless so we agreed that a steam back towards porlock in the hope of hounds , huss and rays was a good call.unfortunately on the flood the sea had a large swell rising and we headed further up channel in the hope the wind was calm enough to get to the 3 mile bank to catch some blonde ray.bloody weather just wasnt on our side this trip and the swell was even bigger further offshore so we tried a few marks around dunster and kilve.we caught more conger and thornback and small tope but no cod.dan really tried his hardest to find some cod but apart from the few keepers we had at slilary the day was to end on a sunny but somewhat windy day.
we caught some quality fish again and dan kept the coffee and the banter going all night and day.a thoroughly enjoyable night fishing trip with great company.
until next time,which wont be too far away.....
tight lines all.
if you are looking for a skipper with a vast knowledge of the channel and who works hard for his clients then give dan a call and book a trip.
rich -
26/09/2014
Fishing Report by rich dean
26 Sep 2014 by rich dean
another great day out on reel deal with skipper dan and my good pal nial fisher.started out by heading straight to the 3 mile bank where we had success in our search for blonde ray last trip out.within ten minutes of anchoring I had a lovely pull down and hit into a rather angry conger of about 15lb. a further ten minutes wait and a blonde ray was taking line off my reel...we stayed there for an hour and caught 5 blondes ..4 over 10lb.
we next steamed off to find some clean water in search of tope but couldn't find any.we fished close in near to the waterfall in search of trigger fish until the tide eased enough to get to an oil tanker wreck off foreland.immediately we found conger... I lost an eel of 40lb ish at the net but caught a few more eels and doggies.nial had a couple of large bull huss also.we ended the day off the golf links in search of an early cod but only caught doggies tope and a bonus thornback ray for me.
another fantastic day afloat.the fishing was hard but we caught some quality sized fish.....as usual dan pulled out all the stops to give us a great day again.
