Selsey report sat 6th May

[Lookfar]

Hi folks,
After the cracking day we had on the last set of neaps, there was no chance that small tides and calm weather this weekend would be allowed to go by. The boat I blagged my last trip on was out on the friday and reported 18 hounds to 10lb from 'our' mark. I was crewing on the Saturday aboard Lady Christine, a Warrior 165. The run down was uneventful and pretty rapid without a boat on the back to enforce moderation. I called in at A&J Tackle for frozen peelers, as their hermit stocks were long gone. Down at the slip, Mark had trapped a few small hardbacks as well so bait was no problem. Most of the club boats had made a very early start so we had the slip almost to ourselves and launched in leisurely style.
Out at sea, the conditions were very smooth and we trundled out to Dean Tail with me marvelling at the quietness of Mark's Suzuki compared with my own raucous beast of a Bigfoot. There was nothing on the wreck so we opted to pick up fresh mackerel offshore and headed off for our mark, some deep water SE of the Nab Tower. We pretty well had the place to ourselves but over on Utopia it was a different story, it looked like D-day with almost thirty boats parked up at one point. A couple of mackerel came in on feathers while the anchor was being sorted but that was all we were to see of them on that mark, although the VHF reported plenty of other boats finding them. It was good enough for us and down went a tope rod each, followed by hound baits on light rods. For 15 minutes or so all was quiet then I got that first series of tugs that said the hounds had arrived. The first one got bounced. I'm not used to peeler crab abd I had problems throughout the day with hooking up on some storming bites. On went fresh bait and this time it barely had time to settle before it got monstered. Not a huge hound at 2lb but it was just the start of another red letter day. They just kept coming through the slack and into the flood. My tally went 2,7,3,4,5,6 and 7lb, with Mark adding 5,3,2,9lb 4oz, 10lb 5oz, 5lb. We had a few dogs as well, a garfish and a surprise bream. Tremendous fishing on a flat sea, an easy tide but a persistent drizzle. There was plenty of entertainment, with the crippled cruise liner Calypso being towed in past us, a dredger doing persistent drops a few hundred yards uptide and a potting boat recovering a string of whelk pots from just down tide. Another twenty seconds letting go on the anchor when we arrived and they'd have been towing us around the Solent.
On the radio, it was clear that the Utopia fleet had found tope. Since Mark is very keen to nab one, we went across on the flood to join them and discovered for ourselves that the place was mackerel central. As we settled in, the boat next door pulled in a nice tope and we buckled down to some serious finger-crossing. It didn't work, not so much as a run, but the hounds obliged. Another 5 came in, one of them 11lb 8oz, to take our day's tally to 18. Since we had ragworm we opted to fish a reef on the way back, despite the VHF being ominously quiet all day on the subject of bream. Once on the mark I fed in bait blocks intensively and the pout and poor cod soon obliged. It was that lovely, still moment at the end of the day when the wind drops, everything goes very still and you finally realise you should have worn sun block. The tide was light, the sea dead flat and every little rattle and twitch showed well on the rod tops. Not huge fish until my Ultegra slammed over hard while I was fiddling around with another bait block. Grabbed it quick and played my first bream of the season to the net. This one was 2lb 8oz, not at all a bad start. I added an undersize bream later and a small ballan but that was the day done and we came in well satisfied. If this continues, it is going to be an exceptional hound season

Steve

[Charter Skipper]

Great report,looking good for a cracking summer by the looks of it.....

[baitmaster]

well done sounded that you had a great session and some good fish

tightlines
baitmaster

[pingu]

sounds a great day out
well done

[keana]

What a brilliant day Steve. Well done.

[Fishing Forum Admin]

an exceptional hound season

Great report mate and what a day , great to read about all the smoothounds

[Lookfar]

Great to be out there among them

Can't be long now before they hit the beaches, if they're not already there. It'll be several weeks now before I can get out again and I'll be aiming more inshore to marks that hold both hounds and bream. I just LOVE this time of year

Steve

[gullyworm]

Two trips and how many smuts??
Not a bad start to the summer

[Lookfar]

Originally Posted by gullyworm

Two trips and how many smuts??

Averaging 18 per trip across three trips if you count Moby's score the day before my report. Something like 100lb in weight each day. Four hounds tagged already and the season's barely started so even if it all goes belly-up from here on I'm well contented. Hope the shore guys have as good a run.

Steve