Innholdsfortegnelse for April - May 2023 i Saltwater Boat Angling

We’re moving into the spring season and after some inclement weather in March, apparently it was the wettest on record, boat anglers were able to enjoy some great weather in early April and over the Easter period. This is good news for our charter boat fleet which has been under severe pressure over the last couple of years, following the pandemic and the restrictions put in place and then the increase in fuel and the cost of living crisis. I’m told there are a number of skippers retiring in the next year or so and the common refrain is “there aren’t enough young skippers coming through”. Having said this, there are some good new skippers taking over boats around the coast. I’m told by marina owners, electronics manufacturers and some…

Send in your fish pictures and we’ll publish them in this section of the magazine and on our Facebook page. email editor@saltwaterboatangling.co.uk…

SPECIES HUNTING Local knowledge John Little and Manx Belle John, the skipper, has been fishing the area for over 40 years and since becoming a charter skipper he’s concentrated on hunting out every species he can catch. He’s got marks for just about everything and has boated most of the species you can catch there. He’s even found a spot where he can catch coalfish pretty much to order – white feathers are the lethal lures to use. Manx Belle is comfortable, spacy and has a powerful engine which can get John out a long way quickly. It remains rock solid in a heavy wind and tide, and there is a lot of cabin space to go with the wide deck area. It’s a comfortable ride even in pretty…

EVENTS In the last issue we announced the launch of the 2023 Sea Angling Classic, one of the biggest boat angling events in the UK taking place from 14 - 18 June. Last year 59 boats and 10 charter boats with nearly 200 anglers took part with over 3,000 fish caught - and what an event it was. The winners were the Smart Fish team skippered by Will Parkinson, but the competition was fierce with only a few centimetres separating the top five boats. 2023 Angling Format Based at Gunwharf Quay again, the fishing area will remain around the Solent (subject to weather). For this year the target species will again be smoothhound, tope, bass, bream and rays. The event is a catch, photograph and release competition using the specially…

■ Max number of people: 8 ■ Hull length (without platforms, engine or anchor): 6.53m Length overall (including platforms, engine and anchor): 7.74m ■ Total beam: 2.50m ■ Draught to baseline: 0.4m ■ Fuel tank capacity: 200 litres ■ Water tank capacity: 77 litres ■ Max engine power: 1x200 CV ■ Max speed: 40 knots ■ Cruising speed (70% power): 25knots ■ Economical cruising speed: 15knots ■ Range at economical speed: 125nm So, it’s good news that Rodman has launched a new range, their Ventura line of boats. There are three to choose from: 690, 790 and 890 (7m, 8m and 9m). In the UK these boats are distributed by RBS Marine, based in Chichester, and we were fortunate enough to be invited down to ‘road test’ the new models.…

New SIBs Festival in Shoreham There is a new SIBs festival run by Carlo Lupi, who runs the Inflatable Boat Fishing Facebook page for all things inflatable afloat. He’s running a SIBs only species hunt from Shoreham beach on 11th June, starting at 8am. This unique, and first time, event for SIBs and anglers will be targeting bass, wrasse and bream, which will be in plentiful supply at that time of year. The entry fee is £15 and 20 per cent of the proceeds will go to the RNLI and the rest towards cash prizes for the biggest of each species. For more information contact Carlo on 07887 508147 or go to www.facebook.com/groups/sibfestorganisation Spurdog to be commercially targeted After a hiatus, DEFRA is to allow commercial exploitation of spurdog to…

I first came across the McKells at the Sea Angling Classic a couple of years ago and have been following them on social media channels with their Squidward III fishing adventures. Darren, Caz and their son Luke seem to spend all their spare time on board their Beneteau Antares and trailing the boat around the country on their fishing adventures. I met them on a beautiful Good Friday morning at Lymington Yacht Haven, their home port, to have a go at fishing on their familiar grounds around the Isle of Wight. We were joined by Will Parkinson and his Smartfish 25. The target fish were bass, rays, conger, tope, smoothhound and possibly some early bream, which have been putting in a strong showing in the eastern Channel this spring. The…

Los Cristianos is a Spanish town with a population of 21,235 (2017), situated on the south coast of the Canary Island of Tenerife. It’s located in the municipality of Arona between the cone of the mountain Chayofita and the greater mountain Guaza. The town centre is around the Los Cristianos bay, but is rapidly expanding inland with modern development. The town is a popular tourist resort and includes a ferry port and two beaches. As so many Brits head for south Tenerife to avoid the worst of the UK weather through the winter months, I thought I would investigate what boat fishing is available. The two main ports in the south are Los Christianos, the ferry terminal for trips to La Gomera and the other islands in the Canaries, and…

I’ve had an Axiom on one of our boats for over six years, since shortly after they were launched, and have been very happy with it. They are powerful, high functioning units, and so I was very keen to find out more about the latest, recently launched, model. So, what’s new about this version? Axiom 2 Pro has a bigger, more powerful 6-core processor which gives 10 per cent faster processing power and faster boot up time, while memory capacity has been doubled to 64GB. The CHIRP sonar is more powerful meaning better resolution and less lag. There is also a new, integrated ambient light sensor which automatically adjusts display and keypad brightness for all ambient lighting conditions – no more fiddling around when conditions change suddenly. Other upgrades include…

EVENTS Boat Life 2023 One of the more interesting developments for boat angling in recent years has been the willingness of entrepreneurs to create and develop new events; exhibitions, festivals, competitions and other similar opportunities for anglers to network and get involved. The latest of these is BoatLife. This event was launched in Birmingham in February 2022 and overcame a horrendous weather event to successfully attract a lot of boats and boat accessory manufacturers. The visitors came in reasonable numbers despite the travel problems caused by the weather. In 2023 the event expanded and launched a dedicated Angling Zone – which in turn attracted lot more angling related exhibitors. Saltwater Boat Angling attended the event and editor Tim Macpherson was invited to give talks about fishing and marine electronics…

SUSSEX The last couple of months have been difficult with poor weather preventing a lot of boats from going out regularly, but in recent weeks pollack have been coining up regularly - some of them quite sizable. It seems that there has been a post spawning bonanza. Boats are picking up tope, smoothhound and eels, so the fishing is certainly picking up. Yellowfin Charters, from Brighton, has seen fish over 16lbs – Mark Pantonay bagged a 16lb 8oz fish on a trip in March with many other fish around 7-8lbs coming up with the fish having spawned. From Rye, Paganina has been having some success with angler Kyle Harris boating a big double figure fish. Skipper Ant Hills can be contacted on 07989 778361. Manx Belle, from Eastbourne, has had…

LIVE-BAITING There you are, drifting slowly with the tide at about one knot, below is a reef you’ve found and the fish-finder is showing aggregations of bait fish. The sun is out, but there is a breeze causing a gentle riffle on the surface – just enough to keep you cool. Your rod is nodding gently, occasionally rattling as your bait tries to find a hiding place in amongst the rocks – or join its mates in the shoal above the reef. All is quiet and your eyes are fixed on the rod tip. Then the bait starts to get excited – pulling this way and that. Clearly being hunted – then the line tightens, the rod tip bends, you don’t strike but gently pick up the rod. Then the…

How do you know you have the right boat and engine combination? Many of us boat owners will buy a boat secondhand with an engine already attached. Nine times out of ten we won’t even consider whether what we are buying is the correct combination. There are so many different boat types and hull shapes it can be a bewildering prospect. Many boat manufacturers will be able to guide you and, of course, if you buy from new you can expect the boat seller or builder to know what is appropriate. But still the number of times I’ve seen boats with the wrong size or type of engine is considerable. It is important to stay within the minimum and maximum horsepower rating. An engine on the wrong side of the…

APRIL ■ Sea Angling Classic Qualifier Mull of Galloway: 28-29th April MAY ■ Sea Angling Classic Qualifier Portsmouth: 7th May ■ Swanage Classic: 20th May JUNE ■ Poole Species Hunt: 2nd June ■ SIB FEST Shoreham: 11th June ■ Sea Angling Classic: 14 -18th June ■ Thames Boat Festival: 21st June ■ Mull of Galloway Tope Festival: 10-11th June JULY ■ Oxwich Bay Kayak Festival: TBA ■ Shark Angling Festival – Looe: TBA AUGUST ■ Mull of Galloway Sea Angling Festival: 5-10th August SEPTEMBER ■ Wyvern Small Boats Championships: TBA ■ Torbay Sea Angling Festival: TBA ■ Cork Small Boat Festival: TBA NOVEMBER ■ Southsea Marina Cod Open Boat Comp: TBA ■ Cardiff Bay Cod Festival: TBA Let us know the dates of your competitions and festivals and we’ll publish…