Dartmouth Fishing

Sad to see her go!

Blue Marlin II our Quicksilver 630 SD has made he last trip under our ownership. Mike and I have decided we want a shaft drive in a newer boat and have part exchanged her against an Oceteau 645 through Marine Boat Sales at Noss Marina.

We had her taken out last week and Karen and I went over to meet Mike where we removed all our tackle and gear from her. It was sad to see her go. Despite the recent trials and tribulations with the engine she was our first boat in joint ownership and she saw us through a good many fishing trips.

We end the chapter on a happy note. We finally reached a settlement with our warranty claim with Cummins UK. They finally agreed to repay us all our outlay on having the new pistons and injectors fitted. We had a long wait since last February and we even had to threaten County Court action. One employee however from the company was helpful and polite throughout and we eventually got our money back.

That was last week and today saw the dawn of a new era. We have a 2007 Oceteau 645 which has a Nanni diesel on a shaft drive. It is a different layout and has more cabin space including a sea toilet and heater! Currently named Straight Laced but soon to be named Blue Marlin III under our ownership.

It was very crowded today - must be some Bass about!

Today was our first outing and we headed out to a local mark for a spot of fishing to get used to the handling of our new boat. It was thick mist over the Dart and visibility was poor. We followed out a series of local fishing boats and soon found a small crowd over a local Bass mark. This crowd grew as the day brightened and at one point we counted 20 plus boats going too and fro on a strong incoming tide.

I managed to catch one good sized Bass on a storm wild eye lure but most of the trip was spent trying to find where we had stowed all our necessary gear in the profusion of lockers on our new boat.

Still as a shake down cruise it was quite successful. Cruising at a steady 16 knots she proved the semi planing hull coped much better with the choppy water and cross swell with a lot less slamming and movement. We returned to the fuel barge in the Dart to top up. 60 litres later and a hole in the wallet it was back to the marina for me to berth her. Now I liked how the stern drive handled and it will take me a few more efforts to perfect the traditional propulsion method.

We hope now to bond with Blue Marlin III in the coming weeks and months. I hope to take some pictures of her for the blog soon.

Storm wildeye lures proved good today - we buy ours from ebay

RAPALA STORM WildEye HYBRID lure plug bass pike NEW    £.99

4 x STORM 6" WILDEYE SWIM SHAD, 'CROAKER', for PIKE COD    £3.25

STORM NATURISTIC WILDEYE PIKE SOFT BAIT PIKE LURE SHAD    £4.50

STORM NATURISTIC WILDEYE ANCHOVY SOFT PIKE LURE SHAD    £4.50

STORM SEGMENTED KICKIN MINNOW PIKE SOFT BAIT LURE PRL06    £5.99

STORM NATURISTIC WILDEYE PERCH SOFT PIKE LURE SHAD *    £5.50

STORM NATURISTIC WILDEYE PIKE SOFT BAIT LURE SHAD *    £4.50

STORM NATURISTIC WILDEYE MACKEREL SOFT PIKE LURE SHAD    £4.50

STORM WILDEYE SWIM SHADS PIKE FISHING LURE 6GLF    £4.99

STORM NATURISTIC WILDEYE ROACH SOFT PIKE LURE SHAD NWR6    £5.99

Date: Saturday 27/06/2009

Dartmouth Higher Ferry

It was a glorious morning when we headed out for our sea fishing trip past the new Higher Dartmouth Ferry. There had been much interest within the local press for this new ferry boat to replace the 40 year old vessel. In the early morning sunshine we motored past as she lay alongside undergoing tests before commencing service.

She looks quite a lot bigger and the central gangway for the bridge gives it a very distinctive look on the water. When she commences service she will clearly make a difference to the residents and visitors to Dartmouth.

Still it was fishing on the agenda and we headed out of the Dart and set course for a wreck some 5 miles out. We took in gently as we are running the engine in after its rebuild a steady 17 knots allowed us to reach our destination in good time.

We tackled up and drifted over the wreck as the sun rose and the temperature increased. That was about all that was occurring so we headed further west to another wreck to try our luck. Once again no joy but what a beautiful day to be out on the water.

Still with nothing in the boat and another change of location we headed back inshore to a small wreck we have fished before. I caught a small whiting or codling, could not make our minds up of what it was which was released back into the water.

With the sea bathed in sunshine and the coast cloaked in cloud we decided to head back to the marina. It was a pleasant cruise back in to our moorings on the Noss Marina.

Whilst no great catch this trip it was really great weather. One of those days your long for in the midst of winter!

We use ebay a lot to buy our equipment - grab yourself a bargain below

Fladen 2 Piece Flotation Suit Size L    £65.00

FLADEN ONE PIECE FLOTATION IMMERSION SUIT m845 RRP £99    £69.00

NEW FLADEN TWO PIECE FLOTATION SUIT m846 RRP £109    £89.00

Fladen 2 piece Sea Fishing Sailing Flotation Suit XS    £79.99

Fladen 2 piece Sea Fishing Sailing Flotation Suit XXS    £79.99

REALTREE HARDWOODS FLADEN FLOTATION BIB & BRACE    £34.99

Date: Tuesday 16/06/2009

Well you have good days and bad days. Over the last couple of months we have had many difficulties, especially with the boat engine. However today was a really good day! Steve phoned to say he would be over early again and after nearly being run off the road on his way over, we safely arrived at the the marina just as the marina staff came alongside in the work boat for work. After a few rude comments one of lads was promised a Bass to keep him quiet (he said the Bass were in and one boat was out during the night and catching well) so were now under pressure to deliver.

Making an uneventful trip down the river we discussed where to fish and since the Bass were supposed to be about we thought it worth having a go for Bass again. There were two good signs for us to see as we approached the fishing grounds. Firstly there were several commercial boats out and secondly the seagulls were fishing over the grounds.

After getting the rods set up with our now favourite lures (see below), we drifted with the tide and Steve had a knock on the first drift. The second brought him a nice bass and so did the third drift! I decided I would be cool and not catch anything yet, saving myself for later..........and a good job I did.

Sidewinder Sprats 4.5" Lures x3 Sea Fishing Bass Cod    £4.99

My first catch was a mackerel which was soon put back to fight another day. Steve caught his third Bass and I was about to leave my rod to help him with the net when I also was in to a nice bass which turned out to be the biggest of the day (see photo below). I go for quality you see.......well that's what I say.

Steve then caught another bass and I another &^%$£! mackerel...when on the next drift I felt heavy pressure on the line. Initially I thought it could be a snag which would have been unusual but stared to reel it in. Now I must explain here that I fish on light tackle since I suffer with a lower back problem and when we wreck fish Steve retrieves my line if I catch anything big. After just a few turns I new I couldn't bring this one in so I shouted to Steve to take over (I should also say I fish with 10lb max line).

There was a short question over whether it was a fish or a plastic bag (I soon put him right that it was a fish!) and Steve retrieved the line with me getting the net out. We were both surprised when at about 15 feet down we could see it was a fish and a big one at that. We were even more surprised to see that it was a Thorn-back ray! This is the first ray we have ever landed on Blue Marlin (I or II) and Steve did his best to make sure we didn't land this one! We have a rule that unless the fish is landed in the boat, then it doesn't count. Just as I got the net near the ray the line gave way and the ray went into the net.

A close call. When we went to take the lure out I had actually gaffed it (see photo) and we thing the ray settled onto the lure as I was about to start my retrieval. The thorn-back was then weighed and came in at 11 lb 8oz. So I claimed the biggest fish of the day and also another best in species. However I think that I can only claim 50% since Steve worked well in retrieval (even if he did try and loose it on the surface -sneaky or what!) and it wasn't a bad effort since it was only 10lb line, so Steve gets 50% as well.

It was funny to see the ray arch itself up on the deck, raising itself several inches up. After weighing, the ray was returned to the water. I then caught another bass only for Steve to bring in his fourth. After another mackerel for me and another bass for Steve we decided we had enough fish and called it a day returning to Dartmouth before 1200 hours.

So the total haul for the morning session was 7 bass, 2 mackerel, 1 thorn-back ray and nearly a seagull. Not bad eh! The seagull was a near miss since it dived on my lure near the surface.  We had the seagulls there for most of the time and its fascinating to watch them as they dive in for sprats or whatever else is driven to the surface. When we were gutting the fish (we always do this before returning to the marina) several had sprats in their stomachs but one had a sprat and the remains of a small crab in its stomach. 

Did I say I caught a ray.....?

We buy a lot of our tackle on ebay and suggest you do too.

SHAKESPEARE 7 FT BOAT ROD SEA FISHING TACKLE    £10.00

50LB SHAKESPEARE 7 FT BOAT ROD SEA FISHING TACKLE    £10.00

30LB SHAKESPEARE 7 FT BOAT ROD SEA FISHING TACKLE    £10.00

PENN 320 GT2 MULTIPLIER BOAT REEL *NEW BOXED* RRP £130    £56.00

AIHUA GF1200 FISHING REEL FOR BIG FISH in a box    £19.99

New Daiwa Millionaire 7ht Beach Multiplier    £43.64

Date: Wednesday 10/06/2009

The sun beginning to rise over the visitors moorings

Well June has finally arrived and hopefully some better weather will come with it. I left home in Ivybridge and had an early morning start heading to meet Mike at Dartmouth. It was a glorious morning and the only blot on the horizon was the wind direction. It was an easterly wind and that always bodes ill for fishing around the Dart.

Being the first of the month we do our regular safety checks and it was just as well we did. The new addition in the form of the second hand mercury out board would not evn turn over let alone start. This fault was supposed to have been rectified when we bought it a couple of weeks ago. As the workshops at Noss were not yet open we decided to put to sea without it functioning.

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Mavan Queen

Dartmouth fishing again aboard Blue Marlin II. It was an early start, well 0830 on 22/05/2009 when we slipped our moorings and started off down the river Dart on a promising day for fishing.

As we neared the main harbour there was a rather large luxury yatch on the main moorings. The Mavan Queen registered in Gearge Town made an impressive sight as we passed her on our way out of the Dart.

Still slightly nervous after the engine rebuild we had secured our second hand mercury outboard via Mikes locking strap and were all set for our trip.

The weather was relatively settled as we headed out to a local mark at a steady 16 knots.

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First of all my I sincerely apologise for regular readers who may have suffered from some disruption to the site (including the loss of the last post!) over the last few days. because of a usage issue with my previous hosts, I had to move this and other sites I have, to another host. If you have ever done this you will know how frustrating and time consuming it is!

Back to fishing now. Stephen managed to get out of bed early again and we managed to set off for the Marina in good time. For the first time for many weeks our preparations for leaving the mooring were back to normal. No mucking about with the new emergency outboard and the like.

An uneventful trip down river until we came across a pair of 'fishermen' parked right in the middle of the entrance! Their inconsiderate actions cause all boat fishermen grief.

Fishing right in the centre of the river entrance!

Whilst the weather was overcast the sea itself was quite calm. However we thought that a short trip over the Bass mark we use would be the best option. I suppose we are still cautious since the engine rebuild. (We may have some good news soon about our claim against the engine manufacturer's - watch this space).

Arriving over the broken ground there were another three or four boats already there so we were hopeful for some Bass. I started by trying for sand eel/lance and used small feathers to catch them. However unlike the last time out when I had to give up because of the suicide mackerel never letting the lures down to the sea bed, this time I caught a herring! Well we think it was a herring......checking the web when we returned home it definitely looked similar. This was a first for us on Blue marlin II and if anyone knows more about how rare or not this catch was, then please leave a comment.

After a few drops with the small feathers it didn't seem to be going well and when Stephen caught the first Bass of the day on our favourite lure, I soon changed over to the sprat killer lure. Stephen then caught his second Bass which was quite a nice size. 

It wasn't long after that I had my first Bass and we thought it might not be big enough to keep since it was a lot smaller than Steve's last catch but when measuring the fish against the brass inset ruler on the bait board it was a 'keeper' and only put Steve's fish into perspective.

It wasn't much longer after that when I caught my second and much larger bass, followed by another about the same size. So that made it 3 Bass and a Herring for me and only 2 Bass (although they were both a nice size) for Steve, still at least he caught something (for a change!). My second Bass is pictured below. All 5 Bass were caught on the same lures and we seemed to have been more fortunate than our fellow fishermen (there were around 6 to 7 boats with us in the end).

Normally we would have returned all but a couple to eat, but we have a family BBQ due in a couple of weeks so we kept the 5 towards feeding 'da family'. 

We made our trip back to Dartmouth and just inside the headland we stopped to gut the fish before heading back to the mooring.

Bass caught with the 'magic' lures

Sidewinder Sprats 4.5" Lures x3 Sea Fishing Bass Cod    £4.99

Since we had the engine fail on us even though it has done very little work we decided that we should purchase a second hand outboard motor which we could use in an emergency. Rob the marine engineer who fixed the engine had a couple for sale, both of which were 4HP.

We tried the first and cheapest and on trial it managed to push the boat along enough for what we wanted in an emergency and armed with that knowledge we bought the newer of the two engines. After the engine was fitted to our outboard bracket there were two or three issues that arose. One was the need for security and another a method of securing the engine to the boat in case it ‘fell off’.

The first issue was resolved with the purchase of a new stainless steel padlock which I subsequently sprayed with lithium grease for protection and simply attached to the two handles used to screw the engine bracket to the boat. The second problem was solved by making a couple of stainless steel ends that were silver soldered to a short length of stainless steel wire from our local chandlers.

Constituent parts - Stainless steel cable and round barstock stainless steel

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Steve phoned up last night to say he could make the fishing trip and also be early for Sunday (today) so you can imagine my surprise when he phoned at 0630 to say he was 45 minutes away. Surprise, because for Steve 0900 is the middle of the night! Anyway it was great to have an early start for a change and we made out way down to the boat eager to take on the local fish! 

After wasting a few minutes trying to start the new (secondhand) Mercury (yes I know another b%$&&ing Mercury) which wouldn’t budge an inch on the starting cord, we decided to review the plan of a longer trip and keep to inshore marks. That meant a trip to our favorite Bass mark to see if they were in yet.  Read the rest of this entry »

Another Blue Marlin!

Blue Marlin II ventured out of the Dart on Bank Holiday Monday for its first real fishing trip since its total engine rebuild. As we neared the mouth of the Dart we were passed by another vessel. To our surprise and the amusement of its owners it too was a Blue marlin - common name eh?

We left Noss Marina around 1030 and headed out to a local mark to see if any Bass were about. As we have been out of the water since the end of February with the faulty mercruiser engine we had lost touch with what was happening on the fishing front.

  Read the rest of this entry »

Well it is has taken a lot longer than we thought but the Blue Marlin II has been fishing and a fish was caught first drop!!! Even though it was a Mackerel it was brought ashore. That’s the effect of no fish for quite a while and the freezer becoming empty!

Back to the start though, the engine even though it has done so few hours had to have 4 new pistons plus four new injectors as well as miscellaneous items. For readers of our blog you will know that one injector failed sufficiently for it to pump diesel into the cylinder but in too large droplets. This failure had the effect of burning a hole right through its piston. Read the rest of this entry »