# Sunny 1st Report



## Sunny (Jan 26, 2009)

Went out east of Wight yesterday (Tuesday) for a crack at the Blondes, with a plan to try and get a magic 30

Got to the boat with 60 litres.... still not enough to consider going out far...so back to the garage and another 60 litres just dissappeared into the tank  :-/  Still the tank was now near full so happy to finally get out and open her up to a calm sea with the sun rising.

Got to the mark and adopted anchoring tactics that were contrary to what I normally do; following some advice/discussions I've had recently.  The tactic would also produce the chance of a better sized Cod  :

The fishing was certainly slower and the number of bites was far less than I am used to at this mark.

First solid bite... after a handful of Doggies put me into a good fish; and I'm doing the calculation in my mind: bend+ease of line recovery= 14lb Blonde... but then I start to see colour and that aint no Blonde... a Cod  18lb 12oz; my best this season







Still trying to get used to *the new camera*, which has far too many buttons and settings for my liking.  I'm used to my old Vivitar which did eveything for me.  Still I'm sure once I get this thing mastered it will be okay  ???

So second resonable fish was a small Blonde - like I said - not used to the camera settings !






I then shifted to another point for the tide swinging and this produced another small Blonde






I then had to put up with nothing but Dogs and Pout for the rest of the session.  The weather was perfect as these photos show.   











Then the fog arrived around 4pm... thick and scary as I was in the ferry lanes, so I rushed to pull the anchor and get out of there.  Fortunately I could see it was clear to the west towards Pompey, so after pulling the anchor I headed out of the fog into a clear evening sunset






Stopped and spoke to a family (?) group on Viking III near the Nab, warned them about the approaching fog.  They had only caught Dogs & Pout.

Other than that never saw another boat all day.


----------



## Ta-ton-ka chips (Jan 26, 2009)

Nice pics!

So what do you Brits do with a "blonde"?


----------



## Sunny (Jan 26, 2009)

Ta-ton-ka chips said:


> Nice pics!
> 
> So what do you Brits do with a "blonde"?




Depends on the Blonde mate 

Most anglers here now practice Catch & Return for rays and sharks.  They used to be killed for the pot, but times have changed and we all work together to maintain the fishery.

Bloomin good fight from the Blonde Rays in a 2-3 knot current


----------



## Ta-ton-ka chips (Jan 26, 2009)

Sunny said:


> Depends on the Blonde mate
> 
> ]



Well, seems you fit right in over here!


----------



## Mechanicaldawg (Jan 26, 2009)

Sunny!

Welcome to Woody's Campfire!!!

That is a fine report indeed!

When you say that rays are sometime killed for 'the pot', how do you prepare them? Boiled? Baked? Southern fried?

Are your 'blondes' stocks depleated from over fishing?

Not many of us keep them for the table though it is widely believed that we ate them for decades in our restaurants, cut into circles and served as scallops. 

They do fight but most of us will cut them off quickly rather than fighting them so that we can return our focus on a more palatable target.


----------



## Paymaster (Jan 26, 2009)

Welcome aboard Sunny. Great pics. Thanks for sharing them with us.


----------



## Parker Phoenix (Jan 26, 2009)

Welcome aboard. Nice cod. I don't beleieve I've ever seen anyone hold a ray like that.I know I'd be scared I'd get hit.


----------



## RUTTNBUCK (Jan 26, 2009)

Parker Phoenix said:


> Welcome aboard. Nice cod. I don't beleieve I've ever seen anyone hold a ray like that.I know I'd be scared I'd get hit.



Wow!! They got Rednecks in England Too!! There"s hope for us all!! Good Pics thanks for sharing


----------



## Sunny (Jan 29, 2009)

RUTTNBUCK said:


> Wow!! They got Rednecks in England Too!! There"s hope for us all!!::



Thanks buddy... seems to be a great crowd to join.


----------



## RUTTNBUCK (Jan 29, 2009)

Sunny said:


> Thanks buddy... seems to be a great crowd to join.



We might get a little weird every now and then but we mean well.

 We might even sound kinda funny when we talk. But we all know what it feels like when you gotta goodun on the other end of the line and the pole is bent over good and drag is screaming. I think that translates into any Language or Dialect in the world. 

 Glad to have ya on here keep up the posts!!! It's nice to see how they do it on the other side of the pond


----------



## Sunny (Jan 30, 2009)

RUTTNBUCK said:


> We might get a little weird every now and then but we mean well.
> 
> We might even sound kinda funny when we talk. But we all know what it feels like when you gotta goodun on the other end of the line and the pole is bent over good and drag is screaming. I think that translates into any Language or Dialect in the world.
> 
> Glad to have ya on here keep up the posts!!! It's nice to see how they do it on the other side of the pond




Great words my friend

Fishing is slow here until March; our winter species have gone back to deep water and the spring/summer arrivals don't show for another month yet.  So as soon as they get here I'll post catch reports.... meanwhile I could post some of my last years collection  ...to give you a flavour of what we get ?

Other than that I'm gonna enjoy some of the threads on here... great subjects


----------



## Steve762us (Jan 31, 2009)

I'm one of the odd Yanks that'll keep a big ray...err, blonde.

How do you dress them out?


----------



## Sunny (Jan 31, 2009)

Steve762us said:


> I'm one of the odd Yanks that'll keep a big ray...err, blonde.
> 
> How do you dress them out?



I catch & return all my rays... but I have mates who eat them.  

Cut the wings off and skin them.  Lots of meat.  I have tried one cooked by a friend: pan fried them with olive oil and some seasoning.  It was okay I guess; not as tasty as Bass or Bream.  

I fancy trying some on the BBQ...just basted with oil; shark steaks taste pretty good done like that.  And best of all - no annoying bones !


----------



## Steve762us (Jan 31, 2009)

Sunny said:


> Cut the wings off and skin them.  Lots of meat.



That's about how I did my large one, last year.  Breaded & deep fried, it was pretty good.  I do like the sharks, also!


----------



## Sunny (Feb 2, 2009)

Steve762us said:


> That's about how I did my large one, last year.  Breaded & deep fried, it was pretty good.  I do like the sharks, also!



Do you get bottom living sharks with plates instead of pointed teeth ?

I think the Aussies call them Gummy Sharks.  In Britian they are called Smooth Hound.  

Cut them across the body into 3-4 inch steaks, leave the tough skin on, which falls off when they are cooked.... bloomin delicious done on the BBQ


----------



## RUTTNBUCK (Feb 2, 2009)

Sunny said:


> Great words my friend
> 
> Fishing is slow here until March; our winter species have gone back to deep water and the spring/summer arrivals don't show for another month yet.  So as soon as they get here I'll post catch reports.... meanwhile I could post some of my last years collection  ...to give you a flavour of what we get ?
> 
> Other than that I'm gonna enjoy some of the threads on here... great subjects



Keep em comin I don't normally get to the salt more than once or twice a year and I enjoy seein pictures. I am about 3 hours away from the salt and it is usually a trip that gets me there, but with the economy the way it is here I don't know if I will get to go this year. 

I am still employed and my wife is too but nothing is for sure. Too many people I know are losing their jobs and in a small community like I live in that means that when one of us lose our job there is nobody hiring. Right now we are paying down debt and preparing for the worst. So extra money for hobbies and pastimes is put towards that

I can though live vicariously through others pictures, so post what you have it is nice to see other species that we don't get around here


----------



## Sharkfighter (Feb 3, 2009)

Sunny said:


> Do you get bottom living sharks with plates instead of pointed teeth ?
> 
> I think the Aussies call them Gummy Sharks.  In Britian they are called Smooth Hound.
> 
> Cut them across the body into 3-4 inch steaks, leave the tough skin on, which falls off when they are cooked.... bloomin delicious done on the BBQ




We call them Dogfish.  Smooth Dogfish and Spiney Dogfish are most common kinds.  We caught a smooth one this weekend.  I didn't keep him but I also steak the sharks and marinate the steaks in italian dressing before I grill them up.

Rob


----------



## junk fly (Feb 3, 2009)

nice post sonny!! when i get over there, possibly next christmas we will hook up. and you are fitting in just fine on here!!


----------

