stivesfishing

31st December 2013. We have had 2 blank hauls and one "ok" haul. Got about 35 kilos of bass and 3 red mullet. Big tides now, waiting for some sign of fish in the bay before we shut again. Have a good new years eve! 

24th December 2013. There is still 10 days of good bassing weather ahead of us, so hopefully it will be a good start to the new year.

HERE'S WISHING YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR.

20th December 2013. The last haul we had was useless, 400 yards for just 2 bass. The market is now closed until the 2nd of January. The weather is looking good for bassing for as far as I can see (10 days ahead). We have quite a few tangle nets to sort out before we start again after Christmas, hope you all have a good one! 

17th December 2013. I have been too busy to get on here until now. The fishing has been great even though we have had a lot of weed and tangled nets. We did have the odd 'clean' tier with just fish, this 200 yards had 80 bass, which is good fishing :-

So happy that they turned up before the market shut for Christmas. There was a few mackerel with the hand liners today as well. We have two tiers to haul first light tomorrow, might have one more shut for Fridays market if it's any good.

14th December 2013. We have shut 4 tiers of bass nets to the west. It is certainly rough enough for bass, plus there were gannets working and fish marks on the meter. So I'm quietly confident about tomorrow.

13th December 2013. There wasn't much mackerel about yesterday, what was caught were mostly small. I didn't go because I smashed my car up Wednesday night. So have been busy with insurance and looking for another one. Will be netting with Hodgey soon.

11th December 2013. I found it hard going today, some boats found the squid and some of us didn't. I only managed 8 1/2 kilos and a dozen mackerel. One boat had 80 kilos of squid! It is going to be windier tomorrow, so I plan to concentrate on the mackerel. The weekend and all of next week is looking good for netting. Hoping for a big week on the bass and mullet before the market closes for Christmas. There is a porbeagle shark hanging around in the bay, it circled my boat three times today, so close I could of grabbed hold of it. I thought I had got a great film of it but my camera wasn't on! grrrrrrr. It's not that big, about 6ft long.

9th December 2013. There was no mackerel yesterday, five fish is all I had. We ended up with about 18 kilos of squid. Today we concentrated on the squid but the first 1/2hr was pretty much all of it. We made yesterdays up to 40 kilos :-

The squid were fetching 4.70 per kilo this morning, not bad for the amount thats been landed all over the weekend. It is getting a bit windier out there and the rods aren't fishing so well, the line is going away from the boat too much. So I'm going to switch to hand lines with heavier weights tomorrow. St Piran, the fisheries vessel came close today but didn't give us a visit :-

I don't think there is a size limit on squid, not that we are catching small ones at the moment. I'll have to google it just incase :)

7th December 2013. Got down the quay at 8.30 just as Frank Lander was coming in from mackereling, he didn't have a single fish, so we went squiding. After 1 1/2 hours we only had 6 squid, decided to give up and make the moorings. Found out afterwards that while we were trying to catch squid, there was quite a bit of mackerel being caught. So plan 'A' in to go mackerel hunting in the morning.

6th December 2013. Calming down nicely today but I can't go. I will be starting tomorrow with lightish southwesterlies for the weekend. Then from Monday on it is staying light to moderate southerly, which is great for this coast. Only problem we will have is deciding whether it is best to mackerel or go squiding. Squid jigs on the bottom of the mackerel set maybe?

3rd December 2013. Had a great day catching squid. There were some real beauties coming up :-

It was the first time I have done it properly, great fun :-

Made a mess of Hodgey's boat though :- 

The wind is due to freshen up from the north tomorrow, so we won't be doing another low water. It is looking good from Saturday onwards with off shore moderate southerlies.

2nd December 2013. Yesterdays fish fetched a good price this morning, 2.80 for the mediums and 4.80 for the large mediums. That was an average of 95 pound per box! But with fishing, it can soon change, it was hard going today. We did 5hrs for this :- 

Just about covering the fuel cost but Hodgey kept smiling, especially when the 1st squid aboard squirted up my nose and in my eye :- 

We are going to go early tomorrow and target the squid for at least all of the ebb tide. We might change to mackereling on the flood, depends how we are doing. I'll let you know tomorrow night how it went, if I have time.

1st December 2013. We did 3 hours mackereling on the flood for 115 kilos. Only 11k of small, 59k mediums and 45k of big stuff. Friday's prices were 2.70 for mediums and 5.40 for large mediums. Put the boat out on anchor so we can start a bit earlier in the flood tomorrow. 

29th November 2013. We had a better day yesterday, 3 boxes of mackerel on the hooks, a box of ray and quite a few mixed flatties in the nets. There is herring and whiting to be had on the hooks as well. Fresh northerly winds for two days now, looking at mackereling on Sunday next.

27th November 2013. Very little in the flatfish nets yesterday so we moved them out deeper and will let them have two nights in the water. Tried the hooks this morning but only managed about 30 kilos of mackerel. Will give it another try in the morning and then haul the nets. 

25th November 2013. Hauled the nets yesterday, hardly any fish. Just a dozen plaice, a few dabs and a turbot (nice feed). We didn't bother shutting back until today, hope for a better haul tomorrow. There is a few mackerel being caught on the hooks, so we plan to give that a try before we haul in the morning. Yesterday they had between 25k to 50k per man.

23rd November 2013. Put the flatfish nets out this morning. Mia (my girlfriends daughter) wanted to come out and take some photos for a college project and my youngest Mel (on the left) came along for the ride:-

Half way across the bay, the dolphins turned up and Mia was on cloud nine snapping away, perfect! :-

Hopefully I will have some fish to photograph tomorrow, I'll keep you posted. Hodgey tried squiding off the Island today but blanked. There wasn't much mackerel up this end either. I heard that there are good catches of both down Sennen way.

21st November 2013. I'm still dying of man flu. Today is the last of the strong winds, it's going to be a calm week ahead. A few of the St Ives men have been working from Newlyn, hand lining mackerel. Some days they have had up to 300 kilos. The last report I heard was 5 boxes (2 handed), half good and half small, with mediums fetching around the two pound mark.

18th November 2013. I have been struck with man flu! So I am grounded for a day or two, might get out in the garden to set some more bass nets. Looking at the forecast, it is only today that I am missing out on. The rest of the week is all fresh north to northeast winds. A friend of mine posted a picture on facebook of a monkfish they caught, thought I would share it with you, I have never seen one this big, monster! :-

16th November 2013. I was up early and looking forward to catching some bass on the lines. It was still dark when I got down the quay, Stuart (Boco) was there testing the lights he put up yesterday :- 

He does a great job every year :- 

When they are all up and on, it is going to look fantastic. If you appreciate what he is doing and would like to help towards making them bigger and better every year, you can pop a donation into the harbour office any week day.

I got up the 'Stones' just after first light. Saul on the 'Proper Job' was there trying all the different spots with live eels. I was using the new Eddystone eel 2013. Neither of us had a single bass. Before the normally quiet 2 hours when the tide slackens off, I decided to give up and beach 'Jen' outside the harbour. It was a cold morning and it got even colder when I jumped off the bow and filled my wellies up! A couple of bamboo pieces behind the radiator are now holding them over the heat :-

I must remember that these new ones are a bit shorter than my others. Frank on the 'Kelly Girl' tried mackereling, he went as far as Seal Island for just one mackerel and a scad. Trevor on the 'Lady Joan' found a few macs at first light, only about 40 fish though. There is not much life out there at the moment. I think Simon and Rob on the 'Kira' are shutting a bass net deep off on the cod track. I will try and find out what they had later on.

13th November 2013. The bass and mullet have moved off from the shore, all we had was 8 dogfish in 700 yards of net. We will wait until there is a decent stir up, then have another try. Saturday and Sunday are looking very calm, so I think I will be heading up the stones to give the poles a try for bass. Hodgey is going to try the squid. There was a box or two of mackerel caught this side today, they were big fish, so that is another option.

12th November 2013. A couple of boats tried mackereling but didn't have much, all the mackerel are around Newlyn, about 300 kilos per boat at the moment. We have shut the bass nets again. Not so much ground swell as last time, it might just be mullet in them tomorrow morning. The water is still nice and murky, so we have a good chance. Boy Stuart has shut as well.

11th November 2013. It was worth putting the nets back out on Saturday, a nice calm haul yesterday with a good bit of fish coming up. We had a bit less mullet but more bass this time. The market prices were not fantastic, but we had the quantity to make it worth our while. Bass were 4.90 (0-1), 6.10 (1-2) and the mullet were 2.40. There is a lot of bass being caught on the poles by the Newlyn men, they are having around 50 fish a day. Keeping an eye on the forecast now to see when we can have another shut.

9th November 2013. The nets are back in the water to the west. The sea conditions were really quite poor (approx norwest 6-7) but "Mary Mo" handled it brilliantly. Last night a friend of mine caught 3 bass from Manshead, so there are a few on the shore. Plenty of gannets working west of Seal Island, so I'm hopeful  for another good haul in the morning.  

8th November 2013. The haul went well apart from quite a bit of weed. Hodgey had his first taste of unmeshing :- 

He seemed quite happy with his first try netting :- 

So was I, we did well :-

116 mullet and 30 bass. We will be shutting back asap.

 7th November 2013. The bass gear is in the water, first shut with Hodgey on the "Mary Mo'. Everything went smoothly, we have gone down as far as Gurnards Head. I expect to see mullet tomorrow and hopefully some bass. It is great to be on a fast boat, it increases your options of where to fish. I saw Frank Lander catching a couple of mackerel as we went past, don't know what he ended up with yet. 

6th November 2013. I was hoping to get to the west with the bass gear today but at the moment it is looking too poor. On Monday Frank Lander had a box and a half of mackerel on the hooks. Karl and Boco have teamed up with Gary on the 'Bethshan' and gone around to Newlyn after the bass. I might give the herring gear another try in the bay tonight. 

4th November 2013. I put the herring nets out yesterday and hauled them today. No sign of any mackerel and just 35 kilos of herring. A couple of boxes of dogfish as well. Next move is bass nets to the west. I am teaming up with Hodgey on the "Mary Mo". I'll let you know how we get on.

2nd of November. A rough week ahead, apart from a light northerly on Monday, the rest of it is fresh to strong west or southwest winds. There might be a few fish in the bay, time will tell. 

31st October 2013. I woke up with a painful back and wasn't looking forward to hauling my 700 yards of nets aboard. Karl and Boco on the 'Gemma' were going to shut their herring gear the same time I was going to haul mine. Karl offered to haul mine and I jumped at the chance. The fishing was useless. The mackerel net had just 2 mackerel, the flatty net had about 10 plaice, 1 dab and just brown crab (5 kilos of claws), the herring net came up with 4 herring! They put their herring nets back on the quay. The sea has settled a bit and there has been a couple of boxes of mackerel caught on the hand lines. The bass netters to the west had some nice mullet and a few bass. I'm going to have a couple of days ashore getting more gear ready. 

This mornings market prices that I heard about were :- Mackerel - small 1.00, mediums 3.00 to 4.00 and large mediums 5.00. Herring 55p. Netted bass (0-1) around the 7.00 mark and mullet 3.50.

30th October 2013. Lots of herring in the nets yesterday :- 

Everyone had plenty :- 

Too much fish really, the price went down to 30p/40p per kilo. I had a couple of bass and a few mackerel to go with my 145k of herring.

Had a lot less today, 1/2 a dozen mackerel and 2 boxes of herring. I have put the nets back out, plus 400 yards of flat fish gear.

28th October 2013. The nets are in the water, 200 yards of herring net, 100 yards of mackerel net and 200 yards of bass net. The water is nicely murky, so hopefully there will be some fish tomorrow. Two other boats have shut herring nets and I think Stuart on the 'Little Christina' has gone west with bass gear. 

27th October 2013. Plenty of surf over rampers :- 

A lot of boats have been taken out of the harbour and put safe on dry land. It is rough but the forecast at the moment for next Sunday is worse than now, more wind, larger waves and a spring tide. If that doesn't change I will be thinking about taking mine out. Masses of sea to the west, looking very fishy :-

I'm looking forward to getting the nets in the water. 

25th October 2013. That powerful ground swell is still coming, not quite as high as first forecasted but still very strong. I'm not sure what has been caught in the last couple of days, I have been at home nursing a weak back and getting more nets ready for this stir up. It looks like working in the bay is the only option up until Wednesday, then a few of us might venture to the west with bass nets.

22nd October 2013. Hauled for nothing other than weed :- 

That was after finding my punt upside down for the second morning in a row :- 

I'm going to get the punt out of the harbour this afternoon and clean the nets. Three other boats hauled nets and had the same as me, work for nothing. The joys of being a fisherman :)

Windguru is forecasting a huge powerful swell arriving on Monday night into Tuesday. It is a long way off so it might change by the time we get there. Take a look :- WINDGURU.

21st October 2013. I thought Saturdays haul was bad, yesterday I had 1 herring in 500 yards! John on the 'Sandpiper' had 37 kilos of mackerel on the hooks Saturday afternoon, so I had a try yesterday which resulted in this :-

Just 7 kilos. I'm going to put the mackerel/herring nets back out tonight and hope that there is a wage in them tomorrow morning. 

19th October 2013. I shut last night and hauled this morning, very little fish. Only 20 kilos of herring and just 4 mackerel. The boats that went nearer to Hayle did a bit better. I'm going to shut back a bit deeper tonight. Gary on the 'Bethshan' gave up line fishing early with just 3 squid and a couple of mackerel.

18th October 2013. I had my first catch of herring yesterday, 40 kilo's, not a lot but its a start. They fetched 90p per kilo. Hopefully the catches will increase with the south/southwesterly winds set to stay for a week. Hauling at first light there were quite a lot of live ones coming up:-

I didn't shut back yesterday as I didn't want to keep the fish iced all weekend. might shut tonight for a haul tomorrow. 

16th October 2013. I have put 300 yards of mackerel/herring net out tonight. I am quietly confident that I will have more than last time (none!). On the way back in Boy Stuart was coming out on his new addition to his fleet, boat number 3, this one is a beauty :-

115hp on the back, thirsty but you will get to where you want in no time. The extra fishing time will more than cover the extra fuel. Very nice! I will be hauling at first light, it's about time I caught something. I'll keep you posted. 

14th October 2013. Most of the seasons are late this year, including the spider crabs leaving the bay, what a mess :- 

Not what I was hoping for. Only 3 dovers, a few dabs and the rest was plaice. the spiders are soft and unsellable. Back to the drawing board! 

13th October 2013. I got out there today and 'shut' 630 yards of flatfish nets over the eastern shore. I have just had a new combi boiler fitted at home and found a better use for the old water tank, it will hold 500 yards easily :-

After shutting the nets I went polling for three hours up the 'Stones'. It was very quiet, the catch would have just about covered the fuel cost if I didn't have it for tea :-

The smallest bass was just on the size limit. I hope to see a better result tomorrow, crab, ray, plaice and sole with a bit of luck. I'll let you know how I get on. Other catches I heard about today were mackerel up to maybe 40 kilos and squid up to around 15 kilos.

11th October 2013. It is calming down tomorrow night and looking ok for a couple of days. Will hopefully have some fish on Sunday. From Wednesday there is a strong southwesterly with a fair bit of ground swell on the way. 

8th October 2013. I went bassing on Saturday and did very well. I managed to catch 25 bass and 26 pollack. I went again on Sunday with high hopes and only had 7 bass in 7 hours, thats fishing. I was told that the squid and mackerel went quiet as well on Sunday, a lot of the boats gave up early. Apparently yesterday was useless as well, with small amounts of squid and some of the top mackerelers only having 10 kilo per man. It is looking like we are going to have fresh northerly winds starting tomorrow lunch time and lasting in strength until Saturday night. 

4th October 2013. I have been having lots of work done on my house so haven't been able to get out for a couple of days. All systems go tomorrow, plan 'A' is to get out polling at first light and hopefully be catching bass all day.  

1st October 2013. I put 200 yards of mackerel/herring net out last night and hauled it first light this morning. This was the result :-

I wasn't impressed! The hand liners didn't have much today either, 10 to 15 kilos of squid and mackerel each. I might have a go on the afternoon tide tomorrow. Stuart on the 'Little Christina' had a box of flatfish yesterday, mostly plaice with a couple of dover soles and 5 small rays. There is still a lot of soft spider crabs in the bay, they make holes in the gear, they should be gone by the next small tides hopefully.

30th September 2013. From what I can gather, there wasn't much mackerel about yesterday. The tides are now starting to jump (get bigger), so hopefully it should get better as the week progresses. The prices on Newlyn market this morning were :- Smalls 40p, Mediums 1-50, Large Meds 4-40 and squid line caught £4 to £5.

26th September 2013. Looks like a fresh easterly wind for a few days, easing and going southerly on Monday. I will take a look on Sunday, hopefully the eastern shore will be workable. I am tempted to try an overnight shut with some flatfish nets, the tides are perfect for it. Hmmm. 

25th September 2013. I have been very busy catching bass. Great day yesterday with 34 fish for 27.5 kilos. Not so many today but a better run, I had 12 fish for 13 kilos. The morning mackerel landings I saw were just one box per man. Quite a few of the mackerelers are now concentrating on the squid. I have never caught a dogfish while free lining live eels until today, it was the darkest one I've ever seen :-

22nd September 2013. I tried the eddystone eels 2012 today. They fished very well, I had 13 bass and kept 10. Only down side to them is that they aren't as tough as I hoped, didn't take many fish to destroy a lure. The mackerel weren't there over low water today like yesterday, Hodgey on the "Mary Mo" was out all day for just one box. Fresh southeasterly tomorrow, so not sure if I am going, I will take a look out the window in the morning. 

21st September 2013. I had quite a good day yesterday, 21 bass for about 15 kilos. It was a bit slower today, 13 fish weighed 10 kilos. some of the low water mackerelers had 200 kilos per man. There is still a few squid about but nothing like it was. Saul who I sell most of my bass to (wild harbour fish) has been on the bass the last two days as well. Prisky's eels have been in demand:-

He had about 20 bass today, most of them have been under a kilo. Out of 36 fish I only had 2 over a kilo :-

Prisky doesn't bait on Sundays, so I will have a go with the lures. If that fails I will try the mackerel.

19th September 2013. There was very little caught yesterday, the water was still murky. It wasn't much better this morning, the best being about a box per man. Most of that was small :-

As usual, the prices are up when they are hard to find. Smalls were 80p and mediums were 5 pounds per kilo on Newlyn market this morning. 15 squid was the best anyone did yesterday and that was for a good few hours.  

18th September 2013. It was still quite churned up out there today, a few went and tried the mackerel and squid, but I haven't heard how they got on. None of them stayed out until last light, I saw one come in and go straight on the moorings, so maybe there wasn't much to be had. I have been cutting out the old net :- 

And replacing it with new :- 

The forecast is looking good, light winds starting Friday and lasting for at least a week! Hope that doesn't change. Line caught bass will be my target, if there isn't any on the shore, I will see if there are some big ones to tempt up the stones. 

16th September 2013. We have a couple of days ashore due to the winds so I am sat doing a bit of online shopping. Buying 400 yards of mackerel nets and the same amount of bass nets, that will give me something to do when the water is too murky for hook fishing. I know what I'm doing there and that is all sorted. But now I am looking at squid jigs, not sure what's good and what's not. So I thought I would start a thread to discuss this on the 'something fishy' page. Any review, long or short, would be helpful. I know some of you like to keep successful methods to yourself, I'm guilty of that sometimes. Jigs to avoid, so not to waste money would be good to know. Tight lines!

14th September 2013. The BBC forecast was right, quite fresh from the north today. There were no bait boats out this morning so I tried mackereling with the hope of catching a few squid as well for the table. I didn't fancy polling for bass all the way up to the stones in a rocky sea :-

The fishing was dead slow, an hour and a half for just a dozen mackerel and a john dory :- 

I managed to scrounge a couple of squid off Boco and Karl on the 'Athena Fay' and give up for the day. Lots of wind on the way for the next few days. I have started cutting old nets out ready to make some new ones.

13th September 2013. Yesterday went well, 24 bass and I stayed dry! I was asked by Hayle's deputy harbour master to get permission from the harbour master to fish in the navigational channel. I will go and see him next week. The 24 bass weighed 17.5 kilos, so not a bad days work. The next time that I can't get live bait I will give the Eddystone Eel 2012 a try on the poles. I think they will take fish and last a bit longer than the previous ones. The nose feels a lot firmer and should take quite a battering before needing to be replaced:-

I have a few other types to try, savage and rage lures. I will test them out. Tomorrow is looking ok to go. Windguru is giving just 6mph northerly on average, but the BBC is forecasting 14mph northerly. I find windguru more accurate. Lots of wind after tomorrow, so mackereling in the bay might be the only option next week.

11th September 2013. I have been away for a couple of days, first trip out today since Friday. I managed to get sandeels from Prisky and went bassing over the low water. Apart from being caught by a large surf that totally drenched me, I had a good day. 30 bass that weighed 22.5 kilos. Hope to do the same tomorrow. Not much mackerel being caught but there  are some squid showing up.   

6th September 2013. It has been a great week, managed to catch 89 bass. Not had time to update until now. There are loads of sandeels around, which helps to attract the bass. Yesterday morning all 3 bait boats were taking turns to net them :-  

Prisky had one shut this morning for 30 stone. I am off now until Tuesday, will update with any news that I get. There was a lot less mackerel with Karl and Boco on the 'Athena Fay' today. First half of next week looks a bit fresh from the north, then Thursday is flat calm and Friday being a gentle southwesterly.

2nd September 2013. I had 10 bass today and the biggest one beat my all time personal best. My best was 6 1/2lb, caught years ago down Porthmeor beach. Now it is 7lb 5 1/2 ounces, the one on top :-

None of the baiters were out this morning, so I decided to try live mackerel for bait. I caught about 15 in a couple of minutes :-

Not only did I catch my biggest bass ever, I caught the smallest fish compared to the bait ever as well! I was using 2 small hooks on the mackerel, one came back with the mackerel and the other with this pollack on it :-

Mackerel bait certainly catches the big ones, the average was just over 2 kilos per fish :-

I'm looking forward to catching some more tomorrow. Lots of sunshine and very light winds forecasted all day. 

30th August 2013. I haven't had time to go online for a couple of days, too busy catching bass! Wednesday was great, I caught fish all through the ebb and on the flood until a seal turned up, scared the fish off and decided to start taking my bait. I ended up with 27 fish that weighed in at 22 kilos:- 

Yesterday I fished for 2 hours and only had 2 mackerel on the rod. I was going to make the tide back in, rather than be stuck out all over low water. I had time to try one more spot for 10 minutes and still make the moorings. Glad I did, bite every cast for about 4 hours! There were a lot of undersized ones that went back but I landed 21 on the market for 14.5 kilos. No seals this time but the dolphins were close in at Porthminster point:- 

A friend sent me this picture of some handsome man displaying how the slush ice is a must for quality, the fish are straight, firm and gleaming:- 

It is a bit fresh from the north tomorrow, but Sunday is looking nice and calm. If none of the baiters are out I will try the mackerel and do the pots. Yesterday the low water mackerel men had anything from 2 boxes up to 6 boxes from what I saw. They were a better size than what was had on Wednesday, when 4/5 of the fish were small. I heard that mediums were around the 2 pounds per kilo mark. At the moment, all of next week is looking workable. Have a good weekend!

27th August 2013. I didn't go yesterday because none of the baiters were out. As for today I am being removal man for my son who is moving to a bigger flat, this is because he is going to make me a granddad again! I am itching to get back out on the bass, hopefully nothing will stop me tomorrow. I went aboard Sunday evening to try the new engine (well it has only had 9hrs running) and it burst into life 1st pull. I gave it 20 minutes sea trials and everything seems great:-

I saw that a few boats had plenty of mackerel on the market last night, well over 300 kilos some of them.   

23rd August 2013. There is still plenty of mackerel about, as I was going to the back of the Island Charles was coming in with 6 boxes. I had a few casts for nothing and then tried Porthminster point, problem there was too many mackerel grabbing the bait. I managed to catch one bass there before going over to Hayle estuary, caught a few more but there was a lot of weed clogging the hooks. Next trip will probably be Monday. I have a new engine to put on over the weekend, a Mariner 6hp four stroke, my Yamaha has seen better days and will be kept as a spare.  

21st August 2013. I have been busy catching bass, Monday was best with 45 fish. Yesterday I had 16 and today I had 15. A lot of them took snakes (greater sandeel) :-

I didn't have the best of bait but using two smalls worked a few times. Had a rare ballan wrasse take an eel on Porthminster point yesterday:- 

Plenty of life out there, a huge shoal of mullet came right up to the boat yesterday:- 

Haven't had any large bass this week but they have been a good average size, the 45 I had on Monday weighed 38 kilos. There has been plenty of mackerel caught as well. 

18th August 2013. I tried the mackerel on the afternoon flood, caught half a box straight away and that was it. Then I tried the bass lures behind the Island and Porthminster point for just 2 pollack. Only one early mackerel man found some fish this morning, they had 11 boxes but 7 of them were smalls. An early start for me tomorrow and hopefully I will be able to get some live bait to go bassing all day. 

15th August 2013. Sorry for the lack of updates but my laptop died and I have been busy retrieving my pots and untangling the mess they were in. I managed to catch 12 bass on Tuesday for 10.5 kilos. The mackerel have become thin on the ground and the price has gone back up. Yesterdays prices were :- smalls 80p mediums 2.60 ish and large mediums 4.50 ish. Todays prices were much the same. (I don't have a pound sign on this backup laptop, plenty of Arabic symbols though!) I saw a shoal of at least 100 mullet over rampers rocks on Tuesday while I was waiting for bait. Looking like a good few days of calm weather next week, big tides as well so bass will be the target. 

12th August 2013. I tried mackereling on the evening flood tide, waste of time, 10 fish in 1 1/2 hrs. No one had much this morning either. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. Plan 'A' is bass angling all day with live eels. 

Update :- I mackereled for 2 hours which resulted in this :- 

About 10 kilos of mackerel and a squid. I decided to give the bass another go up the Stones. Two hours towing around and I never had a bite. It will be mackerel again tomorrow if I try anything.

11th August 2013. Well the stones was a waste of time yesterday. I did nearly 5 hours for just one bass (1.2 kilos). I have put the boat out ready for the first of the flood, think I will try the mackerel first and them maybe another go at the bass.  

10th August 2013. I went out on the ebb and tried an hours bassing with the lures. Too much seaweed in the water, the hooks were clogging up with it in no time. Going up the Stones on the flood to have a try. I will update later with how it went. 

8th August 2013. A day off today, other things to do. I might go tomorrow afternoon, it depends on how fresh the northwest wind is. Had a good look at Robert's (yoyo) 'Lucy' when I tied up alongside her on Tuesday, she makes 'Jen' look like a little punt :-  

The mackerel men were cueing up to use the crane :-

Next week is looking very calm, so should get plenty of bassing in, great news! 

7th August 2013. Had two long days with the rods. Yesterday was better than today. I managed to catch 22 sized bass. They might not be worth as much as the bulk mackerel most are catching but they are a lot easier on the back. Lots of macs again this morning:- 

Another days work for 'Athena Fay' :- 

Simon on the 'Kira' did well again with 12 boxes on his own :- 

5th August 2013. There were still plenty of mackerel out there this morning. I was told that some of the mediums sold for just 40p per kilo on the market though. There were some very keen crabbers on rampers, the tide coming in didn't stop them with their baited nets :-

Prisky the bait man is out in the morning. Hopefully he will catch some large for me to use for the day. If not, I am still confident that it will be a good day on the bass. 

4th August 2013. The mackerel men continued to fill up the market for mondays auction. Tony on the 'Belle Bettina' was waiting to float from the quay, he had 4 boxes. Alex Corin missed the boat this morning so PJ had a peaceful low water on the 'Silvery Sea', with Alex left on the quay, deep in thought? :-  

I am itching to catch some more bass and don't like bulk mackerel catching at a low price. I tried the Eddystone eels down Whoare Point for an hour without a bite. Then I tried behind the Island for a bit longer and had 2 bass. One good one and one throw back. I'm looking forward to a calm Tuesday and Wednesday so I can go where the fish are. 

3rd August 2013. Lots of mackerel around, boats waiting for the tide to come in with 500 kilos onboard. Plus Newlyn side some were in and finished by 8.30 am with over 250 kilos.  

2nd August 2013. Still in pain, back to the dentist today :( 

Todays mackerel prices were :- smalls 70p, mediums £1-00 and large mediums £1-20 to £1-60.

1st August 2013. I'm still off work. Less mackerel on the market today than yesterday but the prices were much the same at smalls 30p, mediums £1.10 and large mediums £1.60. It is the bottom of the neap tides today and tomorrow so I doubt if there is much bass close to port and there is too much wind to try the stones. There is a hint of 2 or 3 days of light winds next week and the tides will be perfect, so hoping that doesn't change. Come on August, stop being unsettled!

30th July 2013. I'm not sure how much is being caught at the moment but the mackerel prices went up this morning. They were 30p - 70p for smalls, mediums were around £1-50 and large mediums were up to    £2-70 in places. I might be able to get out there tomorrow to have a go at them.

Update :- This mornings mackerel prices were as follows -  smalls 20p, mediums £1-00 and large mediums £1-50 - £2-50.

29th July 2013. I am having some time off due to a painful swollen gum after a tooth extraction. Hopefully will be ok soon. I have heard that there were lots of mackerel to the east yesterday, with some boats having 600 kilos or more. I will try and find out the prices later. 

27th July 2013. Nick on the 'Mollie Dawn' went west for first light and had 100 kilos of mackerel and a box full of pollack. That is a good days work, especially if the pollack prices are the same as I got yesterday :-

£3.60 for 1 -2 kilo and £3.90 for 2-3 kilo ones. The bassing has gone quite slow for the last few tries. Catching one per hour on average. So I am staying home tomorrow and doing my accounts, left to the last minute as usual. Looks like we have seen the end of the light winds for a while. I expect it will be mostly mackereling next week with fresh south to southwest winds. Won't be seeing glassy sea like this again for a while :-

This was a sunfish just cruising past one of my lines last night. I love the weather we have had lately. calm seas and lots of sunshine, magic :-

Back to mucky macs and oilskins on Monday, Oh well, it was nice while it lasted. 

26th July 2013. I tried again last night with the poles but it was a bit slow going. Ended up with 5 bass and 6 pollack. There was one Newlyn boat landing loads of mackerel while I was over there. Very little pollack on the market, I heard that they went for over £3.00 per kilo, so I made a shilling or two. I will have another go tonight.

25th July 2013. Plenty of mackerel last night, I know one chap had 12 boxes. This mornings mackerel prices were - Smalls 30p, Mediums 80p, Large mediums 80p - £2.20 and Large 2.50. I tried polling for bass first thing this morning but only had one. I did have a nice bit of pollack though :-

 About 30 kilos. I am going to try and add to it on this evenings tide. If I don't finish too late I will let you know how it went later.

24th July 2013. I had a bad day yesterday. Didn't catch enough to cover the bait and the petrol! Started of at Porthminster point and had one bite that I missed. Then I moved to the back of the Island where I caught 2 bass just on the size limit and one very small one. They just weren't there like they should of been, so I steamed up to the stones for the low water and first of the flood. The fisheries came into the bay and checked on a couple of crabbers but didn't bother giving me a visit :-

I never had a bite up the Stones and the wind started freshening from the south, so I moved to just off Ceres rock (inside the Bessack rock over Godrevy) :-

There was quite a bit of weed to contend with. I fished there for an hour and a half, one bite, one bass just on the size limit again. There was a kite surfer buzzing up and down which I guess didn't help matters :- 

 Not as bad as a jet ski or a boat but I prefer no disturbances :-

I was happy to pack up at moorings time. Having a day off today and will be trying the later tide tomorrow and possibly the morning high water. Mackerel wise, some of them struggled all day to catch a couple of boxes and a few others had plenty. I think it is a case of finding the birds working and that is where the mackerel are. I am off to Newlyn to get some polls to make towing easier and more efficient.

Just found out that Tony on the 'Belle Bettina' had 100 kilos of macs last night. 

22nd July 2013. There was very little mackerel with the early birds close to home. I heard that a couple of the pollack boats found good mackerel fishing deep off, as much as 20 boxes but I'm not sure how accurate that is. There were no baiters out this morning so I gave the lures another go. I had a quick try behind the Island for nothing, so steamed up to the Stones. Two hours fishing for two small pollack and I was about to pack up and go mackereling. Don't know why but I decided to give a blue 'Eddystone Jelly' a try :-

 In less than a minute this beauty grabbed hold of it! :-

2.52 Kilos, he should be worth at least £30 to me. I now have a large slush ice bin so the bass go from the hook straight into it. The pollack are gutted alive (bit gorey for some of you maybe I know), washed and then in they go. Quality has to be the way ahead. This is a priority to an old friend that I use to fish with, that has now gone into supplying top quality sea bass and other fish. You would have to look hard to find a fresher fish from Cornwall in a London restaurant to beat Saul's. Check out his website....  www.wildharbour.co.uk  I was towing two lines so put another Eddystone Jelly on. The pollack came on the feed and I had nearly 20 kilos in an hour. No more bass though :-

Chris from Hayle was towing lures up there as well, think he had 1 bass and 1 pollack while I was there. I blamed not having live eel for the lack of bass until Tasty on the 'Few Dollars More' arrived with live eels and didn't have a fish while I was there. They just weren't there today. I took the fish out of the ice bin and they were like 'bullets' solid and so fresh, should of got one ages ago :-

Plan 'A' is to hopefully get bait in the morning and fish close to home to see what is there. 

20th July 2013. The forecast is for another fresh easterly wind tomorrow until the evening. It is still looking good from Monday on for the whole week.. I have got hold of a good sized ice bin, it will hold 140 kilos of fish. My bass will be coming off the hook and straight into slush ice from now on. Most of yesterdays fish were enjoyed tonight :- 

I can see why they fetch the money they do. Bloody delicious! After the dip in prices mid week, they went back up on Fridays market :- 

I have high hopes for this coming week, bring it on! 

19th July 2013. Update, I got bait from Prisky and went up past Godrevy with the rods. To start with all I could hook into was pollack, I had half a dozen of them. They were quiet good fish but not what I was after :-

As the tide eased off the bass started feeding and I ended up with a dozen of them. I learnt one thing today, got to have a landing net with me. I lost 3 good sized bass today,  2 of which I would of had with a landing net. It is going to be a fresh easterly tomorrow and Sunday so I think the next trip will be Monday. Shopping for new reels, line and maybe a slush ice bin in the morning. Monday and Tuesday are looking perfect, no wind at all and the tide jumping up in size. 

19th July 2013. I didn't get back from Newlyn until after 1am. I had a good day. Bass and pollack on the ebb and mackerel on the flood :-

12 kilos of pollack, 22 kilos of bass and 84 kilos of mackerel. A good end to the market week. I had one undersized bass and he was only 1/2lb, took an eel as long as him, he was obviously put back and swam of happily :-

Hopefully bassing again later today. I will be making it back in before the tide leaves the moorings at 5.30pm, so will have plenty of time to update on here this evening.   

17th July 2013. I have been fishing until late, so not had time to put much on here. One more late tide tomorrow and then I will be doing the earlier one. I had a brilliant day yesterday, 33 bass and a few pollack. The bass prices were down a bit but still a good days work. 10 kilos (0-1) at £6.80, 24 kilos (1-2) at £9.00 and 2 kilos (2-3) at £10.20. The fish were driving the feed to the surface and showing where they were :-  

 It all changed today, I did 8 hours for 8 bass. That's fishing! 

Tegen Mor is back in the harbour, now owned by Nathan de Rozarieux who has David ''Rags'' McClary, Davids boy Dan and John Lee ''Raggy'' working it. She's a nice boat :-

I haven't been near the mackerelers, but I have heard the catches are getting better. Yesterday they were having 60 to 100 kilos per man and today I think it got a bit more than that. I know one boat had a 4 box drift. If the bass let me down tomorrow, I might have to get my oilskins on for the flood and join them. I will update late tomorrow night if I get the chance.

15th July 2013. I had a long day angling for bass. Managed to find a nice few along with some pollack :- 

Tasty on 'A Few Dollars More' was having his share as well:- 

Not sure what mackerel was about today as I was up east of Godrevy most of the time. The Newlyn  boats are catching quite a lot, but a large percentage of it is small. I am going to do the same tomorrow as long as I can get the bait.  

14th July 2013. Yesterdays angling was partly scuppered by fog. I started at Porthminster point and had 3 undersized bass, a mackerel and these pollack :- 

It was a fish every cast as soon as I got there about an hour before high water. It went quiet for a while so I moved to the back of the Island. There was no tidal movement and the baits laid on the bottom resulting in this being caught first cast :-

Not the first I have caught on the rod, I put him back to grow bigger. Bass love to feed in the tide so it wasn't worth staying there, anchor up and off to the Stones. I got half way there and the fog came in 'thick as a bag'. With visibility down to 20 yards I had no choice other than to turn around and come back. I went back to Porthminster where I gave it 45 minutes for just one bite. Back to the Island and the tide was running this time and the bass were there. The fog was creeping closer but was a long way off :- 

Plenty of bites but most of the fish were tiny, I had 5 sized ones on the ebb tide. Hoping for it to be better on the flood, I anchored on the western side of the rock 'Carneverus' (not sure how you spell that). There was plenty of tide going through the gap :-

These holiday makers found out how much tide when told they were in serious danger and to paddle back to the beach. It took them half an hour of frantic paddling to travel the 100 yards with the lifegaurd standing by :-

I had another three sized bass on the flood, not as good as I hoped but that's the way it goes sometimes. The fog stayed over the eastern side of the bay, all but a thin line of it :-

I fancied going mackereling this morning but the fog had other ideas:- 

Behind the quay and out Porthmeor it was very thick. A few did go but the best of them only had half a box. I hauled my pots off Clodgy yesterday for one cock crab and a conger. I broke my favorite knife dispatching the conger, not a good result! I hope to get up the Stones tomorrow and catch some bigger fish, that's where the money is. I had £15 per kilo for the biggest.

12th July 2013. I couldn't manage 5 days in a row in that heat, took a day off and spent most of it in the shade. I did go to sea at 6pm to catch 40 macs for a big BBQ tomorrow on the harbour beach. It was hard going, after 2 hours I came in with 33 fish, that will have to do! I'll get a bass to go with them. The sea is so calm, it is like working on land. The Lifeboat was out for something today, took this picture of her coming back from the east:-

Perfect weather for the tripping boats. The water is getting warmer, even I went in for a swim the other day. I have been told that there is a few bass over Hayle Estuary, I know someone that had a 4 pounder there this week. I might have a scout around there soon. The early birds had 2 to 3 boxes a man on the macs this morning. 

11th July 2013. I managed to get up early enough to get the bass mans necessity :- 

Even with the best bait I had a slow day, but not a blank like yesterday with the lures. I only had 6 fish, 2 good ones around the 3lb mark, a couple 1/2 that size and 2 throw backs. I will try again tomorrow. I have taken a few pictures lately but not had the time or energy to post them. Here is Marcus and friend mackereling off the Island on the 'Ally Kat' (I'm looking forward to a smoked mackerel :0) :-

I'm not sure what the 'Grey Bear' is up to but she is about again :-

I would like to see a few more 'Jen' boxes looking like this :- 

I had a couple of pollack today which I put in the 2 big pots I had at Porthminster point and took them back to Clodgy point. I haven't seen a lobster for a while, will start working them now the weather is so settled. Come on you blues.

10th July 2013. Update, the early mackerel men only had one box each this morning. I was all set to have a full day bass angling again but Prisky on the bait boat finished early and I missed him, lash up! So I still went and used the artificial lures. Three hours towing them around for not one fish was enough for me. I gave up and went home out of the heat. Came back down at high tide in the evening and tried the mackerel for an hour, just three fish! The chaps that went on the flood had less than half a box. All the pollackers were in on anchor early, due to lack of fish as well. Roger Trevorrow was up early enough to get eels and caught a monster of a pollack that weighed in at 7 kilos! Plan 'A' for tomorrow is get up early enough to get bait and get back into the bass.

10th July 2013. Yesterday the early birds had 4 to 5 boxes of mackerel per man and the prices were still good. Smalls around 40p, mediums £2-50 ...ish and large mediums £3-50 but in places hit £5-30. I had another long day on the bass, caught a nice few with the biggest being 2.4 kilos, beauty! Plan to do the same today, will hopefully have time to update later.

8th July 2013. I found it, the first bass of the year!  

I broke my bass jinks and have got my teeth back into it, He was the first of quite a few :- 

 I started early and finished late but it was well worth it. Tired, sun burnt and needing to get up early to do it again. 

7th July 2013. Well things didn't quite go to plan yesterday. My girlfriend had enough time off to come out for a trip, first time for ages. I found out that there were 9 bass caught by someone at Porthminster Point Thursday evening and the 'Ammo' bait boat was out, so the rods went aboard in anticipation. Thought the bait boat would be in Porthmeor but it wasn't, managed to get through on the phone to find out they weren't baiting but out deep angling. So the bassing was called off again and we headed out for a drift on the mackerel. As soon as the lead hit the sea bed the engine started spluttering and stopped. Had the plugs out, they looked ok. Fuel seemed to be getting to it ok, she wouldn't start though. Daryl on the 'Shikari' came over to see if we were ok and offered a tow, told him to have another drift and keep an eye on us while I kept trying to start it. SS1 was heading in and also offered a tow so we took it :-

Back on the moorings I continued to try and fix the engine. I'm a logical kind of chap, don't believe in superstition (anymore). But...... I know about the ''unlucky to have a woman aboard'' one. Plus there is one that might be exclusive to me, every time someone wished me good luck on the way to go fishing, I never had a good day. As we left to go, my girlfriends cousin's last words were ''good luck'' Hmmmm.... It's a coincidence (isn't it). The good news is that I fixed the engine. A wire had corroded off. It is running better than ever. It wasn't worth going back out by that time so we called it a day. I knew that single magpie stood on my car first thing this morning was bad news! We cancelled all the bad luck out by finishing the day perfectly, sat on Porthmeor beach, watching the sunset with a cider. There is nowhere better in the world :-

5th July 2013. There were about eight of us mackereling on the afternoon tide. It was hard going. I only managed a box full, most of which were smalls. Some had a couple of boxes. Hopefully it will be better tomorrow. The pollack men were all out today, Not sure how they got on yet. The dolphins showed up again at about 2pm close to the Island. Prisky tried baiting first thing, but all he had was very small eels, no good for packing, or live baiting. Two more boats arrived from Newlyn today, 'Mark and James' and 'Boy Brax'. With there being no macs in Newlyn, this mornings prices might of tempted them around. They were :- smalls up to £1.70! mediums up to £3.30 in places and large mediums a staggering ....£6.20 in places.

Happy Birthday to my boy Dan, 24 today! xxxxx.

4th July 2013. Robert Yo launched the new boat today, all seems well and it won't be long until Johnny and him will be out there with the other pollack men :- 

I don't know much about her yet (SS4). Not sure what she is called, I know it has 2 x 20hp Yamaha outboards. I'm sure there will be more about her soon. As normal if I don't go the others have a bit of fish. One to three boxes per man today :- 

They weren't bad sized fish :- 

Boy Stuart helping Trevor out, he also rescued John boys boat  'Janet Ann' this morning. She had parted out an outside mooring and was drifting away across the bay. Work together, help each other, that's what it all about. I better get my backside out there tomorrow, well summer starts and is going to last at least 2 weeks. Maybe..... 

P.S. There was only about a dozen boxes of mackerel on the market this morning, mediums went up to £3.00 and large mediums were £3.60.

3rd July 2013. I heard that Lewis Stevens had a few boxes of macs yesterday morning early. No one had much today, counting the fish (on one hand some of us) not the boxes. It was dead when I went and had two drifts, one mackerel and half a dozen sandeels. I cut the mackerel in half and put it in the two pots I have on the Eastern Carracks (Porthminster Point). Only one good sized brown crab worth keeping. I discovered how delicious home smoked mackerel is yesterday. Marcus on the 'Ally Kat' gave me a sample of his freshly smoked fillets with a hint of bourbon, I loved it so much I am going to get myself a smoker. Nice one Marcus!

* there has been a few sightings of mullet in the harbour * hopefully there are a few bass about as well, they do tend to arrive at the same time.  

2nd July 2013. With it being wet, windy and very few fish about, I decided to wait until tomorrow to give the mackerel another try. Market prices today were  smalls 30 - 80p, mediums - steady around the £1-20 mark and large mediums £3-60 and at times touched £4-00.    

1st July 2013. I did a couple of hours mackereling on the flood for half a box. It felt like the fish were there but not keen to feed. Maybe as the tide gets bigger it will get better. Took a look at the pots and there is only one end showing out of four. Might of lost a string of 9 so will need to take a look on a low water to see if they are there. Hopefully they will show up somewhere. Will try the mackerel again tomorrow. Apparently this mornings prices started at smalls 50p, mediums £1-20 and large mediums 1-80. Then as they got towards Saturday's fish...smalls 50 - 80p, mediums £1-60 - £2-40 and large mediums ...anything up to     £3-60! They paid a better price for the older fish, does that make sense to anyone? There is a fresh south southwesterly tomorrow, then a couple of days of moderate westerlies, followed by very light winds from Friday onwards. 

30th June 2013. Well I did 2 hours on the ebb for a dozen mackerel, so dropped anchor and went home for a few hours. Went back out for another 2 hours on the flood and ended up with this poor result :- 

The herring were a good size. A few boats fished the low water down Seal Island and had about 2 boxes per man. John on the 'Sandpiper' fished Porthmeor from the fleeting and some of the ebb for 25 to 30 kilos of good sized macs. I will be doing that tide tomorrow. There are quite a lot of jellyfish about, saw 3 types today. These guys were a bit close to the rocks I thought, don't want to scratch those canoes :-

I guess they only draw a few inches of water. The pots are well overdue so if the mackereling is dead tomorrow I will have a haul. 

29th June 2013. Back to sea tomorrow afternoon. I will be mackereling over the low water until tide back in at 9pm. Yesterdays mackerel prices were much the same with mediums around the £1.20 mark. Hopefully I will update with some interesting info late tomorrow night.

27th June 2013. Update, I know that there was a nice bit of fish on the morning tide, David Basset had nearly 100 kilos. Hopefully I will be back in action on Sunday. Mackerel prices this morning were :-  smalls 30p, mediums £1.20 ish and large mediums £1.60 - £2.30

27th June 2013. I heard that the best of the mackereling yesterday was by the midday low water men, not much before or after. I have begrudgingly decided to sell my bait net, it is a beast! It will be a bargain for what it is.Some more detail here.

26th June 2013. I started back at work a bit too soon. Need a couple more days off. I haven't been down the harbour today but did find out this mornings mackerel prices.  smalls 30p - 80p, mediums around the £1.20 - £1.50 mark and Large mediums £1.80 - £2.70.

25th June 2013. There was a bit of mackerel last night, up to 3 boxes. Not so much this morning, about a box per man. I got my rods and reels ready but missed the bait men. So I tried trolling an Eddystone eel and a sidewinder. Lots of weed in the water at the back of the Island and no fish, so I went down Whore Point :-

Exactly the same down there, weed and no fish. Another quick try at the Island again on the way back up produced nothing as well. Would of went mackereling but the back isn't quite right yet. I left the boat on anchor and put it away this evening. The pollack men are doing nicely, catching boxes of them ;-

Some good sized fish for Rob and Simon :-

24th June 2013. My back is on the mend, managed to get down the quay today and check Jen and my punt. My old mooring neighbour ''Brissons'' is back in the harbour :-

Owner Richard is over from France for a month or two, hoping to have the best of the fishing weather and catches. Big tide today and the sea has calmed down nicely :- 

I think the water is still a bit murky, a few boats tried mackereling this morning but one box is the best any of them did. There wasn't much mackerel on the market this morning but the price didn't reflect that. Smalls 30-40p, mediums £1-20 and large mediums £2-30 ish. I have heard that the Newlyn boats started catching this morning, think this is true as there was a group of them just Newlyn side of Mousehole Island, they wouldn't all be there for nothing. 

I'm not sure how sustainable this set up of hook and line fishing is but it is  impressive :- 

21st June 2013. There was a lot of fish on the market this morning, mackerel prices were just about the lowest they have been for the year: smalls were 30p to 50p, mediums were 80p to £1.50 and large mediums £1.50 to £2.50. Plenty of ground swell coming, peaking early Sunday morning with 35 mph winds. Then it settles down to a west northwest light to moderate breeze all next week. Couldn't reach to put my socks on today with my backache,but should be ok in a couple of days. 

20th June 2013. Yesterdays gardening effort has messed my back up, sat here waiting for the tablets to work, grrrr. I will still be posting what info I can get hold of. Today's mackerel prices were smalls 40p, mediums £1.20 ish and large mediums £2.80 to £3.30. Looking calm enough for the pollackers out there today, I know Chris on the 'Peter Pan' did well a couple of days ago with about 300 kilos, very nice!

19th June 2013. Update: Very little fish about on this coast and there has been large amounts caught by some of the Newlyn boats, 300 to 400 kilos per man yesterday. So I canceled mackereling today and will be trying the bass tomorrow. Medium macs went down to £1.20 per kilo which is ok if you are catching plenty but they aren't here yet. Tesco will still be charging £5 per kilo I expect, even when they start turning a bit brown like these ones :-

Yuck. Here are a couple more pictures of the dolphins yesterday:-  

They were playing right inside Clodgy Point :- 

A quick glance at the long range forecast looks like after a very windy weekend, next week will be settled with light westerlies. That with the big spring tide will hopefully bring plenty of fish with it. Looks like a bass week to me, got to break my duck, three trips without catching one so far.

19th June 2013. Been busy, will update in full later, headlines are :- not much fish over the high water, the late low water down west is producing and there are dolphins everywhere :- 

17th June 2013. One more day resting my back. I have heard from one boat that is mackereling down the Carricks (Seal Island) this morning and they are catching nothing. Apparently there are doldhins all over the place, they tend to kill the fishing when about. I don't think there was much about last night, I know Charles went, but all he had was bad luck when one of the hooks found a home in his middle finger, ouch :- 

Very little fish about all around the coast, I have been reliably informed that the market was all over in 20 minutes this morning. There was a bit of mackerel sold that went  £3.30 for mediums and £5.30 for large mediums. 

16th June 2013. I'm enjoying a whole weekend off, not much fish out there, the tides are not good, it's raining, flu meds stopped to reveal back ache, so I don't feel guilty doing nothing. The forecast is changing a few times everyday. At the moment tomorrow is easterly going northerly, but a workable strength. Tuesday looks the best day of the week, mostly light from the southern quarter. I wont go into further detail as it is changing all the time. Nearly the longest day of the year and the weather hasn't settled. This planet is in trouble folkes, but we all know that. Bailed punt and boat out, time to bleach 'Jen' again :-

No matter how bad things are, always remember that there is someone worse off than you, this applies to boat bums as well... 'Jen' looks clean shaved compared to this one :- 

When you have been fishing for a long time, you know when it's not worth trying. (90% of the time you are right) looking over the quay today, it just looks empty, bleak, lifeless :-

No plan 'A' yet, will look over the quay wall tomorrow.  

Update :- Another 18ft Plymouth Pilot for sale on the forum, it is a good time to buy, just as the mackerel catches are getting better.  

15th June 213. There has been two more boats for sale added to the forum, plus nets, ropes etc. Click here if interested. 

I'm still feeling like the sea, rough, so no fishing for me today. I know of 4 boats that went mackereling this morning, 2 had nothing, one had 1/2 a box and the other had a box. So I'm not missing much. Time to tie up some more feathers. The forecast is for a fresh southeasterly tomorrow, they are normally stronger than what is given. Monday is looking a lot better with a light east going northeast. But it is the dead of the neaps (small, slow moving tide) so the fishing might be the same, slow! 

14th June 2013. Boat for sale added to the 'Have your say' page.  

The talented Em Cooper who made my video clip for 'A taste of St Ives' has been working on a film for the last year called 'Kiss the Water'. Here is a description of it :-

A rich documentary inspired by the life and work of Megan Boyd, a legendary Scottish maker of salmon flies. Filled with tributes and recollections from those who knew this solitary and enigmatic woman, this elegiac film draws further inspiration from the colours and textures of Boyd’s handmade, featheradorned flies. The film also takes off into flights of expressive fantasy, courtesy of Em Cooper’s oil-painted animation.

And here is a short clip:-

14th June2013. There were a few out this morning but I don't know what they had yet. Last night was great, I managed another 5 boxes and the run of fish was very good. My mediums were up a bit in price and the large mediums down a bit from yesterday. I had 16k smalls at £1.00, 69k mediums at £1.70, 39k large mediums at £3.50 and 4k large at £4.40. I have been fighting flu like symptoms for a week now and they are winning today, so plan 'A' is to start again tomorrow. Not much other news, it is mostly mackereling at the moment. Too windy for much else. Boy Stuart and myself going back up for another drift, oilskin top conditions:- 

13th June 2013. The early birds had 3 boxes per man yesterday morning and this morning. I did well lastnight and managed to catch 6 boxes. 38 kilo's were large mediums that fetched £4.10, 92 kilos of mediums at £1.40 and 20 kilos of small at £1.00. Off out to catch some more tonight.

12th June 2013. The fish weren't there yesterday on the flood. I gave it a good few hours for just half a box. I think the early birds had fish this morning, will find out later. I am going to try the evening tide. 

11th June 2013. Had a quick try on the ebb this morning but only had 2 fish. I have left the boat out on anchor so I can start again at low water. Yesterdays fish grossed £209. Small 40p, mediums £2.50 and large mediums were £4.40. 

10th June 2013. Update number two : I got back out and started fishing at 3pm. There was a bit of fish out porthmeor as soon as I got there (wish I had floated sooner), I fished until 6pm and ended up with 71 kilos. It was a good run of fish, 3k small, 48k (good) mediums and 20k large mediums. Some of the Newlyn boats are having 3 or 4 boxes each but 2/3 are small with the rest mediums. I plan to do much the same tomorrow. 

Update number one : I fished the ebb at the corner of the Island for 1 1/2 hours which resulted in this :-  

There was a fresh southeast wind which didn't help the fishing. I don't think the early birds had much fish, I know 'Dream Catcher' only had 10 kilos. I have beached the boat and hope that there will be better fishing on the flood tide. Just been told that this mornings mackerel prices were roughly the following :-  50p for smalls, £1.80 for mediums and £5.00 for large mediums.

10th June 2013. With it being so calm yesterday I had to give something a try. As I was about to come off the moorings, Matthew Lander was on his way in on the 'Sea Otter' :-  

It's great to see the youngsters learning about boats and fishing. Matt had caught a bucket full of mackerel on the rod, so I decided to get the mackerel gear out rather than the bass lines. First drift I had 22 fish, then I hung around the Island because there were a lot of eels in the water. Didn't pay off as I only caught a couple more fish for at least half an hour. I went back up to 'Scuddy Main' (middle of porthmoeor) where John on the 'Sandpiper' who started about the same time had 20 kilos. I kept at it until just after high tide for a total of 19 kilos. The plan is to do low water. Put some hours in and make a good wage hopefully. I will update you later if I get the time.   

9th June 2013. I had an hour on the beach yesterday and as I got there Boy Stuart was just going mackereling on the ebb tide. As I was leaving he came back in and straight onto his moorings. So I assume the fishing is still as bad as it was on Friday. I went to 'The Rum and Crab Shack' on the harbour front after the beach and the food was realy good, the rum was even better! I highly recommend it. I don't like being ashore too long so I might have to go and give it a try later today. Towing the bass lines might be worth a go, but there is a lot weed in the water lately which tends to clog the hooks. The wind is going to swing around and become southerly for a couple of days, I hope that improves the fishing. Where are all the mackerel? There should be plenty here by now. Have they been caught already? Let us know what you think HERE.    

8th June 2013. I have sorted out the ''Have your say'' page. We have a forum there now so take a look and feel free to use it anytime. I will inform people when a subject arises and hopefully there will be some good debates. 

On the way out yesterday, this vessel was anchored just off 'Rampers' buoy :-    

I think that's an Irish flag, but is 'Thalassa Terneuzen' an Irish name? 

Plenty of living space aboard her. Normally seeing mackerel all day puts me off eating them, but having only caught 7 yesterday I quite fancied them :-  

Just a bit of sea salt is all they need.

They were really good, I should eat them more often. 

7th June 2013. Update: I did the pots and tried the mackerel, both were a waste of time. 7 macs for half an hour and just a couple of sized spiders. I think my crab storebag has had pots put over it, maybe it was going under a bit with the weight in it. Hopefully I will be able to find it next time I'm out over low water. It looks like a day of overdue gardening tomorrow, great fun!   

NOTICE :- I have had lots of feedback on how useful and interesting this website is and that is exactly what I want it to be. I don't want to upset anyone, so if you are a fisherman/boat owner or fish merchant that doesn't want any mention on my website, please text or call me on 07875820448. Thanks, Simon.

7th June 2013. Mackereling was really slow yesterday, 4 hours for 10k. 3 large mediums and 7 mediums. It was that boring I stopped half way and hauled the 2 big pots off Clodgy that had been there 4 nights. One was totally empty and the other only had 2 small velvet crabs in it. Hmmm, I have had better days! I am going to haul the pots in the bay this afternoon and maybe try for bass after. 

5th June 2013. Update: The Newlyn boats had mackerel this morning, some up around the 100 kilo mark. I did 5 1/2 hours for 27k mediums, 9k large mediums plus 12 kilos of small that went for bait :- 

It was hard work but the trend is going in the right direction. Monday 25k, Tuesday 41k and today 48k. I will let you know the next number in the sequence tomorrow night. 

5th June 2013. Yesterday I mackereled from 10am to 5pm for 41 kilos, thats slow fishing. The self-drive patrol boat and a self drive were angling in my favorite bass spot on my way out :-

The early birds didn't have good fishing either, a couple had 60 kilos before I got out there, some had only 10 kilos. The two Chris's on the 'Lady Jacqueline' had about 30 kilos from 5am to 10am, but they still managed a smile for the camera :- 

Nice to see this appearing from the west :- 

Stavros S Niarchos. She is a fine vessel :- 

She is used for training.

 Available to12 -80 year-olds. Suitable for both beginners and experienced sailors. The largest Brig built in Britain for over a century. The rigging comprises nearly nine miles of wire and rope. Carries enough fuel to drive a small car around the world ten times. 50 times more computer power than the Apollo 10 space craft!

More statistics and info - here if you are interested.

Back to the fishing, 'Sea Maiden' from Hayle must be working well west on the pollack as they landed by boat lastnight :-

They had a brilliant catch of quality pollack, I got 'Tasty' to pose for the camera :-

Nice to see hard work, brains and skill rewarded. Quite a bit of fish in the fridge for this mornings market, but not too much to lower prices. I'm going to fish for macs again when I float at about 1pm. I will update tonight how it went if I have time.

I'm going to fish for macs again when I float at about 1pm. I will update tonight how it went if I have time.

3rd June 2013. I got out to Porthmeor as soon as 'Jen' floated, John Boy was catching as I went past :- 

Stringing them in :- 

Like me he prefers to work the loop by hand, rather than gurdy and stripper set up :-

Johny was at sea before he even knew it, He had a cradle swinging around in his parents wheelhouse I was told :- 

If you are going to have a long trip in this weather then ice is a must, better still if it is slush ice bins. Johny had his going into them alive :- 

I started catching straight away, which was nice. But the first couple of drifts were the best and after that it slowed right down. I had about 18 kilos out Porthmeor for 2 hours and then came in by the Island. There were a few anglers trying to catch them from below the lookout, I saw one of them catch one :-

It was slow going on the ebb, I caught another 7 kilos for 2 more hours effort. The best fishing was early in the flood so plan 'A' for tomorrow is to go on the first of the flood at 8.30am. So I have left the boat out on anchor. I took my box full to Newlyn, as I got there 'Ajax' the top hake boat was landing. Nearly all the big boats were at sea, not many left in port :-

Some of the pollack men landed 130 kilos. Stuart on 'Little Christina' showed me a huge lobster as he steamed past and he had a nice few rays as well. Gary on 'Bethshan' tried the stones today and had one bass. I have high hopes for tomorrow, bit bigger tide and earlier start should be ok. I'll let you know how it goes.

Mike (Suzie) was landing his and Johny's fish, they had nice amount :- 

2nd June 2013. I was tempted to try the bass fishing at the back of the Island because Prisky was in Porthmeor catching eels. I was only fishing for 20 minutes and I saw 2 boats deeper off have 2 strings of mackerel each. I didn't have a bite so I packed up the rod and went out to mackerel. I couldn't catch them, had about 15 fish in an hour. I went and got the last string of pots from the stones and put it in the bay near the other string. Then I moved the 2 big pots from Porthminster point to Clodgy. Quite a few dolphins followed me :- 

One little calf was bow jumping :- 

Now the pots are where I want them, and I got trying the bass out of my system, I am going to concentrate on catching mackerel tomorrow. Quite a few of the boats are pollacking this week with it being calm so prices should stay good for macs.