Gallery 2008   Gallery 2007    Gallery 2006   Gallery 2005

 'Good Fish' pictures and stories

December 2005

Andy Niven with the best Cod at 18lb caught on this years Ashlett SAC knockout Boat Final fished on Due South. Andy caught this one on a specially developed Conoflex Trilogy with a unique 30lb tip section. It coped well with the average tide, so well in fact I may get one next. Geoff Wheeler looks on, expecting to get one for himself, happy days.

November 2005

This is cracking Undulate Ray caught by Steve Davies on Due South. The specimen Undulate pushed the scales down to 17lb 12ozs, then Steve slipped her back over the side to fight another day, a future potential record? Who knows. Interestingly it was tempted by baited feathers primarily set up for Whiting. Just goes to show what colour and movement does for a skate! A heavy hook in a flat bait hard on the sea bed may not be as visible to them.

October 2005

British Record Boat Sole Claim - 4lb 6oz
Dink Lemoignan the Chairman of Ashlett SAC is claiming a new British Record Boat caught Sole! He caught the monster Sole on Tuesday 18th October on a very wet and miserable night, when others had a look and decided not to go. His record fish is thoroughly deserved as competition for the best Sole has been hotly contested by the Ashlett SAC boat anglers. It was hoped that it would culminate in the British Record, as predicted by me, and it has. If you don't believe me look at the Ashlett Newsletter for October! Well done to Dink. Thanks must also go to the 'nearly men' Gary Withers and Dave Masterman for 'raising the bar' as they say. They have both been getting into the Monster Sole with 5 fish well over 3lb. The next best Sole to Dink's record, so far, that I am aware of, was caught by Gary Withers at 3lb 11.75oz in the same hot spot. As they 'raised the bar' Dink became more determined. Dink's previous best was the Ashlett Club record that stood for most of the last 2 years. It was a good Sole of 3lb 8.5oz. Then this year he had another good one of 3lb 1.5oz during the Great Monster Sole race. It is the icing on the cake as there are many very respectable Sole that are being captured up and down our coastline.

September 2005

Just to prove it was not luck, Dink, as we all were, was tracking the Big Sole he finally caught in October for weeks. In fact he was the record holder for Ashlett with a good 3lb 8.5 oz Sole caught just 2 years ago. This one went 3lb 1.5ozs.

August 2005

Roger Williams of Ashlett SAC has caught a massive 53lb 8oz Stingray. Roger was fishing from his own boat in 11’ of water just off Lepe. It is the first fish he has weighed ashore for years with the last being another Ashlett club record Greater Weaver. In this instance he wanted to know exactly how big the Stinger weighed as he could see it was probably over 45lb. After fighting the big Stinger on matched tackle it was alongside the boat in 10 minutes and ready for release. Normally this would be a quick snip of the trace tight to the hook (on such a large fish) but fishing on his own Roger knew that no one would believe just how big it was and having no camera with him, he decided to boat the monster Stinger. Once boated he rang around to try to get some club scales to the Quay but being a Wednesday, the three club official weigh-in officers were unavailable. The fish was caught on a strip of frozen mackerel during a short session while waiting for crab pots to fill on a hot and sultry day which ended with thunder and lightening sparking off all around the area. Roger was surprised how big it went as it easily beat Tim Parvins record of 47lb 8oz from 1974. It is also a potential new Wessex Record, beating Nigel Bakers fish of 51lb. All these fish were caught in the same area. It is a credit to all the local anglers that have returned the majority of Stingray over the last 15 or so years. It is due to the local clubs and the standard bearers of those local clubs that have allowed Stingers of this quality back in our waters again.

July 2005

Sometimes it all goes right and as you can see Sarah has found one of this years large Black Bream on a very nice day while fishing on our Boat Sundowner over Christchurch Ledge. In all she boated about 10 Black Bream while I had more but not such big fish too. Luckily a long trace with a strip of cuttle also attracted three Bass. The biggest Bass went 9lb 4oz.

June 2005

Local Tackle Dealer Alan Shergold with one of those big Smoothounds. This 'Hound' went 22lb 4ozs and could be the fish of a lifetime but there are reports of bigger Hounds about - or is it the same fish going round the fishy grapevine? Congratulations to Alan as hooking one of these things is not always the hard bit, landing them can be more difficult.

May 2005

We had to go to Alderney for this type of fish. Gary Withers shows the best Flatfish of our 5 day Alderney trip on Arthur Savages Charter Boat, 'Private Venture', a brilliant South Cat 32. For the full story click here.

April 2005

Another good fish, a 26lb Blonde Ray, is just about to be slipped back into the sea. This BAT SAC member, I apologise for loosing the name, was photographed by Pat Warne on a good day in April. They were not inundated with fish but this Blonde Ray as did most of the others that came from the stern of Dakala Mist, out from Langstone, fell to a trout bait!

February 2005

Pat Warne of the BAT Fishing Club with an out of season 16lb Hound.  This fish was caught on Dakala Mist, skippered by Steve Guyan, after they moved in off the wrecks to an inshore bank. Dalka Mist is a big fast comfortable boat that runs from Langstone Harbour.

January 2005

John Bellamy, Chairman of the BAT Fishing Club with a Good Bass of 13.5lb caught on Dakala Mist, skippered by Steve Guyan. Dakala Mist is a big fast comfortable boat that runs out from Langstone Harbour.