MANX BOAT FISHING 19TH APRIL 2015

The wind although coming from the North East was not strong enough to prevent the 1st Sunday competition run by MBF to take place today.
First on the agenda was a good cooked breakfast at the Railway station hall in Douglas which was as usual excellent. The format for the day was 10 species drawn out of the hat which all had to be 20cms or above to count. There were also two Pool Fish which were Cod & Whiting whose combined weight would determine the winner should there be a draw in the number of species caught.
However if you caught a Cod or Whiting of 20cms then this would count towards your species tally, all Pool Fish brought back to the scales must be of legal size.
Today saw some new blood in the form of the Partridge Brothers making their debut in MBF comps with their boat Samantha, nice to see you boys and hope that you enjoyed yourself.
Booking in took place at the Douglas yacht Club at just after 9 am and as soon as the flap gate went down we were off. Ten species to be caught and every one was excited at the prospect of a hard days fishing because it is so early in the season on the Isle of Man for boat fishing.
All boats set off and with no restrictions or boundries scattered to marks of their choice. I fishing on Kirsty 111 with Michael Emery along with Mikey and his son Stanlee Cooper stopped in the middle of Douglas Bay and with my 1st t this juncture they were close in at Port St Mary trying unsuccessfully for a Dab , but soon moved off back towards Douglas in search of a Dog Fish to maintain their lead in the comp.
We heard nothing from either Trampie or Samantha during the comp but as with us all they struggled to obtain half of the required fish.
Kirsty 111 tried their luck at the Wart Bank mark the same as Merit1 for a Dab but to no avail. Both of these boats headed for Port Grannaugh insearch of Dogs Fish and Wrasse in the form of Ballan and Cuckoo. Both boats caught Dog Fish but not a lot else. Time was up and so it was back to Douglas for the weigh –in.
At the scales it was Merit 1 who had the heaviest Cod with one weighing in at 2lb.15.375ozs, with Trampie 2nd with a Codling of 2lb.10.125 ozs. The heaviest Whiting was a fish of 10.75ozs caught on Kirsty 111 by Skip Emmo.
The final scores were:
10 Species drawn:
1st Merit 1 6 species: BALLAN WRASSE, COALFISH, COD, DOG FISH, POLLACK & WHITING
2 Kirsty 111 5 species: COALFISH, COD, DOG FISH, POLLACK & WHITING

3RD TRAMPIE 4 Species: COALFISH, CODLING, POLLACK & WHITING.
The next comp is scheduled for Sunday 24th May, FISHING 9AM TIL 5PM , H/W 16:20. I HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL THEN .