The most recent trip out fishing was with my good mate Michael Emery on his 28ft Aquafish boat "Coastal Rider" along with Ex Marlin World champion Edwin Jones who came along for ballast, only joking Ed.

We started off catching bait of Mackerel and launce although some frozen baits had been brought along in the form of Sandeels and Mackerel. The comp for the round £ was a species hunt which only begun at the 1st fishing mark 6 miles from Douglas harbour. The tackle used here varied from small shrimp lures and day light feathers with scratchy rigs and a big bait pennels in the hope of a Tope or spur dog.
Fishing was steady with all three of us catching whiting dabs red and grey gurnards with both Michael and I catching a Spur Dog. Michael the went back to fishing a small shrimp rig which produced 3 species in one drop which included 7 1/2 lb Thornback Ray, you cant master luck like that you have to be born with it eh Michael. This mark has to be fish best 1hr both side of high water to give the best results which also included Dog Fish and Haddock but only up to about 1 1/2lb so all were returned to fight another day. With the time up on this mark the anchor was lifted and we were off for a spot of wreck fishing and all to play for in the race for the round £.

Pink Goblin lures were put on the three rods on route to the wreck and baited with Mackerel ready for the final fight to the finish with Michael at this point in the lead with 8 species to my 6 and Edwin bring up the rear with 5. The wreck at the beginning did not produce the Pollack that Michael was hoping for but the Pouting were jumping on the bait, fishing here was done on the drift, Michael did bring a small Ling to the surface but it popped off the hook a so did not improve his tally for the day. He did eventually catch 1 Pollack to take his tally to 10 which meant that I had to catch 4 to draw and 5 to win , sadly I could only manage 3 in the form of Pollack, Coal Fish and Pouting to finish with 9 species. Edwin just sat back during this point watching Michael and I battle for the bragging rights and the £.

Time caught up with us for this 4 hr session and so as Michael headed back to Douglas I cleaned the deck down and we all then enjoyed a cold drink on the way back to port .

So to the winner
1St Michael with 10 species
2nd Myself with 9 species
3rd Edwin with 7 species

The total number of species caught on the day was 14 but the bait fish of Mackie and launce along with a couple of Poor Cod were not included in the comp. So the species list total for the session are as follows:

LAUNCE, MACKEREL,THORNBACK RAY,SPURDOGS,DOG FISH, RED GURNARDS, GREY GURNARDS,WHITING, DABS,POLLACK, COAL FISH,HADDOCK,POUTING and POOR COD.

A big thank you to Michael for the invite and to Edwin for his great company and stories which always have you in stitches although he cannot take a photo to save his life as you will see.
here are just a couple of photos:
Michael with his Thorny


Bacon and Egg baps


Ex Marlin World champion Edwin Jones enjoying the sun


don't let Edwin take a photo


Regards Jamie