[monktonlad]

Hi everyone,

as it was still brilliant weather my partner Corrie and I decided to take the inflatable out again so we headed down to Minnis Bay, Birchington.

I had already phoned Whopper to see how they were doing off Herne Bay in cascars boat, but they were too far away from where we were to go and see them.

When we arrived at the seafront it was packed with nowhere to park or unload near the slipway so we drove along towards Margate and stopped at Westgate bay.

We parked almost next to the slipway and unloaded everything and set up. There was a guy and his family who had just set up their new inflatable, so I asked if they were going fishing. He said they had only just got the boat so decided to try everything out to get the hang of it before they did any fishing. Good idea I thought.

Anyway we launched about 13:15 and headed out towards Margate sand and anchored in the South channel with the fishfinder showing 38ft of water.

It wasn't long before Corrie had the first fish, a small whiting, followed by another and another. In fact she had loads of them before I even had a bite!
My first one was a doggie of spot on 2lb caught on frozen sandeel.

Corrie continued to catch whiting on squid or sandeel (they weren't fussy) before she managed her first doggie of the day.

Not a huge one but it made her happy

We had a few bites over slack water then just after the tide had turned I caught this thornback, and this time we had the scales with us. It went smack bang on 9lb and was certainly not as heavy as the one I had on Friday.

I had just returned it when Corrie caught her personal best and that went 9lb exactly too.

This made her very happy for the rest of the trip and she went on to catch more doggies and whiting and so did I.

You can see from the pictures just how flat the sea was and if it's the same we will be out again tomorrow and if we blank then, we will at least have a nice tan.

Malcolm.

 

[Why Worry Angling Charters]

You two are getting experts at this roker lark!....Just imagine how many corrie will get when she gets that big boat!!...Well done to the 2 of you and great to see that the fish just keep coming your way....Thats a cracking fish corrie has there too.

Ron

 

[thornbackflounder]

nice one again,,,,if weather is good i will be down plumb pudding island,,,just to have a little poodle out,,,i might take a rod,,,,i m not going to far out , i dont pick me engine up till next week,,,,so only got the oars,,,shame really ive got everything ,except the outboard,,,doh,,,,i notice in the pictures you are wearing waders,,,monday lidls are doing wader like to the waist but in stead of wellies, soft feet like design lilke a water proof sock,i suppose, if i can get me rubber beach shoues on as well ,should be more comftable ,,and only a fiver

 

[monktonlad]

nice one again,,,,if weather is good i will be down plumb pudding island,,,just to have a little poodle out,,,i might take a rod,,,,i m not going to far out , i dont pick me engine up till next week,,,,so only got the oars,,,shame really ive got everything ,except the outboard,,,doh,,,,i notice in the pictures you are wearing waders,,,monday lidls are doing wader like to the waist but in stead of wellies, soft feet like design lilke a water proof sock,i suppose, if i can get me rubber beach shoues on as well ,should be more comftable ,,and only a fiver

Hi mate if I were you I wouldn't bother going all the way to Plum Pudding...

It's a bit of a walk with all the gear so why not just try the dinghy out from the slipway at Minnis and go a hundred or so yards out and to the left of the slipway to get out of the way of the sailing dinghies.
Bear in mind that if the weather is like it was today it will be packed.
That is why we went to Westgate, hardly anyone on the beach and no sailing dinghies, and parked almost next to the slipway.

Not sure on the quality of Lidls waders... Probably ok for very light use.

We did get one of those bivvys last time they had them and it is great for what it cost (8 quid).

Malcolm.

 

[Cascars]

If you are going to take yours out without an engine thornback make sure you only go at slack water. The tide can go at a fair old rate down there. We were drifting at almost 4 kts today while retrieving the anchor. You would have to be Superman to row that fast

 

[thornbackflounder]

MANY THANKS TERRY, yeh only gonna go 300 yrds or less EVEN WITH AN OUT BORAD ,I THINK BEST TO BE CLOSE IN AND OUT OF A TIDE PULL, ENGINE COULD PACK UP AT ANYTIME SO DON T WANNA BE BATTLING TO GET BACK IN,,,,MALCOLM ,WHAT TIME YOU DOWN THERE MATE,,,,,,,,WILL TRY WEST GATE,,,BUT CANT GO TO FAR AS YOU KNOW,,,HOPE ME MATE CAN FIND THE WAY THO

 

[whopper]

Yesterday really was a lovely day i think for all concerned. Good fishing , good weather and calm seas. Well done Malcolm and corrie, those thornbacks are quality. Good luck today if you go out.

Ive de-winged my thornback which took me ages as the skin is a nightmare to strip off. I used a strong pair of pliars in the end and my filleting knife!

Have fun!

 

[Cascars]

Yesterday really was a lovely day i think for all concerned. Good fishing , good weather and calm seas. Well done Malcolm and corrie, those thornbacks are quality. Good luck today if you go out.

Ive de-winged my thornback which took me ages as the skin is a nightmare to strip off. I used a strong pair of pliars in the end and my filleting knife!

Have fun!

Ha Ha, Now you know why I wont keep them . I ripped my hands to shreds trying to skin one before. Funnily enough Ray also said he wont be keeping any in future.
I just wish I could be out again today doing some wrecking but unfortunately have to work:yucky: .

 

[whopper]

Ha Ha, Now you know why I wont keep them . I ripped my hands to shreds trying to skin one before. Funnily enough Ray also said he wont be keeping any in future.
I just wish I could be out again today doing some wrecking but unfortunately have to work:yucky: .

I just said that to my mrs. She looked at me with that "look" so i shut up

 

[monktonlad]

Well as promised the weather was still amazing so off we went with the dinghy (I left it in the van but not the outboard) and arrived at Westgate again about 11:30.

By the time we had set everything up, the tide was on the way in, and with the home made transome wheels it was quite easy to drag it the 150 yards across the sand to the water.
The beach was almost empty although there was a speedboat paddling his way back in. He wasn't very far from the beach (about 50 yards) so I didn't stop as they seemed ok and under control. Had they been further out that would have been a different matter.

We headed out over a flat calm sea into the south channel just to the west of the se Margate buoy. This put us just under a mile out and past the speedboats and jetskis.

We dropped anchor in 35ft of water and started fishing.
Corrie was the first to catch, in fact she continued to be the only one catching for at least the first hour. she had loads of whiting and two doggies, both went exactly 2lb but the whiting were all under the pound mark.
Eventually after only catching the sun, I managed a small whiting.

We decided to move further west and slightly more inshore and fished off Epple Bay for the remainder of the trip.

This resulted in me catching 4 more small whiting and Corrie catching I don't know how many... I lost count.

Corrie was using squid or mackerel (whatever took her fancy when she came to bait up) and I was using sandeel, squid and mackerel, changing bait if I wasn't catching on it.

With Corrie looking a bit like a lobster we finally came back in around 17:45.

That was the end of 3 days holiday fishing that has seen us both get our personal best thornbacks.

Oh well back to the real world.. sometime this week I have to lay 26 cubic metres of concrete.. D'Oh!

Malcolm.

 

[Cascars]

Another good report even if the bigger fish would not play today. It seems your boat fishing has got off to a good start. I guess a bigger boat will soon be on the shopping list but with the other half on side it certainly helps.

 

[Glenn+son]

That sound's bloody fantastic well done to both of you ..Those thornie's look cracking i would luv to catch one like that ...

By the way are you standing up in one of those shots (quite stable then )??

Again well done (i might packin beach fishin an get a dingie meself :clap2: )..........

Glenn+Son....

 

[monktonlad]

Another good report even if the bigger fish would not play today. It seems your boat fishing has got off to a good start. I guess a bigger boat will soon be on the shopping list but with the other half on side it certainly helps.

Thanks Terry.

I hadn't been boat fishing for years, late 70's early 80's was probably the last time. I remember the last trip I had with a guy out of Sandwich, fishing a comp between Grove Ferry boat club and Sandwich. Just the two of us on his boat not far out of the river towards Sandwich Bay. I hooked a huge cod that wouldn't fit in the net. The guy went to get his gaff and while he did my hook straightened and I watched with horror as it swam away.. It was easily 20lb!!

The idea of us getting the dinghy was to just go out on really nice days (like we had all weekend) and maybe fish just off the rock marks for bass or off the beach at Deal or Hythe for the mackerel when they come in. No problems with towing or finding a launch site, just put it in the car, drag it down the beach and away.

Now she has got the bug and wants to do more boat fishing. Also her sister out in Texas phoned the other day to say she has just bought a boat.
I can see me being nagged :blahblah:

Malcolm.

 

[monktonlad]

That sound's bloody fantastic well done to both of you ..Those thornie's look cracking i would luv to catch one like that ...

By the way are you standing up in one of those shots (quite stable then )??

Again well done (i might packin beach fishin an get a dingie meself :clap2: )..........

Glenn+Son....

Yes I am standing up and it is reasonably stable... but the sea was like a sheet of glass.
I had looked round to see if the wash from another boat was heading out way first. I wouldn't like to get caught standing then as I think you would be overboard.
I am not going to give up beach fishing though as anything more than a ripple on the water and we are not going out. Also the kids like to go fishing from the pier now and then and it's not big enough for all of us to fish out of.

You wouldn't believe the preperation we do to go out in the dinghy..
Check weather, shipping and inshore waters forecast normally for a few days before we intend to go.
Check everything that we are taking, flares, fire extingusher, first aid kit, battery, fishfinder, lifejackets, fuel tank, anchor & rope.
Run the outboard in the tank before we leave home.
Normally I lay everything out in the workshop as I check it the day before, then check that it's all there as it goes in the car or van.
Hopefully by doing this I hope that we can always say we had a good day out.

Am I going over the top or just being safe?

Malcolm.

 

[whopper]

Yes I am standing up and it is reasonably stable... but the sea was like a sheet of glass.
I had looked round to see if the wash from another boat was heading out way first. I wouldn't like to get caught standing then as I think you would be overboard.
I am not going to give up beach fishing though as anything more than a ripple on the water and we are not going out. Also the kids like to go fishing from the pier now and then and it's not big enough for all of us to fish out of.

You wouldn't believe the preperation we do to go out in the dinghy..
Check weather, shipping and inshore waters forecast normally for a few days before we intend to go.
Check everything that we are taking, flares, fire extingusher, first aid kit, battery, fishfinder, lifejackets, fuel tank, anchor & rope.
Run the outboard in the tank before we leave home.
Normally I lay everything out in the workshop as I check it the day before, then check that it's all there as it goes in the car or van.
Hopefully by doing this I hope that we can always say we had a good day out.

Am I going over the top or just being safe?

Malcolm.

In my eyes Malcolm you are being responsible and planned. If things went to rat poo you would be much better of being this way rather than not bothering and rushing out at the last minute.:clap3:

 

[monktonlad]

And with all that Lee I still forgot the scales on Friday so my pb is of unknown weight...

I must say that I pay less attention to what tackle we take and keep downsizing the bag. Maybe I should do that when shore fishing...