Nigel holds the current group record for the conger eel weighing in at a respectable 48lb 13oz, so a 25lb fish is not a big eel by his standards. Shore congering will be slow for the next few months but expect to see some bigger fish registered by mid summer.
Jay Bowditch has also found himself some action at a normally slow part of the year during a trip to the Dorset coast. Jay took advantage of a settled spell in the weather to bag himself a bass of 10lb 3oz which has given him a good start to the specimen league.
Group member Nigel Bowditch has been on form lately registering another two specimen claims. On a midweek trip to Selsey Bill he landed himself a smooth hound of 11lb 6oz taken on a crab bait.
A fortnight later and Nigel found himself on Dorset's Purbeck coast were he showed his knack for catching Undulate rays by landing a fish of 12lb 10oz. The ray was tempted into taking a sandeel bait fished over moderately rough ground.
On a recent sortie to a Dorset rock mark Jay Bowditch found his patience tested to the limit.
After taking a small conger on his second cast he found himself waiting a further five hours for another run. Perseverance finally paid off when his rod arched over and line began to strip from his reel.
After a brief battle the fish was landed and weighed pushing the scales to 31lb 15oz.
"Certainly worth the wait"
Group member Simon Cook landed himself a nicely coloured Undulate Ray during a recent trip to Milford. Undulates do make the odd appearance along the shingle bank but it does seem the size is increasing and who knows maybe one day a big specimen may make an appearance.
Not to be out done on the conger front the following weekend Jay took two eels with the largest weighing in at 31lb 7oz.
With autumn now upon us its usually the time to look for a few codling but this year has been a little different. Codling have been showing from a few marks for atleast a few months now with Chesil beach being one of the hot spots. Most Hampshire beaches such as Milford, Hordle, Gilkicker and Hayling have seen fair sport with most fish in the 2-3lb range and one group member taking fish to over 5lb from Gilkicker Point.
Hopefully we will see a steady increase in the size of fish reminiscent of the shore sport we used to have some fifteen or more years ago. Most good tides on Hampshire's Hayling Island would find anglers struggling to get space amongst the long line of tilley lamps, and a trip to Abbotsbury would involve a ten minute walk past the dragons teeth just to find a gap. Old memories aside we should see some better fish show between now and Christmas so make the most of it while it lasts.
Dorset rock angler Derek Spear wasn't spinning a yarn with his latest catch from a Portland mark.
Whilst fishing an evening session Derek struck into what he thought was moderate eel on his second cast and was surprised when the huge fish broke cover. What makes the catch an even greater feat was that Derek was alone and had to land the fish by himself. There were a few tense moments he recalled as he fought to beach the large eel. Once the fish had been landed and weighed Derek had beaten his personal best with a fine specimen of 55lb 8oz.
The Shepton Mallet angler last landed a eel of 51lb 6oz back in 1988 and never expected to get another over the magical 50lb mark but his perseverance paid off. I am sure this will be a good contender for the British Conger Club shore competition that runs from 1st October to the 1st November.
Well done mate....
Group members recently travelled sixty miles across the English channel to the Island of Alderney for the annual angling festival. The small Island measuring a mere 3.5 x 1.5miles hosts some of the best shore sport to be found in this region and is a mecca for specimen anglers.
Group members spent ten days on the Island and took a good number of fish. Matt Pitter made the scoreboard if only for a short while with a Conger of 26lb 8oz while Mark Plowman took a Bully of 9lb 8oz and a thick lipped mullet of 4lb 4oz. Nigel Bowditch managed to get himself amongst the prizes again taking best speciman over 5lb class also with a bullhuss of 10lb 2oz.
