Possible Skate Charter

[davem2005]

Gazzawill,

The skate gear is very specialised, but for general fishing I use a 6-16 class rod, shimano charter special and 30lb braid. Exactly what i would use off this coast.

Just waiting for the skipper to get back to me with possible dates.

Cheers
dave

[snatcher]

Yes we sank a few tubes and Dave kicked my ass at pool. Bring it on,a full weekend would be fine with me

[gazzawill]

so me and my dad could just fish for general fish ect doggies for instance???
and just have a nice weekend away fishing lol

[gazzawill]

think thats about 10 of us up for it isnt it

[Oblickta]

Gazza, i've known skate to take baits minuets after they have hit the bottem but sometimes it can be a waiting game, so we put smaller baits down on lighter tackle to see what else is down there. Theres no rules and no science but lots of different species can be caught. The skate tackle is heavy with big baits so can stay down for a long time but when a skate is hooked up the tackle (regardless of owner) is handed to anyone on board who hasn't caught a skate. If I blank on this trip it wont matter nothing to me so long as I see you or other skate "virgins" haul them in, it's priceless!

I wont be taking part in any festivities this time tho' cos after new year i will be on a strict diet that does not include beer

*nose grows longer*

[SIXFOOTSTEVE]

Graham i'll be doing the same mate * nose grows even longer x10 *

Seriously though this trip seems fantastic , hope you all do well .

[jason]

Dave
Please definately count me in - the weekend option is prefered. Like i said i would take my car as fuel would not cost (as long as i can fuel in a Tesco enroute) i even have a tow bar if you want to jump in with me and share the towing of the boat.

I have set myself a target of catching 15 new species in 2008 so the trip should help towards that.

i will pm my mobile number to you.

Jason

[davem2005]

It gets more confusing.

The skipper has not got back to me yet. The website is closed down ??? and apparently the boat is out of the water!

Contacted another boat but we still need to argue on price. He wants £350 a day for the boat cos of rising fuel costs...thing is he will be traveling nowhere just anchored all day.

The other slight snag is he has never been skate fishing before but that isn't a problem as I have about 13 gps locations where I have caught fish and all the stuff other than rods that could be required.

The other snag would be the lack of hire gear but I reckon I have three full sets and can borrow a fourth, Graham one and I understand that Snatchers getting new toys for xmas

Five skate rods out is more than enough, and it leaves plenty of room for bait fishing up the front.

Gazawil,
As Graham says we take it in turns. The first time I went skate fishing I was handed a rod with a fish on and broke my duck, the next rod to get a fish was my new rod and reel which was handed on to someone else who had never had one. It was about four trips later that I caught my first on my own rod. This way has several advantages.

1. the hooking of the fish is done by someone with experience which reduces the chance of deep hooking.

2. The person reeling in gets to put on a harness and butt pad and is handed the rod with the clutch set right so reducing the chance of getting smashed up. Or worse still the angler getting dragged over the side due to the clutch been set too hard ( and remember your are clipped to the rod!) because those rods and reels are expensive

3. Everyone catches as opposed to one person getting loads and someone else blanking. I would hate to think a trip ended with one person catching three or four and one person in the party blanking.

4. When you have caught a skate the last thing you want is another immediately after! The fight often lasts longer than an hour and about half our trips have ended earlier in the day than planned..for the simple reason that no one can face reeling in another. A nice decision to have to make, but when three of you have caught over a tonne of fish between you by 4pm the pub armchairs and a few beers start looking very attractive

I notice there is a TLD 20 for sale on here ...wish I had 85 quid spare.

Cheers
Dave

[snatcher]

Yes Dave I will have my all of my own skate gear ready for the trip. As you say though,as soon as I hopefully get stuck into a skate I will pass the rod over to the nearest skate virgin.

You done it to me skipper and its nice to be nice as they say. I recal pumping in three fish in fairly quick succession and I was quietly praying not to be called on a fourth time!!!

I do weight train and am fairly strong but this is definately a "different game"!!! I was near my limit on a coupl of occasions.

Taking that 124 lb male bareback was really tough mate. Hope we are not scaring them off by the way.

Bring it on

[snatcher]

Here is another knot I got off Davy Holt

Knots - How to tie the Cat's Paw knot

Its for attatching your main line to the rubbing leader. Have tied it a couple times now and it is the biz!!!

These are the reels Santa dropped off







Have been told to use the Penn as first choice and keep the Shakespear for reserve

Santa has promised to return with an 80lb game rod in a week or so - luxury!

[gazzawill]

me and my dad are up for it if ok dave

[gazzawill]

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