The Saturday evening thaw cleared the covering of ice from Royal Quays marina and allowed me to give "Grace" her first outing of the year. We had a variety of bait to include some of last seasons Mackerel, prawns, ragworm and frozen crab. It was very chilly out there and there was nothing doing on the local marks so we headed North to the rough ground off Cambois. After a quiet start the fish suddenly came on and we had a dozen good sized Cod and a decent Ling within the space of an hour and we threw back several 2lb to 3lb fish. After lunch the wind freshened and the fish went off so we headed home quite happy with our first sortie.
On the down side we noticed that many popular marks were roped off with unmarked buoys (not flagged dhans) which will obviously be pots or nets. There were ropes floating on the surface and apart from being a serious hazard to boating when not readily visible, I was under the impression that all pots or nets etc had to be clearly marked with a registration number or owners identification - there was no visible identification. The professional potters certainly conduct themselves in a considerate manner and their gear is clearly visible unlike the casual chancer. If any casual chancers reading this thread are currently engaging in this irresponsible practise I suggest, in the interests of marine safety that any ropes floating on the surface may well be cut and removed.
On the down side we noticed that many popular marks were roped off with unmarked buoys (not flagged dhans) which will obviously be pots or nets. There were ropes floating on the surface and apart from being a serious hazard to boating when not readily visible, I was under the impression that all pots or nets etc had to be clearly marked with a registration number or owners identification - there was no visible identification. The professional potters certainly conduct themselves in a considerate manner and their gear is clearly visible unlike the casual chancer. If any casual chancers reading this thread are currently engaging in this irresponsible practise I suggest, in the interests of marine safety that any ropes floating on the surface may well be cut and removed.
and well said about the irresponsible fishermen who put our boats at risk by not marking their pots with bouys. 
