Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Last Minute.com - Fish On, Fish On, Fish On

Hello All,
Let's play good news, bad news.

The good news is that there's fish on the banks. 

The bad news is that Fortius took a hit on the mooring. The mother ship had its starboard side wheel house window taken out by another boat while on its mooring.
The concern when mooring out in the pool among buoys is that either your boat will swing and hit one or, more menacingly, you will collide with a boat that is on a buoy which has a different swing radius and with variable winds other boats actually swing in opposite directions, causing stern collisions. Unfortunately the boat concerned had a nasty set of davits sticking out its rear end.

Poor window

Back to the good news.
I went out Sunday afternoon for another nice day of fishing with my buddy Stu.
We warmed up the engine for 10 minutes, then I went forward to cast us off the mooring and we headed towards Sark in search of some fish. Calm wind and flat seas greeted us, so we settled in for a relaxing 40 minute trip. We headed up to the first drop in just south of Sark and drifted back and forth all afternoon and got nothing. Make a long story short, the last drift of the day and down to our last strip of long nose for bait out came this nice

little pup caught bouncing a flattie rig off a sandy bottom, 40 metres of water, with a very clean long nose strip about 1" wide x 4'
long. This little one lived to fight another day

Pulling the trigger

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Looking For Slugs


"It's definitely a rugged-outdoors man type of activity"

Captain Hook

In this trip report we head to a new secret ormer spot.
The ocean pulled back just far enough for us to gather a good feed on our second afternoon this month of ormering.  Better known to the non local as abalone, this particular shellfish is legendary in Guernsey cuisine.  A single ormer of high quality, sells for a pretty penny, matched only by the pricelessness of the finished dish served up on grandma’s dinner table, crafted after a careful afternoon of casseroling.

So away we went in Tuc's boat, waders, oil skin's ormer hooks and the peril in tow. We stopped at a couple of our favourite spots – the locations of which I shall not reveal – before we found what we were looking for. ORMERS: big and plentiful. Within minutes Danny (the Bordeaux Rat) and I, had shot over the rocks and found a couple of gullys that had not been turned, bingo, after a few turned rocks, found two beauts clinging on for dear life to all kinds of rocky, sea-weedy terrain. The rat and I ventually managed to pry 19 off the bottom with our hooks but the lion’s catch was made by Tuc (Stu) and Phil (Phyllis) with an impressive catch of 23.
But enough of all this. I believe this entry has overstayed its welcome. Thanks to anyone who has read all the way through. Tonight, we feast like kings

traditional Guernsey 'Pannier A Cou' (fisherman's basket)
woven in green Black Marl willow.
Pannier a Cous were traditionally used by Guernsey fishermen,
 and are still today 

The Rat and Tuc checking out possibilities

Guernsey's Sea Fisheries officers carried out shoreline patrols
with the peril in the forground



Saturday, January 21, 2012

Bonzerish Session

Hope you all get some liquid gifts this weekend.
Good wind again, albeit a bit on the onshore side.  More wind! So much so that your wind and wave  reporter was busy on the water most of the day.. so just the one photo today

My freshly fixed dinged board smilin' to be back in the ocean.
Some small windswell.  Good to be back. My boards, well board, is now watertight and happy. Although a little pissed this morning at getting up at the pre crack o' dawn and barely being pushed by the ocean ripples.

Scored a nice super bonzerish session on a new 2012 Fanatic new wave on the west. C'mon swell, I want to feel what this board can do.




Finally get to the spot, suit up, rig up quick style and rush down to the ocean, no one out! and lines are cruisin' in. Stoked again but still pissed that I missed yesterdays session. Oh well. Sail out, hook up on a couple nice ones, another joins and another. Yep, the fresh westerly brings all the locals out. Good to see new faces out on the waves, nice to see the Grandharve boys (Stu,Nick, Bob and Les) giving it a shot in the surf, keep up the good work.   
 Dropped into the abyss and dug that fin in on suck ups. High tide mushy hold. Then remembered about the last time I sailed on this reef, looking up at my new replacement mast and sail quivering in fear of being pile driven into the reef again, came out in one piece this time. Inside reform on T'others made for some nice down the line. My good buddy Matt joined me late afternoon but after four hours on the water my hands are in shred's, had to leave him sail on his lonesome till the sunset....
 Love this sport...
Catch you later...
I'm off to Vazon...

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Nothin doin


WAITING FOR WIND

'Nothin doin' but a whole lotta dreamin and waitin.
And wishin that was me again.
'Maybe this weekend'

Different forecast models suggest that we might get back to windier weather by the weekend. But that's still a long time to hold out.



 

Monday, January 16, 2012

Windy and Chilly


Three days three fishing trips part 3

We are up before dawn, trying to beat the biting cold winds that were forecast to increase during the day.  A group of us grabbed the required mountain of gear and headed out diving in an attempt to get a feed or two of scallops.  By the time we came out the White Rock cafe after a nice bacon sarnie, the weather looked less than ideal with a stiff 4-5 blowing from the South east. We decided to see if we could fit in a quick one tank dive.  Stu managed to convince us to load up the boat for the first dive of the session to look for some clappers. 
The dive was so-so. Water seemed much warmer than the air. My computer registered 10 degrees at 30mts with the air temp at 6c. Gary and I managed to grab half a bag of scallops with El Capitano coming out as the "Scallop King"  


Catching scallops is easy, but cleaning them is a different matter. Slaving away with a knife opening shells at least the cat had the benefit of being able to munch on a few...

And that has been that over the last week
 



At Last A Day Out

Three days three fishing trips part 2

I had a great Christmas holiday with my friends and family but like all good things it must come to an end.  Once again it's time to get back on the job of fishing.  I had taken a couple of weeks off over the Christmas holidays with plans to get out and do a spot of dangling between Christmas and New Year with my good buddy Capt Tuc on Fortius.  There was no break from the wind the entire month of December. I spent alot of the time wave sailing and surfing so it was a nice surprise to see a little break in the weather

Then came this beauty that weighed 5lb  
I had Wednesday and Thursday off work and the weather was splendid so you know what I did... go fishin. Wasn't able to go either morning but did manage afternoon trips both days, Ormering (see last post) on Wednesday then out banking for flats on Thursday.


Weather always plays a role in fishing, and early season fishing for brill and turbot can adversely be affected by the winds. Wednesday saw flat calm conditions for ormering. Thursday was a whole different ball game.  A slight breeze predicted but very achievable winds unexpectedly came up from now where. 
Guernsey Airport live data was reading North West 5 gusting 6.  It’s been so long since we’ve had an outing we decided to go for it out of St Peter Port. We meet around 12:15 and were setup within 30 minutes ready to roll.  We steamed out to the mark.  Godine bank off Sark can have some nasty overfalls but if you get the timing right they are not too bad. I guess we were tossed about for around ten minutes a drift before being spat out on the other side in relatiely good order. Every now and then we had to run in the wheel house to avoid getting soaked when one would lurk its head on the back deck.     
 I guess they don't look much but these wee beasties in front of Captain T were one and a half metres high and had curling tops, but hey we have survived much, much worse and I have the laundry bill to prove it.

Captain T winkling out a fish in the over falls
It took around 30-40 minutes and the action began on Tucs rod, the rod started going nuts. Very distinct flattie taps. Then came this beauty that weighed 5lb 


Half a fresh garfish makes an absolutely deadly flattie bait in the winter months.
The key ingredients for catching



Our shore fishing exploits for long nose back in November paid off.
Yuck. My fridge smells of fish! (Long nose). I have emptied it, washed it out with soap and water and then wiped it all over inside with anti bac wipes and STILL the smell.  Any tips on how to get rid of the horrid smell please before Jen finds out that I've used it as a bait store!?.

ormers

Three days three fishing trips part 1

If you love seafood and the feeling of enjoying the fruits of your labour then this is a post for you.  This blog takes you to hot spots only visited by locals to hunt and gather your own “catch of the day”

Ormers are gathered during unusually low tides by wading among underwater boulders and feeling around blindly for their upside-down shells with hands too numb to feel anything, except that is, the claws of lady crabs or small chancers, which happen to occupy many of the same underwater crevices as the ormer.   If you're lucky enough to avoid getting nipped by a chancer or a lady crab, your probing fingers are liable to settle on the undulating slime of a sea anemone, recoiling abruptly in terror and disgust.
After some exploration, We got into the water amongst some rocks with ormers on the radar. I didn’t have to look far. After spending 2 hours of  back breaking work and with our bag of ormers secured it was mission accomplished. Time to head back to dry land and make our way back to camp for a warm shower and cleansing ale or three before the task of cleaning our catch.  Seafood is incredibly easy to prepare. With a little basic knowledge, you can become an expert in no time at all, creating dishes that you, your family and your friends will truly savour.

Preparation:

Fresh, Whole Ormer
1....If you have a fresh Ormer, either you worked hard for it, someone who must love you worked hard for it, or you spent a pretty penny buying a farmed one.  In any case, you'll be happy to learn that cleaning it (preparing it to be cooked) is a surprisingly easy process...


Pry Ormer From Shell
2....Use a wide, flat wooden spatula or similarly thin, blunt tool to pry whole ormer from its shell. (I like to do this in a sink for easier clean-up.)

The ormer attaches to its shell with a solid round muscle at the bottom, everything else is just clinging to the shell. Work open a section between the ormer and the shell and then work the spatula around and along the shell until the ormer detaches. Push against the shell with the tool rather than the ormer for easiest release and to keep the ormer whole...



Remove Ormer From Shell
3....Once you've prised the ormer from its shell, slide it out.  Set the shell aside — you can scrub it clean and air-dry it for decorative use, if you like.


Cut Off Guts
4....Hold main body of ormer and let guts hang down. Use a sharp knife to cut off the guts. Discard guts (I recommend enclosing it in 2 plastic bags as they can really ming after a while!)


Scrub Ormer Clean
5....Scrub off black film along sides of ormer . You can also cut this off, but it cleans off easily and
preserves more ormer meat.


Cleaned Ormer
6....A whole, cleaned ormer ready to slice or chop and cook.

Ingredients:8 – 12 Ormers
6 Shallots or 1 Large Onion
400g Carrots
2 Bay Leaves
150g Belly Pork or Bacon
150g Guernsey Dairy Butter
Salt and Pepper
Flour for dusting
500ml Guernsey Ale


Cooking Method:Season the flour with salt and pepper and lay the Ormers into the flour on both sides.
Melt the Guernsey Dairy Butter in a frying pan and gently fry the Ormers until golden brown on both sides.
Place the Ormers into a casserole dish.
Dice the belly pork or bacon and fry off in the frying pan together with the diced carrot and onion, add to the casserole dish with the bay leaves, pour onto this the Guernsey Ale, heat gently and place in the pre-heated 160 / 170 0C oven with a tight fitting lid for two hours, reduce the oven temperature and allow the casserole to cook gently until the Ormers are tender
.


 


Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Wipeout In the Zone

First surf of 2012 the end is nigh

This time last year, 2 inches of snow lay on the ground so it seems a bit strange for deep low pressure, storm systems to be rattling across the Channel Islands. It feels like winter has arrived with a vengeance and it looks likely to continue for a few days yet.  I was hoping the wind would fill in enough to get out for a windsurf, the direction was good and the waves and swell were plenty big enough for the potential of a bit of port tack jumping.  The wind filled in by lunch time and we were out on the water by 12.

Another day, more wind, more waves, so another day on the water. This is the good life. Ok, today didn't quite turn out the way I would of liked it....

The wipe outs I hate are the ones where the wave is breaking say 4 metres in front of you and it's ready to come down on your head, as it did in this case.

Standing on an outer reef up to my waist after being held down by the white monster until the panic button was pressed the waves were breaking 8-10 foot high above my head, boards a 100 yards inshore in pieces, there was no chance of me getting out in one piece. Forty five minute swim caught in the rip and be sucked into T'others and the reef was no fun... Thanks Nick for coming to the rescue and giving a hand to pull the remaining pieces of broken carbon and X-ply back to the beach....  Kids, don't play chicken with humongous sucking reef breaks and shallow granite reefs. The chances are the rocks will win every time. Whatever you do, don't let a good wipe out get to you. It's not worth it to get all mad over. Whenever I go through a bad fall, when I come up from it.... I usually try to imagine what that would have looked like, if I had been watching it from the beach. It usually makes me laugh at it and then I have a nice smile as I limp back to shore.
Gnarly suck up's claims another victim





While the old proverb states, “He who hesitates is lost,” in this case, the saying should be tweaked to say, “He who hesitates gets pile driven into the reef.”










Just had a txt from one of the boys while writing this post...
Hope you are ok dude just think it's only kit!
Get some more no problem.
Your ok that's the main thing!
But most important your ripping the place apart this winter so good
f*****g times dude.....
Big respect.

Cheers Si......