Seven members and one guest went on the Alderney five day boat fishing trip this year.

Day One
We met Paul, Steve, and his Crewman at 07:30am in Weymouth Harbour. After loading the boat with all that was needed we left the Harbour at 08:30am. We headed out to sea into a brisk southerly wind, our first stopping point a wreck some 25 miles away. As we approached our destination we could see two boats already fishing on the drift, both were Weymouth charter boats. A quick call on the radio to Richard English Skipper of "One For His Knob" revealed they had caught 3 Bass and some Pollack. They were also making the trip to Alderney.
Our first drift produced and fine 8lb Bass to John Manktelow. Next drift produced another Bass of similar size to Gordon Wheeler. After about one and a half hours, bites became fewer so we decided it was time to move onwards towards Alderney. Our catch amounted to 9 Bass, 4 Cod, and a dozen Pollack. Peter Westguard has the biggest Bass of 11lb.
Our next stop was a wreck in the hurd deep, a gulley 12 miles off off Alderney which is 18 miles long and 500 ft deep. The water here was very coloured and Paul did not hold much hope of any fish. After 2 drifts and no fish we moved nearer Alderney to catch some Mackeral for bait for the next day. We finally arrived at Alderney at 06:30pm.

Day Two
Today we were targetting Tope, Pollack, and Bream from some reef marks on the southern side of Alderney. Our first mark was a gulley on the side of a reef for Tope. We anchored and didn't have to wait long for our first Tope, a fish of 25lb. Bites became fast and furious with everybody catching. We caught and released 30 Tope ranging from 15lb to 35lb, and 1 Bull Huss of 14lb caught by Chris Kelly.
The tide had become too strong to fish at anchor so we were now going to drift fish with live Sand Eels for Pollack. The reef we were fishing rose some 6 feet from the seabed, as we drifted over the side of the reef our bait was grabbed by Hungry Pollack between 2lb and 8lb. We boated around 50 fish when Paul suggested a move to try for some Bass. We only managed 1 Bass of 2lb and a surprise Turbot of 5lb. it was now time to target our last species of the day some Black Bream. Again we only managed to boat 5 fish up to 2lb, but again Brian Seagar boated a fine Ballan Wrasse of 4lb.

Day Three
Today we were going to try for Conger Eels on a wreck that Paul had found the previous week. He carefully anchored us over the wreck, and it didn't take long before we had bites. Chris Kelly struck into the first fish, after a short fight a surprise Tope of 25lb appeared from the depths. Time after time the Tope were getting to the Mackeral flappers intended for the Congers. As the tide eased and we swung away from the wreck, the Tope went off the feed only to make way for the Congers. Now it was the Conger Eels feeding. We caught 20+ Congers with 2 over 60lb, 1 over 50lb, and the smaller Eels ranging between 20lb and 30lb, all being returned. Brian Sales caught the biggest Eel of 65lb.
The tide once again had become too strong to fish at anchor so it was time to drift fish the wreck with artificial cures for Pollack. We made six drifts over the wreck without a single fish being boated. Paul our Skipper suggested a move to another wreck nearby already fished by the charter boat "One For His Knob", they were catching plenty of specimen Pollack. We joined the the drift and it wasn't long before double figure Pollack were being boated. It was soon time to head back to Harbour, we had boated 40 Pollack between 8lb and 12lb, it had been another hectic day.

Day Four
Our destination today was another new wreck which Paul had been given by one of Weymouth's diving boats. It was some 26 miles from Alderney but only 14 miles from Cherbourg. After a two and a half hour journey the sounder revealed the wreck. A very big wartime wreck 1200 ft long, 180 ft wide, and 60 ft high at it's tallest point. The sounder also revealed huge shoals of fish, our target being Cod. First drift produced Cod of around 6lb and Pollack slightly smaller, every drift produced fish. After six hours of non-stop action it was time to start back to Alderney. We had boated 30 Cod up to 18lb and 40+ Pollack, another fantastic days fishing.

Day Five
The weather forecast for today was bad with heavy rain and wind. Not only would it affect the fishing but we also had to make the journey back across the Channel to Weymoth. We got on the boat at 08:30am, Paul briefed us as to the weather situation. A strong southerly wind, force 6 gusting 7, with heavy rain until dinner time. Clearing from the west, the wind decreasing 5 - 6 and veering westerly. Our only choice of fishing was for Skate and Bream in the protected waters on the northern side of the island. We anchored several marks which all blew and the rain fell. It was the worst conditions I had ever boat fished in.
At 12:00pm Paul called the Portland Coast guard for a weather update. They confirmed our fears with a force 8 southerly gale, gusting force 9 in rain showers, veering westerly 6. It wasn't ideal for the return journey. At about 01:30pm the sky started to clear and by 02:00pm the sun was shining and the wind had veered and eased to a fresh westerly.
Paul asked what we wanted to do. Carry on fishing or start our return journey to Weymouth? We said we might as well head for home as we hadn't caught anything. The trip across the Channel was a bit like a roller coaster with us riding 30 ft swells. Paul's 42 ft south boats catamaran handled it comfortably. Four hours later we entered Weymouth Harbour and hadn't felt in any danger from the severe conditions. Once again Paul had given us a brilliant weeks fishing, We are already booked for May 2004 when we will catch the main Turbot season in the waters off Alderney along with the Tope, Pollack, Cod, and Congers. Tight lines from john Manktelow and the crew of Offshore Rebel.