conger

STRANGER NEAR THE SHORE?
April 6th, 2008


FRIDAYS DAILY FESTIVAL WINNER Ian Cornwell from Stockton with this 5lb 8oz conger, fishing from the Sea urchin, Ian also won third prize with a cod of 5lb

Now the Cornwell family are regular anglers with the Whitby charter skippers, and Bob along with his son Ian and grandson Harry, had decided to charter the sea urchin for there spring festival outing, with the weather we have had and the days forecast I decided to use the tide and concentrate on some ground with the anchor down north west of Whitby and with plenty of bait aboard we were on our way,

Harry (age around 12yrs) was eager to to put his name on the leader board after missing out to third place on the sea urchin in last years autumn festival by only ounces with a cod of around 5lbs on another cold windy day,

And after a promising start catching pouting on squid and mackerel things slowed down as expected, this was always going to be a hard day for catching anything let alone a winner still with a fish of only just over 7lb leading the festival and the weeks forecast everything was to play for,

until the flood started to come through we waited silent and without a single bite for what seemed an eternity,

at times like this its hard for any skipper trying to convince the anglers things will pick up soon and inwardly convincing yourself you have got the venue right,

I kept looking at the gps clock and reasuring Bob and the lads it wont be long now, there silence said it all they were loading the gun and I was undoing my boot laces in readiness,

then as if on cue I had a bite and another and as I turned round I could see Ian had a decent bend in his rod and in no time a cod of around the 5lb was on board, not too long later Ian had another on around 3lb things were picking up and my foot was safe for today at least, the conger came within the same hour I think and at first sight thought it was a ling to be totally honest I was not concentrating on the species as much as getting it safe in the net and what a fight for a small fish and what a mess it made of my new landing net, now after talking and listening on the radio to the other skippers of the w.c.s.a. it was clear that all the boats had struggled to find fish eager to feed that day and at a guess we were in with a chance, on the journey back to Whitby the conger had many attempts at escape and even at the weigh in was in no mood to play, now after talking to the other skippers it seems this conger is somewhat of a rarity to the w.c.s.a. festivals and only a few of the senior skippers can remember around three if any for years at the weigh in before, can anyone remember a conger been weighed in a festival within the last 10 or 20 years? please let me know via my web site I would love to hear from another angler or anyone who could enlighten me,

Anyway congratulations to Ian on his first and third placings bagging him £70 for his efforts

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WHITBY SKIPPERS CELEBRATE

THE sea angling industry in Whitby has been saved after a dramatic Government climb-down caused in part by pressure from the town's skippers.
Jonathan Shaw, Parliamentary Under-Secretary at DEFRA announced on Tuesday he was scrapping plans to introduce a compulsory rod licence for anglers, a move which Whitby skippers had warned would cripple the industry.

The plans were part of the Marine Bill currently passing through Parliament and would have seen anyone wanting to use a rod to fish off Whitby pier or on a chartered boat having to purchase a licence first.

Paul Kilpatrick, chairman of Whitby Charter Skippers Association (WCSA) said he was delighted the Government had changed its mind.

“It is fantastic news,” he told the Whitby Gazette.

“There is no doubt it would have put an end to the industry in Whitby if the licence would have been introduced.

“I have been speaking to a few of the lads and they are over the moon.

“The threat has not gone away forever but this is still great news.

“A few of them were talking about cracking open the champagne.”

Whitby MP Robert Goodwill, who took up the fight alongside the Whitby skippers, echoed Mr Kilpatrick’s sentiment

“I feel this decision is in no small part down to the pressure put on Mr Shaw by the Whitby Charter Skippers Association and, dare I say it, even myself,” he said.

“After meeting the skippers and hearing their concerns I talked to Mr Shaw and invited him to come and meet them himself.

“I’m glad he’s changed his mind, the fact licences are now not part of the Marine Bill means it won't be brought up again for quite some time.”

The WCSA claimed that if the licence was introduced it would put all the Whitby boats and tackle shops out of business, and according to Mr Kilpatrick would wipe £2m of Whitby's annual economy. The angling industry is said to be worth around £1bn a year nationally.

On Tuesday Mr Shaw said, in a written response to a parliamentary question, that after meeting sea angling representatives last month he had decided to remove the licence from the bill.

He said: “In view of the concerns expressed, including the extent to which sea anglers expected to see benefits from the charge, I have decided not to proceed with enabling powers in the Marine Bill to introduce a sea angling licence.”

Deadline Approaches for RSA proposal Responses

proposed licence and bag limits for ALL you sea anglers

Are you aware the government are undertaking a study of recreational sea anglers like you? whether you fish once a year or every week this bill will effect your present freedom to go fishing at sea,

they say around one million people a year spend around £538 million fishing by the sea, and under the guise of conservation there proposals include intraducing a licence or (tax) for anyone who fishes with rod and line and are considering bag limits again under the conservation banner, do not confuse this with a rivers authority rod and line licence where re stocking and regular fish monitoring can take place, nobody re stocks the sea and a lisence fee will not conserve fish,

in my opinion once a year anglers will not be able to justify the cost, especially if the whole family like to fish, including the kids fishing on the beach, rocks, and piers, may be regular anglers might be prepared to pay a tax to fish if they could honestly believe there licence/tax will be re invested in conservation of our fish, but I feel sure if they are limited to the number of fish they may catch and species they may well think about walking away from the sport they now enjoy for free,

I know we all must act responsible while we enjoy our sport and conservation is paramount for the continuation of our sport, but any one who fishes on any of the WCSA fishing trips knows how conscientious we all are regards size and numbers we take and the damage and wastage anglers cause to the environment is negligible compared to any other type of fishing that is taking place around our coast, no this is just another easy way of taxing everyone through the back door,

please take time to read the government document via this link www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/sea-angling/index.htm

and if like me you think this will be a disaster all round for you, me, and Whitby, in-fact every one who occasionally fishes at sea please respond to this proposal on line and lobby your local MP and make clear you dissatisfaction, and together we all could bring a turn round to this proposed recreational sea angling strategy, remember this will effect us all

however if you agree with the bill please accept my apologies for bleating on about something I feel very imotive about.

Mick.

Sea urchin steers local angler to daily festival win

The sea urchin helped land local angler Simon Oxby a daily festival win last Wednesday during the w.s.ca. autumn fishing festival,

Simon landed his ling (22.5lbs) just after slack water on one of the many ledges just off Whitby, taken on fresh mackerel, after the fish made a few runs Simon soon had the fish off the bottom and with the help of the skippers gaff safe on board,

Simon won £50 for the daily first prize, as it turned out the third heaviest fish caught in the w.s.c.a. festival,

Simon says he will be booking for next years festival aboard the sea urchin, and who can blame him with £10,000 worth of prize money up for grabs during the summer festival alone.

to book now for all the 2008 festivals contact mick on 07855439380 or via the web site.

Whitby Fishing Festival Prize Money Up To £10,000

The First placed prize money for the heaviest single fish in the Summer 2008 festival has now been confirmed as £5000. The festival will run from 27th June 2008 through until 17th July 2008. There will be a prize pool of over £10,000 with £2000 for second heaviest fish, £1000 for third and £500 for fourth. With daily cash prizes and many tackle prizes also up for grabs The boat fishing festival at Whitby is about to become the largest in the Uk.

Sea Urchin 3 Hour Trips

THREE HOUR TRIPS on the SEA URCHIN

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During school holidays the sea urchin has been making short three hour trips to introduce novices into the exciting world of sea fishing, ideal for all you regular boat anglers trying to introduce your families into fishing and holiday makers alike, during the trips the skipper is happy to explain all the workings of the on board electronics and help give some understanding of the tides and conditions that we anglers have to endure in order to catch fish, also apart from the everyday feather and muppet fishing the anglers have the chance to try there hand at shading and perking amongst other things, all top tackle is provided on the trips, and we have had some remarkable results with some excellent catches and given many a novice the buzz, see picture young girl and dad landed double figure ling while perking, and good cod on the shad , remember these are all novices and most never been on a boat before, you can contact skipper via web site www.whitby-sea-fishing.co.uk

sea urchin

The sea urchin has been very busy recently and reporting some excellent catches of good size cod, mostly taken on shads over hard ground,

the algae bloom disappeared a few weeks ago and the fishing was phenomenal with all the WCSA boats reporting excellent catches and with so many fish around the summer angling festival looks set to be a great one.

The sea urchin still has plenty of spaces available during the festival week, you can contact mick on...07855439380 or via email... enquires@whitby-sea-fishin.co.uk

Top Fishing, And Not Too Far From Shore For Two Dogs Of Whitby

On the 5th May 2007 Whitby charter boat 2 dogs had an excellent days fishing only a mile or so off the coast near skinninggrove. Paul Kilpatrick the chairman for the Whitby charter skippers association said that anglers on 2 doggs had taken around 50 codlings fishing very near to shore.

It has also been noted that its not just the Whitby Charter Skippers which are having a good time at the moment. Some of the local Privately owned small craft sailing out of Staithes and Skinnigrove have been reporting some fantastic catches too. Tim Wright from Staithes fishes from his own small coble and has reported to members of the Whitby Fishing Forum reported huge amounts of codling in the water from Staithes right down to Whitby.

With Fishing said to currently be at a 10 year peak for Whitby there surely is no better time to pick up the phone and book a days fishing from Whitby with one of the Whitby Charter Skippers Boats

To read more about boat fishing at Whitby why not visit the Whitby fishing forum where a wide range of topics covering all aspects of angling are currently beeing debated.

Click Here For Whitby Fishing Foum

Whitby Boat Fishing Festival Spring 2007

Whitby Fishing club Junior member Daniel Craig has won the Whitby charter skippers Spring boat fishing festival with a Ling of almost 15 pounds caught from Paul Eddons Boat Trot On. Some of you may remember Daniel as the young angler who caught the decent pollock off Whitby west pier last Autumn.

Please Click Here For Full Story And Pictures - Spring Angling Festival At Whitby

£5000 First Prize For Whitby Summer Fishing Festival In 2008

Whitby Angling Festival 2008

Whitby Charter Skippers Association have announced that the first placed prize money for their Summer Fishing Festival 2008 will be £5000 with the prize for second place being £1000.

Paul Kilpatrick The Chairman Of Whitby Charter Skippers says -

"Our main sponsor stage coach supertram from Sheffield has agreed to sponsor the July festival in 2008 for a first prize of £5000 for the heaviest fish caught over the festival with £1000 for second place once things are ironed out which will be in the coming month I will post full details of the festival which we hope will be the biggest in the UK."

Please add this page to your favourites so you may return for updates on the Whitby Angling Festival.

Big Catches For Sea Spray, Sea Otter 2 and Trot On

I ventured down the charter pontoon after work this evening and the 3 boats that had been at sea today had all had excellent catches with most anglers catching upwards of a dozen cod each, some a lot more. Some had retained their catch for the freezer others I understand had released some. Malcolm Pitman the Sea Spray skipper said they had had a great day with shads being the favoured method. Paul Eddon on Trot On had some good fish aboard and several decent sized pollock to boot.

Paul Kilpatrick's anglers on Sea Otter 2 said the fishing had been hectic. One lad said he'd had quite a lot of fish on the jigger but when he lost that he tried a shad for the first time and was amazed to find them so effective.

Sea Otter 2 - Great Day Uptide Fishing

It was another good day for Paul Kilpatrick's anglers on Sea Otter 2 Fishing just 400 yards off the cliffs at Robin Hoods Bay Paul says th action was constant most of the day with black lugworm and squid coktails being the favoured baits.





Above and below : Uptiding Cod for the sea otter 2 customers

Uptiding At Robin Hoods Bay on Malcolm Pitmans Sea Spray

April 22nd 2007

Anglers on Malcolm Pitmans boat Sea spray had a great days uptide fishing down at Robin Hoods Bay. One of Malcolm customers was lucky enough to hook into and land a fantastic cod that went 15 pounds on the boats scales.



Above : A cod of almost 15 pounds taken by an angler on Malcolm Pitmans boat Sea Spray