Sunday 21st february 2010
Plymouth Angling Inshore Boat Competition
Venue: Anywhere inside Plymouth Breakwater
Species: Thornback Ray only
Time: 0900 until 1800
Weigh in At Plymouth Angling 1830-1930

Sponsors : Plymouth angling / Sidewinder Lures & Koike Boat Rods

For me the comp stared the week before preparing all the stuff and co-ordinating with QHM the restrictions and frequencies for vhf, also my flippin boat engine packed up on friday. i tried to stretch it out for another month but she let me down, got a new volvo penta being fitted at the end of the month so i had to bum a boat off one of my mates, a plymouth pilot 18 ft. Nice comfortable stable fishing platform but a bit slow to what im used to.

There were three on my boat for the day and another 25 other anglers stretched out along the Tamar at various locations on another 9 boats. i decided to fish up on the banks of the hole at Cremyll as it was well known for Ray, after two hours here and wasting valuable crab i decided to move down beside another couple of boats off the ballast pond at Torpoint, plus i had heard that they had been some ray caught here by other boats today.

Passed one boat at anchor off the ballast pond and he had only one ray at 6lb but he also had 7 codling to 5lb. The next boat i passed had 3 ray around the 7lb size so it was catch up time for my boat as we tied up to a buoy about 100 feet south of the torpoint ferry, had to go here as the boat never had an anchor ha ha.

Low water was about 4pm and we got tied up and lines down by 1pm. I was into a fish straight away and the other two with me were also into fish, whiting all around a LB, cant have these eating my expensive crab all day bumma. Then i got my first ray bite of the day, a lovely looking 4lb female, she went straight back. then Tommy Jones hit into a ray and got it aboard and she weighed 6 lb, getting bigger. This trend continued for a couple of hours and we were hearing that a 9lber had been caught and a load of 7lbers, oh goody.

Then i had a cracking bite, this was a good ray, stayed down hard on the bottom and was taking line, had a nice little fight on here. When i got her aboard she weighed 9lb 15oz, so close to my 10lb mark. She went into my keep net and over the side she went for the weigh in. Tommy then had another male ray at 7lb 12 oz, we decided to chance it with this and he to went into the net.

We ran out of crabs at 4.50, without crabs there was no point in fishing anymore so we tied up the boat on her mooring and returned to the shop for the weigh in.

All in all only seven ray came to the scales, with many many more being released throughout the day, and the majority of those that came to the scales also being kept alive and released back under the bridge, there is now a 9lb 15oz female thorny available from Saltash marks.

Winners
1st Tom Worthy 9lb 15oz (£120 cash / Boat Rod / Sidewinder Lures)
2nd Martin Neal 9lb 4oz (£70 cash / Storm Booms / Sidewinder lures)
3rd Tom Jones 7lb 12oz (£30 cash / Storm Booms / Sidewinder Lures)

Next Months inshore boat comp is a Ballan Warsse comp, outer limits will be Stoke Point to Penlee Point. See Competitions tab for further daetails.