Bic Santiago Fishing Kayak

I really wanted someone different, a kayak that would allow me to have some fun, but also be a worthy contender for a serious days fishing.

After contacting Bic I managed to secure a good deal on the Santiago model. This fitted the budget and seem to come with all the bells and whistles at no extra cost.

Find below the description from the Bic website.

The new Santiago Fishing is a superb base for your open-water fishing trips : stable, with great glide and very manoeuvrable even at low speed, it’s perfect for getting you to the best spot speedily and safely. The standard production fittings are comprehensive, with an adjustable seat which, combined with the wide, adjustable foot rests gives excellent paddle comfort.

Good storage space has always been a feature of the Santiago Fishing, and for very good reason, comprising a dry storage, a storage locker, plus a wide rear platform that enables you to load all the gear you need for all your fishing trips. Not forgetting the three rod rests, of which one is pivoting for maximum freedom of movement.

Comes equipped with:
• Adjustable footrests
• Adjustable backrest and foam seat
• Large oval-shape hatch at bow
• Stern round-shape hatch, diameter 20cm
• 2 x rod holders
• 1 x swivel rod holder
• Elastic bungee cords in stern
• Paddle attachments
• Carrying handles on bow, stern and sides
• Knee pads
• Bottle holder
• Self-draining scuppers x 2
• Draining bung x 1

Delivery was free and it came the next day. I couldn’t wait to get this out on the water and put it to the test.

Firstly there are some key features worth pointing out before we begin.

The front hatch offers ample space to store equipment, trolley wheels if they can be broken down and plenty more. The only disadvantage being there no main seal which did allow some water to flow through when I practised re-entry drills. You could quite easily remedy this but just be aware should you purchase one. I would strongly advice that you store anything of importance in a drybag.

The foot rests are a great design, easy to operate and at 6ft 3in still gives you plenty of leg room. I found you could really drive the legs into them giving you great speed across the water.

There is space to install a fish finder if you want one, however I will continue to use my Trident 13 for those sort of trips.

Just behind where you will likely to be installing your fish finder, there is a rod mounting which allows you to use the holder that comes complete with the kayak ensuring easy access to your rod, this does not hinder or effect your personnel space.

The seat is a built in affair, you could alter to your own needs, however I found it be very comfortable. Even after using is very recently for a longer fishing trip it still offers great comfort all round. Personnel preference will be the deciding factor here though.

There is a water proof hatch at the rear for items like car keys or mobile phones. Tried and tested with my iPhone and keys to a very successful conclusion. Thumbs up here.

You’ll also be able to spot the rod holders. These are very different from what we’re used to seeing on fishing kayaks but they do work well. They offer a nature trolling angle and keep the reels clear of the water line. If you wanted to add additional items to the rear you have plenty of room to do so.

The rear tank well offers stacks of space for a fishing crate, anchors and loads more.

Finally a drain plug which we has to use after doing re-entries that was very stiff and difficult to use first time round but has broken in since.

As you can see it has plenty to offer and should suit all your need. It is very light weight which is something I had forgotten about after lugging my heavy Trident everywhere. So it felt very strange to just pick this up and move it with such ease.

At only 11ft you don’t have to sacrifice loads of room in the garden, garage or where ever you.store it.

2 colours to choose from, green or red.

Well let’s see how it fairs on the water. My good old friend Darren came along for the ride too.

I’m first to test it out. Initially my first thought, very tippy. It just seemed very unstable. With that said, after paddling it around for 15 mins you get very used to the limits and I started to have some really fun with it.

Learning it right over and creating some brilliant turning angels. The conditions were fantastic which made the whole experience so much better. It tracks well through the water and reaches some good speeds even when paddling against an outgoing tide.

I chucked myself out and found it very easy to right and re-enter again. I was having to much fun at this stage. Even to the point of standing up and throwing myself out.

Once I had righted the kayak several times, I was slightly disappointed with how long it took for the scuppers holes to drain the water. There are enough, however the holes are just to small, after having a good look I believe you could wider them further but this would be a your own risk of course. I only ever hope to have that much water in the cockpit if I have come out anyway otherwise it’s a bad day.

Darren was next in the driving seat and his thoughts also reflect mine.

In summary, this kayak is better suited to those calmer days, it’s fast, stable once you get used to it and offers a fantastic and thrilling rid.

I used it on a recent trip and it performed well. Even caught some fish for the first time from it.

Give it go, your be very surprised.

Smoothies Hunt, Using My New GoPro 2

The video shows exactly how well I did. I was joined by Ian who also caught some descent Smuts.

Darren my Brother-In-Law also came along and caught the only edible fish of the evening (Mackerel)

This was the most pleasant evening we’ve had for such a long time. Enjoy!

Fishing Mad Weekend

After having a the whole week off work ruined by such bad weather, I’ve been looking at winder finder constantly trying to find a gap to get out and have a play.

Finally around 19:00 this Saturday looked promising. I put a post up on some forums asking if anyone wanted to come along and join me. The plan, a night adventure.

James and a nice chap called Andy travelled over 2 hours to have a bash at the Solent massive.

We all met at the Smut Fest car park (Salterns Road) used last week. It looked, ummm, slightly choppy.

James’s first night trip is almost underway.

We had a good old chat before heading out. This gave the sea and wind a chance to die down a little. It actually did thank god.

We all anchored within a good distance of each other because safety at night is absolutely essential. Especially in these testing conditions.

You can see just how different things are once we’d anchored.

I was the first to hook into a fish. I’d only be in situ for around 15-20 minutes so this was a promising start.

A nice Starry to get the session underway.

Released unharmed to grow bigger for next year.

After a short wait, I hooked into another Smut. This time a common. Even though the fish isn’t by any means a record breaker, I fought very well.

While I’m having a great time, the guys are doing well also. Andy had a Thornback and some Smuts followed by a possible Tope run that sliced through his line.

James catching Dogfish, Smoothies and losing a Mackerel.

The sunset looked so much more stunning than these pictures, but I wanted keep busy.

We all caught our fair share of weed. It didn’t swamp the area to badly, but it did become a pain for about an hour and then it died down again.

Unfortunately so did the bites. We spent what seemed forever waiting for something to happen.

Andy managed to reel in a 3lb Bass to finish of the night/morning. Well done mate. Nice fish too.

We’d all had enough, after all it was 00:30.

The paddle back to shore was quick and much needed. Food and toilet at this stage.

Andy a pleasure to meet you, and hopefully we’ll do it again soon.

By the time I finally got in bed it was 01:45, this wouldn’t be so bad but I’d arranged to meet Ian and fish again with James at Bracklesham in 8 hours time.

We meet at 8 ish at the same venue as last time. After a very slow setup. Nothing to do with being half asleep still we hit the water around 09:30.

To sum this day trip up in few words. Windy, wet, emotional.

Ian had no bites all day. Nothing.

James had a couple of Pout a Dogfish.

Me, a little better, 3 Pout (Tiny), Dogfish and 3 good sized Bream. Only the bigger ones came home for tea.

It was so miserable, I even heard all the charter boats chatting on the VHF stating that nothing was happening. This did make me feel slightly better as I thought it would be plagued with fish after such poor weather.

Never mind, here’s tomorrows dinner.

Bring Timmy Home!

Some recent news of my good friend and past shipmate is missing in Dubai. His wife and family are very concerned with his where about’s and reach out to the public audience for any information regarding this event.

Please read the link carefully and if you can help or have any information then contact any of the helplines.

http://www.bringtimmyhome.co.uk/

Let’s bring Timmy home safely to his loving family.

 

Stuffed Sea Bass

Step 1: You will need.

Sea bass cut into fillets
1 onion, sliced
1 red pepper, sliced
4 cloves of garlic, sliced
4 tbsp parsley, chopped
2 tbsp basil, chopped
1 dried chilli, or fresh, chopped
1 tbsp flour
Salt and pepper
8 thin slices of ham
60ml olive oil

Mostly prepared already.

Step 2: Preheat the oven.

Begin by setting the oven to 220c/425f/Gas Mark 7

Step 3: Make the stuffing.

Heat a pan over a high heat and add the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the onions and cook them for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.

Next, add the red pepper, garlic, and chopped chilli. Stir together and season with salt and pepper. Cook until peppers begin to get soft, then add the parsley and basil, stirring it all together.

Now add the flour, turn off the heat and stir it all together. Remove from the heat and let cool.

Step 4: Stuff the fish.

Place a generous amount of stuffing in the centre of the fillet. Now place another fillet on top, making a sandwich of the stuffing. Set is to one side.

Step 5: Prepare the ham for wrapping & wrapping the fish

On a piece of wax paper, place the pieces of ham overlapping each other. For this I used foil and 2 packs of Parma ham.

Now place the fish on top of the ham and with the help of the wax paper/foil, wrap the fish in ham.

End result.

Step 6: Secure the fish with the twine.

Begin tying the fish by passing the string underneath on end of the fish. Make sure to keep at least 15cm at the beginning of the string in reserve.

Now make a loop and again sling the string underneath the fish. Do this until you near the opposite end of the fish.

Finally run the 15cm end at the beginning of the string under the fish and tie it with the other.

Step 7: Bake the fish.

Put a little oil in the baking pan and place the fish on top. Season with salt and pepper, then place in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes and then remove.

Step 8: Remove the string.

Taking the scissors, carefully snip the string where it is looped being careful not to destroy the wrap. Now using a sharp knife, cut off the end of the wrap and the slice the rest into slices of about 3cm each.

Just ensure you have a sharper knife than me. Serve with whatever you fancy.

My wife said the was the best dish by a country mile. Woooohooooo.

Smut Fest Meet, Hill Head

This meet has been in the dairy for sometime. I was a little unsure whether I’d make this one as I received an early present, “Man-Flu”. On the day though I zipped up the man suit and made it happen. Am I glad I did or what? Read On!

Rich (DILLIGAF) had put all the preparations in place for the event. So to just turn up and fish makes everything so much easier for everyone.

I arrived with Ian and James around 0730 to find a few others wanted an early start. We hit the water by 0800 and headed out to the 20ft point. No marks to select because Smooth Hounds can be caught anywhere around this area.

It was windy and the swell made it a little uncomfortable at times, but we just battled through it for the entire morning. My video selection says it all. A new PB too.

We pretty much all headed back in around lunch time because hunger was starting to set in, but the weather was starting to get worse also.

Rich had bought a nice sized half barrel shape BBQ down and cooked some good food anyone how brought something to throw on.

While the food was cooking some just chilled right out.

I decided to head out again for a final bash around 1530. Initially close in it felt like the wind has dropped off. What a miss judgement that was. We just paddled straight out to the 20ft point again and dropped anchor. The tide and current was in that transition period where the kayak just wouldn’t settle down into a safe fishing position. I soldiered on anyway in the hope I could land a few more Smooth Hounds.

Just look at the scene.

The weather was getting increasingly worse by the second. The swell ever worse and the wind picking up ten fold.

I managed to bag another Starry around the 6-7lb mark, shortly followed by a 4lb Bass that took my Mackerel head. I’ve been trying this bait for over 2 years and finally caught a nice fish with the method. Chuffed would be an under statement. I’d run out of memory on my camera to film this and only had enough room to take a picture later.

With the Bass in the bag, I decided enough was enough and headed back in. Just in time to be honest because not long after it started to rain.

I could also see that other people had the same idea and headed towards the shore also.

I didn’t disappear until this picture had been taken of course.

It was great to meet some old friends and bump into some new guys that came along. I think everyone had a great day, but it was a really shame the weather had let things down.

A new personal best of 14lbs and Bass for tea.

Oh yes, no to forget. Ian caught the stonker of the day. A 17lb+ Smooth Hound. Couldn’t reach my camera in time. HAHAHAHA. Well done mate.

Priceless…..

Late Hayling Island Report

With this fantastic weather comes fantastic opportunities to get out and live the dream.

I went almost straight from work and met with Ian right beside the Inn on the Beach.

The bonus being parking is free after 1800. This truly makes a difference seeing as its a rip off otherwise.

With the intention to fish for Bass and Mackerel the gear required was absolutely minimal. It makes a change to be setup within 10 mins and in the water.

The conditions were perfect.

We had a quick go right by the Inn and then decided to go meet Pete who paddled over from Eastney. The sand banks were the target.

What an amazing paddle over to say the least.

Once we’d secured the kayaks on the sand I just felt the need to photograph everything.

Pete doing something.

Another picture of my kayak with the most beautiful back drop.

We all waded out and threw the lures everywhere. I reckon an hour or so was spent on the sand banks trying different areas in the hope something would develop.

Ian giving it a bash.

Another stunning picture of the yaks ready to deploy.

Pete decided enough was enough and headed home before sunset, so Ian and I prepared the kayaks to try further out.

Straight away our luck changed. Literally just out from the banks it started to liven up. I had a good bang but failed to set the hook properly. I threw the lure in the same direction and made it count second time round. Nothing big but the target fish either way.

Ian in the distance doing exactly the same.

After hearing him saying he hooked one, I paddled over to watch him reel it in, and it turned out to be a fairly good sized bass. I was very jealous, but Ian was happy and that’s what counts.

There wasn’t a great deal of action after that, but the sunset was sensational. The pictures close this report.

Baked Sea Bream

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 bream, about 2 1/4lb scaled and gutted.
Olive oil
1 large onion, sliced into rings
2 cloves garlic, finely diced
4 ripe tomatoes, thickly sliced
12 black olives
Freshly ground black pepper
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1-2 tablespoons parsley, Finley chopped .

Method

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 6, 400f (200 c)

2. Wash the fish and pat it dry with kitchen paper.

Here my whole bream and the filleted result. Getting better is all I can say.

Once the fillets were dabbed down, I cut them into fairly good sized chunks.

Here’s all my ingredients prepared and ready to go.

3. Heat a little oil in a heavy pan and gently fry the onion with the garlic until it is soft but not brown.

4. Lightly oil a shallow backing dish and spread half the softened onion, garlic and tomato slices over the base of the dish.

5. Put the fish on top and surround with olives.

I opted for chilli olives instead of back ones.

6. Season generously with freshly ground black pepper.

7. Sprinkle the lemon juice over the fish, cover with the remaining tomatoes and softened onion and garlic, season again with pepper and sprinkle with the chopped parsley.

8. Drizzle a little olive oil over the dish, cover loosely with foil and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes.

9. Then remove the foil and check the fish before returning it to the oven for a final 10 minutes or until cooked.

The finished product.

Served with rice it turned out well. A mixture of flavours but nothing to overwhelm the dish. My wife loved it too.

Enjoy.

Bracklesham Produces On The Day, A New PB

A spur of the moment trip for me because I only just managed to get someone to look after my Daughter for the whole day, thanks Nanny.

Bracklesham was on the cards for today’s outing, and we haven’t fished this area almost a year to date. Last time it produced the goods, but keep reading to see what all the fuss is about.

It seems we have a nice group of people in the area so it’s nice to have these little meets with plenty of company. Safety in numbers also plays a big part of course.

I left the house at 07:00 and met Ian, Pete and Dave at a service station on route to Chichester. The Bracklesham carpark now has parking meters, they only take cash and there’s no option to pay by card so just be aware, dohhhh.

Dan and Richi were also in the carpark planning to fish much further out than us, so it was nice having a quick chat before they headed out.

We all setup on the carpark ledge and were ready to launch within 30 minutes or so.

Brilliant conditions out there.

We a decided to fish an area called the Hounds. It’s clearly marked on charts so it’s easy to find. I’ve heard many great reports about this area on forums so it seemed worthy of a try. The paddle was just under 2 mile from the launch site and took around 20 minutes. There were some boat already fishing around the area so at least I knew my GPS was spot on. We all anchor up with a greater distance from each other just to be sure.

It didn’t take long and I hooked my first monster Wrasse.

Closely followed by a huge Pouting.

All joking aside it’s great to catch something. Then came a much bigger Wrasse. This one had such wonderful colouring.

We knew this area would be plagued with Wrasse, but we were targeting Bream today so it’s a perfect mark for that particular specie. Everything very quickly dried up in this area and as a joint decisions we decided to move on.

Unfortunately being a rocky mark an anchor was lost but this didn’t have any effect on the rest of the day.

We moved closer to where we’d need to paddle to get back anyway and anchored in a promising position. Ummmm.

This area most certainly proved to be the best choice of the day because the bites were non stop in my position anyway.

First fish was a Mackerel, followed closely by my first ever Garfish. Over 2 years fishing from a Kayak and I finally got my first Garfish.

Then another Mackerel, a little smaller but always good as bait either way.

A nice sized Pollock was reeled in next, followed by a few more Wrasse. Some of which were fairly big.

Then came the tap, tap, tap, tap of a bream bite. Immediately I was excited but you’ve got to hook the things first. Often the hardest part.

The first to come to the surface has some amazing colouring and was Male with the blue markings which was news to me. Nice to learn something new each time. It was a good size some went into my keep net.

I had guesstimate the weight, but when I weighed it back on land, 2 1/2LBS. A new personnel best and one that may take a little time to beat.

Pete, Ian and Dave all caught some amazing species and had a brilliant time. So while I was having a fantastic time they were also.

I had run out of bait at this stage so decided to feather for some more Mackerel and take some pictures of the guys.

The paddle back was a little emotional, I was wiped out by then. We had been on the water over 8 hours and paddled 4-5 miles. Not a great distance but the weather was perfect and my drysuit isn’t breathable which makes it slightly uncomfortable.

All our faces would have shown the expression of relief at the beach.

Here’s my selection of fish on the shore.

When I got home my Daughter took some extras of my Bream.

Here’s the 2 1/2lb Personnel Best.

It turned out to be quite an expensive day, 10 Rigs lost to the rocks and 3 anchors. The Local Chandler will be made up this week. Oh, my anchor came home, just visit anchor setup version 2. hahahah

Best fishing of the year yet. The bonus, it’s only May……

Swanage Kayak Competition 2012

Firstly I have to say I’ve been looking forward to this event for sometime now as it’s just a great to meet new people and have a good laugh.

I couldn’t stay at the camp site this year because of work and family commitments, but this was probably a blessing to be honest, after the amount of alcohol I consumed last year I struggled slightly on the day.

I left my house at 0500 and met with Pete on route. With no traffic it took just over 1 hour. The benefit of leaving so early was to guarantee a good parking space and get some early morning breakfast in. With all the minor admin squared away we checked in at the main control area and began setting our kayaks for the competition.

It didn’t take long at all for the car park fill up. 140 people had put in for the event which also attracted a lot of local interest. It was quite funny seeing the car park littered with kayaks.

We didn’t waste anytime what so ever as we wanted to grab another cuppa before the safety brief.

After parking the kayak up on the main pitching area I took some pictures to show the scale of the event in comparison to last year.

Good to go. A coiled spring.

The rules were exactly the same as the previous year, however because the weather had improved ten fold this meant the fishing boundary was bigger than 2011.

The team giving the final details before we could hit the water.

I took this picture minute after the brief and it just highlights the scale of people that made the effort to attend and enjoy a terrific event.

Once we finally hit the water Pete and myself headed for a mark that looked worthy of giving go. It seemed a few other anglers had the same idea. Evans Rock clearly shown on the marine charts looked promising.

It took around 15 minutes to paddle there and after dropping anchor we were fishing in 40+ft of water.

The wind was a little demanding to start the morning, but by lunch time it’d died right down. First in was Pete after only being at the mark for 10 mins of so. He landed a Mackerel for the first specie on his list. I shouted “Well Done” of course I wanted that fish, but sometimes you have to be supportive. Ummmmmm.

Then 5 minutes on I hooked into a Mackerel. A good-sized one at that, and the first of the year.

Not long after, I reeled in a Dogfish that spit the hook out right next to my kayak. I was absolutely gutted. It must have felt sorry for me and decided to hook itself again increasing my list to 2.

Here’s some other pictures taken around this location.

One of Pete.

Me, just to prove I’m there. Don’t know why the line appeared in this one.

Swanage Cliffs. Looks better than the photo could even portray

We stayed around this mark for around 2 hours and decided to move closer in shore to try and target Wrasse and other species.

The paddle to get closer in was far easier than the first leg of the journey. The weather was lovely, the wind had dropped right off and the sun was blazing. What a difference it makes when fishing.

I had one final bite which turned out to be another Dogfish. We moved a couple more times taking us closer in land each time and Pete didn’t improve on his 1 Specie either.

I spoke to a few anglers while paddling around and it very quickly dawned on me that I wasn’t going to be taking a new kayak home. Some people were already in the 4-5 mark.

So we decided to head back in, pack the gear and grab another cuppa.

When we looked at the score board it was very clear to see some people had a very successful day compared to us. “It’s all about taking part though I’m thinking” again Ummmmmm.

We mustered around the Control tent for the prize giving and it was brilliant. Funny and nice to see people do so well. With the sport just growing year on year, it was brilliant to see that 7 juniors had entered the competition and they all came away with gifts and prizes for their efforts, so well done guys.

It turns out that the top prize being a brand new Ultra went to Keith Aka Merry Fisher after landing 6 speicies. £999 worth of kayak, not bad for the £10 entry fee I think.

This brings me on to the final parts. All money made for the event went straight over the RNLI, a whopping £1400 from the 140 people who paid the £10 entry fee. So a cracking effort for all those that attended.

If you fancy trying this event next year then look on the forums where the competition is heavily advertised, pay a £10 entry fee and try to land as many species as possible in the time frame.

For all those involved in making this possible yet again, my hat goes off to you. Well done and thankyou.