Sea Spray Charters - New website for boat fishing at Whitby

Sea Spray Whitby is the new website for Malcolm Pitman's charter boat Sea Spray. I have been working on the site for a couple of weeks now and its all but finished (just need to add a bit of blurb about Malcolm himself). If your thinking of taking a fishing trip at Whitby then why not browse the site to see what Malcolm has to offer. There are various fishing trips available including the traditional cod and ling fishing trips and More recently Malcolm has added Shark fishing trips to the list of whats on offer.

http://www.seaspraywhitby.co.uk/

Whitby's east pier balls up

I recently had a letter printed in the Yorkshire post regarding Whitby's east pier balls up. It is a bit of a rant, and made me laugh when I saw it published as I was in a bit of a bad mood when I wrote it having learnt Scarborough Borough council are saying they have no funds to replace the east pier bridge. There is one bit of the letter that I believe now to be factually incorrect as I am reliably informed the bill for Scarboroughs Marine drive is closer the 60 million mark.

The letter reads as follows

Exerting pier pressure
From: Glenn Kilpatrick,
St Peters Court, Whitby.
I AM appalled at Scarborough Council's inability to repair the East Pier in Whitby (Yorkshire Post, August 8). It has been out of bounds to sea anglers for far too long.
The council always passes on the blame, saying there is no budget for repairs.
Well, no wonder it hasn't the funds: it spent £25m-plus on Scarborough's Marine Drive sea defences only a couple of years ago. Whenever cash is needed in the Scarborough area, suddenly it can be found.
It would easily be possible to fabricate a one-piece-span bridge to reconnect the East Pier, restore Whitby's heritage and give back the only place worth fishing to the local sea anglers.
I also note that 90 per cent of Whitby's West Pier is also out of bounds to anglers because of a corroded handrail. How long will it be before this is put right?Perhaps the council should put up a big sign outside Whitby saying: "Anglers not welcome here. Please find somewhere else to fish".
They could, perhaps, suggest Scarborough's Marine Drive as an alternative?


The letter can be read at

http://www.yorkshiretoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=101&ArticleID=1705891

flikr picture gallery

Whilst searching the net I came across the flikr pictur gallery, which holds thousands of pictures from across the globe. It looks like it could be quite interesting with members commenting on each others photos etc. Ive registered an account and added a few pictures. Ill be adding some more over the coming months. Ive also started a group where other flikr members can add their pictures and discuss the. The group is entitled north east coast sea fishing and I hope that some of you will join up and add your own pics etc.

to view my pics visit

http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitby-sea-fishing-and-general-pics/

Cod recovery plan - Why let fishermen dictate

I notice the regional advisory councils are asking the question is cod recoverable. With a large majority of these groups being represenatives of the fishing industry I am a little suspest of this. I think the result is a foregone conclusion - global warming is to blame and fishermen should be aloud free reign on our seas (why bother meeting). I find myself asking the question whoose job is it to decide if cod is recoverable ? I ackowledge that there are anglers and conservationists on these groups but just like the sea fisheries committee they are so outnumbered they will struggle to be heared (however I know they will shout very loud).

http://www.fishupdate.com/news/fullstory.p...n_cod_move.html

http://www.sacn.org.uk/Conservation-and-Po...ecoverable.html

Bike ride

Photo stuck together using photo stich software. You would never know that this is 4 pictures glued together to make one.

Ive been off work this week and been getting out and about with the kids. Today me and Jay went to Robin hoods bay on the bikes along the old railway line. As we got near bay I noticed some excellent looking fishing marks that I hadnt seen before. Judging by where I was on the railway line I think they must have been in the south Hawsker area. One day ill have to get down their on my own and have a good look at the area. It looks like it should be really good fishing. However it also looks miles from anywhere so will probably be a long walk from where ever you decide to park up. I took some pictures at Robin hoods bay and have posted them below. On our return to Whitby we called at the Windmill pub in Stainsacre for lunch. Top notch grub at a decent price and they even gave Jay a free ice cream which I thought was jolly decent of them.

Whitby jet

Been trying to seek out a few links of late to build up traffic for the blog. A big thanks goes to the crafty green poet for posing this little piece.

http://craftygreenpoet.blogspot.com/2006/08/fishing-in-whitby.html

North by Northwest: Two Men and Wheelchair

This is an interesting little piece I found in another blog. Just goes to show you never know what is on the internet. There could be a picture of you out there somewhere without you ever knowing. This was found 10 pages in on the google blog search looking for blogs containing the words robin hoods bay. Im currently looking through all blogs that mention the little villages that we fish from locally. Basically im looking for people to link to this blog as at the moment I only have 2 links which means not many people will come visiting.

North by Northwest: Two Men and Wheelchair

Staithes And Runswick Lifeboat Day

Again this ones not specifically fishing but these are the guys who will risk their necks to come rescue us if we ever get into difficulty whilst out fishing. Mike from Skinnigrove sent me these excellent pictures from Staithes and Runswick Lifeboat day and they illustrate just how brave these people are. Next time your passing a lifeboat donation box don't forget to give generously.

More shy torque sharks for Rich Ward at Whitby - Whitby Sea Fishing

This week has seen yet more sharks caught by Rich Ward on the Whitby Charter boat Shy Torque. Sea Fishing at Whitby for sharks has really taken of with more anglers booking Sharking Trips with the Whitby charter boats.

This Porbeagle weighed in at Rougly 150 pounds and was caught by Malton based angler John Hudson.

Sea fishing on the Holderness coast

Just recieved an excellent article from Chris all about fishing on the holderness coast. Im sure youll admit it's excellent reading. Cheers chris I owe you one.

Holderness Coast Sea Fishing.

The Holderness Coast is the stretch of coast between Bridlington and Spurn Point. In the mouth of the river Humber. Sea fishing on the Holderness coast can be great at times and most months of the year there will be sizable fish to go out and target. Pick the tides and conditions and with a bit of luck you could have the catch you have always wanted from the shore, this part of the country can throw up anything from small whiting to tope from the beaches.


Holderness coast winter fishing.

The fishing in winter on the Holderness coast can be superb, with huge bags of whiting and big bags of cod possible from most of the beach marks along the ..............................................

Please Click here to read more about holderness coast fishing

Many thanks to Chris Mack for writing the article.

Scarborough Angling / Fishing Club Results

Evening News Report - July 2006

Back at last, too much work and not a lot of fishing
On Sunday The Seabirds at Bridlington held their first ever summer open match, fished under clear blue skies, a light south easterly breeze and clear waters fishing expectations were high.
as been the case most of this summer the big fish failed to materialise, but with the tide well in at the start of the match the early signs were promising, but with the out going tide the bites started to get less and less with each hour that passed.
43 competitors took part and the eventual winner was Steve Aklam of Bridlington with a fine fish of 4.4.0 from Flamborough.
Generally the cod fishing on the north east coast around Scarborough is slow but there are plenty of summer species around to keep everyone occupied, particulary the mackerel and flat fish fishing from the piers and with plenty of bait fish activity there has been a few small bass in Filey Bay to holiday anglers fishing with spinners.
For those interested Scarborough Angling Festival Schedules are now in all local tackle shops.

Seabirds Result

1 S Aklam Bridlington 4.4.0, 2-M Salvage Hornsea 3.13.0, 3 M Chadwick Scarborough 3.4.0
Doubles Winners Harry Moon and Mick Chadwick Scarborough.

Evening News Report 27-7-2006

This weekend saw the third in the series of Rock Anglers Society summer matches and this year it has turned in to something of a whitewash for Ray Maddison, Ray fished on Sunday in almost perfect summer conditions, a windless glass like sea, fishing from low to over high water ray managed a seven fish haul for 18.5lbs, including the heaviest fish of the weekend a cod of 5.5.0.
Rays average over the first three matches is around 20lb and if Ray can manage another bag of over 18lb in the last match in August he will beat the heaviest aggregate engraved on the trophy over the last 30years.
Rays bag was made up mainly of red cod which is a good sign that some fish have moved in to the rock edges.
On the general fishing front the main quarry is mackerel, the large numbers are not around at the moment and perseverance is the key, you may have to fish for a couple of hours to find them but generally when they do put in an appearance the average size is now a pound plus

Many thanks to Scarborough angler Pete Atkinson for supplying the results

Boulby Boiler hole - Boulby gulley - cowbar cliffs

Took a few pictures today from the top of the cliff at Cowbar. Ive always wanted to try fish from the cliff tops but have never got around to it. A good look around shows all the places that would give best places to cast to hit the gulleys and holes below. You can actually see where a lot of the anglers fish of the cowbar cliffs. Tell tale signs like peeler shells and poles for lifying fish up the cliff are there for all to see. Whan I saw the colour of the water I started wishing id fished over the past few days. Just wish id been able to find the time.

North east coast rock fishing glossary

Well from the outside It probably looks like Ive gone bonkers (although Im sure most think that anyways). Ive been doing a lot of work on the www.whitbyseaanglers.co.uk website over the past couple of weeks. I guess some of it looks pretty irrelevent but it all has a purpose - which is to get better listings on google and therefore get more people to look at our site. From what ive been told the more content you have with word that people will search for the better your site will do in google. For example. Ive recently started a north east coast rock fishing glossary which lists items used or related to cod fishing in the north east of England. It probably doesnt appear like anything clever but hopefully now when someone types the word amnesia or bimini twist or any other word in the glossary into google they will see our site listed and come take a look. Thats the theory. Ill tell you in about 12 months if it works in practice. Its called search engine optimisation and quite useful for making a few quid from writing websites if you can master the art.

Seems the commercial fishermen are angry about the bass management plan

---- Press Release----

IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 10 2006


Cornish fishermen are outraged at Ben Bradshaw’s announcement today, increasing the minimum landing size for sea bass from 36cm (37.5cm in Cornwall) to 40cm for UK fishermen.

Paul Trebilcock Chief Executive of the Cornish Fish Producer’s Organisation said, “Quite honestly I think Ben Bradshaw has lost the plot! He hasn’t listened to commercial fishermen and there is certainly not the science to back this move. This will do nothing for the bass stock and is quite simply a sop to a minority group of elitist anglers. To say we are angry is an understatement!

There will be massive implications for fishermen targeting bass as well as those who take it as a part of their main catch. This is ludicrous when you take into account that bass is a stock that is being fished sustainable at present according to his own scientists.

The only things this measure will achieve are to increase discards, bankrupt UK fishermen and hand the domestic bass market to our European competitors of a stock which is being fished sustainably.

This regulation is unilateral therefore French and Belgian fishermen, who already account for approximately 70% of the total bass landings, will continue to fish legally into 6 miles off our coast retaining the bass that are supposed to be being protected. Consequently the regulation will be ineffectual as bass will still be taken at 36cm, therefore any supposed benefit to fishermen, anglers and perhaps most importantly the bass stock will not happen. If Bradshaw was serious about doing something for the bass stock it should have been done at a European level but I suspect that was too difficult without a sound scientific argument and so he went for the easy target –the UK fishermen to score points with the anglers.

It gets worse as well as he has stated that he intends to go further and increase the minimum landing size further to 45cm in a few years time, we might as well forget bass fishing if that happens.

We along with fishermen around the UK are seriously looking into the legal implications of this announcement and we feel that there may be grounds to challenge this on the basis of discrimination and prejudicing the human rights of UK fishermen to earn a legitimate living -something he has made increasingly difficult in recent years!

For More Information Please Contact: Paul Trebilcock Chief Executive of CFPO
01736 351 050

Bradshawe gets a hard time from some Bass anglers - But the fishing reps appear very silent.

Yesterdays Bass management plan announcement appears to have angered many bass anglers. Ive read through some of the fishing forums and to say bass anglers are a little peeved is an understatment to say the least. Ben Bradshawe the fisheries minister appears to be taking a right hammering for his contraversial decision to increase bass minimim size limits to only 40cm as the bass anglers wanted it raising to 45cm - a size at which most bass will have had the opportuinty to have spawned at least once.
For some reason the bodies who represent anglers have remained silent. There appears to be no condemnation of the minister from groups like NFSA. Hopefully they will express their displeasure soon.

A few pictures of Whitby's rough seas

Been out with the camera tonight. Took a few snaps of the rough seas which werent quite as rough as I expected. Plenty of colour in the water though. Might just get out with the rod sometime - Hopefully.











Obviously not tonight, but its someone some of you will know. Still Enjoying his float fishing for Mackerel on Whitby's west pier.

Alan Charlton asks why is charter fishing in decline. A question to all Charter boat skippers including those from Whitby

To all you whitby charter skippers or in fact any charter skipper that looks in here. I am collecting information for an artcle that could be published in Total Sea Fishing. Over the years there has been a decline in the chartering industry and there are many reasons why. I would appreciate if you could put down and send me why you think it has declined and what other uses you have put your boat too (legal) to make a living, i.e divers, bird watchers or in the case of some looking for other species. Would appreciate if you could send info directly to me at
alancharltonsea@blueyonder.co.uk
you should have the time with the sea the way it is.

Read more in the Whitby fishing forum here

Bass Management Measure announced by DEFRA

Ive recieved an email from DEFRA today which reads as follows.

BASS MEASURES - DECISION ANNOUNCED

Defra's Fisheries Minister, Ben Bradshaw, has today announced his decision
on proposals to increase the number and size of bass available to commercial
and recreational fishermen.

The minimum landing size for bass is to be increased from 36cm - 40cm, with
an accompanying minimum mesh size increase, when targeting bass, from 90 -
100mm. These measures will come into effect on 6 April 2007, and apply to
commercial and recreational fishermen.

The Minister has also announced his intention to increase the landing size
further to 45cm, but this will be subject to a review in 2010 of the
effectiveness of the measures announced today.

For further details, please refer to the Press Release, which can be found
at http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2006/060810a.htm

A Summary of Responses and the Regulatory Impact Assessment can be found at
www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/bass-mls/index.htm

E-mail: bassmls@defra.gsi.gov.uk


Michael Evans

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Marine and Fisheries Directorate
3 - 8 Whitehall Place
London
SW1A 2HH

Tel: 0207 2708107
Email: Michael.Evans@defra.gsi.gov.uk
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)

This email and any attachments is intended for the named recipient only.
If you have received it in error you have no authority to use, disclose,
store or copy any of its contents and you should destroy it and inform
the sender.
Whilst this email and associated attachments will have been checked
for known viruses whilst within Defra systems we can accept no
responsibility once it has left our systems.
Communications on Defra's computer systems may be monitored and/or
recorded to secure the effective operation of the system and for other
lawful purposes.


--
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.405 / Virus Database: 268.10.7/411 - Release Date: 07/08/2006

Whitby;'s West Pier Closed - Anglers not welcome at Whitby please find somewhere else to fish.

I went for a walk onto Whitby's west pier last night and was quite dismayed to see that someone (I assume the council) had roped off the majority of the pier and put up a sign saying closed - unsafe area. Not that many people appeared to be taking much notice of the sign but It really pee's me off that whilst we are without one pier already due to something that would cost very little to replace, we are now going to be without the majority of the other pier. I'm not sure how long it will be before this reopens but whoever closed it needs to realise that this is the only remaining place anglers have left to fish from if they want to catch a few mackerel. Coupled with the business surrounding the demolishment of the church street pontoon toilets it appears to me that the council are doing all they can to discourage anglers from visiting our lovely town. The council might as well put a big sign up just outside Whitby saying "Anglers not Welcome - please find somewhere else to go" I hope this is sorted soon but given the history of the other pier I'm not holding my breath.

Please click here to read more

North east coasts commercial fishermen made their bed and now they must lie in it

Anyone who fishes the north east coast won't have failed to notice the shortage of mackerel being caught this year. There are a lot of theories floating around at the moment including : seals are eating them all, no feed for them etc etc. To me the reason for the lack of Mackerel is quite clear. The commercial fishermen caught them all. In recent years illegal and overfishing of the mackerel stocks in the north sea has been reported in some newspapers, magazines and online websites. For those who haven't seen any of these articles these 2 are well worth a look.

Illegal fishing - Altaire

Mackerel over fishing

In recent months a ban has been placed on catching Mackerel from boats from the north east coast of England. There is currently a petition circulating asking for people to add their names in support of getting the ban removed. Links to the petition have been placed on a lot of the angling forums across the internet. I don't know why I was surprised by the response to this petition on the forums but I was. It appears that most recreational anglers (at least those who have commented) are against the petition and think the mackerel ban should stay in place. I personally aren't so sure. I don't like to see the owners of small boats, who in my opinion fish using sustainable methods, penalised for the actions of people like greedy millionaire owners of the Altaire who I can only describe as crooked in every sense of the word. I,m thinking of signing this petition to give my support to owners of small fishing boats. It appears the message from the wider recreational angling community is - "YOU MADE YOUR BED NOW YOU MUST LIE IN IT"

Two new pages on the Whitby Sea Anglers Website

Ive added a couple more pages to the whitby sea fishing clubs website. They are

• A new Whitby sea fishing club guestbook
• A catch report submission page from Lincolnshire up to the scottish borders.

Hopefully they will be used by visitors to the Whitby sea fishing club website.

I have also recently updated the sitemap for the whitby fishing club. Hopefully it now containss all the pages within our website.

Future pages for the whitby fishing club website will include

• Bait keeping articles
• Rig Making and which rig to use for beachcasting / rock fishing in the north east.
  
• Rock fishing tips
• Top ten baits for north east rock fishing
  

Photo recce - fishing marks for the Whitby and North east coast area.

I took another look at Mike Richards' Photo recce website today. Some new venues (cloughton wyke and Hayburn wyke) and photos have been added to the database of north east shore and rock fishing marks. For the keen north east beachcasters and rock anglers this is the site to visit as it details many fishing venues on the north east coast including those at : Port Mulgrave, Runswick, Staithes and Boulby, Kettleness, Goldsbrough, sandsend, Whitby east and west piers, Upgang, Saltwick bay, Robin hoods bay, ravenscar, Scarborough and Filey brigg. In depth maps, information on parking, baits to use, local tackle suppliers and much more can be found at www.photorecce.co.uk.

Whitby boat fishing with The incredible Hulk - Or Barry Rogers as some know him

Went fishing tonight with a few friends out of whitby on Barry Rogers' boat Stoney Broke. It made a nice change. I dont usually go Whitby boat fishing as I get bad sea sickness but I downed some boots' own travel sickness pills and headed off to the cod grounds (or Whiting grounds as they are now known). Straight away we were all into fish. Whiting after Whiting came aboard and we probably had 60 between us in 2 hours of fishing along with a few small codling and a few mackerel. What was nice to see was the amount of small codling we caught. We probably got 40 or more that would be undersized, they were carefully unhooked and returned alive and well. I think the small codlings are a good sign for the winter season so long as they don't all get scooped up by the pair trawlers when the herring spawns this autumn. Not a bad night out for 12 quid. Ceratinly was a laugh, especially Lee's chicken in the freezer joke.

Lee says "it was this big" Honest







Kerry spewing up and saying she will never go on a boat again.

New home for the sea anglers conservation network

Leon Roskillys sea anglers conservation network has moved to a new home. The site has a new look with lots of interesting conservation and political items to view including : "The Worth of Receational sea angling", "Return that fish?" and "Marine protected areas".
This site really is the place to call if your interested in fishing conservation.

Sea Anglers Conservation Network

Fladen Junior Open

The fladen Junior open was held just up the coast last weekend. The event attracted 207 anglers who fished between the Astley Arms (Seaton Sluice Beach) and Beach Way (Blyth Beach).Twenty five of the youngsters weighed in 20 flounders, 9 plaice. 2 pipefish. 3 Turbot, two dabs for 5.324kg (11.5lb aprox)

Overall winner was Declan Turley(Troon) five flounders 0.64kg £500 of Fladden tackle.

There is a full report on the whitby fishing forum at The whitby fishing forum
kindly submitted by Hairybeast.

Fishing tonight

Well after that blow I decided to head out and do a bit of fishing. I went up onto sandsend cliffs at roughly 8 O'clock and fished the ledges untill about 11. I only had 1 bite which I thought was Probably a Rockling. I bumped into Dave Perett along the way and he had had nothing also. On the way off I bumped into Paul Lobley and his m8 from Middlesbrough who was just winding in a small codling which was probably just legal size (looks like we might have to carry our measures this year). Paul said he was out for a night session and was heading down to fish the low water over at Port mulgrave then on again to fish the flood tomorrow at Cowbar jetty. I dont know where he gets his motivation from and his ability to cope with no sleep. 3 hours on the cliffs was more than enough. Perhaps if I had more bites I might have felt a little different, but It is only August and the tide was a 4.2. Not the best for catching I must admit.

The surf dudes were out in force - I wonder If they Know there are big sharks about.

Shark Fishing At Whitby

Recently I have been putting lots of Information onto my Blog about shark fishing at Whitby. This page will act as a bit of an index of the Whitby shark fishing articles within my my blog. To date there are articles about shark fishing at Whitby from Rich Wards boat Shy torque (shytorue, shy-torque). Please click on the blue underlined links to view these articles.



Shark fishing at Whitby

Whitby Shark Fishing - Porbeagle Sharks and tope are the latest target of the Whitby Charter fleets fishing trips.

More whitby sharks for Rich Ward on Shytorque


There are also a couple of articles on shark fishing at Whitby with Malcolm Pitman on board his boat sea spray these whitby shark fishing articles can be viewed at the following links

Shark fishing at Whitby - Malcolm Pitman sea spray charters.

Whitby shark fishing - Sea Spray Charters

More Shark fishing articles from the local press and on the internet

Whitby gazette shark report

Rich Ward Shytorque - Whitby gazette article

Anglers net shark topic

Whitby porbeagle - anglersnet

Dont forget that you can debate shark fishing at Whitby by visiting the Whitby Sea Fishing forum.

May I apologise for saying shark fishing at Whitby so many times in this post, You may think Ive gone shark raving bonkers but there is a reason for it that goes by the Name of Google. Trying to get them to list me for the phrases shark fishing at Whitby and Whitby shark fishing is proving somewhat difficult which is annoying as they list this blog highly for any other terms within it. Why they wont list me on this phrase is beyond me. Hopefully this should do the trick. If any readers have blogs or sites please help me by linking here with the anchor text Shark Fishing at Whitby or Whitby shark fishing.

Just to round off here is another Whitby shark caught whilst Fishing on seaspray on Monday.




Watch your hands - these shark fishing trips at Whitby could cost you a finger or 2.

More Whitby Sharks And A Tope This Time For Rich Ward On Shytorque

On Saturday 3 of Rich Wards mates were on board Whitby Shy Torque , One lad from Pontefract ( Guy Wrightson ) one from Harrogate ( Jim Holyland ) and one from Market Weighton, Rob Peel. All 3 are regular anglers on the Shy-Torque. Guy had long wanted to have a go for Shark after seeing the 248lb er Rupert Drury had last year. A stiff S/E was forecast for later in the day but conditions on the morning were great so we decided to go for it. At 2.20pm Rich had said to the lads They would give it till 4.0.clock and if nothing had happened they would call it a day. At 3.05pm the balloon twitched and sank momentarily. Rich wasn't sure if it had been caused by the big swells passing by but not seconds after that the fish had taken the bait. 20-25 mins laterThey boated the fish which was measured at 53" long with a girth of 35" which meant the fish was around the 120lb mark give or take a couple of pounds. The fish was a female and was tagged and released with all relevant data sent to the UK Shark Tagging Programme. Guy was the captor.


The Day Prior, Friday 28th July was when They caught the Tope. Estimating him to be around the 35-40lbs mark Rich ward the shytorque skipper said he had never seen such a lively fish with strength and power far greater than the Porbeagle shark. The shy torque Angler who caught the tope was Phil Cobham from London. They were on a Sharking trip and had sighted a Porbeagle only feet from the boat an hour or so before but he never returned for a battle. All the feeding Shark must have all been around Malcs boat !!! The tope took a LIVE Mackerel on the surface and took around 5-10 mins to land as we had him on the heavy gear. Rich says "it isVery unusual to have one take on the surface so I am led to believe"