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

Whitby charter skippers celebrate the news. From left are John Whitton, Martin Greaves, Paul Kilpatrick, Richard Ward, George Metcalf, Malcom Pitman, Paul Eddon, Eddie Baker and Mick Leonard

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 t o 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.”

The full article contains 412 words and appears in Whitby Gazette Friday newspaper.

Last Updated: 20 March 2008 9:02 AM

Competition hours are from 7am. Until 5pm.

 No boat to go through the bridge before 7am. (On the GPS.) 

Boats not returning through the bridge before 5pm. (or the 5pm. opening) will be disqualified.                         The association will not be responsible for any fishing time lost through breakdown and/or recovery. Safety at sea must take priority and any dispute will be referred to the committee whose decision will be final.             Weighing in slips must be produced at the weigh in, fully completed and signed by the skipper.                         

 Fish are to be weighed in whole, and then any potential festival winner will be gutted and inspected for any foul play by the weigh master and /or his assistant.  

            The weigh master has the right to disqualify any entry he suspects is a victim of foul play or tampering and his decision will remain final. Committee to decide whether or not to cancel for bad weather on morning of competition.     In case of any dispute the committee’s decision will be final.              Any one fish can only be entered in one class of the competition.All fish are to be ready at the weigh in station by 5.30pm     And no dispensation will be allowed for late entry. WCSA members and skippers may not enter the completion. Only WCSA. Member’s boats may enter the completion. 

Any refunds due to competitors must be claimed from the skipper of their boat.             

            All prizes to be collected within 3 months.

            For more information on  specific festival weighing rules please read  reverse side of your weighing slip.

For reasons of conservation the wcsa operate a catch and release program on sharks,   local bye laws also state no tope can be landedAs such no sharks will qualify in the fishing festivals run by the wcsa.

 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 we dont need a lisence fee to conserve fish, size limmits are more important as I see it,

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 my trips knows how conscientious i am 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.

only a few trips this month due to weather mostly, still had a few good days off robin hoods bay with some nice cod, small ling and a couple of pollock all taken on squid,

the young lad in the photo caught this pollock but for some reason could only hold it upside down, still well done on a cold and rough old day.

This has been a busy week and we got out fishing every day, the catches have been steady with the first part of the week spent rough ground fishing and the latter up-tiding/fishing at anchor,

Both methods have produced plenty of cod, whiting and a few ling, the mackerel were understandably few and far between, (apart from one three hour trip) everybody came home with fish every day this week and the majority of the fish falling to bait,

Now as the winter approaches we will be making more up-tiding trips (as apposed to the usual rough ground and wreck fishing) these trips are suitable for novice and regular anglers alike, and have produced some big cod in the past, for those who have never tried up-tiding it is fishing at its most simple, instead of drifting over ground looking for fish jigging and winding heavy leads and pirks up and down 27 fathoms (at the mercy of the wind and tide), the boat is anchored up close to shore in around 5-10 fathom and bait is presented to attract the fish to you,  course fishermen/women will know this as bottom fishing or ledgering, and it is a really relaxing and peaceful method of fishing during winter months when offshore methods are not a option due to big tides and or poor weather,

So why not try some uptiding this winter lots of dates available give me a call or send a email i will try answer any doubts of questions you may have

Mick.

Last weeks weather was more settled at last and the fishing has been steady, the week end produced some good catches with the mackerel still showing heavy at four miles plus, and still catching as many as you need, the cod have been a little more scarce only a dozen or so (probably due to the herring spawning) the biggest taken was around 6lbs, the ling however are still around in big numbers none very big but lots caught on bait and most fish falling to bait squid/mackerel, some very nice whiting was had a little further out and most were really good sizes I caught all mine on a tiny 2 inch shad, also heaps of pouting were caught,

In all good signs with as many small fish safely returned as we took.

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 skippers trusty 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.