Each year Wessex Rivers Trust holds a fishing auction which is sponsored by many of our generous supporters. This year we had a lot with a difference, which William Sleeman kindly explains:
“I have supported the annual Wessex Rivers Trust auction for a number of years, but I have always bought river fishing. This year I bought a day Bass fishing in the Solent and did not really know what to expect. The lot was donated by Fiver Rivers Environmental Contacting and I contacted Tom Grayling of the company to arrange the day. The fishing is dependent on tides and weather and we had to find a date in the diary when we were all available. We were unable to find the right day in August due to the bad weather and finally settled on 16th September 2020 and we arranged to meet Tom at Christchurch at 1pm.
We set off in the 17’ Sea Hawk boat powered by a 65hp outboard engine, belonging to Fiver Rivers and the weather was perfect with very light wind and 25 degrees sunshine making it feel more like the Caribbean than the Solent. We were supplied with life jackets, tackle and a good picnic lunch and we were soon out in the Solent and drifting over the Christchurch Ledge.
We used weighted head jig lures and we were soon catching fish on every drift. We started with a small bass each, which were returned and then caught about 6-8 Wrasse each, up to about 4lbs weight, which were also returned. After a few more drifts we lost a couple of larger Bass and landed another couple of smaller Bass. We finished with two very large Bass of 7lbs and 8.5lbs, which were very exciting to catch and which we took home to eat, providing a delicious dinner.
At 7pm we started to head for home, as it was getting dark, and then we saw a pod of dolphins. After a while they swam alongside the boat as we headed to shore. This made a fantastic end to a very successful and memorable day’s fishing.”
Tom Grayling from Five Rivers Environmental Contracting says, “We were delighted to help raise funds for our local Rivers Trust and support the fantastic work that they do. Thanks to William for bidding on the lot and for the great company on the day”
