I’ve included a few sea angling links I find useful – mainly weather, tides and mapping, but also a few sites/stores that I use, and some miscellaneous links I find useful.
Weather and Tides
Windguru – aimed at windsurfers, but with lots of useful info for anglers too.
XC Weather – Useful presentation if you’re trying to choose between widely separated destinations, as you can see the overall weather patterns and also current windspeed readings for many sites across the UK. Pretty much my default site for forecasting.
Magic Seaweed – I use this mainly for swell height and direction, but the forecasts are reasonable and it includes info such as sea surface temperature as well.
UKHO tides – best tidal resource for up to 7 days ahead. For long term planning you need to install software like WXTide (free) which provides tidal data years in advance.
Charts and Mapping
OS Online Mapping Service – excellent aerial photography and detailed OS maps available. I find this really useful when planning trips or checking out potential fishing destinations, and it’s the only site I actually pay a subscription to…
Navionics Charts – online version of their charting software. A fairly cheap subscription will let you download the app to iPads, etc. Very useful for armchair scouting when the wind is hoolie-ing outside.
Other Sea Angling sites
World Sea Fishing – probably the most active sea angling site, with some highly knowledgeable posters (and some pointless back biting as well).
Planet Sea Fishing – some interesting articles, reviews and videos on this one (and lots of reel schematics available)
Boat Hire/Charters
I’ve never used any of these services, so this is not a personal recommendation, but the Scottish sea lochs do offer a decent chance for someone who doesn’t have a boat to get a day afloat.
Ardnamurchan Marine (or www.selfcatering-ardnamurchan.co.uk)- self-drive and charter boat hire at Laga Bay, Loch Sunart.
Loch Etive boat hire – self-drive dinghies from Taynuilt, Loch Etive.
Miscellaneous
Reefmaster – as explained here I use this software to help map out the seabed where I fish – it helps provide more insight into an area.
Boatlaunch – a very useful site for checking out local launch sites and slipways around the UK. It doesn’t list them all, but it’s generally fairly accurate info for the ones it does hold.
Salen Hotel, Loch Sunart – one of the few hotels that seem to be open over the winter months, and I’ve stayed here a few times. Rooms very comfortable, and food very good in season (might be more restricted bar menu and feeding times over winter, so worth checking if this matters to you).
Salen Jetty, Loch Sunart – our usual launch site when visiting Sunart. An easy, sheltered site but with fairly limited parking. Overnight mooring on the pontoons can be arranged.
Resipole Campsite – A slightly tighter launch site, but with plenty of parking space. More exposed than Salen, but this is only a problem if you’re single handed and need to leave the boat to park the car, etc. I’ve also stayed in the static caravans here, which were perfectly fine.
Hi
I have just purchsed a Longliner 2 with only 25 hours on the engine. I am lookign for a tach/multi gauge and I see you have the same engine F25 Yamaha and a Yamaha multi gauge. what does your engine support trim. oil, revs, etc. I was told I cant get trim as the F25 engine does not support that feature is that correct. Nay help with model Nos etc would be appreciated Yamaha agents are not the best!
Hi Peter,
My multi-gauge is the same – it doesn’t support trim indication. I got it chucked in as part of the package, but I really only use it as a rev counter and to count engine hours. The outboard is a Yam F25GETL, which has been fine so far.
Hi
I am very interested in purchasing a similar tent and wood burning stove to you and could you let me know the make and model of both please.
Also any useful info or tips you would have picked up using these would be really helpful
Thanks in advance
Mark
Hi Mark,
My answer was getting way too long, so I’ve added a new post about hot tenting, which hopefully answers your question!
Cheers,
Doug
Hi Doug.
New boat owner looking for a bit of assistance. When you cruised round mull roughly how much fuel did you take and where did you manage to fill up on the island. Was looking to do the same sort of route in December but a bit worried about fuel consumption. Didn’t fancy running out if the weather picked up. If this isn’t an option was wondering where you launch on the east coast.
Any assistance is welcome
Hi Stuart,
I can’t quite remember what I actually took with me, but it was probably 3 x 25l tanks and a further one or two 5l cans for emergencies. That’s for the Orkney Longliner – I also went round in a Warrior 165 and that meant 4 x 25l + 2 x 5l cans. That gave me a decent margin against the fuel consumption for my setup. I didn’t stop for fuel on my way round, although I think you’d be able to get some in Tobermory.
If you’re a new boat owner then I’d strongly advise getting to grips with how your own boat performs as they can vary enormously, even in similar sea conditions. The normal rule of thumb, once you know your average fuel consumption is to allow a 50% margin over and above what you reckon you’ll need.
Unless you are highly experienced I really advise against trying a round Mull trip in December. The west coast of the island is extremely exposed to the Atlantic wind and waves and it would be very easy to hit dangerous conditions. Conditions around Oban are no real guide to what the sea will be like 40 or 50 miles further west. There is a reason why I will be found in more sheltered sea lochs over the winter! If you’re just getting to grips with your boat then I’d suggest launching in Loch Etive from the stony beach at Taynuilt.
As for the east coast, I launch at Dunbar or at Skateraw (Torness). Again, I don’t really launch over the winter months although it is possible in very calm conditions. Skateraw is a beach launch which brings a whole pile of additional worries, and it is very exposed to any NE swell. Most of my winter fishing on the east coast is from a friend’s boat who has a mooring in St. Andrews – and you can’t realistically trailer launch there as the slipways are poor to non-existent.
Cheers,
Doug