Fishing in Porthleven on the Starfish

On friday I decided to take my boys (4 and 6) on thier first boat fishing trip. I booked a 2 hr session out of Porthleven on the Starfish.

We arrived at 1330 hrs ready to meet the boat at 1400hrs, lagged in sun tan lotion, jumpers packed in bags and loads of water to drink. I was a bit concerned as to how the next few hour woould pann out. There were 5 other people on the boat, not serious sea anglers though (this was good in my opinion)

We loaded and started to steam to the ground which about 3 miles out. The boys were great staying seated all the way and enjoying the whole experience. I rigged my SHIMANO solara 6 ft baitcasting rod with 16lb braid and a set of hockeye lures weighted with a 4oz dexter wedge.

On arriving at the mark we were issued with rods all tackled up. There was a brief instruction and off we went lowering the sinkers to the sea bed, it was about 100 foot deep here. There was a shrot sea running but nothing to make it uncomfortable. 5 Mackerel were caught almost straight away, my lads thought this was amazing and wanted to throw them all back in, the other anglers were obliging and allowed the boys to return the Mackerel to the sea.

We fished by lowering the gear and allowing the boys to reel in while I held the fishing rod. This worked really well and they enjoyed every second. There were lots of species caught including Cod, Whiting, Red Gurnard (by my wife who was also on her fist fishing trip) and pouting as well as loads of Mackerel.

There was a sighting of a Dolphin which increased the interest level. We only saw it 3 times but the atmosphere became eletric with everyone trying to get another sighting. Any breaking wave from then on became a Dolphin sighting!! and of course we saw loads of Great White Sharks with the SUN newspaper endorsed on thier flanks.

We returned home with huge smiles on our faces and a bag full of Mackerel. I prepared the fish by taking off the head and tail and gutting them. I placed the mackerel in a bowl, drizzled olive oil and salt and pepper over them with a load of fresh herbs and then threw them on the BBQ until the skin was black. Enjoyed with fresh crusty bread and washed down with red wine it was a meal fit for a King. The most surprising thing was the lads ate every mouth full and asked “Can we have more please!”

In conclusion this was a great first fishing trip helped by a good skipper who was great to be around. I was delighted with the enjoyment my children got out of the day. We are looking forward to next time.