"FlyFisher" drifting on a perfect tide. The first Pirate I met, courtesy of her owners, Ed and Matthew Roberts.
For the last three years, I have been enjoying fantastic sport fishing around the inshore reefs of Brighton. And the fishing of such good quality, that I truly have been bursting to make it available to the general public.. Or, more specifically, the lure and fly fishing public. My original plan, to code the Uttern 23' center console with which I had been doing most of my exploring, fell through due to issues with certification. Then two years of Russian adventures made a planned working craft a lower priority. This year, two things happened. I was made aware of an excellent 21' Pirate Center Console craft available at reasonable money, new build. And a far more important thing. Originally a client, and as is often the way, now a very good personal friend, Bruce Dickinson decided to take some time out after a very busy couple of years focusing on his industry. Rock and roll, and more specifically, Education management specialising in the music industry.
Bruce. A gifted guitarist, as well as a gifted skipper.
Bruce is a long time private boat owner. He sold his previous craft, an Arvor 23, as he knew he was about to immerse himself in some ,major projects and wouldn't have much time to use her. As every small boat owner knows,, even if you do not use it, it costs, Big money if berthed in a marina. A sensible move. However, with a year to focus on more fun products, he was keen to find another vessel. In the intermediate time, he managed to get some time out with me on "Scooby" (the uttern) and between us we always managed to find some entertaining fishing. So, when he floated the idea that we invest in a craft that will be coded and available to work from, there really wasnt a decision to make. Brighton Inshore Fishing was born...
SCOOBY - the 23' Uttern that became the primary research vessel for the BIF project
I have previous experience as a guest aboard my friend Matthew Roberts Pirate 21 CC, "Fly fisher". I have always been deeply jealous of its sea keeping abilities. Don't get me wrong. "Scooby" has been an awesome and incredibly seaworthy boat. But the pirate, shrugs away the sea in a different way. And allows a reasonable turn of speed even in a moderate swell. The perfect boat for drifting the inshore reefs. A trip to wales, and a high speed jaunt out into Pembrokeshire waters was enough to convince Bruce. Brighton Inshore Fishing committed to its first vessel. "BIF 1" as she is to be named. Pushed along by a Suzuki DF140, considered to be one of the most reliable and least problematic outboards in its class, she will possibly as soon as June, be available for charter. And Bruce and myself cannot wait to begin loading up her GPS with our fishy spots, in May..
A typical sounder reading inshore at Brighton. Notice the depths.
The decision to take the qualifications for just a three mile skippers certificate was based on two things. All the good fishing we had found so far was within two miles of the marina. And if you want to go mid channel, there is a whole fleet of craft available for you to charter already. Our strong point we feel, is having a craft small enough to extract the best of the fishing in sub fifty feet of water. More often than not when bassing, in sub 20 feet of water. The bigger craft simply cannot operate in these depths without creating a significant scare factor. So, unless you own your own boat, these places were off limits. We also feel we are the perfect platform for people to test their sea legs. Should a customer become uncomfortable from the motions of being on the sea, we can have them back on the pontoon within minutes, and have the other anglers back on the fishing in the same time.
"BIF 1" at first sea trials, January 2017
We will use this blog to bring you news of "BIF1"'s progress. She is due to arrive around the beginning of May, so please check in occasionally to see where we are at. And when we are finally fishing, we will endeavor to put a short summary of every trip on here. Good or bad. Transparency is our thing. And we are extremely confident to produce the goods, so we will have nothing to hide. Farewell for now...