"Samuel Irvin 3" Pollack - I was out at sea today in the good company of several long time angling pals aboard Ian Noble's Dartmouth charter boat, his Blyth 33 catamaran, "Samuel Irvin 3".  Thanks Ian for such an exhilarating and thoroughly enjoyable day afloat.  The fish certainly obliged yet again, on a fairly big tide with some bright sunshine and a gentle westerly wind.  Everyone caught fish and generally experienced a jovial sea angling adventure.

I took some video footage which I have edited into this short feature of our day aboard "Samuel Irvin 3".  You can easily watch this if you are on a broadband internet connection.  Enjoy:

Dave Newman, who comes from Somerset caught a superb Pollack around 19 lbs.

Dave Newman from Somerset caught this superb Pollack 19 lbs from a mid-Channel wreck aboard Ian Noble's Dartmouth charter boat "Samuel Irvin 3" Friday 27th February 2009 Photo courtesy of Mike Concannon

Ken Dalton also caught a good quality fish a tad smaller than Dave's.

Ken Dalton from Taunton caught this superb Pollack 17 lbs from a mid-Channel wreck aboard Ian Noble's Dartmouth charter boat "Samuel Irvin 3" Friday 27th February 2009 Photo courtesy of Mike Concannon

We were all thoroughly outgunned by Jason Cleasby, from Clevedon, who caught the best Pollack of the day, which I weighed on my electronic scales.  It tipped the balance to 20 lbs 9 ozs.  Nice fish.  Jason won the day's high stakes pool for the best fish.  he went home with 10 of our hard earned pounds starling !  Don't spend it all at once Jason.

Jason Cleasby from Clevedon caught this superb Pollack 20 lbs 9 ozs the best fish of the day, taken on a soft lure from a mid-Channel wreck aboard Ian Noble's Dartmouth charter boat "Samuel Irvin 3" Friday 27th February 2009 Photo courtesy of Mike Concannon

The major highlight of our day afloat was when more than a dozen huge Bottle Nosed Dolphins swam in our bow wave as we moved to commence a fresh drift on the mark.  They remained within less than a metre of "Samuel Irvin 3" for more than 5 minutes.  All the anglers put away their rods and watched in awe as these magnificent creatures, played, breaking the surface of the sea with their backs and torsos and skimming just underneath the bow of the boat, where they were clearly visible in great detail.  Wonderful !