Essex Sea Fishing

tuna fishing from Falmouth

essexseafishing — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 19:40:53 +0000

This week I thought I’d cover some of our tuna fishing from Falmouth last year. Once again it was fantastic to be back down there chasing giants and making dreams come true. We spent our entire time working from Falmouth and it was a pleasure to be there again.

It’s perfectly placed for the fishing first and foremost with the tuna showing within minutes of the mooring at times! This came in handy at times as did the shelter of the surrounding area. Because for a while the weather was pretty unsettled during our stay. Happily, in spite of the weather due to the shelter offered, working a big catamaran with the facility of a fighting chair as well as our anglers attitude and adapting we didn’t miss a single day!

At times the tuna played hard to get and if I’m honest some of the settled periods became quite busy with lots of boats out targeting the fish making thing challenging. However the tuna still put on a show and many more memories were made.

It’s not just the tuna that make up this natural spectacle but the vast amount of dolphins, birds and whales just to name a few.

The scenery is pretty impressive too and Falmouth is a fine place to spend some time. There is a huge choice of places to eat, drink and stay. I must say that once again the other skippers made me feel very welcome and it’s great to see so many working together.

I look forward doing it all again this year. I’ve got my digs sorted and the Galloper has her berth booked. I have quite a few people asking about bookings already so I have taken a few already. Tuna permits haven’t been allocated yet so I won’t be taking deposits until I have a permit in my hand. However you are welcome to get something booked in soon so we don’t have to leave it all until the last minute again.

Galloper will be in Falmouth from the start of September until the start of October. Please contact me for availability.

Back here in Essex I have spaces on a general trip this weekend and offshore next week

Next available dates

14/02 – 8 spaces @ £60pp

15/02- boat availabile for groups and individuals

22/02- boat availabile for groups and individuals

01/03 – 8 spaces @ £60pp

Not all dates advertised please call 07956411528

falmouth general fishing

essexseafishing — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 19:38:59 +0000

This week I thought I’d take a look back at some of our fishing in Falmouth last year. As many of you know I enjoy all of my fishing and although we are in Cornwall for the tuna fishing. I try not to overlook the other fishing available.

We might only be there for a few weeks but I set some time aside specially for general fishing too.

This year the weather was often quite unsettled which meant we could take advantage of the sheltered fishing available around Falmouth. At times we explored the estuaries and bays for things like gilthead bream and rays and other times we headed further afield in search of sharks. The fantastic thing is that the tuna even showed very close inshore around the bay so they were even on the cards.

The weather might have prevented us getting too far but it didn’t stop us catching some memorable fish including a thresher shark over 12ft long!

I think we may even have had a record (for the smallest) Atlantic bonito which I was very pleased to see. The blue sharks were very prolific and close inshore. We bought a few aboard for pictures. The tope net has previously coped with them to over 130lb and makes handling them easier.

Clarky and woody did well on species considering my lack of local knowledge and using just simple rigs managed over 20 species in just a few days.

I don’t have any availability for general fishing from Falmouth though there are several local boats you can contact for this. You are welcome to mix it in with a tuna booking and we’ll try and time it for when the tuna aren’t feeding as well.

Back here in Essex I am keen to get out and bother some fish again.

I have spaces offshore and on general trips coming up. I will be trying for lots of species offshore and inshore I’ll be targeting dabs in the estuary as well as rays and more inshore. I fancy having a go for flounders too if anyone is interested?

Next available dates

07/02-offshore weather permitting £100pp

08/02-general fishing £60pp

14/02-general fishing £60pp

15/02-general fishing

01/03-offshore trip

Not all available dates advertised please call 07956411528 for more information #galloper #essexseafishing #winterfishing #catamaran #spacesthisweek spacesthismonth

2025 tope season

essexseafishing — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 20:33:58 +0000

As I continue to look back at 2025 I thought I’d cover the tope season. It was another great season for the Galloper with some cracking fish and many personal bests broken. We don’t get the big numbers of pack tope here nowadays but we still get that decent stamp of fish that the Thames estuary is known for. Most fish are 35-45lb and are a memorable catch, particularly on uptide tackle in shallow water. Numbers wise our best day had to be when nick hired the boat to himself. He had 11 tope to 55lb and lost 6 mostly down to double hookups causing chaos. Jon’s group had very similar fishing the next day and once again 11 tope. There were some decent bass mixed in too which is often the case. Barry Gilders finally broke his tope duck after several trips watching other people catch them. He did it in style too catching 3 tope the biggest going 67lbs and for most people the fish of a lifetime.

I look forward to doing it all again this year once we’ve stopped chasing spurs and before the main bass season. Tope fishing here can take patience, experience and specific tackle so I don’t offer this to inexperienced anglers. I tend to ask that people have fished on other trips with me before hand so everyone knows what to expect.

If you want to join us for a tope trip or anything else then please get in touch. I can add you to the WhatsApp group or suggest dates for individuals and groups at any time. Of course I have dates available both offshore and on general trips coming up soon too.

Please contact me on 07956411528 for more information #galloper #essexseafishing #tope #topefishing #thamesshark

spring general fishing 2025

essexseafishing — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 20:27:49 +0000

Still looking back at last year and I thought I’d cover some of the inshore fishing in the spring. With the unfortunate demise of the thorn-back rays we rely heavily on the arrival of the hounds and bass. Although it took a while for the water temperature to rise they still arrived earlier than traditionally expected. Everything turned up at the same time too. So after a bit of scratching around at the start of the year suddenly we were spoiled for choice. There was an abundance of smooth-hounds, the spring run of the bass and a few rays making up the catches. Not forgetting the usual whiting, dogfish and pouting ect.

Those early hounds weren’t always the biggest but but they were in great numbers. Our busiest day produced over 100 smooth-hounds between 4 anglers as well as loads of other fish. There were some great mixed trips too when we saw numbers of hounds, 15-20 rays and some cracking bass. The spring is a great time for mixed bags of fish as various runs of fish overlap. I love this kind of fishing when we don’t know what might come up next. Of course it is particularly welcome after a long winter. As the summer approaches the algae bloom comes and goes. The water starts to clear and we see the first bass on lures as they chase whitebait. I will cover some of the summer fishing from last year in next week’s report. I look forward to this spring and hopefully we will see more great fishing aboard the Galloper. If you want to join us this spring please get in touch. I will run a WhatsApp group for general trip individual spaces otherwise please keep an eye out for spaces advertised on here.

Contact 07956411528 for more information #essexseafishing #galloper #catamaran #essex #sunshine #bassfishing #fish

2025 early season offshore including spurdogs

essexseafishing — Fri, 09 Jan 2026 05:47:11 +0000

So while I have a bit of time I thought I’d take a look back at some of the fishing from 2025. First of all I will look at our offshore trips between now and the start of tope season. Our offshore trips for the first few months of the year tend to be mainly at anchor and bait fishing for multiple species. However one of our main targets are the spring run of spur dogs. These fish can provide great sport at times with some massive packs and great stamp of fish showing. Our best trip last year was over 60 spur dogs which is far more than most other boats in this area have seen. Nowadays we see smooth hounds offshore all year around and this day was no different. We had nearly as many of those as spurs! There were also more than a dozen rays and the usual whiting, dogfish and pouting too. We had several other good days on spurs although they were typically hit and miss.

I will be running offshore trips targeting, spurs, hounds, rays, bass and with the chance of much more for the next few months. I will advertise individual spaces as well as having boat availability for them. I will also be running a WhatsApp group to get trips together at short notice when a weather window appears. Please ask to be added to the group or contact me to book on 07956411528 #essexseafishing #galloper #spacesthismonth #offshore #spurdogs

Falmouth 2025 thresher shark

essexseafishing — Fri, 09 Jan 2026 05:45:16 +0000

With things being a bit hectic I almost forgot to post this one! I really wanted a thresher in Falmouth this year. Last year we saw signs but were distracted by the huge amount of tuna there. This year I promised myself to put some time aside to target the threshers. Things looked promising from the first day we arrived. We went out in the late afternoon for a shake down and had towed gear for just a few hundred yards when a thresher started whipping it’s tail at one of the bars. The next day we had the same again first thing in the morning but unfortunately weren’t set up to target a thresher.

With tuna trips racked out for the next couple of weeks we didn’t get a chance to target them for a while. Thankfully we had a week set aside for general fishing and the weather confined us to the estuaries and Falmouth bay. However we managed to nip outside a few times. On the last day having caught a good mix of species already. We spent the morning topping up our species count in the pouring rain. We worked our way towards the area I intended to try for a thresher. As we’d already caught plenty the pressure was off. We set up the drift and got the baits down. Steve sorted the Ruby duby (his favourite pastime) while I made another tea. I hadn’t even dished all the teas out when one of the reels lit up. The speed and power it took. Off with could only be compared to a tuna. The Gallopers engines were fired up and we gave chase. Barry was on the rod but this was going to be a team effort. It wasn’t long into the fight when it became apparent that the tackle was a bit under gunned. We had the leader up 4 times before we saw the fish and managed to get the lip grip on. We measured it and at over 12ft total length it was a fair lump. Barry had taken a soaking from a couple of waves during the fight but had done a great job. It really was an experience none of us will forget and making memories is what it’s all about.

I can’t promise you thresher sharks any time soon but I do have spaces on the 31st of December and into the new year. If you want to join us please contact me on 07956411528 for more information #galloper #essexseafishing #shark #sharkfishing #threshersharks

more offshore bass

essexseafishing — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 17:03:36 +0000

headed out to try some new marks I fancied trying for a while before the weather picked up again. Anyone that knows me understands that I love a bit of exploring. We had passed some of these bits last winter and said they looked bassy. To be honest the day started with a long steam and slight panic from the skipper. the water was far more coloured than I expected. We had a quick go on the first mark but it wasn’t fishing. It was on to plan B. 2-3 miles further out to our next mark where thankfully the water was a far better colour. Having never fished it for bass we set up a long drift over what looked like the best part. I. Must admit I was surprised at how quickly the lads were into fish. We had a couple of bass but then it went quiet. It seemed they were tight on one bit so over the next couple of drifts I was able to consentrate our efforts on to that shoal. The lads changed to the same lures too which were out fishing everything else.

The stamp was really good. Lots of fish 4-6lb and the biggest going 7lb to Ivan. As the drift slowed we had some fantastic fishing. Definitely the best so far this autumn. There were numerous fish following hooked fish to the boat. By this time I wasn’t bothering with the net. Just swinging 4-5lb bass aboard as there wasn’t time for the net. If I’d had the net I could have been netting the random fish too! We even had double hookups on the same lure on assist hooks! The fish eventually stopped feeding so we got the anchor down. Managed a strap conger and a hound among the pouting. After a break we went in search of bass again. The first two marks were a bit quiet but as we got closer to home we found another load of bass.

I have spaces offshore and inshore for groups and individuals

Next available dates

13/11 – offshore bass fishing 2 spaces@£120pp

14/11 – offshore bass fishing 2 spaces@£120pp

16 /11 – 4 spaces @ £60pp

23/11 – offshore bass fishing 2 spaces@ £100pp

29/11 offshore bass fishing 5 spaces @ £120pp

30/11 boat availabile for groups and individuals for offshore bass

Please contact me on 07956411528 for more information or to join one of our WhatsApp groups#galloper #essexseafishing #bassfishing #bassonlures

#spacesthismonth

bass and bass and more autumn bass

essexseafishing — Fri, 24 Oct 2025 19:33:45 +0000

On our last run of offshore trips the bass fishing just kept improving. Ross had booked the boat a few months ago but unfortunately couldn’t make it himself. It didn’t stop the guys having a great time though. When we arrived we were surrounded by birds and not all the baits were out before the first fish hit the net! The lads acceived their quota in the first two casts and we were busy all. Morning. By midday the early start and hectic fishing had taken it’s toll. As the lads had caught more than enough they called it early and rested on the way back in .

The weather has been unsettled but with a big catamaran and lots of sheltered marks we can still get out. These fish will be offshore until December so please get in touch if you want to join us.

Next available dates

25/10 – offshore bass fishing 1 space @ £100pp

29/10- General trip 9 spaces @ £60pp

02/11 – 7 spaces @ £60pp

08/11-7 spaces @ £60pp

13/11 – offshore bass fishing 6 spaces @ £120pp

14/11 – offshore bass fishing 6 spaces @£120pp

16/11 – 5 spaces @ £60pp

Not all available dates advertised please call 07956411528 for more information #galloper #essexseafishing #bassfishing #charterboat

#catamaran #spacesthisweek

more bass

essexseafishing — Tue, 14 Oct 2025 19:20:37 +0000

It was great to be joined by dad and some of his friends chasing the bass offshore again. The weather was decent and so was the fishing. Andy was top rod and couldn’t stop catching throughout the day. To be honest I have no idea how many he had in total but they kept him busy all day. The rest of the guys had fish at various times throughout the day and there were some decent chunky fish among them. They must have been pretty easy to catch as even dad had a few! The bass fishing offshore runs into December nowadays and is the best fishing we can offer locally this time of year.

I have plenty of availability for groups and individuals depending on conditions we can use worms at anchor or lures and lives on the drift. I also have spaces for general fishing closer to shore.

Next available dates

19/10 – General trip 6 spaces @ £60pp

20-24th boat availabile for groups and individuals

25/10 – offshore bass fishing 1 space @ £100pp

27th – 31st boat availabile for groups and individuals

02/11 – General trip 6 spaces @ £60pp

Please call 07956411528 for more information #galloper #essexseafishing #bassfishing #fatherandson #catamaran #catchandcook

autumn bass 2025

essexseafishing — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 19:55:29 +0000

It’s great to be back on the sunshine Coast (Essex) and chasing the bass once again. Our cornish adventure seems like a distant memory and we’re well and truly back in the swing of things here in Brightlingsea. The bass are offshore in numbers and feeding nicely. We will be targeting these offshore for the next couple of months in various different ways. I have spaces for individuals and group bookings offshore and on our general trips in the coming weeks. Currently the bass seem pretty widespread offshore, with a mix of sizes and pretty obliging. Mick had the most on the last trip with 18 to his rod. Not bad considering he says circles are cheating so is fishing with the handicap of j hooks (but rather a lot of experience).

Next available dates are

19/10 – general trip 7 spaces @ £60pp

26/10 – offshore bass fishing 1 space @ £100pp

02/11 – General trip 7 spaces @ £60pp

08/11 – General trip 7 spaces @ £60pp

14/11 – offshore bass fishing 6 spaces @ £100pp

Not all dates advertised, please contact me for more information on 07956412528 #essexseafishing #galloper #bassfishing #charterboat #catamaran