IF YOU DON’T HAVE A GO, YOU’LL NEVER KNOW

Hampshire fishing partners Steve Ansell and Kevin Charmen took a punt on a rumour and ended up boating five tope estimated between 30lb and 50lb in three hours , and all within half a mile of the shore off Chichester Harbour

We headed out to our normal rough ground spot about a mile out, for a go at the smoothhounds and rays. But it became a little choppy, so we headed back to the mouth of the harbour to get away from the white water.

We’d heard rumours of the odd tope coming out, so we already had some proper tackle on board, just in case. As we were whiling away some time fishing for bass, I decided to put one of the tope rigs on, just in case. I remember saying to Kev, “If we don’t have a go, we will never know!”.

FISH ON

After about 20 minutes, the reel was screaming with a fish taking 80 yards of line before eventually throwing the hook. is was all the encouragement we needed. Soon we had four tope rigs out, baited with mackerel chunks on size 8/0 Big Dog hooks, with 15in 100lb wire traces and 8ft leaders made with 140lb mono.

Before long Kev was into his first tope, an estimated 30-pounder, which he followed with three more to an estimated 40lb. Content with watching Kev bag up, and getting beaten up in the process, I almost forgot I was fishing too when one of my reels started to scream. is was a heavy fish and it spent most of its time on the surface, which is an awesome sight.

After a very spirited battle, we boated the fish, estimated at 50lb. We’d had one of the best sessions of our lives. We even man-hugged and jump about as if we’d scored the winning goal in the World Cup.

It’s days like these that keeps angling in your blood forever. I’m off to buy a new net now, as mine is truly knackered!’ ■

Raymarine have announced the next generation of the LightHouse Operating System. The new LightHouse 4 delivers even easier to use operation, exciting personalization options, and several new features. As with all Raymarine software upgrades, LightHouse 4 is available to all Axiom, Axiom+, Axiom Pro, and Axiom XL owners completely free as a downloadable update.

A revised menu structures enable easier use of the depth of Axiom features, with personalized images now an option for all boaters to make their boat even more their own. Feature improvements include deeper integration with Mercury Engines, Sirius XM Fish Mapping and Navionics charts to heighten a captain’s boat awareness at the helm. New dynamic tiles on the homescreen allow the presentation of navigation, NMEA2000 or SeaTalkng data immediately available on start up.

EASIER TO USE

The new LightHouse 4 OS provides a refined visual experience. Simplified menus make tapping into the power of Axiom faster and easier than ever. Longer pull-up menus are now nested and more intuitive to read and operate. LightHouse Apps that integrate control or provide information from marine integration partners like Seakeeper, Victron, Lumishore, and a host of others are now launchable directly from the LightHouse Home Screen, and key LightHouse Apps are now viewable in split-screen configurations. Additionally, the critical MOB touch key has been relocated to share prominent space on the Home Screen.

MORE PERSONALISATION

LightHouse 4 offers more options than ever to personalize how Axiom looks and functions. Boat anglers can now add a favourite photo to the Home Screen background or create dynamic dashboard tiles to keep them informed of real-time instruments and navigation data right from the home screen display.

LightHouse 4 takes integration with Mercury Marine Vessel View to the next level, offering Active Exhaust Volume control, a new and refined Engine Data Summary page, and more.

EXCITING UPGRADES

LightHouse 4 delivers a host of additional key upgrades, including active route line visual enhancements, new levels of audio control, and more. Of particular interest to Navionics chart users, LightHouse 4 beautifully supports the display of highresolution bathymetric data and satellite imagery that comes bundled with new Navionics Platinum plus charts.

■ For complete information on the new LightHouse 4 OS, or for free download, visit raymarine.com/multifunctiondisplays/lighthouse4