Issue 184  SEPTEMBER 2010

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SUPERB TOPE FOR BRADLEY

This trip really started a couple of weeks previously. I had some good advice from Muppet (Steve) and he recommended a good area of a beach to fish. A friend and I fished this spot, we had already had several smoothhounds to 12lb when I had a good pull down bite which took line and kept going! The fish took a good 40-50yards of line when it stopped and turned and I started to make line on it. At this point my other rod was going nuts so my friend Trevor took over and I grabbed the other rod. After about 5 minutes it bit clean through my 40lb hook trace whilst my friend was trying to gently gain line on it. My other bite turned into a 17lb 2oz smoothhound!! which I beached without too much hassle.

Anyway when we returned on Friday 23rd July I was armed with wire tope traces and fish bait, which I was going to persevere with this tactic on one rod all night, whilst with the other rod I was using fresh peeler on a pennel clipped rig for the hounds.

I always fish big peeler baits and generally I use big hooks. The hooks I used were 4/0 Varivas big mouths with an American Lazer 3/0 circle hook as the pennel hook above it, these 6 halves of female peeler were whipped on and cast out 160-170 yards. By 9pm I had landed two hounds, one around 11lb another about 8lb. My rod started to bend over and line peeled off the spool at a steady rate. I picked up the rod and tightened the clutch slightly and the fish still headed for the Isle of Wight at a rate of knots! This continued until I could start seeing the gold metal at the bottom of the spool, I could have only had about 15-20 turns of line on the bottom of the spool when the fish stopped and then started to gain some line.

At this point I should add that this was the 'hound, rod and not the wire trace 'Tope' rod ! The fish moved down tide quite quickly and I was soon over my friend Trevor fishing to my right and then over 'Jimpal' ( James) further to my right. At this point I was gaining more line whilst the fish still headed down tide. I said to James that I thought it was a Tope, he seemed to receive this news quite calmly and the fact he had chesties on gave me increased confidence on actually landing the fish. After about 15 minutes the fish was about 10 yards out and we could clearly see the distinctive Tope tail emerging from the water. It was about an hour before high tide and the beach shelved away quickly and was therefore quite deep close in. The fish made two or three small runs but by now it was tired and I managed to bring her in on a wave, James got behind her and grabbed the tail, I dropped the rod and helped get her up the steep shingle to the top of the beach. I was stunned at the sheer size of the fish, I was hoping for a Tope but did not expect one this big.

All three of us guessed the weight between 35 and 39lb before we weighed it properly. Both hooks were firmly in the scissors and the 40lb Amnesia trace line only had one minor nick. We lifted her into the weigh sling and the scales whipped round to 42lb dead (with the slings weight deducted). A few photos were taken and then she was taken into the water. The fish was exhausted and James kindly waded out to a good depth and held her for a few minutes whilst she gained her strength before she finally swam off. We ended the session at midnight and I had 3 hounds around the 10-12lb mark, 4 around 7 or 8lb and one about 5lb. My Friend had a few and James had several too.

Thanks James for all of your help in landing her in such an expert manner and thanks Steve for the valuable local info.

Bradley Bone

Bethany Murray, aged 10, started fishing last year and on Tuesday night 27th July 2010 she accompanied her father for her first smoothhound session on Selsey's west beach. Sadly for her dad, she managed to land 5 hounds to his 2, the biggest weighing 9lb 10oz she also landed fish of 8lb 10oz, 8lb 9oz, 6lb 13oz and 6lb 11oz. The tackle she used was a Daiwa awb 126 rod and an Abu 6500 reel end tackle was a pulley pennel rig and fresh peeler crab for bait. All fish were weighed, photographed and safely returned to the sea.

 Full competition details here

Fifteen new protected areas have been created around the coast of Britain where fishing and offshore wind farms will be restricted.

By Louise Gray, Environment Correspondent

The new Marine Protected Areas are the first offshore habitats in the UK to gain protection under EU laws. The sites were chosen because they all contain rare species that are in danger of going extinct.

The most well known are reefs off Lizard Point and Land’s End in Cornwall where there is a colourful array of sponges, sea squirts and corals. Trawling will not be allowed in the area and fishing will be limited to protect rare species such as the multicoloured cuckoo wrasse.

Margate and Long Sands in Kent, Red Bay in Northern Ireland and North Norfolk sand banks act as nursery grounds for many commercial fish species such as plaice and sole whilst also supporting sand eel communities that are a food source for seabirds, porpoises and seals. The seas around Lyme Bay and Torbay contain sea caves where a diverse community of animals live including sponges, anemones, soft corals and sea squids.

The outer Thames Estuary and Liverpool Bay are now protected areas because of the red throated diver. More remote areas like North-West Rockall Bank and Wyville Thomson Ridge off Scotland are also important sand banks that may one day be developed for offshore wind.

Richard Benyon, the minister for the marine environment, said the new protected areas will be like national parks at sea where any development or human intervention is restricted if it harms certain species of wildlife. "Our seas are home to some of the most diverse species and habitats in the world and they need just as much protection as our land. "Today is a major step forward in helping us to achieve clean, healthy and vibrant seas where marine life can thrive.”

Melissa Moore, of the Marine Conservation Society, said the status of the protected areas must be taken seriously. “Government must ensure such sites have strong conservation objectives of recovery where damaging fishing and extractive industries are halted, otherwise they will just be ‘paper parks’. It has taken sixteen years since the EU Habitats & Species Directive came into force in 1994 to designate these sites, so let’s now make the wait worthwhile for marine wildlife.”

Sponsored by SAMALITE & ZZIPLEX, Supported by DENNING TACKLE and THE SEA ANGLING NEWS

* Samalite & Zziplex prizes *100% League entry cash payout * Prize Table

Dates Venue Times HW T

4th Sept Cogden 6pm - 11pm 15.14 1.5, 30th Oct Masonic 7pm - 12pm 00.22 1.6, 27th Nov Abbotsbury 6pm - 11pm 22.22 1.6, 11th Dec West Bexington 5pm - 10pm 21.53 1.5

No matches will be cancelled, back up venue to be Preston Beach. Angling Trust rules apply. Payment: 1st, 2nd, 3rd in each zone / 1st 2nd 3rd overall. League membership will be limited to 100. Membership to league no later than 20th February 2010. £20.00 to join the league will go to end of season payout along with sponsorship prizes. 100 percent payout. Non league members will not be eligible for the end of year prize table. Match fees £10.00 entry plus £1.00 heaviest fish. Last entry on the night will be 1 hour before the match starts. Pre-book only. Any other information please ring Denning Tackle 01305 783145.

Discount Fishing Tackle supplied by Tacklebargains

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