ALDERNEY* BRIGHTON* BRISTOL CHANNEL* CHESIL* DARTMOUTH* EAST SUSSEX* HAMPSHIRE* KENT* NORTH THAMES ESTUARY* PLYMOUTH BOAT* POOLE* WALES* WEST SUSSEX* WEST WIGHT* WEYMOUTH*
ALDERNEY REPORT by Mark Harding
I absolutely love this time of year for fishing, the biggest problem for us is it is our busiest time of year work wise when we make our money and of course this limits the fishing time available. I need a winter job; no I don't cos that's brilliant too!!
Boat sport is simply fantastic. I keep repeating what a fantastic year it has been for Turbot. We're still getting a good supply of fish on the banks with fish to double figures being reported, now the Brill are showing in good numbers you can easily have a good day on the banks. Plenty of Gurnards too of the Tub and Red variety, great eating if not great sport but having said that there has been some super sized specimens, sizes I thought we had seen the back off. The unusual species make an appearance now too. Youngster Sam Currie had a cracking John Dory of 6lb 5oz on a shad which was caught barely 400 yards off the island. There has been Triggerfish around the harbour and Couches Sea Bream turning up to pleasure anglers fishing from their moored boats. Bass are increasing in numbers, some fantastic fishing has been had on the first set of spring tides in August. Catches of up to 50 fish provided excellent action with fish running to 7lb in these shoals. Better sized Bass reported from the pluggers drifting around in the smaller boats closer to the rocks with fish to 11lb. On the rough ground there has been good Tope fishing with fish to 50lb, on the same ground are Huss and Eels. Put baited feathers down and you'll come back with Black Bream to 4lb and Cuckoo Wrasse which brightens up any dull day. Chance of Smoothhounds and of course there are the other bits knocking the rod tip away. Anchor the banks on the small tides and you'll be in to Blonde Rays.
Shore sport almost seems hardly worth mentioning but it is. Excellent sport if approached right can be had with Garfish, Pollack regularly to 4lb and Mackerel from the Breakwater. Bass sport has been strange. There's been some really good catches on the plugs with up to a dozen fish in a session and then the following night nothing. Then you'll only catch on legered worm and not the plugs, all very strange but very welcome too. No big fish with much of it between 2lb and 4lb. First of the Sole have been showing and a very odd Plaice turned up, it always gives you hope of a revival but no doubt that hope is false. One or two Codling caught too. There'll be other species to catch but no-one wants to put the effort in to target the Ray, Huss and Eels as it involves heaving them up the side of the Breakwater or clambering over a rock mark. That'll come more in to play next month and beyond.
Many of you are following our States activities regards the consultation with regards to regulating our inshore fishery to 3 miles of which Alderney governs with no outside interference. Following several meetings the States has produced the next stage of the consultation of which your contribution would be most welcome. You can download a copy yourself, fill it out and return it to our States. It is from this point regulation of our inshore waters would be likely to be drawn up. What sort of regulation/restrictions will be put in place will depend on information they collect from this consultation and debates previous to this. Exciting yet nervous times. If you want to see Alderneys waters protected then please do spend 10 minutes to fill the form in, you never know it could affect your fishing in the future too. I'm sure Norman has covered it elsewhere but you can get your copy from http://www.alderney.gov.gg//Fisheries-Consultation or email me on mark@alderneyanling.com.
In the meantime to all of you that come to Alderney to spend your holiday time here it is most welcome, always good to see the regular faces and say hello and hopefully you will catch the PB you were looking for. More importantly in these difficult financial times your pennies, pounds.
A reminder regards the Alderney Angling Festival to be held 2nd-9th October this year. Details available through the shop on 01481 824884 or email mark@alderneyangling.com. Take a look at my site too as anything new I will update here www.alderneyangling.com
BRIGHTON MARINA BREAKWATERS by Dave Grinham
A strange summer season so far, Black Bream have been present in big numbers sometimes out catching the summer staple of Mackerel. Some nice Gurnard have been landed & there now seems to be a nice run of red mullet. Various "flatties" are being caught including some Dover Sole. The bass fishing seems a little slower this year with catches somewhat behind last year by a few weeks with the current top catch weighing in at 9.9lb.
An early Cod was caught on the west arm and we are expecting codling very soon. On a cautionary note , there have been a number of Weaver fish caught so a raised awareness is advised. I am begining to believe the rumour this year that the fish are waiting for the kids to end their summer holidays and return to school so that we can get back to some propper catches!
BRIGHTON MARINA BOATMAN'S ASSOCIATION By Alan Edwards "Royal Eagle"
Returns next month
The big girls have arrived! Large Bass being landed off Ramsgate! Nigel and son Sam fishing aboard Duke IV had two of l2lb 4oz & 8lb l2oz on mackerel fillet! Fish like these don't come easy, so well done to you both and the rest of the crew to sit all afternoon for just two fish! This is the way to catch these fish, first find somewhere without the doggies, who will drive you mad tearing up your carefully prepared baits! Then sit & wait! Easier said than done, but well worth the effort when you see a double figure Bass diving & thrashing alongside the boat! Good catches of Skate who also love the fresh mackerel baits, that have been easier to catch of late! Still a few Hounds to squid baits. These fish will be heading back out of the estuary now so some good action when they pass through! Huge shoals of Whiting offshore right now that should be followed by the Cod! We should start catching these on the rough ground by the end of August! Always plenty happening in the ocean, you just gotta be there to see it!
Check out our website www.fishingramsgate.com for a trip out on Duke IV.
WEST SUSSEX REPORT By Mike Perfect
Returns next month
LITTLEHAMPTON REPORT by Neil French
We have all enjoyed a prolonged and fine run of settled weather allowing both the charter fleet and private boats to venture out to the various grounds Littlehampton has to offer. I’m pleased to report the first Turbot to swing aboard our gunnels this year on a day we were fishing for Rays on the banks after a run down to the west targeting large Tope. Brighton’s Grey Viking skipper Mick Mahoney joined us for such a day and landed two personal best, at 44lbs each they were 2 of 9 landed and, despite weighing carefully, I was unable to call which one was bigger. Most of the big Bream have moved out to the inshore wrecks where they can still be targeted leaving a lot of the smaller but sizeable fish on the reefs. Mackerel and Scad can now be found in abundance so we have tended to concentrate on catching specimen Bass on both live and deadbaits either on the drift or at anchor along the edges of the rockwork. Shelley Anne has reported good catches of Bass inshore whilst Lady Anne has also enjoyed good numbers of Ray to double figures along the reef edge. We are all returning the Undulates at this time but Thornbacks, Small-eyed and Blondes have also been numerous. Along with the big Tope down to the west, small tides have also produced good numbers of Smoothhounds, though weed can be a problem during the tide run. Medium tides have found me concentrating my efforts on the Bass, mainly on inshore wrecks drifting live mackerel. We have had good numbers of Bass between 6 and 9 pounds with the biggest a fish of 10lbs 12oz falling to Anthony Rhodes. The real highlight of the month has to be the wrecking offshore, we have enjoyed some of the best Cod fishing in years, shads and leadheads have taken most of the quality fish on the drift with an exceptional specimen of 27lbs for James Appleton. Ling have also taken lures meant for Cod with the best a specimen of 20lbs falling to Jason Phillips on an orange leadhead. At anchor we have also enjoyed some superb sport with large Congers to 60 lbs, if the weather continues to hold well into September for more of the same. Finally, I regret to inform of the recent illness of one of our ports longest skippers and, despite making a complete recovery, he has decided that it is finally time to step back and retire Michelle Mary from the fleet. A long standing and respected skipper of our Port, he will be missed and we wish him well for the future. GOOD LUCK NO 1.
www.spiritofarun.co.uk neil@bandelectronics.co.uk Tel 01243 582299, Mob. 07831 848561, Fax 01243 585294
A 65lbs Tope caught on Mackerel flapper 10 miles out of Littlehampton on 24th July. The successful angler was Dan Rawlins aged 36 from Rustington, Sussex.
WEST WIGHT REPORT by Arthur Savage
This month the fishing has picked up a little after the short spell of gale force winds from the West. There are reasonable numbers of bream being boated around the Christchurch Ledge area and East to the Shingles, these are not big fish, with the majority being returned to the water, however there should be enough for the pot or you could of course return them all. The Bass have made a good show throughout the West Wight area, with all of the usual marks producing. Some of these fish are up into double figures and have been returned to the water by some anglers to continue the breeding stock. Tope fishing at St Catherines Deeps have turned up more Conger than Tope so far this month, they are not big eels but there are plenty of them. We also boated another Undulate ray from this mark (250 feet ) which means every trip to the deeps this year have produced Undulates which has never happened before (Sea angling always has a few surprises). Smaller Tope from around 10lb to 20lb can be found on most of the inshore marks with Freshwater Reef being very productive. The weed is still a problem in the Solent and some inshore marks with many boats having to relocate or move offshore to clear it, however if you can manage the weed you should have a successful day.
DARTMOUTH REPORT By Mike Concannon
SEA ANGLING WITH JULIAN JONES
Tuesday 3rd August - I was at sea again aboard Ian Noble's Dartmouth charter boat, the big white and blue Blyth 33 catamaran, "Samuel Irvin 3", angling out of Dartmouth with Julian Jones and two of his pals, plus a film crew of five and our sponsors, Russell Weston, MD of Snowbee (UK) Ltd, and Nigel Bracey, UK Sales Manager for Snowbee. Russ Symons was also with us writing a fishy tale and shooting still photos for "Sea Angler" magazine. You will have to wait to read the in depth story in SA in the fullness of time. I understand that you will also be able eventually, to watch the day's events in an episode on Channel 4 TV and on the Discovery Channel too.
Ian and I knew from the weather forecast ,that we had relatively calm conditions up until lunch time. We knew we had until around 1.0 pm to get the filming completed with some good fish caught. It was a limited window of opportunity. We achieved that "in spades". We steamed 2 hours from Dartmouth, arriving at our carefully chosen mark about 9.30 am. Julian and his two co-presenters fished hard for Conger Eels, as soon as we had anchored our chosen wreck, until around noon. Using top quality "Snowbee Deep Blue" rods and "Accurate" reels from our sponsors, Snowbee (UK) Ltd, they caught around 15 good sized hard fighting Eels, up to 60 lbs in weight, on various baits, including Cuttlefish, or fresh Mackerel. All the Congers were returned alive and well to the water after being photographed and filmed. These fish will be living on the same wreck to be caught again when they have grown larger. Job done.
As the tidal flow speeded up and the wreck ceased to produce Eels, we upped anchor and moved to another wreck, where, over the next couple of hours the lads caught 5 good sized Ling on my "Mike Concannon Fishing Dartmouth" Conger traces, plus several more good sized Eels, which all put up a good fight. Again we released the Congers alive and well. Congers have a different physical make up than Cod and Ling. They seem to be able to deal with decompression perfectly well, if handled with a little care and thought.
You generally can't do that successfully with a Ling, or any other member of the Cod family, which has been pumped up from 240 feet of water. They get a variation of the famous illness, "the bends", which human divers are also prone to, in similar circumstances. The gases in their internal organs expand, the gases in their blood bubble out like the gas in a bottle of lemonade which has been shaken. This gets more severe as they near the surface, where atmospheric pressure is far less than down at 240 feet. This prevents the, large white fish being successfully returned alive and well. Ling taste like Cod. They are of the same family. Their flesh is perhaps a tad firmer, but just as delicious. Those "free range" Ling graced our home tables with some very fine eating.
FISHING THE MID-CHANNEL MARKS
Mid-Channel Cod, Black Bream and Red Bream - Wednesday 11th August - I was at sea again aboard Ian Noble's Dartmouth charter boat, the big white and blue Blyth 33 catamaran, "Samuel Irvin 3", angling out of Dartmouth with a group of chaps from Plymouth. We set off from Darthaven Marina, Kingswear, around 7 am and made a long voyage to a distant mid-Channel mark. It was around 10.30 am before we wet a line in a 4.7 metre flood Spring tide, which built up from 0.2 metres, driven by a fair breeze over the lumpy sea conditions left over from the night's higher winds. We were immediately into Pollack, swimming high in the water column, which greedily devoured our "Sidewinder" and "RedGill Evo" soft lures, but alas these fighting fish were of no great size. I anticipated that the lads might catch some Cod as the tide topped out, died and then turned and so it was. I said we would catch Cod between 11 am and 2 pm. Our first Cod was a fish around 20 lbs in weight which fell at precisely 11.05 am, to a white "Shad" lure on Luke Lethbridge's line. Stu Beattie was the next to hook into another excellent Cod, just a short while later. It put up a strong fight in 240 feet of water, before being brought to the boat. I was the first of 4 Cod to fall to Stu's rod during our day together. Jay Hellings told me that his previous best fish weighed 5 lbs. He certainly sorted that out, when he hooked into another excellent Cod, around 14 lbs, which put up a sturdy fight. Ian Noble, our happy, congenial Skipper had a go and soon boated another fine Cod, which greedily seized his rhubarb and custard coloured 6 inch "Sidewinder" soft lure. Lee Hellings decided not to be outdone by his Brother and soon caught another excellent Cod.
Stu Beattie had brought several boxes of frozen Calamari Squid along with him. As the tide died around mid-day, so the fishing slowed down. Ian suggested to Stu, that now was the best time to fish a bait close to the sea bed. Stu asked me how best to do it and I told him that a Pennell rig with two size 4/0 hooks on the same trace would present the Calamari bait at its best. It certainly did. Within a very few minutes, Stu, fishing in the port bow of the big cat hooked into a Black Bream which greedily seized his Calamari bait. I weighed it on my Salter electronic digital scales and it recorded 3 lbs 8 ozs. Nice fish and something a little different. Stu was far from done, within just a few more minutes he boated an even bigger Black Bream, which I weighed at 4 lbs 8 ozs. Wow ! The angling Trust specimen weight for Black Bream is just 3 lbs 8 ozs.
But there was more to come, within just a short while, still on the Calamari bait, Stu boated a genuine Red Bream. It was not a Couches Bream, it was the real McCoy. I weighed it later in the day in calm water within Dartmouth Harbour, on our return and it tipped the scales to 3 lbs 10 ozs. I haven't seen a true Red Bream for around 6 years, so it was a most welcome and exhilarating sight. It did not have the blue fins so apparent on a Couches Bream, neither did it have the prominent bump on its forehead, which is common as an identifying feature of a Cooches Bream. Well done Stu. I later checked and the Angling Trust specimen weight for this specie is 3 lbs 12 ozs. Stu caught the last couple of his personal tally of Cod on the Calamari baits presented close to the sea bed on his Pennel rig, after the tide had turned, although the breeze pegged us back against the tide as it dropped away, towards the bottom of its range again, making our drifts difficult over a building swell and causing the lines to stream out, presenting a different challenge in effectively presenting our baits and lures.
We returned to Dartmouth, tired but very happy around 6.45 pm. Thanks lads for your good company and friendliness. Thanks Ian for another excellent day, "Fishing Dartmouth" aboard "Samuel Irvin 3".
I later sent the photo of Stu Beattie with his Red Bream to my good friend, Dr Douglas Herdson, renowned Marine Biologist and former PRO at the National Marine Aquarium, who replied, "Yes, as you say, it is a true Red Sea Bream, rather than a Couch's. The head is more rounded and it has a terminal mouth (should have small sharp teeth) and black blotch of lateral line. A good one for the database. Apparently Couch's does not have the white tips to the tail in the West Atlantic and Carribean, (where it is known as Red Porgy)." Thanks Doug, your informed input is much appreciated.
NEVER SAY NEVER
Sunday 15th August - I was at sea again with a group of lads from the Barnstaple based Rod 'n' Reelers SAC. On the day before, Tony Gussin had Emailed me asking, amongst other questions, "Is there anything you recommend we bring? I was just going with running ledger traces, perhaps a couple of pirks and a few Shads to try. Maybe a couple of smaller rigs in case any bream are about? Will these be AOK?
I replied, "Your suggestions for end tackle are perfect. Sadly you are unlikely to find Bream on the wrecks where we catch Ling". I should perhaps add that the purpose of the trip was to catch Ling, which we did very successfully. I maybe should also have added that I have never fished for Bream myself on the particular wrecks, nor have I seen anyone try to catch them there. Never say never! On the day, Tony caught Pollack, Ling, Cod, Whiting, Pouting and yes, you've guessed right, he also boated a beautiful Black Bream in the peak of condition which I weighed on-board on my Salter electronic scales where it recorded around 4 lbs 4 ozs. Nice one Tony.
CONGER ROD RE-BUILD
Several months ago, my good pal, Lee Piddington from Brixham, caught a big Conger which weighed exactly 100 lbs. Lee asked me to re-build his 50 lb class 8 foot long Shakespeare Ugly Stik boat rod, on which he caught his magnificent Eel. I was only too happy to oblige. I considered it an honour to be asked. We added new fore and rear grips in EVA foam; a gold anodised Aftco aluminium big game reel seat and matching Aftco gold Gimbal. We fitted a total of seven medium sized double footed Aftco big game caged roller guides, which Lee imported specially from Mud Hole Custom Tackle in the USA. I re-finished the blank in black High Build 2-pack epoxy and under and over whipped each individual guide in black thread with gold metallic trim. I added the coup de grace, with a hand painted swirling marbled "Black Night" design in tinted High Build 2-pack epoxy, between the fore grip and first guide. It looked so good I was reluctant to hand it back to Lee when he called to collect his completed rod that evening. I know Lee will use it to catch some more very big Eels. I really do enjoy rod building, but time precludes me from doing many during the busy Summer months.
SIGNIFICANT TIDAL PATTERN AFFECT FISH FEEDING HABITS
In the last edition of Sea Angling News, I described how a "jump" tide, allied to the right wind strength, direction, water clarity, amongst other factors, such as food availability, can induce fish to suddenly turn on to feed. I described how after several days of small tides a change to bigger tides with a wider range of movement will often trigger the fish to feed voraciously. I have been closely monitoring this yet again and confirmed my thoughts that after huge tides when a massive amount of water is moving, that a jump down to a more reasonably sized tide of such a proportion that there is adequate but not excessive water movement will often have the identical effect. We recently fished on several of the biggest Spring tides of the year, with some good fish taken, but overall, not fishing as well as one might wish. On Monday 16th August, the tides fell back to a good size Spring, but not a wild water runner. We fished the mid-Channel wrecks for Cod and Pollack. We caught lots of excellent fish throughout the run of the tide. This was not simply down to the skill or otherwise of the anglers on board. There were 9 chaps with hire rods fishing with Shad, Sidewinder, and RedGill Evo soft lures of various colours and sizes. Some of these anglers were reasonably experienced, while others were self admitted novices in their first pursuit of fish on the deep wrecks. Without exception, they all caught Cod with the best fish a tad over 20 lbs. They all caught good quality Summer Pollack, with the better fish around the 16 lb mark. Very few of the fish we caught of either specie was less than 10 lbs. Another useful fact for the memory bank. You never stop learning in our wonderful sport.
MORE SPECIAL FISH
Available space precludes a wave by wave account of the many exceptional fish caught locally by anglers on rod and line during the past month, so I'll restrict this report to including photos of some of the more memorable specimen fish. Well done everyone and thank you for sending your photos and fishy tales for our enjoyment.
Rosalyn Farley proudly holds her Thin Lipped Mullet 2 lbs 7 ozs 8 dr the best individual fish of the day, caught from shore in Brixham SAC "His & Hers" competition - Sunday 1st August 2010 - Photo courtesy of Russell Farley
Read Mike Concannon's full Dartmouth report with photos in this month's SAN
SOLENT BOAT REPORT
by The Solent Fishing Guide (http://www.solent-fishing-guide.co.uk)
A pretty quiet month overall but for those who have ventured out there was still enough to make it worthwhile. Sole has been one species targeted by some after dark using Ragworm for bait with limited success but a few have been boated around the 2lb mark. Otherwise there's still plenty of Mackerel to be had around the forts and elsewhere such as Bullocks Patch and Nab Rock there's Bream, Smoothhounds, Rays and some decent Bass. Let's hope for more settled weather next month so that more boats will venture out, though the early signs aren't that promising.
PLYMOUTH BOAT REPORT By Geordie Dickson
The Plymouth Conger competition took place over the weekend of 24th, 25th July with 7 boats taking 47 anglers out to the reefs and wrecks up to 25 miles out, no boat taking more than 8 passengers. This rule was brought in because of complaints lodged by anglers on past competitions, regarding the amount of space available on boats. Everyone agreed that this was a great idea and gave every-one more room to fish in comfort. With a wind against tide situation for both days, most skippers opted to fish the reefs until the tide slackened in the afternoons, when they then pushed out to the wrecks. Even so the reefs produced fish up to 40+ lbs, but the better fish to 68 lbs 4 ozs were to come from the wrecks. All in all, this was a very successful competition, good weather, plenty of fish and most of all no complaints from the anglers.
RESULTS
1st Kim Bowden 68lbs 4ozs. Caught on Crusader Skipper Richard Mathews
2nd Ashley Courier 52lb 8ozs. Caught on Tamesis Skipper Roy Strevens
3rd Colin George 48lbs 8ozs Caught on Crusader
Skippers pool of £120 was won by Richard Mathews
The competition will be run again in 2011 by popular request, and once dates have been decided they will be published. Seem to be getting quite a few bookings from Stag Parties these days. The trouble is that no one has told them that beer and boats don't mix. Result seagulls being fed for most of the day.
EAST SUSSEX REPORT by Kevin Morgan
ANDERIDA
Monday 26th July The Anderida club fished a match in Pevensey Bay with 10 anglers finding it extremely hard to find fish. The winner with a sole of 7 ½ oz was Jim Whippy and second with a slightly smaller sole of 5 ½ oz was Phil Taylor. No other sizable fish were caught!
On Tuesday 10th August Anderida club fished a match in Pevensey Bay, with 23 anglers braving windy and extremely wet conditions. The winner Fred Brown fished in Normans Bay and caught the biggest fish, a 2lb 8oz bass on lugworm. Second with two eels for 1lb 8oz was Phil Metcalf, third Tom Jarrett with an eel and flounder for 1lb 1½oz, fourth Terry Taylor with a flounder (the heaviest flatfish) of 10oz and fifth Paul King with 6oz.
THE EASTBOURNE NOMADS
On Monday 12th July The Nomads fished a club match at Langley point, the fourth in their bass and species competition. The winner with a bass and pout was Steve Domsalla with a bass and pout for 2lb 7 ¾ oz including the biggest fish, a bass of 2lb 4oz. Second with two eels for 2lb 7 ¼ oz was Simon Watkins. Dean Riley was third with 1lb 14oz, including the biggest flatfish a sole of 1lb 4oz and fourth Ian Hopper with 1lb 4oz.
On Monday 19th July The fishing proved extremely poor for The Nomads with only one sizable fish being caught on the last cast by Tony Kirrage, his whiting of 6oz winning everything.
On Monday 26th July The Nomads fished the second Morris cup with 17 anglers finding the fishing quite tough. The winner Simon Watkins managed to land two eels for a total weight of 2lb 1oz including the biggest fish an eel of 1lb 2oz. Second with a whiting and flounder was Steve Domsalla including the biggest flatfish a flounder of 8oz 4dr. Third with an eel of 9oz 6dr was Paul Parsons.
On Monday 9th August 21 anglers fished at Langney Point in The Nomads 3rd Morris cup. The winner with 3 whiting for 1lb 1dr was Rod Parris. Second, Ian Hopper with a plaice and whiting for 12oz 8dr and joint third with 2 whiting for 11oz 4dr, Paul Cox and Steve Domsalla. The heaviest round fish an eel of 9oz for Snowy Ruffell and the heaviest flat a plaice of 7oz 2dr for Ian Hopper.
TONYS TACKLE SPECIMEN HUNT
Tonys Tackle two week specimen began and although during the shorter tides few fish have been caught more fish can be anticipated in the second week as the tides grow. On the first Monday Phil Chapman fished at the Kiosk in Pevensey Bay and managed to catch a lovely bass of 7lb 8oz. A couple of days later Ian Hopper fished at Langney Point and using a float caught a nice garfish of 1lb 1oz. The bass category winner was Phil Chapman with his 7lb 8oz bass, also landing the biggest flounder with a 12oz fish. The biggest pout winner Chris Bray with a pout of 14oz Chris also won the biggest eel section with a 1lb 2oz eel. Ian Hopper won the biggest plaice section with a 7oz plaice and also the best any other category with the garfish of 1lb 1oz.
GENERAL
Unfortunately on Saturday 24th July the Pev fest comp was held and despite all the entrants trying everything, not a single sizable fish was landed in three hours, but fortunately £100 was raised for charity and all the prizes were drawn out of the hat.
Keith Hesling fished at Whitehorses on Saturday 31st July in the afternoon and using lugworm on a two hook rig, landed a nice 6lb 2 ½ oz bass, a nice bonus to finish the day! Recently Marco Marsiglia fished along Eastbourne seafront and using lugworm, managed to land a nice plaice of 2lb 2oz.
Three young friends aged ten fished on the charter boat Katrina recently, skippered by Roger Wilson. They managed to catch over thirty cod up to 22lb and enjoyed a great days fishing. The charter boats out of Eastbourne Marina have been landing some nice cod and Pollack, but are travelling large distances to find the fish! A group of Anderida club members took a trip to Selsey Bill recently and enjoyed so good smoothhound fishing, all fish returned alive! Tom Jarrett (below) recorded a PB with a fish of 15lb 2oz and Liam Strevett also landed a PB with a 14lb 2oz fish as well as several more fish caught by both anglers.
Tom Jarrett with his PB 15lb 2oz smoothound, our Sakuma prize winner this month.
Full SAN competition details here
BOAT REPORT FOR NORTH THAMES ESTUARY AND PORTS OF BRIGHTLINGSEA, WEST MERSEA & BRADWELL by Lee Bolingbroke
Bass fishing for us has been the best for many years. I would not say that we have been catching giants but plenty of fish around the five pound mark, our best day was thirty two fish but we have had plenty of days with ten plus fish.
Plenty of big hounds too with one of the biggest fish caught in the area from the charter boat Sophie Lea by Martin Logue from Tolesbury was a hound of 26 pounds 7oz not too far off the record, you can never fish for big hounds with confidence as they move around so quickly one day you may have caught twenty good fish, the next day in the same mark just a hand full or you’re driven away by weed but what is certain, you do need hermit crab.
Skate fishing has made a bit of a comeback with Phill White in charge of John Rawls’ boat Daphne Carroll from Bradwell finding a few with over forty fish, all but a handful were released to fight another day, this is how it should be. One thing we cannot moan about is the weather, sunny skies light winds and to be honest, over worked charter skippers as we rely on the windy days to charge our batteries up and have a bit of a rest, I am going to be slated for saying this. Looking back on the season the only disappointing fishery has been tope fishing, a fifty three pounder was our biggest but they were few and far between. We cannot blame it on the shortage of mackerel, although they were not as plentiful as last year they were bigger for some reason. I still don’t know how they survive the massive big trawler catches of tons and tons of mackerel from up north every year.
We have this year seen plenty of bird activity working on big shoals of small bass and mackerel, I hope this is a good sign for the future, talking of the future, we will in the next few weeks start to see the Autumn run of whiting and skate and may be some big bass.
WEYMOUTH REPORT By Paul Whittall
August has been an excellent month with the bass arriving in ever increasing numbers and terrific fishing being enjoyed with plenty of double figure fish to 13lb being reported. The bigger bass tend to come on live mackerel but it's better to fish with live sandeel and have the chance of more fish with maybe a good one in your catch if you are fortunate.
As I state every year, the bass season is not good for my health...and for many other charter skippers I suspect. I know that we are all out there for pleasure and any fish is a delightful bonus BUT when I watch the skillful commercial rod and line commercial bass lads catching bass after bass and our anglers often struggling to even feel the bottom, I have to restrain from battering my head against the bulwarks...especially as I have been off the 'dreaded weed' this season. Ahhh for the calming therapy of rolling up a delightful Golden Virginia to ease my desire to rant and rave at the ludicrous antics I see unfolding before me on a typical bass drift.
So, ways for you lovely anglers to improve (If you are a bassing expert then just pour scorn in a mockingly superior manner as I offer advice). Firstly, wear the right clothes. We are at sea. We re going to be in or near the Portland Race. It can be and often is rough. The sea spray will come over the boat as we race back up tide and you will get WET!!!! Your tackle is important........listen to the advice of your skipper. Believe it or not we want you to catch bass....we are your friends not your opponents!! Learn to tie your knots!! It' unbelievable how many anglers STILL cannot tie a braid to nylon leader knot (or even know what a leader is or why it's used!). Bring the correct weights.....often you will need 12oz lead when the tide is screaming in the Race...so therefore you must use a rod that can handle 12oz lead. It's no good saying 'we never use that much lead in wherever'...you need it when fishing off Portland! And have a few spare rigs prepared in advance so that when you snag the bottom and lose your gear as is very likely then it's only seconds before your are ready again. And finally the hardest thing of all is to WORK TOGETHER as a team.
Breaming? Now that's a pleasant and much gentler occupation. Most of the bream fishing is taking place at anchor. A nice simple flowing trace on a running leger rig is best when the tide is running and a paternoster is best when the tide is slack. An attractively presented squid/mackerel strip cocktail works well. The breaming is a bit erratic at the moment but when it's good it's very good with plenty of 2lb+ fish.
The bream marks will also produce huss, rays (usually undulate rays) tope and conger. It's amazing how many large fish will take the tiny baits intended for the bream and what good sport these bigger fish will provide on light tackle. You can of course deliberately target larger fish on the bream marks!
Offshore the wrecks are now much quieter although we still enjoyed some decent cod fishing earlier in August. This year there have been much fewer cod about but they have been much bigger than the past three years. The majority of the cod have been in the 10lb range but there have been lots in the 15lb to 20lb range as well. This year the cod have clearly been feasting on steroids as they have fought like demons. Amazingly powerful fish! Also, the have often stayed tight to the front of the wrecks which means you have no option but to bully them a bit to get them over the wreck. This has not always been easy and plenty of fish have been lost...but it's been an enjoyable challenge.
Conger fishing has been excellent. On my 15 hour conger trip last week the seven (yes, there should have been ten but then that seems to be the story of the year!) anglers totalled exactly 80 eels to 65lb. A superb day's sport. By the time this port report appears the Weymouth Conger Festival will have taken place. The forecast (I am writing this report two days before the event) is not good but for sure there will be a few big eels appearing.
September is a superb month for the inshore fishing out of Weymouth with the bassing, breaming, blonde raying, congering and plaice fishing all at their best and maybe even the turbot will stay around. This has been a great year for turbot on the Shambles Bank so who knows how long they will remain.
We've had a terrific run of weather this year. If you've missed out on your fishing due to the weather then you have been unfortunate. The weather men are predicting a dramatic change now.....but we've heard it all before and what will be will be.
Finally a plea. This has been a terrible year for anglers letting us skippers down at very short notice. We all know we are in a recession but it's pretty unfair to book a boat months and months in advance and then let the skipper know you are short on numbers with just a couple of days to go. It does not give us much time to help you. And...this has been the year of the most amazing excuses ever. I must write a book with all the reasons given for not turning up with just a day to go ...trouble is no-one would believe them....including me!
Thanks for coming to Weymouth and I hope you can all make your next trip on whatever boat you have booked!
BRISTOL CHANNEL REPORT by Dave Roberts, AlyKat
Returns next month
Minehead boats as always on www.deepsea.co.uk and bristolchannelangling.co.uk
BRISTOL SHORE REPORT by Jansen Teakle
I'll start this month’s report by apologising for the repeated report in last month’s copy, I inadvertently sent the July report through to Norman again and by the time we realised it the paper had gone to print. Computers!
Back to the current fishing and not a great deal to report from the channel as many anglers choose to head for the south coast in pursuit of some clear water species having had their fill of the summer main stay mix of Thornbacks, strap Congers and Dogfish.
Those that do stay local are finding some reasonable sport with the above, together with some bonus Sole, Bass and Smoothhounds . The latter, although still present in small pockets certainly seem to have slowed up over the last few weeks, possibly due to the onset of some traditional summer 'precipitation'(rain). The Sole have shown from the cleaner marks north of Battery point, with most around a pound, but a few around two. The worm baits used to target these sought after flatfish are also finding an encouraging number of Silver eels, a species that is not always welcome and has been on the slide for quite some time. I say it can only be good thing if nature is replenishing what was effectively wiped out by the elver fishing greed of the nineties!
By now, Thornback rays will be available at most upper channel marks with some better fish starting to appear from high water venues during hot settled weather. Squid will account for most, and not necessarily at long range, even in shallow water. Wading out to cast on a humid day could see you disturb a ray under your feet, I have seen this happen on numerous occasions.
The big question as we slowly head into the Autumn is whether or not the channel may get a run of Cod this year, following the mass invasion of immature fish last season. The sheer number of these small 'tubs' as they are known locally that were taken last Winter would certainly suggest that something more than we have experienced in recent times may be on the cards. As ever, I will keep an open mind, but I would not be surprised to see catches of half a dozen 2-3lb'ers a tide fairly common place by November( I think that is referred to as 'making your bed!).
Away from the murk and mud of the upper channel, anglers West of Minehead will choose the hours of darkness to pursue Tope, Bullhuss and Rays. As the nights begin to close in, this end of the channel will come to life giving the specimen hunter a better chance of finding some quality fish.
Daylight fishing in this neck of the woods is a little limited, but some sport can be encountered with holiday species such as Mackerel, Garfish, small Pollack and Wrasse. Mackerel in particular have made an excellent appearance this year, making a good showing at most deep water marks and attracting the predatory species in the process. Marks such as Capstone rock, Ilfracombe pier and Baggy point offer relatively easy access and should offer all of the above species. As the surf beaches become deserted after the August Bank holiday so the opportunity to fish the evening into darkness for a specimen Bass will arise. Large frozen Mackerel baits fished not too far out account for some belting Bass each year, but expect to encounter the odd lumpy conger from some venues that may give you the run around! Some small eyed and spotted rays could also show, but these will generally be small.
September marks the start of the channel’s traditional match season and starting the ball rolling on Sunday 5th September is West Coast and Watchet clubs charity beach open. This competition is in aid of the RNLI, possibly the most worthy cause any angler could contribute to, and will be staged between the popular venues of Blue Anchor and Minehead between 3 and 7pm. Anglers will compete for not only Penn points, but cash prizes of £200, £150 and £50 respectively as well as a healthy prize table as kindly donated by generous sponsorship provided by West Coast Tackle, Alykat Charters, Infinity Marina and The Old Ship Aground to name but a few.
Fishing on the day should be productive; a settled spell of weather would more than likely see a conger or two taking top honours, fresh pout accounting for these, though dogfish will undoubtedly make up the bulk of catches. For full match details and up to the minute Minehead area catch reports speak to Craig at West Coast tackle on 07528208758.
On a final note, I am receiving an increasing number of reports from concerned anglers who are fed up with the increasing number of inshore netting taking place anywhere north of Weston Bay, but especially within the area of Woodspring Bay. Everyone is entitled to earn a living from the sea as many licensed fisherman do, but the irony here is that as was reported to me by a keen local angler recently, those responsible are 'hobby netters' seeking a little extra income, in full time employment who decide to set nets with little regard to what their selfish actions are doing to the channel as a sustainable fishery, be it for recreational or commercial purpose. Nets that can be bought cheaply and staked out by the inexperienced will at best create line snags but at worst will kill large numbers of fish that the culprit is not adequately prepared to deal with. Another local angler arrived at one such venue to find pile of discarded Mullet and Thornback Rays, such an unsightly waste, but seemingly a situation that is without any resolve for the time being. Calls to the Environment Agency although not totally in vain seem only to get a physical response if there is a likely hood that Bass or Salmon are involved; my advice would be to report anything you find suspicious and be sure to mention the above fish to 0800807060.
A strong vigilante attitude has also developed as a result of these frustrations, please remember that taking a knife to a net will be considered as criminal damage in the eyes of the law, finding the weak spot of those responsible the smart way will have a greater impact. The inland revenue could be very interested if they thought there was some tax evasion taking place. Car registrations should be noted, most mobile phones carry a video camera facility- think smart and hit these beer netters where it hurts.
Above all else, as I mentioned first and foremost, those that earn a living from the sea by fair means should not be confused with these cowboys and their right to conduct their law abiding business should be respected at all times.
Conservation minded anglers who have visited the Channel Island of Alderney may be aware of a similar situation to that detailed above, if you value this tiny Islands big angling opportunities, you may wish to take a look at the Alderney Angling website, as run by tackle shop proprietor and ambassador to the sport Mark Harding, for full details on how you could have the chance to preserve this wonderful holiday fishery.
Tight lines all.
POOLE REPORT By Steve Porter
Another good month afloat with only the odd poor weather blip to affect our plans. August can be a funny month with some species proving hard to lure to a bait but the variety of species in our waters is never better. Some of the best fishing now is inshore with light spinning outfits accounting for lots of fish close to the shorelines of Swanage and Poole Bays.
It has been a good month for rays, especially undulates, which seem to gather in numbers along the Purbecks and off Swanage at this time of the year. Light tackle is proving a winning method for these hard fighting fish. Remember to release all the undulates that you catch as these are a protected species, considered rare in some parts of the United Kingdom's waters. It's also important not to put any fish that you intend to release on your deck, as this is often very hot during our summer months. Trigger fish are usually one of the last of our species to arrive in our waters each summer and this year is no exception. But, they are here now with reports of them from Swanage and off Bournemouth / Boscombe.
Bass catches seem to be above average when compared with catches from the previous two years. Locally, the Harbour Entrance and Swash Channel has seen some fine fish landed. On Trueblue, we tend to go to far sometimes, often passing boats that are catching bass locally. Thankfully our efforts are sometimes rewarded. This past month has seen some quality fish landed on the boat and the odd day of good numbers.
Offshore wrecking, the fishing is showing signs of slowing down although this may be just the impression I have due to reduced effort with most boats now fishing closer to home. Certainly for us, a brief attempt to lure a cod in between the tides on a recent bass trip was unsuccessful, although a trip earlier in the month did produce several cod. Anchoring up on the smaller tides offshore is still productive with plenty of tope, blonde rays and conger.
Sad news for the Poole charter fleet is the decision by skipper, John Keggie to move his boat back to Scotland. Oberon left Poole on Sunday 15th August to start the long passage back to Oban. I guess the lure of those big skate was to much. As we lose one premiership vessel in Poole, I'm please to report on the arrival of another one. Skipper, Paul Smith took delivery of his brand new vessel, Rapid Fisher on Thursday 12th August. I had the pleasure of being onboard for the journey back from Portsmouth and I have to say that Rapid Fisher is an outstanding boat. She is a catamaran offering anglers increased comfort in a very fast and extremely quiet boat. Congratulations Paul.
Last year we held a Christmas party for skippers, anglers, divers and their guests at a local hotel. Due to the success of the night, we are doing it all again. This years Christmas party will again be at the Riviera Hotel. The date is Monday 13th December. The cost of tickets remain the same as last year at £25 and includes a four course meal with all the trimmings. That's party poppers, crackers and wizzy things. Plus live music and a disco until 1am. Anyone wanting to stay at the hotel can take advantage of a special offer. Bed and Breakfast including use of the swimming pool and sauna costs just £23 per person. This function is open to all but numbers are limited and are offered on a first come, first served basis. Anyone interested should contact Steve or Jill Porter on 01202 665482 or email steve@truebluefishing.co.uk
Steve Porter, Owner / Skipper of the Shakespeare sponsored boat Trueblue.
CHESIL REPORT by Heggy
At present Chesil is a beach of two halves, East and West, each fishing completely differently, to the west Burton, Cogden, West Bexington and Abbotsbury, have seen masses of spider crabs which in turn have brought the Smoothhound in, one report of twenty between two anglers with fish up to 9lb whereas the Portland end has only seen a few fish, again to the west Bass to nearly 11lb but not many of them, but the Portland end has and is producing lots of small fish up to 3lb. Burton and Cogden producing the best run of Rays seen for some time, mainly Small eyes with one or two Thornbacks and Undulates. Next to no Bream from the west nearly all coming from the Bridging camp back to Chesil cove with the best fish around the 3lb mark, plenty of Gurnards from the "bird sanctuary" section. Not a lot of dogs but hordes of Poor cod, not the most exciting fish to swim our waters, but they do attract bigger and better species as the number of conger which have turned up goes to prove, generally good size Eels in the 30-40lb range, they pick up poor cod hooked on gear intended for other fish which gives the angler very little chance of landing them, targeting them with dead baits does not seem to be any where near as effective. First reports of Triggerfish, only the odd one or two at the moment, normally they have taken up their summer residences by now, its possible that the extreme cold spell earlier in the year affected their migratory pattern, but still time for them to make a decent showing. Plenty of Mackerel, Scad on dusk and Garfish falling to float gear.
Portland now producing large numbers of small Wrasse particularly from the East side, nothing special although that should start to change any time now, the Bill has been very quiet so far this year but over the next couple of months this mark is definitely worth a go, big Wrasse and the possibility of extremely large Bream. Conger, Huss and good Bass after a blow. Portland harbour returning numbers of small Bass and Gilthead Bream with Eels and Flounders thrown in, Ferry bridge great fun at night for Scad, Mackerel and Pollack on very light gear, but mind the traffic. Weymouth harbour doing its usual thing, producing good Mullet unfortunately the Eels did not show in any numbers this year but a few to 3lb still possible.
Pembrokeshire Fish Week Stenaline Open Competition, Fishguard Breakwater 4th July 2010
60 angers braved the awful weather to fish the annual Stenaline Open competition, with a massive £1,100 prize pot sponsored by Stenaline. The wind was howling and the rain persistent to the very end of the match but this did not stop anglers attending the event in the hope of winning the first prize of £750. Fishing was slow and hard but local angler Paul Wood finally won the day with 183cm. Dai Davies from Neath came in second with 164cm and in third place was Andy Young from Llanelli with 145cm. Zone winners (longest fish apart from dogfish) were Chris Dane with a 26cm rockling, Steve Smyth & Craig Thompson with 24cm wrasse and pollack and Dennis Griffith with an 87cm conger eel. Thanks go to all the guys from Pembrokeshire Fish Week for helping us to make this event a success once again and Stenaline for sponsoring the prize money in order for the Welsh Ladies Team to raise much needed money to fund their international competitions. Thanks to all those who braved the weather and supported the event.
Helen Pearce, WFSA Ladies Team Manager
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