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Sea Angling News Ltd. - www.seaanglingnews.com - editor@seaanglingnews.com - Issue 297 July 2020
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NEW RECORD TOPE FOR NORTH DEVON CLUB
WINNER Kevin Pike - tope 70lb Appledore Shipbuilders Club Record
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NEWS
Sea Angling News, July 2020
DEFRA CHALLENGED OVER 'ABSURD AND ILLOGICAL' CHARTER BOAT BAN
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The Angling Trust and the Professional Boatman’s Association (PBA) are continu‐ ing their campaign to have the ‘absurd and illogical’ DEFRA guidance outlawing the English charter boat sector overturned. Issued on 11th June by Defra's Inland Wa‐ terways and Navigation section and en‐ titled “COVID-19 (coronavirus): using a boat inland and on the coast”, the new guidance directly contradicts that previ‐ ously issued by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) on be‐ half of the government which allows up to six people from different households to meet outside.
“You can hire self-drive boats or charter a bareboat for the day only.” [DEFRA GUID‐ ANCE]
closely the legal remedies which may be open to those we represent, and others currently being harmed.”
Despite meetings and lengthy corres‐ pondence, Defra officials are refusing to budge. This prompted the Angling Trust and the PBA to join forces with Scuba Diving groups, who are similarly affected, in sending a joint letter to the Environment Secretary George Eustice pointing out that the restrictions are not only unreasonable but have little basis in law and could leave his department open to legal challenge by skippers for damage to their businesses.
Phil Higgins from the PBA added:
In their joint letter they said:
"We have produced COVID compliant guidelines for our sector and, as we say in our letter to George Eustice, there can be few activities more ‘outdoors’ than spend‐ ing a day on an open boat.”
On 1st June the government decreed: “You can now go fishing but only alone, with members of your household, or with up to, but no more than 5 other people a minimum of 2 metres apart. You should al‐ ways follow social distancing guidelines when encountering others.” [DCMS GUIDANCE] Yet a few days later, and after charter boats had put to sea, Defra announced: “Operators should not allow skippered day boat hire or skippered day charter boat hire.” Yet they sought no such restrictions on self-drive day boat hire saying:
“As you must be aware, your continuing guidance is directly causing serious losses to the charter boat industry, to associated business, and to anglers, divers and oth‐ ers who wish and in many cases have booked to use them. Yet it appears to have no basis in law and appears to have been made on an error of fact which you should not have made, and undoubtedly are now aware of. "We have sought at all times to work with the departments of government, to sup‐ port and encourage compliance with law and guidelines in these difficult times. We still wish to do so, but we cannot ignore the unjustified damage which your guid‐ ance is doing to our members, and an in‐ dustry we represent. We very much hope that we do not have to examine more
“The intransigence of Defra is causing real economic damage and hardship and they should just update their illogical and ab‐ surd guidance of June 11th which looks increasingly bizarre when pubs, restaur‐ ants and campsites are about to open up. The income generated by our sector brings much needed revenue to local shops and tourism.
Martin Salter, Head of Policy at the Angling Trust, said: “We do not believe that there is a justifi‐ able legal basis for allowing day boat hire and at the same time unreasonably re‐ stricting professional charter boat skip‐ pers from conducting their businesses to responsible COVID compliant guidelines. As long as they have the necessary insur‐ ance, and can maintain social distancing amongst their clients, our recommenda‐ tion to skippers is that they should con‐ tinue to put to sea. Hopefully common sense will prevail and we won’t have to re‐ solve these matters in a court of law.”
THAMES ESTUARY
Sea Angling News, July 2020
Email: editor@seaanglingnews.com 3
REPORT FOR THE PORTS OF BRIGHTLINGSEA BRADWELL AND WEST MERSEA
By Lee Bollingbroke, skipper of Sophie Lea Fishing has been fantastic and for me personly the lock down has been boom time on Sophie Lea with furloughed anglers money burning a hole in there pockets lots of time on there hands getting afloat for a sea fishing bonanza and we have just finished thirty days charter on the bounce, as they say its an ill wind that does not blow some one some good, we are however keeping numbers down and the boat being a catamaran with plenty of deck space we have been able to have the two mtr spacing and with a wash point & hand sanitiser station keeping every one safe no one allowed in the crew cab though.The fishing has been great with bass hounds rays plentiful & I feel we have done our bit in these testing times helping to stop lock down anglers going mad.
We have also had many charter boat skippers calling us for advice around the coast and I hope the help & advice we have given them was useful. As the lock down is now easing we are gradually and ironically starting to slow down on charters with a gradual back to work of many anglers and I expect we will slow up a bit for some rest and not such a crazy schedule. Obviously our safety regime will continue on the boat we must respect the two mtr rule still to save our fantastic national health nurses and staff who we all have to thank for there admirable services and bravery over the last few weeks and we defiantly don’t want another spike.
Bass catches on Sophie Lea
Bass on Sophie Lea
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Plenty of Bass being caught on Sophie Lea Brightlingsea based Charter cat
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NEWS / BRIXHAM
Sea Angling News, July 2020
Sea Angling News, July 2020
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NEWS
PLYMOUTH REPORT
By Chris Way
In the week since lockdown restrictions have been eased, anglers have been putting their free time to good use and getting out and wetting a line in the sea. The prolonged settled weather we have been fortunate enough to have along the south coast is lovely to be out in, even if its not the best conditions for all species. From Monday 15th June, non-essential shops were allowed to open their doors. This means that tackle shops have finally allowed anglers over the threshold to stock up on much needed tackle & fill their freezers with bait once again. We ALL really need to do our bit to support the local tackle shops.
Afloat Report -
Unfortunately, Charter boats are still in limbo as to whether they can or cannot operate so haven’t managed to fully capitalise on the weather. Private boats on the other hand have been going out regularly and reporting catches of pollack and cod still on the western reefs. On the reefs east from Plymouth, good numbers of large Spurdogs have been caught, upper doubles not being uncommon. Young Logan Parry (son of Matt Parry, owner of South West Sea Baits) has been one of the anglers fortunate enough to take advantage of the packs of Spurdogs recently aboard private boat ‘Reel Life’ with an awesome 18lb 8oz specimen, a PB which will take some beating... Owner & Captain of ‘Reel Life’, Dean Bailey has also taken his boat off shore in search off other sharks not just big Spurs recently. The Blue shark fishing off of the south coast is yet to fully take off, we need to the bait fish to turn up to bring them in properly, but never the less he managed this fine 65lb Blue. Good numbers of large Couches Bream have been coming from the waters off of the south Cornish
coast, charter boat ‘Lo Kie Adventures’ of Penzance has been responsible putting anglers on some truly magnificent catches. Craig Pope showed that he is not only an adept shore angler, his trip out with ‘Lo Kie Adventures’ resulted in a cracking 5lb 2oz backed up with another 3lb specimen.
Shore Report –
The Start Bay area has been the focal point of many anglers’ efforts; it seems a localised shoal of good-sized Mackerel has taken up residence & the Smoothounds are still around in good numbers. Brothers, Matt & Jack Lavis were amongst the anglers descending upon the Start Bay beaches accompanied by their dad Kevin (Skipper of Crusader Charters). They both managed PB Smoothounds, Matt’s being 9lb 7oz & Jacks going 7lb 1oz. Young Nathan Annett also managed to get his first Smoothound, a lovely fish of 7lbs. It really is great to see junior anglers getting out and getting involved! The estuaries are still producing good numbers of Gilthead Bream, Rob Wheaton (current British record holder) has been out chasing them and his efforts were rewarded with a 5lb 1oz specimen. Not only has been on the Gold Bar’s case, he has also been hunting specimen Pollack from the south Cornish coast. Once again, his persistence and effort were rewarded with an 8lb 10oz monster. It really does go to show that effort = reward. Since lockdown restrictions were eased, Rob Batten has been on the hunt for a specimen Mullet from the Plymouth area. Multiple sessions, a good number of hours and a large helping of medium sliced bread culminated in a 4lb specimen from a local mark.
Craig Pope – 5lb 2oz Couches Bream. Inset: Rob Wheaton – 8lb 10oz Pollack
Rob Batten – 4lb Thick Lipped Mullet
Matt Lavis – 9lb 7oz Smoothound
Nathan Annett – 7lb Smoothound
Jack Lavis – 7lb 1oz Smoothound
Rob Wheaton - 5lb 1oz Gilthead Bream
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NEWS
CORNISH SEA ANGLERS TELL FISHERY MANAGERS: STOP MONKEYING AROUND!
Shocking new landing data from the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) shows that landings of sea bass by Cornish netting vessels have increased massively, despite fishing restrictions intended to reduce landings and allow the threatened bass stock to recover. Since 2015, in response to a crash in the bass stock, the EU has introduced drastic fishing restrictions to protect bass and allow the stock to recover. These restrictions include making it illegal for netters to target bass; allowing fixed netters to land just 1.4 tonnes of bass bycatch a year; a closed season in February and March; and increasing the minimum landing size from 36cm to 42cm. However, new MMO data reveals that whilst these measures have been extremely successful across most of England, reducing netting landings of bass by 78% since 2013, in Cornwall bass landings by netters have increased by an astonishing 43%. A spokesperson for the Cornish Federation of Sea Anglers, said “Cornwall IFCA is supposed to be protecting our valuable bass stock, but this data shows it has allowed netters to increase their bass
landings despite the stock being at a dangerously low level. For most of 2018, Cornish sea anglers were not even allowed to take 1 bass for the table, but it seems that restriction was pointless, because at the same time Cornish netters were busy scooping up as many bass as they could find – whilst Cornwall IFCA has stood by doing nothing, and ignored repeated calls for an emergency byelaw to protect juvenile bass and for proper enforcement of the bass laws.” David Curtis, Director of Save Our Sea Bass, commented “Bass angling and commercial hook and lining for bass contribute millions of pounds to Cornwall’s economy and support thousands of local, sustainable jobs. But Cornwall IFCA is putting all that at risk by allowing Cornish netters to increase bass fishing pressure while the rest of England and the EU have cut bass netting landings in order to save the stock. Cornwall IFCA has repeatedly refused to take action to protect bass or to make protecting bass a high priority and this is the sad, but entirely predictable result.”
Sea Angling News, July 2020
Sea Angling News, July 2020
NEWS
Email: editor@seaanglingnews.com 7
ANGLING TRUST CHALLENGES BENYON REVIEW OVER SEA ANGLING EXCLUSIONS
The Angling Trust has published its formal response to the government’s Benyon Review on the establishment of Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) which had controversially proposed a blanket ban on recreational sea angling in these new zones. In their detailed and evidenced based response, the Trust challenges the Review’s lack of evidence for excluding anglers and draws on examples of successful multi-use marine conservation zones established in other parts of the world. The Angling Trust agrees with the Review Panel on the need for enhanced levels of marine conservation but argues that these measures should include a role for managed, low impact, sea angling which would not only deliver increased community support but also provide a level of monitoring to aid enforcement and compliance. The paper makes the following key points: •The Angling Trust welcomes the establishment of Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) and is concerned at the parlous state of the oceans in general and of the seas around the coast of the UK in particular. •In Britain we have allowed commercial over-fishing to drive down fish stocks to unsustainable levels and failed to effectively manage important habitats for fish and other wildlife.
•Sea angling generates considerable economic value to the UK economy yet too often it is ignored or marginalised in the decisions taken about the management of our seas upon which our sport depends and this was certainly the case with the Benyon Review which failed to include any representatives of the sea angling sector on the Panel. •Whilst the Angling Trust can support many of the Panel’s recommendations we strongly object to their deeply flawed recommendation for a blanket ban on recreational fishing in all HPMAs and their wholly unsubstantiated claims that the impacts of rod and line fishing are comparable with extractive, commercial exploitation such as dredging, trawling and drilling. •Rather than exclude recreational anglers (in favour of more expensive activities such as powerboating and scuba diving) we suggest a more rational way forward that will deliver marine conservation objectives, improve stakeholder engagement, reduce economic damage to coastal communities and provide a network of willing volunteers to aid compliance and assist enforcement. •The Angling Trust is calling on ministers to engage the recreational angling community in examining the potential for the introduction of multi-use marine protection zones which allow for low impact and recreational activities and which protect fish stocks and restore seabed habitats including the creation of specific ‘recreational only’ buffer zones to operate alongside any new HPMAs.
The Trust’s response has been sent to all DEFRA ministers. Jamie Cook, Angling Trust CEO, said in his letter to Environment Secretary George Eustice: “As you move to implement the recommendation of the (Benyon Review) report, and to select the five pilot sites, we ask that you reject those inaccurate aspects of the report, which wrongly equate the impacts of modern recreational sea angling as equivalent to damaging industrial activities such as trawling, dredging and drilling, and ensure that recreational angling interests are a key stakeholder in both the site selection and the management and monitoring of those sites once established. Furthermore, we are calling for the introduction of multi-use marine protection zones which allow for low impact and recreational activities and which protect fish stocks and restore seabed habitats including the creation of specific ‘recreational only’ buffer zones to operate alongside any new HPMAs.” The Angling Trust response was compiled by Martin Salter, Head of Policy, who said: “We are passionate advocates for marine conservation and not only were deeply disappointed to have been excluded from membership of the Review Panel but to see how unduly selective they had been in their use of evidence. Our response, corrects that imbalance and sets out clearly the wealth of evidence that shows recreational angling can not only protect HPMAs but how anglers are often their biggest champions and guardians. Ministers now need to reflect on the best
way to achieve much needed marine conservation without triggering a wholly unnecessary conflict.” Political support for the Angling Trust’s position is growing in Westminster following the intervention of Sir Charles Walker MP, Vice Chairman of the Conservative 1922 Committee and a keen angler. Sir Charles said: “Following some of the strong representations already made there is a growing understanding within DEFRA as to the very real concerns that some of the flaws in the Benyon Review have created. I am hopeful that common sense will eventually prevail and all of us with an interest in conservation, a cause about which anglers have always championed, will be able to work together to improve our seas and the life they contain.” Tim Macpherson, Angling Trust board member and sea angling publisher added: “I have always supported the idea of setting up a network of marine protected areas in UK waters partly to restrict damaging commercial fishing practices but the way this report has been put together will not achieve the objectives it sets out to do. It is also likely to alarm and alienate recreational anglers, the largest stakeholder group in terms of number and economic value. Anglers are also likely to feel that the members of the panel who compiled this report, including scientists and conservationists, have shown a complete lack of understanding of what recreational angling is all about and what it contributes to the nation.”
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Sea Angling News, July 2020
POOLE / DORSET
POOLE PORT REPORT SILVER SPRAY & SILVER SPRAY II Two modern catamarans from Poole. Fast and spacious boats fitted with twin engines. COP 60 miles for 12 anglers. Large heated wheelhouse with toilet. Hot drinks provided and microwave available. All necessary rods, tackle and bait available.
Available for wreck, reef, banks, evening trips, 4-day Alderney and 3-day Cherbourg trips. **Bass, turbot, cod, plaice, shark specials** Both boats available for charters and individuals. Owner/skippers Sam & Andy Cumming Phone 07787 375 386 www.silverspraycharters.com Email: info@silverspraycharters.com
NOW TAKING BOOKINGS FOR 2020 INCLUDING ALDERNEY, GUERNSEY AND SHARK TRIPS
POOLE REPORT by Philip Higgins The start of June the government announced that charter boats could take up to 5 passengers providing social distancing measure were properly in place and could be maintained, this opened up some light for the charter boat industry allowing them to operate with reduced numbers. On June 11th another DEFRA department issued contradictory conflicting guidelines on the charter boat industry, using advice from the Inland Waterways who know diddly squat about our industry or boats. After spending many hours working with the Angling Trust who I have to state have been brilliant in seeking to get this changed we are still waiting for any form of response from DEFRA. The bream fishing was at its peak when we restarted and the catches even with reduced passengers is still very spectacular with up to 87% (taken from catch recordings) of bream being released. Poole Harbour has produced some exceptionally good Plaice up to 3lb 7ozs along with quality Black and Gilthead
Bream. The fishing in the Bay has remained consistent with plenty of Plaice, Gurnards, Bream and Rays with small Tope now moving in chasing bait fish. This offers plenty of sport for all anglers and puts smiles on peoples faces during these challenging times. As we move out to sea on the banks the size of Tope increases to mid-teens upwards along with plenty of Rays and a few Turbot have been landed. For those wishing to go the distance the wrecks have been producing Cod and Pollack in reasonable numbers and when the tide eases at anchor Conger and Ling, it will not be long before the big Bream start to arrive in the deeper water around these wrecks before their winter journey. Going forward it will soon be time to get the heavy gear out for Thresher and Porbeagle sharks.
Anthony Beale, Bream - Mistress Linda
Brian Moss, Bream - Mistress Linda
Wishing everyone a safe passage through these difficult times Philip Higgins
Mistress Linda Fishing from Poole, Dorset Skipper Philip Higgins Fast Twin Engined DS Bullet 38 Fully Licensed & Insured for 12 Persons All the Latest Electronics Full On-board Facilities, Hot Drinks Provided
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Ian, smoothound - Mistress Linda
Sea Angling News, July 2020
POOLE / DORSET
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Sea Angling News, July 2020
CHESIL
CHESIL REPORT By Gareth Mayers
Monkfish for skipper Josh Simmonds
Till Hall with some Chesil plaice
Small tope for Antony Georgia
Andrew Proudfoot with some fish from recent trips.
Cracking smooth hound
Red gurnard
Sea Angling News, July 2020
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NORTH DEVON
Sea Angling News, July 2020
NORTH DEVON REPORT By Wayne Thomas Kevin Pike has set a new Appledore Shipbuilders Angling Club record boating a huge tope of 70lb whilst fishing off the North Devon Coast. Kevin was fishing from his own private boat with fellow club member Mike Toogood who also enjoyed success boating another huge tope of 68lb 8oz. The capture of two tope of this size in one session is an amazing feat that will be remembered for years to come as a red letter day proving the oft said saying that it’s all about being in the right place at the right time. Tope have been starting to show off Ilfracombe with several boated from deep water marks along with bull huss and smoothound. When water clarity allows some good pollock and bass have been tempted over reefs off Ilfracombe and Combe Martin.
Ali Laird - Thin Lipped grey mullet 4lb 8oz
Plenty of wrasse have been caught from the Ilfracombe area with LRF tactics giving great sport. The Taw and Torridge estuaries have been in good form for thin lipped grey mullet with several specimens succumbing the baited spinner tactics. Several bass have been tempted from the Lower estuary along with the occasional gilthead bream. A species that seems to be establishing itself over recent seasons. A few mackerel have been caught off Ilfracombe though they no longer seem to show in anything like the numbers once seen along the coast. Float-fishing has tempted a few garfish from the Ilfracombe area. Smoothound have been prolific from all the normal marks with several double figure fish tempted.
Bull huss - Toby Bassett on Bluefin off Ilfracombe
Kevin Pike - tope 70lb Appledore Shipbuilders Club Record
Dan Spearman - thin lipped grey mullet 4lb 13oz
Mike Toogood Private Boat -tope 68lb 8oz
Ian Laird smoothound 12lb 9oz
Ross Stanway Boat caught ballan wrasse 3lb 3oz
Kevin Legge - smoothound 10lb 7oz
Ross Stanway boat caught pollock
Ross Stanway - smoothound
Ross Stanway smoothound Dan Spearman Thin lipped grey mullet 4lb 11oz
Tope caught on Reel Deal off Ilfracombe
Stefan Jones - Double figure smoothound
Daniel Welch 12lb 8oz smoothound
Paul Downing smoothound 9lb 10oz
Dave Welch with 6lb pollock caught from a Prvate boat off Ilfracombe.
Ian laird - gilthead bream - Taw Estuary
Kevin Legge = bull huss 10lb 3oz.
Stephen Found bull huss 9lb 4oz
Tope on Reel Deal off Ilfracombe
Sea Angling News, July 2020
NORTH DEVON
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Sea Angling News, July 2020
NEWS / LANGSTONE
LANGSTONE HARBOUR AREA BOAT FISHING REPORT By Neville Merritt, Southsea Marina Angling Club
After all those weeks of lockdown with calm sunny days, the inevitable happened. We were allowed back onto our boats and the wind got up and the rain started to fall. Actually it wasn’t that bad, we have had plenty of fishable days and for those on a more “flexible” working arrangement there have been enough fishable days to give us a great gallery of catch photos this month. The socially distanced queue for bait at our local tackle shop was a sign that things are kind of getting back to normal. May to June are excellent months in the Eastern Solent calendar. The bream are still here, smoothhounds have arrived, large tope are here to breed and there are plenty of mackerel for bait and the BBQ. All these in addition to our residents of rays, bass and lesser species keep the rod tips active. Calmer days allow boats to push well offshore to the channel wrecks. Kev Johnson shows the quality of pollack available if you find the right wreck. If you scale the tackle down you can catch some exceptional bream on the wrecks, best on that trip was 3lb 13oz. As Arron Shons demonstrates, you can also find some lunker wrasse with pollack lures. There are some cod on the wrecks too. One of the dangers of prolonged inactivity is that boat engines can suffer, and it pays to check them over carefully and run them up before heading out. There has been a record number of callouts to Sea Start, our local “AA” for boats. Kev Johnson towed a boat back from his wrecking trip – broken down, no VHF and no lifejackets. They were lucky he was passing. We are fortunate to have eminent marine biologist Bill Arnold as a member of SMAC, and he is a goldmine of information about fish species. I learned something new from Bill – he sent me pictures of two cuckoo wrasse he caught – male and female. Apparently they are all female at birth and change if they feel the need later in their lives (so that’s not a new thing). As you can see the male is much brighter and his job is to lure predators away from the nest where the female protects the young. Sounds like a dangerous existence. Thanks Bill for the biology lesson! On to larger species, the tope fishing has been excellent and we have some great catches shown by Dave Jordisan, Dean Lodge, Josh Carter, Pete Brown and a personal best for Tony Myatt. There were also some good rays boated – Bill Arnold again with a blonde ray of 17.5lb; Kris Scott topped it with a 21lb blonde and a good undulate ray. Scott Gardner fishing off Selsey shows a good thornback ray and an excellent smoothhound of 19lb. Tim Andrews has one of our less common catches, a turbot. Meanwhile the SMAC Ladies competitions standings were overturned with a nice bream from Hayley Ellis and she now also leads the Ladies Species Table. We are hoping for more great fishing in the coming month before the tope and bream move off. August can be quiet but that is still plenty of fishing weeks away. See you next month.
Hayley Mills Thornback
Tim Andrews turbot
Josh Carter Tope
Kev Johnson Pollack
Kris Scott 21lb blonde ray
Scott Gardner 11lb Thornback Ray
Dean Lodge Tope
Tony Myatt 50lb tope - PB
Queue for bait
Haley Ellis Bream
Dave Jordisan Tope 48lb
Arron Shons Wrasse
Bill Arnold 17.5lb Blonde ray
Kris Scott undulate ray
Kev Johnson Bream Bill Arnold Cuckoo Wrasse
Bill Arnold lady cuckoo wrasse
Arron Shons cod
Pete Browne 25lb tope
Scott Gardner 19lb smoothhound
Sea Angling News, July 2020
EAST SUSSEX
Email: editor@seaanglingnews.com 15
EAST SUSSEX DIARY By Kevin Morgan
At last not only are anglers allowed to fish but the shops can officially open and thanks to campaigns by the Angling Trust, producing guidelines approved by the government, we are now allowed to fish competitions within strict social distancing rules!! Plenty of fish have been caught in the re‐ gion since angling was considered a safe enough sport to continue! With plenty of new anglers being encouraged to take up the sport!! Lots of quality fish have been caught dur‐ ing the last month ! some lovely sole in‐ cluding a 1lb 11oz fish for Tim Lane and a very large first ever sole for Leah Foster caught in Pevensey Bay on lugworm. There have still been a few thornback ray caught with Mark Tait catching one at Seaford as well as some lovely smoothounds and a conger eel! Ryan Mayell caught a thornback at Holywell re‐ cently as well as some love hounds up to 14lb 10oz. Chris Voller and family fished a local beach on 29th May and caught plenty of thornback Ray including a couple for his mum!! Lots of smoothounds have been caught over the last month and continue to be caught hopefully well into the summer. These are great hard fighting fish that can be caught by experienced and novice anglers alike. Baits include peeler crab, hermit crab, squid and ragworm and still a few caught on lugworm. Jason Scott (Eastbourne Angler) caught a nice hound recently and Les Glazzard managed a PB 6lb 12oz fish on Monday 15th June using hermit crabs. Tony Kirrage has managed some good sessions with peelers with fish up to 7lb +. Kevin Doe has had some great results using squid with some nice hounds a couple of rays in Normans Bay. Josh Catford and his friend Max caught some nice fish recently using lug, bluey rag and squid. A sole, flounder smoothounds and several rays caught from Eastbourne. Trevor Rooney used peeler crab to catch a few nice hounds from Langney Point at the beginning of
June and junior lady angler Keeley Moule caught some nice fish including a smoothound of 3lb 2oz. Dad Michael Moule managed a hound of 7lb 7oz !! Its great to see junior anglers doing well ! and Mathew Burton took his daughter fishing for the first time and she caught a lovely smoothound as well as a bass so another angler new hooked !! On Tuesday 16th June Ollie Franks fished with his dad at Langney Point on Ollies 16th birthday! Dad (Mark) managed a couple of nice hounds but Oliie caught a PB double figure hound of 104cm to cel‐ ebrate his Birthday!! Heather Moule (Keeleys mum) fished on Thursday 18th June and was about to pack up when she hooked a PB hound of 9lb 6oz on soft crab. ANDERIDA FISHING CLUB Anderida held their first competition since lockdown began on Thursday 18th June. Using the Angling Trust guidelines anglers were permitted to book in during the day, then start fishing at 7pm as usual. The weigh in meant that each angler waited by their car to be called to record their fish one at a time and the results were collated and given out that evening. Smoothounds and rays were fished for using catch and release charts and all returned alive! An amazing turnout of 28 anglers saw new member Mark Franks win with two nice hounds for 10lb 14 ½ oz. Mark also won the super pool for the biggest fish with a hound of 85cm, 6lb 10 ½ oz. Second was Mark Underhill with a hound of 5lb 4 ½ oz, third Colin Isaacs with two small hounds for 2lb 15 ½ oz, fourth Rod Reynolds with a hound for 1lb 12oz and 5th Jim Whippy with 3 bream for 1lb 2 ¾ oz. No flatfish were caught. Hopefully the charter boats will be able to venture out this month and plenty of private boats are managing to find a few fish with some nice pollack and a few cod being caught. As more clubs begin com‐ petitions hopefully more to report next month!
Les Glazzard with a PB 6lb 12oz smoothound
Ollie Franks with a PB double figure smoothound caught on rag and squid on his birthday
Ryan Mayell with a double figure smoothound
Tony Kirrage with a nice hound from Langney Point
Junior angler miss Buton with a lovely smoothound
Trevor Rooney with a nice smoothound
Matt Gifford with a new PB 11lb smoothound
Heather Moule with a lovely 9lb 6oz smoothound caught on soft crab
Harvey Shelley with a lovely gurnard
Keeley Moule with a 3lb 3oz smoothound
Max with a nice smoothound
Josh Gifford with a thornback ray
Chris Vollers Mum with a thornback
Jack Wilshire with a 6lb 1oz smoothound
David Matteusz with a 68cm bass of around 7lb
Jason Scott with a nice smoothound from Langney Point
Mark Tait ith a super smoothound from Seaford
Leah Foster with her first ever dover sole what a cracking fish
Mark Franks with an 85cm smoothound
16 Email: editor@seaanglingnews.com
BURNHAM / GEAR REVIEW
Sea Angling News, July 2020
BURNHAM ON SEA REPORT By Richard Saxby Hope everyone is keeping well during these difficult times. Again the last month has been a bit challenging for most. We have seen a bit more activity on the boats both from Burnham and other venues. Normally at this time of year people would be taking advantage of the longer days and having a few long distance trips but when launching from Burnham we have been staying local. I think we have missed the best of the bass and hound in the bay this year but there are still plenty of fish to catch within 10 miles of the slip. Two boats took advantage of the bank holiday at the end of may and towed down to Weymouth for a days drifting the shambles. The weather was fantastic but the fishing not quite so hot. Both boats found a few turbot, hounds, bass, gurnards and a small tope but nothing of any size. May 30th and Ultra White was out again this time from Portishead. A busy session for Nigel Devey and Martin Quinn with rays, straps, dogs, a few hounds and a bonus codling for Martin. There seems to be a lot of codling hanging around the upper reaches of the channel this year, hopefully a good sign. June 17th Father and son Andy and Anthony Georgiou had a day out on Mikey Webbers Osprey from Minehead. Mikey has been putting his anglers on some fantastic fishing lately and the duo
Andy Georgiou turbot
weren't disappointed. Loads of hounds, rays, dogs, huss and tope came to the boat and even a few mackeral. Anthony set a new pb tope of 31lb with Andy doing even better with a beast of 57lb and a new pb. On the same day Andy Reeve took his boat Miss Moffet out for a day at Lilstock. They had a good day with fair numbers of hounds mixed in with the usual suspects. June 20th and we managed to get Four Buoys out for the first time since January. Joining us was Martin and Nigel on Seanies Flyer. We launched in drizzly overcast conditions with a breeze that strengthened through the day. Both boats ended up off Lilstock to get a bit of protection in the southerly blow. Conditions were hard work but fish fed constantly. Dogfish were about in plague proportions but if our bait was left unmolested for long enough then a ray, eel or hound picked it up. It was a wet and wild ride home but it certainly felt great to be back out on the water again.
Andy and Ant Georgiou tope
Fish of the month winner for May was Anthony Georgiou with a hound of 8lb 14 oz and 57%. We are still not having any competitions and club meeting are on zoom but hopefully that will change soon. You can keep up-to date with latest news and catches and all things fishy on our facebook page and website Burnham Boat Owners Sea Angling Association.
Martin Quinn cod
Richard Saxby hound
Nigel Devey hound
Martin Quinn hound
Nigel Devey hound
Anthony Georgiou tope
Sea Angling News, July 2020
BRISTOL CHANNEL / WATCHET
Email: editor@seaanglingnews.com 17
RECENT CATCHES ABOARD LORNA DOONE
BRISTOL CHANNEL SHORE REPORT BY CRAIG BUTLER
Aaron North with a 5.4lb bass caught from Watchet
Andrea Indacowith a nice blonde ray caught from Minehead harbour
WEST SOMERSET HOTEL Watchet’s best angler friendly family run Hotel Bed & breakfast , Drying room Freezer facilities , Packed lunches in request And a great harbour town pub for a drink after a hard days fishing
Anthony Georgiou 14+ LB conger from Weston Super Mare
West Somerset Hotel Swain Street Watchet TA23 0AB
Tel: 01984 634434
18 Email: editor@seaanglingnews.com
BRISTOL CHANNEL / MINEHEAD
Sea Angling July 2020
BRISTOL CHANNEL BOAT REPORT The Bristol Channel has been on fine form throughout the month. Boat anglers fishing all along our stretch have been getting into some fine sport.
Rays being taken from the patches of sand. The superb ray fishing continues on various patches of sand in the proximity of Minehead where Small Eyed Rays are present in bigger numbers helping anglers spend a few hours bagging up.
Around Watchet, the Smoothhounds have been really quite prolific with high numbers and many specimens to the rods. Hardback crab has been the favored bait for these fast, hard fighting toothless sharks. Accompanying the ‘hounds’ has been a collective of Conger Eels, Thornback Rays, Bull Huss and dogfish.
At this time of year, boats venturing further west and into North Devon will be greeted by clearer, blue water and along with it the first of the summers Tope. As always seems to be the case we might not see dozens of pack fish in a day but instead the potential for some very large specimens as was proven by Burnham angler Andreous Georgiou recently who boated a fine 58lb Tope.
Moving west, boats fishing the mixed patches of mud, broken ground and sand have seen some really hot sport. The mud and mixed ground continues to produce the above mentioned species with the inclusion of some hard fighting Blonde
Smoothound - Teddie Boy
SAN dIrector in chief James Wiggy small eyed ray
Liz Roberts smoothy Alykat
Mick Doody nice pair AlyKat
Mick Doody 20 lb blonde ray Alykat
Katie smoothound AlyKat
Mike Jane small eyed ray Alykat
Chris Moseley small eyed ray Alykat
50+ LB Tope - -Teddie Boy Old skipsy small eyed ray Alykat
Chris Moseley smoothound Alykat
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Ollie with a Smoothound - Teddie boy Another 50+ LB Tope - -Teddie Boy
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Stuart with a Smoothound - Teddie boy
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Double shot of bass - Osprey
Blonde ray & Smoothound - Osprey
Sea Angling News, July 2020
BRISTOL CHANNEL / MINEHEAD
Email: editor@seaanglingnews.com 19
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20 Email: editor@seaanglingnews.com
NEWS
I
S LEY ’ HE R O L E NORTHNEY MARINA II K HAYLING ISLAND
Tel. Ian or Bex on 07795 538933 Email: iandale@kelleys-hero.com
11m South Catamaran with twin 330hp Iveco Turbo Charged Diesel engines. She has a top speed of 26 knots and a cruising speed of 18 knots. The boat is fully coded to MCA CAT 2, and is licensed to carry 12 passengers.
RECENT CATCHES ON KELLEYS HERO
Sea Angling News, July 2020
www.lastlaughcharterfishing.co.uk Individuals / Small and Large Groups Catered for Email: johntomkat1@hotmail.com Mob: 07796023881 Owner: John Skeggs. Port: Lymington FREE PARKING! Now taking bookings for winter Cod fishing! A full day targeting Cod / Whiting, or you can split the day for Cod / Bass. Plenty of options!
LAST LAUGH CHARTERS By John Skeggs
This time of year there’s no shortage of species to target. The Solent is the place if you want to fish for big Stingray and Smooth-Hounds ,there has already been reports of some big stingers landed over the 40 pound mark. You can fish from the beach or a dinghy, shallow muddy water and a tray of large king rag-worm is key.
Christchurch bay is still fishing well for Black Bream, Bass, Plaice, Pollack and Mackerel, fish with light tackle and have some cracking sport. “In the middle” as we call it, some good numbers of Pollack and Cod, this is much improved on last year.
Sea Angling News, July 2020
PRIVATE VENTURE
NEWS
Email: editor@seaanglingnews.com 21
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22 Email: editor@seaanglingnews.com
Hooks and Knives from a Skipper’s viewpoint The most dangerous time on a charter angling boat is the bait fishing session for mackerel in the morning. The sea is often choppy on the west side of Portland Bill where the local boats usually take their customers to catch the mackerel. Mackerel feathers come in packets of four to six hooks but some over-enthusiastic anglers, usually those with the least experience, will link two sets of feather together and have a dangerously long and uncontrollable string of 12 hooks flying around. When there are several mackerel hanging on the hooks, the likelihood of injury swiftly increases especially as trying to shake one mackerel free into the bait box can easily result in the impaling of oneself with an adjacent hook. The main concern is that one or two of these hooks will be at ‘eye height’ with an angler on a bouncing boat often unaware of how perilously close he is to inflicting a very serious wound on himself. Watching from the wheelhouse brings many heart stopping garments for the skipper who knows his warning shouts are largely unheeded as the fish start to come in to the boat. Luckily no-one ever impaled their eye with a hook on any of the Offshore Rebel boats despite us mackerel fishing in some uncomfortably fluffy conditions. But there have been such terrible incidents and then it is a case of calling up the Air-Sea Rescue Helicopter or heading straight back to harbour for the waiting ambulance and trying to deal with an understandably distressed and frightened customer. Skippers, whether they like it or not, will have to deal with plenty of situations which involve someone accidently burying a hook into themselves. Some people can handle this very well and adopt the ‘stiff upper lip’ approach and either carry on fishing for the day with the hook remaining in situ or offering themselves to the hook extracting expertise of the skipper. In one locally famous local incident a competitor in a Weymouth and Portland Conger Competition managed to hook himself perfectly through his top lip with a large 6/0 hook. It would be unwise to attempt an amateur extraction on this sensitive part of the body, especially with such a hefty piece of metal involved. The decision to return to port or not must be taken but in this particular example, the competitor, a large and famous gentleman from Portland, chose to remain in the competition and fish all day with this large hook dangling from his lip much to the admiration of his fellow competitors. In the early years of our super-modern 21st Century, some anglers still used hefty silver pirks weighing 20 ounces or
WEYMOUTH
more to take their so called ‘killer rigs’ down to the bottom of the sea or to a wreck. This hefty amount of weight of the pirk was required because anglers that favoured the ‘killer-rig’ method were still using 50lb mono mainlines that had an enormous amount of stretch in them thus making it hard to ‘feel’ the bottom with too light a weight. These pirks usually had a hefty treble hook on the bottom which would hook into the large mouth of the intended predatory quarry. Fishing in the deepest part of the English Channel, the 130 metre Hurd Deep, seven miles north of Alderney, the group of young, rugby playing anglers aboard Offshore Rebel IV were using this archaic and tiring method of fishing. It seemed like they had deliberately chosen to use the ‘jerk and pirk’ system as a training session and there was a good deal of singing of raucous rugby ditties as the rods were raised and lowered in unison. The innocent lyrics of ‘Down in the Valley’ were most appropriate particularly on the chorus where the team members declared that “Oi ‘ad ‘er; Oi ‘ad ‘er, Oi ‘ad ‘er; Oi Aye” once a fish was hooked. When the lyrical intensity stepped up a notch, we knew that one of the lads had hooked into something and was attempting to break the retrieval record by winding in as fast as his scrummagehoned arms could manage. One young man had caught a reasonable sized cod and dragged it overboard before the crew had chance to net it for him. As the fish swung inboard, it dropped off the hook causing a momentary loss of concentration and control resulting in the angler allowing his now fishless pirk to drop onto his leg. He was wearing shorts so two prongs of the treble hook embedded themselves deeply into his naked flesh above the knee thanks to the considerable weight of the falling 20oz pirk. There he stood; his friends laughing at him and continuing their boisterous singing and jerking and apparently oblivious as to the seriousness of this situation. I could not see any other alternative than to return to port to seek professional assistance. I explained to the impaled Jim and his friends that we should go in to Alderney but they all dismissed this silly idea and decided Jim would have to wait until the day’s fishing was done. I removed the pirk from the split ring that connected it to the hook and looked at the extent of the injury. It was a miracle really that just two of the three prongs had buried themselves into Jim’s decidedly well-developed quadriceps muscle. He asked me to remove the hook and despite me telling him that it was too difficult, insisted I had a go. I explained that I would first need to try and cut the third prong off because any attempt to free the other two parts of the hook would possibly bring about further impaling with this third
Sea Angling News, July 2020
prong. But Jim would have none of that and told me to ‘rip the hook out’. This can be done with a single hook depending as to where it is and the depth it has penetrated but this was a difficult situation and, it appeared to me, to be capable of causing a quite serious injury if I attempted to just ‘rip it out’. Jim announced that if I didn’t do it, then he would do it himself. With this worrying threat of self-harm to motivate me, I did manage to extract the hook from his leg although it did take time, some whiskey and the use of a sharp filleting knife. There was surprisingly little blood considering the size of the wound. Jim asked for his pirk back as he intended to continue fishing. On enquiring as to why he was so keen for me to retrieve his hook in an undamaged state, he explained that was his only treble hook and he did not want to lose it! With the treble hook reattached, Rob hurled his pirk back overboard in time to join in with the drift and the lads all broke out into their favourite diddy with a slight lyrical change to refer to the hook: “it ‘ad ‘im; it ‘ad im; it ‘ad im; aye eh,” accompanied by much guffawing at their team mate’s expense. It is true that some injuries look a lot worse than they actually are. On another trip, an angler had caught a dogfish and asked if he could keep it as he fancied trying one for tea. Dogfish used to be sold as ‘rock salmon’ and were an expensive option in the London Fish ‘n Chip shops when I worked there and had to be pre-ordered, such was their popularity. They are not easy to skin and so that task often falls to the skipper or crew of an angling boat. They are also able to live for a very long time out of water. This customer not only wanted to keep the dogfish, he wanted me to kill it and then skin it for him. The best way to stun or kill a wriggling dogfish so that it can be skinned for the table is to grab it firmly by the tail and then wallop it extremely hard on the deck. This I attempted to do but my downward thrust was halted before the fish hit the deck. My arm could not move and I discovered that as I swung downward my arm, at the elbow, had impaled itself on a set of mackerel feathers that had not been packed away by the customer and were left hanging from his spare rod inserted vertically into one of the boat’s metal tubed rod holders. The mackerel hook was completely buried with just a bit of feather sticking out of my arm along with the eye at the top of the hook just visible. This is when I discovered for the first time the unusually elastic properties of skin in the area of the elbow. Here, a bit of skin can be grabbed between the thumb and first finger of the opposite hand and pulled some considerable distance and without pain. By using the boat’s pliers in my left hand, I was able to grab onto the slightly protruding head of the hook and pull on it until the skin became so stretched and thin as to be almost translucent. I could see the shape of the mackerel hook but was unable to do anything about it. So I called for assistance to anyone who felt like they could cut my skin to free the sharp end of the hook which I was attempting, unsuccessfully, to push through. It is surprising how many brawny chaps turn white faced in horror at such experiences as hook removal and no volunteer came forward until after much
persuasion an angler bravely took my filleting knife and made the necessary cut to release the hook point. Once that was through, the rest of the hook followed quite easily. Again, there was hardly any blood but I could see a good deal of shock and horror on the faces of my customers who must have thought I was even madder than they’d previously considered me to be. There were a great many hook removing instances over the years but the finest example of dedicated fishing in the face of potential pain and shortening of the future family tree came when Francesco, an Italian angler, skilfully swung his two hook paternoster rig straight at himself with a bream attached to the top hook, the weight and momentum of which swung the bottom hook neatly between his legs. Again, shorts were being worn but these were of a very lightweight and flimsy nature which the small, needle sharp hook penetrated with ease. The material offered so little protection that the hook travelled on and pierced the angler’s next layer of clothing and entered that sensitive part of the anatomy that most males value above all else. This was an uncomfortable position to be in with the wriggling bream providing the final jerk on the line to set the hook and initially maintain tension direct to the impaled part. Francesco released his bream and quickly cut the fishing line leading to the offending lower hook and retied a new rig, baited it and cast it back into the bream shoal. Then, and only then, did he turn his intentions to the line dandling out of his shorts leading to his neatly hooked scrotum. Francesco looked at me with imploring Italian eyes and I waved a long nosed pair of forceps and a knife at him. His resigned shrug invited me to have a go at removing the hook and so with a deft cutting of a small slit in his shorts and underlying garment, I was able to slip the forceps towards the extraction point and remove the hook with comparative ease in a fine display of steady handed micro-surgery. Because this was a competition, barbless hooks had to be used and this was the reason why the nut sack gave up its invader so readily. The released angler just carried on fishing and in fact not only came first on the boat but also won the overall multi-vessel event and a considerable amount of prize money and he didn’t even mention the mishap. I did of course, by telling everyone over the VHF radio exactly what had happened in tear -inducing detail. Some anglers prefer to inflict pain upon themselves using a knife. Knifes are used on the boat for bait and line cutting, and for gutting and filleting of the fish. Experienced anglers prefer to do any or all of those four actions themselves and therefore the injury rate is much higher than with inexperienced anglers who prefer to let the experienced crewman, or crewess in the case of my boat, handle the knife work. Returning from a choppy mid-channel wrecking trip one time with a good catch of pollack, I told the anglers not to try gutting the fish whilst we were on the move but to wait until I could pull into the very sheltered waters of Portland Harbour where we could work on the fish without
Sea Angling News, July 2020
WEYMOUTH
danger of them getting cut. On this occasion I had no crew with me to assist the customers and therefore they needed to help themselves. I was assured they were all very experienced men who could handle a knife and, on entering the calm waters of the harbour, they set to work. A couple of men came to ask if they could borrow a sharp knife so they could also assist. I emphasised that the boat’s knives were seriously sharp and not like the usual knife a customer would carry. My crewess, trained by the fishmonger in Weymouth, was normally the only person I allowed to use these razor sharp and very expensive blades. We were already running late and the dark rain clouds were making the evening drawing in quickly. And it was cold. I issued one knife to an eager angler and proceeded to unwrap the next knife with further emphasis on just how sharp these were and the need to be very careful with it. As this second angler left the wheelhouse with his knife, the first angler returned with blood streaming down his right ear. He agreed that the knife was indeed razor sharp and he had just nicked his earlobe when trying to scratch a little itch before commencing on the fish gutting. This was not a ‘little nick’ and earlobes are remarkably able to produce na impressive amount of blood. I removed his knife which was held at an extremely dangerous angle pointing towards me and instructed him to hold his earlobe together whilst I sought out the medical kit. I had not even opened the hatch to the medical box when the second man returned with blood pouring out of his nose! He did not even know how he had achieved the superbly executed slice across his septum but this was certainly a good one.
with my 10 competing International anglers on-board. Anglers at this level know that a successful catch rate is achieved because of the great attention they pay to their bait. These men require a good deal of time before an event begins and so I had been asked if I could go very gently to the first mark so as to allow the bait preparation to take place. It was calm but there was still a slight swell and lift in the sea from the previous day’s winds and I ventured out as gently as possible. We had travelled all of a quarter of a mile before I was hastily summoned to the stern of my boat. One of the German competitors had been kneeling at the back and was happily tenderising his squid by holding the blade of his knife and tapping away merrily with the handle. He slipped and stuck his knife firmly through his green wellington boot and into that delicate part of the ankle just under the main ankle bone where the heel is at its slenderest. The blood was rapidly filling his boot and sock which were removed to reveal a wound from which the blood was spurting and travelling a surprising distance. Laying the casualty on his back with his leg in the air and two of his team mates taking it in turn to pressurise the wound and stop the torrent of blood, we turned and hurtled back to Weymouth. The Competition organisers had been notified and an ambulance was once again summoned to take away the third knife wounded casualty from Offshore Rebel IV in less than 12 hours.
We decided to head in to as these were nasty cuts. By the time we arrived at my Weymouth Harbour mooring an ambulance was already waiting to take the two customers away, both of whom required stitches. The next day was the opening day of the five day World Angling Championships to be held in Weymouth. I was telling the competitors why the ambulance was at my boat the previous evening as seen by some of the International anglers. They found it hard to believe that such experienced anglers could be so clumsy with a knife and inflict such damage upon themselves in such a short time.I was one of the first of 18 boats to leave the harbour
This is, like the previous two months, an extract from new, light-hearted book From Army Brat to Seadog written in response to requests from the Sea-dog Tall Tales Facebook group. The book is a collection of a few sea stories gathered from charter angling trips over the years. It is available on Amazon. If you’d like to order a book… just type: amazon.co.uk When the Amazon page comes up…type into their ‘book search’ box: From Army Brat to Seadog. There’s a choice between an eBook or a paperback version. All proceeds to go to the RNLI on behalf of all us seafarers.
Email: editor@seaanglingnews.com 23
OFFSHORE REBEL CAT, Cop 60 miles, licenced/insured for 12 anglers, Channel Islands, wrecking specialist fishing trips Tel: JAMIE PULLIN Mobile: 07886 931406 Phone for free newsletter & individual list Contact my web site on:
http://www.deepsea.co.uk/boat/offshore_rebel
Skipper - Keith Brown
TO ADVERTISE IN THIS SPACE CALL JAMES ON 07825181694
We returned to sea minus a quarter of the German ‘A’ team which finished Day One a long way behind their anticipated position. Such are the dangers of knives….and hooks!
ATLANTA Reef, Wreck, Shambles & Kidney Bank fishing. Individuals, Parties, Beginners welcome. 60 mile COP, Licensed & Insured. Tel: DAVE PITMAN 01305 781644 Boat 07721 320352
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24 Email: editor@seaanglingnews.com
NEWS
Sea Angling News, July 2020
WEST SUSSEX By Alan Brown
Fishing has slowed alot along most of West Sussex as summer takes hold. Plenty to target still on right tides and with weather playing a big part as it does most summers. Hounds have thinned out everywhere with the smaller fish moving in. Shoreham beaches producing undulates, hounds and bass being main target. With small plaice and black bream for this searching for smaller fish. Worthing has been a bit quiet of late few rays and hounds off the pier with odd mackerel showing. Lure anglers targeting bass over low water. Littlehampton beaches much the same as Shoreham. Few mullet now
showing up the river. Bognor and Pagham been showing plenty of small undulates and odd Thornback with the rocky sections producing bass and wrasse. Selsey east beach has been very hit and miss due to weed, but plenty of bream and rays to target when weed allows. West beach through to bracklesham still producing odd better hound and tope. Weed will soon be a problem on all our beaches but get it right and be plenty to target with the summer speices starting to move me in in numbers. Tight lines and stay safe
33lb4oz tope from bracklesham Bay
Becky Lee travelled down to fish Selsey and was rewarded with this stunning 4lb1oz gilt head bream
Owain Clarke with a nice undulate from shoreham
Jason Collins travelled down to Selsey and was rewarded with a pb 11lb11oz hound
Tom churcher with a nice double figure undie from Shoreham beaches
Paul Hockley with a nice West Sussex 11lb 8oz male undulate
15lb Pagham hound for Steve Osborne
Sea Angling News, July 2020
BACK TO BASICS
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BACK TO BASICS By Martin Wood Wrasse Fishing This month I thought with such nice weather and longer evenings sometimes due to work we sometimes miss our op‐ portunities with the best tides for ses‐ sions, so sometimes being able to get out locally to a rock mark or structure and just going with some light gear allows us to fish for species we don’t always en‐ counter and a good fighting species to catch is Wrasse there are a few different types of wrasse but they can all provide great sport on lighter gear especially the bigger wrasse out there. So what approach do we use? You can fish for wrasse in numerous ways but if travelling light like we are focusing on then float fishing , light ledgering or lures which are great ways to catch them. Wrasse inhabit rocky and rough ground areas or around structures as well mainly using their strong mouths to crush crabs and small lobsters and other crustaceans as well as other small creatures that live on or around the rocks and will always take fish or worm baits presented. Float fishing: Fishing with a float is simple just a simple sea float set up or use some larger course fishing crystal floats if it’s calm enough leave at least three foot from float to a size 6 hook for larger wrasse use a 1/0 to keep the smaller species off and get the bait near the bottom. Just add a small hard back crab or worm
or fish strips mackerel or herring works well and leave it to waft past the rock faces or further out. Light ledgering: You can also ledger for wrasse using a light weight 1-2 oz weight dpending on your rods weight ability, but if it’s rough ground you may lose gear so bring a few spares with you! Again hook sizes should be size 6 or for larger species 1/0 on a simple paternoster rig baited with hard back crabs, fish strips or worms. Lures: many lures work for anglers with wrasse so its about finding what is good for you but some of the more common lures to use are power worm bug ants, jelly worms and jelly crabs just attach them to a Texas rig cast them where you want and let it hit the bottom then slowly jig it and wiggle it back towards you bumping it along the bottom and always maintain‐ ing contact with the sea bed. Wrasse are great fighting fish and have a smash and grab approach to taking baits they are certainly not shy at all. Get out there amongst the rocks and find a new type of fun although stay safe and remember rocks can be slippery or have tides come up over them or surround them cutting you off but fishing this way can be addictive if you don’t have time to get live bait simply dig up some garden worms as they will be taken as well. Until next month stay safe and tight lines.
Andrew John Michael Douglas and his son went fishing at Ilfracombe and landed this lovely Ballan Wrasse on fresh ragworm
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NEWS
Sea Angling News, July 2020
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Packed with brilliant tips and ideas from Dom and saltwater lure fantatic Andy Mytton, this new book reveals a huge range of species to target and exciting tactics to try. Over three years in the making, it also features the amazing underwater photography of BBC Wildlife star Jack Perks. It is available now from various book and tackle shops, or signed from www.dgfishing.co.uk
Sea Angling News, July 2020
LRF / NEWS
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LRF REPORT By Richard Salter The last month or interesting and varied with things beginning although there have spells too.
so has been an one for us LRFers to pick up nicely, been some quiet
I’ve been itching to get back down to the local beaches in search of gurnard, mackerel and whatever else might come along and I made my first trip down in early June after fellow Lerfer Greg Green had had a good session and caught several gurnard from one of our local spots. Conditions had been very settled and calm prior to my session on the shingle but on arrival I was greeted by a stiff easterly breeze blowing right in my face! This made things a bit more complicated, but I managed to get some reasonable distance and stay in contact by using 7g jigs, right on the casting limit of my Major Craft Truzer. Fishing was slow and I didn’t get a sniff for the first couple of hours, but as the tide dropped I was able to reach some cleaner, sandy ground and a Reins Palpuntin jig bounced slowly back along the deck was seized by something, not the gurnard I was hoping for though, but a plump little Lesser Weever, my first from the Devon coast and the first one I’d caught on a metal. Its always nice to tick a couple of boxes! I continued with the Reins jig and as dusk and low tide approached, I started to find a few mackerel, some of them a nice size, giving some great sport as the sun set. You really can’t rush a decent mackerel on LRF gear and it was great to hear the drag singing as these fantastic fighters attempted to make their escape. Living in mid Devon, and therefore slightly inland, I’m very fortunate to have some good friends in good places along the coast that let me know if their local spots are worth a visit. This was the case again as my mate Joe Mole gave the shout that the gurnard were in down his neck of the woods! So at the next available evening, I drove down to meet up with Joe, Ben Bassett and Dom Garnett, who was in search of his first lure caught gurnard. Joe put us in the right spot and we all managed to catch a few gorgeous little tub gurnard each. We had the luxury of fishing onto very clean ground so could really allow our lures to hang in the right spot for as long as we needed to. Gurnard tend to take lures as they flutter down towards the seabed or will even take them as they sit stationery on the sand. We all find gurnard to be a genuinely exciting LRF target, both stunning to look at and really dogged fighters, punching well above their weight. I also had the pleasure of fishing with Ben and Dom at Exmouth, after we’d had a short and unsuccessful session on the beach. Exmouth is usually a reliable place
for the LRFer and we were pretty much straight into fish as we fished our dropshot and flexhead rigs around the various bits of rock and structure at the docks end of the sea front. It was the resident tompots that showed themselves first, the particular spot we were fishing is a real stronghold for these aggressive blennies and they quickly make short work of a soft plastic lure dropped into their lair. The smaller cousins, the shanny got in on the act too before I found a half pound ballan wrasse, which always give a good account of themselves when fishing light. As we moved on to a different area, it was the shanny that dominated, as we caught dozens of these feisty fish from between the gaps in the rocks. We were hoping to find a long spined scorpion or 2 but we didn’t manage to get past the blennies. These were entertaining enough though, with some real chunky, dark fish amongst them, clearly in tip top breeding condition. Another half pound ballan was the final fish of the session. I did return the following evening and got my scorp, although it was tiny and barely noticeable as it was wrapped in weed as I brought it up! LRF is a great way of getting kids involved in fishing and I brought one of ours along to see if we could get him a fish or 2. Despite it being pretty cold and pretty frustrating with all the weed flowing they through the estuary, Brandon stuck at it and managed to catch his first ballan wrasse, a great reward for his perseverance! We ended up with the standard Exmouth mix of wrasse, scorps and blennies before getting beaten by the cold wind. My most recent trip was down to Brixham, where it really was like looking into an aquarium at times with the amount of small pollock, pout and wrasse hanging around the rocks and structure. I do find Brixham a bit slow to get going and have had some tough sessions in June, and this session was no exception with lots of plucks and pulls but hook ups difficult to come by at times. There is often a flurry of activity an hour so either side of low here though and so it proved again with good numbers of pout and goldsinny and a couple of tompots taking dropshotted gulp and isome. Pout in tight spaces make for some good sport and they attempt to dive back through the holes in the rocks. A change to jigheads and flex heads found a few ballans and more goldsinny, these mostly taking a liking to gulp sardines and I was pleased to tempt a small goldsinny on a Jackall Amiami, its always nice to tempt one with something from the unscented packets when the going is tough! So that about sums up the fishing from my part of the world over the last few weeks. Tight lines all and stay safe!
Weaver
Mackererel
Weaver
Tompot
Scorpion
Tub Gurnard
Tub Gurnard
On the rocks
Pout
Corkwing wrasse
28 Email: editor@seaanglingnews.com
ROVING RODS
Sea Angling News, July 2020
ROVING RODS - DONIFORD By Martin Wood
With the plans all set I decided that with the tides a local venue around Porlock would be a good place to go and try for some bass as I felt like I’ve had my fill of hounds and wanted something a little different to mix it up. It was late in the month and time was running out for a fishing session for roving rods with a looming deadline to fish and write it up due to work commitments. I got ready the day before as Steve was open at west coast angling in Watchet now the shops were allowed with measures in place and two people at a time in the shop, although no live bait was in till the Thursday I picked up a few bags of squid and some other tackle pieces I wanted a good little catch up chat and I was set to go forgetting the bait elastic I took the opportunity to catch up with Helen and give her a little grief haha at the tackle shack on Minehead harbour as it was on the way home.
With everything ready and feeling good about the upcoming session I made my rigs up, cast a few more leads and I was all packed and ready and raring to go. It was here at last some time on the beach I got to Porlock weir and I walked up the road to the steps to drop down onto the beach and start a small 200 yard walk across pebbles and finer shingle, today I was going to fish on the sand to the left of the oyster beds where you have a boulder field either side of you and it has produced some good fish over the years especially on the bass and cod front. Finally in position I set the shelter up as it was due to tip down half way through the day the pressure was a way low but didn’t have the luxury of picking another day. I set up both century WR300’s with large baits for a good bass and was then fishing normally with a tip tornado super
match Graphex a simple up and over rig and 3/0 hook loaded with crab and squid. I finally sat down with all the camera gear set up on tripod as I was filming for my site the snag and got a coffee poured out, all was well with cracking views out to sea and over towards Porlock weir. The sea was like a mirror no movement at all ... Not that great for bass but still they do lurk around here and hoover up everything as the tide comes in with them patrolling just behind the tide line. A few hours on and renewing of bait on each rod with each of them coming back completely untouched not even crab activity which said this probably wasn’t going to end very well for me today in the catching department, still a day on the beach with minimal wind and the sun out was out, just chilled and watching the avocets and other wading birds flying low on the sea and then up and over onto the
marshes along with a few coffees and a pasty at half time can’t be bad. A few more hours passed by with no activity at all and with the sun going down the tide was almost at high tide and then it clouded over a lot really quickly and lightning with rumbling thunder put paid to the session so I packed down the lightning attractors packed up everything and started my slog back across the beach although the day was a blank it wasn’t a waste as the grounds had changed and gulleys had shifted a bit and I got to see and record how they are now for fishing next time with how the tide flows in, although we all suffer a blank from time to time I don’t think I have ever had one session when every single bait comes back completely untouched! Doniford quick session: With a few small changes to the schedule
Sea Angling News, July 2020 and my better half’s work pattern changed, I thought with the blank the other day that just wouldn’t do so managed to get out for a couple of hours at Doniford beach and try and get a hound. I was going to fish further over on the reef but unfortunately one thing lead to another and ended up getting there a little late with my young lads and we couldn’t get there fish and get back out in time as it cuts you off and you can’t get back across the river. Travelling light I took just the Tip tornado super match graphex and a Penn battle two running 50lb whiplash with a small 70lb mono leader for any abrasion on the reef system. We walked down to the area around the pipeline and fished the not so snaggy areas as you can also get bass here, I had only brought squid and we decided we would take it in turns to bring fish in obviously Danny my 3 year old required a little help on that front from dad. All set up and with an up and over rig with 3/0 Koike hooks, I got the squid out and with the head removed and the tail snipped a little it was soon whipped up small and on the hook walking out into the tide a little as its very shallow I loaded the rod and fired it out to around 120 yards, walking back to the rod stand we were all looking at the rod tip in anticipation the sea was churning up well and was as brown as “willy wonkers” chocolate river which Danny had mentioned a few times now ha ha. A few nibbles registered and Ben struck and missed the bite so just tightening the line up again and it was my turn we waited about five minutes and then a nice big banging bite of which both the boys were excited and Danny decided this was actually his turn, so with that we struck together and little man started to reel in the line fish on! I could feel the weight bouncing along the bottom and prayed the fish would stay on but he’s a very independent young man and doesn’t want any help at all so I left it to him, eventually it comes into the shallow surf and hear the shouts of joy from him shark! It’s a shark! He reeled in a bit faster it’s there on the shore I hold the rod as he runs over to the fish amazed by it “ a brown spotted shark!” he exclaimed to us. To us lot that’s translated into ... a dogfish. He helped to unhook it as it was a nice easy one a quick photo and he was released. Pats on the back to him from Ben and myself and we walked back with him proud as punch. I quickly made up a new bait the same way and offered Ben to cast but he wanted it as far out as possible so asked myself to do it with that I fired it back out as far as the switching wind would allow to around 100 yards. With the rod back in the rest and the boys completely gassed at catching so quickly it was around ten minutes before the next inquiry. I saw a few very small nibbles and decided to leave it a bit longer, it carried on so I removed the rod from the rest and held it ready to quickly strike the next one with finger on the braid feeling for it as well.. Then it happened! Only small again but a quick small lifting of the tip done the
ROVING RODS job and we had another fish on. With both lads asking what it was as they could see the rod tip keep jigging away as I was pulling it in it was a small conger but decided to tell them it was a snot monster haha It fought the entire way in but was an easy landing I passed the rod to Ben and I collected the conger with a rag it was a small strap eel of a few pounds at most the mood on the beach was upbeat with some older folk commenting how lovely it was to see them so happy. A quick unhooking and Ben was happy and Danny elated as he had never seen an Eel before so I released it into a deep rock pool which the tide was heading for in about 5 minutes and he watched it entranced. Whilst I was baiting up I suddenly just caught a glimpse of him throwing a squid head in the rock pool with a “there you go” the kid cracks me up. Baited up again and offered to Ben to cast but refusing once again I fired the baited hook out as far as I could with the wind now up. I noticed that the dreaded Weed had started to come across which is quite common here at mid tide as it comes over the reef systems, with the rod back in the rest we moved back another 30 yards as the sea here flies in at a rate of knots mainly being flat like a table. Bens turn again and 30 minutes goes by without a touch hoping that he will get one as well we leave it and I remind them that we have every chance of a smooth hound or ‘daddy shark’ by some standards here today coming past and taking our hook laden offering! With them all excited again and Ben saying “oh come on!” (he’s the non patient child) his wishes were granted with a good few rattling bends of the rod I knew it was a dogfish but let him find out as it builds with the anticipation, grabbing the rod he was lifting into it well and started reeling in he got about half way in and it snagged! I couldn’t believe it! I told him what to do and he moved to a different angle and walked along the beach a bit and it came free he carried on and we were both relived when he landed it. It was another dogfish but he was chuffed none the less and unhooked it himself and had a quick photo before releasing it back into the weed filled tide line, we watched as it swam off strongly. Success all had caught and it had only been about an hour. We moved everything back some more and then same again squid wrap whipped it onto the hook securely and I launched it up and out going 100m plus again time passed and nothing was playing ball now, as we had another bait change...The bites we’re dying off so the boys started turning over slate panels looking for fossils which are a penny to a pound on this beach with ammonites and devils claws regularly found. With them just a few yards away I kept and ever hopeful eye on the rod tip. The wind had picked up a bit and waves were churning the water well the boys were laughing and then suddenly the line went slack in a massive way I lifted the rod out the rest and started winding in like a possessed madman and then felt the dead weight at the end. Once it knew
Email: editor@seaanglingnews.com 29
it was hooked it started to fight and it was a decent fish not a hound but a large eel the weight on the end was a lot and fighting away and the in between rolls of trying to shirk the hook there were the bounces of the weight on the seabed, the boys realised and came running over eyes wide with excitement! Mine probably the same as well. The rod tip was bent right over now and was about 20 meters out I could just see it spinning away on the surface briefly with the white belly flashes and was probably around 20lb+ mark Danny was shrieking with joy at a “monster fish” whilst Ben was amazed and impressed in the bend on the rod and how far it could bend! Playing it all by the numbers and using the surf to bring it in and keeping tension as I was using braid we were about 15 meters out and they were proper excited Danny was almost bouncing whilst Ben was Mr.Cool until it all pinged and went slack as it managed to bite through the hook length of 60lb... Absolutely gutted! All three of us put our head in our hands I cursed under my breath quietly. Ben came out with mine and chris’s classic joke when something goes wrong (like an overrun and birds nest on Chris’s multiplier reel) with a smirk “what happened there then?” I couldn’t help but laugh a little and the little man said “its ok daddy that’s fishing” which I always say to him if he doesn’t catch or get a fish in sometimes. We casted out a couple more times but the weed was now horrendous and we had a washing line of weed twice and we all decided we would call it day, but it was a successful trip in our eyes a few hours family time and we all caught as well. Till next time may your trips be successful and don’t forget to support our local tackle shops they will need it if we want them kept around.
30 Email: editor@seaanglingnews.com
NEWS
NICE BASS FROM LITTLEHAMPTON
Ben Karboub had this decent bass last night (8lb) in miserable wet conditions, he caught it on whole squid on a single 6/0 sakuma manta tied to a running ledger, the fish came from the shore in Littlehampton. He also had a 3lb’er in the same session about an hour before this.
Sea Angling News, July 2020
Sea Angling News, July 2020
NEWS / FIXTURES
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Sea Angling News, July 2020
TACKLE SHOPS DIRECTORY
TACKLE SHOPS DIRECTORY DEVON SEAVIEW ANGLING 14/15 Faraday hill, Plymouth PL4 0ST. Tel: 01752269698 SEATON ANGLING CENTRE The Harbour, Axmouth, Seaton Devon EX12 4AA Tel: 01297 625511 www.seatonanglingcentre.co.uk HIGH STREET TACKLE, 153 High Street, Ilfracombe, Devon EX34 9EZ info@highstreettackle.co.uk Tel: 07516 730749
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