Where oh where indeed.
Be warned, this is a longish read and not much on the catch report until the end so scroll down if you CBA too read me waffle 🙂
I am beginning too wonder where all the fish have gone or put another what, where are they going during the daytime! jeez it feels grim sometimes. There comes a point sometimes when biging things up a little seem pointless if there is little too nothing too big up, or so it feels although some factors could or can be part explained. I know july on the marina has often been a cloudy part of many anglers memories and is actually often a very quiet month during the hot summer days.
Often crystal clear waters mixed with relentless sunshine and sunburns are repeated year after year as memories are clouded by past memories of fishing huge shoals of mackerel and plentiful gar fish. Weirdly i believe it is a false memory. yes April used too be a spring run of mackerel for 10+ days followed or mixed in with a boom of squid on the marina highlighted by then shore guide & now mostly boat guide Robin Howard. now I know I have bigged him up often but in truth its an earned rep and Im not one known for singing anyones praise so the dude is worth checking out.

Anyhow I digress, so April into May traditionally gives us a burst of mackies and then squid (usually) which is then followed by the dreaded may rot which tbh is now getting earlier as the seas seem too be raising average temperatures thus I guess the rot logically will arrive the sooner. may also see’s the boats doing well on the Bream front although the pick upon the walls is slower. yes we get bream sometimes from mid March but the numbers are hardly there for a few more months. May rot passing will see the arrival of the micro species such as blennies, gobies and scorpion fish(bullheads) and over the last few years the early arrival of the spider crabs. And then we hit July !

Oh the joys of July, long hot summer days, crystal clear water (sometimes) and what happens too the fishing during the day ? well IMO , sod all! there , said it. SOD ALL. I swear our local fish population all have sensitive eyes and all shy away from clear water and strong sunlight.. well not all. We are fortunate with the marina fishing as we do have resident shoals of Mullet and more specifically BASS. granted the Bass need a bit of tempting but there is now plenty about too do that.

July’s biggest feature now it seems is that the spider crabs that began in may are in full invasion mode and come prepared I swear with either their own cutlery or are armed with line snips too cut snoods and bait steal in large amounts! There is a bonus though. with so many moulting crabs the Bass get careless and almost it seems are getting drunk on the crab juice meaning that there is at least something out there too target in July Collect a few live prawns or use a drop net to collect some crabs and you are half way towards catching a Bass, how is up too you but its worth watching some of the regulars that fish the low east bays this time of year.

So so many I talk too swear they remember better summers and shoals of fish and its true that this year and perhaps the last 2 years have been the poorest Ive known in 26 years on the marina but it seems every year the same convo happens in July about how it was better in July in past years, Ive checked some of my records going back more than 8+ years and July had been one of them months where if it is hot, sunny and clear waters people have been sunbaked faster than they have caught a fish but…….. July does have a break in that pattern….
July night fishing is the pick up point. Horse mackerel numbers start too increase and from one or two nights a week showing up on the wall sees an almost nightly increase. bass as ever are also a stable catch for night anglers and I suspect we will be hearing about rays and sole again being caught at night on the west. ~
Now Im no fishing guru nor ever claimed too be a good angler. I watch others and am probably one of the laziest anglers you may meet. I do see what others do, occasionally I change how I habitually fish and even more occasionally catch more than a few bullheads and blennies resulting in mostly Bream or Wrasse who seem too play in the same areas of the walls.
As said, no great angler but I am a fairly decent observer and do like too chat on the wall when down there resulting in much lost bait and many missed bites. As a result I have time too look back and compare other years and see patterns.
20 plus years ago I saw an ICES report saying about how Mackerel are moving further North too breed, part from receding ice in the polar region and warmer local waters. At the time I reposted it and was as I say at the time sorta disbelieved. well over the years I repeated this and one or two people started looking at it realisticly and noticed what I had been saying. A slight change in general arrival times of the main shoals that most were accustomed too. The changes were slow, a couple of days per year, a week or so every 6 or so years, now it seems that those big shoals that do show up (up till last year) are later in the year than many of my age remember, so much so that it is over a month later with last year the few that we saw arrive mid August, yep AUGUST. Combine that with dropping fish populations of many round fish, probable over fishing , sea temp changes and it seems like some stocks are suffering as food chains get impacted.
Herring, sardine, mackerel, and more have dropping numbers , In Morocco the pilchard canneries are in trouble due too lack of fish, plankton & Phyto plankton numbers are down and some put that down too less fertiliser in the oceans mostly produced by dropping numbers of Whales. If the plankton collapses so will whole food chains.
Perhaps this is why this years start is so poor. Horse mac numbers at night seem fairly good and so perhaps also may be the numbers of mackerel when/if they arrive in August. Yes we are seeing some mackies in small bursts but this in itself is not unusual so Im gonna cross my fingers and hope August actually brings us some decent fishing.

To me the wind farm does seem too be looking beneficial too fish stock with plenty of fry out there drawing in larger fish too feed, thus nests should and are slowly spreading from there an I can see a recovery from that in bream numbers happening on the marina and Sussex coast in general.
And thus I get too the point of replying too the question, how was yesterday….
well….
erm..
daytime ? not a lot.
I got the quad out earlier than usual and hit the west wall about mid day too find things somewhat quite. From the toilet block the EAST looked near empty so took my time gearing up and having a quick chat with a few of the people on the west. Many were chucking feathers about in the summer heat ! ( sod that too hot for me) but a few also had baits out.
Again low numbers on the wall but not a shock, who wants too travel 60-100 miles and spend a hot summer day blanking ? Social media is a great tool but also a curse. This years visitor numbers so far is the lowest Ive ever seen!. While wandering through I did see a couple of Bream come out and also a couple of Mackerel ! omg they exist , honest. Anyhoo, after a chat & check of tickets I rolled the wheels over and onto the east wall.

Hmmm, no one on the first 15 bays, unusual in itself considering the crab population. Further along a few familiar faces and a couple of dudes returning for a first visit in 20 odd years or so. I did get a brief chat then and lso just as they were packing & while they didnt have many fish they seemed pleased with their visit and said they would be back. On the fish front though like the west there seemed little going on other than a couple or so catches that were returned.

On returning too the west another regular was fishing the lower bays with his nephew on his first visit landing a decent sized eel so hopefully that will be another junior returning sometime soon.
Mark opted too open the west for night fishing and it seems that it was a good call as for the third night in a row the horse mac came out too play along with the bass , and so for a change some decent news rther than a fish desert the night fishing seems too have picked u much too the relief of many.

I will be down on the wall later and will close the east wall for 9pm, the west is again open all night so if ya fancy it there should be horse mac down there too occupy most people.

That is it for today, tight lines too those out today or tonight and I will catch you all on the next one. Until then, yup I will bid you all ADIEU
F