An early type up as a follow up to yesterdays burning question of are they en 🙂 the answer it seems is OH YEA BABY. Fri evening saw the mackies hit the wall in numbers and from early reports already posted up there are plenty of mackies to be had.

Second bonus report for this morning is that there are signs of squid in more than ones or two’s.
I will message Mike P who said his group was willing to host a squid comp to see what can be sorted as we monitor the situation … could the squid finally be in also , things looking much better this morning… now if that North wind would just do one …
happy days , tight lines all
F

Well we have had a sluggish week on the walls, a few Mackerel every day then a large shoal spotted of the marina WED evening just b4 the light went. Thurs morning saw a flurry of Mackies on the east but nothing special but I understand things have been better with catches on both wall….could they be in ? , cant yet say yes as we do get the odd day when 100 or so fish get caught then its back to 2’s & 3’s time will tell.

Cuttle have been spotted also, a vid clip posted on thurs (again thurs)of a cuttle swimming backward had a few people briefly foxed but interestingly one person commented that they had seen others earlier in the week, could there be a late arrival of Squid & Cuttle, hopefully the spring run is about to begin.

Other than the usual suspects of Plaice Bass Conger and a few Bream & Wrasse there has not been much to report, mostly there is tons of space on the walls , even last weekend there was space and the weather was really good apart from the flippin north wind !

Talking of “that” North wind the forecasts show that it will be with us for at least another week so if you are night fishing you may want to pack some warm gear as it can get somewhat chilly once the sun drops below the horizon . Daytime temps look best on Sat with XC weather showing a peak of 18c sunny and prob the warmest of the weekend.

This weekend the WEST WALL is open all night FRI/SAT & SUN
The EAST WALL will open 7am and close later at 9pm each of those nights.
Well thats it from me, not much said but signs that things are picking up finally. ^m tides with highs around mid day and midnight this week so them early morning Bass should be lurking this weekend for those using lures.
And with that I will say adieu
F

Well as the title says I wont start with any fibs and big the fishing up by saying how wonderful it all is at the moment. To be brutally honest it a bit tough going! While saying that all the signs offshore are right for a fantastic summer , yea I know how the fek does that help right now coz you lot want some fish to catch.

So whats wrong ? IMO the MAY rot has got a good grip, water temps have not risen that much and we are still getting lots of northerly breezes (usually helpful) that are keeping the night air temps chilly , and with the northerlies not very strong the algae is not being blown out to sea to disperse. The result is the water has stayed a cloudy green that does the fishing no favours for species that like to rise through the water depths.

We have a dredger working inside the marina, mixed good and bad, the dredger and the ship that carries the crud away often disturb the fish but there is a bonus when the dredger works the entrance. The entrance is often crammed with sand eels and other burrowing grubs and sea species that the bass enjoy. Catch the dredger working the entrance with a favourable tide and the result is that the bass run the east wall on the feed ! Trust me, Ive seen it happen a few times and there is a sudden surge of bass caught as it happens.

So there we have it, 2 paragraphs on why ppl are struggling to catch and nothing much about what’s being caught other than a hint or two about Bass ?
Plaice are still in general barely legal sizes and most should really be returned, As I often say , If it wont make a decent meal, put it back to grow some more, take a pic & return it please.
Flounder & dab all but vanished although occasional flounder do get caught after a heavy rainfall.
Bass , ticking over quite well, averages that people are keeping fall into the 3-5lb sort of group, Lures and live prawn working well.
Gurnard, not had any reports directly but they should be out there on the sands.
Spider crabs are starting to build in numbers and its a good time to remind people that there is a minimum size of 12cm from nose to butt on the shell and a max of 20 crabs p.p. per day.
Wrasse, numbers of catches now slowly increasing day by day and are doing better than Bream atm
Bream, numbers still down most likely due to the may rot and more on the east wall than west at the moment but that should change soon.
Congers, seem to have made a showing this week just to tick me off as I said last week they seem to have tailed off in catches, perhaps they dont mind the rod as they have been caught on both walls this weekend.
Mullet , all I can say here is , where are they or .. where are the catch reports for mullet this year , noticeable by absence as yet.
Sole, there seem to be some good catches along the beaches this week but not yet reported on the wall, mainly as shut at night.
topknot, not a frequent visitor but one or two reported on the East this week.
Mackerel, a few being caught each day, usually close to high tide but they are not shoaling yet inshore.
Rays are showing up in a fair few beach reports now so should likewise start
As you can see from the above there are fish being caught but picking the right time and spot is not easy and there are too few clues to figure out what time would be best or where on the wall would be ideal for a decent session as yet.
TBH its somewhat frustrating as like last week the signs offshore are very good, the boats are coming back with plenty of fish for everyone be it wrecking for cod, pollack & bass or the inshore marks which are producing some very good bream, better conditioned plaice and a good number of rays. Add to that turbot trips all add up to it being worth booking one of the trips out of the Marina.
Dont want a full day ? well look to the lure boats for a 2-4 hour trip, they very definitely can put you over some nice fish.
So the future looks bright while the catch reports are light (see what I did there 🙂 ) Anyhoo for me with the gorgeous weather going on id say just do it, get out on the walls in the sun and simply chill with a rod or two in the water because you wont catch if you dont get them line out.

Enjoy the weather folks, until next time, over n out
F

NEW FISHING PRICES START  1ST JUNE 

DAY SESSION :- 6am – 6pm

ADULT 1 ROD £6 & 2 RODs £7/ EXTRA RODs £4 EACH

NIGHT SESSION:-6PM-6AM

JUNIOR/OAP 1 ROD & 2 RODs/ £5 EXTRA RODs £3 EACH
HAND LINES £3 EACH

Here we are, born to be kings
We’re the princes of the Universe
Here we belong, fighting to survive
In a world with the darkest powers

OPPS wrong place thats Queen innit… ah, well Here we are again …. with another weekly ish lazy posting sort of round up, and there are whispers of SUMMER in the air.! OMFG! yes it’s true. The weather has finally picked up and the evenings are finally getting warmer at 8/9pm and about time too says I so lets get straight at it and give a fishy sound off.
SOLE, not on the wall but defo now on Brighton beaches the last couple of days so expect em
Plaice, all the usual sandy marks still bare minimum in sizes though
Bream Yes yes yes yes & about time too on both walls “OCCASIONALLY decent”
Wrasse plenty it seems on the west
Horse mac, some caught fri night on west (1st reported)
Gurnard, one or two here n there on the east.
Dog fish, rumour has it that they have buggered off , treat with caution.
Rays, yea sort of, just not on the walls
Bass, yup and doing very nicely ty, barely a day passes without a 4+lb fish caught on one or other wall.
Hound pups, high chance of seeing these, they seem everywhere.
Mackerel, daily catches in 2’s/3s mainly over high, pick a wall and wait for high, best bet mid wall.
Micro species down many of the Vs for species counters.
Mullet, not heard of any caught but often the way , expect in usual marks.
Topknot, not a very common fish but been a fair few this week on the east.
Flounder, still some to be had.
EELS reports dropped off for now
Whiting, thinned out a ton and v few seemingly about
Squid still waiting, unusual in absence this year
Cuttlefish as above.
Sand eels, Evidence of decent stocks close to shore check out the (BIF1 blogs)
red Mullet(goat fish) very much expected on west.

I think that will do it as far as species tallies go. Bear in mind this is a tick of of species where at least 1 or more have been had on or very near to either wall so dont be fooled into thinking “shit look at that load , best get down b4 they are all gone. Its not a trick or trap as fishing has been slow this week but as I originally put. The signs there are good, half mile off shore the fishing is very good. Charter skippers are coming in with happy customers. More than one boat has posted that the Turbot time has arrived and the bream fishing is excellent. There are decent cod and pollack reports this week for the deep water anglers and some great bream and plaice for those going lighter. The conger reports have thinned this week but I have no accurate info but will ask about.
So looking good for the next week or two as the weather starts to behave for us all and with that I will sign off.
F

SO ! what a funny old week this one has been in RL (real life) 15 month kidney C all clear plus another all clear for a growth in my intestine (long story dont ask) while sort of waiting to post up daves news (see home page) and retirement. Knew the announcement was coming for some time but to actually see it posted live and know things are all changing on the marina has a strange feel too it and feels like a huge hole in normality, or at least mine.

As far as the website and facebook group are concerned there may be a minor change here & there over time but as such that will be no change and a straight carry on.
Yesterday took a pootle down onto the west wall part to socialise, part to catch up with the wardens working and part I guess to see what’s going on. As a result of that visit a bit of a long post (yup you have been warned) a catch round up and a little bit of musing over the last months fishing on the walls that IMO has been somewhat stand out in that it hasnt had the usual or expected patters for this time of year that most including myself have come to know.

Right then , a brief round up of the cathes and sea states etc and then onto one of my old bloke ramblings!….
:-Bass, yes , thank you very much, while the tides have got smaller this week and the catch rates seemed to have declined a little the bass catching has remained very consistent. Ask the likes of Lee “the plumber” or Robin & Phil the warden and they will tell you no doubt that the bass fishing is doing well, I suspect the sizes are down for this time of year normally but that does seem consistent with the rest of the last few weeks out there.
:-Bream, yep, as some would say I used the “B” word, well for the boats the bream fishing im told is superb yet on the wall this year (yea its still early) Bream catches seem quite a bit down, likewise so has the wrasse catches. yes we are still clogged with may rot but the proximity that the local boats are catching bream should indicate better than is on the wall… still the weather has been somewhat variable and IMO defo a cooler April on average than many recently.
:- Plaice, catches have ticked over at a good rate but again for me the sizes on average are quite a bit smaller this year, it may be in my head but again another common species on the walls that is off to a slower start than normal.
:- Squid, where are they ? I saw a couple of reports early April and then almost nothing over the last 3 weeks. Yes we are now on small tides and not expecting much but that “usual” squid run has not happened yet or its occurred further along the South coast… Ive not seen the usual pics asking about the egg clusters yet so have they or have they not come in to get Jiggy and spawn ?
:- Mackerel, intermittent and am told there are a few caught on the walls each day yet a mile out to see there are loads swimming about, many of the normal may species seem to be off to a slow start and we seem under a plague of hound pups and dogfish.!

As above the water is seemingly thick at the moment with dogfish and hound pups very much on the feed. Other activity on the walls and locally are the rays, mostly Undulates but also thornback there amongst the ray takes that seem quite common or dare I say normal for this time of year. Conger takes seem to have tailed off for now but no doubt will still tick off as the months pass on the walls. Gurnards are occasionally being caught out on the sand on the East but over all things have been quite sluggish this week.

Time of year ? probable (may rot very evident) Small tides ? probable, late start to season ? possible. What I can say though is that with social media more and more people seem to wait for catch reports and then go to the places that have had decent sized fish..IE report chasing. perhaps also a sign of the times that there is a lot less money about at the moment and finances mean that more are staying local to themselves until the summer reports start coming in with the warmer conditions.

Conclusions :- May can traditionally be a dull month, I suspect we all sort of look back and see last years fishing as better than this one so far but I also recall months on the wall in the past where the weather had been superb, sparking water and zilch being caught on the wall other than tiddlers down the V’s. To me MAY ROT or algae bloom is very evident in the water, just watch a boat pass and the water is churned into a pale milky green still. Some think its breaking but I saw very little sign of the algae fading or dying off. When it does many think its some level of pollution with its eggy sort of smell and brown foam like appearance and on small tides if it was fading there would have been much more froth or foam on the surface. Thus I guess the water is now warm enough to maintain the growth rate faster than the rate it dies off. May rot in May ! fancy that.

Temps in the air and water for April were low and we are still getting chilly nights, add that to poor catch reports along the coast all seem to add to a malaise and feeling of torpor or sluggishness of little happening so cant be bothered type of feel to everything !
I dunno, it may just be me but so far I’m sorta not feeling the get up and go that fishing can bring to everyone. Hopefully now that we are mid May the weather will finally improve and the fish numbers as well as the general quality quickly improves.

April I expected the squid run followed by a 10 day 2 week burst of mackerel, somewhat strangely it hasn’t happened and that also I think has added to the feeling that April was a very strange month and not the normal on the walls. May is looking a bit like very normal and sluggish until that algae bloom clears off. Best look, I guess to June and some nicer weather and much better fishing on the walls eh
until then.. adieu
F

marina walls and shop get new management and owners

A message from Dave and a changing of the guard

Well I’m sure most of you out there have heard the rumours of my intention to relinquish the management of the marina fishing arms.
  Well here it is officially!

From Tuesday 16^th of may one of my wardens, namely Mark Robinson takes over that responsibility.
  Mark has worked hard over the last ten years to earn this chance to manage what is in effect one of the biggest sea fishing venues anywhere that is open to the public, and I’m sure  you will all wish him every success.

Also on that same day I will be saying goodbye to my shop “The Famous Tackle Box”. The new owner is Philip Metcalf who has a good knowledge of all things sea fishing and will retain all my wonderful staff through this transition.

I would like to say a massive thanks to all my wardens who have helped over the last 28 years, YOU Know who you are, dready, Keith, Bruce, Phil, Frank and the many others. Without their help I could never have carried on for so long.

Thank you also to all of my staff, past and present in the tackle shop and of course all of my many customers old and new, both on the walls and in the shop in all of its locations.

At this point I would also like to thank the many friends that I have made along the way, I will miss you all.

Special thanks also for all the help with the social media and maintenance issues goes out to good friends
Frank Parker/ Craig Gosling/ Robin (fishyRob) Howard/ Steve Cooper and anyone else I have no doubt that I have missed out here.

I will still be about the marina, Jet washing (surprise surprise) and assisting Mark with some of the maintenance jobs.
I can’t wait to do some fishing on the walls so I may well see some you all down there one day soon.
Last of all my thanks to the marina directors John Davey, Andrew Knight, and Colin Tribe for all of their support and backing over the years and thanks also to their security and cleaning staff
Thank you all
Dave Grinham
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
A note from myself (frank)
I like a few out there have know these changes were coming but to see it actually in text on the website still comes with stirred emotions.

Ive know Dave as long as Ive known the marina, either to fish it or as a warden or indeed at times in the shop but much much more than that as a friend to myself and family and to the many anglers he has helped so freely in so many ways.

Obviously I wish Philip Metcalf and Mark Robinson the greatest success with the shop and walls which have been since I was aware of them:) but boy does it seem strange that there is now a changing of the guard so to speak!

Needless to say any help to both I can give will be given and this website will continue for the benefit of the tacklebox and the marina fishing walls.

Dave, your familiar face will be missed in the shop and on the walls not only as a boss and familiar face to many but mostly as a friend by the many whose lives (Including mine) you have touched. Hope to see you out there fishing really soon.
regards to all
Frank

Well here we are again,(long post warning) at it on the “BONK” holiday again. It turns out there is another reader here! who would of thought it , 3 confirmed, heady numbers so other than John the resident and Mac the newish angler I present to you the third reader as James, not only an angler but a fellow Albion fan with 2 youngsters who will be new season ticket holders next season. Not sure if the juniors are also anglers yet, but, if not, I suspect soon will be.

Over to the catch report and on the walls things are showing signs that things are starting to pick up (at last eh) but prior to grabbing your gear and rushing down there , take a breath and do some research and please don’t ever only go on my reports here or on the facebook group. I is very easy to dress up a report. A word here & there can leave info so vague that it could be good , bad and Ugly ! Now you are cussing me for ear worming a film into your head.

Look at that, 2 paragraphs and you are ready to give up reading coz ya think i’m gonna ramble as Ive nowt to do this afternoon 🙂 🙂 🙂 so I best get on with it eh.
WEST WALL first today and first of visitor numbers are currently low so most times there is plenty of space on both walls so don’t go by the moaners that always say ” I don’t fish the marina coz its full of rude people always feathering so its rowdy and too packed to get a place at the weekend … that folks is absolute bull and a swift check on the facebook group will tell you that, if you don’t use facebook drop me an email using home page link , I check my emails fairly often every day, info is key and not what the old whining dogs impressions !.

Now we have 3 paragraphs and no fish reports you say, not so, I just told you don’t believe ppl when they moan its always busy, so there (imagine i’m blowing a raspberry).
Are there any fish you shout , well yes some …. 🙂 🙂 , we have had plaice (small ish) at scattered places along the main wall part not just below bay 6 like my guide info on website indicated (you not just below bay 6) as the weather & blows can open or close sand patches quite randomly but many of those patches stay the same year in year out and can be found mostly by luck but also by testing the bays more often rather than just rushing around to the sandier bays on the east, the best of these patches are out at distance from 18,19 & 20 region and a couple of bays on the extension that can be very random. There you have it , 4 paragraphs and info on only 1 species so best I get on with it eh !

(P4 😉 ) Still on the WEST bass catches are picking up , usual bay regions, Bream still tough going but if you can afford a trip and cant wait for their wall arrival the charter boats are doing VEY WELL THANK YOU VERY MUCH was what I got told on asking.
Which boats do I suggest ? I’ve been asked by the boss not to push any one boat over another as some skippers get tetchy and complain of me picking favourites even if I give a fair assessment of who I would go for and that is not always my fav skippers so there, I try to avoid picking a boat but purely based on boat reports I will say if you know your stuff on a boat Brigand Brighton is running some excellent bream trips and they have a helpful crew also and many think for its trip types are a top top boat. For the less experienced I would sugest pick a boat with a crew and not just the skipper as then there will be more help available on board. While the boat named will take whole crews of “newbies” they do suggest experience preferred for their “individuals” chartering and their best shows for new to sea fishing by booking the whole boat. I hope that makes sense in that Im trying to say , if you are new to boat fishing get a group of people together and book the whole boat… if you are 2 or 3 and know your stuff Brigand is shit hot 🙂

On with the blog (ok its p5!) Did I mention bass ?, oh yea I did, other species on the west ( nope Ive not used the M word YET) below bay 6 or 7 there are a few fatties here n there, mostly flounder and am still awaiting someone to post that a sole has been caught down there but then they are a sorta night time v early morning activity species so hard to call as the west isnt open on a regular basis at night yet. The mullet shoals are starting to get more active so don’t be shocked if I pop news up of mullet high on the WEST or over on the other side very soon , Like bream I expect them there by now and probably are, its just so few fishing the west on a regular basis at the moment… which really is the down side of social media , its so easy to go online now and get all the gossip of facebook and similar that many people sit at home muttering its not worth going out coz naff all is being caught which is a false picture and it seems the whole world is getting lazy and simply follow the crowd or follow the reports then wonder why they dont catch similar to the 10 LB fish that was caught yesterday .. news flash that was yesterday, dont chase the report but go nearby a few beaches up, treat the catch report of a guide on what to expect there so move away from where “THAT FISH” was caught but try the general area. Make your own reports and add to the regions info… in other words , get out there and fish somewhere, do a bit of research if you can, chat to the local angling shop staff and fellow anglers there and MAKE YOUR OWN MIND UP< go fish , catch (or blank) then put up a report somewhere to add to the collective info. MOAN over back to the fish and P6! 🙂

WEST still, there are a few cuttle about and hopefully the season is late and the numbers increase as people complain of funny bites that seem to pull a little then vanish, likely or not its cuttle or them SQUID that we are all waiting on ( I say all but not strictly true) but being as I’ve not seen reports of squid eggs on the beaches yet I will hedge my bets and say we MAY be at the start of the squid/cuttle arrival on the coast for their annual jiggy giggy sessions. If you are waiting for me to use the M word and put up a report , I will get to it , not yet though, so you will have to either keep reading or skip down and try and find it :).
So a swift round up, maybe squid & cuttlefish, Bass on the increase, plaice and other flatfish finding the sand patches, Bream thin on the ground still but coming, and then the stuff most dont want, dogfish pups , hound pups rockling and whiting are still there in the murky waters so hope for clear water when you get here, scorpion fish, blennies and other micro species are starting to now rummage and steal them bream baits down the sides but no garfish as yet… things are picking up and the may rot is showing signs at least of thinning out but also of breaking up so in the words of that song (ear worm alert)…. Things are getting better, better every time…..

Over to the EAST WALL , thank F** you say but wait , you got to the end and no mention of the M word … nope not yet it aint the end …. yet.
The east is fishing, but as yet not great, there are a few bream being caught , even on the straight section which isnt that common, a few wrasse mostly high on the wall and there are plaice from about bay 8 to bay 74 but the sizes are somewhat marginal and I suggest take something that you can measure your catches (p.s. you should be measuring catches unless you are that good an angler that your catches are well within size requirements , don’t know your species sizes ? check the website there is a page with a ton of species with suggested sizes for boat and shore/piers. There really is no excuse for keeping undersized fish other than the fact that you don’t give a damn about sizes and dont give a crap about fish reaching a size that they are able to reproduce before hitting someone’s table plate. If you dont stick to the sizes and get caught , fisheries fines are quite high and higher still when you get to pay 5k on court costs so please take something to measure your fish by.

So plaice bream and wrasse mentioned, Bass are now starting to drift the length of the wall but rockier rough ground best for catching, add to this gurnards and at least one topknot has been caught this year, flounder and dab are still around, Lobsters are very much due so please dont take females with eggs (called berried) and again check the size of the main shell length is acceptable. No sign of garfish although there was a little flurry a few weeks ago of which I recon most have been lost !. Mullet are now quite active within the harbour(please remember its NO FISHING anywhere inside the marina(you dont want banning im sure) and often found high on the east 52-60 in the summer as well as the lower 10 bays, fav bait for them is bread. There have been a few small rays caught on the east and on local beaches but the better sized ones a more active at night.

Micro species like blennies and scorpion fish are starting as said on the west to rummage close in now so there is something usually down the side to get the juniors interested and light rods are preferable but the V’s are suitable for hand lines and drop nets(hand lines are charged for usually by the wardens)

Both walls (are you still counting >? its P 10 !) are starting to see crab activity but thankfully not in plague proportions (YET). Currently the east is closing officially at 6pm but the warden has the option to allow an hour or so if they feel there is need. The WEST closing week days or when no night fishing is again officially 6pm but it can Varey and the info sometimes is too late to post here but always worth keeping an eye on the home pages as there can be lots of changes as we drift towards summertime.
NIGHT FISHING currently is still very quiet, only 4 last night and if there is no increase on numbers the sessions open will be few as a warden has to be paid to work nights even if only 1 shows up. Night sessions will get posted on the home pages as soon as I hav the info so again please check prior to travel either with the website, email or even a warden if you have the number of one.

AS LAST YEAR blue lights only on the WEST at night, headlamps, underwater lights and rod tips if they need a battery or other power source, tilly lamps or similar are ok on the wall. Chemical glow lights and rod tips any colour can be used providing its not powered. If you dont have a blue light, get a blue marker as a temp solution for the glass on your headlamps.

A reminder that the marina is a residential marina, people even sleep on some of the boats so early mornings and at night please keep the noise to a minimum. One of the reasons shopping trollies are not to be used other than them belonging to a supermarket is the noise they make on the cobbles and pathways.

And thus we come to the moment I use the Mword. About time too eh?
are there any mackerel ? yes a few
Which wall ? Both
what times best? Usually near high tide or 1st light/last light, dusk & dawn.
will I catch some? Ive no idea on your ability so .. PASS
Are they shoaling ,? not really
Are the walls busy? no
Are loads being caught ? no , 5-10 per wall maybe
is there a catch limit? at the moment we ask anglers to use common sense and try not to act like greedy and selfish anglers, show up with 2 buckets each you may be turned away.

Well thats my essay for the day, did you notice the long read warning at the top?
Are you gonna go look to see if i’m fibbing ?
did you go look b4 reading the last 3 lines ?
oh dear 🙂 🙂 🙂 TTFN
F

Warning, its a long one
Well here we are at the second “Bonk” (daves words) holiday of the year although it may not feel like the first of May! Tbh it’s dull & grey out there with intermittent moments of sunshine, more like late September if you ask me!…. So Whats happening out there,…
A swifty for the boats including water clarity which simply put with the tiny tides this weekend is okay ish , murky green to deep shiny emerald green, rot is very visible and maybe the cause of slower fishing for the smaller private boats. Known marks are sluggish but that again may be the small tides, plaice a mile out are a little tricky to find in quality amounts and overall a little undersized. The wrecks the private fleet are mostly visiting are less big fish and more early arrived gurnard pout and giant sea slugs masquerading as congers.
While the small boat fleets seem to be having to work extra hard for anything other than conger plaice and bream the charters are having a good time mostly because the skippers not only know the sea they are fishing but are putting the time and work in to put their punters on fish. While anglers are not seeing it yet on the walls im constantly told that the bream fishing is good and signs are good for the summer season with cod now starting to join the pollack catches and plenty of various type of ray out there..

The lure boats are reporting plenty of bass and as most that read here “Bif 1” Robin Howard skipper puts his own blog up that is always an excellent read and indicator of what to expect on the walls in a few weeks because his boat operates often within a mile of the marina. Im sure there is someone out there that could explain that when many species show up they are first noticed by the netting boats and lure guys that work the beach to 2 mile out regions, hence I often refer to species such as mackerel being off shore & then “making the jump” across that sort of gap to show up on the shore line and marina walls.
And with that I can make the jump from inshore to shore and put up a report for the marina.

Yesterday(Sun) I had been sent a couple of messages about “come down & say hi” if I was about … or able to but there had been plans for a family meet that as it panned out has now been rearranged so though, why not & got the quad out of its shed and pootled my way down onto the East wall with a plan to head over to the West a bit later.
A slow trundle and lots of gossiping en route up the wall sayng hi to total strangers fishing and generally asking how they were getting on brought me up to the ppl fishing at 29 had a chat with a dude hidden behind sunglasses who obviously seem to know me, nope, crap memory or his disguise fooled me so my apologies to Mo, a wall regular I should have recognised you and was nice to see and catch up with him, also caught up with Augusto, always a pleasure to see him and friends on the wall, for the wardens a perfect group of anglers. Polite well mannered and always clean their area & take their litter with them but they do so so much more on the wall and as I say , anglers like that make the life of a warden so much easier and enjoyable.

After well over an hour or two I reached the last angler on the wall at bay sixty tinkering with a very very light (for sea fishing) 3lb line on his rod. So a big shout out to “mr computer guy”, see I did quite well Dell on remembering your name which as I said is a bit of a rarity.
Now about now you will have realised that I am rambling a bit (mostly as I have some spare time and sorta enjoying typing this up) you may also be wondering where the marina catch report is and how on earth this ramble is pertinent other than to name drop Dell and John who lives in the marina whom I meet cycling the walls from time to time:),
I only mention them because I now can confirm 2 definite readers of this blog there may be more but tbh I have no idea unless the people tell me they read here ! or I guess drop me an email and say hey I read the blog or summat. Anyhoooo , the pertinence is that this is often how I get catch reports as well as picking up snippets from facebook groups and occasionally the wardens actually tell me whats going on (not so often these days!) thus , and finally thus, we get to the fishy info … or maybe the lack of info for the End of April.

Marina catch reports:-
Overall April has been a bit of a dull one. frequent blows causing close downs and often dirty water for long periods combined with poor temps seem to have caused a general delay and slowdown to common patters. To date I can only confirm a handful of squid caught(may be more but usually they hot news) and likewise the common spring run that I say comes up from the bay of Biscay to date hasnt happened on the walls. Now that may mean that we are getting that run and have had(mackerel) but it has remained offshore due to frequent weather disruption and I suspect this is the case but we are not yet into the “too late” timing yet so that “spring run for 10 days or so on the wall may still occur but as each day ticks off the less likely to happen. next weekend there is a decent mid day high tide and if it happens that is my best guess for a shoal or 2 running the walls until the main shoals from the North Atlantic happens in mid August.
Is the spring mackerel run and the spring squid run linked ? possibly, nature does show us food cycles and breeding patterns so possibly the squid run and early mackerel run are not a coincidence, I do know someone to chat to about the possible links. Anyway , there doent seem to be signs of squid spawn on the shore lines so either its happened somewhere else or is still to occur. Again if it happens I suspect we will see squid as well as mackerel next weekend.

Other catch info is that the plaice are there but many are still undersized and I suspect more are being returned (or should be) than keepers. Bass as always seem to tick over nicely on or close to the marina with a general peak size of about 6lb at the moment. There may be bigger catches but Ive not seen a report to really confirm that.

While walking the marina yesterday there were 3 or 4 small bass reported and a word of caution comes with this news. The IFCA (fisheries ppl) visited the walls yesterday as they often do as a random inspect sort of thing and Im reliably told that one angler was found to have an undersized bass on them. I dont know the outcome of this but the IFCA do prosecute people taking undersized illegal bass and if convicted as well as being hit with a fine you will get landed with the full court costs also that can run into 2-5k costs alone so please keep to the legal sizes and if you dont know the size requirements there is a page of info on this website.
Moving on(as I did:) ) there does seem to be an unusual amount of hound and dogfish pups being caught on the wall at the moment, as I have mentioned already plaice , there are a few dab being caught and also mixed in with the flatties some flounders. Not heard of any sole yet but they are due and possibly a case of not yet put into someones report for me to pick up on.

So far only a few bream have been landed on either wall but again I fully expect the catch reports for black and guilthead bream to increase. One or 2 reports of wrasse mostly on the east wall over the usual rocky areas and the mullet activity within the marina seems to be on the increase so get ready to start packing bread if you fancy a go at landing one.

Now you may notice most of the catch info is for the east, we thats usually where the best of the fishing is at the start of the year, yes may isnt the start I know that ! but often for me May is the start of the better of the fishing year on the marina so to me we are at the start of the year and this results in more reports of east wall activity so lets round up things on the west wall.

The west has atm far less species to catch simply because of the difference in ground type , the east is mostly sand the west is mostly rocky so species counts are a bit slower getting underway. This weekend has produces a few small plaice(trial and error sometimes finding sand patches) mid wall on sand areas that have opened up, bass of somewhat under sized nature, oddly both walls have had small gurnards caught tho usually gurnard tend to be more common over the sand on the east. Pout and rockling still seem to be the most common of catches and a bream or two also. Conger have been had on both walls also although none of any decent size.
The west has been open SAT/SUN at night but other than dogfish nothing has been reported to me in the way of catches. Now that doesnt mean nothing was caught, it just means I have no info on any catches at night.

There will be more night sessions added often with the info posted to the home page a day before it happens so please keep an eye on the home page if you wish to plan a trip down at night. As things get warmer visitor numbers will increase thus making it more viable to open more often at night on the west wall.
An unfortunate reminder now that night fishing will only be on the WEST from here on as the marina have instructed us not to open the EAST once it is dark. Current close time normally is 6pm , but again that will be revised and a later evening time is set once we get to better warmth at night.
Species reported caught over last 2-3 weeks include, bream, wrasse, dog fish pups, hound pups, thornback juveniles, bass, plaice, dab, flounders, conger, gobies, scorpion fish, whiting, gurnard and rockling. Now you may have noticed ive not mentioned mackerel in the recent catches!, well there have been some, but not many. yesterday there were maybe 5 or 6 on the east and 2 or 3 on the west wall but so far they have been few and far between even though there have been plenty a mile or so offshore. Disrupted weather , blows, dirty stirred up water have all added to that “JUMP” so far not happening, may rot is also very visible in the water. The rot may clear a bit over the next few days as the short/small tides get bigger with the result that the 6metre tides next weekend may bring much better fishing although the weather over the next 10 days looks somewhat changeable with wind directions all over the shop. Its been a weird few weeks that havnt done the fishing any good. Lets hope the fishing gods look down and think we deserve a break and something better.
well thats my essay done for today, until next time .. adieu
F

Having been preoccupied on Sunday with a football match at Wembley I guess its time I posted up a catch round up of sorts.
Over all things seem to be a little quiet over the weekend with I guess some hefty showers putting many off making the trip to the marina. Plaice seem to be the main stay the last few days , they are fattening up and the catch numbers seem on the increase but it is still a struggle to get decent plump fish over 30cm ! There doesnt seem to have been much of a follow up to the small mackerel catch last Friday and unless the wardens have simply forgotten to let me know i cant confirm any catches over the weekend … nor yesterday.

Bass now seem quite commonly caught at least by a select few who know their how to’s re bass with catches not on the walls and local reefs. One group from Kent managed to get a fair haul on their species tallies with Bass, Whiting, Goby, Bream, Plaice, Founder, Dab, Hounds and Dog Fish while visiting the east wall yesterday
The Mullet within the marina are now getting very active so am expecting some catch info very soon from some of the regulars that target mullet while boat reports are starting to come in showing things are very good out there for bream on the local inshore marks. If you fancy a run out wit a charter it would devo be worth looking about and picking a trip with someone posting their results up on facebook on many of the local fishing groups (not just the marina group.)

Thats about it for now other than a gratuitous plug for Robin Howard and his boat BIF1, if you like or even want to learn more re lure fishing id say pay the dosh for a trip with him. His boat is very busy, he has a very busy blog site and the results speak volumes on what can be caught on lures not just locally but also further afield. Some may say pricey but believe me when I say its money well worth spent and you will thank me for it. 🙂
so, over n out for today
F