I had done a large post Sun morning , got distracted and didn’t finish typing it all up prior to rushing out to watch bhafc play at home !

the up shot is a days missing so a quick summary.

NIGHTS this weekend have been busy with the gate over each night to control numbers safely and the queuing as gone well with little to no issues with some visitors praising that it had been done to prevent over crowding.

on the catching bit, well all week the daytime has been very tough for those wanting mackerel with them not being caught before 6pm or even 7pm thus giving the mackie hunters a tough old week of frustration.
Other catches over the weekend include a couple of decent bass of BOTH walls, evening mackies for both, gar on both, the first squid and cuttle this weekend on the west for a fair few weeks (are the quid going to show early? ) plenty of bream again on both if you know where to look and 22/23 on the east has been throwing a few surprises for good bream !. Plaice on the east sole on again both Waa hoo eh! , giant sea slugs have died away on the cleaner water BUT … yea that word , but a few whiting are also showing up (signs of autumn! ) A few wrasse have been caught but I recon the numbers are very low again on both walls and hope the trawling damage of the past hasn’t changed the numbers for good .
Along the walls tight in are still the micro’s of blenny , bullhead and goby assortments as well as tons of whitebait feeding just about anything with a mouth !.
Is it me or are the prawns in lesser numbers this year ? or have they simply dispersed more ? dunno, that one may be me noticing less and less people using prawns as live bait.

other news, for those that remember TONY WADEY a plaque has been fixed up on the east arem I believe on bay 58 as a permeant memory marker for those who remember him and we have just ticked past the 4th year of Eddie Tannocks passing.
Almost Finally an incident that needs to pe reported as the incident could have been far worse than simply a fool fishing where he shouldnt.

Early arrivals to the east during the week saw whitebait in the harbour around the fuel pontoon. As they had got there so early not only would they have been causing a disturbance to residents from 5am onwards but some chose to rig up and have a tinker in the harbour with feathers and flying lead in the direction of not only the fish bubbling in the marina basin but also in the direction of the fuel pumps.

I can only say THANK F**k no lead hit the fuel pumps of lines , it beggars belief that anyone could have been so stupid or reckless endangering everyone in the vicinity and possibly further away, thank gawd nothing more sinister happened other than a few cretins got bollocked and told to leave permanently.

Please please please help us in any way you can safely. I’m not asking anyone to jump in or face these fools down but please find a way to contact someone that could do something other than look on helplessly. A text, a facebook message a phone call from a safe distance to security(24hrs), tacklebox (if open) marina office(24 hr) msg a warden on fbook including myself and David Grinham, most of us are on there.

There are minor changes to open/close times on both walls so please check the home page for latest on that and one other change this week in the
NIGHT SESSION ON THE WEST , no nights this wed/Thurs, Normal nights Fri,Sat, & Sun , back to normal the following week.
F

I spent the daytime on the east wall yesterday, in general being a visible presence but also offering guidance where needed such as dispatching fish asap and best storage among other stuff and generally chatting with the anglers that were there.

Fishing in the morning was slow and there was a bit of an unpleasant NE breeze/wind to add to the issues of dragging lines on the currents. Thorough the day a few small bream had been caught even around bays 27/28 with some plaice of mixed sizes but if we are being honest most were there in the hope of mackerel.
They didn’t disappoint but were erratic as the first batch flitted in and out for 20 mins on the front section around about 1pm , (yes , tough going ’til then) and were gone as soon as people had got going but most had a few.

A second burst happened as the high tide came up for 3pm ish and most then managed more than half a bag each. I will add through the 2 hours I had been busy making sure those there knew that we expected all catching mackerel to dispatch the fish prior to storing the fish. Some I showed how to guy and clean their catches of which a few took to it like ducks to water while others were more reluctant but did comply.
I stayed til 4ish and by this time a few more flurries had happened and am please to say that yesterday everyone I saw were getting the message about killing their catches quickly. One minor incident quickly dealt with but other than that a decent day on the marina for many with a few tips given out on catching bream and plaice and i’m happy to say a clean wall on the east which now closes at 7pm daily.

Over on the west the fishing pattern was much the same and a quick chat with the night guy told me that Wed night while busy on the wall saw no real incidents other than the usual busy time management and the west gate closing over for a short while so the duty guys could rebalance where people were fishing and to check the numbers, once that was done the few queuing were allowed up onto the wall having sorted what bays were available. Catch report was a bit vague as the west can be sometimes so suspect no great catches other than saying a normal fairly busy night on the west.
Thurs day over there started fairly quiet and didnt really start showing signs of being busy until near mid day, catches sort of mirrored the east as far as mackerel were concerned , a few flurries leading up to high tide with better catching for a couple of hrs from 3pm’s high.

With mackerel season upon us yes the walls are busy and there are extra staff about to reflect this. If there are issues people do need to please contact the warden or even someone on the facebook group or myself(frank) so that we can sort or resolve issues as they arise. The wardens are not miracle workers but sometimes try to walk on water :), please let us know as it happens and we will try to sort it out.

Sometime the older hands using the walls have a tendency to forget their fishing origins of being on the wall as teenagers first looking for mackerel either to sell for a few rigs or fags. Many of them I have seen grow up , as have Dave and Keith who still helps from time to time so please have a thought in the summer, maybe a little less knocking or even blaming the “mackie bashers” for over busy sessions on the wall or even trouble caused by numbers when hot heads lose their self control. The crowds are there for the same reasons most anglers are , simply put everyone likes a fish or two in the summer so it must come as little surprise that the walls are busy on sunny days and bank holidays.

please help us keep control and be our extra eyes and ears when needed.
ty
that’s is from me, Football on Sunday Btn are home to Leicester so am unlikely to be on the walls this weekend 🙂
have a good one folks , I sure will be 🙂 .. over n out
F

yay the bank holiday is finally over and the numbers on the wall have eased back after having to gate off and run a one in one out system on Sunday all day on the east ’til near close and well into the night on the west wall followed by similar again on Monday i can say Tuesday is much calmer. granted the lack of mackerel reports probably have slowed the crowds that had it tough during the day. Ironically yesterdays report is a little different and almost a little hash for the many that fished the east !.

Things started busy but not manic and the east never quite filled although the west had to again queue people up for much of the day ( and trouble free I might add). So in its way busy also on the east but very few fish in the sunshine , a small flury of mackerel on the front end was in and gone in a few mins and a hand full managed to grab some, a few bream and a few plump plaice were had but that was it to be honest and many had turned for home by six pm although the west was still then very busy.
Anglers had been told to finish up about 7pm to allow me to get home and just prior a shoal of mackies arrived in the lowering sunshine(always the way). This resulted in some furious feather chucking as the time ticked down. a bit of time licence and some pushing their luck resulted in all getting a decent amount filling their bags/boxes and cool bags while being nudged to wind it down of which they did allowing the wall to be locked and gated by 7.45pm, the west remained busy well into the dark and am yet to get any reports from the last light and beyond , the daytime there again was tough on all.

the up side of yesterday was again seeing many old faces and even one or two from the FB group that I have often managed to miss in past years thus a quick hi to Gary Bowring if he reads these and also a shout out to marina resident John who showed up while I was sat by the cafe and who is always good to meet and catch up with .

Glad to not be down the marina today or indeed the next few days as my old bones are seriously feeling it today !

I am still this morning contemplating starting a hall of shame on the marina website as sadly even with patrols on the east idiots still insist on climbing up onto the top level of the east, some fortunately being intercepted before they can use it as a toilet but it seems the determined will try as soon as your back is turned in broad daylight and then use the old chestnut when caught of
“I didnt know the rules”
who in their right mind think its ok to urinate on a footpath or would ? sadly some still think its acceptable so i’m beginning to think it is acceptable to make their faces famous and post it up on a new gallery for the website , oh I so wish we could get names to add to the images !
Ho hum for now I will collect the pics.
over n out for another day
F

So a few post updates missing , lack of time or lack of effort maybe , This weekend as some may figure has been super busy and with the decent weather the entire world seems to have travelled to Sussex to hit the beaches and piers, as a result, queue’s to get on the wall since Friday night.
Mostly the people that have been asked to wait have been fantastic, no one really likes to wait to get on a venue but due too sheer numbers people have had to wait quite a long time to get on the wall.

Unfortunately when we get one incident on the wall things get blown up and the world hears how bad the place it , I call bullshine on that idea especially when the walls are dealing with 1000 a day anglers and tons of walker. but hey we do get the aggressive type that would rather face down a warden and insist on climbing the fence at night creating knock on issues. That aside it has been a fantastic weekend for visitors but sadly the fishing has not played nice for many. so a quick summary..

Friday , quite a few shoals of mackerel mostly on the east arm with anglers bagging up , a few plaice and bream reported but the majority were chucking tinsel out. .On the west a similar story , mainly mackerel a few bream (better on the extension) a couple of decent bass.
Saturday was very busy with queues in the afternoon and walls continued to be busy into the evening. Very little was caught during the day as the bright sunshine put the mackerel off I guess and very few on the west had bait or even wanted to use bait so (many feathers and few fish got married)
The evening on sat did switch on with mackerel just as the light went creating an issue on the east with may not wanting to leave as most there bagged up last knockings but the warden did eventually get the anglers off. If you are fishing the east as it closes at night please help the warden to get people off as he will also be needed on the west wall (thanks).

Over on the west we had quite a large queue that were looking at quite along wait as the mackerel showed up and many bagged up about 10pm to midnight but the mackies vanished somewhat after midnight. fri evening 3 wardens worked up till 11.30 as one went home. those waiting understood there would be quiet a wait. Sadly it wasnt long before one idiot showed up with his mates and wanted to prove himself and test out his shouting skills on the warden needless to say things escalated with the fool trying to climb the side gate and threatening the warden , who then called marina security for assistance, they attended and advised those there that the police will be called if things didnt calm down. They left once things were calmer.

Fishing , oh yea, Sat night fizzled out into Sunday morning with no real reports of fish .
Sunday morning queue’s formed very quickly and both walls were at capacity by 8am, the usual crossed lines were happening mostly caused by the many novices having issues with the running tide causing many tangles but mostly sorted calmly all day with no issues.
Over on the east anglers STILL REMINDED TO STAY OFF THE UPPER LEVELS THAT ARE CLOSED TO ALL WITH A FEW BEING REMOVED FOR CLIMBING UP damn i done it all in caps and im too lazy to re type it .
The mackerel report for Sunday is grim, nothing in the morning on either wall and it wasnt until maybe 2pm on the west when a tiny shoal was seen just off bay 20 area, a few were caught and then they were gone. By 6pm very few had caught much of anything again on the east a few plaice & bream with those fishing down the wires picking up blennies and bobies. I suspect most of the kids fishing down those holes did better than the adults as the larger fish didnt want to play. Last knockings on the east a decent bass was caught that i may put up on the gallery later in the week but that really was it for Sunday on the east … over on the west it was tough going other than the small shoal that was in and gone very quickly The queue on the walls all day Sunday was continuous and expect Monday to be the same. at time of typing I have no night report .
During the week the fishing has been up and down , one or 2 days saw loads of mackerel others saw nothing and it has been very hit & miss. There are gars sometimes in the shoals and again very hit and miss with those also.

Unfortunately when the mackerel are running it can be near impossible to put baits out as they hit everything going into the water. As a result the bream fishing has only been OK, much better on non mackerel tides. Night fishing through the week has been quite poor based on the reports and feed back I have had but the quality of bass that has been caught has been good.

The boat reports however have been quite good with charters having good days when they can get out(wind levels up and down ) with plenty of bream out there . Conger fishing is good and the turbot trips are well worth going on.
I would name some boats at this point but try to keep reports impartial but defo hit up a boat looking for turbot , bream and conger at the moment.
In shore the lure boats are doing well when they can get out, again wind issues are the main hamper for the but the 2 hour trips are lively with Robin posting regular report links on facebook and 4 hour trips can be booked with Iain.
Not much feedback from the deeper wreck fishing charters so wont assume a report for that but a quick call to any will get you the needed info.

well I think that is that for this morning , if you are planning to fish today expect places to be very buy.
TTFN
F

Morning world and happy Tuesday. Well the mackerel definitely arrived yesterday and how. Shoals were bursting the surface from earlier than 4am and continued on both walls through the high tide and then on through the next 2 tided with fish chasing millions of whitebait in the water all day. Again this morning a repeat of yesterday with the walls a bit busier this morning (only 1 on the east wall for 10 hours!)

Closing in on the low Fabian ran out with some live baiting and managed to land a gorgeous 7lb+ bass then followed that up with a plus 3lb’er as well. Some on the west during the day had tried running out some normal baits to see if there was bream playing in what can only be called mackerel carnage in the water (not the wall) including myself and a friend down from yourkshire who had done a charity yomp in full pack kit for 50 miles so was somewhat sore footed. All was achieved on the smaller baits was a couple of small bream and pout. I suspect all other species had run for the hills as all you could see was mackerel for miles. Needless to say the baited hooks mostly produced .. yes , mackerel !

A reminder of wall opening due to the construction crew on the east being hampered by anglers using the upper level as a toilet last week.

EAST wall will only be open daytimes from about 6.30am to about 7pm (warden can call it a bit later if the chose)
there will be no night fishing on the east for the duration of the continuing work on that wall

The west will open as before , wed night through to and including Sunday night.
Thats it for today .. over n out
F

For those trying to access site over last day n half , my fault , SSL certificate needed updating and when it comes to doing my brain goes foggy.. I keep forgetting how to use an incognito browser so I can get past the block that happens with http and https ! Its easy to do when you can remember how but a pain in the rear when you forget the process.
Not a security risk as there is nothing sold on site but without the updated certificate… yep everyone gets locked out by sensitive browsers including myself.
on the fishing front ups n downs and this morning the west exploded with mackerel and im told at time of typing (12.21) its still happening .
Water has been coloured last few days part due to southerlies stiring it up and no doubt part by the sewage leaks all along the Sussex coastline although Southern water deny any dumping in Brighton & hove area it beggars belief they can claim a dumping of raw sewage was actually fine and ok as its only storm water run off , yea pull the other one.
Friday I went fishing on the east as the wind was a bit of a bummer on the west side. Coloured water and murky so set up with a friend and fished bay 12 on the EAST (had wanted bay 15 but NM) A pleasant afternoon with lug being stripped off the hooks in seconds and squid untouched ! … loads of bites but no great haul of fish unless you count hound pups that were hitting any bait parcel with squid in them quite hard and only 20m or so out.
Earlier Friday one group had a good run on bass hitting into the marina shoal out on the feed so some nice fish for them all to take home (sizes checked).

Overall round up of the last 3-4 days have been coloured water clearing some on HTides, with plenty of eels, bass and sole on the feed. some wrasse and bream in the usual rocky marks (i may have to revise the wall guides a little) with MACKEREL very hit and miss throughout this whole week (not counting the large amount on the west today.

Weather over the next 7 days finally looks much better so expect the water to clean up within a couple of tides or days and then I suspect the mackerel numbers to improve.

Finally a reminder to all, the east wall will now only open during the day. Issues continued to hamper the work crews as well as night time disruptions from anglers using the tow path and overall creating noise levels that some resident complained about. as a result the nights on the east have been suspended for the duration of repairs and anglers on the east during the daytime are asked to please assist the wardens by keeping everyone informed that the upper level is out of bounds. Further disruptions serve to put any fishing on the east side at risk . please please please let people know to stay off the top and also please report any issues like that to us in any way possible.
TY
F

LOSS OF NIGHT FISHING

Having spent time putting up the long post below things have now changed ALL NIGHT FISHING HAS BEEN STOPPED until further notice

It seems that some people still don’t understand that the top level of the east is NOT A TOILET or a walk way.
Contractors have again complained that night anglers are using the upper level as a toilet and they continue to find faces and urine all along the upper east left behind by lazy anglers.
Continued use of a closed (TOW PATH)footpath at night, noise abuse by anglers unable to consider others, and misuse of the east car park has lead to a chat with senior marina management, contractors and Dave from the shop.

As a result Dave has agreed that the east will now CLOSE AT NIGHT until finish of contracted work and would be closely monitored by wardens and marina security.
Gate climbers are reminded that they are trespassing when the walls are closed and anyone caught are TRESPASSING and may face PROSSECUTION as well as a permanent ban.

We would like to remind ALL anglers that the behaviour of anyone on the EAST is now subject to closer scrutiny and NIGHT FISHING has been removed permanently due to the health of contracted workers being put at risk from human faeces being left on the wall.

WE do recognise that with increase numbers due to being a popular venue comes with its own issues and that more people often brings further issues of noise, but that should not follow that people are unable to follow basic instructions about staying off the upper level for any reason yet alone for using it as a private toilet.

Should behaviour improve across all fronts, night fishing will be re looked at but as things stand the EAST wall will stay closed at night for the duration of contracted work.

Further trespassing on the upper level now risks the east being closed fully for the duration of repairs

The WEST will continue with night fishing for now on a continuance of WED to SUN nights unchanged but again, all anglers are reminded. There is an open toilet for anglers use, the upper wall is a walk way not a giant urine trough.
Please help us to get this under control before the venue is close to the general public.
TY

So, a quick-ish round up of the last 2 days, with loads of whitebait and smaller species such as pout, bullheads(scorpion fish) gobies and blennies grabbing at baits down the sides of the walls things are looking good for the species hunters at the moment. Day and night is fishing fairly well and well respectively . Bream are still on the increase although sizes are a bit hit and miss.
Bass are out there to be had and seemingly at the moment eels of plague proportions, mostly conger but there is also a good number of silver eels about. If targeting eels … or at least catching please be aware of the size requirement for congers (91cm) and that ALL SILVER EELS should be returned as they are on the protected lists . if unsure of any sizes for keeping fish have a look on the site at the “size” page >> link >>
Size Regs – The Famous Tacklebox Brighton (thetackleboxbrighton.com)

The fishing wardens do try to encourage sensible fish management but don’t always have time to spend going through the many various sizes for keeping fish. When I am on the walls I try to get anglers to think about their catches and keepers with a simple question ….
“Do you think that fish is big enough to make a meal for yourself “
if the reply is in anyway negative they have answered the question for themselves and usually return the fish to grow some more.

Other species over the weekend has thrown up a couple of nice trigger fish, the fifth that I am aware of on the marina this year! all caught during the year and I believe most or all on squid strips while the anglers have been targeting Bream.

Night times have produced a lot of horse mackerel (scad) as well as some mackerel, bream, bass, a return of the rays including some small eyed rays that are less common than the usual Thornback or Undulates that we commonly see on the wall, Pout and channel whiting also, and some nice sole.

Daytimes, I don’t seem to have heard much of the plaice catches recently but they usually are there in with most catches on the east including as some I have already mentioned such as … Bream, Bass, Mackerel, plaice, gobies, blennies, wrasse, gurnard & red mullet.
Likewise, I have not heard about mullet that much this year, possibly due to one of the marina’s more popular anglers having passed away last year. I suspect “TONY” will be missed my many up and around bay 59/60 where he was most commonly seen drip feeding bread all morning targeting the mullet.

On that note I will finish up this “quick” report (yea I know I ramble)
till next time , signing out
F

LOSS OF NIGHT FISHING
it seems that some people still don’t understand that the top level of the east is NOT A TOILET.
Contractors have again complained that night anglers are using the upper level as a toilet and they continue to find faces and urine all along the upper east left behind by lazy anglers.
If this continues the EAST WILL CLOSE UNTIL WORK IS FINISHED.
Anyone found on the upper levels at night will be banned.
Help up prevent this, let us know of anyone doing this, stop your mates going up there, if it doesn’t stop the east will close until repairs are finished, It is now down to anglers to help self monitor.

Crunchie day anyone ? no ? oh well 🙂 … Not a massive amount to post, yesterdays excitement was on the west and not a case of lots of fish, rather a fool jumping across the caissons who slipped and fell in at 5am with a lifeboat rescue… Id post my opinion of wasting time and resources but most likely it would be offensive. On the fish front, not much to say about mackerel as things were slow all yesterday and not great this morning but that is the nature of the beast….fish move and it wasn’t Brighton’s turn I guess. On the bream front things are good but yes still tons of little ones stealing baits but stick at it there are larger fish to be had. Other than that… there is little to say as simply put , i lack feed back from the walls/
F