So, Strange the thoughts that pop into your head as you are about to type up something, that or its just me n my warped sense of humour. Best I could come up with to start things off was a bit of old graffiti scrawled on a toilet wall many years ago that forever stuck in my head, and thus the line went…
… So, here I sit lonely hearted
Paid a penny and only farted”
Nope, no Idea where the thought came from, no doubt it will vanish after ear worming me for a couple of days, anyhoooo whats been going on ?

Thurs & Fri I didn’t visit the wall, guests dropped in & heavy rain followed so thought better of it & Fri I was up in Haywards Heath for a pre op assessment & now have a date for my gall bladder to be removed (thank fk!)
Thursday there were a few mackerel about along with almost the now usual Bass & eels, beyond that the only other that I can for sure confirm was that the Bream are now a fairly consistent take on the wall and can be expected on most bays as they do seem to be ranging from top to bottom including the sandy bays.
Friday it seems started off with a few mackerel but the evening tide was much more giving with a decent amount of mackerel for all as the day on the east came to a close.

Saturday I decided as there was a bit of a later high to take a light spin rod with me just in case I got the urge to have a dabble, like a donkey forgot to grab my bait out of the freezer before leaving the house but fortunately knew someone would be down there selling bait 😉
Anyoo, as I trundled up the wall I was greeted by many saying “no fish”. Now, bearing in mind that the days low tide had passed and the high wasn’t until 5.50pm and lthe last week in general having been quite a poor one for fish in general (something that many Sussex venues are struggling with atm)I was hardly surprised to hear that things were quiet. As I made my way up the wall towards bay 30 a couple of quite large and chunky mackerel were brought in so things were at least looking promising for the evening pre close at 9pm. Overall the day had been very quiet and most there were recent since lunchtime so no info of the morning session. There was a bass , a couple of mackies & bream on the higher bays but bar the 4-5 mackies Id seen mid wall there was little going on.

Inspite of the poor report I decided Id have a dabble and set myself up on bay 9 with some salted/oiled black and was straight into what appeared to be bream knocks but as I cast around the knocks sorta indicated to me that the bay would be hard work as there only seemed too be the one solitary biter down there when I was casting into nearby areas.
And thus I put there rod away had another roll along the wall and returned and set up on bay 5. far more bites all over the bay with the bait often being stripped of the lower hook at twice the rate of the other. At this point I should have swapped the hook sizes around but didnt, and paid for it as I got a double rattle and can only assume I had at least one wrasse on the hook and was promptly taken into a snag that wasn’t giving. Brain said bollocks and started jerking the rod up too free the snag, No no no nope, shoulda put the rod down and done it by hand (it was a 4 piece spin of a few years old) but nope dumb arse me continued to jerk the rod to free the snag and… crack, up snapped one of my fav light rods 2/3rds up. retrieved the line by hand as that was still intact thus getting the rot top back as well as the rig & weight… minus the 2 hooks of which the line had clearly frayed/split over the rougher ground so best I can guess was that I was into probably a wrasse on the upper and something like a blenny that had dragged both hooks into some sort of mini crevasse as they are want too do.
Ho hum that cut short my dabble for the day which was v annoying being as there were some v decent bites going on down there. As to the rod, well while pissed it snapped I do have the gear to repair it properly so it shouldn’t be too long out of use.

I left prior to things settling into the evening but yes it did look fishy and hopeful I can catch up with Ali today to see how things went.
I will be down on the wall later, I may even take another rod to erm not break & so if you are down there please say hi/hello as did one reader yesterday who shouted out as his family came onto the wall catching me totally off guard until he pointed out Id posted a “say hi” the other day on the blog 🙂

And that as they say is all folks, & so, until the next one I will again bid you all ADIEU
F

Took the quad out for its spin yesterday to find quite a few more fishing than Tuesday(not too hard I guess) with a fair few this time on the lower bays (could more be reading these blogs ?) generally looking for Bream and one at least set up for a Bass. Less on the bend of that wall than I would normally expect as well as the youngster I met the other day and despite him making a decent impression I still had to ask his dad his name ! (shame on me) more shame on me again as I am quite consistent, Mum, Dad, I’m very sorry but I still have forgotten his name as I do with so so many people !.
So, bowing my head in shame I type on and progress along the wall chatting and trying to get a picture of the days goings on.

And so I shall start with the end first for a change , confused ? no? oh well not too worry I confuse better in person than I do in text.
To continue, having gone from bottom to top, I shall now go top to bottom. Top (ish) of the wall, well 57-59 were a couple of regulars who also fish with the Palace Pier club(PP) and after the usual hello’s and gab I learnt of perhaps only the fourth (counting the morning one posted on FB by John) reported mackerel since Friday evening, there may well have been more but I haven’t heard about them. as well as the macky on a pop up rig I was told of Bream, plaice(good to hear about) a dropped Bass and a Smoothound pub, being as they were packing up they offered me some of their remaining bait which is always gratefully received, especially as not so small JNR likes to plunder the apparent communal bait dump we have at the top of one of the larder freezers yup freezerS, we have 2 front door larder freezers, one top loader larder and a chest freezer.

Further down the wall closer to the steps at 46 there were again Bream & plaice and then it seemed a bit like a fish gap, unusual for the last few days as the front bit has fished quite well recently. It wasn’t until I got down to about 33/34 that the Bream catches again picked up as well as Gurnard and another red mullet. it seems this year there is a burst of activity from the Red Mullet over on the east of which most catch reports tend to be on the WEST extension. Coming down towards the bend there were again a few catching Bream. From bay 20 down there were a few juniors fishing and tbh Im not sure if or what they caught. Tuesdays high came and past with the few there still catching and it certainly look like Tuesdays rate would continue into Wednesdays post high tide. bays 17 down to bay three certainly had copied the day before with quite a few again into Bream and I believe a small Bass was caught and returned. Mixed in along the lower bays there was also activity from gobies and blennies but it seems bar perhaps one a few weeks ago the usually common scorpion fish seem absent. Also seemingly absent alongside the scorps & squid seem to be spider crabs.

Now while there are good signs of crab activity its hard to decide on which type of crab may be down on the lower 17 bays, it may be spiders, it may also be velvets as a few of them have been noticed, another possibility is the common eating crab but unless they start being pulled up in numbers I guess it could be anyone’s guess, not without perhaps taking a dive down there !

Sea state looked ok with a fairly decent green sheen too it and average visibility, I was slightly choppy into the late afternoon but nothing to bother most people. The day was a mix of sunshine in the morning and quite heavy cloud cover in the afternoon.

Today according to the weather peeps the morning should be quite decent although there will be a bit of a cross wind and this afternoon looks like quite a high potential for rain some of which may be quite heavy possibly through the rest of the afternoon . Id say pack some light waterproofs and a brolly as while the wind drops away I dont think the rain will give up until 6 or 7pm.

Not sure If I will be doing a run this afternoon as I have an appointment in HH for pre op checks & no doubt some dude will test my lung capacity by walking me up & down a few sets of stairs for shit n giggles!, anyway not sure what time im back so will see.

Fri & Sat the tacklebox has posted that it will be open from 6.30am and close at 6.30pm so people should be able to get fresh bait for the afternoon and evening sessions.
Thats it.
So, until next time I will bid you all ADIEU
F

Shall we make Mondays Bream day ? sounds like an idea eh. It could well have been for some yesterday. As per I took the quad down yesterday and was met by a near empty wall. I gathered most had recently left after the 2.40 pm high tide and a lot of people struggling.
That said the first gent I met(yup he told me his name)who I defo recognised as a regular from some years back was having a whale of a time and on a roll for sure. He had a few quality bream, 2 red mullet an eel of which he was already wondering what decent recipes were about and even had a strong bite as I was chatting too him. Too save distracting his catching I moved on and the next couple of guys also remarked not only the 1st guys fish but that they were also well into bream and I was only just past the first steps. I was already thinking that quite a few had packed up too early for a change. By time I reached 29 which didnt take long due to so few anglers I could see two lads landing something on bay 33. Yup they also confirmed bream were coming out.

From those 2 there was quite a gap and I could only see 1 couple and 2 singles along the straight section the furthest being a recent visitor and very regular being ChrisH who again confirmed Bream activity as well as Wrasse, and some other bits and told me of 2 who had recently left that had caught 4 dogfish. considering how few anglers were about there was a very high proportion of Bream catches and I wonder how many would have been caught had there been more there with bait in the water. Not only was the ratio high but so was the quality of the Bream of which on average sizes were better than many Id seen this year.

Overall catches confirmed and reported yesterday there were as said a fair few decent Bream, plaice, dogfish, wrasse, red mullet, Bass & schoolies, smooth hound pups there was even a flounder putting in an appearance. there are a few micro species down some of the Vs, mostly blennies and crab activity is starting to increase below bay 15, there was a dropped spider yesterday about bay 20 but cant confirm type on the lower bays as no one was netting for them yesterday while I was there.
Conditions yesterday afternoon were less choppy than previous days and with the heavy clouds early evening and decent sea colour it looked what may would call very fishy, the down side was that Low tide was 8.40pm. Im not sure many would have stayed past 8pm but will check today with the evening warden as to if anything happened species wise or macky wise last night.
High tide today is 3.48pm, I will be doing a run today , not sure about tomorrow as I am in Haywards Heath for pre op assessments, and no its not gender reassignment, someone has kindly decided I have been begging long enough and hopefully they will remove my gall bladder on the 18th of August.

And with that, until the next one, I will bid you all ADIEU
F

*warning* its a biggun

Now I wonder how many out there remember what Morny Stannit is about or was ? If you never watch the old brit comedy of “The Two Ronnie’s” I guess you will never get it but for some reason the little news paper sketch popped into my head for no apparent reason other than perhaps things are not always what they seem and simply are what you are seeing. What has that got to do with the marina fishing though ?
Well,(and at this moment some reading will jump ahead and think here comes a clever or bliddy weird comparison) to be honest, absolutely nothing. I just though you would like to see that my head and thinking space runs wild on its own with the slighted encouragement. Figuring out my brain directions is a bit like using a fork to eat soup ! hey ho.

And so, regular readers will know I do actually try to put up some report the morning after the night before of my visits to the wall(occasionally both if open) Yes I did go down Sunday but it was very very quiet as most anglers(tempted to say punters) had left as the tide dropped from the high in the late morning. So, lets do a round up of Sunday first brutal though it may be.

Sunday, the first person I saw and chatted to Sunday was Mark with his warden head on. He told me a similar story to Saturday. Opened up no one waiting to go on the wall at 6.30am and yet by 11 am the wall was very busy and by 4pm many were packing up and heading for home muttering about no fish.
As my long ramble suggested yesterday I dont really have any answers why things are so slow atm but it is not just the Marina it seems to be Sussex wide
. As one friend in the FB “L.I.S.A.” group(see LISA on this website) “fishing is broken” and perhaps he is right or is July one of those months where we often get days of bright sunshine and clear waters resulting in fish moving into deeper water, Im guessing even fish avoid bright glaring sun. While trying tto think on possible causes I wondered if this July thing was normal so I looked back over some of my old records and reports. With those and facebooks’s timeline reminder I went back 10,12,14 years to see some of my past posts and lo and behold various repors of “dead” days and comments of no mackerel and few fish reports do appear quite a lot for July in particular ranging from 12 years ago 9,8, 6 and 3 years back were reports were sketchy or often lean days on the walls during the day and the night fishing quite a bit better.

I wonder if others who keep records look back to see if they had weeks that relate to poor fishing periods along the shore. I am aware that the boat fishing is not suffering anything similar so perhaps there is a “sun factor” going on for shallower water. Of course bright sun happens in August also so it wont be the sole reason for seemingly “less fish around” Ive said to a few people that I suspect the wind farm is drawing larger fish towards it as there is again a glut of fry out there and the reports of decent fishing over there are high. The damage from pair trawling and the loss of much inshore sea vegetation will take time too recover and with that so will the fish stock that use the ribbon type seaweed as home, species like Bream are showing signs of recovery, the east wall is seeing more and more bream caught along the straighter part of the wall, ground that is mostly sand of which suggests the bream are feeding against the base of the wall as the various currents turn any debris over attracting the small fry and micro food stuffs. Likewise where bream are there are usually wrasse that at one point were almost totally missing from the walls and yet I recal summer days catching 3o or more wrasse while targeting bream not so many years back.
I do think there are multiple reasons for the apparent drop in catches and no one cause to point at or blame but while things are poor right now there are also other signs of recovery. There is a definite(based on last 5 yrs) increase of Bream being caught on the front section of the east over sand and the sub 17 bays have remained steady and reasonably consistent. Wrasse numbers are very slowly on the up and the quality of the Ballans caught are quite decent though not common. Smooth hound pups seem at times to be everywhere suggesting adults are breeding in local waters. Ive no answers for the drop in Rays caught especially down are the numbers of Undulates caught on shore wall and boat. The marina I feel is blessed in having a very healthy breading population of Bass and Mullet despite some boats working out of the marina illegally taking more than limits set and permitted(no doubt the law will catch up with these people) Ive seen a drop lately in the number of Jellyfish circling the marina at times in very large numbers and the large barrel type were regular visitors to the west wall. I was even pointed at 2 small jellies on Sunday by one lad fishing(more on that in a bit). Gar fish are a bit infrequent at the moment but they often arrive with the summer mackerel shoals. Should they be here now ? tbh I think no and expect the shoal arrivals the week following Sun 10th or Sun 24th of August with the bigger of the AUG tides.

I have left plaice until now as I have no answer for the very low numbers of quality plaice this year, in the past numbers have been decent and not monitoring the population yearly I dont know if they ebb & flow in a cycle over a number of years but they do seem very evident in their absence this year although a few have been caught this weekend that I only found out about last night. Up also this year are flounder and dab catches. The last couple of years on the walls have been somewhat poor perhaps putting people off visiting especially when many these days follow fish reports easy to find on soc media. (Great for promotion when things are good, evil masters when things are lacking). The signs of recovery are underway but it is slow progress as nature recovers.

Now, having self diverted from Sat into Sundays report as said, Sun was a slow starter the wall filled quickly for the high tide sesh and again quickly emptied. When I arrived there were a few familiar faces and its always good to catch up and now I am ticketing far less I have plenty of time for a chinwag as I roll the wheels up the wall. Like most of the last week there was a lot of head shaking with regards to catches and I dont think there were more than 2-3 mackerel caught all week. On getting to bay 22 or thereabouts I stopped and had a chat with a youngster who was with his dad. This lad I must say made quite an impression on me for a few reason especially as his dad informed me pop’s hadnt a clue about fishing and was there simply to watch his son enjoy himself.

In the days of kids that have learnt to swear by the age of four and often come with an attitude and rudeness it was quite refreshing to meet the dad and his son. He was very well spoken super confident in himself and not shy at asking questions and holding a conversation at the same time. He had set up with (his words) 2 rods, one was for anything ….. or BREAM, the other was set up for BASS. I chatted with both about catching bream and how I usually go about things. He seemed to like what I was saying and brought in his light rod to ask me what I thought. He had a 1up ,1 down set up over the sand with some largish cuts of squid as he lacked worm baits.
A quick explain about long thing for flatties on the bottom compared to the upper set for bream and he was away. I then got shown his Bass set up having spoken to someone in the shop about bass rigs & setting up with a sliding ledger type of things. This lad was keen too go and had tons of questions and listened too my answers and often asked further on the hows & why of much of what we chatted about, his bass set up looked fine too me and yes I realise there are so many ways to set any rig in any location but often the simplest of rigs are the best but us anglers are terrible tackle tarts & add all sorts of bling often needlessly.
Yes the lad made an impression, he knew what he wanted but also was v keen to learn more. He bought most of his gear himself (pocket money for end tackle and now doubt the daaaaaa’aaaddddd method for larger gear 🙂 as said, he was confident and polite, well spoken keen too learn all he could. He also gave me a chuckle when one of the lads from the palace pier club was passing on his way of the wall & the lad stopped him and asked how he got on, listened closely to hear the guy hadnt done very well that day, it was then you could see the youngsters mind whirl and politely asked if this guy had any spare bait left over. Well the palace pier dude rummages and did indeed have some spare and promptly surrendered the bait. Now considering he was on his way off the wall he then got some rapid questions from the youngster and decided to stay longer, set up next to the lad and his dad and continued fishing for a couple of hours longer with them. The boy could hold a convo with almost anyone such was his manner and confidence.
It is refreshing to know that the future of angling is in the hands of his generation and was a joy to talk with and very much a credit to his dad/parents.
Thus I get to the days fishing, as said there was a lot of head shaking going on but the standard of the day was a few bream, some were decent, a couple of bass, one high one mid wall, a conger late afternoon and some of the smaller stuff like gobies and scorps. Reports were very hard to find and I dont think anyone even saw a mackerel.

Yesterday (Monday) needless to say the visitor numbers were less than the weekend but again the bulk of the numbers arrived a bit before lunchtime and a lot were gone by 5pm with only a handful left by 8.30pm. Most I met when I did my run said how quiet it was, some saying not even a decent bit especially those packing. One guy DID have 2 mackerel, caught on the bend not long before I arrived with JNR . Overall the duty warden Ali had seen perhaps 5 Bream kept and a couple of plaice. When we got onto the wall it was also clear that the westerly wind pushing the dropping tide didnt help things and as a result mid afternoon quite a lot of ppl moved onto the bays under 10.
After doing my usual run I settled on bay 24/5 with jnr and a returning visitor who was keen to have another go on the wall after visiting Sunday afternoon. When we left all three of us were chatting general stuff and “where d’ya live came up and our guest said elm grove area ( I believe he reads here so he by now realises I cant remember names for shit … sorry 🙂 ) and return phrase was “oh handy for the bus” for him to say how he doesnt use busses due to social anxiety.
Now, I hope he doesnt mind me saying this (if you are reading I can always edit out this section) but he is a perfect example of the good fishing can do, it was argued throughout COVID restriction how angling should be allowed if something could be arranged but the lockdown merchants were not prepared or incapable of listening and resolving a solution that was sat there staring ppl in the face.

Angling can be a massive calmer, a huge stress reliever and is good for the soul as our new visitor found out. I suspect he had in the past avoided the marina due to perceived numbers and potential crowding on the wall as he often found with busses. There is a community on the wall that is in general welcoming often with almost immediate welcoming to our shared pass time. On facebook I am often banging on about race, creed, nationality, colour shouldn’t matter as all on the wall are anglers be it for the “dreaded” mackerel or the snobbish bass & non mackerel hunters(just a joke folks :)) It doesnt really matter who is in the next bay, it is after all another angler, say hi, it goes a long way. its easy to feel isolated in a group fishing. Break the ice if ya can, even if the bugger is casting over you, they may not even realise its bothering you. A simple hello can go a long way and it may just help someone too feel included and part of something.

Anyhoo, jnr & I set up on 24 or 25 and were joined by the new guy but the wind was problematic as we were in general using fairly light gear. After a while and no real bites other than perhaps a bit of crab activity we decided to move down the wall and get that wind behind us, and so we shifted down to bay 14/15.
We were getting some bites as the tide dropped but like everyone else that day it was tough going and we were not fully out of the westerly. There was clear crab activity although we didn’t hook one up to find what type but no lines were cut though quite a few baits were taken from bottom hooks. All three of us were using frozen black & squid in various combos but bites were rare.
The only fish of the afternoon for us was a surprise bite and rapid take of the hook on the upper of my 2 hook flapper. Initially as it played around it looked like it may be a schoolie but on getting it closer it was clearly a mullet of some form. Jnr managed to cadge a drop net (yea forgot ours) and the mullet landed turned out to be a Goldie of perhaps 2 to 2.5lb and yes it was the only fish we had. We packed about 8pm and I think there may have been about 4 left on the higher bays.

All in all the weekend was poor going with a low tide slapped in the middle of the afternoon for the bulk of the week prompting people to give it up, pack it up & head for home. It seems that loads of people dont seem to like fishing dropping tides .. ho hum, It was a plesant afternoon fishing & chatting even if was a bit windy and heavily overcast at times.
Today (Tues)as I type the trees are still here up manor hill, weatherman says light westerlies and seems correct with it clouding over later today although its expected to be dry. Weather wise, wed and Sat look the best for lack of wind and dry. Fri looks ok with northerly breeze and possibly a shower or 2 in the afternoon.

Thus we come to the end of todays essay, I will do a run on the wall this afternoon and until the next one I will say tata and bid you all ADIEU
F

Of July that is. By Friday we will be into August and seemingly half of the summer gone. It does feel a bit strange, we have no access to the WEST wall as yet and fishing overall has been poor locally, and we have been feeling that trend on the East also. Is it the wall ? something in the marina or a case of a general shoreline malaise?
At first I suspected that it was the marina missing out as the better fish are being drawn to the wind farm. Boat crews again this year reporting that it seems at times like fish soup out there but on reflection the wind farm I feel is only a small part of the apparent lack or low numbers of catches.
Social media takes a chunk of the blame as people chase fish reports and monitor other posting catches. The result is often posts suggesting an area is pointless fishing, the result is that larger venues see a drop in visitors while people wait for an increase in reports. It is very noticeable on the marina and Im told a similar story to Shoreham walls and places like Newhaven and even Seaford.

That said the wind farm and soc media are not the complete answer and are just a portion of lower visitor numbers. Catch reports increase as the visitors increase but, if there are still holes in the catch reports one must assume that the catches are down also, thus come the conundrum of fishing reports vs social media vs dropping visitors due to low catches. It could easily end up as an ever decreasing spiral if visitors entirely pick their choice of venue simply based on a few reports… dangerous stuff.
Now don’t get me wrong, I understand that if people are going to travel 2 hrs or more to a venue they want and often expect decent catches for their time/money and even expectations of a venue. When those familiar venues have a lack of reports then comes the conundrum, are the reports reliable & a true picture of those venues.
On that I can only speak as accurately as I can regarding the marina walls. yes I do keep an eye on other reports from anglers in other FB group, I also try to keep tabs at least a little regarding the boats leaving the marina too fish. Most of these reports are often snippets of posts and info spread as I say mostly across the dreaded book of FACE.
What I cant do is give a 100% reliability of catch rates and I think most if not all readers here realise or come to realise that over a long period of time I try too post as much as I can without bigging up or inflating reports. if my typing is vague saying a few or scattered say plaice it often implies , yea some were caught but only here n there. the info I get is limited and I try to show that, as a result it would be easy too think that the marina is dead as a dodo atm and not worth the trip to “go fishing”

“not worth” a funny statement in a way especially coming from me when posting about the marina
“cough cough” Am I not meant to be promoting the fishing and the tacklebox ?
well yes & no, Im trying to give people a reasonable guide & info as to what is going on but it will always be a limited time period of 2-3 hrs where I try to talk to whoever is around to broaden my info for the day. If there are only 10 anglers when I arrive on a low tide the info I gain will be very limited and likely too only a small time frame from the later arrivals. Thus it looks quiet, thus the report is sketchy and I have to at times surf/drag through facebook for snippets and clues as to how the day performed.

Often that info fails to find me and as a result I will either skip putting up a blog or find some other relevant topic too fill/pad a report out such as bass size, wind farm comments or even the beach down the road.
Todays post is a deliberate waffle and ramble pare due to a chat yesterday about soc media pro’s and cons for fishing venues and it got me thinking about asking the obvious(for me) questions for readers to mull over.

Why do you visit the marina too fish ?
do you travel a long distance too get here?
If you are coming from say London or similar distances do you entirely go because of reports.
If reports are low or poor would you still visit, go somewhere else or scrap the trip.
( I often here that ppl travel from London expecting fish as they follow reports)

I consider myself very lucky that I have a venue too fish close to my home ( I dont drive) many who visit come from miles away so may have a different mind set to myself.
I go fishing because I enjoy it and because I can. I see it as a way too chill out and relax, no 2 days are the same , likewise the people I meet make fishing also a social thing and lastly to me catching fish is a bonus to the fact that Im fishing. I dont stress if I blank because Ive already achieved my aim, and that is simply to go fish. Any catch then becomes a bonus and the bigger fish if im lucky come home to be eaten 🙂

Do you visit the marina to get fish, or is it a visit to chill ? some see me as odd as I regard catching as an extra titbit . Many I know say they only come for the fish and its a bad day if they go home fishless. I deliberately didnt mention mackerel as many visit simply for the catching of them, each to their own 🙂

Anyhoo yes I did take the quad to the marina, it was very quiet as very near low tide and the v few reports I got was. Opening time it was super quite and yet by lunchtime the wall was packed. by 5pm many were packing and headding home but fishwise I heard of a gar low on the bay numbers , bream scattered along the wall throughout the day for the lucky few that were catching (numbers lowish & sporadic all states of tide) there were also quite a few red mullet , One dude had 4 quite high on the wall but had left by time I got there. Other catches included a wrasse or 2 and 2 or 3 small plaice A couple of bass were confirmed. a few micro species had and a low issue with crabs taking baits. Overal very few people too talk to and only one guy stayed until closing (if you are reading this I very much enjoyed the chat and true to form have forgotten your name 🙂
Thats it for today as my lunch is ready

I will be on the wall in a while so maybe see you soon and thus, until next time I will bid you all ADIEU
F

Well, here we are again , granted the post is a tad later than I had intended but then to be fair things were fairly slow on the wall Thursday even though as I left that day there was a short spurt of bream caught along the front section of the wall and a couple of decent bass landed , one mid wall and one high. It also looks too me that the productive low tide bays are being under used. I guess its a case of “if you know , you know”

All in all other than a few mackerel in the morning those still hanging in on the hope of some fish Thursday reported things as very slow going. The water colour wasn’t great & looked more like a dingy mud colour from distance although up close it was somewhat better and finally a bit of a northerly is trying to push some of the pesky weed further out to sea.

I did make a run yesterday but there were very few left fishing as the tide dropped to its lowest and most there commented that things were poor adding “BUT, that dude over there……”
And so the story was repeated too me by a few still there of the one dude that was having it away … or for the funny minded having a ball catching some very nice bream, a couple of which Mark pictured and posted to the marina group. With a smoothound or two a youngster with his dad informed me that he had landed a plaice ! although small it was the first id been told about in a week or two, alongside the plaice the lad had landed a few micro species including a couple of greedy blennies so well done him. (i hope he is reading this)
It took until I read Marks post to hear that a lobster had also been caught and no doubt made someone a decent tea out of the normal fare.

I will be doing a run today and while weather man says rain I will see how it goes and take the large polo brolly with me.
If you see me on the wall, please say hi, I do enjoy the chats and it also helps me build a better picture of what is , or isnt being caught around the marina wall. Id say walls but as we all know the west is still currently under work conditions and closed to all. Im still hearing September for completion but people must realise that this is only an estimate….. hopefully we will be able to open both walls for some of this year at least.
Tides for the rest of today
high was 1.18pm 0.92m
low is 7.23 pm and a 1.29am high of 6.17m
And so, until the next write up/type up I will bid you all ADIEU
F

Well considering it’s Thursday and I’ve not put a report up since last Saturday I guess the infrequency sorta tells you a bit about the state of play …well sorta.
Ok, sorta what now ? well the fishing hasn’t been great although that said, to be fair in assessing there have been a few closed wall days due to winds, those days open have, often been somewhat blowy also resulting in coloured and very weed loaded conditions in this part of Sussex which as such has resulted in fewer visitors than would usually be expected. Add to this the march of the crabs and spring runs of mackerel and early squid simply have not happened.

The boats are doing well, specially out around the wind farm so could there be something off around the marina, is it a local issue or are other regions along the coast struggling also ?
Some areas do seem to be holding less fish than is seasonal, here, Shoreham, and Newhaven to Seaford have similar issues so could the wind farm be influencing things since the trawlers have been pushed further out to sea?
I suspect the wind farm has part of the answer in that again this year boats are reporting conditions there are like fish soup and it is thick again with fry. So its safe to assume the protection the wind farm offers is doing well for breeding fish and I guess as a result its no doubt good for those species feeding on the bounties that the wind farm is producing.
Could the wind farm be drawing fish ? possibly and probably although I suspect bream numbers on the lower east are better than last year which was a huge draw for bass and spider crabs. I also suspect the boom in the fishery around the wind farm is and will continue to expand as various fry species survive to become adults and the natural sea habitat recovers from the relentless trawls that the pairs subjected the sea bed too.

I do feel that as the fish stock expand beyond the wind farm the old nurseries will re-establish as will the sea vegetation that is so important to protecting and hiding fry and juvenile fish. There are already signs of Bream recovery and I suspect once the build/repair work is done on the west anglers will notice that things are on the recover. Already this year as said I feel bream numbers on the east are bouncing back slowly with catches of bream right along the front section of the east which in itself is less common than most realise. Also up are Wrasse catches and the quality of some of the Ballan this year have been better than the last 3+ years. Corkwing’s are also being caught again. granted not in big numbers but I used to catch these all the time when targeting bream and they have been near non existent of late. Ray numbers are up & down off the marina with Undulates in particular seemingly much lower this and last year but up are the likes of hounds and dogfish there have even been a few red mullet landed on the east which in itself is fairly unusual as most traditionally have been had over on the west.

The what iffs and future actually looks hopeful if greed can be kept out of the local fisheries but that doesnt really help the right now especially as most look too here and similar report places for info on where to make that 2-4hr trip in the hope of not only going fishing but the hope of some fish too take home afterwards. And with that I return to what has been happening this week.

Choppy conditions have for many seemingly hampered peoples catch rates unless they have been out braving the squalls, rain, sky rumbles and choppy conditions hunting Bass. Most prefer nice dry and sunny conditions, that, or balmy evenings into mild night sessions and quite simply put things have not been great. Yes the bass have returned (did they ever go away or simply move to sheltered areas? )
Plaice catches while there do seem to have dropped off to the level of being tough going. There has been a consistent and steady tick over of Bream with a few Wrasse and Bass chucked in but the days of species hunters having 15+ species in a day on the wall are currently not with us.

There are gobies spread along the wall and yet scorpion fish aka bullheads seem to be quite scarce or simply not being reported. Ive not yet seen tell of the dreaded mini slugs that Mr G loves to hate be they 3 or 5 bearded rockling they so far have not made themselves seen yet. There have been gurnard and red mullet but not this week afaik and yes I know a few want too know about mackerel so, put quite simply the numbers have been very erratic and hit or miss on some of the high tides.
As I rolled down the wall yesterday the weather had sorta spooked many with the heavy skies and general rumbles of a storm somewhere.

It does make me chuckle how the first rumble of thunder can clear a venue, granted the thought of standing out in the open with carbon fibre wiggle sticks and a storm brewing can leave you feeling a bit wary or even nervous and many would argue that prudence sorta says …
…….. hey dummy are you really gonna wave them things in the air ?….

For me it isnt the thunder thats an issue when its rumbling, more a case of keep an eye out for any storm flickers and their general direction and distance and thus, I rolled onto the east after there had been a few loudish rumbles, heavy skies but only a few drops of rain and perhaps passed half a dozen leavers.
chatting my way along the wall it was clear that of those there only a few had been there since the morning high and I learnt very quickly that yup “its dead” and other than once dude that had had a few mackies in the morning (yep the fish were still in a bag on the wall gone 5pm) the signs of fish were non existent until I reached the regular who was on his way home with a decent sized bass of 4+lb or so.

I got asked about the fishing by quite a few but coul only say the little I knew over the few days open/shut /open in the winds of stired up water, issues with weed, a few bass & mackerel and high tide bream on most days but the mackerel fishing (most were there for them tbh) was very slim pickings.
“did I think it was worth staying” or “do I think there will be mackies this evening” were common asks and in general from sea colour, sky colour, when not a heavy black and had some clear patches showing it sorta looked right for things too happen and I think most will agree that mackerel do have a way of coming out too play when it piddles down so I stuck my neck out n said I suspect that somewhen around 7 to 7.30pm things may happen..
Now I now of at least a couple of boats were out about that time and on chatting too those ppl it did indeed seem that mackerel and Bass came out to play. Now I cant say for certain it happened on the wall, I wasnt there & nor have I heard from anyone that was so Id like to think that I was right…..
probably 🙂

Im told today so far things have been seemingly quiet but that info was prior to high tide time and I may get a better picture later on when I trundle down there.

Aaaanndddd with that I will say my goodbyes and until next time bid you all ADIEU
F

Well then it’s Saturday and if your old enough ya know, are ya fighting tonight ? because its Alright 😉 as well as being alright (its not) its also my wedding anniversary and by amazing co-incidence it’s also my wifes wedding anniversary and if that wasnt strange enough we both been married for the same number of years ! how fekin odd is that ?
Now too the observant of you, ya may have noticed the brackets (some are now looking for brackets, admit it too yaselves;) ) If you didn’t you may no doubt have found them & thought WTF he’s lost it and whats “not alright” well todays not, its pishing with rain and we had a BBQ planned at the house with a few invites.

If you had an invite and wondering what we gonna do, well, erm, (ear worm coming–>)

♪♪♫Bad boys bad boys ♫, å watcha gonna do♫ watcha gonna do when it rains like poo…. we are gong ahead, if its wet it will be an indoor BBq if it stops leaking from the sky we actually do have a garden sooooo its still on, even if it means an indoor BBq and occasional bevy… yup its on.

And what the fuk has all this to do with a fishing report ? not much other than I wont be doing a run on the wall today so if ya need anything after about 4pm, ring the shop & if someone is in , ask if th shop are going to do a bait /tackle run and if so give them your bay number name, and order ta daaaa……

so , back to the normal stuff 🤣if such a thing !
First up, the walls will be CLOSED SUNDAY and back open Monday unless I post different tomorrow (it may be a delayed opening but too early to say yet.
Oki dokily, fish report.. after a fashion.
First up, I finally got the beast back after 4 weeks with the repair people who have the nerve to say the issues were all caused by one of the 2 batteries that they needed permission to change from Motability company I technically hire the scooter with..hmmmm
can you smell what the rock is cooking ? yea right it was just a battery !.
Anyhoo the beast is back and it’s erm working as it should atm, so have a bit more range n power in the wheels…
Thus
finally
an actual fishy report because, yes, yesterday I got the scooter back and 1st thing done was that I got into town to pick up the wifes anniversary present, just as well it wasnt a day later or I might not be typing this shaggy dogs story. Emergency shop done, home (james) small recharge of scooter and was back out and rolling down manor hill. This time no fog rolling in.
Aaannnndddd so onto the wall to find the first few bays … empty. Wow, that was a bit unusual as recently those bays have been in constant use, mind u they havnt produced much in the last week so maybe to keep those bays occupied there needs to be a catch report for them, but wont be in this one.

Bay 6 had a couple, both seemed familiar faces but then that may just be me and the fact that they mentioned this blog and how they check for a new one most days. So to the couple that greeted me and spoke about the blog, if I got your names I’m sorry as i rare remember names the first few times i’m told but I did enjoy the chat and as I posted in another blog, if you do read here, please say hi as I pass you, let me know you read these waffles of mine, I always enjoy the feedback even if its just to tell me I type like an idiot or that you have some idea for the blog or even the website, or, ya could just say hi, I do genuinely want the feedback, good bad or indifferent, so stop me n say hi.
From six onto the bend there was a scattering of people and the general story for most was how quiet it was. I did stop for a few mins around bay 15/16 for a chat with another lad ( I say lad but he was easily in his 20’s with a fairly distinctive tash (moustache), another regular who said hi frank (yea not that unusual being called by my name…but)we had a chat about conditions looking fishy & I suspect it was to him that i said ive a feeling that there may be mackerel in an hour or so if it wasnt it was someone b4 bay 29 but we both remarked with conditions that were decent there was a lack of afternoon fish (sorry ive no input to what happened yesterday morning)but both expected something to happen…. other than myself forgetting his name, yes m8 I know u read here and Im sure you have told me your name a few times so when u see me next , please remind me again.

And thus I rolled onwards past the bend onto the straighter bit chatting as I went where one dude told me he was going home as there were no fish and where have they gone. I chuckled as I said to him that I know how he felt and quite often lately as people had told me there were no fish some would appear as I rolled up the wall but so far it hadn’t happened on that run but yea says me it looks fishy and may happen about 7.30 ish.. and just like that the fish proved me wrong and out come 4 mackerel two bays beyond myself and the dude about to pack up ! sods law or were the fish following me again.
With the first line of mackerel out you wont need me to say that all the feathers started hitting the water a bit faster and while there were less on the wall Thursday than the day b4 there clearly was a few mackerel about. Less so of looking like a decent shoal and more like scattered pockets but looking up the wall there were quite a few catching which gave me the chance to chat to a few about dispatching fish quickly and why we ask people to do so… lets face it the fish are suffocating out of the water, and while people cant hear any sounds from the fish there is no need to effectively torture a fish by simply unhooking and dumping in a cool box alive ! I’m pleased to say most got the hang of the methods with one dude remarking as I made my way back a while later that he was pleased as he had learnt something new and was effectively dealing with his caught fish.

A little further up to 46 and a group of lads enjoying catching a few fish also who had a quick show how with the fish with one lad mentioning that was also how his dad dispatched some fish so hopefully I have reinforced in the lad and his friends about dispatching kept catches. up onto the higher bays to find one regular fishing and another almost packed up to be told of a decent bass caught and some bream for me to do an about turn and roll back down the wall and actually managed to get back to bay one without thumping the wheels on the red posts.

Didnt hear of any plaice yesterday but I can only post whata I see or what I can confirm is reliable info and im lacking opening reports other than a steady tick over for bream under bay 15.
It looked like it was going to be a decent evening for those after mackerel but at time of typing ive no further info of friday evening.

So to sum up, ive no idea how the morning went , the afternoon was very slow go until the 5pm ish high tide when things did pick up for those with bream baits out and then about half six there were mackerel being caught from about bay 20 on the bend right upto bay 46. after 7pm ? I will try and find out.
Finally a reminder if you are still reading, the walls will be SHUT SUNDAY and I wont be on the wall later on today.
Thats it folks, until next time I will bid you all ADIEU
F

So, after not posting for a few day I thought Id post a catch up. The east was open Mon & Wed but closed all day on Tues as we had a bit of a 3 day westerly push through. As a result most anglers were on Mon & Wed clustered on the lower few bays and a couple of brave souls as far along as bay 20 although they did get somewhat splashed.
Monday most struggled with catching anything other than mossy weed of which could be seen in large lumps where ever anyone fished and tbh the less said about Monday the better.
Tues as said the wall was shut that then by natural logic brings me to Wednesday.

Wed the weather was causing it to be a bit lumpy but not tbh as bad as the previous days and for those that took the chance (very few) the fishing was ok, yes the wind was still an issue but the sub 15 bays were producing and in particular bass that had been clearly absent over the previous week. Borrowing a chunk of a mini report from Chris H on Wed who landed 3 schoolie’s there were others also catching bass ranging from 30-50 ish cm. Considering the lumpy conditions the bream had also stayed surprisingly close to the wall with a few again being landed and one going 31cm for one angler.

At this point I should also post some news from Robin Howard and that is the first squid for the second half of the year was caught and pic posted onto facebook. Could we be in for another bumper autumn with them ?
Back onto the wall , well more a case of local and beaches tbh and news from the shore hunters just east of the marina there were also bass for those targeting them as well as reported by Dev D of a nice ray landed locally.

Thursday the secret leaked that I might go fishing so I figured Id best make the effort and packed one of my light rods onto the borrowed hunka junk classified as a road scooter (its barely fast enough for the footpath yet alone a road!) as I prepared to do a run along the wall and then if I felt up to it I’d have a dabble (planned on bay 7) on a lower bay.

So arrived on the east to that familiar story of “no fish boss” with the 1st 10 or so rods set for bass on the lower walls I had a chat & a move on slowly making my way upto the 20’s. bays 20+ had a similar story of “no fish” but the rod numbers had swapped from baits to flying tinsel. So was it worth feathering ? were the conditions ok? well this is a decent time to comment on conditions ….. aint it YEA

Well, after 3 days of westerlies yes there was weed in the water but surprisingly less than expected, the water though a little choppy was a decent shiny green but, it was the sky , or air that made all the difference too conditions. As I had left home and trundled down manor hill to Whitehawk rd. you could clearly see the sea mist/fog rolling into Whitehawk valley and building. By time I got into the marina the dull sky colour had been replaced by a fog that you could from 1/2 up the east see the west but not beyond it. Within the hour from the same spot on the wall you were unable to see the west as it thickened.
Now, you could be forgiven into thinking that the fog bank was cold and damp, surprisingly I didnt think was the case and stayed wearing just the T shirt on my upper half and cut off cargo shorts, the air was quite humid.
As I rolled up the wall from 20 the same comments were made about lack of fish and to one guy I reminded him about Dave G and his fish gate ! but conditions were actually looking “fishy” and remarked to a few people that although just after the high tide with little to nowt going on it looked like something would happen and by time I hit 25 I said too a few that it wouldnt shock me to see mackerel in 30 mins to an hour. One dude even remarked that last time he saw me the fish went from nothing to happening and were sort off following me up the wall.

While joking about fish following me it had to happen I guess, you , one dude started playing a decent fish and with no shock to anyone nearby he managed with help to land a decent bass of about 6lb that was posted to the book of face. Well from that point on the wall it seemed like the bass did their London bus act, you know the one where you wait ages for a London bus for 3-4 to arrive together, well thats exactly what the bass did as I headed towards bay 40 telling a fair few I was optimistic and felt convinced there would be mackerel in 30 mins to an hour as there was just that niggle or something about the combined sea state, sea colour and low light levels caused by the sea fog. As I got to the higher bays and had been chatting to most I clocked from bay 60 one dickwad fishing on the upper level with feathers casting into the harbour entrance. Apart from the obvious of no fishing on the upper level he was also casting into the harbour entrance and a potential danger to anyone on a boat entering or leaving. It seems he knew exactly what he was about because as soon as he saw me walking up the steps at 65 he quickly climbed down and pretended to fish alongside a regular angler.
After a few harsh words the culprit having done his best to hide his face(even though btn marina has him on film ! ) slunk off down the wall to try and hide. A few words with the dude fishing the last bay just to clarify that they were not together and he had arrived from bay 60 saw me say my goodbye to the one left fishing (who had landed a couple of nice bass also) and worked my way back down the wall only to find that there were some mackerel coming out, of which some were quite chunky and no sign of the numpty that was fishing the upper. As it turned out , he had left the wall entirely, no doubt hoping he wasnt recognised and not got his face on camera… face on cam ? nope I have probably a better pic as his trainers are very very distinctive and stand out a mile, so, will keep an eye out for that pair.

As I said earlier I had brought a light rod with me for after doing my run for the day and thus I stopped at bay seven for an after high tide dabble. within the 1st 20 mins Id managed to find a few snags but plenty of bites when one decent take managed to pull my rig under 7s caisson. The result on trying to retrieve the rig was one lost weight and a lost lower hook. I re set and cast close to the caisson again to see if I could snag what had got me caught up for another series of bites and yes , again dragged under the caisson FFS this time not only a lost weight but also 2 snapped off hooks. Well, at this point I thought stuff that, not chasing you and switched my cast area across the front of the bay 8 caisson and was straight into nibbles and the result , a monster , na , just a bait hungry goby that was dully put back, 2nd cast same area and more bites resulted in the seemingly standard pouting that ended up back in the water to pretend it was a live bait…
At this point the phone goes off and its Mrs P wanting me to go to asda for bread rolls and dog buns as the order put in for delivery lacked them so after a brief sesh and a quick pack I was away and off the wall.

Not sure if I will make a run today as my scooter allegedly has been fixed(again) and they are claiming it was an iffy battery (year right the 3rd one !) hopefully its actually working as I need to get into own to buy the wife her anniversary present for tomorrow 24 yrs !. Yup bbq at mine, I got the rolls ok.

Thats it , so, until the next one I will bid you all ADIEU
F

Of another week… or the start depending on how you view things. Took the quad onto the east this afternoon when the tide was still dropping. Many people were packing up and quite a few I gather had already called it quits in the heat. Possibly the busiest day regarding numbers on the wall today as I understand the while gate was put across for a short while so the duty warden could do a quick number & space assessment. Having said that, when I got onto the wall there was little to no indication of numbers as many as said had packed up for the day although there was a steady trickle of numbers coming on for an early evening dabble.

On the catch front I dont have a great deal to say although there was a mix caught by some including at least one silver eel, some bream, one youngster did his best to describe his dads gurnard that was returned and there were a few plaice showing along the wall.
Hopefully someone from the palace pier group will give me a round up of things that occurred on the higher bays(if any) somewhen tomorrow. No info from the low 6+ bays as they were empty.

Days like today are hard to report on because with the low tide mid to late afternoon the morning catch people have often already headed for home and the evening crowd are mostly mid set up.
nevermind I guess there is always tomorrow…. talking of witch I should add a word or two regarding the westerly system that is incoming.
While mon & wed the wall is expected to say open I suspect the front section will get a bit lumpy with the shelter on the lower bays. Based on the expected forecast it has been decided to shut the wall completely on Tuesday.
And with that I will sign off for today and until the next one , I will bid you all ADIEU
F