Warning , today’s post will be a long read:)
I Got up earlier than normal today (Tues) mainly to get in the queue for BTN Vs Southampton footy tickets only to see that the on sale date had been pulled so was thinking “a wasted morning when something made me look at the Everton ticket sales and Lo & behold some extra tickets had been up so managed to get a scooter space for the game ! result, So now you are thinking (both of you that read these)..
… WTF has footy got to do with a fishing blog !
Well, its simple innit 🙂 had I not been up early to get tickets id not have remembered I have gotten sloppy with the blogs and thought to myself what could I ramble about to fill up a page !.

Well, as said now I am here, I best put something up about the fishing! That said where to start ?
Conditions of water, yes there is rot in the water, AKA May rot which basically is an annual forming of algae on the water surface which sucks the oxygen out of the water and can clog the gills of the fish often causing infections of various fish. The end result , the fish tend to avoid the algae blooms that can cover large area’s and impact on a meter or more of water. The fish avoid the bloom and either move away or go deep under the rot. Many people mistake the scummy surface for sewage as it looks and smells very similar. No doubt someone at Southern Water figured out that while it is around they can keep dumping untreated water and raw sewage into the sea and claim it was accidental spills ! yea my @rse!.
so scum aside there are northerlies or N East breezes this week that should serve to push the bloom further away from the shore line clearing the water some more and as one well known local blogger/guide/angler put it
” The NE breeze should Assist with shore casting of lures“
With the NE breeze there are no issues on the wall that I am aware of so normal daytime hours for the next week or so.
No NIGHT FISHING this week while the fishing on the WEST wall is somewhat limited for numbers but that said the east is fishing quite well for April.

Onto the catch info with the east wall performing the better of the two with plenty of plaice coming out although the size of many is marginal and somewhat skinny. Thus giving me the opportunity to voice a personal view.
It does seem to me especially with flat fish that many will land a fish & give it a quick measure to check that it is size see that it is and pop it in the bucket for taking home. Now my view is that while the fish is of “legal size”
is it really of a size that would make a decent meal ?
When fishing many have remarked to me , “why did you put that one back? it was IN SIZE ! and a keeper”. Well in my view yes it’s met the required size but please folks , take a look at the fish condition , Just in size, somewhat skinny and most blokes would likely want 3 fish to make 2 meals and fillet them off. Cooking whole would leave you a plate of bones wanting more to east !
Thus I tend to keep what I regard fish I want to keep as somewhat bigger than the legal sizes !. As a general rule if i’m asked is this or that fish someone just caught is in size A quick measure may show yes its in size but Will it be big enough to make a meal for you ?
If the answer is no, why keep it? give it a chance to grow some more and return it if possible. Sensible fishing must be the way to go….. sermon over for today 🙂

Bass fishing is picking up very nicely for the shore anglers and indeed for the inshore smaller boats (and charters of which I will add some more below this chin wag 🙂 ) with some good quality fish being landed and I read on ROBIN’s BLOG they are in better condition than last year with far less skin/mite issues and blemished having started spawning earlier than usual.
Ray reports are increasing and the dogfish plague still seems fairly obvious. Loads of “bits n bobs down the V’s” and some smaller conger to be had when the water is coloured. Recent rains seem to have brought out flounders of which there are still a few about.

Since the last shouts for 3 mackerel caught on the wall things have gone quiet on the wall but the coming clearing water and big weekend tides Myself and a few others seem to think that the mackerel will jump inshore for a run that may last a week if lucky.
No real signs of squid on the walls but they are off shore and again expecting a few caught come the weekend.
The fishing is good, damn good out there for the boats atm and bream im told by a few skippers now are out there early and in numbers, so the fish are there but not yet seemingly made the jump to the shorelines and marina walls … soon….
I will repost a report I put up on the marina facebook group as Im aware some readers here do not use the book of face:)Brighton Marina fishing uk

A bit of info from the charter side of things today that may be of interest to some in the group that have thought about a boat trip but not quite made the jump out on one.
The charters are already running some great Pollack trips as well as closer inshore for the likes of plaice and Rays. Bream fishing has already started off well on the Kingmere, and mackerel are only a couple of miles off shore “millions of em everywhere” as one skipper put it.
Squid are out there also and will be piling on weight over the next few weeks so expect the shore catches to steadily build once we get past the blows and into the calmer conditions allowing the water to clear.
Early bass numbers are looking promising with good numbers of plaice out there that only need a bit of fattening up to bring up to decent table sizes. Turbot & Brill trips are i’m hearing filling up so well worth ringing early and talking to the various skippers about what type of fish you want to be catching out there.

Gone it seems are the days of going out with skipper and when asked what do you want to catch ? people reply “oh, any BIIIGGGG fish”.
Think about what you want to target, be it Bass, bream, Pollack, Cod, Turbot, Brill, Conger, gurnard even greater Weever’s (damn good eating im told) if its out there the chances are one of the skippers in Brighton will be arranging multiple days out targeting it this summer.

Its always great to be out afloat even if it even just a basic day out catching “what ever is about” on a spur of the moment thing, but what if you are after a specific species ?
Perhaps it’s something to add to your local bucket list.. Well then it is well worth doing a bit of ringing around to see if anyone is doing that special day out on Turbot, or perhaps a species that you haven’t had locally before, then its worth booking ahead with someone.
Ring around, chat to the skippers, find out who is running specialised trips and book up early as I’m being told this year is has the potential to be something special. There is a list of charter skippers on the shop website at https://thetackleboxbrighton.com/charter-contact/
And quite often recommendations are asked for on the group.
There is some fantastic fishing out there at the moment so don’t just restrict yourself to fishing the marina walls, There is a whole bunch of charter boats in the marina that will be running some great trips this year ranging from , 2hr 4hr 8 & 10hr and I believe there are even trips for 2-3 days stopping over in France.

And that as they say is it , over n out for today, enjoy the weather it looks like the fishing is about to “lift off”
F

The walls as homepage shows are now closed for 2-3 days and a good chance west will be shut thurs but will update that as we get closer.

The weekend on the walls has seen an increase in numbers fishing but neither wall got so full that there wasn’t space.
West wall info is that there are issues with the water supply and various leaks in the piping that may take a while to resolve as it involves divers and getting at pipes elow the wall. This means that the toilet on the WEST is likely to be shut more than open but I’m told the marina are working on it as fast as possible. Dave has continued jet washing and work finally (when weather has allowed) is about to start on the extension.

Catch reports for Sat/Sun is that the plaice numbers on the east have increased but not much gain on the sizable’s so the vast bulk caught have been undersized or marginable “in size”. Dab, flounder conger and at least one pollack caught and confirmed and as far as I can tell this years first mackerel were caught 1st on a Lure(robin Howard) and then a couple on feathers (sorry cant recal name). My take on this is that the usual vertical striped mackerel were caught of which I believe come up from the bay of Biscay and the usual run of them lasts 8 to 10 days early to mid April so before the millions around the world start the annual mackie run be aware its a short run and often broken by poor weather. The north Atlantic run wont start until late July approx. .
Other catches other than already posted include sole, scorpion fish Bass low on the east and a strap conger or two for good measure.
Not the best fishing for Easter weekend although the weather just about held out prior to the alleged April showers begin, but also not the worst I have seen.

It seems to me that things are a little behind the averages for this time of year and while there have already been a couple of squid caught on the wall I havnt seen any reports of catches this weekend although I am aware quite a few were trying for them.
One catch I did miss on reporting earlier last week does deserve a mention as on a day when very few were fishing there was a reasonable sized lumpfish caught mid wall on the east. Now while they are not rare on the wall quite often we only see 5 or 6 in a year so one in April sorta makes me wonder if we are in for a good year once the warmer weather properly gets here. Roll on summer eh.

As said earlier M/T/W walls are expected shut , I would imaging east will be open Thurs but again , as said will confirm that in a day or two.

Enjoy what is left of Easter and from me, that is over n out

F

I guess I should put up a mini report being as I managed a little jaunt out on the east wall yesterday.
Was a spur of the moment thing having spent the last week staring out of the window pondering on trying to get out and fish Vs the known pain levels that would be the cost of such a silly thing to do to myself. Thus I took the quad down and Son & Max drove down, set up @ 28 and slowly blanked while max managed a plaice on my borrowed rod. Was nice to get out even though the inevitable pain crept up on me and made for a fairly sore ride home but , got out, caught up with a fair few people and gained enough info to post a round up of yesterday in general.

Good Fri on the walls, By recent weeks standards the walls for a change were fairly busy but by no means packed. There was plenty of space on both walls although the west for much of the day was the busier regarding free space with the low bays on west very underfished and much ignored(imo thats usually were the flat fish and bass may lurk) and for those unable to be dropped off by the east there was room for those making the walk.
Granted much of the fishing day was not great and seemingly the early morning tides were the more productive. On the east the plaice numbers are again increasing though the number of non keepers out weigh those worth keeping and those fish in size. for those after a species count yesterday prob was a day to be out there with Plaice dab , flounder and sole being recorded on the flatfish front.
For the species count hunters as well as the flats you could add, dogfish, baby tope & smoothound pups, blennies, scorpion(bullheads)fish, whiting, bass and conger all being confirmed and I will whisper that I can confirm a mackerel caught on a yellow lure ! they wont be far away for a week or 2 run on the walls , my guess around the larger tides of the 20th April.

East arm fishing yesterday as say was best on the morning tides from low to high but that said ive not much report news of yesterday after about 4pm but will try and get a chat with mark who was working yesterday.

weather looks to go cack come Tues so expect the walls to be closed TUES WED< Thurs as is should be ok but a bit far off to safely call atm BUT
It looks good out there for easter and a dabble in the sunshine for a change so if you can get out , enjoy the weather. For me , its the wifes birthday Tues and mine on Friday, I shant post my age for then but I can promise its not the 102 that someone recently suggested.
Tight lines all, and have a great easter what every you are doing, and if you are not “doing” I hope you enjoy the calm or rest.

P.S. while getting out has been at a painful price it was great to be out and speaking to the many that stopped for a chat as they were coming on or going off the wall. To all of those people, (if you read here) I thankyou for taking the time to stop, it all added to the joy of the impromptu visit
F

Well on the day I type no squid yet someone pops up and catches the first squid of the year on the east that I’m aware of! sods law eh. Will continue to monitor so see how quickly or slowly the numbers build so the squid comp organisers can prepare for this years event
F

Or have I ?
To be honest there has been very little to post here other than say the weather has been a bit pants with lots of spring blows thus a fair few days where the walls have been closed or the fishing was pants due to lack of water clarity. Is it any wonder some turn to the dark side in Feb/March and go fishing in some lake or other with its captive fish that tends to be chucked back by law !

Anyhoo Easter is upon us and the sun has started to shine thus deceiving everyone into thinking “oh look its warm and sunny outside”
Nah dont be fooled folks the temps are struggling to get over 10 degrees! so wrap up warm, then get hot and sweaty in the sun, peel the clothes of and wonder why you did it as the sun goes in and you realise you are about to catch a cold !.

On to the catch report(s) if thats what they are, mostly shut downs the last few weeks but did manage a few open days in March and early April so the East is chucking up some plaice though not too many keepers. Far out numbering the plaice seem to be whiting (muddy waters i guess) and nearly as many Dogfish as whiting that seem to be getting called all sorts from “Dogfish to Cat sharks” with a few swear words added in for good measure. Im told a conger here and there likewise Bass & occasional flounder but mostly them whiting and mutts. Hopefully now we are getting some calm weather and large tided the clarity will clear out and the sunshine should bring some better water temps attracting the likes of Bream, Gurnard and Wrasse along the walls.

The local boats have started picking up Mackerel and Rays about 2 miles out and usually they make the jump from there to inshore in the next 2-4 weeks. Time and temps we will see.
Unsaid is squid, mostly because as there seems to be a lack of reports or mentions but will keep and ear to the ground so to speak but its looking like we will have a delayed season and I suspect the squid comp may be scheduled for the weekend of May 6th/7th or back up of 20/21st May, again we shall see how it pans out.
Thats it for now, until next time….
F

well here we are at the @rse end of March and little to say due to frequent blows hampering the opening sessions this month. Conditions havn’t been ideal the last 2 weeks so plaice numbers way down on what would be expected at this time of year. there has been an increase closer to the river estuaries of flounder but the biggest change being reported this week is the sheer number of dogfish being caught. Ive no idea why so many but plenty of anglers complaining that there are worse than whiting !
Sea temps are not that great and the waters have plenty of eyes looking out for the arrival of squid. The don’t seem to be about at the moment although no doubt someone will catch one here n there out on the boats when they are able to get out.
There will be a squid comp as the posted webpage here shows and possible dates if they show up in the next 10 days could be Sun April 23rd with an ALT date of Sun 21st May but that may all change depending as always on when the squid start showing up in numbers.

The walls are expected open this Saturday with the EAST open first if the wall checks are all ok, thus EAST OPEN about 7am til 5pm and the WEST somewhen after 10am if there no serious issues.
Currently the toilet block on the west is out of use as there is a major repair job with damaged to underwater pipes that will need specialist divers to deal with so there is not even an estimate on when this work will be finished once underway.
thats it for now, until next time …. adios
F

No fishing for anyone on the walls today as another blow moves through. Expected to be back open after checks and the wind has swung around to the NEast.
On the fishing front , with small tides things have slowed up and the herring seem to have tailed off, with plaice still being caught the sizes have been much the way of just minimum size or smaller for many.

Hope is on the horizon though as one of the charter boats reports plenty of mackerel out the on the 2 mile markers so it shouldn’t be too long for the early run along the channel to us. Squid are just around the corner so to speak also so a pick up over the next few weeks and bigger spring tides is expected. That’s it for today,…. until next time..
F

Lummy the weeks seem to be whizzing by this year and we have hit March. While the last week hasn’t been great on the fish front the off shore news is good.
Local boats are picking up large herring shoals that seem reluctant to move on, the tides coming should produce better flat fish next week and sounders are picking up shoals of large mackerel not far out from the marina. Things are picking up although many anglers this week would say there was bugger all out there for them over the last week.

Night fishing on the beaches has not been much better with loads of whiting being reported ahead of the skinny plaice and flounder. A few bass but again they have thinned out in the colder weather and a few congers.

Both walls will be closed Tues and Wed as the cold weather passes through and we have snow forecasts so as a precaution both as said will be shut Tues/Wed…
Unsure about Thurs but there is a large blow predicted that looks like a full weekend shut down until it clears Tues or Wed next week.
both walls are operational , the west to the toilet block and the east right to the end with 74 open just for roger 🙂
thats it for today folks
F

Well the weekend has passed and I can hardly believe we are at the end of February already. While cold the fishing front has felt like mid to end of March.
The beach camp city has become a regular feature as Sussex draws paice anglers from near and far, this year almost a month early.
I can remember putting up blog posts about once a fortnight in Jan, Feb, simply to let anglers know we were still here but yes the walls were still closed as the weather has hampered jetwashing but it was ok as there were v few fish other than whiting and occasional congers about.
Robin Howard introduced squid fishing to the marina and that meant starting a bit earlier jet washing as a priority so that the walls got re opened earlier in the year and with the increase of anglers came the realisation that early march could produce some plaice. Granted back then often the quality was fairly poor so they didnt attract much attention, but, as they (whoever “they” are) say, things change. I guess the main thing changing is the sea temp in definately Sussex waters or simply no one had realised quite how the plaice population had developed off the marina.

I will have a guess other than what most would say was obvious global warming so here goes.
Pre marina days I understand there were some extremely good mussel beds in and west of the marina so with that good plaice numbers and frequent visits from the inshore cod runs.
With all the building for the marina there would have been long term damage to the environment as a whole and many species spooked from the area for quite a while. I have seen but cant refrence or link the info that the marina also changed the currents from Newhaven to past worthing, which may seem incredible and unlikely for some but changes did happen.

The codling runs rarely touch the marina these days and the larger cod catches off the walls in early days slowly petered out to near nothing. The plaice it was reconed all but vanished over the demolished mussel beds and bream started nesing further out also.

I guess these changes also meant that there was little to no fry in the shore lines of Brighton to attract much in the way of resident species and a lot of the fishing started to change. I am aware of some great catches in the past that have also tailed off possibly under the banner of species being over fished and in the last 20 years have noted a general change in species that were numerous and low clearly in current decline. (for that I have little answer other than reducing what is kept commercially and recreationally but most of all the methods used and the reduction of size and/or numbers of huge factory ships with little to no secection in their nets.
Back to the marina.
The plaice would have taken time to recover the massive change that came with the building and likewise bream also but both are hardy species and recover they did but plaice I suspect to a lesser amount with the reduction of the mussel beds of the past.
The marina is a great place towatch change in the catch rates of species and there are always highs and lows in catch rates sometimes year by year. The plaice and bream especially did recover, perhaps the bream faster as they quickly re-populated the inshore rocky marks that Brighton has a plentiful supply of. Possibly a peak in numbers aboutt 15 years ago which was when I sort of noticed the high pair trawler activity that was turning local seabeds into sand only seserts and it seems last year was the poorest for bream ive known, with luck the change in trawer laws will redress that as conservation ideas increase. The plaice i feel took longer to recover and often didnt start in Brighton until mid to late April (yes im finnally getting back to the plaice fishing) but with the increase of numbers wanting access to the walls they were got ready earlier in the year after the winter storms did their worst to smash the fixtures and cover both in inch thick algea.

The squid comp indirectly brough about the realisation that the plaice were not only improving in quality along the east wall but also earlier than most were catching them on the beaches.
For a change things were happening earlier on the wall than they were on the beaches resulting in the wall being got ready earlier and earlier rather than a week or 2 prior to easter. The hunt for early squid brought squiiders with a 2nd rod out with bait rather than a jig or lure and it was noticed that the plaice were there often a week or 2 before the beach caught plaice and people were getting plaice mid March ! the pattern formed over the next few years of an earlier arrival again than the previous year and while people were “trying for them as early as feb if they could get on the walls the general pattern was 2-3 days earlier than the year b4 on the east that I was monitoring. This trend has continued and we are now seeing plaice being caught mid FEB in regular numbers, granted the sizes are very haphazard if looking for the larger ones and the normal sizes at the moment are about 30-35cm, many would say legal length although I would question some of those takes that often are very skinny and would be better returned to fatten up. That said there have been some nice fish of 50cm also caught so the rewards are out there.
Other than the plaice story be it made up/guess work etc that is just my opinion and belief and may even be way off the mark so please dont assume im the expert on all things fishing.
So whats going on?, as many know we are having a bumper Februally where herring are concerned with conditions falling just right as the early arrivals starting and those conditions held with the added bonus of the wind direction swinging northerly clearing the waters inshore probably more than normal. as a result the numbers increased as they started to shoal and im guessing starting to “get it on” in the shallower waters resulting in an extended period of fine weather and great herring fishing . Normally the patern would be 20 mins of jigging for them just prior to the high tide and then they would be gone. Blink and you miss them if you were not in the right place right time thing. This year mostly they are prior to the high but how long before has increased and some days have the have started being caught 2 hrs after the low and continued for an hour after the high water so I would say, unusual and the best year for herring i have possibly seen on the marina.
Thus we have had tons of herring caught, 99% of them on east, next to no one trying for them on the west.
The west has had a visit over the week of an over weight large seal no doubt doing its best to eat anything that moves. High on the east a fish was caught that has divided opinion between a sand goby or a common dragonette, I am going on the Dragonette side but may be wrong anyway but hey its all a learning curve ! Bits and bobs other than those mentioned have been the occasional guilthead from the beach and one high on the east(yes another species a bit earlier than the usual mid March) the rockling seem to have clearded out duringthe daytime but Im told still lurk at night. Night sessions on the beaches are producing conger, bass and some decent sized rays(mostly thornbacks) and the boats are starting to see individual mackerel so they may make the jump to shore somewhen as soon as the 10th March I suspect.

Things are picking up, the east is now fully open and curently closing sometime around 5 to 5.30pm.
I took a trip down the east wall yesterday chatting to various anglers and id say 40+ plaice were caught, the best after 29 , also loads of herring caught, the best pre bay 29 so a day of or a case of 2 halves on the east with things getting chilly about 5pm. The closing time may roll back a bit in a few weeks just prior to Easter but for now will remain at 7am opening and 5ish closing.

I am expecting some news regarding this years squid comp as the group hosting sort out what they wish to do re organising it as LISA wont be hosting it this year.
The general comittee feeling was that it was perhaps too much effort and often grumbles aimed at members about its organisation or timing and some members felt the group would be better focused on other projects.
Thats it for now,
F

The east wall this week has done very well for herring. Conditions for what ever reason have come together and produced over a week of herring initially for 15-20 min b4 the high and then numbers slowly increased as did the length of time they were shoaling along the east wall. Thurs/Fri the duty warden posted pics as early as 4 hours before the tide of catches that continued for a good 4-6hours.
Plaice numbers and quality were down this week, I guess we cant have it all ways but for February the fishing has been unusually better thn the normal for this time of year.

Conditions look to remain similar for at least a week with light northerlies keeping things cold so I defo advise wrapping up even if you are moving about having a go for the herrings.
There is fresh black and ragworm in the shop this morning so worth ringing them and booking while the weather holdsas it is unusually nice out there in the sun.

Other catches being reported along the local beaches include bass that are still catch and release, rays, of which some decent sized thornbacks have been pictured on social media this week as well as the usual giant sea slugs aka conger. As well as plaice off the walls and beaches there have been a few dabs as you travel westwards and mixed in with the local plaice are the usual flounders.
Unusualy there were gar fish reported Thursday seen skipping the water surface and tbh I never realised we could get them this early in Sussex.
So all in all for Feb a fair bit of activity to tempt the casual anglers out.
Thats it for today, over n out –>>
F