*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

Well its a bit after lunch and I sit here thinking of what to type. I have over the last 2-3 day been arriving in the late afternoon often still during the full heat of the day on low small tides. A time that many are often packing or stat on the wall suffering a kind of heat torpor that many here will recognise. Bodies and heads often half baked in the sun with very little activity going on, part due to the heat, part due to the low tide and part due to the smaller tide having little to no movement.

It was nice to see a few old faces including Sue, Ian and JC who was on the higher bays looking very much like an over cooked lobster but hey, he was enjoying the day even if the catching part of fishing was a bit absent.

From what I gather there have been mackerel on most days usually somewhen around the high tide marks but the numbers are much lower on these very hot and small mid day/midnight tides. In amongst this have been a fairly reasonable tick over on the rougher ground bays again mostly close too or on the high tide times. There does seem to have been a drop in bass catches atm but there could be quite a few reasons for this other than the tide sizes and full heat of the day. Local activity of seals and dolphins no doubt have added to the situation but most people that visit regularly over the years will also note that its not unusual for things to be quiet during what some are calling a mini heat wave. The real same is that we are all unable to fish the east into the night time or very early hours pre dawn when a fair few species are active.

I fully expect things to pick up as we get bigger tides and perhaps on cooler parts of the day when we have those bigger tides. While things are slower there have been a few plaice, even one or 2 decent sized soles for daytime catches. bream and wrasse seem to be ticking over and while no great numbers it is nice to see the wrasse numbers back on the increase. Lack of trawlers clearing the seabed maybe, perhaps the knock on results from the wind farm increasing the amounts of fry in the water over the last year or two also sort of point to some levels of recovery locally.

Disturbingly locally Robin had sight today of a decapitated seal, I sort of hope it was accidental and got caught in someone’s props especially as over the last few years there have been regular reporting’s of decapitated and maimed dolphins often washed up on local beaches. Hopefully it isnt a new trend or way of taking them out of the fishing calculations and more a case of over friendly humans interacting with these animals thus crating a situation where dolphins and seals are putting themselves at risk of serious injuries by approaching boats that are actively fishing.
I shant be doing a bait run today or tomorrow as I believe someone from the shop will at some time be on the wall covering times when the shop is unavailable to wall users and with the low tides late afternoon it will be a time that many are packing and heading for home.

While the fishing reports atm are not very extensive please dont think that just because I dont hear or see catches on the wall that is the only thing going on. Robin howards blog on www.brightoninshorefishing.co.uk is always worth reading and can give indications of what to expect on or close to the marina.
If you use facebook please look out for the various charter boat reports or take a look at the web links on the charter boat page on this site>> https://thetackleboxbrighton.com/charter-contact/ locally there is a lot of fishing news that is only a click away.
often hove lagoon tackle shop posts up some great local reports and reads and is worth looking for also.
Yes there are mackerel there, but there is also so so muck more to try for when things slow up and the rods with feathers get laid down on the side of the wall to swing in the breeze. Have a think folks, put a bit of bait on the feathers and drop it over the side, at least it is in the water with a change of attracting fish. no one caught without dropping the hooks in to get wet.
Have no bait ? are you sure ? did you bring some food with you ? if you can eats it, most likely so can the fish, squash a bit of bread on the hook, cheese works well for bream, Dave g often proved you could catch bass on mars bars, no bullshine, many watched him do it, your food can also be decent bait, pop a bit on them maccy hooks, what have u to lose ?

well thats it for today
I will leave you all with the usual, so, until next time I will bid you all ADIEU
F

…. crazy days of summer as the song goes. Not quite so crazy but yesterday was one of those lazy hazy days of summer. Somewhere out there in the ether Nat King Cole must be cringing at my use of the the song 🙂 but it may be the best way of describing yesterdays day on the wall for most.

Having taken the loaner quad onto the wall for another hit n miss ride around the marina and wondering a chunk of the time will the bloody thing get me home or not ! (I swear one day its gonna conk on me with a full power loss) I arrived just about my usual time after an interesting phone call from Vic in the shop who had just had a break somewhere down in or near Torquay.
If you pop into the shop on Saturday please ask him if he enjoyed his holiday(if he doesnt read this blog today it may freak him if he doesnt know I said to ask him about his holiday;)) Anyhoo said phone call included a bit about a bait shop in Torquay that he visited for some reason or other and he relayed some of their eye watering prices.
bait, fresh black £9 for a wrap of 10, £9 for a box of squid(same stuff the shop sell) sets of feathers (bog standard ones) £3.40, 2 hook rigs start at £3.50 cox & rawle hooks £4.50. Now I realise there are some bait suppliers in Kent that sell 10 black at a fair bit less than a fiver but near double of the tacklebox prices is eye wateringly painful.

Ok back to the east wall we go, and as said got onto the wall fairly much my usual time and as I trundled along the lower bays chatting with everyone I could it was quite clear that things were quiet with most there looking half baked in the sun staring either at rod time or out too sea watching the heat haze mess with their brain and eyes.
We were an hour before the low tide and like Wednesday there was a small flurry of mackerel being caught on the bend for perhaps 20 mins or so. The day warden had told me that on the mackerel front the near mid-day tide produced very little and it was beginning to look like the days highlight was one (perhaps 2) of them giant sea slug slimy things landed on the higher bays. If you havnt yes sussed of what I’m talking about, giant sea slugs a.k.a. conger eels.

Any hoo, back to the wall trundling and a quick chat as I said with the off going warden who remarked on a very nice dude who fished on bay 34 in the morning. as nice as he was he left his bay a bit of a shit hole. Now I realise part of the wardens duty is to tidy up but anglers should be aware that they are actually expected to take their remains with them. Coming on the wall to fish does not excuse you nor give you a free past to act like a slob. Please leave the fishing bays as you generally find them, clean TY.

Back of the fish front as I rolled past the high 20’s it was clear that most were bored having either given up on the feathers or quite simply got too hot to keep whacking out leads for no fish. It really was a Lazy & very hazy day of summer.
from the mid 30’s up to 45 and beyond it was the same story , the vast bulk of people there on the straight section were there for mackerel having arrived some time after lunch and bar one or 2 rods in the water most were reduced to sitting in the sun staring blankly out too see.

I did make a point too many as I rolled along the wall, why not put some bait or food, bread, cheese anything that is edible onto a couple of the feather hooks and lower them into the water, surely in the water they had a chance to catch , staring at sets of feathers idly swinging in any breeze was a bit mind numbing, I suspect most of those I spoke too simply carried on doing nothing while wondering if there really was fish out there.

Finally I reached the last 2 on the wall around bay 57-60 area where I stopped and had quite a long chat of which at least one, possibly both were wall regulars but for the life of me… guess what, yup I cant remember his name. Anyhoo if he is a reader here he will know who he is as he reminded me on my wording phrase for anyone of African decent while we were talking about an issue at the start of the week when Adrian, aka dready the duty warden closing had a few issues when closing time came around due to mackerel in part but also downright rudeness IMO. As mentioned in another blog the mackerel were IN as they say and just like that closing time was looming. Adrian went along the wall asking ppl to start packing and bring rods in to be almost totally ignored by loads of people who were in the “moment” hauling in mackerel.
Now I realise when mackies are there people want to get their fill but it would be a sad day if this often happens and the residents group in the marina start to complain that the wall is staying open longer than it has been agreed. I kid you not when I say every single one of those people that night add to the problems wardens have to deal with. It also adds fuel to the fire for residents complain about anglers who cant behave.

If a warden asks anglers to pack up it is not an instruction to ignore them. Adrian was met when asking for people to pack with ignorance, rudeness and in some cases outright racism. Anglers moan from time to time that they are often treated by people with racist attitudes and yet some of the very same people treat a duty warden in this same manner and I will state very clearly to all that read this blog that he wont stand for it and nor will other wardens including myself. I may unintentionally use the wrong terms but I wont tolerate that sort of behaviour. The outcome of continued late shut downs will merely lead down a path that sees the east wall lost as a fishing venue and the initial solution will simply be that we post a new closing time cutting 30 mins needlessly of peoples fishing times.
so folks, please start to pack when asked and if you can encourage others to do similar it is in the interest of everyone’s fishing time on the walls.

Did the mackerel arrive later and nearer to closing time like it did on wed night ? I don’t know yet, and thus, we get to the end of todays sermon and hoping the next blog report is better than the number of fish yesterday I will, as usual, bid you all, until next time ADIEU
F

Took the miss-firing loaner quad down yesterday late afternoon and things were quite busy. Reports of decent numbers of mackies on the morning high most likely the reason , or, perhaps simply a case of decent weather & less wind prompted many to do the trip.

As per Mark’s post on the book of face, there was a decent 18lb giant sea slug, aka conger eel on the higher bays and pictured was a good looking wrasse in amongst plenty of mixed sizes of mackerel over the morning tide. needless to say I am often very reliant on any of the day wardens posting up at least a mini report and by time I get down around about 5ish a lot of the day anglers have packed up either having had enough sun for the day, sufficient fish(rare) or simply the low tide combined with “anglers” only being armed with feathers give it up due to lack of catches on the lower tides. Ironic yesterday as I will explain below.

before I get onto what I saw once on the wall in the way of fish I will say a few words regarding fish care. Those that know me have already found out that I’m a bit of a stickler for people to , if keeping fish caught despatch them quickly and often will show people how. The marina in summer can get very busy not only with anglers but also general visitors that do like to have a stroll along (when open) both of the marina breakwaters.
As a result of this, many of the walkers are not anglers and they can be quite shocked to see dozens of fish being landed and left flapping on the concrete in effect suffocating, or the fish are dropped into a box/bag/storage while still alive and again left to suffocate.

Quite often anglers do not even think about this part of angling or indeed fish keeping. I doubt there is anyone that would want to be suffocated or drowned in such a manner, yes the fish are effectively drowning in the air. This is why I will always push anglers to dispatch fish prior to putting them into boxes/containers.

Now, with regards to storage and fish care, I was please yesterday to see so many cool boxes on the wall in preparation. Some even had decent amounts of Ice with them, One gent even had a Styrofoam box that he had filled with sea water, I must say it is good to see people looking after catches, especially when you consider that some anglers will stay on the wall 5 plus hours and then have 2 plus hours of traveling to do when they leave.

One more tip/suggestion for anyone keeping fish. Prior to leaving the sea wall, GUT YOU FISH. it adds to ground bait, but best of all it means you have less weight to carry home.

Ok, so, yesterday, as I said arrived on the wall about 5ish with quite a few on the walls quite evenly spread all along the wall upto about bay 46.
On talking and generally checking if folks were ok it seemed that there was little going on in the lower few bays (low tide ish) but there were clear signs of some level of mackerel activity with one or two below bay 12 with a few mackerel in boxes/buckets that were recently caught. pootling up to bay 20 I then saw a few landed as I passed and they also had recently caught a few. no great numbers individually but defo enough to keep people on the feed right along to bay 29. Most on the wall were after lunch arrivals so other than marks report there was almost no other catch info.
from 29 up most were basically sat staring at others further down the wall catching while those on the straighter part of the wall were remarking that it was very quiet….. Now , if one was to stop and think for a mo you might start thinking… erm yes there are rods in the water but they all look like bait rods. So, who on the straight section was feathering because the bulk were actually sat watching the bend ppl getting a few mackies here n there… yup almost everyone was sat, stating that there were no fish and yet they could see some people feathering and catching lower down …. go figure.

When I said almost Im betting you spotted the word “almost” yes on dude who I had seen that day earlier in the marina with his wife/partner had asked for info regarding parking etc and in good time found his way onto the wall and had had a few fish in his … yes…, Styrofoam box filled with seawater.

Anyhoo, a few more chats on the way to 46 and that as such was it tbh, the upper bays were empty which on its own is quite unusual as 55-60 is often regarded as prime bays. I came off the wall and stopped above bay 3 for a while having a chinwag and generally enjoying the afternoon sun until perhaps 7ish and headed leisurely for home. all in all I guess it was one of those “lazy hazy sunny afternoons”.

Well thats it until most likely a report tomorrow being as I plan to roll down the wall again later on today. If you are there, feel free to say hi and introduce yourself, for some , introduce yourself again being as I am somewhat notorious for forgetting peoples names.
And with that, I will ,until next time bid you all ADIEU
F