Turdsday, why Turdsday ? well tbh that is what the fishing was yesterday up until close of play. On arrival I was told the shop was shut, but then things on the wall and locally have been a bit pants lately and dispite the overall reduction in weed issues on the east wall a fair amount of beaches locally are still dealing with weed issues so that may be a factor in the shop being quiet… either that or anglers are simply going to other shops.
Added to the shop issue the fishing quite simply was crap hence the report is all about Turds-day !. On arrival there was one person on the lower level and most there were simply tucked a little out of sight beyond bay 12.
Me: any fish ?
them ? that sort of glassy stare of boredom in return and a shake of the head and so I rolled the quad upto and beyond bay 12 without the wheels thumping at least one red post as I lined them up to the gap, quite an achievement and saves inflicting shit on my fragile spine. As it turned out I managed the full up and down again this time without hitting anything so at least my spine was happy š there were one or two regulars who seemed happy too see me often with a grin on their faces (where else would a grin be but on a face ! eh) Should also have said yesterday It was nice to catch up with Miraj who was fishing with family members I think he said over from Canada , boy is that a damned long way too go fishing in Brighton! at least they have decent weather for the week here.
Familiar faces by the half way up point, 5 fishes 0 ! as I continued up the story was the same familiar faces, 5, 6, 7, 8, catches ? yup zero . Now while this sounds crap, many were feathering and not so many had bait in the water so bait rods in were not many although as I trundled along more were arriving for the early evening session to, erm , have a go. Ive no idea how many fished the morning’s high tide and am not sure who was on duty from opening until Ali arrived so all I had was a few shaking heads on what was a dropping quite small tide.
On reaching 55- to 60 the days fun began with a resident collaring me with concerns for a Gull that had some netting wrapped around a leg and what also appeared to be some fishing line protruding a couple of inches behind its tail feathers so I suspect it may also have the ends of a fishing trace also stuck in its body.
All attempts to chatch/resue it were in vain, is could fly with little to no issues and tbh didnt look that hungry so wasn’t having any attempt to capture it despite quite an assortment of food including small sprats. I did learn after a while (from bird rescue people) that the bird had been seen on the black rock site the day before and may have been tangled for a few days so eventually all attempts to catch it were stopped.
And so the wheels were pointed back down the wall and after a fair bit of gossiping I wound up on bay 7 for a dabble with a light rod & a 2 hook flapper flicked out with black & tips of squid not expecting much tbh.
By this time a few more bods had arrived and the lower bays did have quite a few people on them as well as the standard arrival of those seeking the “M” word. And so the day wound down towards 8.15 when I put the rod away and headed up the wall reminding peeps of the time and when we close the wall. Scores on the doors were, a shad caught on the bend of which a quick explain that the fish was a protected species thus should be retuned and the dude got a quick piccy and I returned the fish as carefully as I could. There were 2 decent conger got to a net on bay 47, witnessed and lost of which one they estimated of about 20lb. The guy was gutted as he had been using fairly light line and lost both due to line breaks under pressure and was still muttering about using heavier gear so next time ……. š
I suspect the 2 congers were the days highlights for those that saw them as there was little joy on the rest of the wall along the straight section clocking up a mere couple of pout . Lower bays basically produced pout and micro’s such as blennys and a crab or two. For myself I racked up a huge hall of 2 blenny’s and 4 pout of which one was a double shot which at least made it partially interesting.
Im happy too say that the wall cleared quickly although one family had thought we had a 9.30 close. Its not the first time some have thought this and im not too sur why some are arriving and thinking 9.30 is the close time so Im guessing that there is a notice on a website somewhere with the wrong info as this year shut is defo 9pm until make changes it to probably 8.30pm.
And with that my final words are (if you are on the wall) that I will see you later on the wall today and for now I will bid you all ADIEU
F
Author: drenai
Bet ya cant guess what was mostly caught yesterday ? need a clue ? well it wasn’t mackerel that’s for sure š
Right then, waaassssuuuuuuuuuppppppppppp ?
Monday I gave the wall a miss being as the weather was pants and the wall was shut in the afternoon. The beauty of the EAST though is its shape. With more SW to westerlies and general wind patterns we can often keep at least part of the wall open when the wind picks up as the lower 10-15 bay are somewhat sheltered from the worst of the weather bar Hefty SW, South or SEast winds. Granted as things picked up yesterday it did become too much to stay open and Mark shut shop about 1pm.
Now while I dont have much of a catch report I can confirm one catch that was posted too a wall regulars FB page of an 8lb bass that looked from the piccy to have been caught very close to the bend ! go figure If I can re find the pic I will get it up on the gallery.. Dumbarse here didn’t think too save the pic as Im so used too “acquiring” the posted pics from the marina group…… which reminds me…
The FB group “Brighton Marina Fishing UK”, a few words.
Firstly I am aware for non members the social media floating buttons on the home page that link to the marina group don’t work for non members. Unfortunately I cant change that . While I realise it doesnt work for non members it does for members , it works that way because of the groups global fb settings of being set too invisible to non members.
It would be easy to think , … well thats fkn soopid but.. its done that was as the group was having issues with spam accounts, malicious posters(removed) and a collective group of people best described as a pain in the arse as they bombard fishing groups en mass asking for mackerel and are solely focused on the one fish. Thy have no interest in angling or learning other methods, often show up at a venue with brand new and unused rods 1 weight & 1 set of feathers and absolutely no no how of fishing. I realise everyone has to start somewhere but these people often have no interest in learning anything other than ripping 4 buckets of mackerel out of the water for what ever reason they use the fish for once home with their haul.
This all sounds like im anti mackie fishing, Im not and am willing to teach anyone at any level of skills if they want too learn but Ive little too no time for people that are on a venue for mackerel out of pure greed that bring 2-6 big buckets (one once had a council wheely bin ffs) spend their entire time expecting too rip 100s of mackerel out and then overload containers & cart them too a hatchback car with a black bag lined boot. I wonder after 8hours on the wall in the sun at the condition of said likely as not squashed & crushed fish that then took another 3 hours too drive home. I bet the car would stink worse that a mouldy fishmongers place ! erk
And thus the group was set to invisible !
How does this help someone too join a group that is hidden from view unless you are a member .. well it doesnt BUT, I will tell you how too at least get an invite.
You need too know (have someone on your friend list) someone already in the group
OR find someone on the wall that is willing too add you too their friend list so that they can send you an invite.
Please note that if you are sent an invite YOU MUST answer the 3 questions, the FB settings mean that if you don’t your application will time out … TIME OUT eh wtf someone out there said.. well all invites too join are time limited to 1hour. If you get an invite you cant save it til later, it will vanish after an hour.
Right then, back on track from Mark closing on Monday.
The wall re opened Tues morning as normal at 6.30am to heavily coloured water and (found out later) loads of feathery fernlike WEED ! loads of it that got worse after the low tide, it wasnt unfishable but it made things a bit messier, and, yes catches too come after a bit more waffle..WHY? coz I can, so there š
OK, so after a GP appointment where a very nice man slabbed me in both knees with a needle as long as my middle finger. Yes it went right into the middle of my knee joints, painful ? a bit, but boy was it worth it, for the 1st time in 4 years I could actually walk without need of a walking stick, granted not perfect and somewhat achy(minus the breaky heart shit)but too have constant pain and bone grinding in the knee for the last 4 years to become a normal state of things… well the change was almost as fast as the time it took me too stand up. Damn near miraculous in its own way ! Ok its only one small part of me thats now pain free but its a start and I can walk some short distances pain free.. now anyone out there with a spare lung or two so that I can breath normally while i walk ? fook, funny as shit tbh. Anyhoo back to yesterday š
Yesterday, no not gonna think of the Beatles song…much.. So GP then home, wheels on charge and got ready loading the quad back up for a wall run & thought to myself I KNOW lets take another rod down & try not to break it on bay 8 or 9 if free once ive done my gossip run and catch up š
SO we are back to the top line of this blog spot and what was caught yesterday, and yes it was mostly snotties and giant sea slugs aka silver and conger eels. there were other catches scattered about prior too me setting a light rod up on bay 9as 8 was already occupied by a pair who were on their 4th visit in a week (bloody addicts everywhere eh lmao)
Chris I gather had a fair few pout at least one wrasse and I think he mentioned an eel. Two or three people tried the higher bays nr 60 and one was on the last bay tucked in the corner so too speak on 74. I dont think anyone caught up on the high spots but maybe wrong. Lower on the front section amongst those using feathers (yup in mucky water but they did clear a fair bit later) bet ya cant guess what was caught yup more eels, granted the title refers to congers but too be honest there were more silver eel (all returned as protected) but I couldnt really put as a title , “snotties and more snotties”now could I?…..hmmmmmm…….
Anyhoo the general story of the day was most who caught yesterday got at least one eel(mostly silvers as said) a couple of anglers had erm, a couple of silvers. There were also a lot of pout scattered along the wall. On top of those glorious catches there were some micros including blennies and gobies. Ballan and corkwing wrasse are also out there and also, there are a few crabs too be had in the way of spiders, edible crab and velvet swimmers, finally I just remembered at close yesterday Chris landed a nice sole for his tea.
While the water later in the day did clear too a better green for those that were feathering unfortunately there were no mackerel had before closing at 9pm, as too my rod, well yes It did catch something in the way of a baby silver eel and a couple of small pout ,saved a blank I guess.
At time of typing this line (12.17pm) i have no info of morning catches so maybe will find out a bit later when I head down. Thankfully the council workmen have finished installing solar panels after much drilling and hammering and finally the house has gone somewhat quiet. Its weird, after so much noise the silence feels weird and very amplified, quite Erie in a way.
Right, enough, thats it dopey arse, sign off and do summat else other than fill the page with crap ! aaannnnndddddd so, until next time, yup I will bid you all ADIEU
F
P.S. that bass, caught by KennyL on Tues prior to wall close
As the title says, its August !, no shit said the wife its been that for four days !. yea! well, erm, I just noticed and want to know who nicked half the bloody year. It feels like fricking Crimbo was only a few weeks ago and the damn thing is now closer than the last one ! fek, time aint flying some buggers nicking it sheesh!
Right thats out the way, whats going on down on the marina. Over on the WEST they are still chugging away, on last talks with them they are still saying some time in September ….. erm ya mean next month guys ?….. silence .. so there it is. To be fair we have had a fair bit of blowy weather and as we creep towards September.. yea I recon there will be more so expect the “SOMEWHEN” in September to become “end of September” the most likely and perhaps an over run of a week or two. What does bother me a bit though is that the work all seems to be on the extension. I cant say that I have seen anyone working on the main wall section…. unless it is only the extension that is being done this year.. NOTE to self, speak to the crews about whole wall or just ext… Id hate to think they will be back next year ! fek thats a nasty thought ! ergh!
Right, stuff that, whats going on over on the EAST ..(caffeine break..)..ok, well, by time I got my shit together yesterday I could see from the tree tops nr our back garden that the expected breeze had begun and on bombing down the hill at breakneck speed on the quad (8mph) it was clear that things would be a tad choppy on the EAST so decided instead of accessing th wall via side gate I’d roll straight onto the top level. There were surprisingly more fishing than expected but very little was being caught. I decided to hang around and chat with Ali and a few of the others already there trying to pick ppl’s brains so to speak and get a clearer picture of the day and also the last few hrs of yesterdays session on the wall.
And thus we have for the mackerel hunters good news followed by poor news followed oh ok , good news, bad news good news sorta thing, are we sitting comfortably ? yes ? ok shall I begin with the good.~>
Mackerel, Mackerel, Mackerel, Mackerel, Mackerel, Mackerel, Mackerel, Mackerel, is that good enough or shall I explain it š
Yea. yea. yea, you know she loves you and you know you should be glad.. oops off track..
re do the yea thing and change too this.. So did the mackerel happen Saturday evening ? well as posted yes there was an increase in numbers followed by a decent flurry SUNDAY morning which was happening as I was typing up the last posted ramble here yesterday morning. so other than the morning flurry what happened Sunday ? well yes the flurry got a bit larger Sunday morning but then as mentioned 1/2 an hours read ago there was a westerly “breeze” building up that by time I got down there resulted in me taking the quad straight onto the wall to see most of the anglers had condensed below bay 18 as the wind had started too get a bit stronger and the tide was knocking a load of water spouts up, the worst of it above bay 46 but it was also enough to make lower bays from 20-46 unpleasant. With me going straight onto the top level it gave me the chance to find ALI who at the time was parked on his bike around bay 12 which would give me a quick catch up part from the day so far but also what happened after I left Saturday because …..
Well it did look like summat was about to happen Saturday as late afternoon there were a few fat long Mackerel caught while I was there, granted only 4 or 5 but with water colour and general conditions light levels etc, well, yup HERE it comes …………… …………. …….. “IT LOOKED FISHY ” š
Yes Ali sorta agreed but was sceptical and a couple of regulars asked if it was worth staying so non commitaly I said well there were the fat ones caught and conditions very much looked promising so stay and see what happens about 7pm.
It turns out that it was fishy, very fishy if you was there for mackerel yes MACKEREL so there ya go thats the good news they were there in numbers and so you now know whats coming dont ya !
The bad news
Saturdays fishing spree started about 7ish when the wall was fairly busy and as most regulars here and on the marina group on the book of face know, through the day we give people plenty of warnings not only about the close gate time but also the reasons why.
Its great to see plenty of fish being caught but if anglers deliberately continue to ignore some of the wardens when they are told too pack up in time things will change for the worse.
I realise people like to have the one more cast thing and I realise the allure of staying when mackerel are running but we have an agreement with the resident association and if the walls are kept open by selfish anglers for a few more mackerel it gets noticed. It only takes one time too many that we fail to close the gates on time and boom we end up losing an hour of fishing time because we have to close the wall at 8pm simply because a few greedy arseholes wanted to catch a couple more fish.
Now from my view point, that aint gonna happen for a few reasons. the first is that some of the wardens are being ignored when it counts most and Im sure Mark will feel the same. If there is a need for either of us to have to be on the wall as extras simply to close because of a few selfish anglers, well then I feel fairly confident in saying neither of us will be in the best of moods to deal with people that think just because they drove for 2-3 hours to get here that they have an entitlement to continue fishing when its close time.
Good news time now ?
Well the good news is for the non mackerel hunters, late staying on the wall wont be tolerated and some of the idiots are now under a closer watch and if needed will be told not to return. For anyone that thinks its ok to delay leaving, think twice, if you dont you will smply be making you last visit too the marina.
Bad news ?
bad news for the mackerel hunters is that the winds did ease very slightly last night but I am sure most people have seen news reports of high winds and storm warnings for big chunks of the country so you will also then realise it impacts the wall. While the wall did open this morning as there would have been a few bays that were ok too fish the front section will rapidly get unfishable as the wind builds and closes the wall this afternoon. the winds will obviously churn the waters today meaning those mackerel will be heading for deeper water until the sea again calms and clears.
Good news again š
the wall will be open Tuesday and the weather for the following week looks quite decent with much lighter and northerly breezes that should push the weed out to sea.
Right, enough about idiots on the wall causing issues, due too the conditions yesterday the catch reports were few and far between other than a flurry of mackerel in the morning and a schoolie bass here n there. It did look sorta decent conditions if there wasnt that westerly cross wind and the sea did say a decent deep green colour. It looked for quite a while like there would be a re run of the mackerel shoals yesterday late afternoon and about 6ish Id said too Ali, yes maybe but if it does start it would be about 7 to 7.30pm. And that as they say was it! …. na not really š I left just after 7pm and quite honestly have no idea if the mackerel happened.
What did happen was me going down onto the lower level at bay 29 too help a group of new too angling people who were trying too get the hang of swinging the lead so too speak. So down I went and gave them a hand. A few pointers and instruction here & there plus a general chat etc resulted in thier use of the rods was improved and more importantly sorted to a level that their rod and lead swinging was much safer for all of them and for others nearby. If the mackies showed im confident in saying they would have caught some for sure.
And thus we come to the did they or didn’t they :), well at this moment in time 12.50pm I do’nt actually know as I left at 7pm š
Thus we get to the usual close of yarn with…. until the next one I will bid you all ADIEU
F
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 š
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 š
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 š 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 š ) 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 š
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 š
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 š
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 š
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
