dumb arse me, I forgot to add that there are bream and decent wrasse also being caught but, it was too late too edit main post.
thats it & as a certain pig was known to say….T-th-th-tha-that-thats-thats all folks !

Nope, I haven’t lost the plot, I looked at the forecast & thought, ok it says westerly, so lets see if its accurate, soooo look out the window and “Look at the trees” well, more the tree tops which then give me an idea of what may be happening on the seafront on the weather front.

Now the bad news, its fathers day and if you are coming into Brighton this morning… good luck ! its gonna be fecked with the annual charity bike run (London to Brighton.) Every bloody fathers day Sunday this now is.. dumb arse organisers…
THUS if you plan to hit BTN come via the back route of BYE PASS/AMEX/DOWNS HOTEL WILSONS AVENUE, because most central routes A23/M23 are going to be well clogged rapidly.

Right, thats enough waffle(almost) has anything been caught?.. in a word or 6, YES. now I could be a shit and leave it at yes & sign off and, yes, I thought about it but tbh more than 4 read this waffle and Id end up with wtf messages as I make my way to yet another un previously visited hospital somewhere up the back arse of Sussex. Can you feel my joy ? oh yes its real… some of the appointment bookers have a sick or warped idea of bookings for me. Im sure there is a map somewhere pinned to a cork board and the bookers read where the patient is and then throw fekin darts at the map on where to send… or maybe its just me it happens with !
Todays excursion, Haywards Heath and for a change not the Princess Hosp. but the Nuffield on burrell rd tucked behind the station. Chris, (yes I remembered your name… again) I may wave as I drive through your current patch :).

Well thats another chapter done with out mentioning a single species! Im getting damn good at this waffle stuff eh, but more seriously I took a trip on the now borrowed quad (almost the same make ) as the company that supply my Motability scooter finally had a spare that if working correctly would get me like a hobbit out on an unexpected (almost) journey…. waffle 3… fish zero;) Im still not sure if its working fully charged as it arrived part charged so plugged it on charge for a couple hrs prior to rolling to gp and then down into the marina. I can confirm the charge indicator is faulty, as like my scooter i can watch the charge meter go down, turn it off then on again and like magic ive a near full(allegedly) charge being displayed Any hoo it did get me home via LIDL with the power meter showing 2 red & 2 of 4 orange & zero green… got home, turned it off, then on annnndddddd yup display showed a near full charge FFS. so Friday I learnt, faulty charge meter for sure, as to distance about 5 miles. the scooter maker claims 24 miles but I suspect that is on the flat with a 9 stone person on it, im 19stone (yea I know.. fat old fuk) when new though for 2 months I got 18-19 miles out of it. even if the old(funny term for a year old scooter) one gets fixed, I cant say im left feeling very confident that it wont keep developing issues.. it almost like I got the one that came with a few gremlins installed, so im hoping it cant be fixed and Motability sort a new scooter.

Shall we do the fish now? yea fek it, why not. Friday, Alex was still fishing, i’d said Id pop down if done in time at gp and suprise surprise I also saw cooperman on bay 1-2 spread out with enough gear to make him look like a pro… or a carp fisherman with 2.7 tons of gear to pack into some old mini clubman ! and another face recognised halfway up the east was as prior mentioned fishing was Chris of the “I remember you name” fame 🙂 A quick chat with duty warden John and I had the info I wanted even if you lot at this point havnt 😉

As Chris mentioned and also posted to the “great book of face” there was mid wall at least one Gurnard, schoolie bass up to 3 lbish, a scattering of plaice and further up the east into the 50s a similar story of flatties, bass, and some of those delightful Giant Sea slugs(conger)
Also over the last few days Nick has been doing his best to get not only a PB (didn’t) bass but also one for the Sussex arms collection (succeeded) of which I may even pop up on that particular gallery in a day or 2.

Sussex arms you ask ? check out the gallery, it started as a joke comment with wall visitor Matt B who was joking how people in Sussex would hold fish at full arms lengths to get a piccy of said fish so the phrase of fish arms became Sussex arms for piccys that the catcher was holding fish at full arm to make em look better. I then started posting images of “Sussex Arms” and asked ppl to guess the weight. the pics were done to deliberately mask true size but were tagged as Sussex arms for a bit of fun.
other catches even though there werre not loads fshing after a close day were a few decent plaice amongst the skinny ones, blennies and scorpion fish close into the V’s and Tony Elliot hauled up a decent spider crab around bay 12, that I will get a pic up of for the marina gallery.

Over the last week the dominant feature has been the wind with as many days shut as open so not the best of conditions with heavy weed again pulling rigs around the high tides being the worst.
Water state is improving and FRIDAY the may rot had very clear signs of burning itself out. Although still there in the water it doesnt seem too bad and seems to have stopped coating lines on retrieve.
Bass & conger the order of the week, with a few plaice, a ray or two miked in with gurnard, plaice, dab, rumours of a sole or two with smaller stuff down the V’s becoming more common. Not too many reporting spider crabs so either there are much fewer than last year, perhaps they doing the do somewhere else this year or…. they haven’t truly arrived yet !

on the weather front, after today things rapidly improve throughout the week as daytime temps start creeping towards 30 degrees and over. Based on current forecasts the east will be open all week and no doubt beyond and dare I say it….. it looks like the summer is arriving (queue the rain) or as Sir Cliff sang ” here come summer”

Dont forget, the east wall can be a deceptive sun trap, take plenty of fluids and a hat with you and if you have kids with you pack the sun cream, you are going to need it…. While there abouts and mentioning fluids. For those that like a tipple, we have no objection to people having booze on the wall providing they are sensible and aware to other wall users. We also ask that people DO NOT bring glass onto the walls. Cans and plastics please, if you prefer wine or spirits please with wine buy the boxed stuff or transfer from glass to plastic containers, likewise with spirits please leave the glass at home.
Aaannnnd on that note, you all know whats coming, so I will sign off as usual and bid you all, until next time ADIEU
F

Well, as the title says it seems (I may be wrong) that ppl wise the east wall has been fairly quiet, that or people are not posting catches over the last couple of days. I did pop down on Tues and got a bit of an update but skipped yesterday due to the “QUAD” playing up still. The supplier will again be taking it back for repairs & tests but am not overly hopeful, the last service did little to raise hopes that it will work normally and it will now only just get me down to the marina , onto the end of the east and home… just.. it rolled into our crescent at about 2-3 mph ! 4 miles & the power is drained on a full charge so hopefully the loaner tomorrow (same model) has no issues……
As to Tuesdays visit , that defo was a Bass & Conger day for those fishing.
The weekend & Mondays round up basically went ….. muddy colour to the water heavy weed that was settling down come Monday afternoon with Tuesday being fairly weed free but with brisk wind levels the water remained coloured close in.
Ive no info for yesterday or so far today at time of typing (12.30pm ) but I can say the sun is out and the wind seems to have dropped away as I look at the tree tops close to my house.
The weekend looks a bit breezy on the xcweather page but that may change between now & then. Anyone wanting bait on the wall please ask the warden to give me a shout, if viable I will get down onto the wall with it (frank).

Well thats it for today, hopefully my next report will be with the assist of a loan scooter and so, until next time, I will bid you all ADIEU
F

Not much to say re this weekend tbh, wind & weed being the main stay of the last few days. The wall (east) did open Friday but closed early as conditions were somewhat Pants to fish in with water spouts and weed randomly hitting everywhere.

Sat was closed and Im atm lacking any info of how the east wall is getting on although I am thinking test the bloody scooter out after its last service (it needs a bomb under it imo & if it conks out on me one more time I may stick the whole thing on my next bonfire ! Talking to Motability about new options ! oh the joy.

Anyhoo, the coming week looks decent so polish of the dusty gear & get out there, Im looking at making a run to look round about 5pm most days to keep up with ppl so if you see me on the “quad”, say hi & introduce yourself. Mind you please bear in mind my memory is a bit shot (age & health i guess) so please remind me of your name or expect me to ask as while my face memory is decent Im pants at remembering peoples names .

As “MO” will tell you I cant remember “sh1t”, every year I fail to recognise him , then I ask his name which usually is when he starts to laugh & I look sheepishly at him realising its “MO” ! proper “homer” moment it is !

Well, look at that, I have, yet again, managed to type half a page about absolutely nothing other than my failing memory ! typical eh.
As mentioned in a prior post I am planning (scooter allowing) to visit the east as much as I can,
it helps me keep in touch with people,
it gets me out & lack of exercise is turning me into a fatty!
it also helps me keep up on catches & news.
While Im down I will also generally have some bait on me when the shop is shut so If time is getting on and you have missed the shop give the wardens a shout as i am not that far from the marina and if there a few orders I can sort a bait drop onto the wall or even collection for those fishing the beach somewhere like the car park near the last volks railway station. Many have my mobile or access to my messenger on facebook so not that hard to get hold of.

I currently have frozen black, and will also be getting fresh black if available and will from Tues have 2 types of boxed squid & 2 types in smaller blister packs. If viable I am able to drop off between 5pm & 10pm either in the marina or somewhere around the car park of the last volks station.

Well thats it for today, sooooo, until next time I will again bid you all ADIEU
F

EAST WALL
THURS CLOSED
FRI OPEN
SAT CLOSED
SUN OPEN

SHOP HOURS for the weekend and next week
CLOSED Thurs & SAT
OPEN FRI & SUN
Fri, 7am til 3.30pm/Sun 7am til 3.30pm
NEXT WEEK…. 9th June to Sun 15th
Mon to Thurs.. 6.30am til 4.30pm
Fri & Sat 6.30 am til 4.30pm
AND Fri & Sat evening 4.30pm til 7pm
the shop will be (mobile I believe)on the EAST WALL with bait and tackle
SUN 6.30am til 4pm
FRI & SAT who ever is doing the shop run on the wall will be mobile and moving up & down the wall to you, IMO this is very useful, very helpful and they should be clearly marked with a jacket from the tacklebox

Yea yea ya all know what I mean. I didnt post yesterday as was on one of my jollies to see different doc’s in London to those I saw last week…. and different again to the week before that, its all fun here ya know, they give me free travel, free prods & pokes, free bruises, occasionally they even feed me if I’m behaving myself ! and what do I give in return? not a lot other than the occasional 4-7 vials of blood tests, I swap the blood for bruises, they seem to like the trade off more than I though & I suspect I may be feeding a family of vampires somewhere north of Brighton 🙂 but alas I am again diverging from the fishing and the lead title about congers !

With being closed on Tuesday there was little to report on yesterday so in a way I had little else to do other than entertain those overworked souls trapped in the eternal limbo that goes by the initials of NHS. Now I realise that may sound like me throwing a bit of mockery out regarding the UK health service but that is very far from the case, the staff I am always praising, especially those that have dealt with me, I may not seem a complicated guy but if you ever saw how thick my folders(yes plural)are for treatment and past treated, you would realise what an extraordinary job NHS staff do in treating the mass of conditions I seem to have invited into my body over the years.

….There are also a few more (probably many) but I only seen a small part of the thousands who work for the health services that are, truly extraordinary in what they achieve for others, and while I do have the occasional grumble most of the staff are, and do, often go that little extra simply because they can…..

……so if you ever see any NHS staff (especially the nurses) looking tired or seem grumpy its quite likely that yes they are tired, likely as not after pulling a near 16 hour day to make our lives just a little better.
So please, stop, take a pause, and have a think how their day may have been and then please…. stop them….. just for a few seconds if you can, and thank them with a smile, it may not be for any special or particular reason but say thanks and maybe say for everything they give their time too…..
……… You may have just give them that little lift, and reminder, that although we don’t thank them personally enough, random & out of the blue “thank-you’s” will go for miles and miles, passing from nurse to nurse as that nurse’s random thank you travels in the telling. Yes it has that impact, yes it has a power of its own to travel and lift others in the telling.

We all know how easy it is to say thanks at the given time to the person helping you. so if, as you leave, you grab a coffee at the hospital cafe or simply take a pause just before leaving the place, look around, can you see a nurse ? perhaps even a hospital porter( the guys that often miss out on the thanks as they wheel people to xray or scans… It doesnt really matter who of the staff it is, grab someone’s attention, add that one more thank you to your day, it may even be their 1st of the day !

I know I am rambling away from that fishy report (its very small) so run now if you got this far thinking WTF he’s lost it(I haven’t 🙂 ) but its a thought that often hits me as I leave the many many NHS visits I do as I creep past 60, please, do that one more TY, you may well just make their day.

Righty ho… “back to reality, back to life” as the tune now stuck in your head goes :)….
As I said, Tues was closed as is today and Saturday, my brain says its Thursday today so, yep, it probably is. From what I am told by the duty wardens and occasional post on marina with the weather being up n down , wet then blowing & combos of the worlds wrath(not really ;))..
Conger catches as I posted the other day (was it really Monday ?) have been the dominant story over the last 10 day with a high number of catches, Perhaps the news of them being about has increased the interest in having a go for these (as I call em) GIANT BLOODY SEA SLUGS and thus, “just like that” it sorta seems that everyone is wanting to do the CONGA, CONGA, CONGA (just a bit of John Belushi eh 🙂

Other than the sea slugs the big catch story seems to be the amounts of weed that the recent blows have pulled out of the sea but, so many were/have been reporting the wonderful & great lumps of fern like weed wrapping around lines, rig joints and links to the degree that many are not only missing bites but also were struggling to keep fish on the hooks when realised. The fish are in competition with the weed to get at the baited hooks !

.. any hoo, there have been bream, eels, hound pups, more eels, a small topknot, eels, some bass(mostly schoolies) did I say eels ? an occasional plaice, eels and one or two mackerel but tbh the conditions didn’t really suit catching mackies ! more like crabs & yes they are down there !
I guess I should finally mention that amongst the battle for the weeds the real winners were those that changed how they usually fish spots on the wall, they were the one who got a bit more adventurous than they usually would and a fair few caught their firsts , YES I’m talking about them BLOODY SEA SLUGS !

If you are still reading as I ramble on……. well done on getting this far but the bad news is, I’m on the coffee and on a roll…
yes there is more, nope I’m not done and i’m actually thinking to myself now of….. how long I can keep this ramble going before most go…. OFFS someone stop him 🙂 (evil chuckle moment)

Right… deep breath… shop news /info

As posted at the top (still reading ? gooood) Wall closed today and Saturday and the shop will be closed I’m told all day Saturday The shop messaged me today (ty Lee Demario)with their opening hours for the weekend and next week allowing anglers to grab some bait while the shop is open and even how & when they travel and it gives them the best options for when and where they grab their bait before wandering down to the EAST WALL, yes the WEST is still closed, possibly until late September but that is only an estimate on expected time to get the major works done..

You also may have noticed that on a FRI and SAT the shop intend to have someone early evening actually on the wall with bait and some level of tackle for those unable to make normal shop hours.

As a compliment to the trial opening when the shop is shut I have a stock of frozen black,
also from time to time I will also have fresh locally dug worm for sale and am looking into stocking some squid, either boxed or blister packs & possibly both.

Please note this bait will only be available out of normal shop hours. I won’t be selling anything when the shop is open. Some may think I’m setting up in competition to the shop, I am not, its more about making bait available to those that normally cant make the opening times of the shop and lets face it, no one running the shop would want to man it around the clock merely to get bait to the midnight anglers…. thus..

….If you want bait out of shop hours on the wall please let one of the duty wardens know as soon as you can, i am only 10-15 mins away from the wall and if viable or I’m headed that way anyway I can add a cool box with ice packs quite easily too my scooter and have it on the wall in less than 30 mins. The baits I have will be priced to match the tacklebox as I wont under cut them, nor will I bump prices over the shop rates.

For beach anglers I could also arrange a drop near the west wall as I come down the ramps on my scooter into the car park area near the last volks rail station.

Bait & how to get hold of me or the bait:)
Many of the regulars already know how to reach me, so there are a few options to getting bait out of hours with a 10pm cut off point.
1/ call me(if you know how)
2/ ask a regular on the wall if they have my contact.
3/ I am on messenger, if you know , you know
4/ ask a warden if there is bait available from me
If you don’t know my name (Frank) ask a warden for the dude that does the blog & website and if its worth my time I can and will drop down onto the wall with bait at shop prices if I have it

initially it will be
frozen black (sometimes fresh dependant on supply & tides) and frozen squid 1lb boxes and smaller blister packs, if there are any requests for specific baits I will look into viability.
Thats it for today

So, until the next post I will bid you all ADIEU
F

.. And a new week, and so a little round up to begin the week.
Conditions have been somewhat up & down over the last week or so meaning that the fishing as well as the conditions have been somewhat challenging much of the time and wardens not only having to watch the anglers but also very variable weather conditions continuously threatening to close the wall down.

With the wind has come the inevitable weed situation with the worst of the fernlike mess pushing through pulling rigs every which way and loose… older heads will have seen what I just did there, so for good measure ….

“right turn clyde”

while angler numbers have been fairly lowish you may be surprised to hear that for the species counters things during this spell have been quite productive and I guess the bigger of the catch stories would be the volume of conger catches over the last week. Maybe some of the beasties are being re-caught, well probably more defo than maybe but the numbers are very noticeably highly active. I don’t know the reason but part I suspect is due to the dredger activity stirring up the sand eel nests in the marina entrance way ! I guess the buggers are hungry!.

Other catches ? yes, there are, Bream are active but moved a bit off the wall during the lumpy conditions, plaice and other flatties continue to tick over Yesterday saw a nicely marked thornback ray , caught & returned after a quick piccy. Talking of which, If I can get permission I will post a conger caught yesterday morning on the east by a junior that went 15.3lb and while the lad is not grinning ear to ear in the pic im betting he was for quite a while. Also on Sunday(not sure if he reads this blog but..) Nick Skelton appears to have enjoyed his birthday fishing for and catching Conger with a pic on the FB group of himself with a cracking grin while holding one of his catches. (happy belated birthday Nick.

I will now poach some of another’s marina group posts from wall regular Neil Rodwell who fished quite high (details on fb) who reported on the very visible weed issues, cut lines from crabs and fought his way to landing Plaice, schoolie bass, hound pup, and Bream while also reporting elsewhere he had seen Sole, Wrasse, Thornie, Bream & plaice. He also remarked as a few other have in that the water quality/clarity was quite good and defo better than they had expected. The weed it seems was yesterday at its worst over the high. So, id say possibly best to fish close in as the high pushes through & expect clusters of weedy fern on you rig joints & clips.

Overall for those that got out in some poorish conditions the weekend seems to come across as quite tough going but also eventful.
Weather looks good today but , as Im typing Mark has just confirmed that the east wall will defo be shut tomorrow (CLOSED TUESDAY)
Looking ahead I wouldnt want to be the one making the decision of open or shut as
WEDNESDAY looks very borderline & I suspect Mark may opt for deciding WED morning while im still snoring in my pit so expect that to be announced as late as wed morning. With wed out of the way eyes turn to Thurs, granted its very changeable but if forecast holds we have another marginal day & if forecast is over estimating things will be lumpy but open, BUT that is not a guarantee and yep sadly that call is likely to be decide on the day.
THURSDAY conditions atm poor decide thurs am.
FRIDAY, things may change but looking like 60% chance of close
5 days ahead unfortunately looks a bit on the bleak side for w/end wall fishing but ideal for the beach surf hunters and I suspect a certain Mr Gosling will be looking at the time , tide and conditions Saturday night somewhere in Sussex !
Beyond the weekend It looks like we will get a more settled period that doesnt resemble the southerly storms of the spring season !
Aaaannnnnnddddddd, with that last look at the weather I will until next time bid you all ADIEU
F

My apologies for lack of updates, had a few distractions and London (routine) appointments to deal with so very briefly will put here that things have and are a fair bit changeable. There have been one or 2 close downs and the wall expected shut on Tues.
Open all weekend but again swesterly systems mean it may get a tad lumpy at times and likely as not many will opt to target low bays.
Murky water conditions with loads of fern like weed clustering around bottom rigs and pulling lines sideways or hiding baits so more hard work than the usual.
Loads of congers last w/end and mid week, a few bass in the standard places. Flatties, usual selection of plaice & flounder plus a few dabs. Bream numbers down as expected with lumpy conditions. Once the weather settles things should pick up and you can add to my lack of info the fact that many atm are simply not reporting what they actually are catching as numbers as well as catches have been low.

the more that fish, the more I get reports.
Until next time & perhaps a longer report, I will bid you all ADIEU
F

Ok, a bit of something different today, 2 blog updates … oh yippeee !
Right, by now you should have seen the first one regarding updates and /or changes to bait collection rules, so, now that is out the way I can do a normal blog entry as below.

Yesterday I managed to get out after abandoning a visit to the EAST due to the fact it was pishin it down as I was all set to load up the quad ! Thus the trip got cancelled. After a call from Alex things went ahead yesterday lunchtime ISH.
Got on the wall just before 2pm and there was loads of space as expected & I had a target of bay 38 to 41 in my head. pffft went that as someone was set up there with 4 rods erk, anyhoo ended up on 43, close enough I figured as that region had been fishing ok for flatties.
Squid & frozen black was order of the day as didn’t have any fresh yet so set up one rod long & 2 light rods medium-ish. Catches at the time had been a few mackerel early, a couple of decent wrasse & bream and a light scattering of plaice.
Sunshine, calm water but very obvious may rot on the low tide. As the tide came up so the fern like weed started collecting on any clips, snaps & hooks and got worse towards the high tide of which I didnt see(8pm) as body and mind called it a day about 7ish with a slow wind down and trundle back home.

The fishing ?
For me wasn’t that great, multiple changes of bait with some frozen worm that was dried out plus the standard sticky black after it defrosts, 2 types of squid strips used in various combos & at varying range. one rod was a standard boom arm bream type rig with #2s, 2nd light rod had a one up 1 down with a few beads, a long #4 on bottom & a #2 above. Third rod was a short rig with a wider gape ‘#1’s that had at varying times squid strips, black loaded on & various mixes of both and even tried a decent sized squid head with the hook set amongst the tentacles.
All in all, a few bites 2-3 decent knocks & loads of chatting equalled up to a massive… yup another blank.
Alex fared a little better with 2 plaice returned although 1 was a decent size plus he also had a flounder just as we were packing it down.
While we were there a few mackerel came out mid tide about 6pm that got everyone’s (almost everyone) feathers out, me I stuck a metal lure out and had a few flings but being late in the day(for me) I rapidly found out what my spine thought of faffing about with a lure after going through the motions of fishing for 4 hrs. No pictures yesterday(not sure why )
Catch wise Id say the last 2 days were in general slower than previous days, possibly the small tides, maybe the may rot or a combo, although perhaps there were a few more than recent days mackerel catches. There were a few targeting Bass at both ends of the wall and despite plenty of gull activity in the marina entrance about 5.30pm nothing came of the higher bays other than plaice yesterday.

As a result the bulk of catches over the last 3 days Id say were mackerel & plaice, with appearances also from dab, smooth hound pups, a ray or two, bass, wrasse, gurnards(grey & tub)

The weather looks to close in after today. The plan tomorrow is to open the east as normal and then judge things as the weather system progresses so please keep an eye here on the home page and also the marina fishing fb group for updates
That it for today folks
Have a good BHol weekend and I will see ya on the other side.
Until then I bid you all ADIEU
F

Latest Bait collection info from Sussex IFCA

Sussex IFCA Email re bait collection

>>>>

Dear Stakeholder,

The Sussex Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority are pleased to report that the exploitation of sea fisheries resources within the District will receive enhanced management by ensuring the long-term sustainability of shore gathering activities on marine organisms, in the Sussex IFCA District intertidal areas. The Hand Gathering (Restrictions and Permitting) Byelaw 2021 has been approved by the Secretary of State for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Rt. Hon. Steve Reed MP.

The new Byelaw will enable the regulation and recording of hand gathering activities for a range of marine organisms, including shellfish, bait species and seaweeds. It introduces bag limits for various specified species, for anyone hand gathering within the Sussex IFCA district. From the 1st July 2025, anyone intending to gather any of the specified species above these limits will require a Hand Gathering Permit. It also introduces additional bespoke restrictions for relevant Marine Protected Area sites, that will protect the designated features of these sites. This Byelaw will safeguard the most vulnerable and ecologically important intertidal areas, supporting the sustainable management of these fisheries within the Sussex IFCA district, and the ecosystem services they provide.

For those intending to gather specified species above the defined limits, permits can be purchased from the Authority and will last a period of one year from the date of issue. Permits may have associated conditions including areas in which collection can occur, limits on quantities that can be collected and the requirement to submit returns data.The use of permits and flexible permit conditions support adaptive management based on evidence derived from permit holders. The byelaw should be read in conjunction with the flexible permit conditions and byelaw guidance material.

Sussex IFCA have produced extensive guidance for stakeholders on the Hand Gathering (Restrictions and Permitting) Byelaw 2021, including specific guidance for permit holders, and for each of the six Marine Protected Areas covered by the Byelaw. Please see attached our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document and Hand Gathering Factsheet, supporting promotion of the Byelaw introduction.

The Byelaw in full and following guidance documents can be found on the Sussex IFCA web pageshttps://www.sussex-ifca.gov.uk/regulations#HG-byelaw:

Hand Gathering (Permitting & Restrictions) Byelaw 2021 Full Text

Introductory Guidance Document

Permit Application Guidance Document

FAQ Document

Quick Reference Guidance Document

Plus, specific Hand Gathering guidance documents for each of the defined management areas where additional provisions are applied:

Chichester Harbour

Medmerry & Bracklesham Bay

Pagham Harbour

Adur Estuary SSSI

Beachy Head East & West MCZ’s

Dungeness, Romney Marsh & Rye Bay

We hope the provided guidance documents will answer any queries you may have, but please feel free to contact us at admin@sussex-ifca.gov.uk, or on 01273 454407 for further information.

Regards,

Sussex IFCA

Rob Pearson

Yea yea yea, no “Beatles” and yup I know this one is past due, but, occasionally I get distracted by real life and forget to sit & type up something here.
Sooooo In the words of Marvin Gaye… “what’s going on”(if you don’t know, look the man up)
lets start with your favourite and everyone else’s, with… yup MAY ROT.

I recon its safe to say that the MAY ROT (algae bloom) is well and truly with us, but its not all doom and gloom as it does (on the walls) seem somewhat patchy and shifting about. It seems that the tide as it ebbs & flows is moving it about quite a bit so if you do set up with dark patches in front of you there is a good chance that as some point that it may thin or even move. Quite strange this year as usually its like pea soup everywhere until the water temps rise enough to start killing the stuff off en mass.
How to tell if its dying off?, easy the water surface develops that brownish foam that many mistake for sewage. The foam may stink like bad eggs and collect floating debris in it but its defo not sewage its the algae throwing out its final twist as it dies. The more sunshine we now get the better as the sea temp will rise above the levels that the algae can survive.

By now you may be realising that I don’t have a lot to say about the fishing but, thats not quite true as the weekend just gone turned into a bit of a conger fest for some people with myself and some of the wardens seeing a few of those giant sea slugs being caught on the higher bays (yea you know where). Anyhoo across fri, sat & sun I saw evidence of 7 that were 5 foot plus & 2 or 3 up quite close as 3 were picked up Sunday while I was there.

I did have a dabble on the dropping tide Sunday but only had the one plaice that when hooked took off like a bream on speed, once I got it in I found out why, no perfect lip hook for me, ohhhh no, straight through its eye was I, no wonder it fought more than most plaice !..
Friday closing time on the wall saw a 9lb+ stingray landed above 30 somewhere, Im still hoping someone out there got a piccy but Im sorta giving up on that.

Overall the weekend wasnt the easiest but there were some mackies over the high tide for 5-6 days in a row, the standard amount of plaice and a sprinkling of bream also to be had… (may rot slowdown on catches is showing). adding to the tallies also were tub and grey gurnards, dab and flounders, strangely enough there still seems to be some dogfish about and we are also seeing the occasional small smooth hound and a few rays. Bass catches seem low on the wall but that may be a case of few actually targeting them when they are about. There are smaller species down the Vs but tbh they are a bit hit & miss amongst the clearer patches of may rot & so far I can only confirm 1 mullet caught of about 3lb but, there may be more as many of the mullet dudes say little.

Overall Id say things are okay ish and prob better than I would expect for this time of year with the may rot building fast to its full levels.

WEATER ALERT for those reading this far, Sat & Sun starting to look quite iffy and if XCWEATHER is correct there is a high chance of the fishing being closed on both days but, I will post here and on the FB group as fast as I get the info.

And finally, no not “good night from me & goodnight from him” A word or two about the spider crabs………. WTF are they ?, nope not really seen any, one or 2 caught on the wall, one pictured on the gallery was a big bugger too, so by now I would have expected the things to now be marching in ranks of 20 abreast like some Napoleonic division of Frenchies aimed at the east wall. Flip, I swear some years they arrive with knives & forks at the ready to demolish baits and lines. This year it seems that either they are late… or getting jiggy jiggy somewhere else…… hmmmmm summat to ponder as I consider a dabble on the east today.

Ok so it wasn’t quite finally, I near forgot to add a reminder if you havnt noticed the additional notice on the home page re the shop and some bait availability at weekends
I have been asked to post the following info from/for the shop

SHOP INFO

from 6th June, NEW opening at weekend. Friday & Saturday’s only
The shop will be open till 6.30pm
and then from 7pm till 8.30pm will be doing bait and tackle on the east wall. This is a trial run and weather dependent if all goes well it will continue

Aaaannnnnddddddd with those final words and these, until next time folks.. I bid you all ADIEU
F