What with the recent amount of storms lately and the lesser number of anglers the east has been sectioned off at 29 due to algae building up on higher bays. With colder weather now upon us the general footfall on the wall makes fully jet washing it impractical.

With work still ongoing on the west and constant weather set backs it is highly unlikely that we will get any use out of the west wall this year especially as it looks like it will be in much need of jet washing also and the work over there is expected too last well into October now.

Yesterday was the last day of our 9pm openings and as of today the east will low close at 7.30pm, while down there yesterday I managed too catch up with a few familiar faces and while the best of the catches (so far) had been on the morning high things did seem to start picking up again as the tide hit rock bottom. let it not be said that fishing the low tide was crap, not sure why so many thing its the case but perhaps it is simply because all they ever target is mackerel and lets face it, so far this year they have been very evident in their lack of numbers or regularity this year.

Anyhoo, the morning I was told had produced a few reasonable (above schoolie size) Bass and for some on the straight section a few plaice had been showing, most of the keepers were too be fair sub 30cm but it was nice too see some with more than the one fish for a change. Also on the flattie side of things with the water still being a bit coloured were some sole one of which I guistimate at about 32-33cm and quite plump.

Conditions yesterday had improved re water colour and with a week of Northerlies ahead I fully expect the water too clean up and hopefully push the huge rafts of bootlace/string/spaghetti weed out too see, on the low in particular it was gathering in huge rafts against the wall making retrieving fish problematic and a few anglers were bemoaning lost fish especially bass and congers.
Species counts and tallies were for a change encouraging with as said Bass, congers, plaice , sole Bull Huss pups, the bream seemed absent but that may be a case of end of season or simply the coloured water. Will be interesting too see if they make a return as the water flushes clean. While I was down there (as said low tide) I actually saw a real mackerel come out and while I shouldn’t be surprised the conditions didn’t favour the chances.
Now that we are fully into September I can also confirm and state the obvious, that out of the sunshine the air is much colder especially as the northerlies take hold so take plenty of warm gear with you even i it does at times feel almost like summer in the sun as air temps are dropping fast.

Now on the radar should be (as the water improves) squid and potentially mackerel(if there are any!) and possibly gar ish in with them and I would not be so shocked if we were too see some herring mixed in there. This year from Dover to Portsmouth the fishing on the south coast has been truly shocking and deo the poorest I have ever known. It would be easy to speculate and lay blame but I fear that over fishing is at the root of the causes, possibly changing conditions, warmer sea temps, the arrival of tuna with their huge appetites ? Global warming ? not convinced as mother nature tends too work in huge cycles that counter balance even if it takes 2-300 years too do so.
Trawlers and factory ships are still getting bigger and bigger replacing traditional methods of drift netting, trawl nets tear up the sea bed reducing habitat and overall modern methods are far more efficient at getting fish out and processed for market add too all o this the global population continues too rise so more & more mouths too feed and add too all of this the increase in popularity of recreational angling also pilling into fish stock and its starting too seem like there is no let up on the fish stock as the planets population increases year on year.

I dont have any of the answers even if there are any but things are reaching levels that are very concerning.
Anyhoo, wrap up warm if you are out having a dabble evening air temps are quite a shock too the system when you have been out in the warm Autumn sunshine.
And with that, I will leave you all with a final thought. My lad, often referred too as JNR is not quite so junior any more being as today is his 24th Birthday ! fek it only seems like a few years ago he was born and turning lives upside-down
And thus, until the next post I will bid you all ADIEU
F

Morning world, as the evenings are now starting to draw in there will be from MONDAY 22nd a change to the opening hours of the EAST wall.
SAT/SUN EAST WALL …6.30am open and close at 9pm
From Monday
EAST open 6.30 and close at 7.30pm

And so to yesterdays round up, of which tbh is only a partial as when I got down there at 4pm things were fairly quiet with only about 10 or 11 anglers on the wall with no one on the high bays above 42 and surprisingly no one below bay 14! something lately that has been fairly rare.
On speaking too most yesterday it seemed fairly quiet but hard too gauge without any morning info, something that has been very common I have found this year but, hey ho, I can only post what I see and can confirm for myself.
Now it would be easy for me too big things up ( I know some do) but I prefer in general straight talking. granted I can be sometimes a bit vague or spend time waffling too pad a blog out but then I guess a blog is in general a sort of free writing thing rather than an accurate assessment of numbers and lists of things caught or even comparisons to prior years fishing on the marina walls. I can confirm in all of the time I have spent on the marina that this year is truly the worst year I have known, but then, that is also true for most of the coastline from Dover in the EAST as far to the west as Portsmouth, the fishing from the shore this year has truly been crap and I could spend hours posting speculation as too why but even I lack the will too do that so, what did I learn yesterday ?
Catch wise yesterday was tough going although not as brutal as Thursday with a nasty wind most of the day making conditions extra lumpy. Im please too say though for the number who were fishing things sorta looked a bit better with a few sole being caught in places along the front section and a couple also around bay 16 area.

Im aware Chris H had 2-3 sole, a 40cm schoolie that was returned and a few other bits n bob and there were quite a few small strap congers launching themselves t baits while I was there (4 til close)
Water conditions were not the best but the day for late September( ok mid Sept) were almost enough too fool people summer had returned with one dude having stripped down too the waist and jettisoned his socks & shoes. I had a hoodie on too run the quad down the hill and it didn’t stay on long I tell ya ! lovely sunshine and it stayed warm right upto the sunset!

Now, when I say water conditions not the best it was on the low very coloured still but there was a hint of green, enough so to show promise of better water as the tide turned and rose yesterday of which it did. As too the weed, that long spaghetti stuff that some often refer too as boot lace crap was there in abundance yesterday. Huge great big fkn rafts of the stuff and as the tide got too the low & slack water it collected in or very close into the “Vs” making close in fishing quite problematic.

While I was down there and had little too do I did get the tele rod out for a dabble with some of my new squid lures and on getting home saw some reports of the boats that were out nearby landing squid so IMO it is worth a go even in the coloured water (its not true that you only get squid in clear water) and with at least a week of light northerlies I expect the water too quickly clean up making conditions much more clmer with clearer waters ahead which (touch wood) should IMO see the squid arrive closer too the walls and perhaps with them a late run of mackerel & gars, yea yea dont laugh but I have a feeling things are not quite yet done and if the clear spell hold we could see an improvement too this years piss poor year.
If the squid & mackerel don’t happen, don’t blame me, all it will mean is my wonky fish radar has got more hopeful than wonky 😂😂

Yesterday for 10 or so anglers id say things were not too bad and as the light dropped (yes its dark at 8ish now) and we stayed open til 9pm (this w/end is the last late one) there were some bigger sea slugs caught on the bend. One I guess was about 12-15lb but it wasnt weighed as the 2 lads fishing there got rapidly busy with late bites and at least one bigger “giant sea slug” aka conger was lost as it broke away from being netted. While not my cup of tea the lads did take the larger one they caught while returning (im pleased to say) the smaller ones.

In many ways its a shame there were not more fishing yesterday evening as it did seem very fishy one the low tide got itself into the turn. There seems too be a believe that fishing the low tide on the east is pointless. Im not sure how that belief has crept in down there as often Ive seen some of the better fish caught on the low.
Perhaps it has come about because of peoples fixation with mackerel and how they can only be caught on the high tides which IMO is absolute bull and once the light levels dropped yesterday there was a definite pick up of catches.

Thats it for today and I won’t be on the east this evening as Brighton play the spuds today at the amex so there wont be a blog posted tomorrow morning other than perhaps a reminder of the times open changes. And with that until the next one , as per I will bid you all ADIEU
F

Good morning John, yes I know you will be reading this probably still pre lunch also, always good too catch up with you especially now as the bike has been put away. I sorta hope as a temp measure for you 😉
Ok, my visit to the wall yesterday was all short n sweet and a case of in & out yesterday with enough time for a short chat with the two fishing. One, Andrew was just about to leave as I got there and I guess its an English thing but other than a quick mention of the congers we chatted mostly about that old English stand bye ….. Yup, the weather & how he hoped to get out on a boat today!

Well, the weather has held so no doubt he & John managed to get out this morning providing there was water under the boat rather than a mud bank! (if you know, you know) I will be closing up this evening to will likely only be carrying a few spares of gear so if you are reading this and planning too fish later & need something I suggest you message me early enough and I can bring supplies down with me.

Flipping back too the wall and a short chat with the final dude fishing prior too the heavens opening up on the world he informed me or should I say confirmed for me that the morning had been congers taking most of the baits chucked out. I just goes too show that the few days shut has left the sea slugs hungry and have got used too anglers chucking food at them 😂😂😂

And with that I am away and so will bid you all ADIEU
F

East will re-open tomorrow Thurs 18th Sept. ATM times remain the same with opening 6.30am and close at 9pm but expect that to change soon as the light starts going earlier.
Wall check was done yesterday and there are no major issues.
Thats it for today, short sharp & sweet
F

Doooommmmmeeeddddd😂😂😂 (dads Army for those that don’t get the reference 😉 ) Yes it’s meant light heartedly but lets face it the fishing this year has been .. simply put , efin cack! granted my usual opening line after not posting for almost a week usually leads with an apology for not posting or at least an excuse for not doing so especially when the walls have been open, so, lets restart this with an excuse/apology 😂

The excuse:- I was very busy this week, didn’t have time in the mornings when at pc, body having a bad start to the day, forgot to post blah blah blah ( by now some have realised i’m waffling and erm , in that sort o mind set to draw this all out 😉
The apology :- oops, sorry forgot too post 😉😂
The reality :- Sun, was nothing too say other than whats in the round up in a bit, T, W, Thurs closed so mostly overlooked updating and tbh yesterday the body was having a fk u morning so the length of time I was at the pc was almost zero soooo, here goes with a round up of the last few days… week.

The week that was, or wasn’t !
For those tht have not had a chance to get out in the last 10 days and the few that simply have missed the info out there the current sea state including the past 10 days have been churned and overall heavily coloured water and although not a problem in itself we are plagued with the long spaghetti weed in large amounts, yesterday there was a pile at the steps at 29 that would have filled a large suitcase. Im told, if there are gardeners out there that the long string stuff makes good fertiliser but its not my thing so couldn’t say for definite.

On the fishy front last weekend was tough going for most but there were some decent bass too be had and some decent ones also dropped on retrieve or for the lack of a net when trying too land them. Over on the FBook group Stuart G posted a report for Saturday that on the higher part of the wall he had Sole, squid, and dogfish over the high but the rest of the day was tough going. There were fish scattered along the wall(inc bass on the low section) all mostly in the morning with little too no sign of any mackerel showing up…. WTF are the fish this year ? Sunday again when I wandered along the wall there were reports o dropped fish, mostly bass again over on FBook Nick S posted a few pics from his day including a giant sea slug of 18.53 when hung on a digi scales and I believe he dropped another ironically smaller than the one he got pics of. Neil R who is a regular on the wall as well as FBook group poster shared his catch of a sole, bass, congers, and hound pups but all in all the weekend by past standards was very tough going for all. yes there were “tidlers” down close to the wall as well as a few scattered bream but the fishing last weekend was very patchy and very tough going other than a airly decent number of Bass caught or dropped for various reasons..

Tuesday the wall reopened after the windy shutdown that was Monday so on Tues I ventured down and met Mrk P coming off the wall with a very decent red mullet/goat fish that went 13.25 inches or in modern parlance 33.5 cm. No I couldn’t remember his name as usual with me but I figured he would (yea B again) post up on the FB group and sure enough he did and thus I have a name on the fish capture 😉. After a few words & catch up I ventured onto the wall and found Phil aka “pieman” fishing bay one but at the time hadn’t caught but no doubt by close he had something for his time. Further along towards the bend there were reports and occasional fish including Bream, a decent Wrasse and then I found someone with a mackerel ! yup honest guv a real and live mackerel what the Actual F! a Mackerel! granted it was a tiddler of about 4 inches and was about too be put too good use as a live bait but sheesh they are this year almost are rare as rocking horse poo!

further along & past 29 a similar story of tough going and an occasional Mackerel! MORE lummy what was going on, as it turned out I think nature knowing what the weather ahead report looked like was taking the piss out of everyone by throwing Mackerel at us and then closing the door as the autumn winds once again blew!.

Sadly the mackies were few n far between and while there they didnt get any larger. Up on the high bays I caught up with a couple who I hadn’t seen in a year or two so was a good place too stop & have a chat & find out if much was happening on the higher bays and was told of Gurnard, Bass caught and others dropped, no one up there had tried for squid so cant confirm any catches yesterday for them.
While up there there was a sudden flurry of activity only too find out someone’s bait had been hit by something(prob bass) and … oh dear no drag set and a rod had vanished over the wall! no doubt never too be seen again ! Bummer!

And that as such while missing some o the catch reports really did sum up the last week of very slow and poor, patchy fishing over the last few weeks. Sadly it’s not just the marina having a cack year, it seems a very wide spread issue for much of the SE coastal area !
we now have a week to 10 day period of wall closure which leaves me fearing, not only for the squid season thats looming but also for the west wall.

On Monday I got too speak with one o the workmen on the west who indicated they had been put back a week due too recent poor conditions and thus the new estimate (weather allowing) was of about a month and they had been working some long hours recently. Now looming we have a close down of at least 10 days which will push us into October and a high chance that the west would need jet washing before we could realistically let anyone onto the wall once the work crews finish. We won’t get access even for Mark too jet wash on the lower level while they work on the upper as there are vehicles constantly in use on the wall and it is classed as a closed work site !

I suspect we may be facing a case of no west wall fishing this year which would be a right bummer for everyone.
Time will tell, thats for sure !

And on that gloomy note I look back, or up on the page back too the opening title,
Mr Mainwaring, were doomed I say………..

And so, until the next one,….. I bid you all ADIEU
F

Walls now closed until re open on Friday Morning
F

Typing at mid day Sat as the title says.
East is currently open and under a close weather watch. The plan is to say open providing it is safe, and further deteriation would likely see the wall close for the remainder of day.
EAST will be open normal time Sunday morning.

On the fishy front I don’t have a huge amount to say, Jordan posted a pic on FB of the conger he had yesterday morning that I have poached for the gallery and will stick also at the bottom of this post. When I went down yesterday conditions were not the nicest ive seen on the wall;) but it was (obviously !) still open and a dozen or so had lines in the water. Other than the conger yesterday I did hear of a bass caught in the morning but have no details so in a way it stays as a rumour as I can’t get anyone that saw it to confirm for me.

Poor conditions for the last 2 days with strong SW winds that have kept the water churned. lots o weed visible catching on lines and rigs although it is small amounts and short fern like seaweed coming out that in all honesty not too much of an issue. Once the winds die no doubt the weed will become a pest for a few days as it clears.
Blowy conditions will continue right through the weekend and into Monday with Tuesday looking the better (wind wise) of days this week. Basing on xcweather it looks like things settle somewhen Friday evening so that we have calmer conditions for SAT & SUN next week.

Thats it, short n sweet for today so other than the conger pic from Jordan I will until next time bid you all ADIEU
F

Jordan with his catch yesterday morning, no weight or length details.

Begin 🙂 Afternoon all (yup is after 12 just) it looks like we have a weekend of wind and I don’t mean my rearward functions ! It seems that The weekend is going to be dominated by windy conditions with west and SWest conditions and potentially showers for much of the afternoon. The wall will stay open today but tomorrow things ramp up a little more.

Saturday the EAST will open… but… COZ there is always a BUT ;).. It will be under a close watch by lunchtime. With an almost 6m tide at 13.50 and the winds picking up about 1ish (22pmh -28mph it could get a bit gnarly with a lot of water being pushed up onto the fishing level.

On Sunday the wall is expected open and conditions are expected to be consistent most of the day & very similar to yesterday on the wall…. which nicely feeds into the inevitable question from Marvin Gaye of

What’s going on ? but no I aint gonna sing it…ok !
So yesterday, I hoiked the quad out of its shed, loaded up and as Jack was told in that song I hit the road 😉 down to the marina. By time I got there the wind was quite strong and with a dropping tide there were plenty of water spouts making the front end unfishable.

Two hardy (or foolish) regulars chanced their arm on bay 20! brave… but quite wet souls😂🤣😂who no doubt were rigged for bass. Oh, and yes I went straight up past the cafe while (cough* cough*) NOT feeding the dogs there;) and rolled onto the upper level. wasnt a cats chance in hell of me rolling along the lower level and while I was there there were defo some fun rollers coming down the lower level bays:) fun for me but less so those trying to avoid the waves.
The days catches were predominantly bass in the morning and as the afternoon ticked away there were a few eels had, some bass were hit or miss, one on the first bay took a chunk of mackerel and fought the hook while it turned and rolled in plain sight tucked into the 1st “V”
Unfortunately a lack of net and a strong fighting fish meant a 4-5 minute fight on a light rod tight in the “V” was in vain as the trace line either gave up or was sheered off.
Having got my hand too the line before the the trace gave out and eye line with the fish clearly visible i’d estimate the bass a comfy somewhere between 4-5lb.

Now, you could be forgiven to be thinking ok so that was is on Fridays conditions but no.. by 4pm with the wind blowing and trying too swing further around from SWE and the sea spanking up through the “Vs” someone landed a mackerel! wtf! and then another & another ! what the fek was going on! I had half expected to see the buggers come up the “Vs” and wave at people. Granted the mackies didn’t stay long but I swear the buggers must have been lost coming in this close on rough seas. So, other than Bass, eels and wayward mackies it was hardly a shock when also hanging onto peoples baits were spider crabs and what looked like velvet swimmers coming out.
I did have a dabble for a short while but tbh it was more about having a chat & catch up than having a serious fish so I decided time to get home b4 the rain hit and soaked me.
Thankfully I was in 10 mins before it hammered down!
And with that and until the next one I will bid you all ADIEU
F

…..OCTOBER ! Dang, the 28th already and it seems like August has been and gone in the blink of an eye!
How can I sum up August, well easy done in one word .CRAP. yep, the fishing has been an absolute shitfest IMO. While I realise there have been some decent fish this month (including them sea slugs) over all I cant recall a crappier August on the marina walls and its not jus because we have lacked the west wall access for the whole of the summer.

Looking around at other Sussex venues it has been a similar story. fek even the Dover area has at times had it tough. If the “good” catches posted from Shoreham walls are anything too go by most would likely as not nod their heads & say yes a poor year. I’m betting most reading this will be thinking oh fuk he gonna speculate on why its poor and roll out a ton of excuses. Well, no, I have speculated already this year on why its so poor so I recon by now you also have an opinion of why its so crap lately.

On the up side it looks like the work crews are near done on the extension as there is heavy plant equipment on the bays high near the toilet block…. Could they be on for an early finish ? oh how I hope so, I must try n get a chat with someone on site.

Now, I realise I havnt posted for a couple of days. TUES was a family day so no report posted for Mon or Tues and lacked the will too post in all honesty, so, whats been happening ?
the joy of not posting leaves an issue that I gotta throw my memory in reverse & tbh, it’s not the best thing when it goes forwards yet alone rewinding but today in many ways the windy weather has helped me out.

So, Tues a seriously slow day for most on the wall and hard pressed too find anyone of the few left claiming too have caught. Granted the wall was almost empty but you normally expect someone around who had seen something. so other than a couple of bass confirmed the general story was , where are the bream ? high came & went and those working the low bays were all saying the same thing “no fish” well not quite no fish on the low bays as it seems bay 1 has become the home for some very hungry blennies and it seems that the usual Bream on the lower 15 bays have packed bags n hiked it off on holiday ! go figure.
TUES as said I took a family day with the wife & jnr and we spent the day toasting a few beers too the memory o my mother in law.

Yesterdays visit was one of the quickest I have made and rather than open the side gate I rolled the quad straight onto the upper level and didnt expect anyone too be above the steps at bay 10., there were a few fishing still come late afternoon and the highest pair were up on 20. Both had bass too report & while not large a couple were decent enough for the table. Most of the info I could gather was the day boiled down too bass and eels as the wind blew constantly from the South West.
I will take the quad down later to see if the very well stirred up water throws up, tbh Im not expecting too see too many down there but ya never know.
Thats it, lots of words for fairly little too go on. And so, until the next one I will bid you all ADIEU
F

….. Again! Sometimes I wonder where the days vanish too. This time last week I was half asleep having had my very annoying and painful Gall Bladder removed. How do I feel, tons better, you cant believe the little moments that are now pain free. granted my gut is sore post surgery but boy its a worth it swap. Anyway, less of that,I’m sat here again wondering where these days are going missing too. It sorta feels like the last week has days missing as one day blurs into the next and I find myself ticking of whole weeks rather than days.

So whats happening on the marina.? Yesterday due to the joys of an unknown cause I found myself with a bout of insomnia much to JNRs shock as I was wide awake as he staggered into the house at 4am ish and asked to be woken at 8am as he had a footy match 😂😂😂, oh yes, he suffered for it but that, as they say is another story. By 7am I had already been down, made a coffee, gone back to bed and then finally gave up the attempt and got dressed resulting in yesterdays 1/2 a book instalment of this thing we … or I am claiming is a marina blog, (na its my messed up minds form of joke on everyone:))

The result of being up n about so early meant what do I do now that Im up? the result after the longish blog was my mind turned too my tide table and thought, hmmm lets go drown a worm or two so at an unusual time for me these days the quad was loaded with a couple of rods a tacklebox that It turned out I never opened while down there (almost normal these days) walking stick (just in case) 1L bottle of drinkable and rolled onto the marina as I mentally flipped a coin of high or low, the high won.

Its a good job its called fishing because long story short… I blanked..again. Granted I had a few bites too make it interesting and I did for a short while have a dabble with the squid lure(s) but too no knocks. I did see a decent bass (see below)come out above me that was posted too the marina group and yes that has reminded me that I promised too post it too the gallery ( I will honest) no doubt with a couple of others that I have neglected too post up also (yes i sorted them mid typing) see the extra pics on the various galleries.
Also confirmed on the higher bays while I was there were a few bream, plaice and some micro’s but for me and many the morning was like many days recently very hard going.

As I left ending my 1st visit of the day … and week ! many were already packing an hour after the high having shook their heads when asked “did ya catch” its becoming a feared phrase ! . just below the steps at 46 I was told of a couple of Bream, wrasse and a gurnard that was much discussed re its taste. but those few fish did seem to have been the highlight of the front section of the wall above 22.

Lower down towards the bend I’d like to say things were better and had expected to at least hear of a few bream but again was met by heads being shaken… Jeez wtf is going on with this years fishing !

Now at this point usually I am signing off for the day but, I did hint earlier and after sticking the quad back on charge and grabbing a sarnie or two I reloaded the quad and erm , headed back down to the wall for a late afternoon/early eve mooch. Too be fair many when I got there had left so any accurate report wasnt available for so few people left on the wall. I did manage to grab a chat with one regular who was mid wall with his family and his MUM fishing also, Im fairly sure he reads here so he will immediately know im talking about him as his lads had a couple of lures and no doubt they will be back for more sometime soon.

Estimates from the builders on the west wall still remains “somewhen in September” so cant add any further info on that becoming open Final bit of news is that the “SQUID” gallery has been updated with a piccy from last week sent in by JOE VIRGO confirming the first few squid caught this Autumn season, he fished the ledge on the west side and kindly sent in a pic.
Thats it until the next post, dont forget most of the galleries have a few new piccys posted so all thats left is to post up the promised bass from yesterday caught by Kenny and sign off , so until the next one..
… I will bid you all ADIEU
F