Gordon Bennett! I find myself typing at 6am! wtf! body playing games on me, cant settle so got up daft early. Transport up to London (Guys) for a yearly routine kidney scan is booked for 8am so no doubt catch a few zzz’s on the way up.

Anyhooo less of that and what about the fishing?
Well, for the first weekend I think its fair to say that the wall was busy Sat & Sun, I even had a dabble after watching jnr’s game of footy on east Btn Park… shan’t say the result as they played a team about 4 leagues above & it truly was their 1st game as a team.
On the fishy front a few mackerel were caught on Saturday on the bend very briefly around the high. Sunday saw more of the same and I did see one dude with a bucket of maybe 16 or so as I went on the wall at about mid day(more on that in a bit.)
There have been bream over the last few days and locally Im aware of a few rays being caught , likewise reports of small hounds are starting to filter in so no doubt the world and his pal will be wanting soft and hard back crabs to go charging off to Bracklesham bay to land hounds in 10 inches of water !, nope unimpressed.
Plaice and dab seem a bit thin on the ground this week and contrary to one report in marina group Ive not heard of any gar fish on the wall for a few weeks although the local boats are reporting some.
Yes there are bass about if you know where but with the stronger easterlies things have been a bit lean with that old saying about wind in the east being commonly heard.
Down the sides things are picking up with scorpion fish(bullheads), gobies, and blennies being caught and plenty of signs of fry in the water.
Reading Robin Howards excellent blog it seems that the sand eels are also n the move, his blog is an excellent guide to pick up what is about locally and highly recommended. This week we have also had a few gurnard caught out on the sand, some quite close to the wall. Ive not heard of any mullet on the wall as yet but im sure they cant be far off and continuing on the fishy list we are seeing more pollack than has been for a while which is good to see.

Now, have I missed anything ? hmmmm yes actually I did, during the week I also saw a couple of thornbacks landed, granted not adult but good to see another species adding to the tally as was the conger landed erm in a landing net after it unwisely swam into the net and a special mention again of the topknot caught on one of the upper bays this week.

I have started getting down onto the walls most afternoons even if not fishing and a couple of times I have bumped into wall regular and marina resident JOHN who asked me about catching these fish (usually I only see 2-4 of these a year so this one has started us off) For those unaware Topknots like to attach themselves flat against sea walls and can be caught quite high up unlike the usual targets on the sand. So if you are trying for one you will need to set your hooks quite high up usually as they dont seem to be caught much on the bottom.

Finally a little request to all fishing the wall. If you see anyone using the upper level as a toilet please alert one of the wardens or shop staff if its open. It is a disgusting practice an always males too lazy to either find the toilets at the loch gates or even pee over the side. Anyone caught doing this are likely to get banned…… and from me if you can get a pictue of the bugger I will post the image to the website, I may not be able to name but I will be able to shame.

And finally, do you recal the dude with the mackerel bucket on Sunday ?
well as I said I went for a dabble on the wall after watching jnr’s footy game. well we both did & while fishing had a catch up with Alex and Ashley. TBH I wouldnt call it fishing. Bright sun and a dropping small tide made for very few bites and in all honesty I wasnt really into the fishing bit and spent a fair bit just chilling in the sun. Jnr ignored to put his shirt back on while there and sorta paid for it later looking like a part cooked lobster in the morning. Any hoo come 4 pm we both agreed enough was enough & my body was also closing down on me quite fast so the decision to pack was a wise one & prob just in time .Sometimes my body can just fold on me and Sun was one of those days. V unusually I was in bed by 9.30! quite rare but was absolutely knackered.

So what about the bucket dude ?
Well he was still there at 4 pm feathering away with maybe 1 more fish in the bucket. Now by my calculation those fish would have been caught over the high tide Sunday morning about 11.30am or earlier and they were still sat in the bucket at 4pm.If he had some distance to travel home that would likely add at least another 2 hours by time he packed , got to the multi & travelled home. The fish potentially were stewed in the heat of Sunday, it defo was a hot one. If you are going to keep fish in a bucket please change the water from time to time or they will near pickle in the summer heat and be no good for eating.
Catching fish is great but if the fish care following catching isnt looked after all you will have by time you get home after a 2-4 hour drive is stewed and spoilt fish that can do harm to those eating them.
please look at how you keep your fish once caught.

Well thats it for this mornings silly early report & until the next one I bid you all ADIEU
F

A different heading for todays blog. Why ? because to be honest I couldn’t think of an apt title for the blog. No matter, lets get too it.

And so the bank holiday has been and gone and its been a few days since the last post so I better be putting up a round up or at least some padding to make the blog look like there is tons going on.

Prior to catches I thought Id post a little about the tacklebox. As most are now aware dave has passed the shop on as well as the running of the fishing walls. They are now SEPERATE from each other.
The shop has no control over what is happening on the wall. They get tons of calls still asking about night fishing, which wall is open , why is the west shut etc.
Simply put, most of the time they dont know and thus are fielding questions by phone because ppl are too reluctant or CBA to look here.

This website carries all the info needed and the shop almost never look at it.
Likewise, MARK ROBBINSON runs the walls and has little to no feedback from the shop.
Questions about the walls should be directed here or to him. he has little to no info on what is happening with the shop. He doesnt know if the shop is open nor what time the shop shuts on any specific day as neither are tied together any more.

I have spoken with the shop owner suggesting a split shift type of opening to cover high tides and afternoon anglers then are able to get bait BUT….. The owners big concern is lack of customers when he is open in the morning and I have a suspicion he doesnt realise there is a demand for bait a couple of hrs before a high tide. His view ATM is that he will be glad when the good weather is here and more want to go fishing AND THEN he could open longer hours for customers who he feels are simply not there ATM.
yes I have now spoken to the shop ppl to try to resolve this on a few occasions, so far offered solutions have not been taken up. I will continue to press the shop to open at least for an hour… or two for bait collections in the late afternoons but I dont seem to be getting very far.

ok thats done, whats been happening on the fish front down there.
Nowt on the west as its shut until at least end of September thus NO NIGHT FISHING.

Over on the east across the last few days since I last posted there has been….

An increase in plaice and bream catches. Some of the ballan wrasse have been good sizes although the colourful corkwings dont seem to be about much as yet.,….. Likewise it seems like rays are on the increase , especially the number of thornbacks coming up on the wall as well as on a few of the beaches with pics from some of the regulars who night fish nearby.
Squid & cuttle seem to have given us a bit of a swerve again. three years absence in the spring and noticeably also that spring 10day run of mackerel that used to be so regular and now clearly missing from inshore waters around Brighton!
Purely based on me reading Robin Howards excellent blog for BIF1 the bass are also on the increase in size and quality and this should also be noticeable all along the east wall. Robins blog /photos reports etc can be found here>>>> https://www.brightoninshorefishing.co.uk/ well worth checking out and nope I dont gain a think posting up the link.

back on th fishy front, A week or two back it was posted that the spiders were here and although there have been a few reeled in I cant say that there are tons of the buggers out there yet. most anglers wont even see one yet .. so decent news there tbh.

As well as the usual flatties out there it does seem like we have had a marked increase over the last 10 days of dab catches. Now, while most are quite small if you do manage to find a plump one rather then the many that seem see through ! they do actually make good eating and well worth a go at. Adding to the tally of flatties & rays Ive noticed quite a few flounders being caught on higher bays as well as the standard areas over the mussel beds (bays9-16). Once species that does seem lacking atm is dover sole. Perhaps the brighter sun light days have pushed them more into a nocturnal pattern.

Now, regarding good eating also out there over the sands there are increasing reports of gurnards. While the sizes so far are quite small (please check size guide page on site) those in size make damned good eating. Gurnards on the east seem most common on the wall as it straightens out around bay 22 right the way up to 55 and have been known to grab at more than one baited hook on a rig.

Smaller species are now becoming common down the sides and if they younger anglers get bored watching you, how about setting them up with a light rod and drop a baited line down the Vs. Blennies , scorpion fish(AKA bull heads),gobies often lurk right under the wires on them Vs and in some areas of the wall can be found pollack. Not the big beasties found on the wrecks offshore but some of them are large enough to make a meal for one.

Mackerel! there , I used the M word(god forbid 🙂 ) have been distinctly lacking especially as mention the spring run, 3 years in a row its simply not happened inshore although Im told by boat owners that they are out there off shore. So far on the east wall there have been perhaps 3-4 caught on the wall when the angler numbers are there. Quieter mid week days are luck to see the critters.

I cant say the eel numbers are up although on jnr managed to net one I’m told, yup, netted not baited and hook caught, it seems that it just happened to be in the drop net when it was lifted. I suspect someone was crabbing for spiders with a baited drop net down the V but that’s unconfirmed.

Over all this week the species count has increase but many are still finding things slow. When I had a dabble I found, like many had also commented to me, single type baits worked more than mixing twin baits on the hooks. fresh lug seemed to work best but old worm also was doing quite well. weirdly for me I was having hooks stripped of black and left behind was squid that was wrapped and pinned around the lug, as a result I eventually swapped to just lug and bite rates even on the dropping tide increased or should I just say the bait stripping increase as I managed to blank while loosing a ton of bait while gossiping on the wall & taking pics of other peoples fish !

Yes its my own fault for not paying attention to the rods, and b4 anyone suggests using a bell… no thanks the mere sound of em does my head in. If you cant watch your rod tips in daylight there something wrong with how you are fishing…. so now everyone knows why I blank when I don’t visit the wall as often as I used too (health n all that shit)

So, if you see me on the wall, don’t be shy about stopping and saying Hi, I’m crap with names so assume Ive forgotten your name, while I’m decent remembering faces I truly am hopeless remembering even simple names !

And finally a word, well 2 words that every angler has a love hate with at this time of year….
…. MAT ROT, yup, that old chestnut. IT HAS arrived. as yet , not massively but the died off foam like fuzz on the water is clearly visible on high tides in particular and reports of its visibility also come from Hove anglers.
As most now are aware, may rot is an algae bloom(growth) that happens this time of year as the water temps rise to a particular level. While at prime temps the algae will multiply rapidly and as it grows it absorbs oxygen from the water and creates a sort of sticky matter that can and does block into fish gills hampering the fish to absorb oxygen from the water, thus the fish tend to avoid patches of this “may rot” bloom. the end result is often a sticky gloop & blobs that will get wound in on lines and most of all hamper catch rates as the fish avoid the area.

The best thing to deal with this may rot is for water temps to keep rising so the sea temp rises above a level that this algae can survive which is why when the rot is heavy and it starts to die you will see a brown /green sort of foam form on the water surface that can often smell like bad eggs. The foam is often mistaken by those unaware of the algae and people convince themselves that it is sewage, nope its the rot dying off.
Longish periods of cool over cast days will keep the water temps at desired levels for the may rot to hang around. Thus ideal for shore anglers are a light northerly breeze to push the gunk out to sea to disperse it and combined with nice hot sunny days. The longer it stays dull, the longer the rot will stay and grow…. please mr weatherman , bring on the sunshine.

Thats it for today double sermon, I will now bugger off, go do a bit of shopping (dog food mostly)and have a mooch along the east wall (purely nosey research 🙂 )
And with that all said and done I will bid you all ADIEU
F

May the 4th its STAR WARS DAY!

so, happy star wars day folks, looking out the window Id say things will be a bit cooler out there with that northerly breeze/wind today (good news for all those sunburn bodies from the last 2 sunny days 😉 ) Two continuous days of posts may have people wondering whats going on but nowt to worry about, I just find myself with some spare time while her indoors gets ready to go to todays Brighton game vs Newcastle.

Thus you may wonder how bad was yesterdays catch reports :), the good news is that its not bad news although its not awesome levels. My youngest took to the east yesterday with a mate and came home looking like a lobster half cooked but seemed to enjoy his day on the wall although his catch rate wasnt high.
It seems he has picked up my bug of chatting to the world while down there and then forgetting who he was speaking to especially those who said hi to him & then said “SAY HI TO YOUR DAD FOR ME”! doh! .

Ok, so what was actually caught yesterday ? Well for one young man (very young) I hear that there was a surprise conger landed without a single rig or hook used. It seems as I understand it to simply have been dumb enough to swim into a drop net ! boom. I suspect that is now one youngster hooked for life and if I can get permission I will post the lad with another catch in his hands providing his parent(s) are ok with the pic going public.
Also on the wall a not so commonly caught fish was posted although the angler wasnt facially posted with the catch (still in the drop net) and that was a decent TOPKNOT, again I will try and sort a pic for the gallery.

I should add at this point, that mention of things being cooler today, it may be cooler but please dont get caught out by the sun, its still very capable of burning you especially when there is a breeze to cool things ….. as my son found out.
other catches yesterday included the usual plaice, bass, some dab, bream, I believe a gurnard or two out on the sands also. Things are picking up a little although many will still find things are slow. Fresh worm does sound to be the way to go at the moment , catch rates seem high on single type baits rather than mixing it up.

On a final note I will put a bit here about a chat I had with one angler who lives close to me. I was chatting with Alex the other day who mentioned that he got chatting with some “DUDE” near him. someone who normally he wouldnt talk too and the chat definitely made an impression, this dude fit the bog standard impression us white English types have of foreign people, ya know, they speak different are loud and fit the bill of “oh they never talk to me” or “im not talking to them they are gonna be rude so ya dont bother type of person. Its forgotten that they are also like us/you/me there to catch fish if the can.
Now, Alex is a really nice guy who lives on his own. Much of his socialising is chatting to fellow anglers but I suspect a little shy or nervous talking to people he doesnt know so very often goes fishing then goes home with out seeing someone he knows or more importantly chats to someone he knows.
Well, one way or another Alex got chatting with the cliche type of person most dont chat with, it made an impression on him so much he later on was telling me how much he enjoyed chatting with him about rigs tides and all things fishing. He came away with a different view of those non English anglers that dont chat.. he realised that most are like him, stood on the wall and not talking to the dude in the next bay because to them that dude looks foreign and naturally avoids them just incase summat kicks off, as a society we have become seperated from people and that includes those of a different nationality or colour. Then the shock comes because one gets the balls to say hi or ask if they are ok and the result… a new friend, or a new mind set or even both for some.

Whats my point in the above some ask?
well on the FB group I bang on about chat to the person(s) in the next bay, they may be srangers but they are anglers. You all have common interests and are there to fish the wall. That neihbour may need help, maybe its you that needs the help but here’s the thing, saying hi breaks down barriers , though you may not need help fishing you may need help in other ways… YES ITS GOOD TO TALK.
Alex( if you read this I post with the best intent so please dont be upset ive said a little about you. You found that chat uplifting and it impressed you enough to talk to me about it.
So folks, many of us are out there fishing on our own, its quite a solitary thing if we can do it…. often that person next to you may also live alone and rare speak to others thus much of their socialising is actually while fishing. please say hi to those next to you, Im sure you will benefit from the chat as much as they likely will. No one needs to feel lonely while fishing although it seems like a lonely hobby to some.
Yes it is good to tall….. honest

and with that I will again sign off and bid you all for today ADIEU
F

Things are starting to pick up on the east wall…. finally. Plaice numbers and quality has started to improve. I spent the afternoon down there yesterday quietly blanking and chatting (more chatting) as a result missed plenty of bites as the tide dropped. Either side of me I saw quite a few plaice come out, 2 thornback rays 2 bays from me as well as a couple of crackingly coloured gurnards. 2 or 3 mackerel were caught just before the high along with a few smallish schoolies & a nice shad that got brought down to me for ID carefully held in a towel. it was returned via lowering it in a drop net as they are extremely fragile once out of the water… amazingly it took 20 or so mins to recover but did swim off safely eventually. There was quite a lot of fry and small fish 2-3inches down the sides that to me looked like pollack of which will no doubt start to trigger bass activity.

For me , it was a gorgeous day, next to no breeze & plenty of shirtless anglers. About 5pm it hazed over a little allowing the temps to drop a little allowing ppl to cool off a little. No fish, plenty of lost bites on a glorious May afternoon where I managed to catch up with quite a few that I hadn’t seen for a while. On the plus side, after the high there was plenty of small fish & fry activity, down side clear signs of the may rot building , ho hum!

Tomorrow (SAT) there will be traffic issues in the city centre due to the annual children’s parade and Sunday see’s Brighton & hove Albion play Newcastle at the amex so expect heavy traffic in the afternoon out near the Amex and by-pass routes.

Sat looks like there may be a few showers and if is the case expect the bays above 43 to be closed while wet.
Thats it for today, looking like a busy w/end for me, so if you are out fishing, tight lines, enjoy the bank hol weekend.

And with that I will sign off and bid you all ADIEU
F

Thurs am, reports over the last couple of days indicate an increase of plaice catches and a few smallish bass numbers increasing also.
This Saturday 3rd of may I would suggest visitors do their best to avoid the city centre as there is a major event happening.
The yearly children’s parade will see road closures and long delays in the city centre so I would suggest coming in via the Brighton bye pass using the AMEX turn off and Falmer road turning right at the Downs hotel onto warren road and then turn left down Wilson’s Avenue into the marina.

Sunday 4th of May is star wars day and BHAFC have a home game so traffic after mid day on the above route will be busy until about 7pm.

AFAIK and can see the next week is ok weather wise so as for now there are no issues that would cause a wall close.

Finally an update on opening times which are currently 6.30 to 6.30pm. These hours from Saturday will extend to
OPEN 6.30am
CLOSE 8pm
as soon as we can Mark will move the close time to 9pm once we have enough light.

Thats it for todays update so until next time I bid you all ADIEU & may even see some of you on the wall as I plan to visit a bit more often than last year even if its just for a look see instead of fishing.

Morning all, not Rawhide as the title suggests just a rare moment of updating the blog. So, whats going on out there.
Dave G with Ashley T got busy during th week with deck scrubbers and buckets of sea water as mentioned in an other post. Its back busting to do and I cant say I was over shocked when they weren’t back the following day to smash the rest of the wall but, they did a great job and the wall barrier fence has now been moved up to bay 42 and no doubt like yesterday people were allowed beyond to fish the higher bays, yes all of the wall can be opened if dry enough beyond 43.

Fish wise I guess things could be better but all this sudden good weather can be deceptive. We are still only in April and looking at my older records as my memory now somewhat fuddled with age I can see that April/May can be fickle months with some of the years being quite poor when things like weather blows, storms etc, and even good weather dragging “May rot” out to play early causing very varied conditions and mixed fishing.
Yes there have been up until the last 2 years or now 3 spring seasons we have had a decent squid run & a mackerel run often of larger “harvester” mackerel that could last 10 days to two weeks in April.
No doubt ive said this a few times to people but I’m convinced (particularly in spring) the squid & mackerel run are linked or even symbiotic. Without one the other seems lacking. As to if its squid that is the lead or the mackerel they sure do look like being tied together.
“May Rot” also can be a big factor this time of year (various boats already remarking on the rot being out there) If we get the early spring sunshine in March the water temps can raise enough to trigger the bloom activity early so that we end up with “May Rot” starting early April and being as the rot survives at specific temperatures if the water conditions remain calm without huge amounts of sunshine in April/May that algae bloom can last quite easily thorough both months & has been known to be still stubbornly clinging on well into June. The firs signs of it do seem a little late this year and now that we are being told that there will be a mini heat wave ( how long ? no idea) I can see conditions perfect for the bloom to rapidly multiply.

This year for me has already seemingly started quite slow on the fish front. Fek I thought last year was slow but this one seems worse. Yes we could all speculate as to why & most will at some time suggest over fishing or them monster trawlers ( I cant see any good about them regarding maintaining fish stock levels) but at the end of the day either the fish are moving into deeper waters or they are simply put in decline. The last 3 years have been the worst I can recal, I guess these things may go in cycles longer than I know or realise but at end of day , catches are down , not just on the marina but I suspect the whole of the south coast shorelines. On this Ive no answers and probably could go on for ever about over fishing but, if it is the case us rec anglers while on a lesser level than commercial are also adding to the problems of declining stocks …. a tough one to face.

Ok , sermon over, what’s happening on the marina ?
As said anglers have access to bay 43 now and if conditions allow we can open the whole wall. Thee west remains closed. thus no night fishing the marina.
Catch wise things remain sluggish and catches come in bursts. Of the weekend there have been a variety of catches but the numbers are tough going for many.
Bream, strap conger, dogfish, pout, plaice, Flounder (possibly dab, cant recal if this or last week they were mentioned) dogfish, Herring seem to have fizzled out as the water temps raise, rumour of a mackerel or 2 but they near non existent. Smooth hound pups, more dogfish,, gurnard (prob 1st reported this yr) bass and some very small schoolie’s (returned) not sure if any wrasse have been had yet but they should also be making a showing & bye this point you may also realise that the most plentiful of catches do seem to be dogfish & this seems a similar story for most of the Sussex coast line.
Now, while the species list gets longer as we get deeper into the year, the catch rate does seem to be low. Some of this may be the lack of numbers o the wall but for many fishing its not for lack of trying.
I fished high on the east yesterday. I got there quite late in the day with my youngest son, prob just b4 2 pm so was well into the dropping tide of which little seems to be happening (atm). we fished until about 6.30 pm and had 2 small plaice, yes I blanked but it was more about getting out and wetting some worm in the good weather. More about the chill out than an expectation of actually fishing or catching something.
The bones are sore today but then these days thats the down side of getting out fishing…. or just getting out sometimes.
The weather bar prob Sunday looks decent & weatherman say, get the wellies & rain coats out ready for the weekend or at least Sunday as things stand.
No planned closes on the east for the next 7+ days or so, WEST as said remains closed as work is on going on that side, tus , no night fishing until the west re opens later in the year.

ATM close time on the east is
weekdays 6.30am until 6.30pm
Sat/Sun 7.30pm close
Finally a reminder to all using the east late afternoon/early evening The times shown are when the wardens are expected to be locking the gates, so please as things get to 7pm, start to pack down so you are all off the wall by close time. Hanging back and being the last off the wall at 7.45 pm does no one any favours and closing the wall later than agreed with the marina will only cause issues if we request special close times for any events or even specific tides,
Help the wardens please and ensure you are off the wall by close times , ty
And, with that reminder I will say, tight lines folks and until next time, I bid you all ADIEU
F

Well, did you ? no ?
Ok then.

For those that didn’t clock the home page or the news on the facebook group, David Grinham and Ashley Tamley have been very busy with deck scrubber, wire brooms and loads of buckets of water bashing out the bays on the east wall.
Now I can tell you doing this is absolutely back busting and I know as Ive done it myself a few times. I will also add here that Roy Arnold also cleaned a couple of bays with a deck scraper, again no easy task and I will say all anglers using the wall this year should be grateful that they have.

I AM PLEASE TO SAY

THE EAST WALL IS NOW OPEN TO BAY 43

Over the last week the weather has been a bit up & down and with fairly strong easterlies the wall has had to close for 2 or 3 days. This does impact water conditions and does no one any favours. Add to that some over night showers/rain etc means that we do have to limit access beyond bay 25 on the EAST when wet. Obviously if its ok up there the duty warden will decide on the day if they will open beyond but predicting how dry(or not) the wall will be on any given day becomes impractical.

As I type I gather there is some form of work going ahead on higher bays but ive no idea of what it is.
Observant types may notice work has actually began on the east with the approach to the pathways block off. Pease avoid trying to climb onto the west as its a real pain in the arse getting people off there and there a decent chance it could be a police matter.

On the catch front have things picked up any ?
So far it seems the usual April fare prior to may rot setting in with plaice, dab, flounder, dogfish, a spider crab reported, a few bream have been taken this week also. Whiting, smooth hound pups a bass or a few depending on which whispers you listen too Pout and some herring and last but not least a conger or 2 have been mentioned but no picture evidence of them.

Over on the Boat side of things I havnt seen may reports so a fair call is beyond what I can say other than Brigands reports which indicate that Pollack are the main stay over the wrecks and the bream fishing is in very good swing with some great reports on both fish species.
Obviously talking to the skippers is the best options when you are picking on where/who to go with and in the same manner they also are the best ones to ask when deciding what bait or lures they are recommending.

Water conditions are a bit milky on lower tides as the rivers are still flushing rain water, it seems to me that flounder are more active a couple of days after rain as well, perhaps they like the brackish water that happens as the rivers flush that rain out. As the tide rises the milky deposits tend to clear into a decent emerald green type of colour.

As we get well into April 3 questions seem to get asked more often than any others, the first 2 im convinced are symbiotic with one following the other and that is Mackerel & squid. This year I know of 3 of each confirmed on the east wall & that was on the bigger spring tide 2-3 weeks ago. Since those were caught on the wall, nothing, fairly much the same as the 2 previous years. Now I don’t know if poor weather/water conditions have scuppered this 10 day- 2 week runs in April ( I sort of think the mackerel are last years that make the run up from the bay of biscay and the squid follow & feed on them bringing them into sussex waters.) but things are beginning too look like that spring run may now become a thing of the past.
The reasons for this I can only speculate on.
Is something eating them pre arrival ? (tuna shoals?)
poor weather ?
over fishing ?
Ive genuinely no Idea why its not happening but something definitely seems to have changed with the larger (main) mackerel shoals arriving a bit later each year and number clearly declining with “ICES” the stock watchers commenting on how they are as a species now at risk ! I fear it wont be long before mackerel get put on a restricted listing ! quite shocking in my books.

So, what was the 3rd ask ? well that one relates to the water quality and everyone’s pet hate of
MAY ROT
WTF is may rot some no doubt ask. Well its an algae that forms at certain water temps as we creep towards summer and warmer temperatures. It forms as a bloom in the water and multiplies causing a cloudy colour in the water. The algae grows by removing oxygen from the water and the thicker areas can smell like bad eggs and leaves sticky snot like deposits on fishing line as anglers rewind. It also impacts on the fish quite heavily by clogging up fish gills combine this with the lesser oxygen levels in the water and you can see why fish stay clear of may rot patches or try to swim under it much reducing the fishing and becoming quite a pest to anglers.
Now, some loacl anglers are already saying May Rot has already started (im not convinced its here yet) and if is the case it could be an issue for some weeks unless we start getting some very decent hot days. Im not overly sure that we are going to get the early summer heat that many will hope for and if is the case May rot could well easily stay through MAY and well into June ( hope not).

Anyhoo, as things stand while the species numbers are on the rise with summer species slowly arriving catch rates to for the average anglers on the wall are quite slow , although that said the counter is that tbh things number wise on the east are quite slow and even on “busy days” there usually is plenty of space for those wanting to chuck some line & rigs at the sea 🙂

With that I am done for the day & will as usual bid you all ADIEU
F

Right, first an apology for not updating in a while and also not posting about the wall being shut due to high winds but I was out on the piss for my birthday. Yup it was a blast, 1st saw the rocky horror pic show at theatre royal then met friends n family in the mash tun on the piss till just gone 2am… nope no regrets but very groggy yesterday !

So, whats been going on this week or so?
Sadly, no they havnt started working on the west wall yet so more delays until at least after April ! FFS. On the east we still have no F***ing water so no jet washing meaning the bays above 25 are algae covered and slippery as F*** if even a little wet.
What does that mean for anglers ?
the duty warden can only open up these bays if they are properly dry, any splash ups mean that bay is immediately out of use so a pain in the arse for the duty warden calling when they consider it safe enough to allow anyone on the higher bays even if they look dry. If anyone falls the buck stops with the warden so please respect their call even if it means delaying access for a few hours or even saying no it stays shut. A pain but we have to be super careful risking people on those slippery bays.
Ok thats that done , wtf has been caught ya ask…
Well , Nick(warden) reported the 1st bream of the year caught on bay 24 a couple of days back and while fish numbers are still slow there have been plaice, dab, flounder, bass, conger, whiting, herring (over the high) one or 2 mackerel and a single squid during the week and there are still dogfish taking anything chucked at them so varied just waiting on numbers to improve.

Saturday the early forecast showing some fairly strong easterlies but hopefully while it may feel colder it should be ok to stay open, other than that we have some rain Friday evening and probably on sat so please dont expect the extra bays on Saturday or Sunday as the risk is too high but come Monday it may have dried out enough.

Thats about it for now so until the next post I will bid you all ADIEU
F

Well, what can I say ! Went fishing yesterday on the spur of the moment Myself & jnr who not so junior any more at 23 !. No early morning tide plans just go when & where sort of thing.
Spoke to mark about opening up some of the untreated bays while there and took a green jacket with me. I opened the east to bay 40 advising anyone using the untreated bays that should any water get on the bays they would be immediately a risk as wet.. case was proven later when a wave splashed up at 31 around the wires making it more like an ice rink.
If you see open bays while we haven’t treated them be aware it only takes a few drops of any liquid to make them super slippery.

Im told someone had caught 3 herring over the high yesterday on one of the low >10 bays and on chatting to people already there that truly seems like they were the highlight of the day.

You may note I avoided saying how we got on so here goes very little info & loads of waffle(you were warned)
First thing was to move the barrier down to bay 40 for the duration we were there and advised everyone using the bays that when I pack up we would have to move anglers back below 25, as it turned out that wasnt going to be an issue as when we left there were only 2 guys left on bay 17/18.
Michael & I set up on bay 28, water looked shiny green but lower 12 bays were quite milky from chalk sediment most of the day. Now, while the sun was out , bright & hot the wind on xcweater claimed to be 12 with gusts of up to 16, well I can tell you it was more like 16 gusts to 20 and was quite chill. Now the irony of that was not only were we both sand papered with bits of sand blown on the wind but that sun also managed to do a number on us !

For those that havnt yet been out in the sun for long periods be advised you may want to take some sun cream. My forehead is just shy of burnt ! as well as raw from the sand blasting. Just to add more injury my hair is cropped quite short on a no2 trimmer, it seems that my scalp has also been cooked while we were on the wall for 5hours or so. SUN & WIND in April is I now realise is VERY DECEPTIVE & my scalp is also just shy of burnt and a little bit tender for the next day or so.

So how did the fishing go ? fairly much the same as the other 25 or so that fished the wall yesterday (granted many just took feathers , prob at least 15 of them) yup a big fat blank and very few nibbles to be honest although I wasnt using any fresh bait (frozen black, squid & sand eel). The weather bar the wind was great and having not fished for over 6 months it made me realise how much I missed just chilling on the marina walls.

Today as I type it looks glorious out there and based on tree movement around the house Id say the wind was less than the forecast of 10-14 mph.

we still lack water to get the jet washing done despite constant promises of the supply being sorted out so all we can do atm is make a judgement call on opening up extra bays to get some foot fall on them when conditions allow.
Which bays & how many I can say/predict nor when it will happen as the duty wardens or mark will call it based on the conditions of the day, jes we are still subject to the safety of all wall users and knowingly opening up bays that could become a risk to users mean we have to take extra care doing this.

Contractors keep fafing with start dates on the west and im beginning to think we should have taken the time and expense of jet washing the west and get it in use prior to the work starting but, its damned if do , damned if dont situation. Mark could take a week and jet wash the west only for the work to begin the very next day resulting in wasted money and time.
YES they should have started 1st week of March and we are almost mid April looking at a situation that has become super frustrating not only for mark but for all anglers that could have been using the west had we known the scheduled work would get delayed starting.
Ho hum, if wishes were kisses eh,
Well thats me done for todays essay, hopefully the fishing will pick up rapidly in the warmer weather. Until then….. I bid you all ADIEU
F