Unfortunately Ive not much to say other than the lack of mackerel which some will see as a good thing others not so. As per for the east arm the plaice tick over steadily and the weekend has seen a few decent bass on both walls to various baits including prawns doing well.
Over all lacking that many reports even from the wardens who are operating on auto pilot. Numbers Thurs was busy day time , Fri so so number wise. Slow going yesterday as the rain likely as not put many off early morning.~
No feed back as I type (11am) of how busy it is but my guess is loads of space as Ive not had a call to go assist.
Night update include rays, sole, plaice and bass, not so many crabs around which tbh is a good thing but its still early in the season.
May rot report is the water is a deep emerald green so depth visibility is not there yet & hard to say if its clearing or sitting dornmant, there a real need for plenty of sun to bring the water temp up properly or it will linger when not wanted.
Squid reports seem to have ended although its not unusual to catch cuttle most of the year.
Most of the week looks decent up til Thursday when its showing a rise in the SW winds and if it stays as indicated it likely to cause issues Thurs to both walls and spill over to Fri on the west .. beyond that … hard to say.

thats it for now until next time
F

Hello and wow , its June already and one could be forgiven for thinking where the heck did half the year go.
A little behind on the blogs as been a bit pre occupied and tbh little to report.
Im told today Dover area is thick with mackerel but sadly cant say the same for Brighton. If you are looking for mackerel GO EAST way way east past Hastings as there are hardly any mackies to be found here.

Plaice are doing ok but in all honesty everything else seems sluggish other than small rays and hounds. The weather i suspect has much to answer for and must take the blame alongside the may rot. Thankfully it looks like the rot is shifting and there are signs the weather is getting better but looking like a wet weekend.
A few bream and wrasse (I had a go yesterday and was severely disappointed with little showing.). Catches are slow atm if brutally honest but as said looks like its picking up.
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A quick update on nights and a reminder re east wall.

Starting with the east wall

As many are now aware there is ongoing work on the upper level of the east so entry and EXIT is via the side gate only and is for anglers only.
Please stay off the upper level even at weekends when it seems out of use. Equipment is left there by working crews and any interference with that or people being filmed on the upper level will see the wall closed completely even to anglers.
We have use of the wall at the sufferance of the work men and any issues as said will see it closed.
Please help us out and let us know of any breaches and if you feel able a polite reminder to anyone you may see up there will help us and you to continue using the east.
ENTRY and EXIT via side gate on the east.

Now on to night info
Both walls will be open for night fishing tomorrow and Saturday this week and next week Dave has agreed to both walls opening
Thurs/Fri/Sat and Sunday. We will also be looking at extending the nights that are opened providing there are no issues with things such as excess noise and upper level being abused.

Have left the catch report today due to quite a few closed days on the walls this week and cant give a very clear picture other than the standard of plaice a few mackerel , mainly lacking in reports.
F

Here we go another Sunday but not just another Sunday its season end Sunday .. yea I know its not fish, that to follow. Just wanted to say I got tickets for the last home hame of the season btn vs west ham & plan to blow the cobwebs into next week .

On the fish side , at time of typing no night round up but things defo improved on the walls yesterday with Plaice, bream, wrasse, bass, sole & hound pups all mid to high on the East , plaice in the usual spots , prawns now showing in the tide pools even a couple of those super rare mackerel thingies. Not sure if posted but during the week a decent (for the wall) pollack and coal fish for one angler on the east also.

While it may not seem great when compared to mid May on some years, for this year thats a pick up after some up & down days on the reports that even seem a bit sparse on the beaches. Talking of which it seems thornbacks & undulate catches have again picked up with the calmer weather. on that front (get it !) there is a bit of a bump coming Wednesday that looks like it will force a close for sure on the west & if it swings a bit may close both walls for the day & Thurs may be a bit unplesant on the west also so please if you are planning a trip check the forecast… unless you are chasing bass on the beaches of course.
At time of typing this the weather out is looking just the job, so what every you are doing today , enjoy it, the week ahead other than wed is looking fairly decent and average temps seem to have improved a bit.
Happy Sunday all,
F

Things seem somewhat quiet at the moment and am lacking any decent updates to post up so im typing for the sake of typing tbh.. as someone said once re the blog , type anything when nothing is happening as they always look for a post !. So here it is.
Almost sitting on the dock of the bay watching the tide roll in……
On the weather front things look fine for tonight’s all nighter and during the week its almost all calm carry on other than small bumps Monday late in the day which may mean the west closing early and a possible all day close on Wednesday as winds push through. Beyond Wednesday it looks fairly decent into the following weekend.
Little to say so will sign off until next time
F

Morning all(at time of typing 🙂 ) A little round up from the weekend starting with a few words Mark the warden posted on Mon Morning >>

Weekend night time round up, lobster caught front of East, few mackies if you were the lucky ones. Smoothound of West knocking 8lbs. Bass on the west, guys not fished marina before and lands a 4 pounder. Spider crabs are starting and some huge ones. Squid off east double shot and lost a huge one. Just need the bream to show up now and ow la la, tight lines folks
>>>>>>
to add to that bass & mackerel were v hard work over the last few days so was nice to see a couple of posts , one of a pollack & coalfish of about 35cm and the other some mackerel pics sent to me by the duty warden today reporting mackies on both walls but not in huge numbers. Things looking a bit brighter after a slow weekend with low tides mid day killing peoples want to stay for a long sesh!.
Weather looking fairly decent over the next 7 days other than a bump maybe friday causing the west to likely be unplesant. At time of typing no night sessions confirmed but keep an eye on the home page for an update maybe in the next 36 hours.
thats it for now , over n out
F

Things seem to have slowed down this week as the mackerel start playing further from the wall and the shoal visits thin. Bass reports are also seemingly down or its a case of lack of anyone posting.
Reports of may rot and loads of weeded lines are increasing also.

Took a trip down to the marina yesterday on my new scooter & things were very quiet at 5ish with the low tide and low catch report although come 7pm plaice were being caught on the east although those i saw were not IMO keepers.
Boats have noted a bit lof a lul inshore as well so may simply be a case of “ONE of those weeks”

On chatting to one of the shop staff I put a post up on the marina group of which I will post below this , part as a word of caution for new readers but part also to show the old hands that things are starting to be monitored a little closer>> the post

>>

A little word of caution.
Very V recently the east wall was being checked by staff prior to closing for the night. (upper level is closed)
An angler was seen on the upper level(which is closed to all) with rod in hand who suddenly chose to go back down to the lower level.
When the staff member reached him the angler asked if fishing was allowed “on the inside”

Needless to say the staff member pointed out that anyone fishing inside risk being asked to leave, at which the angler seemed to look rather sheepish but said no more.

As he left the wall the staff member saw 2 security officers headed up the wall, strangely enough they were going up so a numbered bay area where someone HAD BEEN FISHING INSIDE……..

Anyone want to guess who the security were off to see on the wall ?
YUP a no brainer they went to chat to the angler
 who was asked to leave.
The security cameras do work well !

I will get to a catch report but decided to start with a request and a niggle. I realise we have many visitors on the walls , some old hands and are very aware of the rules, some regulars that keep up to date with news changes etc and we have a larger group of new visitors . Amongst all of our visitors there is always going to be a group that either dont check rules b4 visiting or simply chose to ignore them. Thankfully the vast majority of our visitors are well behaved and do their best to arrive and leave respecting the fairly basic rules we have and indeed many will go the extra mile to help staff on the walls by alerting us to any issues or helping out (extension eyes the obvious) and we are all grateful of that help.

Sadly there will always be an unknowing element of the rules or the rude so & so’s that ignore them, So I will ask all readers here & on facebook my annual appeal to help the wardens out if they can and without putting themselves at risk.
How ? quite simply by adding another pair of eyes or ears on the walls. If you spot an issue that wardens should be aware of please find a way to let us know.

Many have ways to contact me by phone, messenger, email or via facebook as with other wardens or simply ringing an issue to the shop or if serious to marina security so that we can deal with things like a group that are somewhat noisy or have a fire, drinking too much , there is an obvious list to some but we do get people climbing closed areas, using marina or supermarket trollies which for the marina is a big thing.
Many of our regulars in the past have been a fantastic help with a simple message so we can deal with issues quickly before they escalate and what happened last year with the mackerel frenzy we have eyes on the walls just waiting for problems to happen so they can cause trouble between anglers and the bosses & residents in the marina. I realise very few anglers are willing to have a “chat” with the wrong doers and please only chat with them if you feel safe, no one wants anglers to risk themselves because some bloke has a marina trolley and he looks like he will kick off if you remind him of the rules.
Please help us keep things running well and as trouble free as possible. Many thanks.

So the fishing report after that drivel :).
The walls are closed today and west possibly shut Thurs & Fri as a sequence of winds push through , other than that it looks fine for the rest of this and next week and its planned to open at night this Sat 14th both walls , Friday is still to be decided so no real decision about a 2nd night this week.
We will extend the night sessions as things get busier but the last 2 weekends open have been fairly quiet.

On the fishy front we are still getting squid and cuttlefish for sure on the west but no reports of them on the east simply because no one is trying for them on the east wall. Report chasing I suspect the main factor in the squidders going west.
There are plaice on both walls , on the west its best to check out the wall page guides for likely bays to try from. On the east the plaice numbers are still good from bay 15 right to the end.
Over the last few days there have been quite a few decent bass catches amongst what seems to be a very active shoal of schoolies out on the feed.
Boat reports for plaice ,bass and bream are very good, both close to and around the marina in general and also on marks like college rock and beyond to the kingmere.
Bream on the walls while only recently started are now a regular take on the west and a few marks on the east wall (look at east wall guide for hints) Whitebait and fry in general is now plentiful in & around the marina which is benefiting all thus while we are seeing plagues (as some put it) of pout and dogfish the baitfish are drawing small shoals of mackerel and plenty of rays of very mixed sizes from a foot across to 7-10lb fish. Amongst the ray numbers thornbacks and undulates seem most likely to catch but Sussex in general is seeing more and more variety of species that seem more common than they have in years.

At time of typing I have not heard of any decent mullet catches so either the larger fish havn’t yet shown or anglers are keeping a hush on any takes. A few wrasse have now been recorded including what many class as a rare visitor of a Ballion’s wrasse caught by Glenn Arnold this week on the east. As mentioned in another blog post a decent sized goat fish (red mullet) was caught just off the marina on a lure info supplied by way of Robin Howards excellent blog (details can be found on FB) and we often see catches of smaller types on the west wall over the rockier marks.
There are a few flounders to be had in amongst the plaice and catch reports are ticking over now for sole low on the west and many sand marks on the east. After early reports in march for garfish things have fizzled out for those but expect them back with the late summer shoals of mackerel.
We are getting mackerel but from having a couple of reasonable shoals in & out of local waters catch numbers seem to be thinning as reports of may rot on some of the nearby beaches increase.

. So far the rot hasn’t found the marina in any strength and it would be nice to think that maybe this is the year that it skips forming in any depth and dampening the catch rates of many species.
I now find my self scratching my head to think of something I may have missed mentioning and realise I have missed something of which is not everyone’s cup of tea to catch of which we see mostly at night . Congers have been caught on the marina over the last 2 night openings with a couple being estimated at 20lb approx but the bulk 3-5lb so if you are fishing at night, prepare and invest in a drop net of some form. Way too few people show up at night with a net so when that decent sized fish is hooked they lack for a net & lose the fish.

Thus brings me to the end of today giant yarn with a reminder about noise and trollies on the wall. Please keep the noise to a minimum as residents are looking for problems and with regard to trollies & barrows. If you dont own a trolley carry your gear to the wall. If you are seen using a shopping trolley or a marina barrow there is a high chance of being asked to leave ! so please, bring your own gear and be prepared to carry it .
Many thanks again to ALL of the anglers that assist us in keeping the walls open. Every little help us to help you
TY
F

lummy, another week seems to have shot bye, seems only last week we had the squid comp. So, whats going on? cuttle and squid still being caught on the walls, bass seem to be having a good run, well the anglers chasing them are at least. Both walls producing atm. Plaice seem steady on the east although many are under sized so please check the recommended sizes folks, that said I’ve always suggested that if it doesn’t look like a decent meal for one it is likely as too small so please return them to fatten up. Pout bass crabs & even plaice reported on the west over night last night and so far only confirmed night report I have at time of typing was plaice and some decent bass.

Out on the water the wrecks are producing with pollack & a rarity of cod being posted up on the FB groups. Inshore the boats are now finding the bream without any hunting needs while the Lure boats are doing brisk business and producing more and more species for a well known skipper putting the time in.

All in all things are looking quite health for this time of year so I guess I should also mention that there are mackerel about. Varying numbers from day to day so atm its a case of , do you get lucky with a dozen or more to take home or just the 1 or 2 so you cn call BS on my reports.

What ever you are up to this weekend, stay safe, drive safe and try to find some time to relax if you are one of the many that have to work.
F

Morning folks, looking a little overcast out there but temps are mild and expected to stay dry, thankfully the average day temps are improving since that cold snap.

We have two night sessions this week on FRI & SAT and as things pick up and get warmer we will be adding more providing there are no issues we are aiming to get towards a 24/7 every day weather allowing.

If you missed the news there now are toilets on the east side in the way of 2 new clean and working portaloo’s sited in the eastern carpark just over the loch gates.(gent, now no need to pee on the upper level eh :))

Weather looking decent for the whole weekend , indeed it seems we have at least 7 clear days ahead and there are still decent numbers of squid to be had with the extra window of night fishing as well. Plaice are plenty on the east and reports this week of bream had on both walls. Bass catches on the wall have been decent sizes and for those that like sticky sea snakes congers have been caught in fair amounts also. Lots of little stuff to start the kids off with including some gurnards, small rays (mostly thornies) scorpion fish and blennies down the V’s.

I suspect the east is more favourable for the juniors at the moment.Plenty there for the casual angler and something to target for the more serious anglers out there.

For those not working, Enjoy planning for the weekend and for those stuck inside as things improve yes, I feel your pain.Have a good one folks what ever the one may be:) & have a great weekend all.

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