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.

F

F

With daylight hours slowly extending the walls will now have a tweak to the open hours.
WEST will open from 6.30 am and close 9pm when there are no night sessions and
EAST will open 7am ish once the warden gets over there from the west closing at 8.3opm when not open at night.

This week both walls will open all night on Fri/Sat the 6th and 7th May and as the fishing picks up with the warmer weather we will look to opening the walls a few more sessions during the week providing no serios issues get raised .
F

Some feedback from the last night .. or two, finally we have had some bream on both .. yes both walls west Friday and both yesterday, somewhat overdue but finally here. Informed overnight other than bream there were rays , at least one small smoothound quite a few congers of varying size up to an estimated 20lb dropped at the surface.
Add to that, dab, plaice, flounder, bass squid even a few of them wonderful mackies ! while not many fishing there was a decent range of fish coming up. At time of typing no further night sessions to post but no doubt there will be some info on that in a day or so. I cant see any issues regarding weather for the next 7 days so all we need is a bit more sunshine to raise the daytime temperatures.
Overall a decent weekend so far and plenty of space on the walls for everyone.
Thats it for now, over n out
F

Good morning campers 🙂 how the devil are we all?
So a brief round up of what’s happening.
Craig Gosling and a colleague Lewis Hide have given spare time over to do a large and very needed repair for us all on the west extension that is a step closer to us being able to safely open the extension for closed night sessions as in previous years.
We have 2 night sessions this weekend (tonight and Saturday) and normal closing at 6pm Sunday.
I have spoken to dave about moving the general close time later but he feels that there is a lack of use to warrant later opening just yet but, as the weather gets warmer that will be changed.
We have had a couple of days with early flurries of mackerel and a shoal reported by boat users early Thursday morning. Squid still continue to be caught on both walls although they seem resistant to being caught it seems 40 mins either side of the high which is a bit unusual as it is normally a peak time for them. Plaice sizes are improving and Just off the wall Robin Howard had his first lure caught bream, yes they seem a little late this year. Elsewhere dogfish seem fairly consistent still and everyone seems to be into rays locally though few are being had on the wall, perhaps this will increase with the mackerel here & there.

Weather looking constant this weekend and following week so expected dry, mixed sun & overcast so average temps prob under this time of year in the 12-15 range rather than 15-20. Days of coat goes on, coat comes off, coat goes on, coat goes off type of thing.
Over all looking dry all of next week although the early guess that Xcweather has is showing some shower indications come Friday but my guess is that it may just be an air pressure change as the light breezes seem to be swapping daily from NE to Sw so a little odd and no constant temp climb as we hit May.
Busy roads expected being as we have a bank holiday weekend on top of us so to the drivers out there stay alert & drive safe folks .. thats it until next time so I bid you all adieu
F

So a slight change to format this year to what many have been used to in how the prizes were sorted in that we chose to do the same as the year that Paul Singleton one the 1st prize in that the main prize would be for the biggest single squid and also a trophy followed by a trophy and smaller prize for the person that won with the most body length of accumulated squid not most actual squid catches.
Looking at the tides it was decided to go for 24/04/22 yesterday 🙂 am not sure way it wasnt set to 3pm as normally we try to get 3 before and 3 after but it was set to a 2pm finish and prizes/raffle draw to be done straight after the squidding.
Wind forecasts raised a few eyebrows running towards the date as there was a constant NE breeze showing but myself having faith that the walls would offer a fair bit of protection and forecasters habbits of going over and then finding next to no wind on said day … we opted to go after input and help from the shop boss David Grinham with a slight change in that we used the upper bays numbering pegs in reverse so bay 60 became peg 1 with bay 34 being peg 26.

in preparation we had asked prior on facebook if anyone wished to have a bay double peg for names and had 42 declare interest in attending. Usually with these things we get dropouts for many reasons & some simply dont show while others just show on the day. The number loss sometimes can be as much as a third so with the wind factor heavily making people unsure if to go or was it worth it we pushed on as the back up option was hosting it the following weekend , a bank holiday that could cause bigger issues. Add to this over night and early messages indicated 4 pairs and 3 singles couldn’t make the event due to covid, colds, work changes and breakdowns ! so we really were not shre what numbers would greet us on the morning.
So for me was a 6am get up as well as my wife Angie and son Michael who had offer to help. Taxi down to the east carpark for 7.45 am got us underway meet/greet/set up and sort the draw out. Chris Grinstead covered the raffle sorting the prizes with some background work put in the weeks prior form Steven Tapp and a few others.
Angie & I got going with the draw set up with 2 separate posts for pegs 1-25 and a back up bag of 25- 35 in case was needed(it wasnt) and Michael went to bay 60 to chalk the numbers in the centre of the front wall 1-26 downwards.
The idea was if a pair one would draw for their peg and singles would draw a peg we would ring the ticket to show 1 on it so far and if the ringed number was re drawn by a pair it would go back in for a single to draw and they redrew. it worked smoothly and competitors printed names on our entry list master copy and also signed it to show they had read the now required health & safety form.
Once that was done competitors could walk off up to their drawn pegs to set up for a 9am start. As we did the count we found that 32 had come, 28 adults 2 seniors and 2 juniors and while less than some years was not a bad turn out considering the conditions that were expected on the day.
By 8.30 am it was fairly clear that no more were likely to show so a swift sort out to separate the wall fee’s for dave from the entry money for the competition which was passed to Chris who was sorting the raffle ticket sales and would combine the two to work out what was raised v’s cost of prizes/trophies etc a bit later.
Just b4 9am I walked up the wall & to be honest the wind was much lower than the prediction and the cloud predicted to mid day/1ish broke quickly and the sun came out. Though a bit chilly the sun was in everyone’s faces most of the day, I even got a patch of sunburn on my left hand!(grantedI had skin cream on & it probably fried)

9am prompt we started with the help of Tim Albright assisting with any entry form signing and pictures on the day (already uploaded on squid gallery) and 2 squid came up very quickly giving me hope that we had got the day bang on because water conditions looked perfect.

Unfortunately that wasn’t quite the case as it soon became clear that the squid were not quite so easy or obliging as various types of lure and float method got used. Casting (egi) Jigs, pairs of jigs tied inline, single jigs set just under the bottom weight were all in use including a few with floats that suddenly found the N/NEast wind was to some level helping add some distance to cast distance as the wind was now in flurries directly behind them and adding some push to the flight to the water ! bonus :).
A third squid came up on the 30-40 minute in mark followed by rogue knocks and a couple of dropped squid on the pegs between 5 & 12 or bays 55 down to39 ish but it was clear this could be a tough day for everyone. Home the high tide about mid day It was clear that the wind was making some quite uncomfortable and the lack of squid was causing a slump feeling in many with some thinking about giving up but end of day most stayed although a couple packed up but stayed to watch convinced that it wasnt going to happen for them. The good & bad of chancing the day I guess but as said our back up date b4 the mayrot takes hold was the bank holiday weekend with faster running tides and highly likely crowding issues.

Up and over the high things were very flat and we had agreed that after 11am if squidders wanted to swap about their pegs they could providing they stayed within the chalked bays of 1-26 for one it proved very profitable when he moved. Around 1ish we saw Robin Howard out doing some research in the wind and some spotted him land a squid or 2 just off the end of the west wall one of which looked very decent. but for the wall it was an hour of nothing but seeing rob catching showed some promise for the turning tide.

As 1pm ticked past there were increased signs of activity and an occasional squid was had with a small flurry just prior to the 2pm planned finish. Seeing this flurry I asked the people around someone who had just put himself into the lead do they want another half hour(snap decision) informing the leader if they say yes and all agree he could in theory lose ! , all wanted that 30 mins so off we went with frantic shouts and calls to anyone higher up the wall on the lower peg numbers , the shout came too late for one who chose not to reset but everyone else seemed happy with the call and the sun had also come out to play fully with coats being shed and rods being re cast.

Was the 30 min call the right one you ask ? well yes for some no for others.
Mike King (runs fins & forks) in the last 2 mins landed a lovely Cuttle fish Yes we include them in the event and finally left us with a total of 9 squid landed possibly 4 dropped and a decent cuttle landed (pics on gallery page squiddly didly) more than some years, less than others. I suspect a few sunburns today as while there was a wind chill the sun was out all day as such. I got the feeling most were happy and many enjoyed the day leaving us all to walk off the wall once packed after 2.30pm to sort the raffle and prizes on the benches by the cafe..
I must add that the wall was left spotless without anyone being asked to clean up so on that, credit to everyone and thankyou all for showing how easy it is to take everything with you when you leave.
Who won ? yep the gent that chose to move from a low peg draw to a mid high bay, Michael Deacon, a past 2nd place winner and comp regular that had put in a few weeks practice on the wall running up to the event. If you havent met him look out for him, a proper gent and always happy to help people wanting to learn.
Thus the tiring (for me was knackering)walk to the cafe and the draw that Chris Grinstead had sorted and would announce for us and some picture opportunities.

THE WINNERS
The R.N.L.I. With entry fees and raffle ticket sales combined, £414 was raised which will be donated to the RNLI.
SQUID COMP
Largest single squid, Michael Deacon
Longest collective squid Michael deacon
and yes he did a clean sweep with a raffle prize as well!
JUNIOR PRIZE
We didnt have a junior catch this year so it literally was a case of flip a coin in front of everyone with the result of
Emily Neville winning the rod/reel combo, again donated by Dave,
Otto winning a bespoke Roman Gancedo Rey squid jig

RAFFLE PRIZES
assorted booze:

Gareth Williams, Kevan Howe, Neal Lees John Fish

Chocs: Frank Parker

neck gaiters and wading boot studs (aka fetish gear): Kevan Howe

Assorted squid jigs & lure gear: Lewis Clark,

Sean Lacey, Mike King, Graham Savage, Aidan Melia, Conrad Lee, Simon Ho, Mike Deacon Neal Lees

Thanks must go to Steven Tapp for donating all of the trophies and his unseen work for LISA and this comp in general
Dave Grinham for rod/reel combo prizes and his continued support of the event and supply of fishing wardens when needed
Roman for his marvellous  jigs,
Ray Neville for the (shed) clearance lurey stuff
Tim albright camera man and marshal assist
and last but not least
Robin Howard for initially getting this event started way back when most people on the marina had never realised you could catch squid here in Brighton
For those that don’t use or see facebook posts I will add here the report from Chris who did an awful lot not just on the day but pulling this comp together

Chris Grinstead report

31 squidders, including 2 juniors, braved a brisk Easterly wind that made for challenging conditions. 2 squid were caught in first 30 minutes so it was looking good but proved to be hard going thereafter until a late flurry that caused the comp to be extended by 30 minutes. 9 squid and a cuttle were caught in total.

Mike Deacon caught the largest squid (38 cms) to win the comp and the rod/reel combo kindly donated by David Grinham. Mike also caught 2 other squid to win secondary prize of longest aggregate length caught. Neither of the juniors caught, so the prizes were awarded on the toss of a coin with Emily Neville winning the rod/reel combo, again donated by Dave, and Otto winning a bespoke Roman Gancedo Rey squid jig.

Many thanks to Dave for allowing us to hold the event on the marina and for generous donation of prizes. Similar thanks to Roman for donating a great selection of jigs for winners’ & raffle prizes. Huge thanks to Frank Parker for running the show and to Angie and Michael and to Tim Albright for their help throughout. Thanks too to Steven Tapp for the unseen work needed to make it all happen and the donation of all of the winners’ trophies. Bravo, all.

Thanks to all who supported the event, either by fishing it or buying raffle tickets. (Full list of winners to follow separately). With entry fees and raffle ticket sales combined, £414 was raised which will be donated to the RNLI.

And with that I will thank everyone that came to the event and all that have supported it over the years and hopefully
We will see you all next year

Monday, I think ! lets start with a quick round up then a squid comp report.
The weather has been reasonably kind this week other than a couple of days with that pain in the butt of a north wind that has dropped tems & hampered many trying to float fish while constantly putting on coats then removing as either the sun dominates or the wind takes over. That dealt with the fishing is beginning to improve on the walls and rapidly at sea for the various bouts going out so on the boat side:- the bream numbers and quality a bit west of here are rapidly increasing and there are some good trips to be had. The wreck runs are doing well on Pollack but the cod have become unicorn and are seemingly absent although I occasionally sea a beach report of a cod 99% of them are codling and barely worth keeping. Rays are seemingly everywhere and not just the standard undulate and thornback. Plenty of variety for the species hunters out there. Plaice off Brighton are a standard and doing reasonably. Mackerel sill in the singles and herring now have dropped away with gurnard seemingly the replacement atm.

On the walls squid sizes vary from 25 cm to about 45cm and are a steady catch on the west with few targeting them on the east but yes they are there its just a case of do the walk or get a m8 to drop you off down there as there is no parking for anglers that end & that includes still the blue bays but i am trying to get something agreed but it will take time as no one seems to want to make a decision and the official stance is still all bays in the east CP are for business use only .
Plaice on the east are fairly common & a case of pick a bay above 15 and chose your method, bling or not to bling seems to be 50/50 spit so IMO right now it makes little difference of the wall. Rays are about on the wall but smaller than the boats are finding , please check the info on rays on what you can and cant keep, some are protected and all have a minimum size. Dogfish still seem to be all over the place and will hit just about any bait out there. In with the plaice have been a fair few flounders and the numbers seem to be on the up. Im only just starting to hear them 2 words that stress many , “spider crabs” & while some seem to think they are about I have not really seen any real confirmation they have arrived or at least show up in many numbers yet. While the do come into the area to mass breed I cant honestly say its started as yet although 1st signs tend to be as the bream arrive so perhaps there is a link & the crabs feast of bream fry , not sure but will perhaps ask about to see if anyone else has seen this sort of pattern/relationship.! No reports confirmed of bream catches on the wall as yet but imo that cant be far off and just off shore there now seems a better stamp of bass & while catch reports for bass atm on the walls is low as the hours of opening extend we should see more posts regarding bass. A few garfish were had a week ago but that seems to have been it & maybe they were simply following the herring shoals that have faded away. Little I can add re night catches as there have been few night sessions & most have been fairly quiet other than replicating similar catches to the day reports.

This Friday and Saturday (bank hol) there will be night openings (24/7) & we will increase the sessions slowly so as not to immediately have Marina residents pointing at the nasty noisy fishermen that drag fekin trollies clattering through the marina at all hours while making a noise on the walls as well at 2-4 in the ruddy mornings ! yes it is a thing sadly.
Finally, I will repost that there are now portaloo’s installed by a new firm where the previous loo’s were. They are decent and in decent condition. Im told the whole thing will be changed weekly so will keep an eye on that to see how things far. If anyone notices an issue with them please let someone know , we cant resolve ANY issue if we are not made aware of it be it the bog, or a muppet on the wall , please please please , find a way to let us know.
so, if you have managed to read this far I have changed my mind and have decided I will put up a second blog post today that covers the squid comp that went ahead yesterday once ive had a coffee and a stretch on the sofa.

event will be chalk numbered from east wall bay 60 as comp number 1, so numbers will run in reverse from bay 60 to bay 36 thus giving some extra shelter for people floating.

IN the event of the wind being too high on sunday the back up date is the following Sunday May 1st and this will be announced late saturday afternoon, as it stands it is going ahead

Mixed bags this week on both walls , not the best of things but it is still only April. Plaice continue to tick over with the best on the east, it seems the bulk of the squidders are atm opting for the west wall and I suspect it is mostly to do with the walking distances for most so the best of the squid are being caught over on the west. That said the sizes of catches this year are good and it looks as though the small pebble squid that are favoured as cod baits have either come and gone very early this year …. or are still behind the game. Time will tell.

While on the subject of squid …
The SQUID COMP IS planned to go ahead on Sunday as things stand. Some have raised concerns about the weather or more to the point the wind forecasts atm. As things stand I and others have a close eye on it and any late call to abandon will be made Saturday and posted here and on the marina fb group. As it sits now it wont be pleasant and will favour weighted jigs and rigs over floats , should we be forced to abandon the comp will go ahead the following Sunday May 1st same times.

On the east wall the portaloo situation hasn’t been resolved, it has been raised again with concerns and Dave has replied to that via the facebook group saying it is being sorted and should be resolved fairly soon…. lets hope so eh 🙂

On the catching front the boats are now into some decent bream not that far along the coast and in my opinion the 1st bream on the wall are late, Ive often seen guiltheads high on the east mid march so im expecting someone to start into them very soon.

Repair info
East is now very nearly finished jet washing, loads of marina meetings have delayed dave finishing the top end but he has now reached 59/60 where the marina repair folk have been waiting for a safer surface to get the wires fixed up there between 60 and that final bay Roger Stanton favours (74) so much.

There wont be any night sessions this week but dave is regularly fielding calls to “when” so expect a few more weekend dates to be posted very soon, as always I will post a pointer on the home page, sometimes here and on the Night fishing web page.
Health issues have distracted me somewhat from doing more regular updates so please bear with things being a bit erratic, sitting at a pc is a struggle so most updates are short and sweet usually on the home page. on the up side sunshine does help when I can get out in it so lets look to things being posted a bit more often when I can.

Very few reports of sole or bream from the beaches or walls but yes they should pick up now. Still loads of small dogfish about and ray catches are on the increase with quite a few varieties rather than all thornie or undulates so for the species hunter things are on the up & up, I even saw a report locally this week of a topknot taken on a lure. With the improved weather the boat reports are improving in number and quality so that will I hope add to catch news in the next few weeks :)/

I have also finally learn to pay attention to the activity of the lure boats , it seems they are a great indicator of what to expect on the walls …. who knew eh !

Im going to sign off now as i’m starting to waffle for want of something to type up so will close with the obvious news of some nice bass caught, the prawn activity on the undercliff is good and the occasional mackerel is now not unusual on the east wall.
For those attending the squid comp, I will post saturday a Y/N and hopefully I will see you there …. yes I will be helping for a change.
till then … adieu
F