reports today hard to come by & was reliant on the news of plaice in fairly good numbers Sunday on the east for Sean & Andy, bream & a gurnard all on the east.

Tuesday catches reported so far .. zero so cant say much of anything.

Shop struggling for fresh bait wed, still hoping for a drop of black from the diggers but not hopeful due to short tides. last told there was some fresh ragworm but suspect much of that has been sold. All of Wednesdays bait pre ordered is covered. Upside , we have plenty of frozen squid in..

Looks like we may be selling some of those shiny new HTO’s tomorrow !

So, a generalisation for last week, I began with a lack of updates ,in my defence I have been putting some time into the new layout though. Monday Tuesday were slow tick over days as far as catches were concerned. Numbers on the wall Monday were low due to wet conditions though Tuesday started steady with the east filling fairly quickly beyond the bend area. If you want space on the higher east numbers (above 15) get there early or only expect single spaces to open up.

Below 15 takes the overflow , very few fish the first 6 bays on the east although at times they can produce some nice fish. Mon/Tues does see a queue to get on both walls but these days there are plenty of spaces. The west ext mon & tues was not busy enough to open the Extension straight away although it did open later for the high tides.

Bass take numbers are down with a decent explanation from Robin on his blog about them being gorged on the tons of spider crabs mid peel which leaves the mainstay on both walls being plaice and bream. Black & guilthead bream are showing up, knowing which bays & when is sometimes down to a little bit of experimenting.

Wednesday saw some mackerel on both walls, not many just enough to get people interested before they disappeared again over the horizon. Again plaice & bream both sided with a mullet low west for one regular that targets them.

Thursday, Friday much the same story for the week, East wall filling when the warden arrives & a few queuing on the west for early access.

The weekend, Yes the walls are busy , in the first hour of the warden opening up the walls filled up. Glorious weather and restricted space on the east combined with “covid” restrictions means the walls fill very early. The thin out if the fishing is hard as the tide drops . Best time to arrive if not first thing ? , mid to low dropping tides as people get bored staring at the water.

A small thankyou to our shop customers, early arrivals are now getting the message of “please wait out of the square in the mornings, It reduces the disturbances to residents who live above the shops inside the square, so thankyou and keep it up.

Trolleys , that message is also getting out, Please do not use any of the Barrows that belong to the marina , they are for berth holders use only, likewise shopping trolleys are not to be used in the marina . You are allowed to bring your own personal wheels/trolleys and are encouraged if you need to cart an entire tackleshop with you.

Catches over the weekend ? .. wow did you read all this so far ? well done.

East saw plaice, gurnard, bream, big crabs , small crabs flounder & a small smoothie im told, The east saw bream , black & guilthead, lobster, plaice & Joe managed a topknott down the side of the wall close to bay 1, not common & a nice add to any species count.

thats it for now, see you soon , Frank

new look new layout hopefully this works

F

So the mackerel on both arms ……

there were a few on the east bend caught & pictured (approx 12) and 4 or 5 on the west over last day or 2.
No real round up for the east as not have much info , the west wall couple of days went .. sunny one day wet & grubby Wednesday. Plaice & bream the mainstay, a mullet on the low bays but over all slow going.

On a brighter note, the rush to the sea to fish the walls is easing as people get a little calmer. The east is still busy early and there are usually a few waiting to get on the west.

The reality now is it is back to being tide governed & most show up to fish high tides. The result , the walls ease off & morning high tides will be packed on both walls on a weekend. Things slow up as the tide drops & people leave as the tide turns resulting in plenty of space. That said , please, assume if you arrive on high tide you will need to hunt a free spot.

sorry peeps , forgot to update blog
so what’s happened this last few days well the guys that had the monster bass followed up with a monster lobster ,  5lb + , no it wasnt berries, yes it was kept , no i didn’t give them a recipe for it 🙂
Bass takes seem to have slowed up a little, crabs  still busy but less issues than last week. been slow going on both walls this weekend fish wise but  people numbers are still high so  get there early  if u want prime spots. west  pressure has eased but still quite busy.
bream & plaice the mainstays last few days ,   some mackerel on both walls today (tues) but  not in  big numbers F

Sat

sorry been a bit remiss on the updates ,   real life distracts me from time to time . Shocking I know but  hey, there it is . sooooo  Start of with the  poo news.

Anglers still have not got the message about climbing up on the east wall.  An accident was just avoided Thursday when a lazy fool climbed up to the top level after packing up “to walk off the wall” The dumper truck  coming up the wall missed him by inches.

words fail me that are printable here !

Please please please all anglers need to step up on this, watch each other and watch out for the walls  safety. A meeting with the builders, the  shop and marina bosses was had  Friday morning and we escaped close down  by a whisker. So to all wall users , look out for each other and respect the wall, the upper level is a no go for any reason, it is a building site. Lorries and  work vehicles use it all the time & the next “accident ” may do more than put someone in hospital & close the walls.

So onto better  things. 

Bass , bass & bass. Some great fish coming out and a superb fish yesterday on the east of 6.9kilo! , mackerel and black lug baits! Yes it was one for the table, some would say put it back so it can breed and i’m in that camp BUT , on the wall I will always defend the right of an angler to keep or return any legal fish  should they chose to do so…. superb and for many a fish of a lifetime.

Yes there are plenty of bass coming out on both walls, prawns  top of the pile atm, followed by  mackerel and /or  squid baits .

While mentioning prawns , please note the marina is within Beachy head west marina zone (MCZ) and has restrictions on shell foods collection that includes prawns and  most types of crabs. So please take note , limits are  in a 24 hour collection session  so  one sesh is not  b4 midnight & 1 sesh after.

Limits in the mcz

https://secure.toolkitfiles.co.uk/clients/34087/sitedata/files/MPAs/BHW%20byelaw%20guidance.pdf

It is prohibited to remove from the shore, from any part of the MCZ, in a single calendar day more than: (i) 2 lobsters (Homarus gammarus)

 (ii) 5 edible crabs (Cancer pagurus) 

(iii) 20 crabs in total of any species other than Cancer pagurus

 (iv) 1 kg of mollusc shellfish (bivalve or gastropod species) except piddock species (Pholadidae family), blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) or native oyster (Ostrea edulis)

 (v) A total of 1 kg of prawns or shrimps 

(vi) 1 kg of marine worms (Annelida) 

(vii) 2 kg of intertidal seaweed It is prohibited to remove any quantity of the above species in connection with any commercial purpose. 

July update and trolley rules

Senior management from within the marina have asked that all anglers be remined that the use of the large barrow trolleys  and ALL supermarket trolleys are not permitted on the walls and should not be used within the marina by anglers not  traveling to a boat when using the barrows. They  are for the exclusive use of berth and boat owners within the marina.

Likewise supermarket trolleys belong in supermarkets , they are not for use on the wall thankyou

Catch round ups . my apologies for not doing any for a few days as preoccupied  getting on with real life. Catch reports for the east to be honest have been a little n few n far between. Most of the decent bass have been taken  on live prawn  and a few on whole squid. A few plaice  some decent , wrasse on the lower bays & occasionally a bream close to bay 8 ish, 

Gar & mackerel on the walls 
 personally seen 4 of each & heard of one other gar on the east wall. mackerel were landed on  a hove beach yesterday evening ( I saw the pic on FB)

west wall doing ok for the bass anglers with prawns  or should I say very well based on the piccys on marina group facebook Bream are ticking over on the west with plenty of keepers . Plaice are popping up all along the west, but not in great  numbers.

A few wrasse & some eels also but again no real numbers .

The real story is the  spider crabs , hoards and hoards have invaded the marina area so a reminder that to keep ,. they should measure 12 cm across the back and a maximum of 10 per session in a 24 hour period per person

A few visitors have remarked on fish care on the wall. Unhooking  fish on the concrete is not good practice , if no  mat is being used please try to use a damp cloth or towel. Kept fish should be  killed as swiftly as possible also

F

Thursday evening updates

soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo A customer  rang the shop to say the blog the last 2 days were not truthful as he fished the west wall for 2 days & it was hard going and no fish …
 for him that obviously was true but,…
as with all my updates I can only go on what I see, what I catch and what others tell me was caught ..or not. Then I decide was the source reliable. Wed report was accurate the extension fished well, there was bass on 1st bay & I then …didn’t report much of anything about the man wall… this doesn’t mean there were no fish ( I saw a few , but not many to report), If the wall was dead or hard work I normally post as suck but .. if im not told I cant report  catches…. so to today 
 Thurday 
 I volunteered my son  into fishing the west extension today & helping out by being the “bloke with a green jacket” on, basicly butting a visible person to contact if any issues &  oversee numbers if it got busy (he fished bay 3)

one or 2 pics sent to me via facebook & basicly left him to get on with it (ty Michael) I went up the west for a wander & chat to those fishing  & sniffing for a catch round up & the story of the day was a bit grim & had going  as I got up the  1-10 bay, a few people exercising with feathers to  test lines & blow out cobwebs but little to nothing happening. one group were having fun with a big crab net down the v that was collecting spiders. I stopped n chatted advising the size to keep was 12cm with a limit of 10 per person, they were pleased to be updated with the regs & carried on crabbing.

Mid wall 10-20 similar story , tough going a bream here n there but  resigned  faces to a hard day in the sun,
20-24 a catch report of a few bream & plaice to 2 lads  enjoying  their catching , last I heard 4 bream and 4-6 plaice but not  overly sure if the number was accurate but they were happy.
Extension, Junior had a nice place about 2pm , measured at 36 cm but most of the plaice up there were fairly small and just legal, 2-5 little bream returned but most people saying how quiet it was.

EAST WALL 
 I have no info how it fished today
Thankyou david J for wearing a green jacket on the east today , your help much appreciated 

thurs morning roundup

1st a request for anyone that has in past helped on the wall or extension wearing a green jacket to help out … WE NEED YOU”
ISSUES WITH “ANGLERS ” USING UPPER LEVELS AS A TOILET  have put the use of the east wall under serious threat of closure.
lazy ppl acre climbing to top level and pee’ing on upper levels and it will cause the closing of the east until building work is done.

we need voluntary people to be visible on the bend of the east to ensure no one is using upper level on east especially but also the west would be helpful. If u can help check in at the shop when you arrive and someone will advise. 

thanks

the fishing 

west wall has done very well last few days with  good numbers of plaice, better numbers than normal ! Bream and bass doing well , small strap congers also about. 
 wed saw  2 mackerel had on the east  , 1st since day opened, tbh don’t expect them in numbers for a few weeks. A reminder , take sun cream and plenty to drink on the walls , its been blisteringly hot out there and there are plenty of sunburns to be see

tues round up

so 2 days of  very busy days , seems the world has again come to fish the walls ..
Monday by 9am people were being turned away to fish the beaches (if lucky enough to find a space) and was a case of 1 in 1 out …..
2 days of very good bass catches … lots of spider crabs about and bream numbers on the increase …
plaice on both walls tho not the usual high numbers in past years but that’s expected to improved.

Monday saw eels & baits of  choice were live prawns !

rock pool adventures call on low tides !

 not quite so manic tues but again good  bass had & bream in the expected places … flatties on both include dab flounder and plaice , locally tons of good rays … night fishing anyone ? go for it  them  rays are there and now hounds as well

am fishing  Wednesday with mr moto …….  will see how the day goes …