Well, as the title says it seems (I may be wrong) that ppl wise the east wall has been fairly quiet, that or people are not posting catches over the last couple of days. I did pop down on Tues and got a bit of an update but skipped yesterday due to the “QUAD” playing up still. The supplier will again be taking it back for repairs & tests but am not overly hopeful, the last service did little to raise hopes that it will work normally and it will now only just get me down to the marina , onto the end of the east and home… just.. it rolled into our crescent at about 2-3 mph ! 4 miles & the power is drained on a full charge so hopefully the loaner tomorrow (same model) has no issues……
As to Tuesdays visit , that defo was a Bass & Conger day for those fishing.
The weekend & Mondays round up basically went ….. muddy colour to the water heavy weed that was settling down come Monday afternoon with Tuesday being fairly weed free but with brisk wind levels the water remained coloured close in.
Ive no info for yesterday or so far today at time of typing (12.30pm ) but I can say the sun is out and the wind seems to have dropped away as I look at the tree tops close to my house.
The weekend looks a bit breezy on the xcweather page but that may change between now & then. Anyone wanting bait on the wall please ask the warden to give me a shout, if viable I will get down onto the wall with it (frank).
Well thats it for today, hopefully my next report will be with the assist of a loan scooter and so, until next time, I will bid you all ADIEU
F
Not much to say re this weekend tbh, wind & weed being the main stay of the last few days. The wall (east) did open Friday but closed early as conditions were somewhat Pants to fish in with water spouts and weed randomly hitting everywhere.
Sat was closed and Im atm lacking any info of how the east wall is getting on although I am thinking test the bloody scooter out after its last service (it needs a bomb under it imo & if it conks out on me one more time I may stick the whole thing on my next bonfire ! Talking to Motability about new options ! oh the joy.
Anyhoo, the coming week looks decent so polish of the dusty gear & get out there, Im looking at making a run to look round about 5pm most days to keep up with ppl so if you see me on the “quad”, say hi & introduce yourself. Mind you please bear in mind my memory is a bit shot (age & health i guess) so please remind me of your name or expect me to ask as while my face memory is decent Im pants at remembering peoples names .
As “MO” will tell you I cant remember “sh1t”, every year I fail to recognise him , then I ask his name which usually is when he starts to laugh & I look sheepishly at him realising its “MO” ! proper “homer” moment it is !
Well, look at that, I have, yet again, managed to type half a page about absolutely nothing other than my failing memory ! typical eh.
As mentioned in a prior post I am planning (scooter allowing) to visit the east as much as I can,
it helps me keep in touch with people,
it gets me out & lack of exercise is turning me into a fatty!
it also helps me keep up on catches & news.
While Im down I will also generally have some bait on me when the shop is shut so If time is getting on and you have missed the shop give the wardens a shout as i am not that far from the marina and if there a few orders I can sort a bait drop onto the wall or even collection for those fishing the beach somewhere like the car park near the last volks railway station. Many have my mobile or access to my messenger on facebook so not that hard to get hold of.
I currently have frozen black, and will also be getting fresh black if available and will from Tues have 2 types of boxed squid & 2 types in smaller blister packs. If viable I am able to drop off between 5pm & 10pm either in the marina or somewhere around the car park of the last volks station.
Well thats it for today, sooooo, until next time I will again bid you all ADIEU
F
EAST WALL
THURS CLOSED
FRI OPEN
SAT CLOSED
SUN OPEN
SHOP HOURS for the weekend and next week
CLOSED Thurs & SAT
OPEN FRI & SUN
Fri, 7am til 3.30pm/Sun 7am til 3.30pm
NEXT WEEK…. 9th June to Sun 15th
Mon to Thurs.. 6.30am til 4.30pm
Fri & Sat 6.30 am til 4.30pm
AND Fri & Sat evening 4.30pm til 7pm
the shop will be (mobile I believe)on the EAST WALL with bait and tackle
SUN 6.30am til 4pm
FRI & SAT who ever is doing the shop run on the wall will be mobile and moving up & down the wall to you, IMO this is very useful, very helpful and they should be clearly marked with a jacket from the tacklebox
Yea yea ya all know what I mean. I didnt post yesterday as was on one of my jollies to see different doc’s in London to those I saw last week…. and different again to the week before that, its all fun here ya know, they give me free travel, free prods & pokes, free bruises, occasionally they even feed me if I’m behaving myself ! and what do I give in return? not a lot other than the occasional 4-7 vials of blood tests, I swap the blood for bruises, they seem to like the trade off more than I though & I suspect I may be feeding a family of vampires somewhere north of Brighton 🙂 but alas I am again diverging from the fishing and the lead title about congers !
With being closed on Tuesday there was little to report on yesterday so in a way I had little else to do other than entertain those overworked souls trapped in the eternal limbo that goes by the initials of NHS. Now I realise that may sound like me throwing a bit of mockery out regarding the UK health service but that is very far from the case, the staff I am always praising, especially those that have dealt with me, I may not seem a complicated guy but if you ever saw how thick my folders(yes plural)are for treatment and past treated, you would realise what an extraordinary job NHS staff do in treating the mass of conditions I seem to have invited into my body over the years.
….There are also a few more (probably many) but I only seen a small part of the thousands who work for the health services that are, truly extraordinary in what they achieve for others, and while I do have the occasional grumble most of the staff are, and do, often go that little extra simply because they can…..
……so if you ever see any NHS staff (especially the nurses) looking tired or seem grumpy its quite likely that yes they are tired, likely as not after pulling a near 16 hour day to make our lives just a little better.
So please, stop, take a pause, and have a think how their day may have been and then please…. stop them….. just for a few seconds if you can, and thank them with a smile, it may not be for any special or particular reason but say thanks and maybe say for everything they give their time too…..
……… You may have just give them that little lift, and reminder, that although we don’t thank them personally enough, random & out of the blue “thank-you’s” will go for miles and miles, passing from nurse to nurse as that nurse’s random thank you travels in the telling. Yes it has that impact, yes it has a power of its own to travel and lift others in the telling.
We all know how easy it is to say thanks at the given time to the person helping you. so if, as you leave, you grab a coffee at the hospital cafe or simply take a pause just before leaving the place, look around, can you see a nurse ? perhaps even a hospital porter( the guys that often miss out on the thanks as they wheel people to xray or scans… It doesnt really matter who of the staff it is, grab someone’s attention, add that one more thank you to your day, it may even be their 1st of the day !
I know I am rambling away from that fishy report (its very small) so run now if you got this far thinking WTF he’s lost it(I haven’t 🙂 ) but its a thought that often hits me as I leave the many many NHS visits I do as I creep past 60, please, do that one more TY, you may well just make their day.
Righty ho… “back to reality, back to life” as the tune now stuck in your head goes :)….
As I said, Tues was closed as is today and Saturday, my brain says its Thursday today so, yep, it probably is. From what I am told by the duty wardens and occasional post on marina with the weather being up n down , wet then blowing & combos of the worlds wrath(not really ;))..
Conger catches as I posted the other day (was it really Monday ?) have been the dominant story over the last 10 day with a high number of catches, Perhaps the news of them being about has increased the interest in having a go for these (as I call em) GIANT BLOODY SEA SLUGS and thus, “just like that” it sorta seems that everyone is wanting to do the CONGA, CONGA, CONGA (just a bit of John Belushi eh 🙂
Other than the sea slugs the big catch story seems to be the amounts of weed that the recent blows have pulled out of the sea but, so many were/have been reporting the wonderful & great lumps of fern like weed wrapping around lines, rig joints and links to the degree that many are not only missing bites but also were struggling to keep fish on the hooks when realised. The fish are in competition with the weed to get at the baited hooks !
.. any hoo, there have been bream, eels, hound pups, more eels, a small topknot, eels, some bass(mostly schoolies) did I say eels ? an occasional plaice, eels and one or two mackerel but tbh the conditions didn’t really suit catching mackies ! more like crabs & yes they are down there !
I guess I should finally mention that amongst the battle for the weeds the real winners were those that changed how they usually fish spots on the wall, they were the one who got a bit more adventurous than they usually would and a fair few caught their firsts , YES I’m talking about them BLOODY SEA SLUGS !
If you are still reading as I ramble on……. well done on getting this far but the bad news is, I’m on the coffee and on a roll…
yes there is more, nope I’m not done and i’m actually thinking to myself now of….. how long I can keep this ramble going before most go…. OFFS someone stop him 🙂 (evil chuckle moment)
Right… deep breath… shop news /info
As posted at the top (still reading ? gooood) Wall closed today and Saturday and the shop will be closed I’m told all day Saturday The shop messaged me today (ty Lee Demario)with their opening hours for the weekend and next week allowing anglers to grab some bait while the shop is open and even how & when they travel and it gives them the best options for when and where they grab their bait before wandering down to the EAST WALL, yes the WEST is still closed, possibly until late September but that is only an estimate on expected time to get the major works done..
You also may have noticed that on a FRI and SAT the shop intend to have someone early evening actually on the wall with bait and some level of tackle for those unable to make normal shop hours.
As a compliment to the trial opening when the shop is shut I have a stock of frozen black,
also from time to time I will also have fresh locally dug worm for sale and am looking into stocking some squid, either boxed or blister packs & possibly both.
Please note this bait will only be available out of normal shop hours. I won’t be selling anything when the shop is open. Some may think I’m setting up in competition to the shop, I am not, its more about making bait available to those that normally cant make the opening times of the shop and lets face it, no one running the shop would want to man it around the clock merely to get bait to the midnight anglers…. thus..
….If you want bait out of shop hours on the wall please let one of the duty wardens know as soon as you can, i am only 10-15 mins away from the wall and if viable or I’m headed that way anyway I can add a cool box with ice packs quite easily too my scooter and have it on the wall in less than 30 mins. The baits I have will be priced to match the tacklebox as I wont under cut them, nor will I bump prices over the shop rates.
For beach anglers I could also arrange a drop near the west wall as I come down the ramps on my scooter into the car park area near the last volks rail station.
Bait & how to get hold of me or the bait:)
Many of the regulars already know how to reach me, so there are a few options to getting bait out of hours with a 10pm cut off point.
1/ call me(if you know how)
2/ ask a regular on the wall if they have my contact.
3/ I am on messenger, if you know , you know
4/ ask a warden if there is bait available from me
If you don’t know my name (Frank) ask a warden for the dude that does the blog & website and if its worth my time I can and will drop down onto the wall with bait at shop prices if I have it
initially it will be
frozen black (sometimes fresh dependant on supply & tides) and frozen squid 1lb boxes and smaller blister packs, if there are any requests for specific baits I will look into viability.
Thats it for today
So, until the next post I will bid you all ADIEU
F
.. And a new week, and so a little round up to begin the week.
Conditions have been somewhat up & down over the last week or so meaning that the fishing as well as the conditions have been somewhat challenging much of the time and wardens not only having to watch the anglers but also very variable weather conditions continuously threatening to close the wall down.
With the wind has come the inevitable weed situation with the worst of the fernlike mess pushing through pulling rigs every which way and loose… older heads will have seen what I just did there, so for good measure ….
“right turn clyde”
while angler numbers have been fairly lowish you may be surprised to hear that for the species counters things during this spell have been quite productive and I guess the bigger of the catch stories would be the volume of conger catches over the last week. Maybe some of the beasties are being re-caught, well probably more defo than maybe but the numbers are very noticeably highly active. I don’t know the reason but part I suspect is due to the dredger activity stirring up the sand eel nests in the marina entrance way ! I guess the buggers are hungry!.
Other catches ? yes, there are, Bream are active but moved a bit off the wall during the lumpy conditions, plaice and other flatties continue to tick over Yesterday saw a nicely marked thornback ray , caught & returned after a quick piccy. Talking of which, If I can get permission I will post a conger caught yesterday morning on the east by a junior that went 15.3lb and while the lad is not grinning ear to ear in the pic im betting he was for quite a while. Also on Sunday(not sure if he reads this blog but..) Nick Skelton appears to have enjoyed his birthday fishing for and catching Conger with a pic on the FB group of himself with a cracking grin while holding one of his catches. (happy belated birthday Nick.
I will now poach some of another’s marina group posts from wall regular Neil Rodwell who fished quite high (details on fb) who reported on the very visible weed issues, cut lines from crabs and fought his way to landing Plaice, schoolie bass, hound pup, and Bream while also reporting elsewhere he had seen Sole, Wrasse, Thornie, Bream & plaice. He also remarked as a few other have in that the water quality/clarity was quite good and defo better than they had expected. The weed it seems was yesterday at its worst over the high. So, id say possibly best to fish close in as the high pushes through & expect clusters of weedy fern on you rig joints & clips.
Overall for those that got out in some poorish conditions the weekend seems to come across as quite tough going but also eventful.
Weather looks good today but , as Im typing Mark has just confirmed that the east wall will defo be shut tomorrow (CLOSED TUESDAY)
Looking ahead I wouldnt want to be the one making the decision of open or shut as
WEDNESDAY looks very borderline & I suspect Mark may opt for deciding WED morning while im still snoring in my pit so expect that to be announced as late as wed morning. With wed out of the way eyes turn to Thurs, granted its very changeable but if forecast holds we have another marginal day & if forecast is over estimating things will be lumpy but open, BUT that is not a guarantee and yep sadly that call is likely to be decide on the day.
THURSDAY conditions atm poor decide thurs am.
FRIDAY, things may change but looking like 60% chance of close
5 days ahead unfortunately looks a bit on the bleak side for w/end wall fishing but ideal for the beach surf hunters and I suspect a certain Mr Gosling will be looking at the time , tide and conditions Saturday night somewhere in Sussex !
Beyond the weekend It looks like we will get a more settled period that doesnt resemble the southerly storms of the spring season !
Aaaannnnnnddddddd, with that last look at the weather I will until next time bid you all ADIEU
F
My apologies for lack of updates, had a few distractions and London (routine) appointments to deal with so very briefly will put here that things have and are a fair bit changeable. There have been one or 2 close downs and the wall expected shut on Tues.
Open all weekend but again swesterly systems mean it may get a tad lumpy at times and likely as not many will opt to target low bays.
Murky water conditions with loads of fern like weed clustering around bottom rigs and pulling lines sideways or hiding baits so more hard work than the usual.
Loads of congers last w/end and mid week, a few bass in the standard places. Flatties, usual selection of plaice & flounder plus a few dabs. Bream numbers down as expected with lumpy conditions. Once the weather settles things should pick up and you can add to my lack of info the fact that many atm are simply not reporting what they actually are catching as numbers as well as catches have been low.
the more that fish, the more I get reports.
Until next time & perhaps a longer report, I will bid you all ADIEU
F
Ok, a bit of something different today, 2 blog updates … oh yippeee !
Right, by now you should have seen the first one regarding updates and /or changes to bait collection rules, so, now that is out the way I can do a normal blog entry as below.
Yesterday I managed to get out after abandoning a visit to the EAST due to the fact it was pishin it down as I was all set to load up the quad ! Thus the trip got cancelled. After a call from Alex things went ahead yesterday lunchtime ISH.
Got on the wall just before 2pm and there was loads of space as expected & I had a target of bay 38 to 41 in my head. pffft went that as someone was set up there with 4 rods erk, anyhoo ended up on 43, close enough I figured as that region had been fishing ok for flatties.
Squid & frozen black was order of the day as didn’t have any fresh yet so set up one rod long & 2 light rods medium-ish. Catches at the time had been a few mackerel early, a couple of decent wrasse & bream and a light scattering of plaice.
Sunshine, calm water but very obvious may rot on the low tide. As the tide came up so the fern like weed started collecting on any clips, snaps & hooks and got worse towards the high tide of which I didnt see(8pm) as body and mind called it a day about 7ish with a slow wind down and trundle back home.
The fishing ?
For me wasn’t that great, multiple changes of bait with some frozen worm that was dried out plus the standard sticky black after it defrosts, 2 types of squid strips used in various combos & at varying range. one rod was a standard boom arm bream type rig with #2s, 2nd light rod had a one up 1 down with a few beads, a long #4 on bottom & a #2 above. Third rod was a short rig with a wider gape ‘#1’s that had at varying times squid strips, black loaded on & various mixes of both and even tried a decent sized squid head with the hook set amongst the tentacles.
All in all, a few bites 2-3 decent knocks & loads of chatting equalled up to a massive… yup another blank.
Alex fared a little better with 2 plaice returned although 1 was a decent size plus he also had a flounder just as we were packing it down.
While we were there a few mackerel came out mid tide about 6pm that got everyone’s (almost everyone) feathers out, me I stuck a metal lure out and had a few flings but being late in the day(for me) I rapidly found out what my spine thought of faffing about with a lure after going through the motions of fishing for 4 hrs. No pictures yesterday(not sure why )
Catch wise Id say the last 2 days were in general slower than previous days, possibly the small tides, maybe the may rot or a combo, although perhaps there were a few more than recent days mackerel catches. There were a few targeting Bass at both ends of the wall and despite plenty of gull activity in the marina entrance about 5.30pm nothing came of the higher bays other than plaice yesterday.
As a result the bulk of catches over the last 3 days Id say were mackerel & plaice, with appearances also from dab, smooth hound pups, a ray or two, bass, wrasse, gurnards(grey & tub)
The weather looks to close in after today. The plan tomorrow is to open the east as normal and then judge things as the weather system progresses so please keep an eye here on the home page and also the marina fishing fb group for updates
That it for today folks
Have a good BHol weekend and I will see ya on the other side.
Until then I bid you all ADIEU
F
Latest Bait collection info from Sussex IFCA
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Sussex IFCA Email re bait collection
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The Sussex Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority are pleased to report that the exploitation of sea fisheries resources within the District will receive enhanced management by ensuring the long-term sustainability of shore gathering activities on marine organisms, in the Sussex IFCA District intertidal areas. The Hand Gathering (Restrictions and Permitting) Byelaw 2021 has been approved by the Secretary of State for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Rt. Hon. Steve Reed MP.
The new Byelaw will enable the regulation and recording of hand gathering activities for a range of marine organisms, including shellfish, bait species and seaweeds. It introduces bag limits for various specified species, for anyone hand gathering within the Sussex IFCA district. From the 1st July 2025, anyone intending to gather any of the specified species above these limits will require a Hand Gathering Permit. It also introduces additional bespoke restrictions for relevant Marine Protected Area sites, that will protect the designated features of these sites. This Byelaw will safeguard the most vulnerable and ecologically important intertidal areas, supporting the sustainable management of these fisheries within the Sussex IFCA district, and the ecosystem services they provide.
For those intending to gather specified species above the defined limits, permits can be purchased from the Authority and will last a period of one year from the date of issue. Permits may have associated conditions including areas in which collection can occur, limits on quantities that can be collected and the requirement to submit returns data.The use of permits and flexible permit conditions support adaptive management based on evidence derived from permit holders. The byelaw should be read in conjunction with the flexible permit conditions and byelaw guidance material.
Sussex IFCA have produced extensive guidance for stakeholders on the Hand Gathering (Restrictions and Permitting) Byelaw 2021, including specific guidance for permit holders, and for each of the six Marine Protected Areas covered by the Byelaw. Please see attached our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document and Hand Gathering Factsheet, supporting promotion of the Byelaw introduction.
The Byelaw in full and following guidance documents can be found on the Sussex IFCA web pageshttps://www.sussex-ifca.gov.uk/regulations#HG-byelaw:
Hand Gathering (Permitting & Restrictions) Byelaw 2021 Full Text
Introductory Guidance Document
Permit Application Guidance Document
FAQ Document
Quick Reference Guidance Document
Plus, specific Hand Gathering guidance documents for each of the defined management areas where additional provisions are applied:
Chichester Harbour
Medmerry & Bracklesham Bay
Pagham Harbour
Adur Estuary SSSI
Beachy Head East & West MCZ’s
Dungeness, Romney Marsh & Rye Bay
We hope the provided guidance documents will answer any queries you may have, but please feel free to contact us at admin@sussex-ifca.gov.uk, or on 01273 454407 for further information.
Regards,
Sussex IFCA
Rob Pearson
Yea yea yea, no “Beatles” and yup I know this one is past due, but, occasionally I get distracted by real life and forget to sit & type up something here.
Sooooo In the words of Marvin Gaye… “what’s going on”(if you don’t know, look the man up)
lets start with your favourite and everyone else’s, with… yup MAY ROT.
I recon its safe to say that the MAY ROT (algae bloom) is well and truly with us, but its not all doom and gloom as it does (on the walls) seem somewhat patchy and shifting about. It seems that the tide as it ebbs & flows is moving it about quite a bit so if you do set up with dark patches in front of you there is a good chance that as some point that it may thin or even move. Quite strange this year as usually its like pea soup everywhere until the water temps rise enough to start killing the stuff off en mass.
How to tell if its dying off?, easy the water surface develops that brownish foam that many mistake for sewage. The foam may stink like bad eggs and collect floating debris in it but its defo not sewage its the algae throwing out its final twist as it dies. The more sunshine we now get the better as the sea temp will rise above the levels that the algae can survive.
By now you may be realising that I don’t have a lot to say about the fishing but, thats not quite true as the weekend just gone turned into a bit of a conger fest for some people with myself and some of the wardens seeing a few of those giant sea slugs being caught on the higher bays (yea you know where). Anyhoo across fri, sat & sun I saw evidence of 7 that were 5 foot plus & 2 or 3 up quite close as 3 were picked up Sunday while I was there.
I did have a dabble on the dropping tide Sunday but only had the one plaice that when hooked took off like a bream on speed, once I got it in I found out why, no perfect lip hook for me, ohhhh no, straight through its eye was I, no wonder it fought more than most plaice !..
Friday closing time on the wall saw a 9lb+ stingray landed above 30 somewhere, Im still hoping someone out there got a piccy but Im sorta giving up on that.
Overall the weekend wasnt the easiest but there were some mackies over the high tide for 5-6 days in a row, the standard amount of plaice and a sprinkling of bream also to be had… (may rot slowdown on catches is showing). adding to the tallies also were tub and grey gurnards, dab and flounders, strangely enough there still seems to be some dogfish about and we are also seeing the occasional small smooth hound and a few rays. Bass catches seem low on the wall but that may be a case of few actually targeting them when they are about. There are smaller species down the Vs but tbh they are a bit hit & miss amongst the clearer patches of may rot & so far I can only confirm 1 mullet caught of about 3lb but, there may be more as many of the mullet dudes say little.
Overall Id say things are okay ish and prob better than I would expect for this time of year with the may rot building fast to its full levels.
WEATER ALERT for those reading this far, Sat & Sun starting to look quite iffy and if XCWEATHER is correct there is a high chance of the fishing being closed on both days but, I will post here and on the FB group as fast as I get the info.
And finally, no not “good night from me & goodnight from him” A word or two about the spider crabs………. WTF are they ?, nope not really seen any, one or 2 caught on the wall, one pictured on the gallery was a big bugger too, so by now I would have expected the things to now be marching in ranks of 20 abreast like some Napoleonic division of Frenchies aimed at the east wall. Flip, I swear some years they arrive with knives & forks at the ready to demolish baits and lines. This year it seems that either they are late… or getting jiggy jiggy somewhere else…… hmmmmm summat to ponder as I consider a dabble on the east today.
Ok so it wasn’t quite finally, I near forgot to add a reminder if you havnt noticed the additional notice on the home page re the shop and some bait availability at weekends
I have been asked to post the following info from/for the shop
SHOP INFO
from 6th June, NEW opening at weekend. Friday & Saturday’s only
The shop will be open till 6.30pm
and then from 7pm till 8.30pm will be doing bait and tackle on the east wall. This is a trial run and weather dependent if all goes well it will continue
Aaaannnnnddddddd with those final words and these, until next time folks.. I bid you all ADIEU
F
Yeeee haaaaa ride em cowboy…
So, I took the quad for a lazy spin around the marina yesterday, for those still unaware, the WEST WALL will be closed to all for a few months and the last estimation is late September before anyone has access, and yes it could be longer, its very much of an unknown at the moment.
Anyhoooo…
Over on the EAST after indulging the 2 very friendly dogs at the cafe & asking the owner I i can fatten them up with dog biscuits I rolled onto the wall having passed MARK going the other way who informed me that the last bit of jet washing was almost finished and the whole of the east is now available to fish from.
YES ALL OF THE EAST IS OPEN and opening hours are currently 6.30am and gates are locked at 8pm
FROM MONDAY 19th MAY the EAST will CLOSE AT 9pm
And from that update we go to a fishy update/ wall round up for yesterday. not a massive amount of anglers yesterday but was pleasantly surprised to see some old familiar faces that have been regulars over the years as well as a few current regulars like James with his lure rods. Unfortunately Im chronic at remembering names, even when I have seen some people fishing for more than 20 years, My excuse is as always , for most im fairly easy to remember being one of the points of contact and the facebook group as well as my ramble on posts(like todays is rapidly becoming.
As I was saying about familiar faces, the first had so many layers on I asked him if he was not cooking in so much gear & stopped & chatted for a few mins to find out that there definitely had been mackerel caught, some of them quite big and plump and he had seen a couple of plaice and bream.
2-3 bays up a couple were fishing that have been visiting the marina for some 30+ years and over the last 10-15 years often with another wall regular Armando Britto, yes a name I can remember, mostly as he often likes to book the extension over night and fish until about six am. Any hoo the couple were in their favourite spot on the east, this time without their kids…. not that they are kids now that they are now in their 30’s and wall regulars themselves.
Spent quite a while catching up and found out they live near Wembley stadium, (something in my head says they have told me this before) and the obvious thought occurred that if I every get Wembley tickets I probably have somewhere very convenient to crash, so if they are readers here they are now forewarned on what may be in the wind. 🙂 Well, when I returned from the higher bays the husband was reeling in something that ALEX glanced at said “looks like a dab, cba to get a pic” well nosey old me looked & thought, thats no dab , go look closer its too big for a dab(yea the do go large sometimes).
was it a dab ?
Gawd no, what he had reeled in was a 33cm “small” turbot that was quite plumb & by my estimate around the 2LB + mark. larger than most Ive seen on the wall & not such a common catch this far inshore. while helping him disgorge and check my size list on website like a plonker forgot to get a picture so guys if you read here please get a pic if it hasnt already been eaten !
As members of the marina group will know earlier in the day a large (for the wall)conger that looked close to 6foot long & will be on the gallery today once ive finished my essay :).
Mackerel while not showing in shoals do seem to be slowly increasing and are still mainly a couple before & after the high tide but as I understand it there were a few early on opening also and regarding high tides I cant confirm but suspect most of the bream caught yesterday were also close to the high.
Now news for those that like to chase the mullet. Yes one was caught yesterday, Ironic that “mullet Dave” was set up in his usual manner for a couple of hours when along comes Roy, sets up 2 bays from dave and near first drop reels in as I was told by dave a 3lb mullet. It defo made me laugh when dave told me, he certainly looked miffed 🙂
Now what with the conger, the mullet and the turbot one may have thought that that would be it for the day regarding lesser common catches for the day amongst the plaice, flounder, dab, bream mackerel and schoolie bass but after chatting with MARK there was another tale to tell just before closing.
As most are aware the wardens usually remind people 15 to 30 mins prior to gate lock time to start winding in & packing, last night usual time for Mark about 20 mins to go everyone was getting the nudge as usual & Mark on getting to a couple of the mid wall bays found two single anglers one being a teen asked mark having packed 95% of his gear if he could have 1 more cast, Mark agreed and worked his way to the gate to wait for all lo leave. With everyone off bar the 2 singles mid wall Mark went up to give them a nudge only to find the lad with something large in the net telling Mark that he had caught a STINGRAY!
marks thoughts, “yea right Stingray, more likely a thornback” On opening the net for a better look I can just Imagine his face as lo & behold a 9lb+ STINGRAY !, what a way to finish the day off. Like myself earlier Mark overlooked getting the piccy so I just hope the lad did.
Today seems to be off to a decent start although at last post to the FB group there were not many fishing(I expect with decent weather & a high at 14.46 it will fill up. Catches today already have been plaice, dab, mackerel & schoolie bass plus, potentially a decent sole although my brain says prob flounder because the angle is quite hard to judge BUT will give benefit of doubt & say it was a sole without a clearer image.
MAY ROT UPDATE
on the lower than 50 bays the rot is very visible in the water giving an almost nuclear glow to the water although yesterday above 55 due to the tidal drag outwards looked much better and while the rot is obviously there the visibility higher up was decent and I could see the rocks clearly a metre down.
Well thats it for today, I will probably take the quad down again today, my in head plan is to get out & about as much as possible even if im not fishing. I still enjoy the social side of being on the marina walls and chatting to the various anglers & seeing what’s being caught(as well as feeding biccys to everyone’s dogs :).
And with that my ramble comes to an end and until the next post(maybe tomorrow or next week) I will bid you all ADIEU
F
GREAT NEWS, as of 1pm today (fri) the EAST WALL will finally be fully open.
Big thanks to MARK & his team for quickly finishing the wall jet washing once the marina were able to AT LAST restore a water supply to the wall.
Long over due, but it is at last JOB DONE.
Plaice, dab, mackerel and a decent ray reported by the warden this morning.
And with that mini post I will bid you all ADIEU
F
