day, another week and just like that Monday slaps you in the face before it has even got light. It’s so rare I’m up this early on any day that I’d damn near forgotten what it feels like any more !…
And thus we get straight into it being as I’m a bit pushed for time this morning what with the Surgeon dude wanting me at H Heath at some gawd awful time of day, “be on the ward for 7.30am ” he says.. wtf its not like I have been invited for breakfast even though they want me to starve myself prior too gracing their doorstep(as such). Mind U I will be glad too be rid of this painful Gall Bladder.

Best make the most of this report (not that there is much to put) as not sure what day I will be down on the marina next (Thurs possibly). So wtf has been happening ? And it is at this moment I have not had much chance too look back over the last 3 days nor did I actually get chance to talk too Ali yesterday so a quick pause too see if I can jog my slack memory.
Ok that break was little help, Fri… visit too anaesthetist, sat, Watched BTNs opening draw Vs Fulham(less said about that one the better) Sun, Oh yea, that was yesterday so fish, wtf are the fish. Now I know Sussex is a bit of a fish desert during the day da but I can’t believe that no one posted anything from the wall in almost 2 day especially at the weekend.

I do know Friday the bulk of catches were quite early and mark reported mackerel and bass in the morning when opening up. How many mackerel ? from what info I can glean there were not many and they were fairly much in & out again within the first hour and made people work for them with a string here and there. bream and wrasse were also had with the better numbers from the Bream. Again were reported some red mullet aka goat fish. At this point I could put a large chunk of post all about romans Exporting the fish all over the empire in the days when there were decent fish stocks but instead will keep it short.

Plaice … yep them flatties are seemingly making their return somewhat a little earlier (by my reckoning) than the usual Autumn time and catches of plaice do seem up although if I am honest the fishing sorta sounds great as you read it in your head but it truly is quite pants for many and its not just the Sussex part of the coast. On talking too various bods that travel for their fishing things are tough inshore from Dover to Chesil and beyond.
Mackerel are very intermittent with no real shoals on the move locally ( still suspect the 2 weekends either side of the 20th for them to show in any numbers and judging by squid reports along the coast at Chesil and Portsmouth regions I suspect we will start to see a rise in numbers of squid somewhen in the next 2 weeks possibly following the mackerel that everyone are lingering for.

Saturdays fishing ? if im being fully honest I dont know. As most of the last bunch of posts have shown things are tough out there for everyone and there is no real way of making it look good.
Sunday on the wall when I got there was a similar story from most of this last week. Granted I didn’t see the morning tide, nor did I meet more than three people who had been there all day.

When I did arrive on the marina Sunday afternoon there was a cross wind from the EAST that was cutting things up and rapidly clearing the lower portions of the wall by chucking up water spouts from the second “V” on the wall fairly much every V from bay 2 had large wet patches and sea spray drifting on the wind.

As a result of the wind as said many were leaving and those who were ganging on for a fish and as one put it ” Im hanging on for an hour, I only want one fish and I have been here all day!” much of the front section of the wall (24-55) was reporting “NO FISH” or responding to my ask of “do you need anything” the same reply was there no fish was ringing in my lug holes all along the wall until……
Oh shit we got an until and it wasnt from John H who did have a good session but he was hidden on 74.

That until? well it was on bay 54 where a dude when I asked how he was doing said ATM crap but earlier (mid dayish) seemingly hit into a shoal of mullet. Some were returned and 2-3 were kept and yes they looked a decent size so there went the cliché about them foreigners that took everything because he had in his back as said, 2 or 3 decent keeper mullet and a Bream or two, vague numbers but I only took a quick glance and yea I can mix up Bream & mullet if decent sizes and a very token glance, so not only did he keep “in size” fish but he also confessed to returning quite a few…. bloody shocking behaviour eh 😂😂

Anyhoo I must add at this point he wasnt the only one too catch a fish as “A” seemed order of the day for most, there were one or two bream caught mostly above 35 and a couple of small returned plaice. And that was as such it, or as much info from the wall that I could get other than rolling the quad too the end of the lower bays at 74 where John was fishing with his lad (maybe nephew, brain fails me) in the corner as I tend too call it on bay 74.

Now before the world charges up too bay 74 too catch all these fish to follow I should point out that John collects his own worms and mighty fine they are indeed, for those that have had some from him they can vouch for the quality. John is also an experienced and damn good angler and knows how too fish tricky marks such as that corner. Scores on the doors for John and the lad yesterday was,
Sole, 10+ plaice, 4 red mullet and a strap eel in afternoon conditions that put most off and had them heading home earlier than they thought.
Needless too say with the constant wind churning the lower bays , the water quality in close wasn’t very good and had churned into that pale milky looking yellow/green as the debris from the shore line churned against the east wall.

Looking at the next few days things look dry all week, light to med (14 mph to 20/25) Monday and similar Tues, then Wed to Sun are looking good too fish and that water should clean up quickly.
Website & blog wont be updated for a few day while the knife jockey’s bugger about with my internals but things should be back too normal in a few days.

Well thats it from me today, anyone wanting bait when the shop is shut can contact my Lad Michael while im not available. Other than that all thats left is for me to sign off today and bid you all ADIEU
F

Almost the weekend, or is for those that now seem to regard Friday as now part of the weekend ! So, whats happening on the marina ?. In all honesty much like the rest of Sussex, “not a lot” Fishing this year is starting to feel like an utter and total bust. So many of us keep saying it’s gonna get better but so far it doesn’t look that way. Yes there are signs of recovery from when the trawlers would double team the coast line but its not just those that have added to what seems like a pass time that is sliding into decline. The quality of fishing seems yearly to get worse.
Yes I have high hopes for the wind farm to generate a recovery but I doubt that the wind farm on its own will be enough. Mass fishing by commercial vessels that need not come too shore are putting dents into various fish stocks that seem unable to recover as the rate of carnage at sea continues, I just hope it isnt too late too stop the slide. Its a global problem that is driven by greed rather than conservation and change is needed fast. Anyway, enough of the conservation bit, whats going on on the marina… oh yea, not a lot.

I gather the day or morning started off quite busy but by time I trundled down there things were slow and people were heading for home (as is often the way that late in the afternoon.) As always I do try and have a chat with most down there even if the cynic would say I do it to flog a few things but thats not strictly true as I actually do enjoy the chats and is often the way a catch up with a few older or familiar faces as well as the new.

Its quite refreshing also to see new youngsters getting into fishing, at one time I was starting to wonder (a few years ago) if we were seeing a decline in youth joining the ranks of anglers on the marina. About 15 years back it felt like I had watched one generation grow up fishing there, many of who still do occasionally who were of a similar age to my eldest 2 (now not so much kids) children and there seemed a gap where hardly any new kids were visiting the walls and it felt like the new kids were missing. In an age of fast growing digital and online interest fishing had become or at least felt had become a thing for oldies. Perhaps I was feeling my age perhaps it was just part of the natural cycle of change but then my youngest often felt like the youngest i’d see fishing the wall.
And then suddenly jnr hit 14/15 & old enough to fish on his own and hit a cycle of beach going with mates and taking an interest in females and for a little while it was all change as I watched him on the beach from a distance wondering when he would join in with the yoikes that loved jumping from the walls into the sea.
That was when I realised I was getting old and had almost forgotten what it was like as a kid jumping from structures and rocks into the sea in the summer.! I guess its one of those things that only kids that grew up close to water can explain and understand. I remember the almost permanent rope swings over the brook in Haywards heath between Oathall school and Lindfield Even as far as where the Brook as we knew it, The Scrase stream/river as its properly called went on to join with the River Ouze.

I’m pleased too say that JNR while he did from time too time jump of the west wall when he thought he wasn’t being observed generally did his best to discourage marina wall jumping. Part I guess was from me being down there so often, part because many of the security team and wardens knew exactly who he was so wouldnt get away with it if caught but also part because he was very aware of the risks jumping from the marina walls was. Thankfully the beach visit element of his life wasn’t as strong as his love of fishing and still is a regular face down there.
Forgive the ramble around part of the near distant past but it was such thoughts ticking over in my head this week as events carried on rolling around my family and I seemingly stuck on our own personal Island but it had reminded myself of my own age and that my kids we from two different generations and my youngest has in the past been mistaken & asked if I was his grandfather ! yup I am that old.
And yes the ramble is about younger generations fishing on the wall and its quite refreshing to again see new numbers of children fishing the walls and not only children of already established anglers. perhaps it has again become trendy or perhaps cool to be out of the house and catching fish, It makes me wonder if climbing trees is still a thing in this seemingly technical age :).😊

By now most will realise Im rambling due to not having much to say about catches on the wall, mostly as I earlier said things do seem to be a bit of a struggle for having fish too report on. On the up side I did hear of 3 more decent bass caught Sun & Monday and one dude even sent me a pic of a double had that I will, as soon as I get around to sorting will get it up on the gallery as well as a bream pic I took 2 days ago that I forgot to post at the time too fb and here. Yes there were bream yesterday, numbers down on the averages for them but they are still scattered along the wall even out over the sand. There were also a few mackerel had but I fear that when they show up they are gone just as fast it seem. Gurnard catches also seem too be more noticeable as the summer rolls on and the low few bays are still popular with the bass anglers and those looking for bream and wrasse.
The high bays are slowly picking up also with more plaice being had, many at distance, mullet, bream, wrasse bass and congers are also common catches although when I visited the upper bays were unusually lacking in people. On the straight bit, as said there are still bream being caught although plaice do seem somewhat thin on the ground and often quite small so please keep an eye on the take sizes.
Crabs are still very evident in their lack of numbers and as yet the hoards of spider crabs so common over the last few years are very evident in their absence. Ive no explanation for it other than perhaps like the bream the buggers are all hiding on the west wall and laughing at us and how flipping clever they are this year.

You will be pleased to hear that for today i have almost run out of things to waffle about so for those that look to my visits to the wall I wont likely be down there today or tomorrow. Today I have to check in with the HHeath anaesthetist to make sure he is happy with my health levels and assuming all is good I will then get my gall bladder removed on Monday which means for the following few days I wont be on the wall Today as said, Tomorrow is BHAFC’s first home home of the season so I will be at the AmEx annoying anyone in ear shot of my air horn. I will be on the wall on Sunday and then Mon I will be in hosp and expected out somewhen on Wednesday. Thus bar this Sun im not overly sure when I will be on the wall but may be depending how I feel next weekend, time will tell eh.
And thus we come to the end of todays sermon 🤣🤣honest 😉 and, until the next one, I will bid you all ADIEU
F

So nearly typed in Turdsday but thought better off it, anyhoo, what to write ? In all honesty I’d almost forgotten anything of yesterday and what happened etc so had to sit n think for a while. And thus started the backtrack, takeaway tea, son playing football, fished or dabbled more like for 30 mins or so aaannndddd….. jeez my memory is struggling today !

Was told there were a few mackerel earlier, not sure what a few meant in this case but not that many I suspect and tbh its been a similar story all along the Sussex coast atm, will it happen around the 20th I wonder. In general I was somewhat hard pressed to get much of a fishing report yesterday other than from the lower third of the wall that had done ok and ticked over with bream, gurnard wrasse and a fair amount from the micro list but as I type my brain is struggling to think of much in the way of any sort of report and for a change am not going to pad things out and spend 20 minutes having a waffle. Its too hot, or my body is , one of the two so quite simply put, lack the energy to do much of anything other than hang up the keyboard for the day and flop on the sofa. Yup, I got up today feeling right bloody knackered. Oh the joys of modern life.

And with that Im gonna sign off , and so, until next time I will bid you all ADIEU
F

Why the title … tbh Ive no Idea but it seemed different so there it is, the origin of the day Wednesday just for shhhh & giggles.
So what to say & where to start as I suspect my head is a bit fried from various issues yesterday that were fully out of my control. They tbh left me in no mood to do much of anything regarding the use of my brain! Between trying to sort stuff with Motability, the ppl that supply my mob scooter, Hospital appointments that have been dropped on me all of a sudden and having to now to sort some level of transport up to Haywards Heath & back on Friday to see an Anaesthetist who it seem I must see or my surgery on Monday gets delayed ! ( ffs really).
Thus the head was already starting to fry with a FU mentality to the world when the real bomb got dropped on us at home with the news that my wife’s mum had died in hospital in Manchester!
Yes it was expected, yes she had been rushed in and Wife & jnr had gone up to Manchester last week on a flying visit knowing it would likely be a last an a good bye visit but knowing its coming doesn’t ease any pain it just gives you a few days more tortured knowing its coming and you find yourself simply dreading the news as you wait for the bomb that changes lives and often your world.

Mawkish maybe, grim sounding yes and some would say it doesnt really belong on a blog, perhaps they are right but as I sit here typing as the wife sleeps I find myself trying to put my thoughts into place or at least trying to find some order to things and my strongest thoughts and feelings so far are the FU mentality kind of defence to the world. Yes life goes on, and yes we all move forwards but sometimes real life has a way of kicking you to remind that there is life out there going on alongside social media and all the gubbins that come with all things “internet”
Im not putting this here for sympathy, nor the attention (although it could seem so) perhaps its a “head up” sorta thing for those that know me one way or another that when you see me next I may seem a bit off or even distracted or “switched off” but I will be on the wall through the weekend although Im prob elsewhere (HHeath) on Friday as I gotta do the Anaesthetist thing prior to the surgeon carving up my gall bladder on Monday !(nope, wont be down Mon or Tues for sure as they locking me in ;)) Ironically the one person who this hits hardest is the one I don’t mention much , here or in gen & thats the wife who needless t say has my focus while we deal with all the change.

I guess I should have put the fish report 1st but typing the above sorta puts my head in a “typing mode” so the report is here rather than before 🙂
With that I finally come to what, why, who, (sounds like a flippin OWL!) oh well lets do it …..
TwitT’woo T’uesday…. afternoon. State the obvious time, the day started off (as per yesterdays blog) flippin hot hot hot. Loads of stressy phone calls & given orders by SWMBO to do the run on the wall, plus wifey wanted some alone time & a scented candle bath( here I suspect the females out there will understand it more than bloke do) so very reluctantly and feeling somewhat guilty about leaving the house I packed the cool box & loaded up the “quad” and took GRUMPY1 down the marina.

Now, this is the point I get a little dig in :), it seems the cafe are selling some tackle bits on the wall, probably for the same reason I do it , IE because sometimes the shop isnt open and people do need tackle n stuff so where to get if the shop is shut. Anyhoo as most know I try to be on the wall somewhen close to 5 when the shop is v close to shutting or already shut & gone. I don’t have an issue with the cafe , he saw a gap in a market & used his noddle:) BUT, heres the but coz there is always one somewhere, BUT… you his stuff isnt that much off a bargain based on the prices he is displaying . (my stuff is more affordable than the cafe) so if ya dont mind waiting til im down you can top up your weights & gear at a lower price than the cafe 🙂
While Im on my fav subject of “ME” all of the wardens have my mobile & I am easily contacted via facebook messenger. If you need bait & tackle check in with the wardens, if its viable I can be on the wall usually within 20 mins.

So, who is getting fed up with me waffling and not saying a thing about catches on the wall on Monday ? everyone ? awwwwwwww hands up all that are waiting for me to use the “M” word ?
hmmmm my guess is half of u lot have your imaginary hands up, fess up, admit it, Im waffling and all ya wanna hear is the “M” word 😉
OK THEN, MMMMMMMMmbop oops , wierd music memory I did mean to say MMMMMMBass(honest guv) Yup Im jumping briefly 2/3rd of the way up the wall rather than starting on bay one. WHY ? coz I can anddddddd it relates to Sundays catch report. No I cant be arsed to edit the report as most dont look for post updates although I have edited yesterdays post (bet some now gone looking ?)

Right, lets get sensible, that Bass report. As said , jumping to bay 40something I met a couple of regulars who i know read here and no doubt expecting me too name drop so I will…. erm not coz I cant remember your names😂😂 (oops) So, after a decent chat and a mention of the young lads that caught on Monday(see blog) I was then told of a bass that somehow rumour/gossip had not reached me and thus I got to hear of what sounds like an 8lb bass caught right at the death of Monday nights closing time (i dont think many were there to see it but I trust the source as it was her BIRTHDAY🌹🎁🌹(yes I found a new toy)and it seems that the dude managed to land it using a method not recommended but was successful so if u are that dude with that fish on Sunday at close, please send me a piccy I can use 🙂

And now back to Tuesday, I rolled onto the wall and surprise surprise, regular visitors father & son(sorry guys I am naff with names) were in what I think is fast becoming their fav bay to fish and again reported some fish (not as good as day b4 but ok) including Bream & Wrasse plus smaller stuff down the side. I know someone told me of a dropped bass but cant quite recall where on the wall but suspect it was just beyond the bend nr 22.
Rolling along the first 12 bays I heard that there had been MACKEREL(there it is, done it now aint I…. I hear the trumpets) on the earlier tide and the bulk caught had been on the bend of the wall. yes there were two or three at least also caught later in the afternoon but were random singles mostly on baited hooks. Bits n bobs is the best way to describe other catches until about bay 20 tbh, mostly the likes of gobys & scorps. Another long time regular was @22 who was getting bite and one decent hit that didnt hook up but he seemed quite cheerful that he was actually getting bites as things on the wall had been quiet for him for the last week.

And so I rolled up & past the steps at 28/29 and headed towards the forties hearing that it was very quiet for those still there. Again quite a few no doubt sun baked people had called it a day and were heading for the hills in the hope of not getting jammed in traffic. At this point I will mention a friend and regular who I refer to as “old Colin” (basically because he is older than me🤣) Well Old Colin is a smart colin as other than reading here, when he comes on the wall he stays deliberately after 6pm often til 7ish too not only avoid traffic in Brighton but its also then much quieter in London where he lives.

Bays 22 to into the 40’s had mostly emptied but the few sat there were reporting how things were quiet on the days dropping tide. As mentioned earlier I reached 40 summat and the 2 who were fishing there, and being as they are quite chatty (in a good way) hence finding out from them both about Sundays bass and they young ladys birthday was at the weekend just gone. Anyhoo they were having a dabble with some soft lures and me not being one to miss a trick I pulled my box off the scooter N showed them some nice sparkly toys to cast out (no not feathers) Im hoping next time I see them they will be able to tell me if they had any joy with them, that or they r gonna say they a pile of poo or summat ugly 😂😂 A bit of a longer chat than most saw me roll on to see if there was anyone tucked around the corner and somewhat surprisingly that part of the wall was empty, quite rare these days as 55-60 are usually filled most of the day. There had been Bream, plaice and the usual bits n bobs down the side but I didnt get wind of anything larger but just like Sundays bass decent catches can take a few days sometimes to filter through.

With regards to the mackerel on the bend, I can confirm from 2 people that someone had a dozen and another 9+. beyond those two I had some conflicting info, one source said “lots” of em in the morning another said “mackerel on the wall” a third said “it was ok” so I cant say for sure if there were loads of mackerel caught but I do know they arrived in a short spell and mostly on the bend from bay 12 to 24 and were gone fairly quickly.

Today is a bit muggy with dull cloud cover expected to last most of the day and I suspect this afternoon we will, like yesterday have some sea fog roll in for a couple of hours this afternoon.

If you are planning a visit to the wall, please remember we are trying to eliminate all glass on the walls. We have no issue with anyone that wants a tipple while they fish but please, bring cans with you rather than beer bottle. If your taste is for something stronger thats fine also but again please transfer you wine/spirits into a plastic bottle .

Well thats it for today, GRUMPY1 will be on the wall later this afternoon and Thursday, Hosp appointment on Thurs so unlikely down and I will then be down Fri & the weekend for sure.
If ya see me down there please say hi, I don’t bite honest 😉
And so we come to the end of todays ramble, and with that final word I will bid you all, until next time ADIEU
F

Up at stupid o’clock this morning for some weird reason only my body knows but lummy its already warm and the shower I had has left me feeling like erm, I need another shower to get over the 1st one. Summat tells me its gonna be an arse burner out there on the wall especially if yesterdays pink to red bodies I saw on the wall is owt to go by. please pack sun cream and plenty of sensible fluids, that sun is unforgiving.
SO what has been going on since , well , since yesterday!

Well with regards up to day wall info a quick catch up on the first bay allowed me to get a report from Sunday morning and the first few bays that did actually have fish caught with the bays doing well Im told Sunday morning and YUP, yesterday morning for the same people with said bay Sunday doing well for bream, wrasse, blennies and some other various micro species for the family, well DAD and lad that fished there both days so Sunday turned into a top and bottom job for seemingly the only catch info I could gather at the time. There may have been other stuff but if I dont meet the people catching I cant really confirm catches on a he said she said basis.
*edit* I forgot to add here that there was a bass caught on the lower bays by two young lads fishing bay 3, unfortunately the only details I got of it was it was decent and kept.!
A perfect example of that was yesterday when I was told that some dude, now forever known as Mr X, when leaving and walking along the upper level told a regular that a couple of mullet and some plaice were caught on the higher bays. They may well have been BUT the report sounds very much like what ROY A caught up there on Sunday so can only tag it as potentially caught but not confirmed.

Yesterdays story was very much though a repeat of Sundays pattern on the wall. Very hot, very exposed in the bright sunshine and very few people (when I was there) having any fish to report. I did confirm that a mackerel was caught just after lunch but again suspect it likely was the only one caught & I still suspect we will see mackerel arriving around the 20th of the month. It’s only an estimate and not a Nostradamus prediction so If I am wrong please don’t gloat as I don’t come equipped with a fish finer weather type indicator stuck up my Jaxi 🙂

Also similar to Sundays report now that I have been made aware of the lower bay catches on Sunday were more bream, Wrasse, and plaice again caught on the higher bays making the 2 days a tale of top N bottom as far as catches go with very little reported in between.

As a final comment from the last couple of days there seems to have been an alarming increase of “dumped” fishing line on the walls. Sun & Mon I managed to fill more than one of my jacket pockets each day with discarded line and I don’t mean just a bit of trimmed line I mean yards of the stuff carelessly left in the fishing bays. A bit here and there I can understand and often is sort of expected but the sheer amounts being carelessly left is unnecessary especially as people usually take their rubbish with or tie into a bag on the wall.

We have line bins on both walls (when open)the line gets recycled and is collected from beaches and venues all over the country and also a few abroad. If you wish to know more please check out the website -> https://www.anglers-nlrs.co.uk/
Waste line on the walls can be dangerous for wildlife and not just the seabirds that can easily get tangled and in some cases hooked up from poorly discarded line and rigs, on the beaches it has become common for dogs to end up with hooks embedded in mouths and paws and all sorts of animal life is put at risk from discards of line, rigs and hooks so please, a bit more care when packing up, check your area before you leave and if there are any line discards, put them in a line recycle bin please. On the east the bin is straight across from the cafe fixed to the wall on the left as you leave via the white gate TY.

And with that I will sign off until the next one and bid you all ADIEU
F

Ok so where to start ? How about at the English obsession 🙂
The Weather !
Well Sunday was what I call a bum burner, hot dry and almost zero wind out there. Sea state was not too bad looking at the water but, OMFG the weed, gert big long hippy type hair strands up to 2 foot long and the flipping stuff was everywhere like some loon had gone mad with a play dough type of machine making the stuff.
And the worst bit of the above ? that was about as good as it got for many on the wall.

By the time I got down there many were leaving, the high had been and gone and for so so many there was not a fish in sight. I thought it would be tough going, It always is when the water is fairly clear and the sun is up at full heat, defo a bum burner if I ever saw one. I recon by time I reached the bend about half had already left although it was still fairly busy and some were planning to stick it out.
By time I reached bay 46 I still hadn’t heard of anyone catching anything more than a blenny here n there. It wasnt until I hit the 50’s that someone mentioned that they had done quite well between him & his lads (yes a regular to the wall who had been MIA for a couple of months fishing elsewhere !. Half a dozen plaice, some bream a dropped conger and a couple of other things I had forgotten by time I left! DUH!

Roy had been and gone by time I reached his fav bay and I was told he had landed another couple of nice Mullet and in that small batch of bays I heard there were more plaice & bream plus a bass! One small patch of the wall had out fished everything over the weekend. No doubt after reading this there may be a charge up the wall to reach them next few days but I wonder sometimes if those on the lower bays are chucking baits out on huge hooks or simply too far because if there are fish up there surely they are also lower down … what is the secret I wonder that is different in methods of those yesterday higher up to those further down … perhaps a chunk of it may be the amount of people only feathering but surely that cant be it, I meet people with bait all the time that are very competent anglers. Its quite a mystery on wat is different… could it simply be the amount of lead plopping all over the plaice ? naaa surely not that …. its defo a conundrum.

the conditions of heavy weed a dropping tide and the sheer heat of the day had many giving it up, either fed up, bored, too hot, lack of decent fluids probably all added up to the wall emptying quite fast so as I rolled back down the wall there were huge open gaps, by time I got past the bend it was virtually empty and that included one lad who had taken the time earlier to stop and chat (as I often ask people here).
He was keen to say hi and how he read the blog & its always good to hear and seen new faces that do read here.
Anyhoo Vikram (yes I remembered even if its not perhaps spelt correctly 😉 ) was full of questions, many of which regarded Bass fishing, set ups, times of day and where to target various fish. Chatting with the various juniors can be quite refreshing and it is good to see so many juniors getting into fishing locally. Angling sometimes gets tagged and an old blokes thing but I feel that perception is slowly changing. On the wall we are seeing more and more various ages fishing and its not just the bloke, there does also seem (to me anyhow )to be more women/females etc getting into fishing from the walls and hopefully elsewhere. Its good to see more variety out there having a go.

While chatting to Vikram I noticed he was missing a top eye and just by chance I had my fix it box on the scooter so sorted out that top eye as well, ya never know, it may have just added a bit more life span to the rod.
Well thats just about it today, yesterday was a tough brutal day on the wall for many, hopefully when I get down there today things may be a bit better although Mondays are often one of the quiet days re numbers on the wall so no doubt finding some catch reports may be few n far today.

And with that I will sign off until next time and bid you all as per , ADIEU
F

Bet ya cant guess where I got todays blog title from ?, yup am guilty of playing a CD (the Highwaymen)on the pc this morning and as I type this out it just happened to fall on the Christofferson written tune and thus don’t have to think of an apt title….. especially as I actually thought it was Monday !.. Brain mush today I guess.

So, lets start with the obvious in that there was no blog yesterday being as Fridays visit too the wall was somewhat uneventful at the time of my visit so fairly much had to rely on later reports being posted up by some that actually caught something other than the perhaps 3-4 mackies in the morning. Yes, I’m gonna pad this out just for sh1t n giggles 😉
Friday was more of a micro species day than anything else. There were a couple of eels had as the water was still a bit coloured due to the sunny then blowy then sunny sort of sequences last week. As well as the sea slugs a couple of pup hounds were spotted one on the bend another mid wall. I am aware of a couple of schoolie bass being returned but overall it was a day of scratching for most with blennys, pout, gobys and scorpion fish racking up the hits more than the Bream that had been a fairly stable catch for many. Add in a wrasse here n there and the report makes Friday look quite awesome in a weird sort of day but dont be fooled. The high tide on the wall was quite busy re anglers and the catches were very scattered throughout the day making things seem very quiet and when I got there most were shaking their heads with pained looks and many were on their ways home.

Yesterday it was a very similar story, an early morning couple of mackerel and a decent Mulley for Roy was fairly much the rule of the day with by lunchtime a cross wind from the west that was starting to cause problems by 1pm. When I got onto the wall there were quite a fe people on the bend (mostly staring at rods and that wind could clearly be felt by time I got to bay 15. the night before’ s forecast had me thinking it may be worth a dabble but the tele rod stayed firmly in its slot on the scooter.
On creeping towards 24 it was clear that most had packed up or were in the process of doing so as the wind was causing some very big water spouts all along the front section of the wall. Like a berk I stopped to have a chat with a group of 3 on 24 not checking where I had actually stopped especially as the bay had wet ground for 2 thirds of it and I was straight into the firing line. Before I could hit reverse a large plume spouted up and landed square on my face & chest … ffs & b’locks were heard, shook it off & decided have a look at 26 & then if hefty turn about…. yep 2nd mistake of the day…
No one was by this time above 24 other than myself and on dude walking towards me. Unable to fully do a U turn (due to said dude walking towards me) I heard that very familiar double thump of water down the “V” with scooter wheels firmly against the lowest step and pointless reversing (into the wave) I just sat there with a fleeting hope of being far enough over in the bay…. nope, a full on thump of water on my neck and back.
Now, it is very rare for me to be hit by a wave in any amount and yesterday It got me twice full on front an back! Thankfully the wind and sunshine stayed and I was able to trundle around the marina blow drying. As to the catches while I was there, well there wern’t any and by time Id turned around and reached the side gate there were 7 people left on the wall and 3 of those were also packing it up.

Now as I type I notice that some mackies have been caught this morning on the wall c/o a piccy from Mark. Also posted have been another couple of mullet and a decent Guilt head Bream high up.
Weather looks good today and yay no cross wind to deal with and by the looks of things some decent temps to go along with some actual summery days. reports of squid at Chesil so no doubt they are headed this way also, perhaps earlier than usual !
Thats it for today, Im going back to the highwaymen for a while and see some on the wall later today. Gimme a should N say hi if ya see me, as the old BT advert used to say…. “its good to talk” 🙂
And with that final word I will bid you all ADIEU
F

Turdsday, why Turdsday ? well tbh that is what the fishing was yesterday up until close of play. On arrival I was told the shop was shut, but then things on the wall and locally have been a bit pants lately and dispite the overall reduction in weed issues on the east wall a fair amount of beaches locally are still dealing with weed issues so that may be a factor in the shop being quiet… either that or anglers are simply going to other shops.

Added to the shop issue the fishing quite simply was crap hence the report is all about Turds-day !. On arrival there was one person on the lower level and most there were simply tucked a little out of sight beyond bay 12.
Me: any fish ?
them ? that sort of glassy stare of boredom in return and a shake of the head and so I rolled the quad upto and beyond bay 12 without the wheels thumping at least one red post as I lined them up to the gap, quite an achievement and saves inflicting shit on my fragile spine. As it turned out I managed the full up and down again this time without hitting anything so at least my spine was happy 🙂 there were one or two regulars who seemed happy too see me often with a grin on their faces (where else would a grin be but on a face ! eh) Should also have said yesterday It was nice to catch up with Miraj who was fishing with family members I think he said over from Canada , boy is that a damned long way too go fishing in Brighton! at least they have decent weather for the week here.
Familiar faces by the half way up point, 5 fishes 0 ! as I continued up the story was the same familiar faces, 5, 6, 7, 8, catches ? yup zero . Now while this sounds crap, many were feathering and not so many had bait in the water so bait rods in were not many although as I trundled along more were arriving for the early evening session to, erm , have a go. Ive no idea how many fished the morning’s high tide and am not sure who was on duty from opening until Ali arrived so all I had was a few shaking heads on what was a dropping quite small tide.
On reaching 55- to 60 the days fun began with a resident collaring me with concerns for a Gull that had some netting wrapped around a leg and what also appeared to be some fishing line protruding a couple of inches behind its tail feathers so I suspect it may also have the ends of a fishing trace also stuck in its body.
All attempts to chatch/resue it were in vain, is could fly with little to no issues and tbh didnt look that hungry so wasn’t having any attempt to capture it despite quite an assortment of food including small sprats. I did learn after a while (from bird rescue people) that the bird had been seen on the black rock site the day before and may have been tangled for a few days so eventually all attempts to catch it were stopped.

And so the wheels were pointed back down the wall and after a fair bit of gossiping I wound up on bay 7 for a dabble with a light rod & a 2 hook flapper flicked out with black & tips of squid not expecting much tbh.
By this time a few more bods had arrived and the lower bays did have quite a few people on them as well as the standard arrival of those seeking the “M” word. And so the day wound down towards 8.15 when I put the rod away and headed up the wall reminding peeps of the time and when we close the wall. Scores on the doors were, a shad caught on the bend of which a quick explain that the fish was a protected species thus should be retuned and the dude got a quick piccy and I returned the fish as carefully as I could. There were 2 decent conger got to a net on bay 47, witnessed and lost of which one they estimated of about 20lb. The guy was gutted as he had been using fairly light line and lost both due to line breaks under pressure and was still muttering about using heavier gear so next time ……. 🙂
I suspect the 2 congers were the days highlights for those that saw them as there was little joy on the rest of the wall along the straight section clocking up a mere couple of pout . Lower bays basically produced pout and micro’s such as blennys and a crab or two. For myself I racked up a huge hall of 2 blenny’s and 4 pout of which one was a double shot which at least made it partially interesting.

Im happy too say that the wall cleared quickly although one family had thought we had a 9.30 close. Its not the first time some have thought this and im not too sur why some are arriving and thinking 9.30 is the close time so Im guessing that there is a notice on a website somewhere with the wrong info as this year shut is defo 9pm until make changes it to probably 8.30pm.
And with that my final words are (if you are on the wall) that I will see you later on the wall today and for now I will bid you all ADIEU
F

Bet ya cant guess what was mostly caught yesterday ? need a clue ? well it wasn’t mackerel that’s for sure 🙂
Right then, waaassssuuuuuuuuuppppppppppp ?
Monday I gave the wall a miss being as the weather was pants and the wall was shut in the afternoon. The beauty of the EAST though is its shape. With more SW to westerlies and general wind patterns we can often keep at least part of the wall open when the wind picks up as the lower 10-15 bay are somewhat sheltered from the worst of the weather bar Hefty SW, South or SEast winds. Granted as things picked up yesterday it did become too much to stay open and Mark shut shop about 1pm.
Now while I dont have much of a catch report I can confirm one catch that was posted too a wall regulars FB page of an 8lb bass that looked from the piccy to have been caught very close to the bend ! go figure If I can re find the pic I will get it up on the gallery.. Dumbarse here didn’t think too save the pic as Im so used too “acquiring” the posted pics from the marina group…… which reminds me…

The FB group “Brighton Marina Fishing UK”, a few words.
Firstly I am aware for non members the social media floating buttons on the home page that link to the marina group don’t work for non members. Unfortunately I cant change that . While I realise it doesnt work for non members it does for members , it works that way because of the groups global fb settings of being set too invisible to non members.
It would be easy to think , … well thats fkn soopid but.. its done that was as the group was having issues with spam accounts, malicious posters(removed) and a collective group of people best described as a pain in the arse as they bombard fishing groups en mass asking for mackerel and are solely focused on the one fish. Thy have no interest in angling or learning other methods, often show up at a venue with brand new and unused rods 1 weight & 1 set of feathers and absolutely no no how of fishing. I realise everyone has to start somewhere but these people often have no interest in learning anything other than ripping 4 buckets of mackerel out of the water for what ever reason they use the fish for once home with their haul.
This all sounds like im anti mackie fishing, Im not and am willing to teach anyone at any level of skills if they want too learn but Ive little too no time for people that are on a venue for mackerel out of pure greed that bring 2-6 big buckets (one once had a council wheely bin ffs) spend their entire time expecting too rip 100s of mackerel out and then overload containers & cart them too a hatchback car with a black bag lined boot. I wonder after 8hours on the wall in the sun at the condition of said likely as not squashed & crushed fish that then took another 3 hours too drive home. I bet the car would stink worse that a mouldy fishmongers place ! erk
And thus the group was set to invisible !
How does this help someone too join a group that is hidden from view unless you are a member .. well it doesnt BUT, I will tell you how too at least get an invite.
You need too know (have someone on your friend list) someone already in the group
OR find someone on the wall that is willing too add you too their friend list so that they can send you an invite.
Please note that if you are sent an invite YOU MUST answer the 3 questions, the FB settings mean that if you don’t your application will time out … TIME OUT eh wtf someone out there said.. well all invites too join are time limited to 1hour. If you get an invite you cant save it til later, it will vanish after an hour.

Right then, back on track from Mark closing on Monday.
The wall re opened Tues morning as normal at 6.30am to heavily coloured water and (found out later) loads of feathery fernlike WEED ! loads of it that got worse after the low tide, it wasnt unfishable but it made things a bit messier, and, yes catches too come after a bit more waffle..WHY? coz I can, so there 😉

OK, so after a GP appointment where a very nice man slabbed me in both knees with a needle as long as my middle finger. Yes it went right into the middle of my knee joints, painful ? a bit, but boy was it worth it, for the 1st time in 4 years I could actually walk without need of a walking stick, granted not perfect and somewhat achy(minus the breaky heart shit)but too have constant pain and bone grinding in the knee for the last 4 years to become a normal state of things… well the change was almost as fast as the time it took me too stand up. Damn near miraculous in its own way ! Ok its only one small part of me thats now pain free but its a start and I can walk some short distances pain free.. now anyone out there with a spare lung or two so that I can breath normally while i walk ? fook, funny as shit tbh. Anyhoo back to yesterday 🙂

Yesterday, no not gonna think of the Beatles song…much.. So GP then home, wheels on charge and got ready loading the quad back up for a wall run & thought to myself I KNOW lets take another rod down & try not to break it on bay 8 or 9 if free once ive done my gossip run and catch up 🙂
SO we are back to the top line of this blog spot and what was caught yesterday, and yes it was mostly snotties and giant sea slugs aka silver and conger eels. there were other catches scattered about prior too me setting a light rod up on bay 9as 8 was already occupied by a pair who were on their 4th visit in a week (bloody addicts everywhere eh lmao)
Chris I gather had a fair few pout at least one wrasse and I think he mentioned an eel. Two or three people tried the higher bays nr 60 and one was on the last bay tucked in the corner so too speak on 74. I dont think anyone caught up on the high spots but maybe wrong. Lower on the front section amongst those using feathers (yup in mucky water but they did clear a fair bit later) bet ya cant guess what was caught yup more eels, granted the title refers to congers but too be honest there were more silver eel (all returned as protected) but I couldnt really put as a title , “snotties and more snotties”now could I?…..hmmmmmm…….

Anyhoo the general story of the day was most who caught yesterday got at least one eel(mostly silvers as said) a couple of anglers had erm, a couple of silvers. There were also a lot of pout scattered along the wall. On top of those glorious catches there were some micros including blennies and gobies. Ballan and corkwing wrasse are also out there and also, there are a few crabs too be had in the way of spiders, edible crab and velvet swimmers, finally I just remembered at close yesterday Chris landed a nice sole for his tea.

While the water later in the day did clear too a better green for those that were feathering unfortunately there were no mackerel had before closing at 9pm, as too my rod, well yes It did catch something in the way of a baby silver eel and a couple of small pout ,saved a blank I guess.
At time of typing this line (12.17pm) i have no info of morning catches so maybe will find out a bit later when I head down. Thankfully the council workmen have finished installing solar panels after much drilling and hammering and finally the house has gone somewhat quiet. Its weird, after so much noise the silence feels weird and very amplified, quite Erie in a way.

Right, enough, thats it dopey arse, sign off and do summat else other than fill the page with crap ! aaannnnndddddd so, until next time, yup I will bid you all ADIEU
F

P.S. that bass, caught by KennyL on Tues prior to wall close

As the title says, its August !, no shit said the wife its been that for four days !. yea! well, erm, I just noticed and want to know who nicked half the bloody year. It feels like fricking Crimbo was only a few weeks ago and the damn thing is now closer than the last one ! fek, time aint flying some buggers nicking it sheesh!

Right thats out the way, whats going on down on the marina. Over on the WEST they are still chugging away, on last talks with them they are still saying some time in September ….. erm ya mean next month guys ?….. silence .. so there it is. To be fair we have had a fair bit of blowy weather and as we creep towards September.. yea I recon there will be more so expect the “SOMEWHEN” in September to become “end of September” the most likely and perhaps an over run of a week or two. What does bother me a bit though is that the work all seems to be on the extension. I cant say that I have seen anyone working on the main wall section…. unless it is only the extension that is being done this year.. NOTE to self, speak to the crews about whole wall or just ext… Id hate to think they will be back next year ! fek thats a nasty thought ! ergh!

Right, stuff that, whats going on over on the EAST ..(caffeine break..)..ok, well, by time I got my shit together yesterday I could see from the tree tops nr our back garden that the expected breeze had begun and on bombing down the hill at breakneck speed on the quad (8mph) it was clear that things would be a tad choppy on the EAST so decided instead of accessing th wall via side gate I’d roll straight onto the top level. There were surprisingly more fishing than expected but very little was being caught. I decided to hang around and chat with Ali and a few of the others already there trying to pick ppl’s brains so to speak and get a clearer picture of the day and also the last few hrs of yesterdays session on the wall.
And thus we have for the mackerel hunters good news followed by poor news followed oh ok , good news, bad news good news sorta thing, are we sitting comfortably ? yes ? ok shall I begin with the good.~>

Mackerel, Mackerel, Mackerel, Mackerel, Mackerel, Mackerel, Mackerel, Mackerel, is that good enough or shall I explain it 😉

Yea. yea. yea, you know she loves you and you know you should be glad.. oops off track..
re do the yea thing and change too this.. So did the mackerel happen Saturday evening ? well as posted yes there was an increase in numbers followed by a decent flurry SUNDAY morning which was happening as I was typing up the last posted ramble here yesterday morning. so other than the morning flurry what happened Sunday ? well yes the flurry got a bit larger Sunday morning but then as mentioned 1/2 an hours read ago there was a westerly “breeze” building up that by time I got down there resulted in me taking the quad straight onto the wall to see most of the anglers had condensed below bay 18 as the wind had started too get a bit stronger and the tide was knocking a load of water spouts up, the worst of it above bay 46 but it was also enough to make lower bays from 20-46 unpleasant. With me going straight onto the top level it gave me the chance to find ALI who at the time was parked on his bike around bay 12 which would give me a quick catch up part from the day so far but also what happened after I left Saturday because …..

Well it did look like summat was about to happen Saturday as late afternoon there were a few fat long Mackerel caught while I was there, granted only 4 or 5 but with water colour and general conditions light levels etc, well, yup HERE it comes …………… …………. …….. “IT LOOKED FISHY ” 😉
Yes Ali sorta agreed but was sceptical and a couple of regulars asked if it was worth staying so non commitaly I said well there were the fat ones caught and conditions very much looked promising so stay and see what happens about 7pm.
It turns out that it was fishy, very fishy if you was there for mackerel yes MACKEREL so there ya go thats the good news they were there in numbers and so you now know whats coming dont ya !

The bad news
Saturdays fishing spree started about 7ish when the wall was fairly busy and as most regulars here and on the marina group on the book of face know, through the day we give people plenty of warnings not only about the close gate time but also the reasons why.
Its great to see plenty of fish being caught but if anglers deliberately continue to ignore some of the wardens when they are told too pack up in time things will change for the worse.
I realise people like to have the one more cast thing and I realise the allure of staying when mackerel are running but we have an agreement with the resident association and if the walls are kept open by selfish anglers for a few more mackerel it gets noticed. It only takes one time too many that we fail to close the gates on time and boom we end up losing an hour of fishing time because we have to close the wall at 8pm simply because a few greedy arseholes wanted to catch a couple more fish.

Now from my view point, that aint gonna happen for a few reasons. the first is that some of the wardens are being ignored when it counts most and Im sure Mark will feel the same. If there is a need for either of us to have to be on the wall as extras simply to close because of a few selfish anglers, well then I feel fairly confident in saying neither of us will be in the best of moods to deal with people that think just because they drove for 2-3 hours to get here that they have an entitlement to continue fishing when its close time.

Good news time now ?
Well the good news is for the non mackerel hunters, late staying on the wall wont be tolerated and some of the idiots are now under a closer watch and if needed will be told not to return. For anyone that thinks its ok to delay leaving, think twice, if you dont you will smply be making you last visit too the marina.
Bad news ?
bad news for the mackerel hunters is that the winds did ease very slightly last night but I am sure most people have seen news reports of high winds and storm warnings for big chunks of the country so you will also then realise it impacts the wall. While the wall did open this morning as there would have been a few bays that were ok too fish the front section will rapidly get unfishable as the wind builds and closes the wall this afternoon. the winds will obviously churn the waters today meaning those mackerel will be heading for deeper water until the sea again calms and clears.
Good news again 🙂
the wall will be open Tuesday and the weather for the following week looks quite decent with much lighter and northerly breezes that should push the weed out to sea.

Right, enough about idiots on the wall causing issues, due too the conditions yesterday the catch reports were few and far between other than a flurry of mackerel in the morning and a schoolie bass here n there. It did look sorta decent conditions if there wasnt that westerly cross wind and the sea did say a decent deep green colour. It looked for quite a while like there would be a re run of the mackerel shoals yesterday late afternoon and about 6ish Id said too Ali, yes maybe but if it does start it would be about 7 to 7.30pm. And that as they say was it! …. na not really 🙂 I left just after 7pm and quite honestly have no idea if the mackerel happened.
What did happen was me going down onto the lower level at bay 29 too help a group of new too angling people who were trying too get the hang of swinging the lead so too speak. So down I went and gave them a hand. A few pointers and instruction here & there plus a general chat etc resulted in thier use of the rods was improved and more importantly sorted to a level that their rod and lead swinging was much safer for all of them and for others nearby. If the mackies showed im confident in saying they would have caught some for sure.

And thus we come to the did they or didn’t they :), well at this moment in time 12.50pm I do’nt actually know as I left at 7pm 🙂

Thus we get to the usual close of yarn with…. until the next one I will bid you all ADIEU
F