Gordon Bennett! I find myself typing at 6am! wtf! body playing games on me, cant settle so got up daft early. Transport up to London (Guys) for a yearly routine kidney scan is booked for 8am so no doubt catch a few zzz’s on the way up.

Anyhooo less of that and what about the fishing?
Well, for the first weekend I think its fair to say that the wall was busy Sat & Sun, I even had a dabble after watching jnr’s game of footy on east Btn Park… shan’t say the result as they played a team about 4 leagues above & it truly was their 1st game as a team.
On the fishy front a few mackerel were caught on Saturday on the bend very briefly around the high. Sunday saw more of the same and I did see one dude with a bucket of maybe 16 or so as I went on the wall at about mid day(more on that in a bit.)
There have been bream over the last few days and locally Im aware of a few rays being caught , likewise reports of small hounds are starting to filter in so no doubt the world and his pal will be wanting soft and hard back crabs to go charging off to Bracklesham bay to land hounds in 10 inches of water !, nope unimpressed.
Plaice and dab seem a bit thin on the ground this week and contrary to one report in marina group Ive not heard of any gar fish on the wall for a few weeks although the local boats are reporting some.
Yes there are bass about if you know where but with the stronger easterlies things have been a bit lean with that old saying about wind in the east being commonly heard.
Down the sides things are picking up with scorpion fish(bullheads), gobies, and blennies being caught and plenty of signs of fry in the water.
Reading Robin Howards excellent blog it seems that the sand eels are also n the move, his blog is an excellent guide to pick up what is about locally and highly recommended. This week we have also had a few gurnard caught out on the sand, some quite close to the wall. Ive not heard of any mullet on the wall as yet but im sure they cant be far off and continuing on the fishy list we are seeing more pollack than has been for a while which is good to see.

Now, have I missed anything ? hmmmm yes actually I did, during the week I also saw a couple of thornbacks landed, granted not adult but good to see another species adding to the tally as was the conger landed erm in a landing net after it unwisely swam into the net and a special mention again of the topknot caught on one of the upper bays this week.

I have started getting down onto the walls most afternoons even if not fishing and a couple of times I have bumped into wall regular and marina resident JOHN who asked me about catching these fish (usually I only see 2-4 of these a year so this one has started us off) For those unaware Topknots like to attach themselves flat against sea walls and can be caught quite high up unlike the usual targets on the sand. So if you are trying for one you will need to set your hooks quite high up usually as they dont seem to be caught much on the bottom.

Finally a little request to all fishing the wall. If you see anyone using the upper level as a toilet please alert one of the wardens or shop staff if its open. It is a disgusting practice an always males too lazy to either find the toilets at the loch gates or even pee over the side. Anyone caught doing this are likely to get banned…… and from me if you can get a pictue of the bugger I will post the image to the website, I may not be able to name but I will be able to shame.

And finally, do you recal the dude with the mackerel bucket on Sunday ?
well as I said I went for a dabble on the wall after watching jnr’s footy game. well we both did & while fishing had a catch up with Alex and Ashley. TBH I wouldnt call it fishing. Bright sun and a dropping small tide made for very few bites and in all honesty I wasnt really into the fishing bit and spent a fair bit just chilling in the sun. Jnr ignored to put his shirt back on while there and sorta paid for it later looking like a part cooked lobster in the morning. Any hoo come 4 pm we both agreed enough was enough & my body was also closing down on me quite fast so the decision to pack was a wise one & prob just in time .Sometimes my body can just fold on me and Sun was one of those days. V unusually I was in bed by 9.30! quite rare but was absolutely knackered.

So what about the bucket dude ?
Well he was still there at 4 pm feathering away with maybe 1 more fish in the bucket. Now by my calculation those fish would have been caught over the high tide Sunday morning about 11.30am or earlier and they were still sat in the bucket at 4pm.If he had some distance to travel home that would likely add at least another 2 hours by time he packed , got to the multi & travelled home. The fish potentially were stewed in the heat of Sunday, it defo was a hot one. If you are going to keep fish in a bucket please change the water from time to time or they will near pickle in the summer heat and be no good for eating.
Catching fish is great but if the fish care following catching isnt looked after all you will have by time you get home after a 2-4 hour drive is stewed and spoilt fish that can do harm to those eating them.
please look at how you keep your fish once caught.

Well thats it for this mornings silly early report & until the next one I bid you all ADIEU
F