As the title says I have been a bit remiss with the lack of updates so, to rectify that I will hammer straight into it and pee 70 odd ppl off straight away. !

Sorry folks but it has been decided to delay the squid comp this year until the AUTUMN and will move this year onto the WEST WALL.
There, that ripped the sticky plaster off and binned it eh!

Unfortunately the early spring weather has been quite disruptive and kept the local waters quite coloured. Now some of the wise heads out there will no doubt tell me that squid actually don’t mind hunting in murky water and I would agree with them providing that there was plenty of food to be had by them and that is the pain of it. The coloured water has meant that the April run of mackerel up from the bay of Biscay reached Cornwall recently in its deeper waters that Ive no doubt are clearer that what we currently have had off the Sussex coast! With those early mackerel are very often good numbers of herring that also like to feed(like Mackerel) in somewhat clear waters & that we dont have.

I took some time messaging various people that have a close eye on the water and general conditions and I agree with a couple who pointed out to me that the squid comp has run once at the end of May on suitable tides and a couple of times in mid May. This is true but also we have had by this time the early run of mackerel/herring under way to encourage the squid in to feed and get “jiggy”.

Now, while that run hasn’t happened it may yet do so hence a couple of suggestions to utilise the back up date 2 weeks later but that then means taking a leap of faith that not only will there be suitable food inshore but also that the squid are by then still feeling amorous ! 🙂 With current conditions as they are I don’t feel it and would hate to set up the comp with a date and chance that they will show, usually they are in full flow now but other than some cuttle shells washing up on local beaches there is little sign of anything occurring in our Sussex waters, even the clusters of early eggs from cuttle or squid are missing from our beaches. Thus its been decided to move the event to and Autumn date (TBA) which most likely will be a daytime into early night event on the WEST WALL.

Righty ho, what is happening on the Marina? March and April so far has been a mix of storm blows and a day or two of clear weather making progress on the EAST wall slow regarding repairs of posts and wires ad severe blows have rendered wire fixes and even one post replacement a little pointless as they had to be redone. Frustrating for the guys trying to complete repairs and frustrating for Mark who is trying to get both walls back open fully.
Im told the EAST is open to about 38 but officially Ive only been told bay 36. Jet washing is happening but not being down there daily I can’t say how often as Dave has either been doing it himself or organising it around the help that Phil(pieman) is giving him. I think I will give dave a ring Mon or Tues to get a clearer picture of progress so I can post up an up to day idea of how, when why etc.

On the fishing front things are a little slow on the summer species front. The water has stayed stubbornly very coloured and is only just this week showing signs of calming and clearing. Northerly’s for the next week should also go some way to clearing the water.
Im hearing there are some Mullet on the waterways but not yet being caught on the marina. mainstay this week seems to have been mostly small plaice, a few bass in the usual places and for the usual people. Its worth keeping an eye on the regular bass anglers and having a little patience if you want to target them.
Congers have been had on the EAST mostly and one or 2 show on the west wall quite often , maybe its the water colour maybe its just “their time” atm. There are still some whiting about but I suspect they will soon depart as the water cleans itself up.
With air temps and a North wind things are a bit chilly out there but in a way that may be a good thing as its looking quickly like ideal for spring herring ! They do tend to come in just before or just after the high water marks so worth carrying some small hook feathers or rigs like sabiki’s. Will the spring mackerel arrive on the bigger tides at the end of the month ? good question and all I can say is possibly, but one of the wardens mentioned today that it looks like the may rot is starting to form ! sods law as we wait for the fishing to improve.

Have I missed anything ? yup, I avoided until now mentioning Dogfish ! yes the darn things are still around but the numbers are thinning and there have been some rays caught over on the east over the sands so its not quite all winter fishing still.
it looks like this week will be a calm one with both walls still on 7am til 5pm and I hope to get a chat with Mark about plans to open a bit longer now the light levels have improved.
New squid date will be announces in the coming months as well as a rescheduled plaice comp, bream comp and possibly a bass comp.

Thats all for today, any questions email using the link at the bottom home page or find me on messenger. And with that I will bid you Adieu
F