A different heading for todays blog. Why ? because to be honest I couldn’t think of an apt title for the blog. No matter, lets get too it.

And so the bank holiday has been and gone and its been a few days since the last post so I better be putting up a round up or at least some padding to make the blog look like there is tons going on.

Prior to catches I thought Id post a little about the tacklebox. As most are now aware dave has passed the shop on as well as the running of the fishing walls. They are now SEPERATE from each other.
The shop has no control over what is happening on the wall. They get tons of calls still asking about night fishing, which wall is open , why is the west shut etc.
Simply put, most of the time they dont know and thus are fielding questions by phone because ppl are too reluctant or CBA to look here.

This website carries all the info needed and the shop almost never look at it.
Likewise, MARK ROBBINSON runs the walls and has little to no feedback from the shop.
Questions about the walls should be directed here or to him. he has little to no info on what is happening with the shop. He doesnt know if the shop is open nor what time the shop shuts on any specific day as neither are tied together any more.

I have spoken with the shop owner suggesting a split shift type of opening to cover high tides and afternoon anglers then are able to get bait BUT….. The owners big concern is lack of customers when he is open in the morning and I have a suspicion he doesnt realise there is a demand for bait a couple of hrs before a high tide. His view ATM is that he will be glad when the good weather is here and more want to go fishing AND THEN he could open longer hours for customers who he feels are simply not there ATM.
yes I have now spoken to the shop ppl to try to resolve this on a few occasions, so far offered solutions have not been taken up. I will continue to press the shop to open at least for an hour… or two for bait collections in the late afternoons but I dont seem to be getting very far.

ok thats done, whats been happening on the fish front down there.
Nowt on the west as its shut until at least end of September thus NO NIGHT FISHING.

Over on the east across the last few days since I last posted there has been….

An increase in plaice and bream catches. Some of the ballan wrasse have been good sizes although the colourful corkwings dont seem to be about much as yet.,….. Likewise it seems like rays are on the increase , especially the number of thornbacks coming up on the wall as well as on a few of the beaches with pics from some of the regulars who night fish nearby.
Squid & cuttle seem to have given us a bit of a swerve again. three years absence in the spring and noticeably also that spring 10day run of mackerel that used to be so regular and now clearly missing from inshore waters around Brighton!
Purely based on me reading Robin Howards excellent blog for BIF1 the bass are also on the increase in size and quality and this should also be noticeable all along the east wall. Robins blog /photos reports etc can be found here>>>> https://www.brightoninshorefishing.co.uk/ well worth checking out and nope I dont gain a think posting up the link.

back on th fishy front, A week or two back it was posted that the spiders were here and although there have been a few reeled in I cant say that there are tons of the buggers out there yet. most anglers wont even see one yet .. so decent news there tbh.

As well as the usual flatties out there it does seem like we have had a marked increase over the last 10 days of dab catches. Now, while most are quite small if you do manage to find a plump one rather then the many that seem see through ! they do actually make good eating and well worth a go at. Adding to the tally of flatties & rays Ive noticed quite a few flounders being caught on higher bays as well as the standard areas over the mussel beds (bays9-16). Once species that does seem lacking atm is dover sole. Perhaps the brighter sun light days have pushed them more into a nocturnal pattern.

Now, regarding good eating also out there over the sands there are increasing reports of gurnards. While the sizes so far are quite small (please check size guide page on site) those in size make damned good eating. Gurnards on the east seem most common on the wall as it straightens out around bay 22 right the way up to 55 and have been known to grab at more than one baited hook on a rig.

Smaller species are now becoming common down the sides and if they younger anglers get bored watching you, how about setting them up with a light rod and drop a baited line down the Vs. Blennies , scorpion fish(AKA bull heads),gobies often lurk right under the wires on them Vs and in some areas of the wall can be found pollack. Not the big beasties found on the wrecks offshore but some of them are large enough to make a meal for one.

Mackerel! there , I used the M word(god forbid 🙂 ) have been distinctly lacking especially as mention the spring run, 3 years in a row its simply not happened inshore although Im told by boat owners that they are out there off shore. So far on the east wall there have been perhaps 3-4 caught on the wall when the angler numbers are there. Quieter mid week days are luck to see the critters.

I cant say the eel numbers are up although on jnr managed to net one I’m told, yup, netted not baited and hook caught, it seems that it just happened to be in the drop net when it was lifted. I suspect someone was crabbing for spiders with a baited drop net down the V but that’s unconfirmed.

Over all this week the species count has increase but many are still finding things slow. When I had a dabble I found, like many had also commented to me, single type baits worked more than mixing twin baits on the hooks. fresh lug seemed to work best but old worm also was doing quite well. weirdly for me I was having hooks stripped of black and left behind was squid that was wrapped and pinned around the lug, as a result I eventually swapped to just lug and bite rates even on the dropping tide increased or should I just say the bait stripping increase as I managed to blank while loosing a ton of bait while gossiping on the wall & taking pics of other peoples fish !

Yes its my own fault for not paying attention to the rods, and b4 anyone suggests using a bell… no thanks the mere sound of em does my head in. If you cant watch your rod tips in daylight there something wrong with how you are fishing…. so now everyone knows why I blank when I don’t visit the wall as often as I used too (health n all that shit)

So, if you see me on the wall, don’t be shy about stopping and saying Hi, I’m crap with names so assume Ive forgotten your name, while I’m decent remembering faces I truly am hopeless remembering even simple names !

And finally a word, well 2 words that every angler has a love hate with at this time of year….
…. MAT ROT, yup, that old chestnut. IT HAS arrived. as yet , not massively but the died off foam like fuzz on the water is clearly visible on high tides in particular and reports of its visibility also come from Hove anglers.
As most now are aware, may rot is an algae bloom(growth) that happens this time of year as the water temps rise to a particular level. While at prime temps the algae will multiply rapidly and as it grows it absorbs oxygen from the water and creates a sort of sticky matter that can and does block into fish gills hampering the fish to absorb oxygen from the water, thus the fish tend to avoid patches of this “may rot” bloom. the end result is often a sticky gloop & blobs that will get wound in on lines and most of all hamper catch rates as the fish avoid the area.

The best thing to deal with this may rot is for water temps to keep rising so the sea temp rises above a level that this algae can survive which is why when the rot is heavy and it starts to die you will see a brown /green sort of foam form on the water surface that can often smell like bad eggs. The foam is often mistaken by those unaware of the algae and people convince themselves that it is sewage, nope its the rot dying off.
Longish periods of cool over cast days will keep the water temps at desired levels for the may rot to hang around. Thus ideal for shore anglers are a light northerly breeze to push the gunk out to sea to disperse it and combined with nice hot sunny days. The longer it stays dull, the longer the rot will stay and grow…. please mr weatherman , bring on the sunshine.

Thats it for today double sermon, I will now bugger off, go do a bit of shopping (dog food mostly)and have a mooch along the east wall (purely nosey research 🙂 )
And with that all said and done I will bid you all ADIEU
F