So, while I have been a bit remiss in posting it seems things have picked up, well a bit anyway. While I was at Brighton’s last friendly before the footy season kicks off it seems that a few mackerel were had on the morning tide, nothing special some would say but most of Sussex and huge chunks of the South coast has been ,shall we say lacking in much of anything.
There has clearly been a lack of bait fish along the wall to attract much of anything other than some pout & bream here & there although the bream on the quiet have been on the increase.
Local reports over at Shoreham indicated an upturn in catches though and my last trip on the west was a fair improve on all but one of my 4 previous attempts at catching ! As I remarked on my last visit to the east wall, I had noticed the presence of some baitfish down the side, granted just on the high bays but enough IMO too think we were not far from an upswing.

Well it seems that now we are seeing at least some mackerel every morning and the last 3-4 nights have had horse mackerel in varying numbers. This mornings “mackerel run” was a bit larger than the weekend with most catching at least a few this morning in the rain. Now before anyone starts promising 20-30 fish to each of their neighbours , cousins and grannie Mathews up the road who has a cat that eats 10 fish a day be warned, atm they are a bit intermittent and very erratic, I would say they are here with caution and wouldnt yet say “they are in”. Some reports will get exaggerated some will be accurate so if you ring someone up on the marina and they say to you “yea mate they defo in” please dont get to grabbing 4 rods, 10 buckets, and 50 sets of feathers. Ive not seen nor hear of any big shoals yet, not even are the boats in deeper water are seeing shoal yet, so be prepared for days when they may not show. Also please keep an eye on weather forecasts for the marina, which leads me onto a word re the weather & you guys traveling.

So so often on the marina wardens hear them fateful words, “I travelled 3 hours yesterday and you were not open” Please guys before you travel, take a look on the home page, there is usually at least an advanced warning and as soon as I get a close notice I will post it (unless its 2am and im in bed!). While it may be sunny or dead calm where you live it may not be the case where I live !.
There is a link to the weather on the marina home page, please check, it may save you a wasted journey.
Now while Im gabbing about the weather, as I posted earlier this week there are issues again of adverse weather and I can confirm that the WEST will be closed THURS 15th very much likely Thurs day from 11am or sooner and there will NOT be any night fishing on Thurs. The west should be back open Friday morning.

Other catches ? Sunday I met a friend fishing on the West, stupidly having been out most of the day b4(footy) I thought Id take my rods with me and have a dabble, Dumb error as I was very knackered from the day b4 and truly should of known better but thankfully no harm done. While there after the high tide there was a steady tick over of bream, even a few plaice coming out on the drop, no bass but a reliable source said there were some from the morning. No sign of gar but im told Shoreham west has had a few so definate signs of that upswing that had been hoped for, such a shame another mini blow pushes through tomorrow on the SWesterly winds.
Looks ahead (touch wood) we do have a clear spell of about a week or more(my magic seaweed only works a week in front) so I fully expect things to pick up rapidly. While the tides this weekend are quite small (10/11am highs) things do look very promising over the coming week.

With fairly unstable weather the water has been somewhat coloured but the east has still produced bass at either end, have hear mullet mentioned but suspect that to be old catches & not this week. Sole have done well in the coloured water and defo worth a go for on Fri/Sat and strangely for this time of year a decent sole was had on the west as well. Plaice do seem a bit scarce off the east at the moment but perhaps even they will get a boost from arriving bait fish. Gurnard also put in a visit although the 2-3 reported this week were quite small.
Finally of the fish front Id say its time to get them prawn nets and aerators out as them pesky spiders have all but finished their fun & games against the walls and the bass will be hunting an alternative.
Well thats enough from me for today so , until next time, I bid you all ADIEU
F