Well its a bit after lunch and I sit here thinking of what to type. I have over the last 2-3 day been arriving in the late afternoon often still during the full heat of the day on low small tides. A time that many are often packing or stat on the wall suffering a kind of heat torpor that many here will recognise. Bodies and heads often half baked in the sun with very little activity going on, part due to the heat, part due to the low tide and part due to the smaller tide having little to no movement.

It was nice to see a few old faces including Sue, Ian and JC who was on the higher bays looking very much like an over cooked lobster but hey, he was enjoying the day even if the catching part of fishing was a bit absent.

From what I gather there have been mackerel on most days usually somewhen around the high tide marks but the numbers are much lower on these very hot and small mid day/midnight tides. In amongst this have been a fairly reasonable tick over on the rougher ground bays again mostly close too or on the high tide times. There does seem to have been a drop in bass catches atm but there could be quite a few reasons for this other than the tide sizes and full heat of the day. Local activity of seals and dolphins no doubt have added to the situation but most people that visit regularly over the years will also note that its not unusual for things to be quiet during what some are calling a mini heat wave. The real same is that we are all unable to fish the east into the night time or very early hours pre dawn when a fair few species are active.

I fully expect things to pick up as we get bigger tides and perhaps on cooler parts of the day when we have those bigger tides. While things are slower there have been a few plaice, even one or 2 decent sized soles for daytime catches. bream and wrasse seem to be ticking over and while no great numbers it is nice to see the wrasse numbers back on the increase. Lack of trawlers clearing the seabed maybe, perhaps the knock on results from the wind farm increasing the amounts of fry in the water over the last year or two also sort of point to some levels of recovery locally.

Disturbingly locally Robin had sight today of a decapitated seal, I sort of hope it was accidental and got caught in someone’s props especially as over the last few years there have been regular reporting’s of decapitated and maimed dolphins often washed up on local beaches. Hopefully it isnt a new trend or way of taking them out of the fishing calculations and more a case of over friendly humans interacting with these animals thus crating a situation where dolphins and seals are putting themselves at risk of serious injuries by approaching boats that are actively fishing.
I shant be doing a bait run today or tomorrow as I believe someone from the shop will at some time be on the wall covering times when the shop is unavailable to wall users and with the low tides late afternoon it will be a time that many are packing and heading for home.

While the fishing reports atm are not very extensive please dont think that just because I dont hear or see catches on the wall that is the only thing going on. Robin howards blog on www.brightoninshorefishing.co.uk is always worth reading and can give indications of what to expect on or close to the marina.
If you use facebook please look out for the various charter boat reports or take a look at the web links on the charter boat page on this site>> https://thetackleboxbrighton.com/charter-contact/ locally there is a lot of fishing news that is only a click away.
often hove lagoon tackle shop posts up some great local reports and reads and is worth looking for also.
Yes there are mackerel there, but there is also so so muck more to try for when things slow up and the rods with feathers get laid down on the side of the wall to swing in the breeze. Have a think folks, put a bit of bait on the feathers and drop it over the side, at least it is in the water with a change of attracting fish. no one caught without dropping the hooks in to get wet.
Have no bait ? are you sure ? did you bring some food with you ? if you can eats it, most likely so can the fish, squash a bit of bread on the hook, cheese works well for bream, Dave g often proved you could catch bass on mars bars, no bullshine, many watched him do it, your food can also be decent bait, pop a bit on them maccy hooks, what have u to lose ?

well thats it for today
I will leave you all with the usual, so, until next time I will bid you all ADIEU
F