Well, I am guessing that those reading this can guess where this post is about to go and its not down a rabbit hole !
As some already know and for the benefit of those that are un-aware, the marina does seem to have its annual plague of spider crabs which have come inshore to “moult”/peel or in otherworld’s , shed their old shell and harden up a new one.
While most anglers see this event as a pain in the rear with cut off hooks and lack of catches there are a smaller group of anglers that know these “soft” spider crabs make fantastic bait for bass and hounds of which are being attracted to the walls in decent numbers for the first time in a few years.
Now, the rise of the spiders may be great for the bass anglers it does come with a word of caution being as the marina is within a marine controlled zone (Beachy-head west) thus we can be watched a bit more closely at this time of year, part for the bass rules and also the fact that the collection of bait in these “ZONES” does come with some restrictions. If collecting for bait please be aware that the minimum size is 12cm across the main shell and there is a limit of 20 per person. If the duty wardens happen to talk to you about this ignoring them or even swearing at them does you no favours so please , help us out a little and check out the websites “size regs” page, they are there for a reason and the wardens are expected to inform anglers even if some think rules dont apply when they fish.
So what else is going on ?
TBH the last week or so has generally been quiet. A day or 2 here and there closed on the west due to poor conditions, a few bream and some wrasse as mentioned in a prior blog, slow going even on the plaice with the night fishing other than the Bass being somewhat hard going.
I was messaged by one night regular to say they fished the extension one night as a group and had the usual up there of bass & bream but I was quite surprised to hear they also landed a decent pollack. Yes they are caught up there but more often the pollack tend to be landed on the east. ! go figure eh.
With things away from the spider crabs somewhat quiet there are those that would say the highlight of the last week was that 2 porpoise (or dolphins) type not properly ID’d cruised up the WEST wall close enough to touch and then for good measure did the same on the EAST swimming very close to the wall down its nr full length. Great see but crap for the fishing id say !
For the jiggers out there a heads up, now I may be barking up the wrong tree (or just barking ! ) but I suspect there are anglers out there getting what seem like ghost bites and pull backs on their lines, noticeable enough for said anglers to bring in their lines only to find nothing there and them convinced the bite was good. I suspect the culprit(s) may be Cuttle fish or maybe even squid yanking chains out there so, it could be worth getting a squid jig out in the water for a look see.
Well I think ive teased you long enough & guess I should use the “M” word being as Im being asked
“where are the mackerel” and comments like “why are they late” this year.
well, IMO they are about due rather than late. I have said it loads in the past but will repeat it anyway that the global surveys done to asses world fish stocks some 15-20 years ago claimed that the biomass of mackerel fry was good…but…… they have started to go further north under the ice to breed. This means a delay from past seasonal timings. By time they swim further north they then have to return to European waters adding 2-3 extra days to the migration routes the fish take. This means that the traditional summer arrival gas slowly got later on the calendars.
Spread over 10-15 years this I think has added easily a month to when the mackerel would or could be expected to arrive in the channel meaning that the end of June standards in the past have become the end of July.
another downer (im full of em eh) is that last year it was announced for the first time ever that mackerel stocks are “at risk” due to over fishing. Norway, the Faeroes Islands and Iceland some years back announced they would add 500mil tons to their mackerel quotas due to lack of Atlantic “Blueys”, tie this in with super trawlers at sea constantly and we have a situation that I feel will in time collapse mackerel stocks.
I have been on or around the marina for 25+ years and definitely seen a drop in the size of shoals in & around the marina as well as the seasonal arrival of them becoming later & later in the year! its not a great picture overall.
So to counter the doom feeling for mackerel I will say that being later in the year the mackies may be but it does seem that the length of time they stick around has changed very little meaning that with a late arrival they can stick about shoaling longer in the year also and can hang about almost into November when the weather holds so, for the average angler who fishes on their own there is the benefit of mackerel catches without hoards of families all getting in on the easy fish crowding out beaches and piers š
I’m not sure how much longer the crabs will remain inshore but hopefully they will clear off very soon as it does seem that other species are somewhat reluctant to come inshore foraging amongst all them pincer claws. We are seeing fish, plaice, bream, wrasse even a mullet or 2 being reported as well as rays, hounds , yes and doggies and at night there have been horse mac although like the mackies no signs of shoals as yet.
I have been saying to many that end of July the last weekends tides look useful for mackerel and that weekend is now almost here so will be interesting to see if we get extra anglers this weekend or not. Red mullet & gurnards are v thin on the ground but have been reported and the boat skippers tell me that there are mackerel off shore with numbers climbing as are the average water temps (all be it quite slowly) so hopefully with a bit of decent weather this weekend things will start to kick off & YES, Im aware I said that not too long ago but it is due.
Ok ,I think that is enough of myy waffle for today, so until next time I will, as usual bid you all ADIEU
F