Indholdsfortegnelse for Spring 2025 i Sea Angler

Welcome to the spring issue of Sea Angler which is packed with must-read features, news and reviews from around the UK and Ireland. This month we are looking ahead to the time of year when the fishing season starts again for many after a fallow few months. POLLACK Many of you will have seen or heard the recent news that anglers are being called on to adhere to a voluntary code of conduct for pollack fishing. This may have come as a surprise but in fact the story begins some years ago when the EU, while the UK was still a member, first raised the alarm about the state of pollack stocks and the lack of data there was on what was being caught, where and by whom. We reported…

In my mind there is nothing more exciting than a day’s plaice fishing once Christmas and New Year is over. The cod have left the beaches for deeper water to gorge on the herring shoals. I start to watch the weather, looking for the northerly and east winds that clear the sea, improving visibility and allowing the plaice to switch on and feed. My first port of call is the shingle beaches around Brighton and the marina arms. I am armed with fresh ragworm, black lug and a rig wallet loaded with bling and black and green beads. Day light hours are by far the best with a high tide around lunchtime giving you the best times of the tide and day light to target them. Once on the beach…

Most anglers would agree that the combination of bright sunshine and a flat, calm sea are not generally considered as being ideal conditions for catching rays, or pretty much any other species, from a flat, sandy beach. Normally I would agree, but early in the season – from March through until mid-May – several open sandy beaches here in South Wales consistently produce fish under precisely such conditions, and I am certain this would be the case elsewhere throughout the UK wherever rays are found. The reason why such conditions can be so productive is as follows: low water on the prime mid-range to spring tides in the region coincides with midday, or at least a couple of hours either side of noon, allowing any sunshine to warm the sands.…

Ilfracombe is a seaside town on the North Devon coast, and its economy and history are dominated by both fishing and tourism. The town’s harbour is nestled within a natural cove that provides a save haven for a wide range of boats, amongst them a small fleet of angling charter boats that take anglers to fish the waters of the Bristol Channel and beyond. Ilfracombe’s fortunes have, like many other Victorian resorts, ebbed and flowed over the last century as tourism and commercial fishing has changed with the times. In recent years the town has flourished with artist Damien Hurst helping to put the resort on the map with the loan of a controversial statue ‘Verity’ that towers above the harbour entrance upon the foundations of the old pier. Anglers…

The Atlantic halibut, Hippoglossus hippoglossus, is among the largest bony fish in the world. Halibut are strong swimmers and are able to migrate long distances. They are found in the temperate and arctic waters of the northern Atlantic, from Labrador and Greenland to Iceland and the Barents Sea and as far south as the Bay of Biscay. It is the largest flatfish in the world reaching lengths of up to 15ft and weights of over 700lb during a lifespan that can reach 50 years. The current British boat-caught record for halibut stands at 234lb, with a fish caught off Dunnet Head in Scotland in 1979. Fish almost double that size have, in recent years, been caught in Norway, along with numerous similarly large specimens in Iceland. A bucket list species…

The most watched programme on TV this past Christmas was the final episode of Gavin and Stacey, and along with millions of other viewers my wife and I settled down to watch this much anticipated final instalment, wanting to know whether or not Smithy had accepted Nessa’s proposal of marriage from the previous Christmas special screened five years ago. And even more so, the answer to the big question that simmered since first brought to light in episode six of season two: what exactly did happen all of those years ago on that fishing trip? It was 12 years ago that I spent a day fishing off the Glamorgan coastline near Barry with Welsh actor Steffan Rhodri. Throughout his acting career Steffan has had numerous and much varied roles on…

The beauty of good design is in its simplicity. Less is more. Or, as Leonardo da Vinci put it, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”. These were my thoughts on testing this new model of outdoor chair from US company Crazy Creek whose motto is “Just Sit There’. And just sit there I did – very comfortably, marvelling at how this super lightweight foldable seat counterbalances your leg weight against your weight above your hips to provide you with the comfort of an armchair without any of the chair. Gone now are the days of backache after too many hours sitting on a seat box. Gone too is the threat of piles from sitting on the hard and cold shingle of the beach. But best of all, gone is the hassle…

MARCH • 1: Chesil League & opens, Bexington, 4pm - 9pm best 8 from 10 matches, sponsored by Anyfish Anywhere, Weymouth Angling Centre, Arno Hooks, Angling Centre West Bay. Catch & release fishing to SAMF chart, further details Dave Lane 07977 132951 • 1: Skegness Pier Angling Club, North Shore Road, Skegness, Lincs, 17:00 till 21:00, North Shore Road beach car park Booking in from 15:30, Pegged, £10 Entry, Russ Parsons, 07385 150259, russinskeg@gmail.com • 2: Hastings SAC league and open 0930 -1430, contact Colin Crosby 07971 252652 • 7-9: European Open Beach Championships (EOBC), for more details visit eobc.co.uk • 9: Country Stores Catch and Release Pegged Competition, 12.30-5.30pm, Penclawdd & Loughor Banks, £20 entry £1 pool. 100 per cent Pay-out, contact Brian 07970 404522 / 01792 875050 •…

Anglers often describe bass using adjectives we apply to members of our own species. They’re vicious when they tear into a shoal of tiddlers, lazy when they lie motionless in the water waiting for food to drift by, greedy when they swallow a big squid or mackerel. It sounds as if these fish need to read a few self-help books and clean up their act. But bass aren’t people and they don’t have human vices; they’re simpler beasts than that. Like any other living creature, they’re driven to replicate their genes as much as possible, to breed and produce plenty of offspring. And to do that they need to grow big, especially the females, which lay between a quarter of a million and half a million eggs per kilogram of…

Many years ago, I fished a club competition together with 24 other co-members on the Green Banks of the Loughor estuary. The prize was for the single heaviest fish and it involved fishing four hours up and two hours back during a neap tide in late November. Naturally, we were all fishing for flounder. Conditions were perfect – the weather was dry and overcast with a light south-westerly wind, no troublesome weed and an apparent absence of any crabs. The only problem was that with just 30 minutes of the competition remaining, none of us had caught any fish! This was despite the fact that we were all using a variety of lugworm, king ragworm and maddies, all in excellent condition. We tried short snoods, long snoods, different kinds of…

Individual fish species have a clear preference regarding the type of seabed feature they choose to live on. Mother Nature is clever and designs each separate species to fill little niche holes in the overall ecosystem to maximise that individual’s chance of food and survival. If we learn to recognise the different seabed features, its then easier to predict what will be living there and how and when the fish feed over that type of ground. SANDBANKS Sandbanks are invariably mole hill shaped having angled sides with a top formed from ridged sand. The banks are often formed in a collective of individual banks in areas where the tide run influences the constant shift of sand, or there is a confluence of tides. This can be adjacent to islands or…

A new report highlighting the contribution anglers make to bass research is also making it easier for you to get involved in the future with the establishment of the Bass Information Hub Anglers are amazing stewards and champions of fish conservation, often providing the critical data required to make effective decisions on how to manage fish stocks. So why don’t more anglers get involved in research? A new report highlighting the importance and potential benefits of anglers getting involved in scientific research also proposes ways to overcome some of the barriers currently reducing wider angler involvement. The report brings together some of the latest findings in bass research, providing an analysis of discussions that took place at the first “All About The Bass” symposium held at the University of Essex…

ASK THE EXPERTS When sending your question, please remember to include your name and address CHRIS KENNEDY Chris is a specimen hunting specialist based on Sark and answers shore fishing questions. DAVID MITCHELL David is Sea Angler’s editor and is an expert on sea angling policy and conservation . BEN BASSETT The Plymouth angler and blogger will provide answers on the sport of light rock fishing (LRF), the go-anywhere tactic. DAVE LEWIS Based in Newport, South Wales, our contributing editor Dave answers boat fishing questions. HENRY GILBEY Angler, blogger and photojournalist Henry, based in Cornwall, is our lure expert. BRIAN PASK Brian is a qualified sea angling coach and casting tutor who works with young people and experienced anglers to improve their fishing skills. SHORE ANGLING Q I am considering…

What began as a hobby in a garden shed has grown into Shorecast, a resilient family-run business based in Southampton on the South Coast of England. Crafting millions of lead weights for anglers across the UK and beyond, this is the story of a father-son legacy, decades of innovation, and the challenges of staying afloat in an ever-changing fishing industry. HUMBLE BEGINNINGS The roots of Shorecast trace back to the 1980s, when Graham Senior, a part-owner of Wessex Castings - a major foundry turning over £4 million a year-began making lead weights in his shed. What started as a favour for a friend at Sam’s Fishing Tackle quickly outgrew its backyard origins. Recognising the potential, Graham Senior integrated lead weight manufacturing into the foundry’s operations. Over time, his dedication to…

It’s easy to forget the clean-up operations are still on going after the disaster left behind by the hurricanes Helen and Milton that hit the gulf coast of Florida just south of Tampa Bay three months ago. A wall of water five feet high took out several bungalows, filled swimming pools with sand, took down fences and put numerous shops out of business. Many of the sea front hotels and blocks of condos are still closed, the local post office and library have shut. Hundreds of holidays have been cancelled and the area of Madeira Beach, where I stay, is virtually deserted. The suffering goes on for the locals as they wait for the insurance companies to decide how much to pay out. On the fishing side it’s not so…

It’s not often that I find myself at a loose end, but with a daughter now away at university and a wife busy with other things, I turned on the TV and flicked through the channels, bored. As seems increasingly to be the case there was nothing much of interest, so I lingered on the news awhile. After only five minutes I’d had more than my fill: protestation, revolution, political division, war and broken lines of communication seemed the most regular themes that flashed up in story after story, painting a very depressing picture. That’s enough of that, thank you very much. Fed up with all the negativity, I decided to try one of the subscription-based entertainment channels which seem to grow exponentially, and which cost me a small fortune…

HOW TO ENTER YOUR TARGETS... Catch a fish on this list at the weight or above in your region to qualify for the chance to win prizes in our Mission catch competition. To enter, send us the details requested above and email that information and your picture to sa.ed@kelsey.co.uk. THE RULES... ■ Only catches since February 2025 are eligible. ■ We must see a picture of the fish. ■ We may refuse an entry. ■ Enter by email only (please include all of the information requested in How to Enter panel) to sa.ed@kelsey.co.uk ■ No correspondence will be entered into. MONTHLY WINNERS: SHORE: Darren Williams, Newport BOAT: Barry Goodhew, Chichester…

Recently I bought a collection of old copies of ‘The Angler’ magazine. Published in the early 1950s with a cover price of one shilling and six pence: that’s 18p to those of you born post decimalisation. The Angler covered coarse, game and sea angling. It might be 70 years old, but it remains a great read for anyone who has an interest in the history of our sport. One standout article was written by E. Horsfall Turner and was published in the November 1954 issue. Turner’s article is a summary of that year’s ‘British Tunny Season’, and as far as I can determine it documents the last tuna caught in British waters following the halcyon years of the 1930s, 1940s and very early 1950s. The first English bluefin tuna caught…

By some strange coincidence, following my video session about fixed spool versus multipliers that I mentioned last month, I spotted a post on Facebook from someone who was considering moving from fixed spool to multiplier; he wanted to be able to cast further. I made contact with Dan to find out more, especially as I went on camera recently to say that if I was starting out fishing now then I am sure I would plump for fixed spool reels. He had fished a few competitions where he felt that he was being outcast by anglers using multipliers and they were catching more than he was! This is a scenario I have heard many times before so I had a chat with Dan to discuss it further. My query was:…

Any angler who spends more time outside than inside when the fish are switched on will know the importance of keeping warm, and of being comfortable when fishing. Where I live in Scotland, this often means wrapping up with thermal clothing. In years gone by, the fad seemed to be large, bulky floatation suits worn on top of a thick hoodie, and some warm jeans, or floatation bottoms. This worked particularly well when you needed to stay warm, however, as soon as there is any physical exertion – yomping to marks, running up and down the beach to land fish – there was always the age-old conundrum: you either had to be warm (often overly so) or risk freezing when you took the bulky outer layer off. These bulky outfits…