Indholdsfortegnelse for June 2025 i Sea Angler

As hard to believe as it is, Sir David Attenborough is now in his one hundreth year, having recently celebrated his ninety-ninth birthday. Even more remarkable is the fact that he’s still making nature and wildlife documentaries over 30 years after the age most people willingly retire! His most recent film, Ocean, available to watch on Disney+ from June 8th, has hit the headlines over recent weeks over the strongest comments he has made yet in speaking out against commercial fishing and, more specifically, the impact of bottom trawling on the marine environment. This method of fishing uses a weighted rope or chain to keep the trawl net fixed to the seabed, destroying everything in its path and leaving the seabed a flat, featureless, wasteland where once rich ecosystems of…

I don’t know when I first started to become aware of anglers measuring their bass and quoting the fish length in catch reports, but it’s definitely a big thing now. “Got out early this morning and landed three bass, biggest was 63cm, smallest was 51cm”, that sort of thing. In many ways the measuring of bass makes a lot of sense, but I’ve got a few questions about it all. By all means take a bass to eat when the regulations say you can. I don’t eat fish so I return my bass, and catch & release is a big thing in lure fishing, quite rightly I might add. However, although we all know that bass are a much tougher fish than other species such as pollack, for example, surely…

There are many factors that govern lure choice: size, colour, action and noise being the most important. However, you also need to consider how the fish sees the lure and what lures suit this best. SIZE Getting the size of the lure exactly right is crucial. Predators like bass and pollack become totally preoccupied on certain prey species while available. For example, let’s say they’re taking sandeels 4.5-inches in length. Cast a larger 170mm (7-inch) sandeel into the feeding shoal and it’s unlikely to be taken. It simply doesn’t imitate what the fish are feeding on and looks out of place. Swap the lure for a 5-inch (112mm) sandeel and, if the colour’s right, it’ll get snatched pretty much straight away. It’s the same with pollack over wrecks and reefs:…

Within the last ten years, those of you who live in the South West – especially the South Devon and Cornish coastlines – may have been lucky enough to witness, or even fish for, bluefin tuna: a species that is becoming more abundant around the coast as each year passes. It is a story of successful protection and conservation with UK anglers now legitimately allowed to fish for tuna in UK waters. Who would have believed this 20 years ago? South Devon is the gateway to the tuna fishery and also the home of Tuna Gear, a tuna-focused tackle brand that has been created right on the doorstep of this fabulous fishery. Tuna Gear’s founder Andy Bolt is based in Paignton, and is a life-long angler who was more accustomed…

With my club hosting the upcoming trials for Under 16 England Beach Fishing squad rapidly coming over the horizon, I have had to try and prioritise things in order to get everything ready in time. I have been running additional coaching sessions for the young anglers in my club who have put their names forward for the trials. We have worked on smooth but fast methods of retrieving leads, changing rigs and recasting. Speed is of the essence in competition because if you don’t have a bait in the water, you are not fishing! Careful placement of all tools, bait, buckets and even rod placement have all been worked on in addition to building traces. At this level anglers need to make up their rigs using tubing and rig glue…

LOWRANCE EAGLE 4X FISH-FINDER If you need a compact fish-finder the Lowrance Eagle 4x provides a quick and easy solution for simple fish-finding. This portrait orientated display is ideal for kayaks and small fishing boats with limited space. With its wide-angle sonar, the Bullet Transducer provides more coverage of the water column with a continuous right to left scroll across the screen, making it easy to interpret and spot fish. You can cover more water in less time with wide-angle sonar and it delivers double the coverage of most standalone fish-finders. The simple auto tuning sonar gives you the optimal settings from the start so you don’t have to spend time trying to find them yourself. The IPS screen, viewable from all angles, offers improved resolution, clarity and visibility, even…

Surging white water crashing against jagged rocks, birds gliding and swooping above the tidal race. Silver flanked bass and mackerel feasting upon whitebait and sandeel. An angler stands at the water’s edge dodging the swell as he launches a silver lure that imitates the abundant prey. The lure hits the water, the angler pauses for a moment before clicking the reel into gear making the lure flutter in the tide. The angler feels the pleasing sensation of the lure working at the line’s end. The retrieve begins. The rod tip lurches over in that electrifying moment of connection. The rod is lifted and battle commences as the bass shakes its head attempting release from the persistent pull from the water’s edge. The angler relishes the fight, the power of the…

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 our Mission catch competition. To enter, send us your name, home town, species, weight in lb, bait/lure used, venue caught and date caught, plus your picture to sa.ed@kelsey.co.uk. MONTHLY WINNERS: SHORE: John Solari, 190lb skate BOAT: Adam Barnett, 300lb porbeagle THE RULES... ■ Only catches since May 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.…

I recently had the pleasure of being invited for a sadly all-too-short trip aboard ‘Wetwheels Falmouth’, one of the steadily growing fleet of specially designed disabled access boats owned and operated by the charity Wetwheels. ‘Falmouth’ had travelled to the Cardiff Bay as part of a fund-raising publicity tour, as Wetwheels plan to locate the next boat, Wetwheels Cymru, in the Welsh capital, in 2026. On the day I had the great pleasure of meeting Geoff Holt MBE, the driving force behind Wetwheels. Chatting to Geoff over coffee about the history and vision of Wetwheels, I quickly came to realise what an inspirational man Geoff is. Wetwheels was conceived and founded by Geoff, a disabled yachtsman. The charity’s first boat, Wetwheels Solent, was based at Portsmouth following her debut in…

Tope are found in both coastal waters and offshore in depths down to over 1500ft. They are a highly migratory species: fish that have been tagged in the UK being recaptured in The Azores, the Canary Islands and even off the coast of Iceland. Tope are found all around the world and are caught at destinations including Namibia, South Africa and Brazil. They are also found in the North Pacific ranging from British Columbia in Canada and the Baja peninsula in Mexico, and in the southern Pacific off the coasts Chile, Peru, New Zealand, and Australia. Tope are a great species of sport fish, especially when caught on light tackle. The average size caught by UK anglers is typically between 10-30lb. In some areas much bigger specimens are caught, especially…

During my last visit to Sandland Brygge in northern Norway the group of lads I was with decided that they wanted an offshore adventure with camp host, Steinar, who just happens to also be a charter boat skipper. He has a rather swanky 39ft catamaran named Aquarius at the camp, specifically for taking anglers out way beyond the camp limit of the smaller rental boats, which is around 18 miles, or to the edge of a mark known as The Canyons. However, we were heading to a series of offshore reefs that lie around 30 miles out from base camp. It’s much shallower than The Canyons; in fact, it’s only about 50 to 70 metres deep, so it’s far easier fishing. The most important thing about these particular reefs, though,…

The new Deep Blue spinning range starts with the baby of the bunch, the 2-15g ‘LRF’ model. It’s quite a bit beefier than what I would market as true LRF but it is an interesting Light Game option. The range goes up to an ultra-powerful 20-50g model. I felt like the middle child would be the one that would appeal most to the average lure angler and have been testing the 10-30g model over recent weeks. At eight feet long this rod is aimed at the anglers who love chucking larger lures for bass, pollack and wrasse. With the south Devon coast on my doorstep, and spring in the air, I decided there was only one species that could tell me truly how good the rod was, and that would…

How do you know you have the right boat and engine combination? Here’s our guide to the practical considerations you should make before buying an outboard motor CONTACT THE MANUFACTURER If you buy a second-hand boat, you should be able to identify the make pretty easily. A quick call to the manufacturers will give you a steer. They will know the recommended rating for the boat you have. Alternatively, you can check your boat for the National Marine Manufacturers (NMMA) plate; if there is one it’s usually located on the inside of the stern. The plate will tell you the minimum and maximum horsepower rating for your hull. WHAT ARE YOU USING IT FOR AND HOW OFTEN? What kind of fishing are you doing? Inshore? offshore? If you plan on…

Only those who have scored 7 points or more are featured TOP SCORERS FOR APRIL 2025 This month’s winner is Jason Brown from Bridgewater with 29 points HOW IT WORKS Points are awarded based on the number of anglers fishing an open match registered for the Angling Trust Sea League and go to the top 10 per cent of anglers (limited to 20 anglers), zone winners and heaviest fish. League scoring runs from January to December and the top 45 highest point scorers each year are invited to the Sea League Grand Final hosted the following season. New for 2025 - the best Lady and Junior, alongside the season’s most improved angler, will also earn an invite to the final. Along the way are some fabulous Asso and Anyfish Anywhere…

I think of bass as opportunistic feeders. In other words, they gorge on anything that’s edible, filling and easy to get hold of. They need a lot of calories to grow, like those much-envied people who are never seen without a fattening snack in their hands, but who never put on any weight, chomping down whatever they can find. I don’t keep many of my bass these days, but whenever I do gut them I am endlessly impressed by the diversity of their diets: fry, sandeels, squid, crabs, pilchards, mackerel, mussels, razor clams, pollack, scad, cuttlefish, prawns, worms. The list is almost endless. They’re a bit like boozers at chucking out time, the sort of human vacuum cleaners who’ll scoff just about anything to soak up the alcohol on the…

As you may have read in the March issue, coastal sea trout fishing has really got its grip into me. Orkney, although a wonderful destination for this species, is rather hard to get to; the long drive and ferry timings will take a whole chunk out of your holiday. If you live ‘down south’ it’s almost two days travel before you even get to wet a line. Fishing time is precious, and for those of us who love the thrill of hunting silver along the open coast, there’s somewhere that is easier – and quicker – to get too, not to mention being an internationally renowned sea trout Mecca. It is, of course, Denmark. When it comes to sea trout, there is something rather special about Denmark – and in…

In association with MONTHLY WINNER £25 TACKLE VOUCHER WINNERS Fishingmegastore.com awards a £25 voucher prize to each of two winners - the youngster with the best shore fish and another with the top boat catch. The winners can use the voucher to select tackle from Fishingmegastore.com which is based in Glasgow and Edinburgh. ■ Send your Young Rods entries by email to sa.ed@kelsey.co.uk…

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. DANNY PARKINS Southwest based Danny has worked within the angling trade for 20 years for various brands’ 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…

MAJOR CRAFT LATI-GO ADAGGIO 0.5-8G The brand new ‘Adaggio’ model from the Lati-Go range has arrived. Designed for European lure fishing, this is a high-end rod with high end design and features. Using Toray’s TORAYCA T1100G, Japan’s finest carbon and Mitsubishi High modulus carbon, and Major Craft’s R360 manufacturing method, this rod balances power, lightness and sensitivity. This lighter model will find fans among the LRF community, with its tubular tip being perfect for working metal lures from the shore for mackerel, gurnard, bass and bream. The rod has FUJI SIC Titanium guides, a FUJI TVS Reel Seat and is 7ft 7inches with a fast action. ■ RRP £299.99■ Available at thebiglerftackleshop.co.uk ANGLERS ONLY THE VENTURER CAP – OUTFITTERS EDITION Anglers Only produce some of the best fishing focused caps…

Since being back from Florida I have struggled to find any consistent form in our local competitions. I’ve had mixed fortunes pleasure fishing as well. This was encapsulated in a recent run of trips. It started with a daytime session at Pevensey Bay going after dabs, where I caught three small bass, a whiting and a dogfish, but no dabs. That night I fished from midnight until 3am after rays. It was a super moonlit night and I was kept busy pulling in dogfish. After nine dogs I was getting a bit frustrated and decided I’d had enough. However, like most anglers, I thought I would give it one more cast. The rod once again pulled over and as soon as I picked it up knew it was something a…

JUNE ● 1: Gerry’s Sea League 8 of 15 Stanah fishing 2-6pm. Book on at car park 12.30pm, £20 Pre book only, 15cm min size, Hutch 07547 633288 or Tony 07702 229015 ● 1: Reel Fun Summer League, Littletonupon-Severn, draw 9am, fishing 10.15am - 2.15pm, £30 league entry, Pegged and zoned, 1 rod 3 hooks, £20 match entry, Pre-book only. Call Reel Fun fishing: 01275 848652, Best 5 from 6 results count ● 6: Fishon bait n tackle open round 6, Eastney (soldier), signing 6-7, fishing 8-12, £10 members £15 non-members under 18s free, no bait restrictions, catch and release 18cm and over, pre booking by 3pm same day, more information 07807 639872 Ashley Dowdeswell ● 7: Skegness Pier Angling Club, Chapel Six Marsh, Chapel St Leonards, Lincs, 14:30 till 18:30,…