Innehållsförteckning för Issue 533 från Sea Angler

Great view, super fishing A calm, blue sea laps the edge of a large rock platform near Banff, in Scotland, as anglers enjoy a summer fishing session. This area, to the north-west of Aberdeen, is just one of those featured in our big summer venue special starting on page 9. Check out a bundle of great places to fish right now! IT MAY HAVE SEEMED A LONG TIME coming, but finally July 1 is upon us and anglers will be permitted, if they wish, to take one bass a day of more than 42cm for the remainder of the year, after enduring six months of a controversail ban on retaining these popular sporting fish. While most recognise the need for bass conservation and the benefits of catch and release, there…

THE NORTH NORFOLK SHINGLE ridge stretches for eight miles from Blakeney Point to Sheringham. Created by longshore drift, large pebbles at Sheringham decrease to fine shingle and sand at Blakeney Point. This ridge is near the villages of Weybourne, Kelling, Salthouse and Cley, which sit behind salt marshes before backing on to cliffs around Sheringham. It runs parallel to a reef (really a succession of chalk holes) about 800 yards to two miles offshore. These create an ideal habitat for the famous Cromer crabs, as well as small round fish. However, it is the stretch inshore from the ‘reef’ that interests anglers. Festooned with muddy and sandy areas full of lugworm beds and sea molluscs, rough weather is key to the productivity of this once hidden gem when it produces…

ABBOTSBURY IS POSSIBLY THE most popular location on Chesil Beach’s 18-mile shingle ridge and offers easy access to deep water, together with the potential for some fine fishing. An influx of small-eyed rays (also called painted rays) starts in May, and adds to the summer species variety that includes huge numbers of plaice, bass, black bream, dogfish, mackerel and much more. For those who have fished from Chesil, an algal bloom, known as May Water, will be a familiar sight during the late spring and early summer. Caused by a plankton bloom that develops as the sea temperature rises, this brown sludge clings to shockleader knots and rod rings, discolouring line and making a nuisance of itself. General consensus is that its presence deters some species of fish from feeding,…

THERE ARE MANY AREAS throughout the British Isles that offer good shore-based pollack fishing, the best of which provide access to relatively deep and preferably clear water. Much of the magnificent West Wales coastline perfectly meets these criteria. The Pembrokeshire coastline in the extreme south-west of the country around St Davids, the UK’s smallest city, is absolutely perfect for targeting pollack. Throughout the week, Martin and Sandra Thompson run their busy tackle and bait shop, Anglers Corner, in Milford Haven, and on Sundays they go fishing, invariably competing in one of the Haven Angling Group’s roving competitions. I joined them just outside St Davids, from where a short drive took us to a broken farm track providing convenient access to the coastal path. From here, a 20-minute trek along the…

LOOK OUT OVER THE VAST EXPANSE of sand after the tide has raced away in Morecambe Bay and you’ll be forgiven for wondering where to fish. However, if you peek a little closer, it soon becomes apparent that its secrets are plain to see. Features like mussel beds, gullies and shifting sandbanks, together with sporadic outcrops of rocks, are all indications where the fish are likely to hang out. The locals have affectionately labelled one such mark, close to Heysham power station, as The Hump. At high tide, the flat calm water doesn’t reveal anything. Once the ebb kicks in, though, and it begins to race away, evidence of the hump soon begins to appear. Small rocks and boulders soon start to poke out until finally, the exposed venue resembles…

SOME SHORE ANGLERS MIGHT think that the best way to catch wrasse is either casting soft plastic lures mounted on jig heads or, possibly LRF, as in recent years so much has been written about using these increasingly popular techniques. Some very nice wrasse are occasionally caught on lures, but I reckon it’s best to ignore artificials when seeking specimen fish topping 5lb. Typically averaging 1-3lb, in most areas a 4lb shore-caught ballan wrasse would be classed as a very good fish. However, there is a place where four-pounders are common, and where 5lb-plus heavyweights are caught with regularity. It’s the west coast of Ireland, notably the fish-rich waters of the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry. Spectacularly beautiful in every way, the magical Kerry coastline is a popular holiday area…

There are two species of UK scorpion fish that we can target on LRF gear. These are the long-spined sea scorpion (Taurulus bubalis) and the short-spined (Myoxocephalus scorpius). They look similar, but there are a few key differences to identify them. Firstly, size. The long-spined sea scorpion tends not to exceed a few ounces in weight and a maximum size of 15-20cm in length. The short-spined can achieve a maximum weight of 3lb and be more than 2ft in length. As you can guess from the name, the Taurulus bubalis has longer spines behind its eye (longer than the diameter of the eye) compared to the short-spined (shorter than the diameter of the eye). There are subtle differences as to where the gill membrane joins the body on the underside…

STOP UNNECESSARY KILLING I have fished for many years, from boy to man, and am heading for my twilight years. I have seen many young kids, either at the banks of the river or at our local harbour, fishing for mackerel and flounders. I have taken some of these youngsters out in the boat and given them their first taste of sea angling, showing them the techniques for various species and how to safely return fish to the water. However, it annoys me to see pictures with kids with small fish that have been killed for the sake of trying to win a prize. I’m all for the preservation of stock, and catch and release, and never bring any more fish home than what is necessary for the table or…

ADAM KIRBY & DAN SISSONS The Portsmouth-based duo fish ultra-light from shore and boat. They’ll provide answers on light rock fishing (LRF), the go-anywhere tactic where size of fish is secondary to the fun of catching them. PAUL FENECH Sea Angler’s features and tackle editor Paul Fenech is here to solve your shore angling problems. DAVE LEWIS Based in Newport, South Wales, our contributing editor Dave answers boat fishing questions. GARY ROBINSON Galway-based Gary gets a thrill from fishing afloat on a kayak. Send him your kayaking problems. HENRY GILBEY Angler and photojournalist Henry, based in Cornwall, will answer questions on lure angling. Q: Is there an easy way to distinguish between male and female fish? NEIL COOTE, BY EMAIL PF says: It’s not always easy to spot the different…

Tackle choice is dictated by depth, speed of drift, and the amount of lead weight you need to maintain contact with the ground feature. Use a 12/20lb-class rod and a fast retrieve reel, like the Penn Fathom 15LD two-speed or Avet series. Standard, single-speed reels do the job, but it takes longer to get the rig back. Load the reel with either 20lb or maybe 30lb braid. Add a short section of 20-30lb fluoro as a clear leader to combat the wear and tear of continual contact with the rock and reef. This will handle leads to 10oz or so. If you need more weight, then a 20/30lb-class rod might be necessary with 30lb braid, but keep things as light as you can, for the more ‘feel’ the tackle has…

FISHING FOR TURBOT IS ONE OF those things that boat anglers just love to do. It is, if you like, the Holy Grail of flatfish for the UK boat angler. It’s not a fish that will take yards of line in a high-speed run or cause palpitations with the savagery of the fight. Turbot fishing is none of those things. It is a quiet day afloat doing all the right things, with a lot of hope and some good banter among friends. This is how it was when I joined popular skipper Richard Seager aboard his charter boat Out the Blue, which operates out of St Peter Port harbour, Guernsey. Choosing a time and place to target turbot is often fraught with imponderables, such as time of year, tides and…

WITH MORE THAN 20 FULL- time charter boats, the Dorset port of Weymouth is one of the largest in the UK in terms of boat fishing. It is also home to some of the most modern, purpose-built angling boats. Not only is the port famous, some of the marks found outside it are well documented too. You have the Shambles Bank, one of the best places in the UK to try your luck for a turbot or brill. Every year there are numerous double-figure fish caught, and some days it’s possible to have more than a dozen big flatties on the boat. The Shambles is also famous for throwing up some tremendous plaice fishing, with fish to 6lb-plus reported every year. Then there is the Portland Race, one of the…

NOW IN ITS 25TH YEAR OF production , Cheetah Marine is one of only a handful of boat manufacturers I can think of whose products are frequently seen in use by both recreational and commercial fishermen, as well as numerous other uses ranging from diving to offshore patrol. The first of many Cheetah vessels was designed and built in 1989 by Sean Strevens, a commercial crab and lobster fisherman who needed a fast, stable and spacious boat with a self-draining deck that would sit level when launched and retrieved from the beaches on the Isle of Wight. The catamaran design is perfect for this style of fishing, which is why it is so widely used by fishermen who are faced with similar conditions around the world, notably in South Africa…

MITCHELL TANAGER RZ 6000 FIXED-SPOOL RRP: £29.99 If your budget is tight this will certainly catch your eye. The main spool is aluminium, making it perfect to use with braid, and it also comes with a spare graphite version too. The smooth running is managed by a graphite handle and aided by four bearings. Line capacity is 230m 0f 0.33mm mainline (more if using braid), and it’s ideal for heavier styles of spinning or lighter legering. • For your nearest Mitchell stockist, tel: 01665 602771. Web: www.mitchell-fishing. co.uk TECH SPEC • MODEL: Mitchell Tanager RZ 6000 • CAPACITY: 230m/0.33mm • RATIO: 5.1:1 • BEARINGS: Four • SPOOL: Aluminium • SPARE SPOOL: Graphite KOIKE WIDE MOUTH SPECIMEN HOOKS RRP: £1.75 - £2.75 per pack of 10 When you need a hook…

“The Casting Snap is now much stronger and rated to 80lb. These are used as a rig connector at the end of a shockleader and double up as connector for heavier sinkers too” TRONIXPRO RIG BITS RRP - FROM £1.50 LINKS AND CLIPS When you need to go light, the Continental Clip is ideal, especially for lighter lead weights. Supplied in packs of 10 and sizes small, medium and large, they are priced at £1.50. The tiny size 24 Snood Clip Swivel is designed to help you change ultra-light snoods in an instant. Packs of 10 cost £1.50. Safety Snap Swivels can be utilised in many different ways and are similar to the popular American Snap. Available in sizes 6, 4, 2, 1 and 1/0, you get 14 in a…

• This 7lb 6oz 1dr gilthead bream is being claimed as a record for Jersey. It was caught by local angler Gareth Mcmonagle, while he was float-fishing with bread for mullet. • A mackerel chunk on a size 6/0 circle hook produced this 38lb tope for Norfolk angler Gary Rugless. The angler, from King’s Lynn, was fishing on May 22 out of nearby Wells, aboard Ross Fulford’s Harvey Boy. The fish was taken in shallow water, very close to the shore. • Turbot fishing in the English Channel is hitting good form, with Dorset skipper Sam Cumming, of Silver Spray II, out of Poole, reporting good results. One of the highlights was this 12-pounder for Chris Stride.…

• Baiting with a bluey produced this 13lb 3oz undulate ray for Miroslaw Galant, of Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, while fishing at nearby Bognor Regis. • Katie Sampson was out on Tony Heart’s Anna 2, out of St Helier, Jersey, for a women's fishing trip for a friend's birthday when she hooked into her first-ever fish. The 33lb tope fell for a bream bait and took 10 minutes to land. Katie, who lives in St Helier, went on to catch bream and a 20lb conger eel. • Lee McGuinness, of London, beached this thornback ray, estimated to weigh between 6-8lb, on May 18 at Sandwich Bay, Kent. He used a single hook, up-and-over rig baited with Bluey.…

It was a dream come true for German angler Oliver Thees, who always wanted to catch a turbot from the Channel Islands. Oliver had booked his trip a year in advance aboard Guernsey charter boat Out the Blue, skippered by Richard Seager, and on the first day (May 29) of four, Oliver’s first bite of the session produced this monster turbot of 22lb 8oz. The big fish took a live sandeel on a size 4/0 hook and flowing trace on 12lb-class Snowbee gear. A day later his fishing pal Heiko Schumacher caught a 9lb brill.…

“It’s weird how this bass ban is affecting my desire to fish for them” EVEN THOUGH BIG BASS ARE BEING caught the length and breadth of the country, I’ve lost the motivation to target them…and I’m not alone. Day after day my Facebook newsfeed and inbox are rammed with pictures of big bass and stories of huge hits from all around the country. It seems there is no shortage of the species. However, at the time of writing (mid-June), I haven’t had the urge to fish for them. After much deliberation, I've come to the conclusion that the ‘Bass Ban effect’ is the sole reason, and I can’t wait for July 1, when I’ll be able to enjoy my bass fishing again. My dilemma kicked in around the beginning of…

WITH THE DAYS LEADING UP to this species hunt tournament providing calm seas and light winds, hopes were high for an interesting competition with good catches for those who arrived early to practice. With my friend Ben Wallis, from Suffolk, managing an impressive and varied 10 species the day before, even with an algal bloom it looked likely to be a great event, despite some anglers opting to stay at home because of the weather forecast. Many of those who woke up to a rainy and windswept campsite might have been forgiven for wishing they had done so, too, but with David Morris, of AnglersAfloat, having put in so much effort to keep this tournament running in style, it would have been a poor show to pull out due to…

WITH CATCH AND RELEASE becoming more popular, there has been much discussion on reducing unnecessary harm to our catch, but I have yet to come across any meaningful discussion about what a bass’s body actually undergoes during a fight with an angler, and how this impacts its mortality rate when released. There haven’t been any huge studies on our native bass, but there have been some carried out on American striped bass (‘Assessing Impacts of Catch and Release Practices on Striped Bass’, J Tiedemann and Dr A Danylchuk), which can help us. Despite a fish appearing healthy when it swims away, it does not always lead to a successful release. Muoneke and Childress, authors of ‘Hooking Mortality: A Review for Recreational Fisheries’ reported fish that appear to be healthy when…

IF YOU FIND YOURSELF HEADING EAST, towards Lincolnshire for a summer shore session and the weather is calm and warm, you’re in luck. The sandy beaches around Skegness offer a wide variety of species to target, which includes bass, smoothhounds, thornback rays and lots of flatfish, and the good news for shore anglers is that they’re feeding within easy casting distance. In particular, one favoured mark that many head for is at Trunch Lane. The venue itself doesn’t involve any heavy walking, in fact you can find yourself making your first cast just a few minutes after parking your vehicle. It’s located just a short distance south from the famous Chapel St Leonard and Chapel Six Marshes stretch, where there’s plenty of room to spread out and make camp. For…

GETTING THERE The shingle bank is located off the A149 coast road between Brancaster and Sheringham. Cley is accessed along the beach road, which has a car park, owned by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, at the end. Kelling blockhouse can only be reached by a three-quarter mile walk along the coastal path from Weybourne beach car park (daytime charge all year). Alternatively, there is a mile walk on loose shingle from Salthouse beach road, which has free parking. TACKLE AND BAIT Pete’s Baits, tel: 07899 796938. Rite Gear, 32 Cromer Rd, West Runton NR27 9AD, tel: 01263 838248. Sabre Tackle, 21 New St, Cromer NR27 9HP, tel: 01263 513676.…

GETTING THERE From the M5, take Junction 25 and follow the signs for Weymouth. When you reach the Horton Cross roundabout, take the last exit for Chard. Next, follow the signs for Axminster. Upon reaching the A35, head east for Bridport. Stay on the A35, continue past Bridport, and Abbotsbury is signposted at the West Bay roundabout. TACKLE SHOP Angling Centre West Bay, 10a West Bay, West Bay, tel: 01308 421800. ANGLING GUIDE Check out Jansen Teakle’s guiding service: thegamblingangler.co.uk…

ANGLESEY IS A POPULAR AREA for tourists visiting North Wales and has many good fishing marks, one being Bull Bay on the north-eastern corner of the island. Also known as Porth Llechog, this small bay near Amlwch offers mainly rock fishing on to mixed ground, with sand further out. The best fishing is normally between July and December. Summer sport produces wrasse and pollack close in, but casting to the sand finds flatfish, such as plaice and dabs. There are also bass and mackerel. Dogfish and gurnards show too. Bull huss and conger eels are caught close in. Winter produces mainly whiting, codling, conger eels, dogfish, dabs and rockling. Bull Bay is also a popular area for boat fishing, with a slipway nearby. TACKLE AND BAIT You need a strong…

ON A RECENT VISIT TO THE ISLE of Whithorn, the forecast for the morning was for calm, clear weather, so it was an early start at 5am for a mullet fishing session. I would be throwing bits of bread around instead of climbing over rocks or wading out to cast plugs and lures. From the harbour it’s a short walk to my favourite mullet spot, a gulley out of the way of the lively tide rip. This particular mark fishes best on the ebb down to low water. I’d expect the session to end about 8am, leaving plenty of time to try other spots for different species. High tide was in the early afternoon. A short stroll over to the harbour front would allow me to catch mackerel for bait…

GETTING THERE My trip was arranged by Anglers World Holidays, which offers a wide variety of angling packages throughout Ireland. Web: http://anglersworld.tv I travelled to Ireland using Stena Line from Fishguard to Rosslare. Cork is around a three-hour drive from the ferry terminal. Web: www.stenaline.co.uk ACCOMMODATION There are countless places to stay in an around Dingle. For many years my favourite base for a fishing trip in these parts has been Tigh TP’s at Ballydavid, tel: 00353 (0)66 9155300. It has smart B&B accommodation, Coastguard House located next door, and the food and Guinness served in the pub are superb. Located on the northern shoreline of Smerwick Harbour, a 10-minute drive from Dingle Town, it’s a short walk to several excellent rock marks. Web:…

NEW SERIES Get into lure fishing with Henry Gilbey IN ITS MOST BASIC FORM, LURE FISHING centres on the use of artificial lures to fool fish into eating them. In that sense, it is very similar to fly-fishing. Within saltwater sport fishing in the British Isles, we target our fish with bait and lures, together with a bit of fly-fishing. There is no getting away from the fact that bait fishing gives you a far greater chance of some of our larger species, such as conger eels, huss and rays. However, over the last few years the whole lure fishing thing has really opened many anglers’ eyes to what can be caught and where. If bass, cod and pollack were once the main species that an angler fishing with lures…

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER Being somewhat new to boat angling, and having spent five months getting my little boat ready, I know I still have a great deal to learn. This draws me to the subject of bass catch restrictions for recreational fisherman. Forgive me if I have missed this in earlier articles, and I know you have written on the subject, including issue 531, but I still need more information. Mike Ladle’s article on page 30 starts… “I guess everyone knows about the changes…” and continues… “for the first six months of 2016…” etc. What I would like to know is what the regulations are? What does it actually say, and who drafted it? Is it just an EU Directive, which must have some UK enabling legislation? Are there local…

Each month we’ll select a winning question from each of the shore/ LRF, boat/kayak and lure questions. Three lucky readers will get great gear prizes from sponsors Tronixpro. • BEACH: Tronixpro Centurion Rod, worth £149.99. • LURE: HTO Rockfish Light, HTO Rokfish 2000 reel, YKG G-Soul 6lb braid, HTO lure scissors & three HTO Go! boxes, worth £118.93. • BOAT: Tronixpro Envoy Wave reel, Tronixpro seat box, Tronixpo Boatpro rig selection, worth a total of £109.88. HOW TO ASK A QUESTION • Q&A, Sea Angler, Media House, Lynchwood Business Park, Peterborough PE2 6EA • cliff.brown@bauermedia.co.uk • www.facebook.com/ seaanglermag…

“Do your homework and there are many areas where ling can be caught in good numbers” THE LING IS A MEMBER OF THE COD family and has long been a popular species with boat anglers, not least because it makes excellent eating. Like so many other species found around the coast of the British Isles, the ling (Molva molva) is far less common than it used to be, but provided you do your homework there are plenty of areas where the species can still be caught in good numbers. Although some ling are caught from the shore, they are usually small, but for the big beasts it definitely a case of going boat fishing. SPECIES Ling have a long, slender body and are rarely misidentified with other species. The average…

“If the vessel is not coded correctly for the task, it is illegal and uninsured” AS BOTH AN OWNER SKIPPER AND a volunteer RNLI all-weather lifeboat coxswain, safety comes first aboard my bass charter boat 3 Fishes. If you are heading off fishing as a fee-paying customer aboard a charter boat, there are things you should expect. My friend Dave Lewis detailed 12 ways to book the best boats in issue 531 (on sale May 5 to June 1), so I’ll give you the lowdown on what the law requires of charter boats. First, make sure either you or the person doing the booking has had a good look at whatever information is available. Professional set-ups will have websites detailing the safety features of the vessel and the skipper’s qualifications.…

I’VE CAUGHT COUNTLESS BIG BLONDE rays over the years, mostly off the south coast on the standard 20/30lb-class kit with heavy leads. I’ve had a few memorable catches, such as a 22-pounder taken on a live sandeel in two knots of tide while drifting a sandbank in 40ft of water in search of bass. On that day I was using an 11ft Fox Mullet Master rod coupled with a fixed-spool reel loaded with 20lb braid. That ray took off like a fish possessed and I really didn’t have any idea what it was until near the end of the fight, when it just hung there as we drifted along. That was one of my first insights as to how hard these big blonde rays can fight if you give them…

“They catch sight of the angler and then they go crackers” Yet another fantastic day beckoned, but it was Friday so my wife would be at home, I was mid-shift and I’d slept badly the previous two days. But, I can always sleep when it’s raining or the wind’s up. So, I sent a text to two kayak pals suggesting a session for smoothhounds. The bass fishing may be great, but there’s more to life than bass in my world. The only viable option was to go for 9am, which was straight after work. That’d be a struggle. I had a list of stuff to do. So I went home, did half of it in quarter of an hour, grabbed my gear and headed across town to Corton. Shaun Leaver…

THE GROWING TREND OF UK shore anglers using fixed-spool reels appears to be gathering pace. For some it’s been such a radical change that they’ve vowd to never use a multiplier again. Many shore anglers have cottoned on to the fact that a big pit-style reel, loaded with braid, can not only increase casting distance, but also, with just a few turns of the handle, bring the rig high in the water quickly and clear of snags. Add the fact that the lack of stretch braid offers means your baited rig is less vulnerable to being dragged along in a strong tide, while shy bites are registered far better. With this in mind, are regular, powerful beach rods compatible with these large fixed-spool models? To an extent, the consensus is…

ALL of the summer shore species should be within casting distance now, and targeting them with balanced tackle will make those long, warm sessions much more enjoyable. Better still, you can pocket a cool £76.47 by taking advantage of this superb offer. Star of the deal is the Fisheagle Saracen Beachcaster. Its a 13ft, three-piece, 4-8oz outfit with a powerful mid-action that will punch your baits with ease into the feeding zone. Boasting a sliding, adjustable reel winch fitting, it’s fully lined guides are lightweight and designed to be used with either a fixed-spool or multiplier reel, and it comes supplied with its own padded protective bag. To accompany the rod is the superb Tronixpro Envoy 7000 fixed-spool reel. With a lightweight frame, six bearings, powerful drag and a spool…

• James Lloyd and his son Cai had a great first boat fishing trip with skipper Dave Hancock, of Haven Boat Charters, out of Milford Haven. James caught a 35lb tope using frozen mackeral presented on a size 10/0 circle hook and a flowing trace. Twelve-year-old Cai caught a 10lb bull huss on a chunk of mackerel. • Liverpool angler Tony Dowdall boated this tope, estimated at 40lb, on May 14 , fishing out from the Llyn Peninsula, Gwynedd, on a friend’s small boat. • Paul James, of Swansea, fished a local rock mark, where he landed this 22lb conger eel on a mackerel flapper on a Pennell pulley rig with size 6/0 hooks. The fish was returned alive. GRAUVELL VERTIX ROD WINNERS: ISSUE 530  Daniel Morgan, Burton-upon-Trent, Staffs; Jim…

 Had angler Simon Custerson been able to get accurate measurements for a common skate estimated at up to 150lb, it could have been close to the British record. “I touched the big fish and cut her free” The massive fish, was hooked on a whole mackerel bait by Simon when fishing a mark in the north of Scotland. He estimated the wingspan at 72 inches, making the fish up to about 150lb. "Our gaff broke, so I touched the big fish and cut her free,” said Simon, from Tain, Ross-shire, who was fishing on June 5 with his brother-in-law, David Wood. The British shore-caught record of 169lb 6oz was caught in 1994.…

FANCY winning tackle from Shimano by catching a fish? Your target is to catch one over the weight given on our nominated species list. If you do, you automatically win a Mission Accomplished badge, as well as being in with the chance of winning a great monthly tackle prize. Each month we award a Shimano Nexave Surf 400 five-piece rod and a Speedcast XS-B fixed-spool reel, worth a total of £300, to the captor of the best shore fish, chosen on merit. The top boat angler each month, chosen on merit, gets a Beastmaster AX Boat Slim rod and a Tyrnos 20 multiplier reel, worth a total of £320. Tom O’Beirne, Crediton, Devon. Fish: 9lb small-eyed ray. Bait: Frozen sandeel on a pulley-dropper rig. Venue: Seatown, Dorset. Date: May 12.…

GARRY EVANS SEAMASTER GWENT SAC OPEN St Brides, Newport, 80 anglers Ross Jones made it two wins in a row at St Brides with a 5.63kg thornback ray. The builder, from Newport, had also won an open at the venue in April. Runner-up Adrian Ford, of Weston-super-Mare, caught two conger eels for 4.42kg, while Dai Loder, of Newport, was third with a 4.49kg thornback. • Result: 1 Ross Jones, Newport, 5.63kg thornback ray (8pts); 2 Adrian Ford, Weston-super-Mare, 4.72kg (7); 3 Dai Loder, Newport, 4.49kg (6). PENN PLUS HERNE BAY OPEN Herne Bay, Kent, 41 anglers Fishing was hard in this Penn Plus event, where the expected entry was down due to last-minute cancellations and others failing to turn up on the day. Only eight anglers recorded fish, consisting of…

SHINGLE STREET HAS EMERGED AS one of the top places for catching thornback rays in Suffolk. Every year these fish head into the bay or into the River Ore to spawn. Stories of rays to near double-figure weights are not unusual, and certainly are specimens for this coastline. The number and size of thornbacks has increased in recent years, probably due to a decline in commercial boats fishing for them. Thornbacks usually begin to arrive around April when the temperature starts to increase. They stay until September or October. Male fish appear first, followed by the larger females. They feed on crabs, shrimps, prawns and small fish, with their crushing jaws making short work of most of this prey. The back of the ray is covered all over with sharp…

TUCKED AWAY UP ON CORNWALL’S rugged north coast is the bustling holiday town of Padstow. It was around this busy tourist area where my love of sea fishing began. The variety of fish is remarkable. TACKLE AND BAIT Worm, crab and mussel baits all work, while standard beachcasting gear will cope easily with a bit of sea and tide. The surrounding coastline has countless gullies that respond to a legered peeler crab or sandeel bait on a night flood tide during onshore conditions. Forme, this is also a lure fishing paradise. TACTICS Easterly winds are not good for bass fishing, but do allow generally safe access to rock marks, such as Trevose Head, Trevone, Stepper Point and the Rumps where you can catch mackerel, garfish, pollack, plaice, dabs, rays, conger…

ON THE TIP OF THE WIRRAL peninsula at the mouth of the Mersey estuary sits New Brighton promenade, and throughout the summer, every ebbing tide reveals one of the premier smoothhound venues in the North West. Known as the Rock Channel, it provides superb summer sport for hounds, thornback rays, plaice, flounders and bass. Hard-fighting hounds, caught here in June and July, can be both prolific in quantity and impressive in size. As the tide ebbs, it reveals a sandbank that stretches two miles into Liverpool Bay. Between the beach and the bank is a gully, which you cross to access the bank. Never fish here alone for the first times. This gully is still around 5ft deep when the bank becomes visible, and the tidal pull in the gully…

THE UPPER REACHES OF SCOTLAND are blessed with some of the most jaw-dropping scenery you could ever wish to see. From high, towering cliffs to long, sandy beaches, there’s plenty to go at for a visiting shore angler. In particular, the areas around Banffshire aren’t well publicised, but if you’re an angler who prefers to slug it out in rough ground for species like cod, coalfish, pollack and wrasse, then this is certainly the place for you. On the flipside, if targeting flatfish on venues laden with soft, coral sand falling away into shallow clear water appeals, the beaches north of Peterhead will not disappoint. The rough ground around the tiny coastal village of Banff sees regular catches of wrasse, pollack, dogfish and coalfish. It’s the same for the marks…

THE SUN SHONE AND A BIG SWELL was running outside the harbour. I was there to hit the first couple of hours of the flood with my LRF gear. I was using a 7ft 1in Hart Absolut Rock and Street rod 1-7g, Yuki Genius 2000 reel, PE 0.6 YGK G Soul Upgrade, 8lb YGK fluoro leader. My rig was my standard drop-shot set-up, size 8 long-shank offset hook tied with a Palomar knot 1ft from the bottom of the trace, a 7g drop-shot lead and 4in Gulp sandworm on the hook. Casting out and working the lure along the sandy patches with a slow retrieve and little twitches, I was keeping the lead weight trundling along, throwing up puffs of sand. The sand gave way to a fringe of kelp…

CATCHING HALIBUT FROM THE shore has always appealed to me, so the chance to fish with the angler who caught a world record of 111lb 5oz from the shore was too good an opportunity to miss. When the man himself, Simon Smith, offered the ‘Sea Angler Team’ a trip to the fish-rich waters of Bodo, in northern Norway, it would have been rude to turn it down the opportunity. Simon’s greatest catch to date is landing that shore-caught world record Atlantic halibut at 111lb 5oz, for which he received an award at the IGFA headquarters in Florida for the best recorded world record for 2015. Originally an aircraft mechanic from Plymouth, Simon has worked and lived in Norway for just over four years for the Norwegian regional airline Wideroe. Having…

Sunline, the largest Japanese producer of fishing lines, strives to develop the thinnest and strongest lines. Our winner gets a selection from the range: • Sunline Super PE 150m (4 strand): Hi-vis green, dark green and light blue. Low stretch for sensitivity and extra-tight braiding for durability. Special finish reduces guide friction. Superior control and response when using lures. Very tough when fishing rough ground. Knots are easy to tie. • Sunline Super PE8 150m (8 strand): Hi-vis orange. Resistant to abrasive structures. Sensitive, low-stretch design to capture delicate bites. Slick, smooth line surface for low guide friction and excellent castability. Knots effortlessly. • Sunline Momentum 4x4 150m (8 strand): High-grade polyethylene and high specific gravity ester mono with amazing specific gravity of 1.05. Less susceptible to the effect of…

DUE TO MY PASSION FOR CATCHING a wide variety of species, I’m often asked “What’s the most unusual fish you’ve ever caught in the UK?” There have been a few, but the little known blue-mouth is a contender for top of the list. Few anglers have caught them, but they are more common than you think, and targetable if you want to catch one. Blue-mouth (Helicolenus dactylopterus) are a slow-growing fish with a weight ceiling of about 4lb, though the average is nearer 2lb. With an average age up to 14 years, there have been verified adults of 43 years caught and reports of fish reaching more than 80. They are an orange/red colour, but the inside of the mouth is a shade of blue, hence their descriptive name. It…

WHEN I WAS A KID THERE wasn’t a lot of choice when it came to hooks. At that time, nearly 40 years ago, I was fishing in the Thames Estuary and we used mostly blue Aberdeens, with the occasional O’Shaughnessy for tope or on conger trips to Brixham. I can remember one of the old-timers we used to fish with regularly had a box of Kirbys that never really appealed to me, and, come to think of it, I don’t think I saw him using them either. I’m sure there were other hooks available, and the lack of choice may have been down to my local tackle shops, but that’s what we used, and we caught plenty of fish. When Cox & Rawle first brought out their Uptide hook, it…

WE’RE LOOKING FOR THE nation’s favourite charter skippers. Each issue we will throw the spotlight on a top boatman nominated by a Sea Angler reader. Use the form right (photocopies acceptable) to tell us the skipper’s name, boat, port and typical charges, along with the reasons you would recommend their services (use a separate piece of paper if you require more space). It’s your chance to tell Sea Angler’s readers why the skipper is so good and what a great service is provided. We’ll select the best entry for each issue and will award the winning operator with a special Sea Angler plaque that the skipper can display with pride on their vessel. This montb’s winner: RONNIE CAMPBELL • Boat name: Laura Dawn II • Port: Oban, Argyll Raymond More,…

THE COASTLINE NEAR MY HOMETOWN in County Wicklow attracts bigger than average tope, but at the start of my kayak fishing career I fished for mackerel, before progressing to wrasse, pollack and other modest targets. Eventually I sought out bigger fish and, as I saw it, tope were the only species that would fit the bill. You know the feeling that tells you your latest idea is possibly not the smartest? When it comes to fishing I don’t think I possess that instinctive hesitancy. Sure, targeting larger fish from a kayak is challenging, but so is crossing the road. Kayak anglers need to work out the logistics of landing big fish. If you are competent at landing, handling and unhooking them and you adopt a methodical approach there should not…

PALM EQUIPMENT OZONE AND RIVER TREK DRY BAGS RRP FROM £12.95 THERE IS A MULTITUDE OF REASONS why I have been using dry bags on my kayak; they keep excess kit tidy, protect some of my belongings from the elements and, most importantly, keep stored items from getting wet. It makes sense to take food, drink, spare clothing and perhaps a towel when we go kayak fishing. They are useless if not kept dry. The same can be said for your mobile phone or electronic key fob for your car. A dry bag is the perfect item to do this. Having used other brands of dry bag including Seal Line, for many years, I have recently started using several types produced by Palm Equipment. The company has added useful features…

UNLESS YOU BEEN LOCKED IN A time warp for the last five years, you’ll be more than just a little bit aware of the colourful array of long, Continental beach rods that have made an impact on UK shore fishing. Primarily designed to provide a short cut to longer casting with a fixed-spool reel, all share big claims on their ability and why you should buy them. When these rods range from anywhere between £50 and upwards of £500, questions need to be asked and answers provided. It was following just such a discussion at Veals Mail Order that a plan was formed to take a few longer rods out in the field and put them through their paces. Joe McMahon and Jeremy Salisbury are both fairly competent anglers, but…

Fishing a big bait on his last cast of a session proved the correct decision for Trevor Hartley when he landed a 9lb 6oz bass. He was fishing with two pals on May 27 at Dengemarsh, Kent, where they had landed bass to 2lb, flounders and a 2lb 3oz eel. With the time to leave approaching, the angler, from Langley, Kent, cast out a big peeler crab and ragworm bait. “After about half-an-hour of the last cast, I noticed my rod was bent right over,” he said. “When I picked up the rod I knew there was a good fish on.” The fish was released.…

A last-minute change of plan to fish for stingrays instead of garfish paid off for Hampshire angler Lee Wilton. He bagged a 25lb 12oz stringer while fishing a flooding tide at a Solent mark on May 14. Two hours before high water he changed his rig and added three large ragworms to the hook. Five minutes later Lee noticed a bite and, eventually, landed, unhooked and released the stinger. Three days later Lee visited another local venue and caught another double-figure stingray, together with bass to 4lb and smoothhounds. WE WANT YOUR STORIES AND BIG FISH PICTURES Please email cliff.brown@bauermedia.co.uk and use the subject line 'YOUR FISHING'…

• Lymington and District SFC president Derek Smith bagged an 11lb 15oz smoothhound and a black bream of 3lb 3oz during a club match aboard the local boat Private Venture, skippered by Arthur Savage. • Kayak angler Jack Beesley, of Penzance, Cornwall, caught a 12lb pollack on an artificial eel while fishing half-a-mile offsore in south-west Cornwall. CARTER DOMINATES UKSF GRAND PRIX It was three out of three for Jason Carter as he won the United Kingdom Surfcasting Federation’s third Grand Prix of the season. At the event, held on May 15 at Huntingdon racecourse, Cambs, Jason made the longest cast of the day, 251.06 metres, with a 150g lead weight. In fact, he went on to clean up by topping the 125g and 175g sections with 250.50m and 242.61m…

• A shore session at Bowleaze Cove, Dorset, saw Alfie Green catch this 1lb 9oz ballan wrasse. The eight-year-old from Trowbridge, Wiltshire, presented ragworms on a two-hook flapper rig armed with size 2 hooks. • Fishing aboard a private boat off the coast of Sully, Vale of Glamorgan, Ben Jackson bagged this smashing 14lb 3oz blonde ray. The 13-year-old from nearby Penarth, was uptiding a squid bait when the fish struck. • While fishing aboard Steve Hoyler’s private vessel, Freebird of Cadgwith, a mile off the Cornish coast, Seth James reeled up this 24lb 15oz ling. The nine-year-old from Ruan Minor, Cornwall, used mackerel for bait over a wreck. • A shore session in the Severn Estuary yielded this silver eel for seven-year-old James Guy. The Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire lad, used…

JULY • 3: Matchman’s open, Manxmatch, 2pm-6pm, measure & release, two hooks, £20 entry, 100% payout, Andrew Dugdale, 07624 490312 or manxman22@googlemail.com. • 3: Lincs open, Moggs Eye, 2pm-6pm, measure & release 18cm, book in 11.30am-1pm, £15 entry, 50 pegs, booking advisable, Gary Hutson 07889 271115 or George Smith 07857 550125. • 3: North West ASAC open, Rock Channel, 3.15pm-7.45pm, book on 1.15pm-2pm, book 07572 593272 or 0151 677 0011. • 3: Tralee Bay SAC open, Fenit island beach, 11am-3pm, overall length, check in 10am-10.20am, David O’Sullivan 00353 (0)89 2076044. • 3: Gravesend Sole Challenge, 10.30am-2.30pm, measure and release, pegged and zoned, £10 adults, £5 juniors/OAPs, book in from 8.30am at Ship & Lobster pub, Graham East 07985 557920. • 9: South East Scotland summer sweepstake, Dunbar to Pease Bay,…