Innehållsförteckning för Issue 588 från Sea Angler

It is gratifying to see so many new participants from all generations or returners to sea angling. For me, it’s a legacy of the Covid-19 lockdown which has provided a much-needed boost for the sea angling trade including tackle shops and charter boats. They certainly needed the leg up. This is positive for angling and should be welcome news for everyone. What is certain is that all sea anglers, new or experienced, want their views considered and not ignored in favour of other interest groups, such as commercial fishing or those who would seek to ban angling from some areas of our coast. Although it may seem blindingly obvious to many, newly released research findings have shown what recreational sea anglers value the most when considering fisheries management. The report,…

Tracing back four decades or so, I can still vividly recall long winter nights spent on the beach with my dad chasing cod. We’d both set up our kit high above the high-water mark, waiting for the tide to steadily creep up the shingle. My favourite time would be as the light faded and it came for him to fire up his Tilley. The smell of lit paraffin would drift in my direction as the newly fitted mantle would begin to slowly burn black. Then I heard the squeaking of the plunger as he pumped up the pressure inside the fuel tank before increasing more fuel into the jet, which tightened the mantle into a white, hot glowing bulb. A huge bright, pool of light would suddenly engulf the pair…

Catching an undulate ray has been my dream for the last two years but not knowing much about fishing I left it off my target list, deeming it unachievable. Instead I opted to try for a thornback. At the time, it proved just how little I knew because they are much harder to get than an undulate on my local shoreline around Poole in Dorset. My quest began with a few weekend sessions last year. My friend Iain Bickerstaff, who was a member of the same angling club, took me under his wing and showed me a few things to help me catch one. He also introduced me to a lot of the people I now fish with or get most of my bait from and also showed me places…

One of the biggest blue sharks ever boated around the British Isles has been caught during a charter trip off Cornwall. The big blue, which was calculated at 251lb was caught and released by Harry Pardoe while fishing on Andy Howell’s Anglo Dawn, out of Falmouth. The official boat-caught record, set in 1959, stands at 218lb, but bigger fish have been caught and released, including a 258lb blue boated out of Penzance several years ago. Because the fish was returned, it is unlikely to be accepted as a record. Harry’s dad Mike, from Birmingham, caught a 180-pounder on the same trip, while Matthew Gouriet had a 50th birthday to remember when he decided to go shark fishing with his friends on Swallow 2, skippered by Murray Collins, out of Looe,…

After weeks of seeking a shore-caught tope, but catching only dogfish, Joey Brady (right) finally landed a superb 49lb 2oz specimen. The angler from Dublin was fishing a local mark with an up-and-over running leger rig baited with a whole mackerel. He was testing some of the Inova Rhino clips and pulley beads to make up-and-over running legers. Matt Lambah (right), of Peel, Isle of Man, caught a tope, estimated at 50lb, on a pulley rig with a size 7/0 circle hook baited with half a mackerel. He was fishing at Point West.…

BASS Shore: 19lb 13oz 8dr John S Locker Boat: 19lb 4oz Wayne Milton BLACK BREAM Shore: 5lb 5oz 1dr C Le Monnier Boat: 6lb 6oz Tony Heart COUCH’S BREAM Shore: 2lb 15oz 1dr Lynton Carre Boat: 7lb Becky Lee Hodges GILTHEAD BREAM Shore: 9lb 8oz Scott Smy Boat: 10lb 2oz Roger Simcox PANDORA S BREAM Shore: 1lb 2oz Baz Wheater RAY’S BREAM Shore: 6lb 1oz Jordan Colwell RED BREAM Boat: 6lb 4oz Patrick Meegan BRILL Shore: 6lb 12oz Mark Griggs Boat: 13lb 10oz Tony Hayward TURBOT Shore: 20lb 2oz Eddy Barham Boat: 32lb 1oz Steve Scally BULL HUSS Shore: 21lb 9oz M Urquhart Boat: 23lb D Nicholson COD Shore: 32lb Adrian Lloyd Boat: 43lb 9oz Chris Proctor CONGER EEL Shore: 66lb 8oz Andy Eke Boat: 109lb 8oz Roger Beer DAB…

It only took me a matter of seconds to answer my dad with a positive yes when he asked if I fancied the six-hour drive to Loch Aline, located in the Highlands of Scotland. No sooner had we loaded the van with kit, we were on the road heading north west. I’ve visited this venue many times with our main target species being the giant common skate. Luckily, there are many other fish to catch such as spurdogs, dogfish, conger eels and wide variety of mini species too. The drive is long, but the stunning scenery on the way is simply magnificent and keeps my mind occupied. If I get bored I can dream about hooking one of those huge creatures. We arrived at around 9.30pm and I couldn’t contain…

You’ll recognise this scenario. I’d had a tipoff about some guy on a boat catching more than 40 smoothhounds to 16lb 8oz and a larger one lost next to the boat only a mile and a half out from Lowestoft. It coincided with a suggestion to meet up with my friend Shaun Leaver because he’d been away and missed the action. Not that we believed the tip-off was totally correct, but, with an easy forecast and plenty of time, it sounded like a plan. I should have arranged things for an hour earlier. It would have made a better day of it and the paddle easier because we were coming up to slack water when we launched. The wind, however, was not the very light forecast and nor was it…

FLOATING LINE: Easy to manage and perfect for fish in the surface layers or in shallow ground. Use a tapered leader of at least 9ft long, unless using a surface fly. Typically, it should taper to 16-20lb for sub-surface work. Try a six-footer of 20lb mono for top water. INTERMEDIATE: Ideal for the upper layers when it helps to sink the fly and/ or provide more stealth (via a clear intermediate). Depending on the water clarity, the leader length can be between 6-12ft (or more). For example, if the intermediate line is clear, you can use a shorter fluorocarbon leader. SINK TIP: Ideal for getting the fly down quickly where the first 10ft or so can be scoured. As the running line is floating you can also use it to…

You must be flexible when fishing in fast-flowing water. Water depth, current speed, wind, how the fish are feeding and what they are feeding on are factors that might alter fly presentation. Keep trying different techniques and flies until you find the correct combination. Try a fast-sinking line, cast down current, and feed out line to let the fly and line sink before starting your retrieve. As you rapidly retrieve, the fly will swing and swim up towards the surface, therefore covering more of the water column. Top-water fishing from a boat is exciting. Getting a popper or gurgler fly to generate commotion is the key. A fast-moving bug can be effective on calm water when a school of fish is chasing baitfish in the surface layers. At dawn or…

Q: I’m looking to upgrade my beach shelter to a bigger version. Would you recommend something that resembles a carp bivvy for longer sessions? GRAHAM LATIMER, STEVENAGE, HERTS PF says: There have been many beach shelters on the market over the years and I guess it all started from the coarse angler’s brolly. Personally, I prefer to use an umbrella that has the wings attached to each side, simply because it offers me more room to store my kit. Many have come and gone, and I’d say the legendary tackle dealer from the past Dave Docwra produced the best by far. Sadly, it’s no longer around but it was soon replaced by John Holden, who invented what we now know as the Beach Buddy. The Buddy revolutionised beach shelters as…

GREYS SOFTSHELL JACKET RRP: £99.99 This warm, windproof and breathable jacket features a Thermatex jersey interlock face bonded with a windproof and breathable membrane with microfleece backing. Designed to keep you warm on cool and dry days or for using as an inner layer garment under your waterproofs. Available in sizes M, L, XL and XXL. To locate your nearest Greys stockist, tel: 01665 602389.Web: www.greysfishing. SAKUMA SHOCKLEADER RRP: £6.50 Sakuma is a firm favourite supplier with sea anglers around the world, and this co-polymer shockleader is certainly regarded as one of the best available. Soft and supple with a low diameter, it sits superbly on any reel spool, doesn’t kink and, importantly, ties excellent knots. Available in clear, grey, yellow and red colours with breaking strains of 50lb, 60lb,…

Small inflatable boats, usually known as SIBs, are growing in popularity among sea anglers who are beginning to recognise that these lightweight, affordable, stable boats are highly practical for fishing inshore. SIBs are simple and basic, which for many boaters is a large part of their appeal. They are the ideal choice for an angler who doesn’t want the commitment of storing and towing a boat, and they are perfect for launching singlehandedly almost anywhere. The Excel Volaire range features several models, but here I am looking at the RD390 model, which is 3.90 metres long. This boat features traditional main chambers and incorporates an inflatable integral deck that results in a rapid deployment time. With a little practice, it requires only a few minutes to unpack, inflate and be…

Asso Lines are a huge range of well-known products produced by Gruppo DP, one of the biggest monofilament companies in the world. Our winner gets an Asso package consisting of Bullet Proof, Classic, Ultra, Ultra Cast, tapered leaders, Ever Green braid, Ultraflex (50m) and Oblivion (100m). Contents, worth just over £100, may occasionally vary. BULLET PROOF – originally designed for carp fishing, but its durability attracted sea anglers. Available in six breaking strains. RRP: £13.99 for 4oz spool. CLASSIC –its high-impact strength, low stretch, superior abrasion resistance and durability mean anglers use the 50lb, 60lb and 70lb as shockleaders. Available in 15 breaking strains. RRP: £5.99 for 4oz spool. OBLIVION – described as ‘another dimension in monofilament’, this is for making rigs. It has no memory and is very supple.…

CORNISH NETTING THEORY I think I can answer your question in your Welcome (issue 587) about why the bass landings in Mevagissey have increased so much. The Cornish pilchard fishery died from overfishing and eventually lack of markets back in the 1950s. Since then, a new stock has been gradually increasing and the bays down here are now full of high-quality pilchards. This has caught the eye of several Cornish skippers who have developed an inshore purse net fishery from Mevagissey. The bays are now busy with boats jostling for position as the fish rise up at dusk and this is how the bass are being caught, a by catch of the new pilchard fishery. The problem is to save the bass you are going to have to shut down…

SEPTEMBER 19: Chesil League rnd 7 & open, Abbotsbury, 5pm-10pm, £25 league entry, booking essential, Dave Lane 07977 132951. 19: Hastings & St Leonards AA Hollingsworth Cup, 9.30am-2.30pm, 01424 430120. 19: Scarborough Corporation Challenge Trophy, 2pm-6pm, weigh-in by 7pm @ venue TBC, Pete Atkinson 07711 124032. 19-25: Daiwa Irish Pairs, Co Kerry, £2,000 1st, limited to 72 pairs, nickhaward@ btinternet.com 20: Welsh FSA East Region Shore League open, Sully & Bendicks, 1.30pm-6.30pm, book in by noon as Cosmeston Park, Steve 07777 689289. 20: Bispham Angling Sea League open, Gynn Wall, 11.30am-3.30pm, book on 10am at Five Bar Gate, £20 entry, 15cm minimum size, book only, Dave 07472 249294 or Tony 07702 229015. 20: Scottish FSA open, Erskine, 11am-4pm, pegged & zoned, draw 8am-9am at Victoria Park, booking only, Chris 07872…

OCTOBER 2010 After a good fish bit through his line during a smoothhound session, Bradley Bone, from Essex, returned to same beach at Selsey, West Sussex, armed with a wire trace and caught a 42lb tope. While fishing for mullet in a team league match, Martin Johns smashed the Weymouth Angling Club garfish record with a 2lb 3oz fish from Dorset’s Chesil Beach. It beat the previous best by 6oz 8r. Dave Thomas, from Barrow in Furness, Cumbria, caught a 34lb cod while fishing on George Metcalfe’s charter boat Chieftain, out of Whitby, North Yorkshire. A 26lb 7oz smoothhound caught by Martin Logue, of Tollesbury, Essex, had an unusual taste for worms. It was caught on Lee Bollingbroke’s charter boat Sophie Lea, out of Brightlingsea. 2000 A potential new Welsh…

When we started fishing, I wasn’t expecting any rod-heaving action until dusk but Ben Carter, who was positioned to my right, missed a good slack liner shortly after we started. This was followed 20 minutes later by the first smoothhound that tipped the scales to fractionally over 8lb. That first hard-fighting fish had taken a squid bait and Ben quickly followed it up with another of a similar size but taken on ragworms, and then another on a peeler crab. Three hounds in the space of 30 minutes and all on different baits…and the evening was still very young. This smoothhound fishing certainly can be fast and furious. During the past decade smoothhounds have rapidly become one of the most sought-after species with thousands of shore anglers now targeting these…

Chris Carney: “While fishing on a cold beach I used to put pebbles on top and once they warmed up, I’d put them in my  pockets for instant hand warmers.” Mark James: “They were awesome back in the day and I still have a couple. I never use them now, but nothing beats  the hiss of the lantern with a meat pie warming on the top.” Alan Brown: “I still have two in the garage and they both work. I fire them up every couple of months to  keep them going.” Mark Hill: “ I remember many nights spent fishing on Chesil Beach as a kid with my dad, uncle and other family  and friends, all huddled around the Tilley.” Steve Lane: “I still use mine, although it’s a pain…

My next trip was with Ben and Lee, together with George Hennessy, another angler from my new club, Poole Harbour SAC. We set up along a large concrete groyne where there was a deep channel not far off. Ben opened up proceedings with a 2lb sole and then added another of 1lb 12oz. Not a bad start to any trip. Less than 10 minutes passed before Ben landed an awesome looking 9lb 8oz undulate ray. While I took pictures and George videoed for his YouTube channel Vision Angling, I heard some of the locals calling him crazy for holding a stingray. It gave us something to laugh about for the rest of the evening. Ben also caught two plaice, the biggest 1lb 4oz, while George landed a sole and also…

Lure anglers fishing afloat or from the shore have caught bass into double figures. Among the best fish was one of just under 12lb for charter skipper Matthew Forrester, who operates Silver Halo, out of Torquay, Devon. “It was a beast of a bass and my new personal best, caught while slow jigging with my Temple Reef Levitate rod and Shimano Ocea Jigger 1500HG reel,” said Matthew. The 77cm bass slammed into one of the new Sidewinder Loki 150g slow jigs in silver with a black back. Matthew’s advice helped David Mordecai, of Paignton, to achieve some good results with bass on the Sidewinder Cotton Candy slow pitch jigs when fishing from his own boat based at Exmouth. He said: A couple of days of flat calm, foggy conditions really…

A birthday fishing trip produced a new personal best for Callum Cornish (below), who was fishing at Ladye Bay, at Clevedon, Somerset. The angler from Twerton, Bath, said: “I caught two lovely hounds at Layde Bay during a birthday trip. One was around 12lb and one was a new pb for me around the 15-16lb mark maybe bigger. My previous best was 14lb, from Chesil Beach. This one was far bigger and a struggle to land.” A bigger hound of 17lb 2oz fell to Shane Craft (below), who fished a black lug bait at a mark in Blackpool, Lancs. This stunning 53lb ling was caught by Edward Dryden, of Huntley, Aberdeenshire, while fishing on Compass Rose, out of the Shetland Islands. The British record is 67lb 5oz. A 6lb 13oz…

BASS SHORE Jason Bulger, Weymouth, 8-12-8, Chesil Beach Rory Lynch, Ballyneety, 9-13, Tramore Jack Reynolds, Weston-super-Mare, 8-11, Sully Island Greg Welling, Patchway, 9-1*, Studland BASS BOAT Dillon Taylor, Stanford le Hope, 9-0, Ramsgate BREAM BOAT All caught at Weymouth unless stated Kevin Clark, Weymouth, 3-12 Jack Ellery, Virginia Water, 3-1, Portland Mick Hoyle, Portland, 3-10 Simon Webb, Cheshunt, 3-10 COD BOAT Mikey Rhynd, Boddam, 25-0, Cullievoe CONGER BOAT Matthew Barnicoat, Weymouth, 71-0*, Weymouth Kevin Turner, Paignton, 50-0*, Paignton FLATFISH SHORE William Nash, Derry, 2-2 flounder*, Lough Swilly FLATFISH BOAT Sam Anning, Bath, 17-2 turbot, Beer LING SHORE Johnny Byrne, Killybegs, 5-9, Donegal Bay LING BOAT Joel McLoughlin, Shrewsbury, 23-0, Brixham MULLET SHORE Steve Ford, Stapleton, 4-0*, Portishead Anthony Noonan, Treharris, 6-5*, Port Talbot POLLACK SHORE Ricky Lapsley, Fife, 14-1*, Burnmouth…

The best two pictures, selected by the Sea Angler team, will earn the sender 1lb of rag, worth £15 plus p&p, from farmed bait specialist, Dragon Baits, in South Wales. Please include your name and address when submitting your photograph to sa.ed@kelsey. co.uk. The company supplies the trade, organisations, fishing clubs and individual anglers direct from its farm in Port Talbot. Contact Dragon Baits, tel: 01639 894111. Email: info@dragonbaits.co.uk Web: dragonbaits.co.uk…

Much of the UK coastline becomes infested by whiting come October. They hang around right through until February in many places, offering a welcome rattle on the rod tips when the elusive cod are nowhere to be found. Specimen whiting, those weighing more than 7lb, have been caught in recent years, but, for the most part around the UK, they rarely exceed 3lb in weight, apart from in the depths of winter along the South Coast, where fish approaching 5lb are possible. If you tackle up correctly you can have some amazing sport from these very obliging, spirited little fighters. Along with cod, pollack, poor cod, pouting, haddock and ling, the humble whiting is a member of the cod family and, as such, tastes really good. Occasional whiting are caught…

One of the easiest species of billfish to target, provided you fish in the right place at the right time, your chances of success with striped marlin will be very high and this makes them the prefect target for novice blue-water anglers. An Indo-Pacific species, striped marlin, or ‘stripies’ as they are known in many areas, are typically what you might call user-friendly size big-game fish averaging in the region of 80-150lb, which permits the use of relatively light tackle. At first glance, a striped marlin (Kajikia audax) is very similar to a small blue marlin, but the vertical stripes on the former are usually much more defined. The noticeably high pointed dorsal fin is the key identification feature with this species. A highly aggressive species of billfish, there really…

PAUL FENECH Sea Angler’s features and tackle editor Paul is here to solve your shore angling problems. DAVE LEWIS Based in Newport, South Wales, our contributing editor Dave answers boat fishing questions. MARK CRAME Suffolk-based Mark gets a thrill from fishing afloat on a kayak. Send him your kayaking queries. DAN SISSONS The Portsmouth angler will provide answers on the sport of light rock fishing (LRF), the go-anywhere tactic. HENRY GILBEY Angler and photo-journalist Henry, based in Cornwall, will answer questions on lure angling. Email: sa.ed@kelsey. co.uk or online: www. facebook.com/ seaanglermag HOW TO ASK A US QUESTION…

Q: In recent years I have started to focus on catching different species and I’d like to add a megrim to my species list. Any advice on how I can achieve this? BRIAN GOULD, SALISBURY, WILTS DL says: Megrim are mostly found in deep water and, though the species is generally widespread, only occasionally is one caught by an angler. In the UK, anglers fishing around the Cornish peninsula catch reasonable numbers of these elusive species, which are usually hooked when drifting open ground for other types of flatfish. Some are caught by anglers who try bottom fishing while drifting for sharks, including off south-west Wales. Most of the megrim I have seen and have heard about being caught have been taken by anglers fishing off the south and west…

Life in general has clear stages. No matter how we may wish to turn back time, until somebody discovers the fountain of eternal youth, we just have to get on with it, and enjoy. The seven stages are: Birth – you don’t really do much. Young child – you go to school and get your dad to buy your first fishing rod. Teenager – you get spots and discover girls, and hopefully still fish. Young adult – you start working for a living, between fishing trips. Middle aged – you start looking forward to retirement and buy more expensive rods. Late middle aged – you retire. Old – you pretend to be deaf because you know it annoys people. I’m relatively new to bass fishing, though I have actively fished…

I call on all anglers (coarse, sea and game) to unite against fishing being banned in any proposed Highly Protected Marine Areas (Welcome, Issue 585). We should all unite to protect each other’s rights when challenged. I would ask the question, if these fishing grounds are in such a state, why has the Marine Management Organisation not stopped all the EU trawlers plundering our waters? Yet another group with a bark and no bite. Why are these people not protecting our fishing grounds? We need to tell the EU that as from January 2021 we leave the EU and so do our fishing grounds. EU fishing boat owners should not be allowed to register boats under the British flag so we can stop them plundering the fishing grounds and protect…

Honestly, I really didn’t think anyone would be running fishing competitions until at least Christmas, but, thankfully, we were allowed to resume almost immediately was . Obviously, it meant complying with social distancing guidelines set out by the Government and the Angling Trust. Being keen to get my fix of fishing and loving a challenge, I consulted my friend and fellow match organiser Steve Ace to formulate a plan for running fishing competitions in compliance with new social distancing guidelines. With a little thought it proved to be a fairly simple hurdle to negotiate. Not everyone likes change, but sometimes you need to embrace it in order to continue with your life and participate in the things you enjoy, like fishing. We decided all entries should be paid in advance…

One of the positive outcomes of the Covid pandemic lockdown and so many being furloughed is many of those affected appear to have used the limitless free time to either reconnect with angling or, in some cases, try it for the first time and really enjoy the experience. An example of this is 29-year-old Natasha Jenkins, from Briton Ferry in South Wales. A trainee teacher, entrepreneur and part-time model, Natasha’s leisure time prior to lockdown typically involved riding one her performance motorbikes at crazy speeds on track days at venues such as Pembrey Race Circuit. These days, though, you’ll just as likely find this fun loving and very focused woman fishing various South Wales beaches. “I’d never been fishing before, but my partner Mark Stevens used to fish a lot,…

Shore pollack require a mobile approach, but they are free biters, fight well, and though the majority of them generally might be no more than 3lb in weight, there is always the chance of a much bigger fish. Pollack can be caught all-year round, but from December through to May, the majority will be fish weighing up to 2lb, though an exception is always possible. Generally speaking, the pollack come back inshore from May onwards, building in numbers through the summer. The best of the fishing, especially for bigger fish, is from September to late November, even December if the frosts are few and the weather mild and not too rough. The rock ledges along the west coast of the UK offer the best fishing for pollack, though they are…

Common skate weighing more than 200lb have fallen to two shore anglers fishing in Scotland. A huge 236lb female skate, a personal best, fell to Stuart Campbell (main image), who fished a pulley rig and whole mackerel bait at a mark on the north-eastern coast of Caithness. There was also a 200lb skate for Graham Ranshaw (pictured right), who took two hours to land it while fishing at Loch Aline. The angler from Elgin caught the fish, his first skate, on a pulley rig baited with a mackerel flapper. A 182lb common skate was boated on a 6/12lb-class Penn Waveblaster rod by Richard Roll, of Gateshead. He caught it on a head and shoulders of mackerel while fishing on Bradley Burrett’s On Yer Marks Two, in Luce Bay, Dumfries and…

HOW TO ENTER Send your pictures, name and address and details of the catch to sa.ed@kelsey.co.uk In association with…

After 30 years of being fascinated by species fishing, I’m often asked which have been the most difficult to catch when boat fishing. Based on my own experience, and from species , I’ve come up with what I feel are the five most wanted in the UK and Ireland. Much obviously depends on where you live and what access you may have to other areas that might yield uncommon fish. You have to be realistic too. If you live close to venues where a specific species is caught more frequently, then it’s relatively easy to take advantage of that. For someone living at the other end of the country, logistics become a major consideration. You’ll also need to be prepared to adapt your fishing during everyday trips should opportunities present…

There were many industries that suffered terrible losses throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, the charter fishing sector being just one. Like many other skippers, my business, AlyKat Charters, closed down completely for almost twelve weeks at what is normally a busy time of year. My time was spent doing many servicing jobs that, quite frankly, would not have been done if I had been full-time chartering. I prefer to consider this as a silver lining to a black cloud that we all could have done without, and it certainly did not pass without cost. As the Government began to relax the total lockdown, we were able to go to sea again. At first, restrictions were such that we were only allowed to take one person to sea. At least it was…

MULLET are not a species traditionally kept for the table in the UK, but, in recent years, their popularity as an edible fish has been steadily increasing because more people realise that, provided they are prepared properly, they do make a decent meal. For mullet that you intend to eat, the trick is to catch them from in the open sea, rather than a harbour or muddy estuary, as many mullet are, because they will taste earthy.…

The smell of autumn is certainly in the air and that’s great news for beach anglers everywhere. Cooler evenings should see the first arrivals of hungry whiting, followed by some early codling. What better way to celebrate a new season by kicking it off with some new kit? Star of the deal is the Saracen 13ft, three-piece shore rod. A composite blank rated 4-8oz with a powerful mid-action that suits anyone from beginners to more experienced casters. Also features a reliable sliding lock reel seat, fully lined guides and can be used with either fixed spool or multiplier reels. Accompanying the rod is the Tronixpro Envoy 7000 fixed-spool reel, featuring 5+1 bearings and a massive 4.1:1 gear ratio. There’s even a 925m spool of Shimano Aero Surf 15lb mono to…