Innehållsförteckning för Issue 592 från Sea Angler

IT LOOKS LIKE MODERN video technology could be allowed when anglers make a claim for a British record fish. The important leap forward is the result of a reluctant decision to turn down the claim for the stunning 21lb 5oz bass caught by Guntars Zakovski (pictured right). Many of you will remember our coverage of that amazing fish in issue 582 (April 2-29) that eclipsed the existing shore record of 19lb 9oz 2dr set in 2012. Although Guntars couldn’t comply with the British Record Fish Committee’s requirement to have a witness, he submitted a record claim along with video evidence and proof that his weighing scales were correct. Recently, the Committee was unable to accept Guntars’ fish as a new record because BRFC protocol requires there to be at least…

BLOW LUG WITHOUT DOUBT, BLOW LUGWORMS ARE the most popular shore fishing bait among UK sea anglers. The worms inhabit the more sheltered areas of lee beaches that are protected from the prevailing weather and they’ll heavily populate wide expanses of inner estuary saltmarshes and creeks towards the high-water line. Blow lug live in a U-shaped burrow with their presence revealed by the worm casts covering the sand like a carpet. These can be dug even on smaller neap tides because the ground they live in is relatively shallow and drains off with each ebbing tide. Generally speaking, they should be readily available from most good tackle shops, as well as from private diggers, on a day to day basis. SEASON This is a bait for all seasons but proves…

GETTING THERE St Osyth is a couple of miles south-west of Clacton-on-Sea. Head for St Osyth village via the A12 and A120 and follow the signs to Hutley’s beach. A short drive through the caravan park will see you passing the Sailor Boy public house. There is a free car park next to the seawall. TACKLE SHOPS Clacton Angling, 100 Pier Avenue, Clacton, CO15 1NJ, tel: 01255 221863. Dean’s Tackle & Guns, 43 Pallister Road, Clacton, CO15 1PG, tel: 01255 425992. Meta-Lite Fishing Tackle, 15 Newgate Street, Walton-on-Naze, CO14 8DT, tel: 01255 675680. Nicky’s Baits, Walton-on-Naze, CO14 8QF, tel: 01255 678564.…

FANCY WINNING SOME QUALITY mono, braid and fluorocarbon from Sufix by catching a great fish? In our catch competition, your target is to catch one over the weight given on our nominated species list. If you do, enter our contest and you automatically stand a chance of winning either our shore or boat bundle. Each issue we award a superb Sufix package to the captor of the best shore fish and best boat-caught fish, both chosen on merit. There is no choice of prize which is awarded at our discretion. MONTHLY WINNERS: SHORE: Stephen Cosherill, 49lb 13oz tope. BOAT: Dan Finlay, 190lb common skate.…

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

UPTIDING IN MOST OF OUR estuaries during the winter can provide some brilliant cod sport. I have caught numerous cod from the Mersey, Bristol Channel and Thames Estuary over the but more recently have been focusing my efforts on the River Humber, because my mate Roger Cooling has his boat moored there. Lockdown kept us out of the marina and off the water for most of the year, but as soon as we were allowed out I really wanted to make the most of my precious day afloat. I knew there were loads of cod in the river because some of my shore angling mates had been catching plenty from both the Hull and Grimsby sides. There was only one thing for it – tie up a load of rigs…

HAVING STARTED SEA fishing as a young boy, catching silver eels from the River Rumney near his home in Cardiff, Greg Bowes could never have imagined he would pioneer the idea of using a mothership to take him and his kayak many miles offshore to fish for big sharks. Back in 1990, along with his brother Phil, he built and opened the Peterstone Trout Fishery, near Wentlooge, Newport, which they successfully managed for almost a decade. Being keen sea anglers, the brothers have owned several boats, the latest being a 23ft Arvor from which they regularly fish throughout the eastern end of the Bristol Channel. It was in 2000 that Greg bought his first kayak and today he is one of the most enthusiastic and experienced kayak anglers fishing in…

POOR WEATHER AND the lockdown did their best to curtail my charter trips in the Thames Estuary in the early part of 2020, so I hope things can only get better this year. Spurdogs, thornback rays and even early smoothhounds are likely to make up the catches. I’d had a nightmare start to 2020 because I’d been waiting since the launch of my new boat The Galloper in October 2019 for a window in the weather to coincide with the right tides to get offshore from my base at West Mersea, Essex. These are some of the obstacles a charter skipper sometimes has to overcome to put together a trip. It was January by the time the first opportunity presented itself. I rounded up half a dozen experienced anglers and…

Q: I recently visited the Holderness Coast in the hope of catching a cod. The conditions were rough and I never had a bite. Was I doing something wrong? ANDREW BALL, BY EMAIL PF says: The Holderness Coast is renowned for producing excellent bags of cod and, on certain tides, it will certainly throw up decent-sized specimens too. However, I fear the conditions may have played against you on this occasion. Although rough conditions are often regarded as perfect for targeting cod, the Holderness Coast can be an exception at times. Local anglers generally fish when the sea is flat calm, together with a decent tide run and plenty of colour in the water. Generally, the perfect time to venture here is immediately after a storm has stirred up the…

WHAT A GREAT WAY TO kick-off your New Year adventures by grabbing yourself a cracking new shore fishing outfit consisting of a rod, reel and rigs and saving yourself a bundle of cash too. Star of the deal is the 12ft, three-piece Axia beachcaster. Rated at 4-7oz, it is ideal for the occasional angler or as a quality solid performing rod for any newcomer to beach fishing. Designed for general beach fishing, use it from clean to mixed ground venues, when targeting species such as whiting and flatties, to cod and bass. It is lightweight and its forgiving action makes it incredibly easy to cast, while its sensitive tip offers super bite detection. The rod has quality lined guides. Accompanying the rod is the Axia 6000 fixed-spool reel. This is…

NITECORE NU25 HEADLAMP RRP: £38.95 What I need from a headlamp now has changed somewhat from my bait fishing days when I was out at night for a huge amount of the time. I still do a fair bit of night fishing, but these days it’s with lures for bass. As much as I need a headlamp for moving around or changing lures, I want any light to be shining around as little as possible because I am often in or very close to the water. I don’t need to be aiming a headlamp on my rod tip nor do I need a big battery to last for ages. Reliability and portability are most important for me when lure fishing at night. I also really want a decent red light…

With £10,000 in tackle prizes spread over the two divisions, points, based on entries, are awarded to the top three, section winners and captors of the largest fish caught in each designated Penn match. Penn also awards a prize of a Spinfisher fixed-spool reel to the angler scoring the most points in matches shown in each issue. If there is a tie, the winner will be the angler whose total is from the greatest number of results and is then chosen on merit by the editor. An angler can win only one reel during the year. To win a prize you must be registered with the Penn Sea League – supply your name, address, phone and email. Send fixtures, results and league registration by email to: sa.ed@kelsey. co.uk MONTHLY WINNER…

WHEN THE WINTER cod arrive on the south bank of the River Humber one angler’s success over recent years stands out above the rest. His name is Phil Deitch, and his exploits have earned him the nickname of the ‘Cod God’. It doesn’t matter what height tide or the weather conditions, he will tackle the muddy estuary and find some fish. It was back in November when the 42-year-old maintenance engineer landed a fantastic 16lb fish, possibly the biggest shore-caught cod from the river’s south bank since the 1970s. Fishing off the wall at East Halton, Phil hooked the stunning fish three hours after high tide. The cod, weighed on two sets of scales, fell to a Pennell pulley rig with size 3/0 and 4/0 hooks baited with two lug,…

THINK OF CONGER EELS AND you’ll most likely decide they are a species of rugged ground. It’s the obvious conclusion, yet these hard-fighting fish can be unpredictable and turn up at unusual locations. It means the angler with a good knowledge of the general underwater terrain is certainly at an advantage for locating these battling bruisers. While rock marks are the obvious choice when targeting the big ones, over the years I have found that some shallow clean ground marks will produce quality congers, along with some hefty rays and other species too. I know just the place to try and it is on my doorstep. It’s called Knoll beach, situated at the entrance to Poole Harbour on the Studland Peninsula, just east of the famous Old Harry Rocks. Some…

BASS SHORE Ian Jury, Truro, 7-2, Falmouth, Nov 27. BASS BOAT Ben Bowler, Llanelli, 8-12*, Burry Port, Nov 27 Mark Fairhurst, Hastings 9-0*, Eastbourne, Nov 22 Jaymes Leggett, Spalding, 7lb*, Littlehampton, Nov 22 Lee Phillips, Gosport, 9lb, back of Isle of Wight, Nov 8 Daniel Pipe, Pontypool, 9lb, Penarth, Dec 7 Ged & Jacquie Underwood, Dorset, 12lb*, Poole Harbour, Nov 28 Travis Whittington, Isle of Wight, 10-8*, Solent, Dec 8 BULL HUSS SHORE Wayne Civil, Greenham, 11-11-4*, Slapton Sands, Dec 6 Emma Limn, Newquay, 9-0*, Newquay, Nov 28 Chris Locke, Torquay, 12-7*, Brixham Breakwater, Nov 23 Richard Morgan, Cardigan, 10-8*, Cei Bach, Dec 10 Ryan Neal, Westbury, 11-8*, Bossington, Dec 12 Lacey Ryan, Holyhead, 10lb*, Farm Rock, Anglesey, Dec 6 COD SHORE Ross Anderson, Kirkcaldy, 9-6, East Neuk of Fife,…

I LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR IN THE North East of England, and with darkness falling much quicker, my focus is now firmly set on targeting winter cod. There had been plenty of chatter among anglers that my local Roker pier in Sunderland had been producing a few decent fish to around 7lb. This huge structure at the mouth of the River Wear estuary is one of my favourite venues simply because it’s comfortable and offers me easy access to deep water, a decent tide run and plenty of mixed ground to target. The weather had been settled for around a week and I was itching to go fishing so I talked my dad into a session at Roker. He doesn’t need much persuading and after quickly sorting our gear,…

BULL HUSS ARE ONE OF several species increasing in both numbers and range of distribution, with their readiness to take a bait making this chunky fish a popular catch among boat anglers. I’ve certainly noticed they are more numerous in my local Bristol Channel and the average size has steadily increased too. Also known as the greater spotted dogfish, the bull huss (Scyliorhinus stellaris) is a species of catshark belonging to the family Scyliorhinidae. Small huss are often confused with lesser spotted dogfish, which they resemble in appearance, although huss can be distinguished due to their generally larger spots and nasal skin flaps that do not extend to the mouth. The British boat-caught record of 22lb 4oz was caught in 1986 in the Bristol Channel, off Minehead, Somerset, but the…

PAUL FENECH Shore angler and tackle expert Paul is here to solve your shore angling problems. 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. DAVE LEWIS Based in Newport, South Wales, our contributing editor Dave answers boat fishing questions. HENRY GILBEY Angler and photo-journalist Henry, based in Cornwall, will answer questions on lure angling. HOW TO ASK A US QUESTION Email: sa.ed@kelsey. co.uk or online: www. facebook.com/ seaanglermag…

Q: What should I be looking for when I fish a rocky shoreline for the first time and what species should I be targeting? PADDY WILLIAMS, OKEHAMPTON, DEVON DS says: Firstly, make sure you are safe. Some anglers wear lifejackets. No fish is worth an accident or worse. Secondly, and this goes for any structure, look for the spots where there is always water at low tide. This means that fish don’t have to move too far through the tide movement and it encourages weed growth, which offers shelter for small fish and crustaceans. I fish under my feet first, looking for weed ledges and the mini species. If I am getting beaten up by big ballan wrasses then I will adjust my tackle accordingly. If there is a nice…

SOFT BAITS have an annoying habit of being difficult to get on the hook and then to make them stay there. This baiting tool is the ideal solution. The baiting tool, this one is from Tronixpro, is a great help when mounting soft baits such as shellfish, fish strips, crab and prawns. Using it is simple. Just slide the bait on to the needles, place the hook point in the hollow needle, whip the bait on using bait elastic and then remove the completed bait. SEA FISHING KNOTS - FROM THE REEL TO THE HOOK Contains clear, concise, easy to follow step-by-step knot-tying illustrations of recommended sea fishing/big-game fishing knots and set-ups. This publication should help you to gain a solid base of reliable, tried and tested knots, enabling you…

MORE RANGE WITH LATEST TRANSDUCERS The GT56 and GT36 UHD ClearVü and SideVü scanning sonars from Garmin offer 20 per cent greater range, letting anglers scan waters to the sides of their boat further and in greater detail. They also offer multiple scanning frequencies for improved sonar at varying depths, and adapting to all fishing styles and bodies of water. Available from most Garmin stockists, they cost £399 each. For more information, visit: www.garmin.com/en-GB TOUGH AND DURABLE HEADLAMP The Bandit Pro is a long running, low-profile headlamp that is USB rechargeable. This lightweight, super-bright headlamp delivers on both power and run time, and provides 180 lumens of widespread white light for four and a half hours on full power or up to 21 hours on low power. It is tough…

Are you registered to compete for a share in the annual £10,000 worth of prizes in the 2021 Penn Sea League? Shore match fishing’s most popular event runs from January 1 to December 31, and, if you have not registered before, now’s the chance to qualify for prizes. In addition, there is a monthly prize of a Penn reel for the angler scoring the most points for matches covered in each issue. Annual Penn tackle voucher prizes remain at £4,500 for each division, along with £1,000 for the winner of the annual Penn Final. In each division, the annual tackle voucher prizes will continue to be divided as follows: 1st £1,500, 2nd £1,000, 3rd £700, 4th £500, 5th £350, 6th £200, 7th £150 and 8th £100. At the conclusion of…

There are reasons for Phil’s obvious success in catching cod and, as with many other top anglers, it can be attributed to tackle, rigs, bait and, of course, a good understanding of watercraft. His favourite rod is a Daiwa Tournament 134 teamed with either a Daiwa 7HT Mag or an Abu 6500CT. Phil favours the 134 because it is good for casting and the tip sits well in the tide. “They have also got some backbone if you want to get a decent fish in over the rocks,” he said, “and they also are good fishing rods that show up the bites well.” While many sea anglers fishing the Humber favour the bigger reels, like the Penn 535 or Fathom, he sticks with the smaller, standard beach reels filled with…

MENTION ST OSYTH beach to any self-respecting sea angler and it will send a shiver of anticipation down their spine. Located on the Essex coast, it has always been regarded as a summer venue for big bass, thornback rays and giant stingrays. The fishing here doesn’t just stop when summer and autumn fade away because those thornback rays return with vengeance. To catch a thornback ray in the middle of winter was something that never really happened on the Essex coast. Now, with the right weather and tide, anglers can have some good cold-weather sport during daylight hours and after dark too. The thornback ray season was always April to June with another small run in September. Something happened over about 15 or so years ago when there was an…

BASS Shore: 19lb 13oz 8dr John 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 Shore: 2lb…

FISHERMAN’S FRIEND: After a days’s fishing off West Wittering beach, West Sussex, kayak angler John Burton gives his dog a ride on the Feel Free Moken. The angler from nearby Chichester had used light gear to catch nine school bass, four mackerel and a garfish. FUN FISHING: These three junior anglers from Seaham, County Durham, had some fun using light gear to catch herring in the River Wear at Sunderland. They are Michael Playe (6), Paul Playe (5) and Rosie Redden (3). DAWN PATROL: This beautiful sunrise near Portsmouth was captured by Liam Ward while lure fishing. “The session produced three school bass, all returned, to a Fiiish Black Minnow, but, as this photo proves, fishing is not always about catching fish,” said the angler from Southsea, Hants. ANGLING JOY:…

As soon as we heard that the marina at Grimsby was going to open, Roger Cooling and I met up for a weather check – the trip was on. Joining us for the day was Roger’s workmate, Nathan Lee, and our mutual friend Roger Tipple. Having not fished the Humber much in 2020, we decided to explore downriver where we had caught plenty of whiting and a few codling during the one trip we managed after the first lockdown. As you can imagine, lots of boats were out fishing and nearly all of them went across river or upriver – were we doing the right thing? As the anchor went down and the boat settled, we cast our first baits and within seconds we had rod tips rattling. We’d found…

LARGE BULL SHARKS ARE considered responsible for the majority of near-shore attacks on people, including many which have been wrongly attributed to other species. Found in warm, shallow waters along coasts and in rivers all around the world, the bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas) lives in both salt and fresh water. Known to travel up rivers, they have been seen in the Mississippi River as far as Alton, Illinois, about 700 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. The current IGFA all-tackle record for bull shark is held with a 697lb 12oz fish, caught off Malindi in Kenya in 2001. While fish of this size are found throughout their range, the average size caught by anglers is provably between 100-300lb. Unless the angler is using seriously strong tackle, bigger fish are often…

FEW RECREATIONAL BOAT anglers understand who has right of way when they encounter other vessels while at sea. Statements such as “power always gives way to sail,” or “might is right,” are often heard, but those at the helm have a duty to be aware of the actual rules. The International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea 1972 are an in-depth set of regulations, but if you have taken an RYA Level II course you will have been introduced to some of the most important of these rules, mainly the ones that cover the most common situations boat anglers are likely to encounter. Rule numbers five, seven, eight, nine and 12 to 19 are perhaps the most important. A Google search will quickly find several excellent sites that contain the…

The shore winner receives two spools of Sufix Tritanium Neon Orange 0.35mm mainline, two spools of 80lb Sufix Zippy Shockleader and two spools of Sufix Shock Max 0.18mm-0.50mm tapered shockleader worth £52. The boat winner receives a 300m spool of Sufix 50lb X8 Stealth Green braid and a 250m spool of Sufix 50lb Matrix Pro braid worth £53. The lure/LRF winner receives five of the new Rapala MaxRap lures worth £65 To view the full range of Sufix and Rapala products, visit: www.sufixfishing.fishing and www.rapala.co.uk T&Cs: * One prize per winning question will be chosen by the editor. Prizes cannot be exchanged and no correspondence will be looked into. We reserve the right to send alternative prizes.…

STAR QUESTION Q: The variety of attractors and their colours seem endless and sometimes very confusing. Are there any best colours for attracting specific species, particularly cod or plaice? WILLIAM JOHNSON, SYCHDYN, FLINTSHIRE DL says: When inquisitive flatfish such as plaice, are the target, various attractors are invariably used on the end of the hooklength. These usually consist of a string of up to a dozen coloured beads. In recent years green and black beads have become very popular with anglers seeking plaice because it is said these resemble seed mussels. Some of the country’s best sea anglers swear by their effectiveness, and that is good enough for me. Yellow or lime green/chartreuse and red are other popular choices with many specialists, as are luminous beads. Spoons, such as the…

FISH-FINDER FEATURES Fish Symbol ID Auto gain A-Scope – real-time display Scroll speed adjustment Water temperature sensor Record Quickdraw Contours Depth shading TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS Weight: 75 grams Dimensions: 75.8 x 75.5 x 57.9mm Streaming range: 60 metres Battery life: 10+ hours Depth range: From 0.6 to 45 metres Operating temp: -20°C to 60°C Water rating: IPX7 Striker Cast retails for £129.99, while the Striker Cast GPS costs £169.99. To learn more, visit www.garmin.com/marine…

LATEST MATCHES EAST ANGLIAN TEAMS OF FIVE & OPEN Aldeburgh, Suffolk, 63 anglers There were plenty of fish to keep competitors busy at Aldeburgh, but mostly undersized whiting. The fish that counted consisted of whiting, dabs, flounders, pouting and rockling. The top three, who were in the same section, all caught 21 fish, with winner Cameron Turner, of Felixstowe, on peg 67, recording 384 points, which converted to 8-0-0. His catch included the heaviest fish, a 12oz whiting. Second was Steve Yallop, of Colchester, on 336pts (7-0-0) from peg 69 and Matt Frost, of Ipswich, with 328 (6-13-0) at peg 70. Result: 1 Cameron Turner, Felixstowe, 21 fish, 384pts, 8-0-0, including heaviest fish, 0-12-0 whiting (6pts); 2 Steve Yallop, Colchester, 21, 336, 7-0-0 (5); 3 Matt Frost, Woodbridge, 21, 328,…

JANUARY 2011 A cocktail of squid and cuttlefish produced a 27lb cod for Ian Leese, of Chalgrove, Oxfordshire, while fishing The Needles, Isle of Wight, on Rob Thompson’s Shogun, out of Lymington, Hampshire. There was a 25lb 8oz cod caught out of Newhaven, East Sussex, by Mark Roberts, from Surrey, while aboard Alan Britton’s Silver Fox. Crawley SAC treasurer Justin Chandler, from Sussex, was surprised when he reeled in a 64cm Ray’s bream while fishing for flatfish with lug and squid baits at a Lincolnshire beach mark. Ireland won the World Shore Angling Championships held in South Africa, with England back in seventh. The ladies team finished sixth in their event, won by Brazil, with Pauline Ferry in a creditable fourth place in the individual event and she caught the…