Innehållsförteckning för August 2023 från Sea Angler

How many species have you caught so far this year? My tally stands at only seven. I wasn’t too disappointed about this, given the few opportunities I’ve had to go fishing so far this year. Then I read Mike Thrussell’s piece on the species hunters’ quest to catch 50 species in a year (starting on page 6) and it dawned on me just what an achievement this is – not to mention the time and dedication required to achieve it. One of the main appeals of sea angling to me has always been about the variety; never knowing what you might catch next. Unfortunately, my fishing in the outer Thames Estuary is pretty species poor these days and I envy those fishing in other parts of the country where a…

South Wales has some of the finest rough ground bass fishing you’ll find anywhere in the UK, and the south Gower coast to the west of Swansea Bay is right up there with the best of the best. Mumbles Head, with its iconic white lighthouse, marks the beginning of this hugely productive area. Mumbles Head actually consists of two islands, accessible for a short period over low water but which are cut off over high tide. It’s a favourite venue with shore anglers targeting bass, which can be caught on a wide variety of different techniques ranging from lures to fishing a live sandeel or prawn in conjunction with a float and, of course, ledgering peeler crab. TACTICS The sound between the outer island, which has the lighthouse on it,…

FOR ALL YOUR OTHER MISSION ACCOMPLISHED ENTRIES CHECK OUT THE SA FACEBOOK PAGE HOW TO ENTER Email only to sa.ed@kelsey.co.uk. Please supply these details: angler’s name, age, address, telephone number, email, type of FISH, weight of FISH, where caught, DATE caught, BAIT/rig, whether caught from shore or boat, if from charter boat, give name of boat, port and skipper. Please state if the FISH was retained or returned. Send us your entries and win some great prizes ■ SHORE LURE OPTION: Solaris 4000 or 5000 reel, RRP: £60, Epixor 15-50g rod RRP: £80■ SHORE LURE OPTION: Solaris 4000 or 5000 reel, RRP: £60, Epixor 15-50g rod RRP: £80■ BOAT: Classic CLX, RRP: £60 Cortez Boat Rod, RRP: £90■ SHORE BAIT OPTION: DSA reel RRP: £60, Wave Power surf rod, RRP:…

REVIEW Most of us avid sea anglers have something in common regarding the kit we use. We must be able to trust it with the fish of a lifetime on the other end of our line. We know the “what if” feeling of a component or line parting and, just like a friendship or relationship, once the trust has been broken, we can never truly have faith in that product again. I dread to think how many hours I have spent testing main lines, leaders, knots, swivels, hooks and God knows what so that I was satisfied with their pressure tolerances, breaking strains and abrasion resistance. This may surprise many anglers, but this varies a lot from brand to brand or product to product testing at times. Some very recognised…

The Government is now consulting on a proposed Bass Fishery Management Plan that will set the course of the UK bass fishery for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, the proposed plan has the wrong aims, fails to stop the dangerous and economically illiterate policy of maximising the tonnage of bass killed and does not target a larger bass stock size to maximise benefits for coastal communities. It is essential we get our voices heard in this consultation. If we don’t, the Government will continue to mis-manage the bass fishery and we will never see the promised “world-class” bass fishery we were promised. Bass Angling Conservation has made it easy for us to get our voices heard with a “send-email” tool on its website which automatically loads the e-mail address of your…

And so the Earth has tilted. The mystic midsummer druids have welcomed in the solstice again, as they always do, celebrating life and light, the longest day is past, the daylight hours have reached their zenith for this year and we can all feel it- that gentle, mellow viscous quality to the air as it stretches out like sun-warmed toffee. These are the kinds of days that were loaded with dreams when we were children, days to kick-start musings and unravel imaginings; days to tantalise us with the haze of flysong, endless amber evenings and the prospect of those bright blue, chirruping summer holidays that took forever to find their way around the calendar, teasing us over those last few weeks of the summer term, but lingered there on the…

The concept of cross channel charters from the Devon ports of Plymouth, Salcombe, Dartmouth and Brixham was the brainchild of Geordie Dickson whose boat ARTILLERYMAN became a familiar sight in the port. It was an inspired idea as it brought the many wrecks that were otherwise out of range for a single day’s fishing into contention. Two- and three-night stays in St. Peter Port were the most useful, allowing for fishing on the journey out and the return and the middle day a two-hour run to the famed Alderney Island banks and tidal race: areas much visited by brill, turbot, bass and fishing for black bream can still be good. The downside is now the cost, particularly for a three-night stay which could amount to £500 or more to cover…

How to improve your casting skills An intriguing question from reader Jim Andersen: “I want to update my beach rods and plan to get cutting edge design and performance. Where do you suggest I look?” Well, the short answer is that nothing radically new has turned up in a very long time. Big innovations in materials and manufacture, yes. But not in basic concept as, for example, when pendulum rods first arrived. Their revolutionary feature was a stiff handle and fast-action tip, a concept previously unknown in UK beach fishing. Truly innovative designs are almost always a reaction to changes in fishing. The first step is a clear demand from anglers, which leads to new methods. This impetus triggers the development of new rods and reels. That’s how modern fishing…

Looking for a secure knot to attach a wire trace for a tope, conger or shark rig? The Haywire Twist is the strongest connection for joining single-strand wire to a swivel, hook or lure. It’s also, with a little practice, incredibly easy to tie and allows the eye of the hook or swivel to move freely ensuring better presentation and hook penetration when you get a bite. Use pliers to grip the hook or swivel when tying this and is best done ahead of time at home. Step-by-step 1. Thread approximately six inches of wire through the eye of the hook, swivel or lure and wind the two strands around each other five times at a 90 degree angle leaving a half inch pear-shaped loop for the eye to swing…

With research carried out, rigs and tactics prepared, our team of eight keen anglers headed to Crosshaven, Cork harbour on Sunday 11th June for three days of practice ahead of the two days of competition. Alan, our skipper on Lagosta, took us to marks on the east and west of the large area known as The Smiths and we experienced large catches of pollack, dogfish, gurnard, whiting, dabs, rays, ling, cod and for our new cap George, his first megrim, a species of flatfish rarely found in the UK. Our preparations seemed to have been perfect as we effortlessly switched between the various species and going into the event we felt we had most options covered. We saw pods of dolphins, seals, flocks of birds and even a minke whale…

Poor old Burnham-on-Sea: third from bottom on the 2023 ‘Which?’ list of the UK’s best and worst seaside towns (only narrowly beating Skegness in bottom spot). While the Somerset town’s reputation might be being dragged through the proverbial mud it’s the real mud of the upper reaches of the Bristol Channel where those looking for some reliable and easy fishing can still be handsomely rewarded. To hell with Which? and its customer ratings – clearly none of them were sea anglers! On a bright spring morning in late May we arrived at Bridgewater Bay, halfway between Burnham-on-Sea and the village of Berrow to the north with the plan to fish the incoming tide. The view over the bay, into which pours the River Parrett, takes in Hinkley Point Power station…

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

NEWS SPECIAL Fishing out of Alcudia on the north-east coast of the Balearic Island of Majorca, Dave was fishing with his good friend Captain Vince Riera aboard ‘Mad Max’. The fish was caught to the exacting standards as set by the International Game Fish Association but neither Dave nor Vince wanted to kill the fish for official weighing. It was therefore tagged and released. Had they done so, the fish would have qualified for the IGFA 10kg tippet world record. They fished for two days raising six fish on the first day, none of which would switch from the teaser to the fly. Following a few subtle adjustments to their technique the next day they raised a further eight spearfish, three of which took the fly. The first failed to…

MATCH FISHING Three, two, one – go, go, go!” Thousands of horsepower roared into gear and the race was on. The Sea Angling Classic had begun. Teams from more than 40 boats of all shapes and sizes hit their throttles hard and were competing to reach the best marks first on day one of the biggest boat fishing competition of its kind in the UK. First prize after two days of fishing would see one lucky team walk away with an Extreme Game King boat and Yamaha engine worth a staggering £130,000. This year Sea Angler entered the competition, and alongside me our four-man team included our own Dave Lewis, Ben Stevens and Cliff Newbold. Having never fished together before as a team it was going to be interesting to…

TIDE TALK SHORE THICK-LIPPED GREY MULLET Thick-lipped mullet will be well distributed now inside estuaries, harbours, off breakwaters and will also be resident off beaches and deeper water rock marks. Their numbers are also at their highest. TIDE TALK Mullet will be present inside estuaries and harbours on all tide sizes. However, their numbers swell on the bigger tides as these allow them to cover far more ground and ultimately access the higher reaches of the food rich saltmarsh creeks and pools. Mullet will push as far as the saline divide where the tide meets freshwater coming down from the rivers. Perfect tides occur from the 30th July to 9th August, again from the 14th to the 23rd, and from the 28th to the 31st, so plenty of opportunities. Ideally…

MATCH FISHING LEADER BOARD AS OF 25TH JUNE 2023 HOW IT WORKS ■ With £10,000 in tackle prizes the points, based on entries, are awarded to the top three plus 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…