Innehållsförteckning för March 2024 från Sea Angler

I don’t know where the old adage comes from that the top 20 per cent of anglers catch 80 per cent of the fish. It does, however, seem to be widely accepted as a fact by most anglers. What is it that the elite top 20 per cent are doing, or not doing, while 80 per cent of mortals scratch around sharing out the remaining 20 per cent? In this month’s issue Roger Munro attempts to answer this question, but only after discovering that amongst the anglers he surveyed the belief was actually that the top ten per cent of anglers catch 90 per cent of the fish. Turn to page six to discover more about the secrets of the ‘ten per cent club’ and the qualities and mindset needed…

Don’t slouch! Get your elbows off that table! Don’t chew with your mouth open! For goodness’ sake, stop dragging your feet when you walk! The list went on and on, forming an exhaustive guidebook of “manners” by which anyone over the age of 35 or so will remember having to live their childhood. Whenever I asked my mother why it was that I had to follow so many rules to simply exist on a day-to-day basis, she would reply, “Because you were brought up, not dragged up”. To mothers everywhere, appearances were everything. How you behaved in public reflected life at home and so poor manners suggested poor parenting or poor family life, therefore the image must be maintained, come Hell or high water. Though we were poor as church…

During the 1980s I was hooked on bass fishing. At the time almost all my fishing involved bait, usually peeler crab fished at close range in the gullies and reefs off the Gower coast, or lugworm or razorfish while standing amidst the swash and surge of a lively surf on one of the many wonderful beaches we have located here in South Wales or in the south-west of Ireland. It was inevitable that eventually I became a member of BASS, Bass Anglers Sportfishing Society, serving as vice-president for several years. Like so many other members of BASS I became actively involved in tagging bass, and it was through this work that I got to meet Graham Pickett. Graham was a marine scientist based at the then MAFF, Ministry of Agriculture,…

The goldsinny wrasse, Ctenolabrus rupestris, is brown, greenish or orange-red in colour, and can be distinguished from other wrasse species by two distinct dark patches, one on the dorsal fin and one just in front of the tail fin. The head is small and pointed, with a large mouth, two rows of small teeth, and fleshy lips. The goldsinny is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean from Norway, south as far as Morocco. It is also found throughout the western and central Mediterranean Sea as far as Antalya in Turkey. The goldsinny is one of our smallest wrasse species, growing to a maximum of around 18cm in length. However, the majority of fish encountered are much smaller. The current British record is held with a fish that weighed 110g, about…

IN ASSOCIATION WITH I have enjoyed a long and rewarding journey in sea fishing. My casting career began in the cow field next to our house. Armed with an ancient rod and reel, and guided by an article by Leslie Moncrieff in Creel magazine, I struggled to throw a 6oz lead. And I struggled. And I struggled. Then one evening it all clicked. I didn’t know why then, and I am still not sure. The sinker flew high and far. The reel purred. My thumb didn’t bleed. And I needed a bigger field. I made a longer, stiffer rod from an old bamboo cane with welding wire rings taped on. My pride and joy was a Penn Surfmaster 100 reel. The magic continued. My new field was over 175 yards…

GROUNDHOG DAY 4:56am and the alarm on my phone was angrily confirming that it was Groundhog Day once more. I needed to get out of bed and wake up the rest of the squad. I practically fell out of the cramped caravan style bedroom and, bleary eyed, looked outside; cold, rain, pitch black and strong easterly winds were already blowing leaves off the surrounding trees. “What on earth am I doing here?” I muttered and then went up the stinky end of the accommodation, climbing over the mountain of tackle boxes and part made rig man-traps. It was just day six of the practice week before the World Championship shore fishing competition and we were already beyond knackered. Well, I was anyway. The lads in the five man U21 squad…

Do you fish with a golden hook? Ancient Roman emperor Augustus compared taking large risks with the chance of small gains to fishing with a golden hook: the risk of losing the hook was greater than the reward of any fish caught. Does your negativity contribute to your failure to succeed in capturing your fish of a lifetime? If so then you are in the minority of anglers. When asked whether they are always confident about catching fish ahead of their intended session, 79 per cent of 128 anglers confirmed that they always are. 12 per cent said that they are on most occasions. Five per cent stated that they are confident some of the time and just four per cent said that they are never confident of catching anything.…

Thursday had arrived and with storm Debi brewing up, a few parts around the Scottish islands were showing signs the storm would arrive slightly later than anticipated. With tides being nigh on perfect a window had opened up on the weather front. This meant one thing: a chance to skip up to the heart of the Highlands in search of the elusive common skate. A quick pit stop on the way to load up on frozen bait and we were ready to take on our quest for the long weekend ahead of us. Mark from Alreet Rigs & Baits always supplies us at short notice on all our trips away with the best bait we can get up here in the north-east. We punched the postcode into the Satnav and…

YOUR FISHING CATCHES 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: £80 YOUR TARGETS... Catch a FISH on…

Living close to Dartmouth, the Skerries Bank offers a wonderful opportunity to go plaice fishing, which I thoroughly enjoy. However, when both tides and the fish are small, especially early season, it is nice to break things up by anchoring and going after something altogether different, which is where the bull huss comes into play. Properly known as a nursehound or large-spotted catshark, the bull huss is often referred to by anglers as the greater spotted dogfish, which is a bit of an anomaly because it is not actually a dogfish: neither is the lesser-spotted dogfish for that matter! Nor is this a recent phenomenon with the species being reclassified around 120 years ago when scientists noticed that its anatomy disqualified it from being a true dogfish at all. If,…

Ideal for toothy fish where a wire trace is necessary, the modified figure of eight knot works well with coated braided wire and kink-proof single or multi-strand nickel-titanium wire leaders. It forms a compact knot which will not slip under pressure. Step-by-step APass the end of the leader through the eye of the hook or swivel and around the other end of the leader. BBring the tag end through the original loop formed and then back through the decond loop (as shown). CLubricate the knot and pull tightly from both ends of the wire until the knot butts up to the eye of the hook or swivel. DFinally, use pliers to trim the tag end of the wire. Check out the step-by-step video at: youtu.be/fp9FjjCTnIA MISSED AN ISSUE? SEE PAGE…

For many sea anglers a decent pair of wellies are essential for the vast majority of fishing applications or venues around the UK and Ireland. Wellies have come on leaps and bounds in terms of warmth, comfort and resistance to saltwater conditions. That’s something that we should be very grateful for: wellies are the most functional footwear option for being in and around the water’s edge. Like most of us, I started with a very basic pair. I can’t remember if they were Dunlop or a similar popular brand, but they rubbed my feet, were uncomfortable and didn’t offer any insulation. Next up, I went for a pair of Barbour wellies, which cost a fair bit and weren’t all that much better than the Dunlop ones, in a practical sense.…

SA: You’ve been involved in sea fishing for a long time – what got you hooked on it all those years ago? JH: My grandad taught me to coarse fish on the River Trent. Then I switched to beach fishing when the family moved to Suffolk. Since we lived close to Bawdsey, sea fishing seemed the natural choice. The cod boom began when I was a teenager and like so many others I got hooked on the sport. SA: What was it that encouraged you to take up tournament casting? JH: Catching cod meant learning to cast a long way, and that was my focus. Encouraged by the great Leslie Moncrieff, we younger fishermen felt restricted by the old beach ways and began working on our own ideas which eventually…

FEBRUARY ● 3: Mike and Chris’s Winter Heaviest Cod League 2023/24, Carnoustie to Ferryden Lighthouse. Entry £10 for league payable on/prior to any event. Any cod caught in previous matches (in league) will not count unless entry paid prior to said match. Can join at 1st or 5th match or anytime in between. Individual Match entry £15 League 100% pay-out. Contact Chris on 07872944807 ● 4: Anglesey match anglers winter league, Holyhead Breakwater, fishing 2-7pm, measure everything except mackerel, herring, launce, set size for, dogfish 50cm, weever 10cm, any rays measured nose to tail, entry fee of £20. Entry into the league £40. Contact Dave Cave 07493149584 ● 4: Hornsea SAC Anyfish Anywhere open, fishing 9-3pm, scales down 4pm, entry £10 per angler, Juniors £5, Boundaries: Sewerby steps to Humber…

With the days getting longer and spring around the corner now's the time many anglers start planning some well earned fishing breaks. For many of us that means chucking the tent in the car or getting the caravan ready for the first trip of the year. But what other peices of kit, gear or gadgets do you need that will help make your trip memorable for all the right reasons? From fishing rods and cool boxes to camping chairs and portable cookware, here are some of our top picks of accessories for anglers for you to cast your eyes over. TECHSON 2 PACK CAR FISHING ROD HOLDER If you aren’t taking a travel rod the Techson rod holders are the next best thing and a gamechanger when it comes to…

BOAT PLAICE March triggers the start of the boat plaice season. This prized flattie might still be a bit thin after spawning, but their numbers and condition build fast and good numbers can be caught. TIDE TALK Offshore plaice like a tide with some flow, but not too much. The tides to pick are ideally the rising tides between 6th and 8th of March, even better the tides 19th to the 24th. Slack water can be slow but expect bites to increase in the middle hours of the flood. As the tides increase in height, the best fishing can be in the second and fourth hour of the tide when the flow isn’t running at peak speed. The same applies on an ebbing tide. If you fish dropping tides after…

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

ASK THE EXPERTS When sending your question, please remember to include your name and address CHRIS KENNEDY Chris is a specimen hunting specialist based on Sark and answers shore fishing questions. DAVE LEWIS Based in Newport, South Wales, our contributing editor Dave answers boat fishing questions. DAVID MITCHELL David is Sea Angler’s editor and is an expert on sea angling policy and conservation . HENRY GILBEY Angler, blogger and photojournalist Henry, based in Cornwall, is our lure expert. BEN BASSETT The Plymouth angler and blogger will provide answers on the sport of light rock fishing (LRF), the go-anywhere tactic. HOW TO ASK US A QUESTION Email: sa.ed@kelsey.co.uk or online: facebook.com/seaanglermag By asking a question you are giving us permission to use your name and where you live in all…

Reigning supreme at the apex when it comes to crafting lightweight, high-quality reels capable of handling anything the diverse UK coastline could throw up is Shimano. Upon catching wind of a new offering from them, my attention was piqued - much like the ears of a faithful old dog at the mere mention of the word “walk”. Having used predecessors within the established Power Aero series, I couldn’t help but wonder how this fresh addition would compare to its older counterparts and other reels within Shimano’s expertise-laden range. Driven by an almost obsessive curiosity, I embarked on a quest to get hold of one, eventually securing it for a thorough workout. Unboxing the reel, I was met with sheer joy as I discovered that Shimano had listened- the spare spool…

MATCH FISHING KING SAUL SEALS 2023 TITLE Congratulations to Saul Page from Kent for winning the 2023 Penn sponsored Shore Sea League with an impressive 123 points. Congratulations also go to all competitors in last year’s hard-faught league. The top 15 anglers will receive prize vouchers from Penn. The top 45 anglers will be invited to fish this year’s final being held at Weybourne on the private beach located at the Muckleburgh Collection, North Norfolk, on 20th April 2024. Hosts are the North Norfolk Angling Club, more details to follow. The leader board below lists all anglers who are registered and have scored points for the year 1st January to, and including, 31st December 2023. The final standings take into account the maximum 12 scores allowed for the year. This…