Innehållsförteckning för December 2024 från Sea Angler

Some weeks ago I was cleaning a bass we had decided to take home for dinner. It was a particularly plump-bellied fish which I would have put money on being packed full of crabs. However, on opening up its stomach contents a whole 20cm red mullet fell out. I’d heard of a few being caught in the shallow waters of the Thames estuary but seeing this Mediterranean mullet for myself still came as a surprise. More recently a friend shared photos with me of fish from the same areas I had been fishing showing a pair of 2-3ft long bonito that had been caught in nets off the north Kent coast. With gilthead bream now being regularly caught from the shore here too during the summer there’s no doubt in…

As familiar with summer on the South Coast as ice cream, chips and pasties, and falling just behind mackerel and pollack in the easy-to-catch categories, the garfish is a stalwart of the UK sea fishing experience. Despite usually being more highly regarded as bait than for eating, the snake-like ‘gar’ is still an incredibly popular target for casual anglers when they arrive in our waters. BELONE It is generally accepted that there are two species of garfish around the UK. The long beaked garfish, scientific name Belone belone; and the short beaked garfish, Belone svetovidovi. It may be that many short beaked are caught as juvenile long beaks without being correctly identified, but Belone belone is the more common species and makes up the majority of catches. Short beaks are…

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 this list at…

The greater weever, Trachinus draco, is a venomous marine fish that is found along the eastern Atlantic coastline from Norway to Morocco, its range extending throughout the Mediterranean. Greater weaver fish occur in depths ranging from shallow water up to 150 meters and are found over mostly muddy or sandy ground. The current British boat record is held with a fish that weighed 2lb 2oz 7dr, caught off Porthcurno, Cornwall, in 1999. The shore caught record, also caught in Cornwall, at Porthtowen, weighed 1lb 9oz 9dr. The greater weever is known for its venomous spines which can inflict incredibly painful and potentially serious injuries on humans through accidental stinging. The name ‘weaver’ is thought to originate from the Anglo-Saxon word ‘wivre’ which translates as ‘viper’. There are numerous recommended treatments…

At Squidward 3 Fishing Adventures, we recently got our hands on Shimano’s new Yasei Large Foldable Rubber Net and put it to the test immediately. As a team that targets big fish from afloat, we were keen to see how this net performed with some of the larger catches we regularly encounter. Simply put, we absolutely loved how solid and well-made this net felt – it’s clear that Shimano has put a lot of thought into its design and engineering. BUILD QUALITY AND DESIGN The craftsmanship of this net is outstanding. From the moment we picked it up, we could tell it was built to last. Shimano has engineered the Shimano Yasei Large Foldable Rubber Net with a sturdy aluminium frame that is both lightweight and incredibly durable. It feels…

I am going to suggest that if you went back through the pages of Sea Angler and devoured all the bass fishing features, you might notice something very interesting: times, they are a changin’. I am hesitant to call it the bass fishing season that’s changing, but we live in a part of the world where seasons are very prevalent, so let’s call it that: the bass fishing season. I believe that if you went back through all these old articles you would be able to plot what was once considered the typical bass fishing season. Compare that to what many anglers are experiencing these days and the change in the ‘traditional’ bass season will become apparent. There is nothing remotely scientific about any of this, I might add; however,…

Yeah, the water’s up already. Come on!” The boy pushed through the tall grass as he peered over the edge of the bank and down at the mud banks where the first fingers of the tide had already started to caress their way inward. “Go on, we’ll fish from that ledge we saw earlier,” his companion called forward to him. “Just slide down on your bum!” The first boy sat down and started to slither downward roughly on his rump, the grass stains scratching up the back of his shorts as he did so. “Pass me the gear, then you slide down,” he called back to his friend, who did so with a practiced nonchalance. The knapsacks, the canvas rod bags, the flasks, all were handed down one-by-one, but all…

In association with £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…

The single most popular – and reliable – bait for catching many of Florida’s inshore fish is live shrimp. Frozen shrimp will do the job for you too, no shadow of a doubt, but nothing beats the flicking tail of a live shrimp to induce a strike from a snook or a snapper. The supply of Florida’s favourite bait is provided by a fleet of commercial boats and when the shrimp are scarce, or conditions mean the shrimpers can’t get out, those dealers lucky enough to get their hands on any could sell what they have 10 times over before it’s even been landed back at port. We were therefore lucky that Joey, our Captain for the day from Bamboo Charters, operating out of the marina behind Islamorada’s Worldwide Sportsman –…

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. DAVID MITCHELL David is Sea Angler’s editor and is an expert on sea angling policy and conservation . BEN BASSETT The Plymouth angler and blogger 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, blogger and photojournalist Henry, based in Cornwall, is our lure expert. BRIAN PASK Brian is a qualified sea angling coach and casting tutor who works with young people and experienced anglers to improve their fishing skills. SHORE ANGLING Q I watched a…

A decent headlamp is pretty much standard equipment if you are one of the many among us who fishes remote rock marks or beaches at night where darkness falls quickly and can be all-enveloping. Safety should always be your number one consideration, no matter the venue, because, as we all know, the sea is a very unforgiving mistress. I personally had a bit of a scare last winter when my head torch started to give up the ghost while I was on my own on an Arbroath rock mark battling what turned out to be a beauty of a 9lb cod! Fortunately, I had a spare headtorch with me and luckily I was also quite familiar with the mark and aware of my surroundings; however, the threat of being plunged…

Way back in the distant past, when the Irish pairs competition was first organised, you had to qualify through a region final. My partner for the East Sussex heat at Eastbourne was Bill Plumstead. He fished the Langney Point zone, that he knew well, and I took the Pevensey Bay zone, my home venue. We had a great result and won the heat, beating the strong favourites, Alan Yates and Peter Owen, into second place. Bill took second place on the Point and I finished fourth in my zone giving us a close win from the 40 teams that competed. In the final we found it tough going against some big casters from the east coast, including such stars of the shore fishing world as Paul Kerry. ISLE OF MAN…

Tony Hart had the look of a worried man. For the past hour he had been contemplating his rod tip, eagerly anticipating a bite that would preceed catching his first fish in the Newport & District Sea Angling Club open, and then his phone rang. “Tony”, a voice said, “a couple of police officers have just turned up, they’re looking for...” The look of worry on Tony’s face said it all. Sunday morning, the police looking for you, it had to be bad news. His mind was a whirlwind as he ran through the various possibilities, and as the two police officers approached along the sea wall at St Brides, all thoughts of nodding rod tips were quicky forgotten. As they got closer Tony could see that both officers were…

One mid-summer Sunday several years ago I decided to fish Swansea’s East Pier. When I reached the venue I realised I had arrived midway through an ongoing club match attended by some 50 or so anglers. Despite the fact that none of them had caught anything, they were still good natured enough to make some room for me. This was a new venue for me; I was unsure whether I would be casting onto clean or rough ground. So before I baited up, I sent out my paternoster rig to test the bottom. As I reeled in my three un-baited hooks, I was convinced that the ground was indeed rough because of the bumpy resistance I could feel during the retrieve. To my great surprise, I had caught three sizeable…

AIR PRESSURE In simple terms air pressure, or barometric pressure (the term often used in weather forecasts), is a force exerted on any land or sea surface by air over the earth. It has some influence on fish species with a swim bladder effecting their behaviour and the depth at which they are likely to swim and feed. AIR PRESSURE AND ITS EFFECTS ON FISH During low pressure the swim bladder expands meaning it’s more uncomfortable for the fish. In high pressure the bladder is compressed giving the fish a greater degree of comfort. They feel these pressure changes through their lateral line system and alter their depth in the water column accordingly to ease the swim bladder pressure. Fish with larger swim bladders are affected more than those with…

Licensed recreational anglers are now allowed to target bluefin tuna on a catch & release basis via a new permit scheme. So far during this new season, running from August to December, well over 2000 bluefin tuna have been caught by the 92 permitted boats in England and Wales. Fish are being spotted and caught all along the Channel coast from Cornwall to Sussex and even as far north as Whitby in Yorkshire. Fish are also being caught in Wales and Northern Ireland. To celebrate the new fishery a tournament was organised and took place at the end of September. The format was devised by a partnership of experienced bluefin skippers, the UK Bluefin Tuna Association and the Sportfishing Club of the British Isles. The event was based in Falmouth…

When seen in their natural environment on TV documentaries, weaving their gentle way between the rocks and fronds of kelp, over reefs, or hiding amidst the rusted plates and ribs of a rusting hulk of a wreck, pouting are a handsome fish. However, aside from the fact that they are one of the finest baits you could mount on a hook for conger, pouting, which are also known as bib, hold very little interest amongst sea anglers. Most anglers I know would rate their culinary value as little more than zero. At best, pouting might be used as an addition to fish cakes, but more likely than not most that are taken home are little more than a treat for the cat. Yet once I was offered the chance to…

The youth club goes from strength to strength. A couple of new youngsters have joined us even though the weather is changing for the worse (could it be any worse this year?) and we are starting to make progress on getting our club room renovated. For those not aware, East Hastings Sea Angling Association, which is our parent club, have allowed our youth section the use of an area which was previously utilised as a workshop. The old asbestos ceiling has been professionally removed and we now have a blank canvas to work with. We are looking to Crowdfund to raise sufficient funds to turn it from a workshop into a usable space where young people can learn more about fishing, marine ecology and sustainability. Following an email to Sea…

Would it be too controversial to question the legitimacy of angling being classed as a sport. Some aspects perhaps fit this definition. In particular, tournament casting in its various guises, though even this is a bit of stretch, as casting without bait and with no fish in front of you can hardly be classed as fishing. It therefore comes as a major coincidence, with 2024 being the year of the Paris Olympics, that, according to Wikipedia, the 1900 Paris Olympics saw 600 competitors from five countries participate in four separate demonstration events. Why not for the future have tournament casters throwing leads great distances? Is it any less sporting than athletes throwing a discus or a javelin? Tournament casting is one of those pursuits which we tend to think of…

NOVEMBER PENN PLUS PENN PLUS ● 9-10: Scottish Federation of Sea Anglers, Ian Reid memorial. For more details and to book a peg please contact Chris Horn: 07872 94480. ● 10: Penarth SAC Open, Penarth. Contact Bob Galley: 02920 706995. ● 10: Leinster League Roney Point, 1-6 Contact Alby Allan for details: albertallan@hotmail.com ● 10: Reel Fun Fishing: Burnham League & Opens, 3 Match Series (all results count). Meet and draw 7.30am, fishing 9am - 2pm, £30 League entry (pre-pay at Reel Fun), 100 per cent pay-out top 8 anglers, £20 Entry per match (100 per cent pay-out), zone prizes, heaviest fish and winners bonus, All pegged & zoned (3 zones), maximum 60 pegs available, 1 rod 3 hooks, 18cm size limit on all species: catch, measure, witness, return and…