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By Vic, 10 May, 2010 12:32

Recently, while cleaning and filleting some mackerel I’d caught, Anna thought it would be a good idea to do a short article on the subject for her cookery blog for people who want to do this themselves. Now, the purists and commercial fishing community may frown on my efforts but I find it’s an easy way and does away with having to find and remove any remaining pin bones with tweezers or pliers.

Article is here : How to fillet a mackerel

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By Vic, 8 May, 2010 12:53

New site for real sea anglers has been established at Real Sea Anglers to add a place for us ordinary folk who enjoy and take our fishing seriously to voice our concerns over plans to restrict our traditional rights in sea fishing. Below is a direct quote from the site and is a sentiment I wholeheartedly agree with. Please visit, have a read and if you are in agreement, sign up at www.realseaanglers.org

Real Sea Anglers are people like you & me. We love & respect the sea and the bounty it provides. We fish with hook and line to relax from the stresses of everyday life, be at one with nature, and with luck bring something home to feed our selves and our families.

We do not sell our catch. We do not leave our lines unattended. We do not waste the resources of the sea. We care.

We care most for our historic freedom to fish in the waters of the British Isles, without let or hindrance, as untold generations have done before us, whether from the shore or in small craft.

Real Sea Angling is under threat today.

The Marine and Coastal Act in England, together with it’s clones in Scotland and the other nations of our Isles, combined with the inclusion of Sea Angling in the European Common Fisheries Policy, will deprive us of our traditional rights.

Our freedom to dig baits like lugworm, and ragworm, to collect shellfish for bait, whether they be mussels, cockles, razor fish or peeler crabs and shrimps will be removed under this Act.

Our freedom to decide for ourselves where we fish, what fish we keep for bait, what fish we keep to eat, and what we catch and release will be taken from us.

Our freedom to launch our small boats from beaches and slipways anywhere in the British Isles will be taken from us.

The operation of Angling Charter Boats will be made impossible.

We must not allow this to happen. And you can help to prevent it, if you are a Real Sea Angler.

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By Vic, 1 May, 2010 21:17

Well, this week has been absolute arse. Our bruising old Tom cat, Gary wasn’t too well on Monday and by Tuesday, he was looking really ill, so a visit to the vet was in order. Diagnosis was renal failure amongst other things and untreatable, the result was, we had to have him put down that afternoon. Needless top say, we were heartbroken; we had had him for some 14 years and we reckon he was about 16years old or thereabouts (we acquired him as a young stray).

Our female cat, Socks began behaving weirdly following this, showing signs of distress, panting and pacing around the house and not settling at all. by Wednesday evening, she had stopped eating and drinking and was showing signs of breathing problems. We couldn’t get a vets appointment until Thursday afternoon when Anna and her mum took her to the vet. Diagnosis was bad – pleural effusion, caused by a tumour in her chest. Not treatable and only option was to have her put down as well. She was about the same age as Gary and we had had her for about the same time.

This has left us stunned, heartbroken and well, just feeling like crap, they were just such a huge part of our lives. Alex hasn’t been too bad, taking things in his stride like most kids of his age. We will miss them terribly but at least they are no longer suffering.

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By Vic, 29 April, 2010 10:12

I had another early start at Brighton Marina yesterday morning in the quest for tasty Cephalopods and some practice for the upcoming 3rd All England squid Championship on the 8th of May. After a quick visit to the Tackle Box for some more leads (Cheers Eddy for opening up early), I headed over to the West arm and grabbed a spot at the ‘Float Only’ bays at the end about an hour after low water. The weather looked promising with an overcast sky, very light Southerly breeze and a flat calm and clear sea, so I was optimistic as I set up the now standard rig of float fished jigs. I bucked the trend of using pink jigs and within minutes had cast out a green Tronix jig to do it’s work in the current which was running quickly as the tide rose.

I guess it must have been around 9am when I had my first take which saw the float slide under the surface. As the creature got to the surface, it gave an almighty spurt, slipped the jig and disappeared. Buoyed up by the take, I was confident that others would follow and at about 10.30am, I had another take which saw another squid on the surface. I could see that it was comparatively small and so had no problem swinging it up without using the net. First one done, I worked the float  through the swim in the hope of a quick follow up but it all went a bit slow with only a couple of missed takes.

Danny, one of the guys from the WSF internet forums turned up about 11am for a bit of a chin wag and fishy talk of plans for the summer. My wife Anna joined us half and hour later, wanting to see how her delicious squid dishes start out and how they’re caught; it also gave us the chance to blow the cobwebs away over losing one of cats on Tuesday when he had to be put down.

Just before mid-day and the top of the tide saw the action quicken when I had a take and a squid on, it looked pretty small and I thought I’d have no problem in swinging it when, despite the kind offer from a nearby angler to net it for me. The result? bloody thing dropped just as I was beginning to lift it. The next two successive takes resulted in the squid letting go as they were about to surface. Another take and some good netting by Danny saw a lovely Cuttlefish safely on the deck. It wasn’t until 1pm, after Anna and Danny had gone and two dropped takes later that I had another squid on; this one stayed on and was kindly netted for me by the guy in the next bay. His services were required shortly after when yet another squid was on. This one made it all the way to the net before slipping off at the last second.

There was no more action for me after this but at around 3pm, a local angler of many years, ‘Farmer George’ landed a good sized squid after he had settled in my bay. By 4pm I had had enough for the day, and as I was working that evening, I had to leave – pleased with the result but annoyed at the missed opportunities. With inclement weather forecast for the next few days, here’s hoping that by the time the squid competition comes around next week, the conditions calm and clear out, otherwise it means postponement.

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By Vic, 17 April, 2010 22:03

My last couple of attempts at snagging squid at Brighton Marina have been dismal failures, with the last one being particularly annoying as I had one but lost it at the net. In an attempt to break my squid Duck for 2010, I was back at the marina early this morning, making sure I got a decent spot before the weekend hoards filled the spaces – although this time, the East rather than the West arm was the venue.

I was on location in bay 48 on the arm by 6.45 am on a lovely bright morning with just a slight Southerly breeze ruffling the surprisingly cloudy water; I was hopeful that the sea would clear later as the tide rose. I set up my gear and used the usual terminal tackle of a float fished Tronix jig – pink to start and green later and then back to pink. As high water wasn’t due until around 2pm (depending on which tide table you read), I wasn’t expecting too much in the way of action, so I just enjoyed the peacefulness of it all, having not been out too much this year. As the hours wore on, the breeze dropped and it got quite warm but the on the business side of things, I was still squidless.

After a few hours, Richard, one of the guys from WSF turned up with his mate Nick and started fishing a couple of bays along from me. Handily for me that they’d brought a drop net along (left mine at home again) because at about 1pm, I had a slow take and a squid was on. A minute or so later, after Richard guided the net-handling Nick, my first landed squid of 2010 was on the deck and what a relief it was too.

The rest of the day was dead, no further takes at all, not so much as a sniff. The only highlight was reuniting Fishyrob with his leather hat he’d lost the previous night and found by me while walking out on the arm today. I left the marina by about 4pm and once home, the days catch was cleaned sliced and fried for tea, there’s nothing quite like straight from the sea onto the plate freshness. Anna was going to do her squid casserole but we decided that today was going to be “Calamari” as Alex has been pestering me about squid since last year. The next one will definitely be going casseroled though. Here’s a few pictures of before during and after. Click on images for larger versions.