Click to comment

By Vic, On 11 April, 2012 12:31

Just what the hell are they thinking? As if trying to do anything in Brighton wasn’t expensive enough, the crazy Greens have raised seafront parking by 100%, going up to an incredible £20 for an eleven hour stay. You can see on the council pages, how much you’re going to get fleeced for parking in future. You can have a read of an article written in the local paper.

On a fishing front, this means that anyone wanting to fish the Brighton beaches and park in these areas, now has to take this extra expense into consideration. Don’t think you can get away with it by parking in the town centre car parks either – Churchill Square have also increased their charges by at least 25%. Council run car park fees will go up on the same day. NCP have said that their charges will remain unchanged.

Some may say, well use the buses or ride a bike but if you’re like me and tend to carry a lot of gear, that is totally impractical, especially if you like to do longer sessions going into the night, or you prefer to be more mobile and change locations with changing tidal or weather situations.

I have to wonder whether Brighton council members are capable of reasoned thought; can they not see how this latest scam will put people off coming into the town and boost the economy by spending their hard earned cash? This scheme can only be a bad thing for visitors, local businesses and ultimately residents. If this scandal is allowed to continue, it will push beach goers out to other nearby towns such as Seaford, that has ample on-street parking right next to a fabulous beach and is totally FREE.

Do your bit and tell ’em what you think – http://www.facebook.com/brightonhovegreens

Click to comment

By Vic, On 10 April, 2012 12:33

Not a very inspiring post is this, in fact downright depressing as far as squid go.

In an effort to bag my first of the year, I got down to Brighton Marina nice and early on last Wednesday morning, to get a decent space place to hunt for squid. I resisted the temptation to sit in bay 1 and opted instead to get out in the higher numbers where the squid should appear on the ebbing tide. I eventually got myself settled in bay 36, I think it was and set up the carp rod with a sliding float rig and a Tronix green jig.

The water was still quite low and had a fair bit of time until the 11.30 high water. I set about working the jig anyway, more in a bubble of optimism than any real hope. The water was very green and you could see the clouds of rot it in, although this did lessen a bit with the rising tide.

I was desperate to bag a squid, as I knew I wouldn’t be fishing the following day as it was my birthday and had other plans set. In mad bid to drag a tasty cephalopod from the sea, let the float do its thing while I set up another rod equipped with a large Jarvis Walker Razorback weighted jig which I then worked ‘Egi’ style along the bottom.

It seemed that no matter what I did, I just couldn’t tease one out. I even resorted to chucking feathers out to avoid a total blank when I saw a few mackerel coming out a few bays up. Even then, I only managed a single fish.

I eventually called it a day at about 2pm – three hours after high water with just the single mackerel to show for my efforts. Not a good day catch wise but at least the weather wasn’t too bad.

Click to comment

By Vic, On 3 April, 2012 11:56

Last week, while squidding at Brighton Marina, I bumped into local fishing guide, Rob ‘Fishyrob’ Howard who asked if I was up for a crack at some shore caught turbot. Always up for any fishing session, I obviously jumped at the chance. In the next few days, plans were formulated to head ‘Down West’, leaving in the early hours of Monday morning and fish throughout the day.

Anyway, on the Sunday, Rob rang me to ask if I fancied a change in plans, as a chance had come up to fish aboard Brighton based charter boat ‘Grey Viking II‘, an Aquastar 38′ Pro Fisherman, skippered by Ray Burn. We both agreed, that as the beach we were going to fish would be rammed with people taking advantage of the current glorious weather, the change in plans could be more productive.

It wasn’t to be a full proper charter but a prospecting session, researching for some good turbot/brill/ray ground. The obvious advantage to this was that there would only be the three of us aboard, thus maximising the available space.

Shortly after 7am yesterday, saw me arrive at Fishyrob HQ for a quick coffee, before heading off down to the marina. Even then, Rob couldn’t resist a quick, ten minute go for some squid on the east arm. It was then off to meet Ray and wolf down a hearty breakfast at the West Quay, a Wetherspoons pub. All stuffed and ready to go, gear and bait was stowed aboard and soon we were off out of the marina, heading to the first mark for some extensive surveying and mapping of the sea-bed.

Once done, baits were dropped down and we started the first drift with anticipation of a large large ‘flattie’ engulfing our mackerel fillet or launce that were trundling along the bottom. A few drifts later and with no fish to show for it, we headed off to the next mark, where we drifted along the edges of a submerged wreck. No ‘Flatties, but I did manage two large pout that had taken a fancy to my large launce fillet baits.

It was soon time for a move and we headed off to try another area. This didn’t prove to be fruitful either, with none of us hitting any fish. If nothing else though, the weather was fantastic, lovely warm, bright sunshine and with not a breath of wind across the flat mill pond like sea.

We shot off to another likely mark that had produced before – but sadly on this occasion, it was blankety blank time. We were wishing now, that we had packed some bait to have a go at the plaice but then we agreed, we would have stuck with that and not done what we were supposed to be doing, which was researching and looking for specific turbot marks.

By early afternoon, a sea breeze had picked up and things turned a bit chilly, even with the still bright sun – I even had to resort to putting my ‘fishy’ jacket on in an effort to keep the breeze out. Ray decided that if nothing showed on the next few drifts we should call it a day and head back in. As it happens, nothing happened and we remained fishless, so headed off back to port.

Rob and I were going to have a squiddy session at the marina when we got back – but as it happened, we got sidetracked and ended up having a beer at the pub instead. We thought we might still have a shot at them but in the end, with my back screaming, I bottled it and headed off home.

Even though we didn’t manage to bag our target, the leg work had been done in getting most of the info Ray needed for future shots at the turbot and brill. It was a still a great day out and I can’t wait to book up for a full charter wrecking trip aboard this great boat with a top skipper.

Thanks to Ray and Rob for a great day out.

Comments (1)

By Vic, On 28 March, 2012 15:52

Having heard reports of squid already being caught at Brighton Marina, I felt like having a go for the critters on an early morning session at the west arm, so Tuesday was chosen as the day. For some unknown reason, I found myself wide awake at 4am instead of the planned 6am, so ended up kicking my heels (well watching the news and drinking coffee) until it was time to go.

I arrived on the West arm at just before 7am and found I was the only one there, so had the pick of where to fish. I trundled up the rest of the way to the end and dumped myself in the last float bay. The light breeze was coming from a North Easterly direction but I was well sheltered from it in my space; it had in fact, been the deciding factor that made me decide on the West arm as opposed to the East, which is more exposed to winds from that direction.

Looking at the sea, it was relatively clear but there were the definite signs of early May rot which could be seen in swirling cloudy patches. This annual phenomenon is a right royal pain the arse, as it tends to make the fishing crap and you end up with the slimy muck coating everything it comes into contact with. It’s caused by an algae bloom that then dies and turns into this unspeakable gop.

Seems that it has turned up early this year, probably caused by the unusually warm weather – oh lucky us!

I began to set up and pulled the latest weapon in my arsenal from it’s protective bag – a 2½lb test curve ABU Enticer Pro carp rod (Pictured. As usual, click on the pic for a larger image). I’d got this in an Amazon deal for £20 instead of the normal forty odd quid. Time would tell if it was a wise choice or whether it would end up as yet another white elephant in amongst all the others in my garage.

It was teamed up with my trusty old Shimano Aero GT 6010 bait runner reel which is loaded with 20lb braid. A standard sliding float rig was employed but using a Tronix squid jig instead of the usual hook. I started with a pink one but later alternated with the green and even tried the blue.

Now, as hard as I tried, I just could not get a hit on the jigs at all – nothing, nada, zilch – all morning. I varied the distance out, experimented with the depth but nothing could induce any interest. So much for the ‘Enticer’ bit.

I have to say, that even though nothing was caught that would test the new rod out, it felt light and very comfortable to hold and use. It has a nice action that made casting or just under-arm flicking very easy. So far, I’m very pleased with it and can’t wait to test it properly with some critter on the other end.

I eventually called it quits at around 2pm, although I was tempted to stay longer, if only just to bask and enjoy the lovely warm sunshine that was bearing down as I left. Alas though, I had to work that night – good news is, it’s only until Thursday and then it’s off for a month over the Easter break – woohoo!

Click to comment

By Vic, On 24 March, 2012 15:52

Having spent the last few sessions chasing plaice and herrings at the marina, I thought I’d have a change, so headed out to Seaford beach after work last night. Few would believe it but one of the reasons was to get a dogfish for my species list. The main reason though was to prospect for any bass that might be in, so the only bait I used was frozen launce. I had contemplated taking some worm baits but thought better of it, as it would probably have meant picking pin whiting and slugs off the hooks every five minutes – not my idea of fun!

I arrived on the beach at about 8.30pm – about three and a half hours before high water. Weather-wise, it was a very still, clear night with no wind to rough up the calm sea. After the warmth of the day, it was actually a bit chilly and I was glad of the jacket I had nearly left at home.

I used two rods with similar rigs, both using a running ledger but one was fished ‘up n over’ style for extra distance. Both rigs ended in 4/0 hooks that matched the size of the launce perfectly. So with two baits out – one at distance and one in reasonably close, I had a coffee and waited. Looking up and down the beach, I saw a few lights a bit further West by the Beachcomber, some even further West somewhere near Edinburgh Road, I guess and some East, up past the Martello end of the beach.

At about 9pm, there was a nod on the distance rod and the first fish of the night was on the shingle and one of my targets for the night, a plump doggy (lesser spotted dogfish or LSD for short) of 1lb 14oz as measured on my scales. Not long after it was released, it showed up on the shingle again; I wonder why, they nearly always seem to swim back up the beach. It was released again – this time a bit further out and as I didn’t see it again, I presume it managed to re-engage it’s satnav and find the right way to go.

While all this had been going on, I hadn’t noticed the close-in rod bouncing away merrily which, on retrieve, produced another doggy. This one was smaller and actually managed to find it’s way back into deeper water.

The next two casts on the distance rod produced two pin whiting which had somehow got themselves hooked on the big baits. It then went quiet for some time until about an hour before high water, when the close-in rod bagged another doggy, which was somewhere in between the other two size-wise.

There then followed a succession of small whiting an few pout just on high water before it went dead again. By the time 1am came around, I couldn’t stop yawning and the thought of a warm bed overpowered the thought of maybe ‘a few more casts’. I packed all the gear away and suddenly thought; I’ve only got one more week of work and then it’s a month off for the Easter break (ya just got to love working for a school) and loads of fishing to be done – woohoo!