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By Vic, 12 May, 2011 10:26

After several recent trips in search of squid, I have to report that the closest I’ve had to success has been three dropped at, or just before the net – so things not looking too good. Undeterred though, I headed off to the East arm of Brighton Marina last Sunday for the ‘4th International Squid Championship‘, organised by George Cunningham, CEO of TronixPro, along with Robin ‘Fishyrob‘ Howard.

This annual event, in aid of the RNLI was attended by even more than last year and I believe it was in the region of 78 anglers participating. We all met up at the cafe on the end of the arm, where after a chin wag, we booked in. I queued and collected a free squid jig (courtesy of TronixPro) and score card, which had written on which peg number I was to fish…. arse!!! I had drawn 68, right out at the far end – best start walking then!

After doing a stunning impression of a cart donkey, I eventually got to my peg. There had been some confusion over peg numbers reserved for the event but quite frankly, I’m losing the will to live just thinking about it, so I’ll go no further.

Fishing (or squidding if you prefer) started at 1pm on the dot and for me, what followed felt like a lifetime of staring at the orange blob that was my float as it did just that – float. No sliding under the surface as a squid made off with my jig. As hard as I tried, I just could not get a take. The only excitement was when the jig drifted into a bit of weed and was pulled under – at least I knew what it would look like if any creature felt like trying its luck.

Even an afternoons visit from FPO, Anna along with her Mum and our son Alex didn’t induce the critters into action.

I stuck it out and tried as hard as I could and was spurred on by one caught and lost and one landed by the guys to my left. With half an hour to go, I studied my float and watched it slide under – weed again I thought – but no, it was a real, live squid, a good ‘un too. I brought it in closer and was about to ask the guy to right for a hand with the net when the damn thing let go and was away. I quickly let the jig back down in the hope that it might be taken again but was disappointed when the float remained as it had for most of the day – floating.

6pm and the competition was over. I packed up my gear and made the long walk back to the car and loaded up. It was then over to the pub and a welcome pint while the trophies and prizes were dished out to the winners. The day wasn’t a complete ball breaker for me, as I managed to snag a bait pump in the raffle

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By Vic, 19 April, 2011 18:36

Now, normally I would write up this report and insert pictures in a chronolgical order but to be honest, I couldn’t say with 100% certainty, which fish came from which wreck and at which time. Plus too many pictues and not enough text make it all look a bit messy, so to keep things tidy and to stop me blathering about on about anything and everything, I’ll give a bit of an outline and put up some nice pictures. Photos are curtesy of the resident photographer for the day, Mr Terry Hill.

Following my trip out on Friday, I had the opportunity to again set out to sea on Sunday – this time, aboard a private boat, ‘Sea Mistress’ skippered out of Newhaven by WSF member Terry Hill. We met up at about 8am at Newhaven and after a bacon butty and coffee at The Captain’s Table, Terry arranged for his boat to be trailered from the boat yard, down the slipway and into the water. We set about stowing our gear aboard, while Terry fuelled her up and did other stuff. We were joined by fellow forum member, Dave and once everything was ship-shape, we set off out of the harbour.

Terry opened up Sea Mistress once we were clear of the harbour confines and headed off to some wrecks in search of cod and pollack. Like Friday, the sea was mirror calm and with no hint of a breeze to ruffle the surface, we made good time. It wasn’t too long before we were over the first wreck and Terry set up the drift.

Tactics were the same – long flowing traces with artificial lures worked close to and over the wreck. Although the water was clear, it was evident that there was already a lot of the dreaded ‘May rot’ in the water which could have an effect on the fishing. Terry was the first into a fish and nice bass was soon aboard. Expectations were high and we were buoyed up by such an early result. Unfortunately, that was the only fish on that wreck, so after a few fruitless drifts, we were off to the next mark, a few more miles out.

Fishing was slow over the next couple of wrecks but Dave managed a couple of reasonable pollack, while I seemed to be attracting large pout for my efforts.

Terry started up the engine again and we were off, this time to a wreck some sixteen miles out. Progress was good, with a steady cruising speed only interupted by the wakes of occasional passing larger vessels. First couple of drifts, I was getting small snatches at my lure but couldn’t get anything to take it fully. It wasn’t long though before I boated my first ‘proper’ fish, a small but welcome pollack.

…and then not long afterwards, Terry got the first of the target fish of the day, a tidy codling.

With renewed vigour, we continued to work the lures but to no effect, apart from more pollack for me and a beautiful little tub gurnard for Dave.

I then boated a whiting of all things – all this way out and I still get bloody whiting. At least it was of a decent size anyway.

Another wreck later and although we still weren’t getting large numbers of fish, we sort of ticked over with bits and pieces. Dave then had his first bass of the session after a short tussle.

…and he followed this up a bit later with the biggest pollack of the day at a shade under the ten pound mark.

While he was doing the pollack – so to speak, I had my first codling of the day but unfortunately didn’t get a picture of it.

We fished on for a bit and did some wrecks on our way back to port but as the tide slackened off, the fishing died with it. We decided on some ground fishing on the shoals off Beachy Head, so swapped our artificials for ragworm fished on long traces with plenty of beads and colour, in the hope of attracting a plaice or two. Alas, this wasn’t to be the case and all we managed to attract were pin whiting and pout.

So it was with an Easterly breeze picking up and chopping the surface, we headed back to port. I attempted to fillet my catch on the return but this proved a little risky, so after one fish and deciding I’d like to go home with the same amount of fingers as I had when I left, I opted to fillet the rest at home.

Back at port, we unpacked the boat and did other nautical things with ropes and pipes before collecting up our assorted bits and pieces and going our seperate ways. A big thanks again to Terry for the day out and putting us on the fish.

Here’s the stuff I didn’t get around to preparing on the boat and is awaiting the filleting knife.

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By Vic, 16 April, 2011 15:18

One of the wardens from Brighton Marina, Frank was celebrating his birthday by having a trip out on one of the local charter boats, ‘Lady of The Lake‘, skippered by John Barrow. I had been lucky enough to be invited out by him to join his party, consisting of his daughter, sons and friends, along with some indiviuals (sorry, I didn’t catch your names) and two additional crew, Alan and John(2),to make up a full complement. To say I was excited is an understatement, as it was my first trip for quite a few years and I was keen to venture back into the boat fishing scene.

We met up at The Tackle Box to stock up on any last minute items, after which, we were soon down by the boat loading up, making ready for the 7.30am departure. I have to say, Lady of The lake, a Tremlett 42, is a fantastic, sleek looking boat, is extremely roomy with a well set out deck and ample facilities. While we waited, we set up the rods to save time once at our destination. The basic tackle consisted of what is essentially a single hook paternoster with long flowing trace (sometimes known as a flying collar rig) and artificial lures such as sidewinders and shads.

Soon, engines were fired up and we set off out of the marina and headed to the chosen marks, which were to be deep water wrecks out in the channel. The tactic for the day was to drift and work the lures in front of and over these wrecks in the hunt for the cod and pollack which inhabit these rusting hulks. Frank’s target and a great way to make his birthday better was to get his first cod, in fact he had said that he “Didn’t mind catching chickens for the rest of the day, providing I get my cod”. So, fingers were firmly crossed – and that went for all of us!

As we left the marina, we motored out onto a flat calm sea, which was going to make the jouney a lot quicker and a lot more comfortable than you would get on bumpier water – Perfect conditions for a great day out.

Soon, the engines were opened up more to a good cruising speed and we headed for our first wreck which I believe was some 20 odd miles out. I took the opportunity to go over my kit and make sure everything was in order, with all knots nice and secure and extra traces and rigs made up ready in case of losses caused by getting getting caught up in the submerged ironwork.

The anticipation mounted as the engines throttled back and John began positioning the boat over the first wreck. Once the drift was established, the buzzer was sounded which meant we were safe to drop our lures down to the bottom. I felt the lead hit the seabed and then I began the slow retrieve, working the gear up and over the wreck, waiting for the tell-tale pull down on the rod and the weight and power of a fish crash diving after taking the lure. Sadly, the first drift produced nothing – or the next, or the one after that. Hmmm.. disappointment all round.

We headed off to another wreck and this produced similar results apart from a couple of pout. I had one tentative take with a fish briefly on before it was lost. We then headed off to another mark, where I had my first proper take and after getting it to the surface, I had my first codling of about 4lbs aboard – thing were looking up at last.

The next drift saw my gear caught up in the wreck, the line was quickly wrapped around a cleat by John and I waited for the drifting boat to break the line – damn, my first loss. I quickly retackled in time to catch the next drift, which produced nothing for me but I believe a couple of pout to the others.

The next drift saw me blank again but there was a shout from the other side of the boat and Frank’s long awaited cod was soon on the deck… and he was a very happy bunny.

Another couple of blank drifts and John decided to move onto another hulk which again produced zero results. Things were not looking good on the wreck front, so John asked Frank what he wanted to do (it was his day after all) – stick it out with the prospect of similar results, or move inshore and have a go for dabs and mackerel, so that at least some people went home with fish. Decison made, he motored back inshore and drifted over the ground just off the marina.

Tackle was changed – thanks Alan and John(2) for providing the lighter gear that I hadn’t taken with me. A spreader boom with beaded traces and size 2 hooks baited with lugworm were dropped over the side and before long, I had my first dab aboard – pity it fitted in the palm of my hand though! Things went very quiet and apart from a couple more undersize dabs and a couple of pin whiting, I had no more luck. The rest of the crew were bagging up on mackerel and Frank had a couple of lunker garfish. By 5pm, it was evident that we weren’t going to get anything decent, so it was time to had back into the marina and the end of the day.

Despite the lack of quality fish, it was a great day out with excellent company and great weather. Thanks again to Frank for the invite and to John and crew for helping out and making things run smoothly. I’ve now got the taste back for boat fishing, and am looking forward to making my next trip whenever that may be.

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By Vic, 11 April, 2011 19:30

Had my first squid session of the year on the West arm at Brighton Marina this morning. Arrived at about 5.30am, half an hour or so after high water to a beautiful morning, flat calm, clear sea, no wind at all and a clear sky. I walked straight up to the float only bays and tackled up my carp rod with 1¼ oz sliding float and a green Tronix jig.

To say fishing was slow is understatement to say the very least, in fact I had no takes at all in the first hours. As I had the arm to myself, I even wandered down to some of the other bays to have a trot through there but nothing doing. As the tide dropped away, I decided to stay where I was, up in the float bays.

While the fishing was non-existent, I had a play with the camera and took a few morning shots – the last four in the series here

I decided on a change in tactic (well colour anyway) and changed over to a pink jig and immediately I was into some action, a slow pull down on the float which I lifted into. Felt some weight but non of the characteristic tugging of a squid. My catch slowly surfaced and was duly landed…. bugger!! Pictured left (click for larger image). It showed that I might have been fishing just a little too deep. Later on, as the tide dropped away and the crystal clear water became shallower, you could see literally hundreds of these creatures scattered over the sea bed.

I think it was about 10.30 when I eventually had a proper take and I was briefly attached to my target but only very briefly. As I started to wind in, I could feel the tugging and ‘jetting’ when all of a sudden, it let go. I dropped the jig down in the hope that it woud take it again but no such luck. That was my one and only of the day.

It wasn’t long after this that the wind picked up a bit. It wasn’t unduly uncomfortable but it was enough to chop the surface up to the extent that it was difficult to fish the float properly. I reckoned I’d had my chance for the day and blown it and didn’t see the point in carrying on, bearing in mind the conditions too. So it was that I packed up and headed off and thinking about when I can get down there again for another crack.

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By Vic, 7 April, 2011 10:48

Yesterday evening, I had another ‘big bait only’ session over at Seaford beach. Arriving in the West View area of the beach at about 7pm in daylight, I found a flat calm sea with a gentle swell, no wind at all and a clear sky. I was going to fish from 8pm low water up and over the 2am high water.

Plan was to fish one rod at varying distances in the medium range and one rod at the closer ranges. Both rods were setup with a long link running ledger ending in a 5/0 pennel arrangement. The medium distance rig was baited up with whole squid, while the closer range bass rod used launce.

After both rods were cast out, I did some practising on the new camera (Fuji S2500HD), to get a feel for it. There are far more variables and settings on this compared to my last one, which was a pocket compact and looking at the results, I really do need to do more practising and tinkering to get better pictures.

Sunset 1

Sunset 2

Sunset 3

Once I’d finished messing around with the camera and darkness fell, I got down to the serious business of fishing properly. The first fish didn’t show up until about 9pm when I saw the bass rod tip diping and bouncing away. I lifted into some weight and within seconds, a lesser spotted dogfish (LSD) was on the beach. Once despatched, I re-baited and lobbed another launce out to about forty yards out. I then tried a ‘self portrait’ photo but the result was crap to say the very least.

10.20 saw the bass rod on the go again and soon, another LSD was on the beach. Photo opportunity number 2. The result is not good – the composition and stuff isn’t too bad and the doggy looks ok but who the hell is the bloke holding the fish?? Anna, my lovely FPO summed it up nicely when she said ‘”Darling, you need to work on your smile. You look like you’ve got a brain problem – a real gumby”. Well thanks for that love, there’s nothing like having your self esteem smashed on the rocks of honesty and love. Having looked at the picture again, I think she may have a point.

A further two LSD’s were beached during the session, before I called it a night at 2am. Out of the four LSD’s caught, three were taken on launce and one on squid and all were caught within the fifty yard range. Three were males and one female. Three were prepared for the pot and the one female was released.