Posts tagged: shoreham

Shoreham West Arm Saved

By , 26 August, 2011 20:25

The West arm at Shoreham has always been a popular spot for fishing, with it’s ease of access and variety of fish encountered. With this popularity comes the bad side of people who fish there. I’m not going to say anglers because serious anglers don’t do the things that were being done. Squalor, that’s all it can be described as – rubbish and rotting bait being left behind along with discarded line and tackle. People defecating on the lower deck, urinating anywhere. At times, the place smelled worse than a really smelly thing.

I reckon that if you took a load of people with ‘digestive problems’ and put them on a fishing boat with one toilet, fed them on cat food for a few days, then left the resulting carnage in the sun for a week, it would still smell sweeter than the West arm. I think you get the picture!

I digress. A few years back, some local anglers took it upon themselves to try and do something about the disgraceful state of the arm and improve it for everyone. The SAS (Shoreham Angling Squad) was born. The guys voluntarily cleared the rubbish, put bins up and kept the place in good order. Of course the usual Neanderthals carried on as before, not giving a damn about anyone or anything else apart from themselves, leaving their revolting crap behind and generally behaving like dick-heads. The lads of the SAS, undeterred, carried on cleaning and tidying. As well as trying to keep the West arm a pleasant place, they found time to organise charity fishing matches and managed to raise thousands of pounds in the process.

Anyway, it had to happen. Despite the best efforts of the lads, the Neanderthals won and because of the mess they left and their behaviour, Shoreham Port Authority decided that the West arm would be closed to anglers and it would be fenced off. A long standing, popular and productive fishing mark was going to be lost… until…

Some guys from Prime Angling in Worthing, Ally Harvey and George Cunningham (CEO of TronixPro) stepped in and put an offer to the port authority. They would find the funding to manage the arm and have someone on there to regularly clean up and keep good order; and thus West Breakwater Fishing (WBF) came into being. While these two guys are the main driving force behind the venture, they are obviously kept occupied with their business and so the day to day issues concerning WBF will be handled by Mark Sumner of SAS. This is a four month trial and the port authority still have the right to close the arm (and will do) if this venture fails.

To finance this, it was decided to start charging a small fee for fishing on the arm, in a similar fashion to what they do at Brighton Marina. This will go towards paying staff to man the arm, initially from 6am to 10pm. £3 for the first rod and £1 per additional rod. A steel hut has been erected at the beginning of the arm and will act as the HQ for WBF Tel: 07926 811882. From here, tickets can be purchased, along with bait, small items of tackle and now, even hot and cold drinks.

So far, the response has been positive, although there have been some moaners who want something for nothing. To them, I would say It’s either pay and support this idea or lose it as a venue for good. As already said, this is a four month trial. If it appears that the venture cannot be afforded due to lack of funds, then it will close and be fenced off – end of story. If it succeeds, then it stays open and will be a clean, pleasant place to fish, with the added benefit of having tackle and bait available on site. So if you think that by boycotting the arm and refusing to pay, you will somehow get them to change their minds and it will go back to being free to fish – think again, it will be gone, plain and simple. Is three quid a time too much to ask – really?

I really hope that this venture succeeds and goes from strength. Thank you all who are in involved – George, Ally, Mark and others and thank you to the port authority for listening and having the balls to trust these guys to make a good job of it. You can get the latest updates and news here on the WBF Facebook page

Shoreham competition

By , 11 February, 2008 16:23

Yesterday, I took part in a competition organised by the Shoreham Angling Squad club. Funnily enough, this was held at the West arm of Shoreham harbour.

It was an early start for me, leaving home at 6.40 am in order to stop off at ‘The Tackle Box’ shop at Brighton Marina for bait. Whilst getting my lugworm and ragworm, Dave Grinham kindly gave me a large bag of Slipper Limpet to supplement my supplies.

Arrived at the venue at the allotted time of 8am. A long wait ensued while we waited for everyone to arrive, book in and draw numbers for the order of ‘walking off’. I unluckily picked 32 which meant I would be one of the last to walk off and would thus be limited to where I could fish.

My spot was quite a way inshore and I would be casting not far of the beach itself. Anyway, armed with a good supply of quality bait, I was confident of doing well. Targets were flounder and dab. I tackled up and awaited the hooter to mark the beginning of the match.

First few casts produced numerous knocks and bites but I couldn’t connect. First fish of the day arrived soon afterwards and I found the culprit to be a small 5 Bearded rockling which sadly was under the 18cm limit and therefore didn’t count. This was followed shortly after by another non qualifier. That was it for the rest of the day with no further fish landed. No matter what I tried, I just could not get the fish to bite. Frustration grew as I heard reports of a few fish coming up the blokes fishing at the end of the arm.

Gladly, it was a warm bright day with little wind – nice and comfortable for me but not good conditions for fishing.

The hooter marking the end of the match sounded at 3.30pm. Time to tackle down and make my way to the meeting point to watch the lucky ones receive their prizes. I didn’t even win anything in the raffle- pffft.

I then faced a journey of nearly one and a half hours through Brighton to get home. It had been an enjoyable day, even though I was virtually fishless.

Incidentally, I believe a reasonable amount was collected from people who fished the match towards a fund being set up for the family of Alan Wright, a young man who was washed away whilst fishing in the Bristol Channel. Alan was a member of WSF (World Sea Fishing), a fishing website/forums used by many of us anglers.

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Our thoughts are with his family and friends.

Competition time

By , 30 September, 2007 14:50

Saturday 29th September was the date, Widewater beach Shoreham was the venue. The occasion was a friendly meet/get together/competition organised by S.A.S. (Shoreham Angling Squad) and involving anglers from Sussex, Hampshire, Dorset, Kent and Essex.

I arrived at about 10am to see that there were already numerous participants mooching around the marquee waiting to snaffle the breakfast rolls that were being expertly prepared by club members ‘Mesito’ and ‘Bloated cod’. Once I’d scoffed a belter of a bun with bacon, sausage and egg, it was time to sign in, get my scorecard and await the walk off.

True to form, I was last to walk off and headed off to my chosen spot. (oh how I wish I’d gone right and not left). I set up my rods – one single hooked and baited with whole calamari and lobbed a few yards out, hoping for a prize winning bass. The other rod two hooked paternoster baited with lugworm and sent out about fifty yards or so. I sat back and thought positive thoughts.

Time passed slowly and uneventfully (apart from witnessing catches made by Mark_S fishing the next beach). Every so often the monotony was broken by absolutely nothing. I poured coffee, I shuffled my feet, I even began to wonder if I could count the boulders in the sea defences – nothing would provoke any fish into helping me win prizes.

Eventually, I had my first fish, a bass. Unfortunately this particular bass was not even anywhere near close to the 18cm minimum qualifying length. Neither were the next two I had. So three fish and none counted towards points.

After what seemed like five and half hours – oh that’s right, it was, the competition ended. I packed up and walked back to the marquee where I was greeted by the smell of burgers, hotdogs and Paella.

Anyway, the boring stuff was dealt with and the prizes handed out. At least I wasn’t going to be lumbered with carrying loads of goodies back to the car.

After being fully and totally stuffed with Mesito’s excellent Paella, it was time to bid farewell to the gathered motley crew and make my way home and back out of ‘Bandit country’.

A thoroughly enjoyable day spent with great folks, great food and no fish.

Full report and pictures

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