Sea Angling News January 2020

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Sea Angling News Ltd. - www.seaanglingnews.com - editor@seaanglingnews.com - Issue 291 January 2020

BIG NEEDLES COD

CAUGHT ABOARD SOUTH COAST CHARTER BOAT WEIGHING IN AT 34LB

www.coxandrawle.com

WINNER This cracking 34lb cod was bagged by Jack Laidler on his first ever sea fishing trip. Jack was fishing aboard Manta Ray operated by Katfish Charters out of Lymington.

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NEWS

Sea Angling News, January 2020

Angling Trust announce the England Boat Squads for the FIPS-Mer World Championship and the SALC Home International for 2020 The World Boat Team who will represent the Angling Trust and England at the 56th FIPS-Mer World Boat Championship in Belgium from 9th – 16th May are;

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Gary Galbraith Mark Smith Cliff Newbold Steve Batchelor Gary Geoghegan Rolf Marschalek (squad member/assistant manager) Neil Bryant (manager)

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The SALC Home Boat Team who will represent the Angling Trust and England at the SALC Home Boat Championship in Wales from 18th – 20th June are;

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Sea Angling News, January 2020

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REPORT FOR THE PORTS OF BRIGHTLINGSEA BRADWELL AND WEST MERSEA

By Lee Bollingbroke, skipper of Sophie Lea Well its probably been the most difficult month for charter boat skippers around our area the thames estuary to date and for as long as I can remember, with the wild weather not helping and anglers holding back with there bookings because of a lack of cod and then theres Brexit o my god were all doomed.But come on chaps there has been so much fish about rods nodding all the time struggling to even get a sand‐ wich down your throat before theres an‐ other bite, with rays plentiful tons of whiting good sizes to, dabs dogs whats not to like ok so there is not the cod we would all like although this week there has been reports of several just east of our area. In all hon‐ esty I think there is more cod/codling about

than you may be lead to belive but with all the herring and sprat around why would any codling want to be messing around on the sea bed were our baits are when they can get all the food they want mid water.

Yup this is I believe the major problem in the thames estuary at the moment just to much fish, so there you have it to much fish come and see for your self and to keep the charter boats going which you will be cuing up for when the spurs arrive and in May when it all changes with bass hounds etc etc any way we hope you all have a great Christmas and new year and lets all look forward to the new year and what ever it has to offer.

BRIGHTLINGSEA, Essex Thames Estuary

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Sea Angling News, January 2020

NEWS / BRIXHAM

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Sea Angling News, January 2020

NEWS

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FIVE NEW RECORD FISH CLAIMS RATIFIED BY BRITISH RECORD FISH COMMITTEE The British Record Fish Committee met at Fish‐ mongers’ Hall, London Bridge, on 27th Novem‐ ber 2019.

Present were: Mike Heylin OBE (Chairman), Oliver Crimmen (Scientific Advisor, Natural His‐ tory Museum), Nigel Hewlett (Scientific Advisor, En‐ vironment Agency), Paul Coulson (Freshwater Specialist), Tim Froome (Marine Specialist), Will Barnard (Freshwater Specialist) and Nick Sim‐ monds (Secretary) The committee would like to record its thanks to The Fishmongers’ Company for generously hosting this meeting and to acknowledge the grant funding provided by The Fishmongers’ Company to enable the BRFC to continue its work in considering, ratifying and recording Brit‐ ish record rod-caught fish.

The committee has received correspondence questioning the validity of the current British sea trout record and suggesting that the fish, caught in 1992 and ratified as a British record in 1993, may in fact be a salmon. The BRFC will investig‐ ate the question of the identification of this fish to the fullest extent it is able to from the records available.

The committee considered and accepted the fol‐ lowing record claims as being duly ratified: •Ben Wallis’s Streaked Gurnard (Chelidonicthys lastoviza) from Cornwall’s Helford river in •August, was ratified as a new boat-caught re‐ cord at a weight of 1lb 7oz 15dr. Ben’s fish beats the previous boat-caught record of 1lb 2oz for this seldom reported species.

•Gary Marquis’s shore-caught Thin-lipped Grey Mullet (Liza ramada), ratified at 8lb 8oz 13dr, caught from the east coast of Guernsey on 11th August 2019. Gary’s fish is the latest in a run of

record thin-lips over recent years and beats Geoff Le Page’s 2017 record of 8lb 3oz 8dr.

Gary’s fish was examined at the Natural History Museum to verify the species identification. The BRFC’s Marine Scientific Advisor, Oliver Crim‐ men, has identified a previously unrecorded characteristic feature of thin-lipped mullet which, when thoroughly checked, may help to identify the species from good photographic evidence in future.

•Ryan Wingfield has broken his own shorecaught Tope (Galeorhinus galeus) record of 75lb with a larger fish rati-fied at 77lb 3oz. Ryan’s new record was caught in June 2019 from a Pem‐ brokeshire shore mark.

•Colin Smithson’s Barbel (Barbus barbus) was ratified at 21lb 2oz, to overtake Grahame King’s 2006 Great Ouse record by just one ounce.

Colin’s fish was caught from a Sussex river on 7th November 2019.

•Mat Faulkner’s Three-Spined Stickleback (Gas‐ terosteus aculeatus) was ratified as a record with a weight of 8 grams. Caught in July from Lower Beauvale Ponds near Nottingham, Mat’s fish just pips Dennis Flack’s 1998 record of 4 drams (7 grams). Mat’s fish was weighed on a scale which gave a reading in grams and after an adjustment for slight inaccuracy shown by the scales test the rounded down weight was agreed at 8 grams.

The Committee would like to remind anglers that in the event of the capture of a potential record fish, the captor should first contact the British Record (rod-caught) Fish Committee without delay.

Captors of potential record fish should contact the Secretary, Nick Simmonds, at the Angling Trust, on 01568 620447 or by email at brfc@ang‐ lingtrust.net Nick will record the details of the capture and advise the claimant on progressing the claim.

Ben Wallis with streaked gurnard

Mat Faulkner’s three-spined stickleback

Colin Smithson and barbel

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Graham Marquis with thin-lipped grey mullet

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CHESIL BEACH / NEWS

Sea Angling News, January 2020

CHESIL BEACH REPORT

By Gareth Mayers

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Sea Angling News, January 2020

EAST SUSSEX

Email: editor@seaanglingnews.com 7

EAST SUSSEX DIARY

By Kevin Morgan NATIONAL SEA LEAGUE FINALS The SAMF National 5 man sea league finals were held on the weekend of 16/17th Novem‐ ber, fishing in Normans Bay, Pevensey By and Langney Point. 31 teams of 5 fished over 2 days, all fish were returned as the match is fished as a catch and release competition.

The winning team were Channel Angling Deal over the two days, with local teams E Squad finishing 4th and Anglers Den 9th. The com‐ petition was well organised by Tony Thomas and hosted by Pevensey Bay Holiday Park.

OVER FIFTIES On Thursday October 31st 15 anglers fished in Pevensey Bay. The winner was Kerry Saint with 6lb 9oz, second Gary Banfield with 5lb 8oz ½ oz, third Keith Erridge with 5lb 2 ¾ oz and fourth Tony Bush with 5lb 1oz. The heav‐ iest round was a whiting of 9 ¼ oz and the flatfish a flounder of 8oz both for Sam Sam‐ son.

The next match was held on Friday 29th November with 23 anglers fishing in calm conditions. The winner was Gary Banfield with 4lb ½ oz, second Colin Crosby with 3lb 9 ½ oz, third Vernon Vivien with 3lb 8 ¾ oz and fourth Sam Samson with 3lb 3oz. The heav‐ iest round was a whiting of 11 ¼ oz for Gary Banfield and the heaviest flatfish a Flounder od 13 ½ oz for Julian French.

NEWHAVEN AND SEAFORD SHORE ANGLING CLUB Fished at Seaford on 30th October the winner was Kevin Skippings with 3lb 12 ½ oz, 2nd Chris Allen with 3lb ¾ oz and 3rd Tim Roser with 2lb 14 ¼ oz. On November 14th the win‐ ner was Keith Morley with 8lb 14oz, 2nd Chris Allen with 7lb 1oz and 3rd Shane Merrick with 7lb.

On November 28th fishing at Seaford Kevin Skippings won with 10lb 13 ½ oz, 2nd Tim Roser with 10lb 12 ½ oz and 3rd Keith Morley with 7lb 3 ¾ oz. Again fished at Seaford on December 4th the winner was Brian Hender‐ son with 5lb 15oz, 2nd Shane Merrick with 5lb 8oz and 3rd Kevin Skippings with 2lb 2 ¾ oz.

ANDERIDA FISHING CLUB On Monday 28th October 20 anglers fished in Pevensey Bay. The winner was Kim Mc‐ Greevy with 5lb 3oz. Second Tim Lane with 4lb 14 ½ oz. Third Damion Chant with 3lb 15 ½ oz and fourth Jack Wiltshire with 3lb 14 ¼ oz. The heaviest round was a bass of 1lb 8 ½ oz for Tim Lane and the heaviest flat was a sole of 1lb 10 ½ oz for Matt Cox. On Monday 11th November 14 anglers fished with large numbers of dogfish putting in an appearance. First was Tim Lane with 11lb 13oz, Second Glyn Morgan with 11lb 7oz and third Damion Chant with 10lb 3 ¼ oz. The heaviest round was shared between Glyn Morgan, Tim Lane and Jim Whippy all with dogfish of 1lb 12oz. And the heaviest flat was a dab of 5 ¼ oz for Colin Isaacs.

On Monday 25th November 12 anglers fished in Pevensey Bay with the largest number of dogfish ever to appear in an Anderida club match,(almost 50). The winner was Colin Isaacs with 20lb 15oz including 8 dogfish.

Second was Tim Lane with 20lb 8 ¾ oz in‐ cluding 9 dogfish and third Colin Everest with 18lb 4oz including 10 dogfish !The heaviest round was a dogfish of 1lb 13oz for Colin Everest.

PEVENSEY BAY ANGLING CLUB On Sunday 3rd November 21 anglers fished in Pevensey Bay, fishing was slow but the win‐ ner Gary Banfield managed 1lb 11 ½ oz of whiting. 2nd Tony Kirrage with 1lb 10oz. 3rd Vernon Vivian with 1lb 3 ½ oz and 4th Scot Brown with 10 ½ oz. The heaviest flat was a flounder of 10oz for Andy James and the round a whiting of 8 ½ oz for Tony Kirrage.

On Sunday 1st December 20 anglers fished in Pevensey Bay. The winner was Tony Kirrage with 5lb 15oz. 2nd Paul Christopher 5lb 14oz, Paul King 5lb 1oz and 4th Kerry Saint 4lb 11oz. The heaviest round was a whiting of 15 ½ oz for Kerry Saint and the heaviest flat a flounder of 1lb ½ oz for Conrad Taylor.

Over-all the new club champion is Vernon Vivian with 256 points. Second Gerald Sar‐

geant with 217 points. Third Tony Kirrage with 211 points and fourth Gary Banfield with 178 pts.

SAXONS SEA FISHING CLUB On Sunday 27th October The club fished in Pevensey Bay, the winner was Peter Fountain with a mixed bag for 5lb 3oz. 2nd Steve Merner with 4lb 6 ½ oz and 3rd Dan Puttick with 4lb 3oz.

On Sunday 24th November 15 anglers fished in Pevensey Bay, the winner was Tony Kirrage with 15lb of mainly whiting. 2nd Les Glazzard with 14lb. 3rd Gary Banfield with 11lb 1 ½ oz and 4th Jason Anderson with 9lb 12oz.

The final competition was fished on Sunday 23rd November and the winner was Paul Par‐ sons with 4lb 15oz, 2nd Les Glazzard with 2lb 13oz and 3rd Jason Anderson with 2lb 9 ½ oz.

GENERAL This year has been a very good year in general for beach anglers in Sussex!! Early season the plaice fishing was very good in Seaford and Eastbourne and Brighton. As the season went on Thornback rays appeared up to double fig‐ ures and then some nice bass were caught!

Anglers then saw an excellent run of Smoothounds to double figures as well as other summer species such as mackerel and scad. Congers then appeared which is un‐ usual in East Sussex and still some lovely bass have been caught. Not so many sole but none the less some really good specimens caught with Peter Cornwall catching plenty of cracking fish and Gary Banfield managing an Anderida club record of 2lb 11 oz in Septem‐ ber.

At the moment there are still bass being caught and a few conger eels although the predominant species is whiting, there are some big ones about!Chris Voller has caught some nice fish recently with a lovely bass and a nice conger in the same session. From the boats it has been a mixed season with plenty of plaice and a few turbot in the summer but not many cod showing! Recently Panther dur‐ ing November and early December managed to catch some nice pollack and some nice black bream !!

The sea temperature is still mild so maybe more winter fish will begin to show as the temperature starts to drop. Damion Chant and James Blackmar took an away day trip to Chesil beach recently and managed to catch 3 codling between them !.

Steve Frost with his winning 1lb 7oz codling

James Blackmar with a couple of Chesil codling

Chris Voller with a nice bass

Matt Cox with his 1lb 10oz sole

Julian French with a couple of flounders in the overs fifties

Tony Kirrage with a small codling to help win the Nomads club match.

E squad

a couple f nice pollack caught on Panther recently

Peter Cornwall with a flounder of 37cm

Chris Voller with a nice conger

Damion Chant with a 7lb chesil cod

Salah Mohamed Borni with a lovely 7lb 8oz bass

8 Email: editor@seaanglingnews.com

Sea Angling News, January 2020

POOLE / DORSET

POOLE PORT REPORT

POOLE REPORT

by Philip Higgins

SILVER SPRAY & SILVER SPRAY II Two modern catamarans from Poole. Fast and spacious boats fitted with twin engines.

COP 60 miles for 12 anglers. Large heated wheelhouse with toilet.

Hot drinks provided and microwave available. All necessary rods, tackle and bait available.

Available for wreck, reef, banks, evening trips, 4-day Alderney and 3-day Cherbourg trips. **Bass, turbot, cod, plaice, shark specials** Both boats available for charters and individuals.

Owner/skippers Sam & Andy Cumming Phone 07787 375 386 www.silverspraycharters.com Email: info@silverspraycharters.com

NOW TAKING BOOKINGS FOR 2020 INCLUDING ALDERNEY, GUERNSEY AND SHARK TRIPS

Mistress Linda Fishing from Poole, Dorset Skipper Philip Higgins Fast Twin Engined DS Bullet 38 Fully Licensed & Insured for 12 Persons All the Latest Electronics Full On-board Facilities, Hot Drinks Provided

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Peter Smith with his PB Bass

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Welcome to the New Year, what can we say about the December weather so much wind and torrential rain made things diffi‐ cult for every mariner, for me it was very frustrating as we had to postpone 2 sets of sea trials on the boat due to horrendous conditions within Poole Harbour but the 3rd attempt was successful and I am now wait‐ ing for the weather to subside. Fishing re‐ ports have been few and far between when boats have been able to get out for a few hours Whiting and strap Congers feature highly in the catches and the bonus big winter Pollack. Local angler Peter Smith fishing from his own boat hooked a superb Bass weighing 13lb 6ozs a new PB for him.

Poole SAC Bream Comp is scheduled for Sunday 3rd May 2020 if you would like more details please contact Andy Robbins on 01202 676597, if you are looking for a place on a charter boat please get in touch with me. Poole Charter Skippers Associ‐ ation Species Comp is on Friday 5th June 2020 for more details please contact Sarah Medley at ‘pinkdolphin75@hotmail.co.uk’.

Advice and any bait requirements for the above comps can be sought from any of the local tackle shops in and around Poole.

It will not be long before we see the big Spurdogs coming our way along with some superb Tope.

POOLE / DORSET

Sea Angling News, January 2020

Email: editor@seaanglingnews.com 9

SILVER SPRAY REPORT

By Sam Cumming

The water temperature and clarity has now faded inshore; as you would expect at this time of year. The fishing at anchor has picked up really nicely with a good variety of fish coming to the net over the last couple of weeks. Whiting are around in good numbers and a variety of sizes, we have done better on the bigger channel whiting closer in out of the tide but they will move further off after Christmas. There are plenty of rays around with all 5 species showing up that are available out of Poole, we have had several big blondes in the mid twenties just a couple of miles off in recent weeks. On the last set of small tides we pushed offshore to make use of some very nice weather. We had a few bream offone of the wrecks and also some early spurdogs

rays on an offshore bank, we will try the off‐ shore banks again in between Christmas and New Year. If I take a look back at 2019 the fishing has been very good considering the weather. Good numbers of pollack on the wrecks, the best year for bream I’ve ever had, the return of the bass in good numbers, great improvements in the turbot and brill fishing in the Channel Islands, our first encounter with blue fin tuna and of course some great success with the sharks. I’m excited for 2020 and keeping my fingers crossed for some better weather. Thanks to everyone who fished with us this season and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Don’t forget to get booking up for 2020!!

James kennedy 4lb spotted ray silver spray

Andy Hayden decent undulate ray

Peter Gill with a big blondie silver spray

www.coxandrawle.com SAN COMPETITION WINNERS IF YOU SEE A COX & RAWLE, RED GILL OR DEVON BAITS WINNERS BADGE IN YOUR PICTURE PLEASE CONTACT JAMES WIGGLESWORTH ON 07825 181 694 OR EMAIL lovely undulate ray silver spray

Jon Barlow nice spur silver spray

editor@seaanglingnews.com

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NEWS

Sea Angling News, January 2020

Minehead Cod Challenge 2020 Saturday 11th & Sunday 12th January Entry Form Name: …………………………………………………………………………

Contact Telephone No.: ……………………………………………………

E-Mail address: ………………………………………………………………

Please enclose cheque for £120 made payable to “Minehead Cod Challenge” and mail with this entry form to The Sea Angling News, 55 Poundfield Road Minehead Somerset TA24 5ES Or pay by BACS to; NatWest, Acc. Name: The Minehead Cod Challenge, Sort code 60-14-30, Account number 57155755 ref. your name E-mail keith@seaanglingnews.com with any queries.

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Sea Angling News, January 2020

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NORTH DEVON

Sea Angling News, January 2020

NORTH DEVON REPORT

By Wayne Thomas It’s been a difficult season so far on the North Devon coast with fishing very much curtailed by constant poor weather. The open coast has produced a few bull huss and plenty of small conger and dogfish.

There have been reports of a few spurdog but none of any size. A few codling are showing from the lower estuary and shore marks adjacent to the estuary.

Off shore boat anglers have enjoyed some hectic sport with spurdog landing upwards of fifty on most excursions up to around 15lb. There is always the chance of big conger or bull huss among the spurdog and may be even a cod.

The estuary has provided some reasonable flounder despite regular spates. Two pound plus fish have been scarce but there is still time for a few specimens up until midJanuary. Bideford Angling Club hosted their annual Christmas match on the Torridge

with the top twenty flounder taking away a prize from the table. Robert Slade won the event with a flounder of 1lb 9.5oz.

Several good sized bass have been temp‐ ted by anglers fishing the estuary for flounder a pleasing addition to autumn sport.

Prospects for the coming months are good on the open coast with spurdog expected to arrive inshore providing winter storms colour up the water. Recent seasons have seen several tope landed right through into the New Year. Ray also seem to be a fea‐ ture of catches following winter storms with Ilfracombe Pier worth a try.

If we get some settled spells boat anglers can expect more hectic sport off Ilfra‐ combe with spurdog packs on the ram‐ page.

I wish all readers a Happy and successful fish filled New Year.

Matt Jeffery with a flounder of 2lb

Owen Atkinson with brace of good flounder

Wayne Thomas River Taw Flounder 1lb 9oz

Jamie Steward - River Taw Flonder brace

Ross Stanway River Taw bass

Lee Armishaw Spurdog off Ilfracombe on Bluefin

Kevin Legge with double figure bull Huss from North Devon Rock mark.

CMSAC member Rob Scoines with a specimen conger of 39lb caught on Lorna Doone off Watchet

Jamie Steward with a fine brace of Taw Flounder

John Passmore with a 15lb spurdog caught on Bluefin off Ilfracombe. Inset: Keith Armishaw Spurdog Off Ilfracombe on Bluefin

NORTH DEVON

Sea Angling News, January 2020

Email: editor@seaanglingnews.com 13

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NEWS

Sea Angling News, January 2020

LATEST ANGLING TRUST AMBASSADOR TO USE FISHING AS A FORCE FOR GOOD AND BUILD LEGACY TO THE LATE JOHN WILSON MBE At their recent AGM and ‘Building A Brighter Future’ Angling Confer‐ ence, the Angling Trust have an‐ nounced the support of their latest ambassador Lisa Wilson, the daughter of the late John Wilson MBE. Lisa, a full time Social Worker and mother of four, recently founded the John Wilson Fishing Enterprise – combining her expertise as a highly qualified Social Worker with her passion to continue her father’s work in bringing fishing to thou‐ sands of people, growing a lasting legacy for the man who inspired so many to get out there and go fish‐ ing.

Lisa gave an exclusive talk about the John Wilson Fishing Enterprise to a packed conference at Barston Lakes with many club officials, fish‐ ery owners, trade representatives and Angling Trust Ambassadors present.

The John Wilson Fishing Enterprise will initially focus on bringing fishing and outdoor activities to children and young adults under the social care umbrella. Using her expertise, Lisa’s approach will incorporate the social and behavioural skills needed to help these children in their con‐ tinued development.

Lisa explained at the conference: “The John Wilson Fishing Enterprise will provide fishing opportunities that will give disadvantaged chil‐ dren and young adults the chance to connect with the outdoors and provide therapy through the art of fishing, as well as the additional op‐ tion of Bushcraft activity.

"There are so many ways that fish‐ ing can have a huge impact here. In‐

teraction with coaches and other angling participants can help im‐ prove communication as well as the chance to learn through practical experience – not to mention the ulti‐ mate reward of landing a fish. The John Wilson Fishing Enterprise will provide opportunities and a differ‐ ent approach that wouldn’t have previously been available to children who need it most.”

The John Wilson Fishing Enterprise will initially focus on the East Anglia region, working with local authorit‐ ies and government organisations.

However, Lisa has a vision to not only increase this to a national scale in the future, but also to extend these fishing opportunities to even more groups.

Lisa added: “I’m passionate about growing the John Wilson Fishing Enterprise and in the future I would like to see this running nationally, making this a part of social care for more young children. I also see this as beneficial to others such as adults with post-traumatic stress disorder as well as vulnerable people who are often isolated and lonely but still able to take part in an activity like fishing.”

Lisa accepted an invitation to be‐ come an Angling Trust Ambassador after receiving support from Dilip Sarkar, National Enforcement Man‐ ager, and Clive Copeland, Head of Participation for the Angling Trust, who were key in getting Lisa through the initial stages of planning and setting up the enterprise.

Lisa commented: “Dilip and Clive have been instrumental in getting me started on a passion that is so close to my heart. I am excited to be an Angling Trust Ambassador, my

father was a keen conservationist and would have massively suppor‐ ted the work that is being done by the Fishery Enforcement Support Service, Volunteer Bailiffs and Building Bridges teams in keeping our fish safe from illegal fishing and theft. I also know that my father would have been hugely supportive of the huge amounts of work the Angling Trust do in getting more people into fishing as well as using angling as a force for good."

Lisa recently attended the final Fish‐ ery Enforcement Workshop in 2019, which are run across six regions in England each year by the Angling Trust. These workshops, funded by English freshwater fishing licence income, are free to attend and an essential part of ensuring that anglers understand the law and en‐ forcement in relation to illegal fish‐ ing and fish theft.

Lisa commented on the workshops: “John had a thirst to learn about everything he did. He loved to pass on knowledge and was passionate about educating as many people as possible about fishing. These work‐ shops are vital in making more people aware of the law around fish‐ ery enforcement and to ensure that we all can play a role in protecting fish and fishing for the future.”

Dilip Sarkar MBE, National Enforce‐ ment Manager for the Angling Trust commented: “Nothing before or since has raised awareness of and popularised angling as much as the late John Wilson MBE's long-running TV series 'Go Fishing'. John's passion, which underpinned the programme, inspired generations of anglers.

Having retired abroad, John's sud‐

den passing in 2018 was an im‐ measurable loss to angling. We are incredibly pleased to welcome John's daughter Lisa, aboard the Angling Trust as an Ambassador, something I know John would have wholeheartedly approved of."

Clive Copeland, Head of Participa‐ tion for the Angling Trust added: "I can see no more fitting tribute to Lisa’s father, the late John Wilson MBE, than using fishing as a force for good, something that John was very passionate about. We are ex‐ tremely proud to have Lisa on board as an ambassador. Her work in es‐ tablishing the John Wilson Fishing Enterprise to use fishing as a posit‐ ive influence in society will not only bring more people into fishing but is set to have a huge impact for thou‐ sands of people in the future. We know from our experience with pro‐ grammes such as iCARP, an angling project used to help treat PTSD in military veterans, that the benefits are huge and this is a much-needed approach.”

Jamie Cook, incoming Chief Exec‐ utive for the Angling Trust and Fish Legal added: "Angling is the gateway to the out‐ doors and can provide young people with so many skills and op‐ portunities both on and off the bank.

John was a huge influence on thou‐ sands of anglers including myself as I grew up. Lisa’s approach here is a fantastic legacy for John and I am hugely appreciative to Lisa for her work in this much needed area."

Lisa is due to launch the John Wilson Fishing Enterprise in January 2020.

LANGSTONE

Sea Angling News, January 2020

Email: editor@seaanglingnews.com 15

LANGSTONE HARBOUR AREA BOAT FISHING REPORT

By Neville Merritt, Southsea Marina Angling Club The Solent winter season usually means having to nip out on the occasional days when the winds drop enough to make fishing comfortable. It also means the annual Southsea Marina Angling Club Open Cod Competition sets a date with good intentions which then roll forward until a Saturday is fishable. Not this year!

For the first time, the SMAC Cod competition was fished on the actual day advertised – 17th November.

This competition has become increasingly popular with members and other anglers, partly for the chance to compete against other clubs and partly because of the impressive prize table – 19 prizes, first prize £500 cash. The non-cash prizes were generously donated by local businesses. A total of 128 anglers fished from 51 boats which is a record turnout.

The competition is simple – the aim is to catch the largest cod. Unfortunately in recent years the cod stocks have declined almost certainly due to commercial fishing pressure, and we can’t rely on catching enough cod to match the prize table.

Whiting are the substitute fish, if we don’t catch enough cod to win all the prizes, the heaviest whiting are eligible.

At the end of the day, the competing anglers gathered in the Marina Bar to see who had caught what. Steve Kelly, the Marina Berthing Manager organised the event and Peter Churchill, skipper of “Moonshine” was asked to present the prizes.

Top prize was won by Ian Mitchell with a cod of 13lb 3oz; second was Eric Binding with a cod of 10lb 4oz and third was Tom Baker with a cod of 9lb 7oz. A total of five cod won prizes, the remaining prizes were awarded for whiting. Ladies Prize was won

by Hayley Ellis and Junior Prize was won by Deano Ryan, both with heaviest whiting in their category.

Something very unusual happened during the competition. Organiser Steve Kelly was

trying to catch a cod or a large whiting when suddenly he hooked into a very large sole. These fish are normally summer visitors, normally feed at night and are normally caught only on tiny hooks.

Nobody told this fish! It weighed a whopping 2lb 9oz, a new SMAC record.

We would like to thank Steve Kelly for organising such a successful day, the local businesses that supported the event and of course all the anglers, local and visiting who took part.

Although cod are not plentiful there are still some to be caught. Solent marks have been more productive and Jason Gillespie shows a very healthy looking 12lb cod.

Whiting are here in big numbers, and among them are some 2lb plus fish which are more welcome for the table. Large pout are around and they are also worth filleting because if you are relying on cod for supper you may go hungry.

Some anglers are blaming sea temperatures for this, and catches such as Tim Andrews’ December garfish (usually a summer visitor) supports this idea.

However, looking back at the archive charts available from the weather stations on Brambles Bank and Chimet (Bracklesham Bay) the recorded sea temperatures in previous years don’t look much different – some warmer, some colder by a degree or two.

Conger are out from the reefs and wrecks prowling open ground in large numbers, ranging from straps to 40lb plus fish. If you like a tussle, good. If you don’t like conger you will probably feel frustrated at the rate your expensive cod bait is being devoured, because when conger are roaming they are there in large numbers.

I suppose having some residual summer fish around is some compensation for the lack of cod. Steve Kelly’s sole, plaice, garfish and Luke Scott’s big gurnard all contribute to some very mixed bags being caught at the moment.

Paul Lovegrove 4th Prize

Tim Andrews Garfish

Peter Churchill Whiting Jason Gillespie Cod

Deano Ryan Junior Prize

Luke Scott Gurnard

Eric Binding 2nd Prize

Hayley Ellis Ladies Prize

Ian Mitchell Steve Kelly Peter Churchill

Tom Baker 3rd Prize

Ian Mitchel 1st Prize Cod Competition

Steve Kelly club record sole 2lb 9oz

16 Email: editor@seaanglingnews.com

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BURNHAM ON SEA REPORT

By Richard Saxby Very little action out from Burnham in the last few months but we have managed to hold a competition for the first time in a while. The first cod from local marks have been landed and those numbers should in‐ crease now until the end of the spring. The xmas period historically was a time for a really big cod so hopefully over the next month we will have some more settled con‐ ditions to try and find one.

We have just held our AGM with all com‐ mittee members agreeing to carry on for another year. We have also had a new addi‐ tion to the committee with Ian Tench taking on the role of Junior secretary. Last year our junior membership was an impressive 11 boys and girls so he may have his work cut out!! There is another busy fixture list for next year with competitions both at Burnham and at away venues throughout the year.

Sunday 24th 9 boats launched with 18 members and 5 guests. Conditions were great for a change but the fishing was a bit below par. The ebb provided steady fishing but once the tide turned it tailed off with very little caught in the last couple of hours.

There were 4 cod brought back to the scales with a few more returned along with a few lsd. Winner on the day with a lsd of

2lb 5oz and 77%. Second went to Alex Wharton with a nice cod 13lb 1oz and 73% which also took the pools. In joint 3rd were James Devey and Anthony Georgiou with lsd of 2lb 1oz and 69%. Andy Reeve also weighed in a nice cod of 9lb 5oz.

With so little opportunity to get out on the boats lately some members have been try‐ ing their luck on the beaches. Jamie and Anne Lock have probably put in more ses‐ sions than most and Anne was rewarded with a nice cod of 7lb 8oz, a new pb and also beating hubby Jamie again.

Fish of the month for November sponsored

by Thyers Tackle of Highbridge was won by Nigel Devey with a cod of 15lb 2oz and 84%.

The next club comp is our Presidents cup on 26th January The next club meeting is on Thursday 16th January at Burnham Motor Boat and Sail‐ ing Club on the sea front, pop along if you are interested in joining a friendly club.

You can keep up-to date with latest news and catches and all things fishy on our facebook page and website Burnham Boat Owners Sea Angling Association.

APPLICATIONS ARE NOW OPEN FOR WHEELYBOAT FUNDING, MAKING FISHING AND ANGLING ACCESSIBLE FOR ALL The Wheelyboat Trust and the Angling Trust are delighted to announce the second round of funding for four wheelchair ac‐ cessible Wheelyboats is now open to angling clubs and fisheries across the UK. The two organisations launched the first round of funding in March 2019, of which three fisheries are to receive their very own Coulam 16 Wheelyboat as a result. The successful applicants were St Andrews Angling Club (Scotland), Wimbleball Trout Fishery (Devon) and Ravensthorpe Reser‐ voir (Northampton). Now, three brand new Coulam 16 Wheelyboats are being built for each, enabling disabled anglers, and wheelchair users in particular, to enjoy fish‐ ing and angling independently, possibly for the first time.

Now, the second round of funding is avail‐ able, so angling clubs and fisheries are in‐ vited to apply before Saturday 4th January 2020, when applications close. All the in‐ formation needed can be found online: ht‐ tps://grants.anglingtrust.net/ Andy Beadsley, Director of The Wheelyboat Trust, says: “This new partnership really embodies the ethos of The Wheelyboat Trust, and reflects the reason why the char‐ ity was founded in the first place…Our Founding Trustee Alan Faulkner had the idea of creating a Wheelyboat after one of his friends, Bill Buchanan, was left wheel‐ chair-bound following an accident. They loved fishing together, and Alan didn’t want this to change following Bill’s accident, which is why the Trust, and Wheelyboats, were born. Over the last 35 years we’ve been working hard to ensure that fishing, boating and any other water-based activit‐ ies are accessible to everyone, whatever their mobility. We know how fantastic Wheelyboats are to those who operate them, so we hope angling clubs and fisher‐ ies from all corners of the UK will apply for one with this new round of funding, and hopefully this time next year their anglers will be reaping the benefits!”

The Wheelyboat Trust offers two purposebuilt angling boats - the Coulam 15 and the Coulam 16 – of which 27 are already used on fisheries all over the UK and Ireland.

Through this funding a total of seven ap‐ plicants will receive a Coulam 16 Wheely‐ boat, which is almost identical to the standard Coulam 16, but it is built with a hydraulic platform in the middle of the boat that lowers the angler from gunwale height to floor level. To board, the angler wheels

Alex Wharton cod 13lb 1oz

Anne Lock cod 7lb 8oz

Sea Angling News, January 2020

Andy Reeves cod 9lb 5oz

up a short ramp onto the platform, where a lever is pressed that lowers the platform.

Once at floor level, the angler can then po‐ sition themselves at the bow or stern. The Coulam 16 Wheelyboat can be driven from a wheelchair and, once on board, the dis‐ abled angler can operate the Wheelyboat entirely independently.

The Coulam 16 Wheelyboat is very versat‐ ile; boarding is possible from a floating pontoon, jetty or from a bank – though a longer ramp might be needed for the latter.

It can accommodate three people and the maximum outboard motor is 10hp. It’s de‐ signed for angling on still waters (on the drift or at anchor) and although its wide beam makes it unsuitable for rowing very far, it can be used on a river if motored to the swim or pool and anchored up.

For salmon fishing, where a boatman rows and the angler fishes from the stern, a Coulam 15 is recommended. Two Coulam 15 Wheelyboats already operate on the River Tweed (which borders England and Scotland), and applications can be made for this model instead of the Coulam 16, if preferred.

The Wheelyboat Trust has raised £35,000 in grants from the Peter Harrison Founda‐ tion (£30,000) and Lord Barnby’s Founda‐ tion (£5,000) to support this new initiative with the Angling Trust. It is with huge thanks to both that the seven Wheelyboats will each be discounted by £5,000, bringing the cost of each boat down to the same price as the standard, non-accessible, ver‐ sion of the Coulam 16.

In addition to this partnership and providing Wheelyboats to fisheries and angling clubs, The Wheelyboat Trust also supplies a range of Wheelyboat models to Sailability groups, outdoor activity centres, special educa‐ tional needs schools, sailing and power‐ boat schools and youth and community groups – to name a few - so that anyone, at any age, with any disability, can enjoy being out on the water.

The Wheelyboat Trust relies on the support of individuals, companies and charitable organisations to fund its activities. Dona‐ tions can be made in a variety of ways in‐ cluding online at www.wheelyboats.org/donate.html.

To find out more about The Wheelyboat Trust, visit www.wheelyboats.org

Sea Angling News, January 2020

BRISTOL CHANNEL / WATCHET

Email: editor@seaanglingnews.com 17

RECENT CATCHES ABOARD LORNA DOONE

RECENT CATCHES ABOARD SEAFIRE II

Gavin with a cod. Inset: Andy with a Blonderay

WEST SOMERSET HOTEL Watchet’s best angler friendly family run Hotel Bed & breakfast , Drying room Freezer facilities , Packed lunches in request And a great harbour town pub for a drink after a hard days fishing West Somerset Hot el Swain Street Watchet TA23 0AB

Tel: 01984 634434

Tom with a double figure cod

18 Email: editor@seaanglingnews.com

BRISTOL CHANNEL / MINEHEAD

Sea Angling News, January 2020

BRISTOL CHANNEL BOAT REPORT

By Tom Wright the addition of an increased number of Whiting, some Blonde rays, a few Spurdogs and still some Smoothhounds.

Continuing west and the next stretch between Minehead and Hurlstone has seen sizeable Conger Eels, Blonde rays, whiting and possibly the largest concentration of Cod to date. Finally ending up in Porlock bay we have seen some incredibly hectic days here with large concentrations of Whiting clearly bringing in the larger predators. Conger Eels in excess of 40lb have been taken regularly, large Bull Huss, Spurdogs and more.

It is most definitely winter in the Bristol Channel as anyone who’s been out on the boats can testify with many cold days made feel even colder with some significant wind chill at times.

The fishing has been pretty hot at times however. Cod will of course be the main talking point for local and visiting anglers alike with the stretch of coast between Watchet and just west of Minehead being so famed for sizeable specimens. With specific reference to the cod fishing, it has been so close to being a fantastic year with many more double figure fish caught than recent past years. We are just lacking the numbers of smaller codling to boost bag numbers and offer everyone onboard the chance to catch cod during their trip. It has an air of specimen hunting about it, you know there are sizeable cod to be caught but it’s a case of who will be the lucky few to latch into a good sized fish.

On the competition front, the annual Minehead Skippers Cod Cup took place on December 1st. With two prizes up for grabs it would see one angler scoop both. On a relatively tough day the prize for total length and the heaviest fish went to Kevin Sully. Kevin managed a total length of 126.5cm’s and a heaviest fish of 12lb 11oz.

A final mention on the Cod front to finish with is a couple of dates of interest rapidly approaching. On Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th January the Minehead Cod Challenge will be held with a first prize of £1000. The report of which will feature in the next addition of the Sea Angling News.

Focussing on specific parts of water, the areas between St Audries and Blue Anchor have given sport in the form of the ever present Thornback rays, smaller Conger Eels and Cod. Blue anchor, Dunster and ‘The Gables’ are offering similar but with

Cod - Teddie Boy

Cod - Teddie Boy

Cod - Teddie Boy

Spurdog - Teddie Boy

Huss - Teddie Boy

Cod - Teddie Boy

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Cod - Osprey

Blonde ray - Osprey

Sea Angling News, January 2020

Cod - Osprey

Cod - Osprey

Alan with a fine blonde ray Alykat

A great eel of 49lb for Neil Jackson ( left) AlyKat

Alan Hincke good cod Alykat

BRISTOL CHANNEL / MINEHEAD

Email: editor@seaanglingnews.com 19

Spurdog - Osprey

Nice cod for Alan Hodge AlyKat

Double figure Huss Alykat

Historic Harbour-side Venue ●Newly refurbished iconic pub and hotel with its fantastic Minehead harbour-side setting. ●Fine ales & river cottage style food & traditional hospitality at its best. ●Fishing parties welcome.

Tel: 01643 703 516 www.theoldshipaground.co.uk Spurs a plenty aboard AlyKat

Andy Evans shows a cracking smoothound AlyKat

ER L E Y V A W GUEST HOUSE

Proprietor: Ian Daniels 10 Tregonwell Road, Minehead TA24 5DT www.bandbminehead.com Email: idaniels@btconnect.com The spurs are in Alykat

Cod - AlyKat

ANGLER FRIENDLY ACCOMMODATION TEL: 01643 703193

20 Email: editor@seaanglingnews.com

I

S LEY ’ HE R O L E NORTHNEY MARINA II K HAYLING ISLAND

Tel. Ian or Bex on 07795 538933 Email: iandale@kelleys-hero.com

Sea Angling News, January 2020

NEWS

11m South Catamaran with twin 330hp Iveco Turbo Charged Diesel engines. She has a top speed of 26 knots and a cruising speed of 18 knots. The boat is fully coded to MCA CAT 2, and is licensed to carry 12 passengers.

RECENT CATCHES ABOARD KELLEY’S HERO

www.lastlaughcharterfishing.co.uk Individuals / Small and Large Groups Catered for Email: johntomkat1@hotmail.com Mob: 07796023881 Owner: John Skeggs. Port: Lymington FREE PARKING! Now taking bookings for winter Cod fishing!

A full day targeting Cod / Whiting, or you can split the day for Cod / Bass.

Plenty of options!

LAST LAUGH CHARTERS

By John Skeggs

Nearly the end of 2019, a very challenging year which presented us with plenty of unsettled weather and strong winds, leading to many cancelled bookings.

Hey Ho ! we’re never going to change it.

Let’s hope we get more settled spells of weather in 2020, I’m already looking forward to it!

Fishing during 2019 has been pretty good for Plaice,Bream, Smoothounds, Bass, Rays,Spurdogs and Tope. Other species,

Pollack, Cod and Whiting have been a little spasmodic.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my customers both old and new, for your custom over the years, wish you all a very happy Christmas and a healthy Prosperous New year.

Still some availability over the Christmas holiday period (07796023881).

Looking forward to fishing with you in 2020.

Bass - Last Laugh

Bass - Last Laugh

Whiting - Last Laugh

Whiting - Last Laugh

Whiting - Last Laugh

Whiting - Last Laugh

Brian Dale 1938 -2019 Founder of Kelley’s hero along with Ian. Top angler, and mentor. Always willing to share knowledge, as well as a joke. Will be missed by all who had the pleasure to fish with him and all that knew him.

Cod - Last Laugh

Undulate ray - Last Laugh

Sea Angling News, January 2020

WEST WIGHT

Email: editor@seaanglingnews.com 21

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RECENT CATCHES ON VALKYRIE

By Art savage

This month i think most of the charter boats have found it rather challenging, what with the weather and the lack of Cod over our patch. The Solent is still producing a few Codling and the occasional ten pound fish, but i have seen it better Outside of the Solent we are all dreaming of that 30lb plus Cod to take your bait, and it did happen for one angler aboard Mantaray. This fantastic fish weighed in at 34lb and looked in prime condition, This is the first and only 30lb plus fish caught this year (To my know� ledge) and what keeps us out there. Chan� nel Whiting were also in good numbers with fish up to 4lb, the best so far this year.

However the Conger were relentless with over thirty a day and some tipping the scale at fifty pounds.

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Whiting - Private Venture

Blonde ray - Private Venture

Pollock - Private Venture

Undulate ray & Turbot - Private Venture

Undulate ray - Private Venture

22 Email: editor@seaanglingnews.com

Very early December saw black bream still being caught from the usual Portland inshore bream marks plus from ledges to the west of the Island.

This is very unusual as bream are expected to leave the area in early November and provided a welcome surprise bonus. There were plenty of bass about in the Portland Race and on wrecks to the west of Portland with various lures fished on the drift taking them.

General inshore reef anchoring sessions were very productive for whiting up to 3lb with the Adamant Shoal Bank being the best area. This Bank is a 30-45 minute steam out from Weymouth so allows plenty of fishing time. The reef marks are also producing plenty of small conger - as seems the case in many south coast sea areas – and rays, especially undulates.

Offshore, when the weather has allowed, the wrecks are producing a reasonable run of Pollack in the 5lb – 8lb range with an occasional low double-figure fish. There’s been a sprinkling off bass on these wrecks.

The weather has, of course, been grim with boats going to sea on rare occasions so it’s little wonder to read that skippers are off trying other places to fish. Making the media news with amazing catches is ‘Fish-On’ skipper, Josh Simmonds. If you haven’t done so already, it’s well worth following his adventures in Mexico on Facebook.

The fishing is superb and extremely exciting with insane fighting rooster fish, dorado and jack crevelle plus many other species to test your skills.

Looking at the current forecasts (Dec 14th) for the Weymouth/Portland area, the winds look horrible so I sincerely hope that by the time this report is published in January there would have been a few chances to go to sea. The Boxing Day to New Year was always an important week for the charter fleet with whiting trips to the west of Portland providing the real bonus with a good chance of a cod. Late December’s offshore wrecking trips were great for the big winter pollack.

January 2020 arrives with eager anticipation of political manoeuvring by our newly re-elected ‘majority’ Government which has promised to bring about the return of ‘our’ fishing grounds….and no doubt a sensible re-

WEYMOUTH

Sea Angling News, January 2020

interpretation of the bass retention regulations. Hmmmm…..dreams, eh?

The first month of the year is all about whiting on the inshore marks and pollack on the wrecks. There is also the very real likelihood of good bass fishing. January and February can produce the bigger blonde rays with the Kidney Bank very likely to produce the occasional cod, decent bass, stray conger and bonus prized turbot. The big baits fished in tide at anchor can produce a good range of species; as ever it’s all down to the weather allowing the boats to reach this excellent area.

Wrasse enthusiasts look forward to these two opening months of the year.

The wrasse’s mouths have hardened up and the favoured bait becomes crab with velvet (fiddler) crab the favourite for the bigger specimens.

Wrasse in the 4lb to 7lb range can be expected. Follow the advice of your skipper; it’s quite surprising how large the baits and hooks sizes should be if a serious attempt at a specimen wrasse (over 5lb) is to be made.

Undulate ray - Atlanta

Bream - Atlanta

Whiting - Atlanta

Bream - Atlanta

‘When I were a lad’ inshore fishing in Weymouth was no-where near as productive as it is now. This may come as a surprise to those fondly reminiscing about fish jumping into the boat on the way out to the marks. It wasn’t like that at all.

Boats back then (in the 1960’s to early 1990’s) were given commercial licences and were expected to turn to commercial fishing with trawling high on the list during the winter months.

There was a good deal of sustained inshore trawling (and netting) activity.

This commercial fishing activity has all but finished now with the inshore angling fishery over the last 20 years steadily improving with a whole range of species now available and with the fish close it on such marks as mentioned, the Adamant Bank being one such. With this in mind, it’s well worth maintaining enthusiasm and putting up with the cold conditions because the rewards can be good with plenty of rod-nodding action!

As ever, Thank You to all you anglers who continue to support the Weymouth and Portland charter fleets.

It has not been the easiest of years and we must all surely be hoping for much better things to come. Good Luck for January and the coming year of 2020!

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WEYMOUTH

Sea Angling News, January 2020

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Skipper - Keith Brown

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Email: editor@seaanglingnews.com 23

RECENT CATCHES ABOARD FINS-UP

24 Email: editor@seaanglingnews.com

READERS GALLERY

READERS GALLERY Notable fish caught around the coast

WINNER Stephen Bishop recently caught this conger in the Bournemouth and district club shore comp at Chesil cove it weighed 40lb 14 oz and was returned and swam off. Bait was squid lug on a 1/0 up and over it set a new club record witnessed by M. Parsons club president.

Sea Angling News, January 2020

GOOD NEWS FOR BLUES BAD NEWS FOR MAKOS

The future of UK blue shark angling looks a little more secure after ICCAT (the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, which also manages shark species) agreed science-based catch limits for both southern and northern blue shark stocks for the first time.

The limits cap the amount of blue sharks that can be landed and will help to prevent overfishing of blue sharks which have recovered over recent years. This has led to a thriving recre‐ ational fishery in Cornwall after many years of decline and a near total ab‐ sence of blue sharks in the 2000s due to commercial overfishing.

Anglers and charter skippers have tagged thousands of blue sharks over the years in order to improve our un‐ derstanding of shark populations in UK waters. Catch data from a recreational angling tagging programme in Ireland was even used by ICCAT to derive their 2015 stock assessment.

Many of the tagged sharks have been recaptured and killed off the Azores or in the Bay of Biscay by the Spanish longline fleet demonstrating how im‐ portant international agreements are to successfully manage blue sharks and how susceptible the UK’s recreational blue shark fishery – which brings mil‐ lions of pounds in tourism revenue to coastal communities – is to commer‐ cial fishing.

While the news for blue sharks was positive the outlook for mako sharks is bleaker than ever. The EU and USA pri‐ oritised short term fishing interests and blocked calls by other ICCAT members

for a ban on retaining short fin makos which are now critically endangered in the Atlantic.

Both the EU and USA undermined in‐ ternational conservation efforts by call‐ ing for exceptions allowing hundreds of tons of makos to continue to be landed.

To make matters worse, a proposal to strengthen the ban on shark finning was blocked again by China and Ja‐ pan, despite widespread support.

Scientists warn that even with a ban on landing makos being introduced today the stock will still take four to five dec‐ ades to recover meaning any realistic chance of makos being caught recre‐ ationally again around the UK won’t happen until 2070, if at all.

David Mitchell, the Angling Trust’s Head of Marine raised the issue of both blues and makos with Liberal Demo‐ crat MEP Chris Davies, chair of the European Parliament’s Fisheries Com‐ mittee, at a meeting with him recently.

The Angling Trust is working with one of its members clubs, the Shark Angling Club of Great Britain, to pro‐ mote and protect the future of UK shark angling.

Simon Thomas, conservation officer for the Shark Angling Club said of the ICCAT outcome: “While any restriction on the commercial capture of blue shark is very welcome, the rejection of proposals to regulate commercial ex‐ ploitation of the endangered mako is hugely disappointing. Again, the shortterm interests of the commercial fleet have led to decision makers ignoring clear scientific advice. The future ap‐ pears bleak for this iconic species."

Sea Angling News, January 2020

BACK TO BASICS

BACK TO BASICS By Martin Wood This month I though as we are now in the grips of winter properly we are all looking for Cod but there is information all over about catching Cod and we have focused already on this subject so thought I would look at another fish and winter target which we don't see so many photos of which is spur dog.

Spur dog can be caught all over the UK and Ireland and with them going to weights of 17lb 8oz from the shore and 25lb 2oz from the boat they can be a welcome change from the normal dogs and whiting that can plague winter fishing and I see them as the winter version of smooth hounds.

With spur dogs you need to be careful in a couple of ways, with them being a type of shark they don’t possess a skeleton and only have cartilage so best practise is to hold them like a smooth hound supporting the stomach and held with the other hand near the base of the tail.

Please also note that with spur dogs you need to be careful so you don’t get hurt yourself as they can writhe and wriggle a lot and have a spur on the dorsal fins and also on the gill covers which does contains a toxin that is painful if you get caught and has been fatal in the past although rare and mainly the young and old being most at risk.

So getting down to business what do we need to catch one of these great fish?

They are not the monsters they are made out to be although at the business end they are rather toothy and these are sharp which can bite through lighter hook lengths.

You can catch Spurries on many baits mainly of the fish variety or on squid and they like fast tidal waters, they mainly feed on the bottom on crabs or small fish like whiting, codling, herring, flatfish but will take most baits if presented when they are around and feeding whether solitary or in shoals good baits can be chunks of mackerel, bluey and squid cocktails of these but I've had them take triple sand eels when fishing for bass and Codling.

Email: editor@seaanglingnews.com 25

ANGLING TRUST LOBBIES GOVERNMENT FOR FAIRER DEAL ON BASS FOR SEA ANGLERS

Tackle wise you don't need to go overboard I use 20lb mainline and 70lb shock leader and I tend to use 100lb mono rig body and hook length to stop any biting through the rig if you go much heavier then presentation starts to suffer in my opinion many opt for wire traces but I have never had 100lb mono bitten through.

I tend to use either a strong 4/0 - 5/0 Aberdeen hook or a Sakuma manta 540 or 545 single hook pulley rig with a 2.5ft hook length I tend to use the single hook as its less hassle when unhooking toothy prey.

I tend to use these hooks as they have a longer shank than many other hooks and in turn keeps the teeth away from your line, I also tend to load 4 oval lumo beads with a rubber stopper above the hook just to cover the mono and add some attraction and protection and find that the green lumos attract the best, but that’s another conversation of which some agree and some won't and we'll look at a bit further down the line.

So until next month Tights lines and happy hunting

EU Fisheries Ministers will meet in Brussels on Monday and Tuesday (Dec. 16th and 17th) to agree catch limits for 2020. Bass is once again on the agenda and the Angling Trust is lobbying the UK government to agree that members of the public fishing recreationally should be allowed to keep up to three fish per day for seven months of the year – from April to October.

Calculations show that allowing the public to retain three fish per day would still be within the catch limits scientists have said will allow the stock to continue rebuilding.

However, the EU Commission – which publishes proposals which the EU Ministers then negotiate – has recommended a roll-over from 2019, meaning anglers would continue to be subject in 2020 to keeping just one fish per day from April 1st until the end of October.

The Angling Trust has provided evidence showing that the impact of increasing the bag limit, and giving the angling public a greater share of the catch, is justifiable scientifically, and socially, after recreational catches were cut to the bone in recent years, and extinguished altogether for most of 2018.

The Angling Trust and other members of the European Anglers Alliance are aiming to restore as quickly as possible the angling public’s share of the bass catch to approximately 25 per cent of

the total – where it was in 2014 before the EU management measures were introduced. On current stock levels that would equate to a three fish bag limit for 11 months of the year.

The Commission’s proposed roll-over would mean commercial landings would remain the same in 2020, although the UK government is pushing for more bycatch from commercial fishing to be landed and sold. We are pushing the UK government to takes urgent steps to explore how to reduce this bycatch, but this has so far fallen on deaf ears.

David Michell, Head of Marine at the Angling Trust said: “The science shows us that three bass for seven months of the year in 2020 would be sustainable and within the limits set by the scientists. However, experience has shown us that evidence often counts for nothing in the shady and secretive process of political deals that the EU negotiations involve.

"This should be the last year the UK takes part directly in the EU process. So, while it’s frustrating to be in this situation once again, we are looking forward to breaking free from this charade when the UK leaves the EU and the UK can start making its own decisions."

The outcome of the decision for 2020 is expected in the early hours of Wednesday (Dec 18th) morning.

SEA FISHING RIGS

CHECK US OUT ON EBAY https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/thecodfather1979?_ trksid=p2047675.l2559

26 Email: editor@seaanglingnews.com

WEST SUSSEX

By Alan Brown

NEWS

Sea Angling News, January 2020

HOOKED ON LURE FISHING The groundbreaking new hardback from Merlin Unwin Books (RRP ÂŁ24.99)

Nice little bass while fishing a Sussex low water mark targeting thornies

COMPETITION BEST LURE CAUGHT FISH PRIZE The Red Gill is for the heaviest lure caught fish. The editors decision is final. The claim will have to be backed by photographic evidence and weighed on accurate scales. Full name and address will be needed plus details of where the capture was made. If you wish to have your photo returned please enclose an S.A.E. Entries to Red Gill competition, Sea Angling News 102 Periton Lane Minehead, Somerset TA24 9BP or email: editor@seaanglingnews.com.

Usual competition rules apply

Packed with brilliant tips and ideas from Dom and saltwater lure fantatic Andy Mytton, this new book reveals a huge range of species to target and exciting tactics to try. Over three years in the making, it also features the amazing underwater photography of BBC Wildlife star Jack Perks. It is available now from various book and tackle shops, or signed from www.dgfishing.co.uk

Sea Angling News, January 2020

LRF / NEWS

LRF REPORT

CERMAQ LAUNCHES IFARM PROJECT IN JANUARY

By Richard Salter I’m beginning to sound like a broken record now but yet again, the weather has some‐ what limited the fishing opportunities and made for some pretty challenging condi‐ tions when we did manage to get out!

I’ve actually only managed one session this month, where we headed down to Brix‐ ham, hoping to avoid the muddy waters of the estuaries. Although it was fairly dry and calm on the day, there was a pretty big swell running which meant we were met with water coloured somewhere between chocolate and coffee initially!

Fishing within the shelter of the breakwater, it was clear we would have to employ tac‐ tics to give us the best chance of finding the fish, or the fish finding our lures in somewhere between zero and a few inches of visibility....

This meant dropshot and Carolina rigs, to allow us to fish with a bit of extra weight to counter the swell and present a lure near or on the bottom whilst still using small hooks to enable us to target as large a range of species as possible, anything would do on this day!

Lure choice was basically anything scented that we thought would stand out amongst the murky waters! I started off with a small piece of red Gulp Isome as red has been pretty effective for me previously in similar conditions.

Dropshotting in tight against the side of a slipway wall actually quite quickly found a few aggressive Rock Gobies so that was a blank avoided!

The rest of the day was spent working slowly along the inside of the breakwater, the clean ground at the start has produced a good mixture of species for us this year,

Email: editor@seaanglingnews.com 27

but we could only find a few Sand Gobies on this occasion, with a slow, stop-start re‐ trieve along the bottom. We then fished al‐ most the entire length of the breakwater with barely a bite. Tough fishing!

The end of the breakwater had a fair amount of current running round it and offered the chance to try and use this to our advantage. Reds and darker colours weren’t really doing it here so on went some bright yellow XL isome. Casting out to our left and letting our lures swing round with the current, just staying in contact with the odd twitch gave us our busiest spell of the day with a mixture of Pollock, Pout, Poor Cod and Whiting all taking a liking to a banana coloured lure. The fish were pretty modest in size but gave a good ac‐ count of themselves in the deep water, us‐ ing the current to their advantage and trying to make it to the safety of the large boulders that now line the end of the break‐ water.

That’s been my only session this month and I think many fellow LRFers have found it similarly difficult to get out there although some of the Plymouth lads have managed to find a few Flounder in the harbours and I’ve seen the odd report featuring Wrasse and a few mini species.

We’ve had some excellent fishing in December and January in previous years, particularly in the estuaries with some pretty frantic action catching Schoolies and Pollock and even Coalfish down here in Devon, with the odd Mackerel, Herring and Garfish thrown in too, so there is hope if you can get out there!

Tight lines and all the best for 2020!

iFarm monitors each salmon using machine vision, establishing a health record for each individual, and can sort aside the fish that needs follow up

The iFarm project has been scaled to the approval for four licenses, and will be launched in Steigen, Nordland county, in January. The first transfer of fish to the sea is planned for autumn 2020.

Cermaq's strategy is to strengthen fish farming in coastal areas in order to utilize the natural advantages for production of sustainable food in the ocean. The future of Norwegian farming depends on the success of achieving the combination of sustainable and cost-effective production. iFarm is a unique technology for individualbased farming and is therefore central to Cermaq's strategy to strengthen coastal farming. iFarm is based on image recognition and identification of each individual salmon and individual follow-up of each fish, e.g. a fish with sea lice can be sorted aside for treatment. At the same time, the need to handle the fish is significantly reduced, thus improving fish health and welfare.

"This is the best Christmas present we could get," says the euphoric and happy Fish Health Manager in Cermaq Karl Fredrik Ottem, who will lead the iFarm project.

Cermaq, BioSort and the Directorate of Fisheries have clarified how the project can be scaled to four development licenses. It also means that the project will not progress as far toward commercial testing as originally planned.

“The goal of the project is to develop prototypes with the central functions of iFarm to clarify whether it is technologically possible to operate individual salmon farming in net pens in the sea. An important part of the iFarm project is to document how the fish's behaviour and welfare will interact with the new technological solutions and functionalities”, says Karl Fredrik Ottem.

BioSort, the company which develops the sensor-based solutions in iFarm, has already conducted several tests at the Institute of Marine Research at their research centre at Matre.

“The key in iFarm is that we monitor each salmon using machine vision, establishing a health record for each individual, and can sort aside the fish that needs follow up.

This will be useful not only for farmers, but also for authorities and consumers. We are looking forward to getting started, and several new positions will now be filled”, says Geir Stang Hauge, CEO of BioSort.

“Individualised farming, which is at the heart of iFarm, truly addresses animal welfare. If successful, this could have a great potential for the authorities if the administrations will have access to realtime information about, e.g. biomass, lice situation and disease conditions at each sea site”, says Chief Veterinary Officer Kristina Landsverk in the Norwegian Food Safety Authority.

Cermaq invests NOK 580 million in iFarm.

According to the plan, the first fish will be transferred in the autumn of 2020 to a sea site in Steigen municipality where the first stage of iFarm will be installed.

The development of iFarm is a unique opportunity for suppliers of equipment to take part in an exciting and high-tech development project in Norway.

“The iFarm project is a big boost for the region. We estimate that this will mean 17 positions only in Cermaq during the up till 6-year project period. iFarm is being developed locally, we will develop the actual construction in the net pen and machine learning here. This is a great buildup for Cermaq in Nordland and for the entire aquaculture industry”, says Cermaq’s regional director Snorre Jonassen, who has been central to the design of the iFarm project.

Cermaq is one of the world's leading companies in farming of salmon and trout, with operations in Norway, Chile and Canada. Cermaq is a fully owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation with head office in Oslo, Norway.

28 Email: editor@seaanglingnews.com

COSTA RICA / NEWS

Sea Angling News, January 2020

ROVING RODS - LEE BAY

By Martin Wood

Casting in to the surf - -Lee Bay.

RECENT CATCHES FROM JACKPOT SPORT FISHING

Looking towards the beach - Lee Bay.

LEE BAY: night 1 The chosen venue this month was in Devon at Lee bay a well-known summer venue with boats that come in close for good fishing with wrasse, bass and other summer species it just sits in the middle between Woody bay and Wringcliff bay.

Lee bay is a small secluded bay with mixed landscape where cliffs and trees come right the seas edge either side of you there are rocky outcrops and a fant‐ astic beach in the middle with a sand bot‐ tom and surf that screams bass!

It's midday and time to go and the weather has taken a massive turn for the worse which wasn’t on any of the fore‐ casts with 40mph wind from the North and gusting more meaning it will be in the face.

I packed for a rough day but if it was at all fishable then I would and if it wasn't then I would scope it all out for the little things that I couldn't see or get from google maps for another day.

To get to Lee bay the A39 was taken to Lynton and then you have to go through a

stunning area called the valley of the rocks its worth going just to see the scenery around this area its nothing short of stun‐ ning you have towering rock formations either side in a valley like big rock guardi‐ ans.

So eventually here and all parked up and making tracks down to the beach from the car park it’s a small 5 minute downhill walk which is going to be a horrible walk back up!

It is quite steep but all paved so no issues, it’s also worth a mention that there are public toilets here as well at the top of the hill.

Getting down onto the beach and the first thing you see is a very diverse beach that can be fished at all states of the tide al‐ though I had planned a session LT to HT you have rock ledges either side of you giving some potential fishing platforms but certainly wouldn’t advise it after seeing the sea rough and hitting these I think you would be swept off them if bad weather is due at all.

NEWS

Sea Angling News, January 2020 The first part of the beach is a mixture shingle and larger stones and the odd strewn boulders which leads down to some rock structures and then it opens out in front of you with a clean sand beach which slopes upwards at first then levels out and starts to dip down and grades off getting deeper. because of this I instantly noted that it was something to watch for as the tide comes in as soon as the tide hits the crest of that brow on the flood it will run straight over and down so move well back!

The first thing I noticed was there was a mean rip from right to left I had 6 Oz gripped leads on but may as well have been 3 Oz bombs a quick change to 8 Oz gripped and I was just holding bottom ... good enough!

The weed here is extremely heavy and not helped with the wind and weather pulling it all in after just a few minutes my line looked like an old school washing line fully loaded.

Nothing was biting after trying several areas of the beach and differing the ranges as much as I could I figured I would put a large bait out and use the walk back tech‐ nique so I could see if anything was bey‐ ond the horrendous surfy conditions.

I elasticated three dirty squids together and made it as streamlined as possible cutting them three quarters of the way down like you would a crab bait and made

them longer and more streamlined to sit behind the lead better.

Using the Hatteras cast I fired it as far as I could manage the sea was approaching the crest of the sand beach so I moved well back to the stoney and shingle mix part of the beach and glad I did as it came raging down over the slope.

Once again the weed started to collect even though the rod was as high as pos‐ sible, with nothing happening for a couple of hours using this technique I thought to myself one more cast and I'll call it a day (always one more cast) so same again but 40 minutes in and I get a great bite slammed the rod down and it certainly woke me up making me stand to I jumped on it and lifted into the rod the line again coated in weed but this time there was a strong fight on the end if this was the only fish today it was going to be healthy judging by the rods bend... pulling the fish in which I was sure was a good bass was coming in slowly but surely then I get to see this silver bar make a jump out the shallow surf trying to shirk my hook thrilling to see and makes you instantly re‐ ligious you pray to God it stays on! It must be 7 lbs plus lovely!

Bringing through the shallows which was a fair distance today when all of a sudden a 8-10ft tree trunk rolls onto my line trapping it on some stones not able to do anything now but wait for the next wave to come and sweep it off for me due to it being too dangerous to wade in that close to the crashing surf but no such luck the 20lb line shears and snaps against the rocks watching the bass swim away back to sea was painful a fair amount of cursing was done turning the evening air blue on the walk back time to think and calm down just re rig and fire another final cast out, re rigged and ready to roll it was sent sky‐ wards after about 30 minutes nothing then as I started to clean down and pack a few bits away all of a sudden the rod had a heavy multiple pull downs and line was moving away and being takenoff the reel at quick pace, tightening the drag and lift‐ ing into the rod and winding down I felt a solid connection at the end with a few heavy head nods which turned out to be another short lived joy the line went slack and the fish was gone on pulling the rig back in to take off and pack away the hook length had been bitten through which was 80lb mono so guessing it was either a Spur or a Tope.

Well I guess that’s life and we all get days like it but decided it was to be a gameshow day blanket blank.

I would try again another day after the series of storms forecast had passed over and would fish by night instead but the

Dogfish

Dogfish

The wind is blowing hard into my face and the swells and surf are nothing short of ex‐ tremely angry whilst being stunning at the same time I figured as I was here I may as well try and see what can be gained so with my crazy boots on and waterproofs keeping most of the weather out as it de‐ cided to rain most of the time too I figured the fish gods were seeing just how serious I was with some extreme angling!

It was one rod weather so I got the Cen‐ tury WR300 out it’s very good in wind its stays true and doesn’t wobble around and yet isn't a complete poker as it registers bites very well, All set up and opted for a pulley rig of which I Quickly cut and shortened the hook length as it was so rough and churn‐ ing, whipped on whole squid elasticated to keep streamlined so I could punch the bait out.

Stood well back for safety in the lapping reaches of the surf I was punching out around 60 yards max as the wind was making it impossible but it was out there at least if I fired it high to get over the surf the wind sent it straight back and if too low casting into the wind it just hits the surf waves face and goes nowhere.

Email: editor@seaanglingnews.com 29

venue appeared very promising indeed.

NIGHT 2: Arriving at the same point and state of tide only this time it would be dark and feeling confident of the how the beach lays with how the tide comes In and the weather was now much calmer so I decided I would go for a feature this time and de‐ cided on a bunch of rocks to the right hand side I set up with just one rod In case I was caught short and needed to move quickly.

With the Century WR300 out and a Penn Battle 2 loaded with 30lb whiplash braid I fired out a long range squid and worm bait on a pulley dropper it was slow going at first and with last light approaching I watched a great colour show of reds and dusky orange behind thick grey clouds in the sky again no one was about peace and quiet unlike a lot of marks.

Time to get a coffee on the go, no sooner was the coffee poured the rod tip was rat‐ tling away furiously as I'm bringing the brew to my lips, quickly putting it down and in the excitement I lost half of it, lifting into the rod the major rattling was rewar‐ ded with not a lot of bend on the rod and no feeling on the other end so guessing it was a dogfish then it broke the water 20 yards out sure enough it was that all too familiar shape of a dog fish now curled up, bringing it in to unhook it was only a small dog but a fish none the less already doing better than the last visit!

A quick change of rig with a pre-baited pulley dropper, I cast the bait out into the now dark night sky, photo already taken I unhooked the dog and walked to the now closer surf line and let the dog go back home.

A short walk back over the stones and boulders and get to finally have that half a cup of coffee another slow twenty minutes pass and figure I'll bring the bait in for a change and get some fresh stink out there as I get up the rod tip starts rattling away again, lifting into the rod again I knew it was another lazy dog on the other end.

Another quick unhooking and photo on the box then it was time to go back, the water was at the boulders edges now so re‐ leased him back.

Back to the tripod for a change of rigs and figured I would try another angle and closer in if the dogs are at range so with the same again squid and worm on size 3/0's and dropped just on the edge of the sand and boulders just 30 yards out.

A quick move back of around 40 yards as the tide was racing in now and gaining ground at a very fast rate, I'm not sure if I knocked the rod or had a bite as I was se‐

Strap Eel

curing the tripod legs, then it goes again giving 3 big nods on the tip a quick strike and it feels different and then I start to feel the vibrations of an eel spinning on the end the weather has picked up and the surf is up a bit with the wind blowing also knowing I need to be careful on the rocks as it was getting slippy with the drizzling rain that was passing over now and then I eased the strap of about 2lb up and over onto the boulders, taking it back to the box to get the hook out and a quick photo although he had other ideas this eel was camera shy it didn’t want to be photo‐ graphed and kept wriggling between rocks and under them sliming me up when I tried to reposition it, so with that a quick photo on the floor and then a struggle to get it back to the shoreline as he was one very slippery customer, I eventually got him in without hurting him or myself.

I got back and went to wipe my hands on the rag and.... it’s blown away! I can't see it anywhere looking around.... marvellous!

Covered in eel snot I wiped what I could on the boulders and the rest ... you guessed it on my legs they are due a wash anyway.

Altering the range again I pinged it to around 50 yards out which was now just beyond the boulders sat on the sand an‐ other brew in the hand and enjoying what would be the last drink of the night not to my knowledge at that point a couple of light nicks on the rod tip just dipping it slightly so leaving it to develop and then it went for it rattling away constantly a typ‐ ical whiting or pout bite, after reeling in easily it was a whiting and a small one at that but bites were picking up and then it remained this way all night very cast see‐ ing fish all the other fish seemed to disap‐ pear and turned into a whiting festival in total over 30! I gave up trying to keep track after fish 30.

I decided to call it a night as it didn't show any sign of letting up or changing and was just wasting bait as I couldn't even find a decent sized whiting and felt like I was banging my head against a brick wall with trying different ways to keep them off the bait to no avail but at least it was a good busy evening with only a couple of bites missed which was more than likely whiting as well.

In my opinion I do believe that Lee bay has some great potential with so many great areas to fish in a small condensed area and is a comfortable venue to fish as long as the wind isn't coming from the North.

I will be visiting it again over the winter to see what can be eeked out on more fa‐ vourable tides.

Tight lines till next month.

Whiting

30 Email: editor@seaanglingnews.com LDSFC

Evening Solent Fishing Trip.

On Monday 18th November eight Lymington and District SFC members left Lymington Yacht Haven aboard local charter boat “Voyager” skippered by Kev Duell for an evening trip in the Solent.

Target species for the evening were cod.

With only a short distance to a chosen spot in The Solent and in darkness headlamps soon lit up the back of the boat and rigs and baits were prepared.

No sooner had Kevin dropped anchor than the first of many conger eels were being caught by all. This turned out to be the pattern for rest of the trip with bait constantly being taken by the eels, though this did keep all the crew warm with the action given on a cold but calm evening.

As the tide eased up other species were being caught, namely several large pout, dogfish and whiting. Although our target fish were not caught it was a good trip for all and the usual banter was exchanged between newer members and the more experienced who were always willing to assist and pass on knowledge which is what these trips are all about.

Thanks to Kevin for all his knowledge and assistance plus cups of coffee aplenty.

2nd Barry Littlefair 9 fish 9lb 6ozs 3rd Alan martin 5 fish 8lb 11ozs, 4th Denis Mapes 5 fish 5lb 12ozs 5th Derek Smith & Brian Ansell both 3 fish 4lb 8ozs.

As this was the last competition of the club year the results for the year were as follows: We fished 9 competitions with a total of 10 club members fishing these competitions over the year.

Yearly results: 1st Barry Littlefair 171pts 2nd Adrian Moody 168pts 3rd Alan Martin 158pts 4th Denis Mapes 153pts, 5th Derek Smith 150pts 6th Brian Ansell 130pts 7th Phil Morgan 24pts 8th Robert Miness21pts, 9th Molly Moore 12pts 10th John Keen 5pts.

Shirley SAC

Here is the result of our latest match which was a Shallow Boats comp held on Sunday 17th November.

On a perfect calm day at last 11 members went afloat with 8 weighing in 80 fish for 26k 000gms. species were Pout, Dogfish & Whiting with the best fish being a nice Pout of 1k 100gms caught by Adrian Groves.

RESULT. SENIORS. 1. Adrian Groves 13 fish 7k 040gms 2. Jim Merritt 14 fish 5k 760gms 3. Bob Patterson 15 fish 3k 980gms 4. David Neil 8 fish 2k 420gms 5. Barry Instrell 11 fish 2k 180gms No juniors fished.

NWASAC

Shallow Boat Competition 17th November.

On Sunday 17th November Lymington & District Sea Fishing Club held its last Shallow Boat competition of the club year.

Six club members signed on and all six managed to find the fish which consisted of dogfish, pouting and whiting. A total of 35 fish were caught for a total weight of 43lbs 12ozs. The heaviest fish of the competition was a whiting weighing in at 2lb 11ozs (76.78% of a specimen fish) caught by Alan Martin.

Only edible fish are retained. All other fish are put back into the sea immediately. The weather was very good, dry and sunny with a light but chilly wind.

Results: 1st Adrian Moody 10 fish 10lbs 15ozs

4. Danny Parker (Wallasey), 23 whiting, 2 dabs, 333.

5. Steve Bonner (Wallasey), 18 whiting, 6 dabs, 330.

6. Kevin Morgans (Birkenhead), 16 whiting, 5 dabs, 279.

Heaviest roundfish: P. Warrington jr, codling, 51 cms, 1290 gms.

Heaviest Flatfish: P. Warrington sr.

(Wallasey), flounder, 32 cms, 400 gms.

Winner Paul Warrington

Match Report: Sun 17.11.19, NWASAC Personal Members Allan Marklew Fur & Feather Match, Seacombe Promenade, Wallasey, (23 rods).

LDSFC

Sea Angling News, January 2020

RESULTS

The annual festive match, fished as a rover, saw healthy catches of mainly whiting and dabs on a damp day on this section of the Mersey Estuary which gives great views of the Liverpool waterfront.

However, it was a cod of 51 cms, caught early in the match, that helped local rod, Paul Warrington jr. win the match with a bumper measure and release, weight conversion catch of of 410 pts.

England International, Bill Lindfield, used all his skills to try to catch Paul up and nearly succeeded, even with the absence of a bonus fish. Local all rounder, Kevin Martland completed the podium, not far behind Bill with England Youth squad member, Danny Parker in fourth, just ahead of 2019 double NWASAC champion, Steve Bonner.

To make it a family affair, Paul Warrington’s father, also Paul, caught the heaviest flatfish, a flounder of 32 cms., landed on his first cast.

As is customary, there were table prizes for all the participants, after the closing whistle.

Results: 1. Paul Warrington jr. (Wallasey), 16 whiting, 4 dabs, 1 codling, 410 pts.

2. Bill Lindfield (Greasby), 26 whiting, 1 flounder, 1 dab, 389 pts.

3. Kevin Martland (Wallasey), 23 whiting, 3 dabs, 359.

numerous troublesome straps), dogfish, pouting and whiting.

1st Most Fish Points, Lea Windsor 28pts 2nd Best Fish, Steve Harwood, Conger (102cms) 3rd Most Species, Adam Cullingford (2), Conger and dogfish (on a tie breaking con‐ ger of 100cm) 16th November 2019, Saturday Rover 17.00-23.00.

On a cold still night most anglers chose to fish at West Bexington. Although fishing was rather slow ultimately reasonable catches of dogfish and whiting were had.

Lea Windsor just pipped Adam Cullingford for first place on a tie breaker of 1cm on their longest dogfish.

1st Most Fish Points, Lea Windsor 16pts 2nd Best Fish, Tony Colls, Codling(1020g) Pictured left.

3rd Most Species, Adam Cullingford (2), Dogfish & pouting.

LDSFC

Results: 1st Malcolm Stote 19 fish 14lbs 3 1/8ozs, 2nd Chris Ellis 13 fish 10lbs 3 3/8ozs 3rd Andy Hopkins 13 fish 8lb 2.4ozs, 4th Paul Dibden 8 fish 6lb 3.4ozs 5th Steve Pitman 6 fish 4lb 15 1/2ozs 6th Luke Woodford 5 fish 3lb 9½ozs, 7th Terry Kempton 3 fish 2lb 1 1/8ozs.

Shingle Bank League Competition 3rd December.

On Tuesday evening Lymington & District Sea Fishing Club held its 1st Shingle Bank League competition of the club’s 2020 club year. Twelve club members signed on and ten weighed in fish consisting of dogfish, whiting, pouting and small eyed and undu‐ late rays. A total of 38 fish were caught for a total weight of 59lbs 15.3ozs. The best fish of the competition was an undulate ray weighing in at 12lbs 5ozs caught by Billy King.

All fish are measured and weighed and then released immediately. Only edible fish are retained.

Results: 1st Billy King 17lbs 5ozs 2nd Paul Dibden 7lb 10 3/8ozs 3rd Ollie Hopkins 5lb 15.8ozs 4th Tom Bagnall 4lb 1.2ozs, 5th Chris Ellis 3lb 15 3/8ozs 6th Malcolm Stote 3lb 5 5/8ozs 7th Danny Panks 2lb 7.8ozs, 8th Ben Daniel 0lb 15.2ozs 9th Luke Woodford 0lb 15ozs 10th Keith Panks 0lb 14ozs.

Shirley SAC

NWASAC

LDSFC

Shore Competition 23rd November.

On Saturday 23rd November Lymington & District Sea Fishing Club held their last competition for 2019 season. This was a rover competition in which seven club members signed on and all seven managed to catch fish. The weather for the evening was not bad with a light north easterly wind and light rain all evening. Fish caught con‐ sisted of dogfish, pouting and whiting and a total of 67 fish were caught for a total weight of 49lbs 6 5/8ozs.

The best round fish of the competition was a dogfish of 1lb 14 1/8ozs caught by Chris Ellis. Both flat fish and specimen fish pools are rollovers to the next competition.

Here is the result of our latest match which was a Shallow Boats comp on Sunday 1st December.

11 members went afloat with 10 weighing in 93 fish for 29k 992gms. species were Flounder, Pout, Dogfish, Bass & Whiting with the best fish being a Bass of 2k 892gms caught by Tim Swanborough. The weight coming from the Club's Bass Weight to Length chart after the fish was re‐ leased.

SENIORS. 1. Bob Patterson 17 fish 4k 840gms 2. Barry Instrell 15 fish 3k 760gms 3. Adrian Groves 10 fish 3k 580gms 4. Jim Merritt 9 fish 3k 490gms 5. David Neil 11 fish 2k 900gms 6. T Swanborough 1 fish 2k 892gms No Juniors fished.

West Bay SAC

28th November 2019, Thursday evening at West Bexington 19.00-22.30.

A break in the weather produced very pleasant fishing conditions, clear, mild and windless, but still a strong sea running.

The species caught were conger 6 (plus

Match Report: NWASAC John E. Williams Two Day Festival, Sat 30th November & Sun 1st December, Otterspool Promenade (115 rods) Once more, this annual major event attrac‐ ted a star-studded entry from the four corners of Britain and Ireland complemen‐ ted by a healthy local attendance. Both days were blessed with fine dry weather al‐ though catches were somewhat down on previous years.

Nonetheless, some big bags of whiting were recorded on many pegs with bonus cod and codling making an appearance, Phil Glover’s specimen of around 10-0-0 from Zone B on Saturday being the standout fish of the weekend.

While members of the large Manx contin‐ gent featured strongly in the results, Sun‐ derland anglers triumphed with Ken McCoy and Gareth Gardiner winner and runner-up respectively, over the two days. Third place went to Welsh International and former World Champion, Alan Price who beat Grimsby’s Mark Taylor on countback, to split their identical zone points scores.

RESULTS / FIXTURES

Sea Angling News, January 2020 The success of yet another John E. Willi‐ ams Festival was greatly aided by the man‐ agement and staff of the Otterspool Café for providing an excellent match HQ, Mal Scullion of Bassboots for his continuing support and all those who donated prizes for the draw.

Results: Saturday Zone A: 1. Kenny McCoy (Sunderland), 7 fish, 218 cms. 2. Ian Griffiths (Eastham),6 fish, 181. 3. Mark Hurcombe (Whitstable), 5 fish, 136. 4. Jim Morris (Wervin), 4 fish, 135.

5. Nigel Conlon (Port Sunlight), 4 fish, 119.

Zone B: 1. Gareth Gardiner (Sunderland), 11 fish, 322. 2. Gareth Griffiths (Barrow-inFurness), 11 fish, 280. 3. Alan Price (Rhyl), 8 fish, 236. 4. Bob Gascoigne (Cramling‐ ton), 7 fish, 218. 5. Gary Hughes (Rhos-onSea), 6 fish, 187.

Zone C: 1. Jon Wade (Isle of Man), 16 fish, 445. 2. Phil Simpson (Pensby), 16 fish, 432.

3. Paul Bonner (West Kirby), 13 fish, 375.

4. Danny Parker (Wallasey), 11 fish, 289. 5.

Mal Scullion (New Brighton), 9 fish, 248.

Zone D: Gordon Thornes (Connah’s Quay), 25 fish, 744. 2. Peter Cracknell (Worthing), 23 fish, 670. 3. Andrew Dugdale (Peel), 23 fish, 639. 4. Mark Leece (Peel), 20 fish, 580.

5. Neil Cutler (Gateshead), 20 fish, 578.

Longest roundfish: Phil Glover (Isle of Man), cod, 74 cms.

Longest flatfish: P. Bonner, flounder, 26 cms.

Day Winner: Gordon Thornes.

Sunday Zone A: 1. Mark Taylor (Grimsby), 9 fish, 238. 2. Neville Charlesworth (Hornsea), 5 fish, 192, 3. Alan Smith (Lancashire), 6 fish, 175. 4. Steve Crowder (Wallasey), 4 fish, 150. 5. Ian Brookes (Birkenhead), 4 fish, 127.

Zone B: 1. Simon Drayton (Gainsborough), 7 fish, 219. 2. Mike Flanagan (Wallasey), 6 fish, 181. 3. Ian Ashcroft (Isle of Man), 6 fish, 175. 4. Steve Smith (Whitehaven), 6 fish, 172. 5. Phil Ord (Wallasey), 6 fish, 171.

Zone C: 1. Ian Rycroft (Isle of Man), 13 fish, 403. 2. K. McCoy, 10 fish, 324. 3. Colin Duke (Onchan), 11 fish, 299. 4. G. Gardiner, 9 fish, 266. 5. Mike Gilbert, 9 fish, 252.

Zone D: 1. Aidan O’Halloran (Limerick), 29 fish, 830 cms. 2. Mike Emery (Onchan), 21 fish, 611. 3. Bill Lindfield (Greasby), 19 fish, 577. 4. Joe Perry (Litherland), 18 fish, 533.

5. Shane Russell (Old Colwyn), 18 fish, 511.

Longest roundfish: N. Charlesworth, cod‐ ling, 52 cms.

Longest flatfish: Paul Warrington jr. (Walla‐ sey), flounder, 33 cms.

Day Winner: Aidan O’Halloran.

Lucky Peg: John Senogles (Isle of Man) Overall Two Day results: 1. Ken McCoy (Sunderland), 3 zone points.

2. Gareth Gardiner (Sunderland), 5 zone points.

3. Alan Price (Rhyl), 10 zone points.

Phil Glover- cod

Ken McCoy

Paul Warrington - longest flat fish

LDSFC

Large Boat Competition 1st December 2019 It was a case of third time lucky for eight Lymington & District Sea Fishing Club members when they managed to get afloat for their December competition aboard Private Venture, skippered by Art Savage.

With the two previous monthly competi‐ tions having had to be cancelled due to weather, strong force five winds on this oc‐ casion were from a north-easterly direction, resulting in the sea state being quite reasonable.

A mark just off the Needles was initially chosen and this produced congers up to 25lbs as well as just sizeable whiting, dogfish, and rays. As the tide eased, a move was made further out and this produced a few pouting in addition to the earlier species caught. Alto‐ gether the fishing was slow but steady throughout the day.

1st Arran Harmer 74 pts, 2nd Malcolm Ger‐ rish 70 pts, 3rd Alec Harmer 59 pts,4th Ed Taylor 55 pts, 5th Derek Smith 34 pts, 6th Brian Dawkins 28 pts, 7th Colin Saunders 11 pts.

The Large Boat champion for 2019 was Ed Taylor, with Arran Harmer runner-up.

Alec Harmer

LDSFC

Recreational mid-week Fishing Trip 4th Dec. On Wednesday 4th December Lyming‐ ton & District Sea Fishing Club held a midweek recreational fishing trip aboard Lym‐ ington based charter boat “Voyager” skippered by Kevin Duell.

With light winds and calm seas and a neap tide Kevin headed for a mark five miles south of the Needles Lighthouse, where there was a chance of catching different species although the main target was cod. Kevin dropped anchor, we put our lines over and waited and waited. Talk about all quiet on the western front well

Email: editor@seaanglingnews.com 31

that was an understatement. After over an hour the tide picked up and the fish started coming aboard. Tony Knight caught a blonde ray, Robin Lane an undulate ray of 9lb 8ozs, Nelson Phillips a blonde ray 12lbs 10ozs. A few whiting and congers were also caught.

Kevin was not happy with the mark so moved to “The Spoils” hoping to find cod.

But only more congers were caught. Harry Gray a nice one of 20lbs 5ozs and a few whiting and pouting. Mark Boldick a pout‐ ing of 2lb 10ozs.

Thank you to Kevin Duell for a good day out.

It wasn’t long before a number of differ‐ ent species were coming aboard including whiting, bass and pouting. As the tide picked up a few notable fish were caught.

Chris Ellis caught a whiting 2lb 4ozs, Andy Southwick a bass 5lb and whiting 2lb 14 3/8ozs, Mark Boldick a thornback ray 5lb 9ozs and Robin Lane an undulate ray 12lbs 9ozs. But the best fish of the day went to Richard Day with a cod of 11lbs.

Thank you to John for a good day’s fishing.

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32 Email: editor@seaanglingnews.com

TACKLE SHOPS DIRECTORY

Sea Angling News, January 2020

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DORSET

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