Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2023 i Sea Angler

Escapism – that’s what fishing is all about, and at this time of year it’s needed more than ever. Once the overindulgence of Christmas is over the bleakness of January and, for many, the pretty limited fishing opportunities in the UK at this time of year, lead the mind to dreaming about warmer climes or bucket list fishing fantasies. This issue we bring you six adventures in sea angling from around the world; some closer to home than others but all designed to inspire you or transport you, even if it’s for only a few minutes, to a new adventure or fishing trip of a lifetime. Whether you are fortunate enough to be considering taking an overseas trip in 2023 or not, there’s something for everyone, from Scandinavia to South…

As I walked across the pale-yellow sand towards the water’s edge, a ghost crab stopped what he was doing, looked at me and quickly scuttled a safe distance away. The sand was warm underfoot, the palm trees were swaying gently in the breeze and although the sun hadn’t fully risen, it was clear that another hot day beckoned. I put my rod together, added a 5cm Gunki Whiz lure to my size 10 jighead, walked out a few feet into the warm water and cast out several yards into the calm sea. I tightened my line and started retrieving; my rod pulled round as something had grabbed my lure almost instantly. The fish wasn’t very big and as to what it was remained a mystery. After a few seconds, I…

In 1488 the intrepid Portuguese navigator and explorer, Bartholomew Dias, set sail from Lisbon on a marine adventure to seek the sea route to the east. His ill-fated journey ended off the south-eastern coast of South Africa in the vicinity of the mouth of the Keiskamma River, situated near the present day city of East London. Dias was faced with a threatening mutiny if he did not do a u-turn and sail for home. His small fleet was running low on food and fresh water and the notion that the world was square with a dreaded drop-off into oblivion was also uppermost in the minds of the sailors. Many believed the tumble into obscurity was imminent. Dias succumbed to the threat. It was only 10 years later, in 1498, that…

Ramsgate is the only Royal Harbour in the UK and received the Royal seal of approval from King George IV in 1821 in appreciation of the town’s hospitality when he embarked with the Royal Squadron from Ramsgate to Hanover. Located on the North Sea coast of Thanet in east Kent it is only 35 miles from the French coast. It used to be the second busiest port in England carrying car passengers and freight to and from Ostend in Belgium, but the service was suspended in 2013 leaving a large part of the port feeling like an eerie, mothballed ghost town. With the closure around the same time of Kent International Airport at nearby Manston you can understand why the area might feel like it’s been down on its luck!…

YOUR FISHING CATCHES FANCY WINNING A NEW ROD AND REEL COMBO from Okuma by catching a great fish? In our catch competition, your target is to catch one over the weight given on our nominated species list. If you do, enter our contest and you automatically stand a chance of winning either our shore or boat prize. Each issue we award a superb Okuma package to the captor of the best shore fish and best boat-caught fish, both chosen on merit. Prizes are awarded at our discretion and Okuma reserves the right to send alternative prizes. Steve Dunbar FISH: 600lb bluefin tuna BAIT: Spreader bar LOCATION: Plymouth DATE: 7th December John Meaton, Tavistock FISH: 6lb 2oz ballan wrasse BAIT: Orange shad LOCATION: Land’s End DATE: 8th December Declan Vermaat, Co.…

If you are lucky enough to be thinking of taking an overseas holiday this coming summer or autumn, give Gibraltar, Britain’s outpost in the Mediterranean, plenty of consideration. The stretch of water called the Strait, which joins the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, is at this point only eight and a half miles wide between the Rock of Gibraltar and the Moroccan coast. It offers a huge range of species, including some really spectacular and powerful predators. Gibraltar has supported the European Federation of Sea Anglers since its inception in 1962 and it staged the European Boat Championship on its behalf four years later. The EFSA Club on Line Wall Road has a nice lounge, restaurant bar and a great welcome awaits visiting UK anglers. ‘Gib’, as it is fondly known…

The ultimate catch for a big game angler is a fish weighing more than 1,000lb, a feat first achieved off Tahiti 82 years ago. Since 1939 the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) has been the official keeper of world records and lists four 1,000lb plus 'granders’ from Chile, Peru, Nova Scotia and the Great Australian Bight that have resisted challenge. FISH: BLACK MARLIN - 1,006LB WHERE: PANAMA WHEN: 1949 This grander was caught by Louis Schmidt who had only one arm and one leg, making the catch all the more extraordinary. For a reason unstated his claim for the record was denied. A picture of the captor with the fish can be seen in Mike Rifkin’s book History of the IGFA published in 2005. FISH: BLUE MARLIN - 1,040LB WHERE:…

IN ASSOCIATION WITH Rod advice or where to buy, email: seafishing@century.uk Website: www.century.uk Anything less than the best bait puts us at a serious disadvantage, so no compromises there. The rig itself is another matter. Judging by readers’ comments it would be great to economise. Which boils down to a key question: can simple DIY rigs hold their own against the latest technology? The only way to find an answer is by testing rigs on the beaches we fish for the species we normally target. Some folk find that high-tech rigs deliver clearly superior catches. But that is not the case for me. After decades during which I have tested just about every rig accessory that ever made it into the tackle shops, I don‘t think it makes any difference…

10: ALL IRELAND COD CHAMPIONSHIPS, YOUGHAL BEACH, 30 anglers ■ Result: 1st JP Molloy, Cork, 462 points (3); 2nd Derek Kenrick, 443 points (not registered); 3rd Stephen O Donovan, Cork, 350 points (2). Biggest fish was a thornback ray, 74cm, landed by JP Molloy. 10: BLACKDOWN SAC OPEN, MINEHEAD (QUAY PUB) TO BLUE ANCHOR SLIPWAY, 37 anglers ■ Result: 1st Simon Springell, Watchet, 9 dogfish and a pout; 2nd Steve Liddel, Watchet (2); 3rd Julian Shambrook, Torquay (2). 10: HASTINGS AC OPEN, 9.30AM-2.30PM, 40 anglers Fished in bright sunshine with very little wind the cold wasn’t too bad with some warmth in the sun. After several calm days the sea had cleared right out making conditions very hard indeed. Very few fish of any description were caught, flatties making up…

Several species of wrasse are found along British shores, including corkwing, cuckoo, goldsinney, rockcook and, of course, the mighty ballan. Ballan wrasse (Labrus bergylta) are by far the biggest, and are found across the eastern Atlantic. They are one of the most beautiful and tropical-looking species in our waters and come in a range of colour morphs, from natural brown and greens to vivid yellows and reds. In the south-west wrasse can be caught all year round, but they are often more finicky in winter, and your tactics will have to be refined in order to catch. However, ballan wrasse are a fantastic species to target, as they are extremely hard fighting and have been caught to over 9lb from the UK shore. Their varied omnivorous diet means that they…

GREAT S EA ANGLING VENUES Your insight into the best shore and boat fishing that the UK and Ireland have to offer Sker Rocks is a substantial slab of rock sandwiched between Morfa Beach and Fall Bay to the west of Porthcawl. If you look at the plethora of deep rock pools, cracks, crevices and deeper gullies at Sker, along with the access it provides to deeper water offshore, you’ll very quickly realise just why this is such a popular and productive shore venue. So much so that it is recognised as being one of the most productive shore marks along the South Wales coastline. The only reason more anglers do not fish here is because accessing the rocks involves a long walk from the nearest car…

The Hands Deeps is, as its name suggests, a reef in deep water off south Cornwall. A trio of pinnacles rise as great spires of rock to within 50ft of the surface in a depth of 170ft at low water springs. The glorious reef is eight-and-a-half miles south of Penlee Point and much rated for big pollack which will be on the sheltered side of the pinnacles, principally during the spring tide. Most are caught with the locally termed ‘flying collar long trace rig’ with a hook of 2/0 to 4/0. The pollack feed well until the sun has sunk below the western horizon. Slack water occurs two-and-a-half hours later than it does in Plymouth Sound and the tidal flow is very strong during spring tide periods. By early July…

In association with Tom Baron, aged 15, caught eight species on lures including two 40cm plus bass, a 2lb flounder and six other mini species on an early December session in Plymouth. On only his second trip fishing with his dad, Logan Campbell caught a 4lb 8oz cod fishing at Arbroath. Sienna, aged seven, and Mason, aged five, back out after the wrasse again at Portland and collecting their own crabs to use as bait. Jack, aged six, with his first ever catch after a long session at the end of Brixham Breakwater with a couple of tasty mackerel on feathers. Myles Hodgson, nine, and Mackenzie Armstrong, 16, both juniors fishing the Seaham Sea Angling Club Christmas Competition finishing 4th and 5th out of 120 Senior anglers. £25 TACKLE VOUCHER…

I’ve just returned home from a week’s fishing in Panama hosting a group of seven anglers. It was a week during which we encountered what can accurately be described as ‘testing’ conditions. Throughout the entire time one song played continually on a loop inside my head; thankfully it was a decent song! The chorus of You Can’t Always Get What You Want from The Rolling Stones 1969 album Let It Bleed perfectly sums up our week! I saw her today at the reception A glass of wine in her hand I knew she would meet her connection At her feet was her footloose man No, you can’t always get what you want You can’t always get what you want But if you try sometime you’ll find You get what you…

The bigeye trevally, Caranx sexfasciatus, also known as the bigeye jack, great trevally, six-banded trevally or dusky jack, is a member of the jack family, Carangidae. Bigeye trevally are found in the tropical waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans ranging from South Africa in the west to southern California and Ecuador in the east, including Australia to the south and Japan in the north. The current IGFA All-Tackle record for this species is held by a fish that weighed 31lb 8oz, caught in the Seychelles in 1997. A very similar species, the horse-eye-jack, is found throughout the Caribbean. Bigeye are predominantly an inshore fish, inhabiting reefs down to depths of around 100m in both coastal zones and offshore islands, often venturing into estuaries and sandy bays as juveniles. At…

YOU PAY ONLY £50 Get Shakespeare’s Agility Saltwater FD 40 Reel for just £25 (RRP £55.99). Why not pair it with the 8ft 6in Shakespeare Agility 2 HRF Rod for just £25 (RRP £61.99) and save a whopping £61.98 off the RRP? The Agility 2 HRF rod is a new concept rod designed to work small lures and jig heads up to 40g from boats targeting smaller ground-dwelling species such as wrasse, pollack, cod, coalfish, gurnards, bream, plaice, haddock and whiting. The rod is also ideal to use from the shore around rocks, marinas, harbours, breakwaters and piers, in search of species such as wrasse, small bass and pollack. * UK Mainland only. Please ask for rates beyond. £6.99 p&p for orders under £50. THREE EASY WAYS TO ORDER 1.…

Just before I moved towns many years ago I had found an area where shellfish built up during big southwesterly gales. Many years after that move we had a proper old-fashioned autumn with a series of gales sweeping along the South Coast and I decided to fish the area once more. The first couple of trips went reasonably well with bass to 5lb on big shellfish baits. A friend recommended trying squid to sort out a bigger bass. It did appear to make a difference and the upper size increased to 7lb 8oz. The next year I waited patiently for the first big gale. Later in the year than I would have liked, a big blow came and I once more travelled back to the beach of my youth. Two…

JANUARY 2023 PENN PLUS ● 7: Colwyn Bay Victoria Sea Anglers winter series North Shore 7-11pm, Darren Jones 07595375663 ● 7-8: ASSO two-day open, Hythe, Princess Parade, 10.30-3.30pm, limited pegs, weight to measure, catch & release to size limits, book in on Friday night and Saturday morning at Fountain pub, call 07917 978020 to prebooked a peg. ● 8: Amble Sea Angling Club Open, 8-Midday, tickets £12 all classes. Headquarters, registration and weigh in at the Radcliffe Club, Charles Street, Amble, NE650RA. Boundaries South side Seahouses harbour to Combo’s pier excluding all rivers and piers, contact Les Weller 07900695538. ● 8: North Norfolk National Sea League Round 4, Salthouse, Tony 07780 793141, thomasamt@btinternet.com ● 8: Wales Air Ambulance Open Amroth Pembrokeshire fishing 11-3pm, £10 plus optional pools and team competition,…

What is the chance of finding a job in the hobby that you love? Very slim, but for Kentish specialist angler, David Wood-Brignall, the dream did come true. A very forward thinking and innovative angler, Dave has had many wins in competition fishing here and in the Isle of Man and has now moved on to become a top angling guide based in Norway. This began several years ago when he won a trip to Norway after winning the World Dab Fishing Championships at Dungeness. This competition was run by local anglers to donate money to the RNLI. The sums raised were staggering and most years over £4,000 went to this most worthy of causes. What’s more, the local care homes benefited by being able to cook some super fresh…

In November this year I was hosting a group fishing in Panama. It was still dark one morning when I found my way to the lodge’s voluminous coffee pot, poured myself a steaming cup of that life-sustaining brew, and settled down to quietly check emails and social media before setting off for the day’s fishing. Life was good, I had received nothing that couldn’t wait until I returned home, but then my scrolling finger was stopped dead in its tracks. A notification from Dorset Police requested information about recent sightings of Nick Fisher, who had unexplainably gone missing. The following morning I opened my iPad to be greeted with the gut-wrenching news that Nick’s body had been found. SCREAMING REELS September 26, 1993, saw the broadcast of the first episode…

GREAT SEA ANGLING VENUESYour insight into the best shore and boat fishing that the UK and Ireland have to offer In 1881, with the project completed, Mount Batten Breakwater began to protect Plymouth’s historic Barbican area from heavy seas sweeping in during southerly gales. In the 1920s the Peninsula, as it was termed, became a Royal Air Force station destined to be of considerable stature. One of its airman was T E Shaw, otherwise known as Lawrence of Arabia, who happened to be a friend of my wife’s father. My father-in-law was terrified every time he rode pillion on the great man’s Brough Superior motorbike which in the end was the cause his death in 1935. During the Second World War an Australian squadron of Sunderland Flying Boats known as…

“Tsk” tuts Rachel, my wife. “Bloody post’s getting later all the time.” It’s true, it has gradually been clunking through the letterbox later and later over the last few years, so that we’re now lucky to get any mail before lunchtime. Do I care? Not really. Should I? Probably, though I can’t really bring myself to ascribe much importance to such a minor facet of my life. It’s not that I’m lazy; I never have been. In fact, I’m the total opposite: always unable to sit down for too long without getting twitchy. Unless I’m sitting on my seat box that is. That’s a whole different kettle of fish, pun most certainly intended. I don’t know what it is, but these days I can’t seem to inject much urgency into…

After enjoying our trip to the isle of Wight in 2020, we planned on another adventure away again on my boat, Galloper. We set aside a couple of weeks in mid-September with rough plans of what we would like to do. Once again, our trip was at the mercy of the weather so plan as we might, we couldn’t book anything in advance in case the forecast was unfavourable. As with any angling trip, half of the fun is in the anticipation. We spent ages talking about what we hoped to do, where we hoped to go and what we hoped to catch. I spent a while studying charts and we all spent a small fortune between us on tackle to cover every occasion that might present itself. We kept…

It is a rainy early June morning when Bert and I meet at Rotterdam airport heading for Spain. Chaotic scenes may play out at Amsterdam’s airport, Schiphol, but the journey from here is extremely relaxed. We’re on a mission. The plan is to start fishing from the Spanish town of Denia of the Costa Brava with the final destination being the Balearic Islands where we will spend the night in one of the many bays on the islands. We will be targeting bluefin tuna, albacore and little tunny as well as bottom trolling for grouper, amberjack and dentex. Once arrived at the airport of the pleasantly warm Valencia, we are warmly welcomed by Elise, an English lady who has lived in Spain almost all her life and has a relationship…

ASK THE EXPERTS When sending your question, please remember to include your name and address JAMES MADSEN Bristol Channel angler James Madsen is here to solve all your shore angling problems. DAVE LEWIS Based in Newport, South Wales, our contributing editor Dave answers boat fishing questions. DAVID MITCHELL David has worked on sea angling conservation and policy for the past 13 years at both UK and european level. HENRY GILBEY Angler, blogger and photojournalist Henry, based in Cornwall, is our lure expert. BEN BASSETT The Plymouth angler and blogger will provide answers on the sport of light rock fishing (LRF), the go-anywhere tactic. HOW TO ASK US A QUESTION Email: sa.ed@kelsey.co.uk or online: facebook.com/seaanglermag By asking a question you are giving us permission to use your name and where you…

SAKUMA T-BAR DISGORGER New from Sakuma is a metal T-Bar disgorger, a simple yet hugely functional piece of equipment that is worthy of a place in any angler’s tackle box. T-Bars really are a very useful tool to have close at hand and are the most efficient tool for effectively and safely unhooking fish of all sizes. The Sakuma T-Bar features a large ergonomic handle. Fabricated from stainless steel it has an extra strong 10-inch shank, which ensures your fingers are kept well away from sharp teeth! A deep wide gape U at the end of the shank is perfect for working with large hooks. The Sakuma Metal T-Bar offers excellent value for money. ■ RRP £5.99 ■ www.sakuma.co.uk CYANSKY SUPER LONG RANGE TACTICAL LIGHT Giving you maximum distance in…

BOAT WRECK POLLACK February into March is one of the best times for big wreck pollack. They are in prime condition prior to spawning and at their heaviest weights of the year. TIDE TALK It depends exactly which area you’re fishing, but typically, the best fishing will be over the smaller neap tides. The reduced tidal flow means the boat’s drift speed will be slower over the ground giving you longer over the wreck and the fish. The best tides in February fall on the 1st to the 3rd, mid-month from the 13th to the 17th, and right at the end of the month the 27th and 28th, then March 1st to 3rd. Though all the neap tides will produce fish, look at the 1st to the 3rd, and the…