Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2024 i Sea Angler

It’s been a long time coming: finally, the British Record Fish Committee (BRFC), the body responsible for rod-caught record fish in the UK, has bitten the bullet and agreed to accept record claims made by length rather than weight. Goodness knows this has been a long running saga; I remember writing a piece for Sea Angler about this long-running debate at least ten years ago! However, the significance of this change shouldn’t be underestimated. There were very strong opinions on both sides about any changes to a record list stretching back over 100 years. One of the strongest was that of Mike Millman who, sadly, is no longer with us to share his thoughts on the matter. Luckily for Sea Angler readers, BRFC committee member Phill Williams will be explaining…

Putting braid on a fast-running multiplier was something I was tempted to do for several years. I just didn’t dare. The fear of blow-ups the size of a crow’s nest, and braid dug deeply into the spool were the main fears holding me back. It is a rather big progression going from stiff mono to the softer braid, as casting with mono is somewhat a mindless experience in comparison. On the other hand, missed bites and the lack of contact with my rig when using mono were beginning to get the better of me. When I finally encouraged myself to try out braid for shore fishing, it was my two nonmagged ABU 6500 Rocket Chromes that were my guinea pigs of choice. The line was Berkley Fireline in 0.39mm to…

HOW TO ENTER Email only to sa.ed@kelsey.co.uk Please supply these details: angler’s name, age, address, telephone number, email, type of FISH, weight of FISH, where caught, DATE caught, BAIT/rig, whether caught from shore or boat, if from charter boat, give name of boat, port and skipper. Please state if the FISH was retained or returned. Send us your entries and win some great prizes ■ SHORE LURE OPTION: Solaris 4000 or 5000 reel, RRP: £60, Epixor 15-50g rod RRP: £80 ■ SHORE LURE OPTION: Solaris 4000 or 5000 reel, RRP: £60, Epixor 15-50g rod RRP: £80 ■ BOAT: Classic CLX, RRP: £60 Cortez Boat Rod, RRP: £90 ■ SHORE BAIT OPTION: DSA reel RRP: £60, Wave Power surf rod, RRP: £80 YOUR TARGETS... Catch a FISH on this list at…

With the long bank holiday weekend on the horizon, Team Squidward 3 eagerly embarked on a journey from Southampton to Drummore, the southernmost village in Scotland, located at the southern end of the Rhins of Galloway. Our destination: the renowned Clashwhannon Tope Competition, set against the dramatic backdrop of the Mull of Galloway. Excitement and anticipation filled the air as we prepared for this adventure, fuelled by promising catch reports of the arrival of big tope. Before setting off we had a new Vanclaes trailer to configure. This beautifully crafted stainless-steel trailer with pneumatic wheels and disc brakes was a marvel. We were keen to see how it would perform, given that Drummore lacks slipways, with tractor launches from the sandy beaches. We set off early on Thursday morning for…

ASK THE EXPERTS When sending your question, please remember to include your name and address CHRIS KENNEDY Chris is a specimen hunting specialist based on Sark and answers shore fishing questions. DAVID MITCHELL David is Sea Angler’s editor and is an expert on sea angling policy and conservation . BEN BASSETT The Plymouth angler and blogger will provide answers on the sport of light rock fishing (LRF), the go-anywhere tactic. DAVE LEWIS Based in Newport, South Wales, our contributing editor Dave answers boat fishing questions. HENRY GILBEY Angler, blogger and photojournalist Henry, based in Cornwall, is our lure expert. BRIAN PASK Brian is a qualified sea angling coach and casting tutor who works with young people and experienced anglers to improve their fishing skills. SHORE ANGLING Q I am new…

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s the vast majority of my sea angling took place afloat, primarily aboard my own trailered boats. During spring and summer my main target species was always bass. Then, as the leaves on the trees started to change colour as the temperature fell with ever shortening days, the focus of my attention would switch to cod. Rarely would I specifically target other species. During the warmer months I might spend a day or two fishing for tope or smoothhounds, or spend an enjoyable couple of hours drifting a sandbank for plaice and turbot. However, a day fishing for whiting and dabs in a sheltered bay during the winter would be an agreeable option whenever the weather restricted access to the main cod marks. With the exception…

After an hour sitting on my tackle box with my eyes fixed on the tip of my Artico Gladius 4000 I was starting to lose the plot. Then, with no warning at all, the tip just curved over and I had to grab hold of the butt before it was pulled into the sea. It was, of course, another smoothhound from along the Eastbourne beaches. This year has been brilliant with loads of these hard-fighting powerhouses running from just a couple of pounds up to the mid-teens. Since I have had the Gladius 4000 it has improved the pleasure of catching them no end. The X Gladius 4000UK Special is a dream rod to fish with. Despite the lightweight construction, the rod has been designed for the UK angler for…

AQUAPAC WATERPROOF PHONE CASE Not a new item but always very useful, these phone cases help keep your iPhone or Android safe from saltwater ingress. Features ⚫ 100 per cent waterproof ⚫ Talk and hear as normal⚫ Great photos and videos⚫ Touchscreens will work normally⚫ Protection against water, dust, corrosion, sand and mud⚫ Lanyard included ■ iPhone 7+, 8+, XR, 11, 11 Pro Max Samsung S7E, S8 Note 9, 10 ■ RRP: £22.95 ■ www.marinesuperstore.com FIRE SAFETY STICK FIRE EXTINGUISHER The Fire Safety Stick is a manual, portable fire extinguishing device. It uses a Potassium powder jet (a unique method among conventional fire extinguishers) that employs the vaporisation of the powder in the environment followed by the condensation of its extinguishing substance. It works by interrupting a fire’s chain of…

We are increasingly fortunate that modern technology provides solutions to age-old problems. Smartphones have made our lives as anglers infinitely easier than they once were. If you want to maximise your chances of sea-angling success, so much of what you need is available from the app store. We have put together a list of the top ten most useful apps (iPhone and Android) for sea anglers in the UK. WINDY Windy is a highly regarded weather forecasting app that provides detailed and accurate information crucial for various outdoor activities, including fishing. While not exclusively designed for anglers, its comprehensive features make it an invaluable tool for planning fishing trips. The app provides accurate and detailed weather forecasts using various weather models to provide up-to-date, detailed information on wind, temperature, precipitation…

SHORE TRIGGERFISH A top target for species hunters and easy to catch, if you can find them! They live off rock ledges and are also found alongside breakwaters, pier structures and over reefy ground in water over 10 feet deep. TIDE TALK The bigger tides fish best for triggers, so look at the tides dated from the 2nd to the 10th, but increasingly higher tides tend to fish best so the ideal days are the 2nd to the 6th. The second period of the month is from the 18th to the 25th earmarking the biggest rising tides from the 19th to the 23rd. Triggers like some tide run, so tend to appear in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th hours of the flood. They can be caught on the outgoing tides,…

In association with £25 TACKLE VOUCHER WINNERS Fishingmegastore.com awards a £25 voucher prize to each of two winners - the youngster with the best shore fish and another with the top boat catch. The winners can use the voucher to select tackle from Fishingmegastore.com which is based in Glasgow and Edinburgh. ■ Send your Young Rods entries by email to sa.ed@kelsey.co.uk…

The debate over whether quality bait or precise presentation makes the difference in sea angling has been a topic of contention among anglers for as long as I can remember. Some swear by the superiority of fresh, high-quality bait, while others argue that it’s all about presenting a neat bait package in the right place at the right time. However, the one thing that is undeniable is the power of confidence: confidence in your bait choice, tactics, timing and location is often the key to success. During my formative years as a shore angler, I spent countless hours trying to craft the perfect bait packages by hand. Using bait elastic to attempt to keep everything in place, I often ended up with inconsistent results – wobbly hook points and banana-shaped…

Ask any young child to draw a picture of a fish and it’s a fairly safe bet that, without thinking about it too carefully, they will scrawl a loose depiction of a roach or a rudd, even if they’ve never picked up a rod and reel before. Even after many thousands of years of evolution and civilisation, it is as though coarse fish are imprinted within our imagination and our muscle memory and, when we begin to tap into this through the baton-like handing over of the first rod, the tentative reachings of the first cast or the first eye-opening dawn session, we are delving into some wellhead and allowing to flow what has always naturally been there just waiting to rise to the surface. Perhaps it is right that…

Boat anglers throughout Europe routinely use tackle that is far lighter than that used here in the UK. Several years ago I spent a few days fishing off Gibraltar, that famous imposing lump of rock that serves as the northern flank at the entrance to the Mediterranean. Throughout the trip our tackle consisted of little more than spinning rods which incorporated an ultra-sensitive quivertip, matched with a small-fixed spool reel loaded with micro-fine braid; combos which provided incredible sport with the various species of bream and other fish we were targeting. CONCH Our bait consisted of live shore and swimming crabs, the largest hermit crabs I had ever seen, frozen squid and a type of clam the locals referred to as conch, which I was assured were the very best…

The tadpole fish, Raniceps raninus, is a highly coveted catch for any species hunter. It is actually a member of the Gadidae, or cod, family found in the north-east Atlantic around the coasts of France, Ireland and the UK. Tadpole fish grow to a total length of 27.5cm (10.8in). The British shore caught record is held with a fish that weighed just over 1lb 6oz, caught off the mouth of the River Tyne in 2003. The shore caught record is larger, weighing 1lb 12oz, caught off Bangor Harbour, County Down, Northern Ireland in 2005. Tadpole fish are dark brown to bluish-black in colour and look just like a huge tadpole. The first dorsal fin its very small and consists of just a few rays, while the second dorsal fin and…

ADVICE As a doctor who has recently started to fish I wondered whether there was a condition called ‘angler’s neck’: a repetitive strain injury in people who, on cold windswept beaches, strain to look at their rod tips waiting for knocks or bites that never arrive. All joking aside, I thought I’d try and address a few medical matters which I think are relevant to anglers. With summer upon us the first and most obvious of these are the effects of too much sunshine. SKIN HEALTH The sun is a giant nuclear reactor blasting out an inordinate amount of energy in the form of radiation. The latter, over time, will damage the connective tissue of the skin. This starts at an early age, but with a younger skin’s ability to…

WORX CORDLESS & ELECTRIC PORTABLE COOLER This fully portable 20V fridge/freezer gives you multiple charging options for easy solutions for the outdoors, camping or road trips. With its robust yet compact design, this cooler can hold all your essentials and keep them cool. Features include: ■ 23L capacity can hold approximately 24 bottles of 500ml water■ Robust wheels and a pull rod for manoeuvrability■ Up to 18.5 hours running time with two 4Ah batteries. Operates for 18.5 hours at 10oc and for 10.15 hours at 25oc ambient temperature■ Fast cooling and intelligent temperature control. Only takes 30 mins to cool below 0oc■ RRP: £349.99■ www.uk.worx.xom ALVEY BAIT PUMP SLIM LINE With soft but firm EVA grips over strong stainless-steel handles, these 32mm diameter suction pumps are for the gathering worms…

The Century Eliminator T1000 is one of the most famed rods for specimen hunters, rough ground anglers and competent distance casters alike. It was conceived in early 2013 with renowned all-round angler Gary Pye working with Century at their Washington UK headquarters on a prototype that would, it was hoped, be a game-changer for UK anglers. Gary has a wealth of experience fishing in Norway’s deep fjords and fast tides, as well as his home turf, the north-east’s rough cod grounds, where he has won many matches. He also has a vicious overhead thump cast, which few can replicate quite like him. The result, after a year of development working closely with Simon Chilcott, the owner and founder of Century Composites, was a 14ft, 10inch, 5-7oz rough ground rod. Century…

England played host to some top-flight international boat fishing for the Sea Angling Liaison Committee (SALC) 2024 Home Nations Boat Championships out of Poole for two days of fierce competition. The Dorset town welcomed sides from England, defending champions Ireland, and Wales. Sadly, Scotland were unable to make the event. The Competition is intense with plenty of friendly rivalry and home nations bragging rights very much up for grabs. Local skippers Matt Rowe, Ryan Jones and Sam Cumming worked hard to put anglers on fish. Each boat took two anglers from each team with three zones for them to explore over six hours of fishing. The angler on each boat with the highest points score gets a 100 per cent score. Everyone else then gets a percentage points score based…

AUGUST ● 2: Fishon Tackle, round 8, Hillhead cliffs 8-12pm signing in 6pm till 7pm from Meon Road, pegged measure and release anything over 18cm, no bait restrictions, £10 member, £12.50 non-members, back up venue for all matches is Eastney contact Ashley Dowdeswell 02394 007684 or 07807 639872 ● 3: Samalite Chesil League round 7 of 10, Cogden, 6-11pm, measure and release to the new SAMF chart for all species. Fish may be kept for the table or for bait but must be marked by snipping the tail after it has been recorded. Re-book only, Dave Lane 07977 132951 Dave Lane: lanedc@talktalk.net ● 3-4: River Tyne 2-day open, fishing Sat 1-5pm and Sun 1.30-530pm. Venues/zones TBC dependant on numbers, pegged, catch, measure and release, £40, contact Gareth Gardiner 07956 180689…