6th April

Marina Squid Hunt

The Pollock Competition begins......

Popped down to the marina twice today. Once in the morning briefly, and again over the low tide. In the morning I checked out the West arm. No squid for me there, but I did see the Pollock competition boats assembling before the great Brighton pollock hunt. Quite impressive, with most of the Brighton charter fleet and a few private boats venturing out for the single biggest pollock. Didnt think to take a piccy until they were well away for the horizon

Dave and Squid

The evening sesison was slightly more rewarding, although not to me. I popped down for the low tide to the east arm, and bumped into my mate Dave. As I arrived, he missed a take, and half an hour later, he had a decent squid in the bag. The white head is because he killed it with a knife into the brain. The head and brain are dead, but the body hasnt caught up with it yet. Ten minutes later, the whole squid was white.

Sea Mistress returns to Newhaven

The pollock fleet had since returned, and they had caught some nice fish between them. I think the competition was won with a fish in the mid-double range, and they had all had an enjoyable day out. Above is Sea Mistress, which I had the fortune to fish from on the inshore reefs and sands at Brighton a couple of years ago. A most excellent boat with a very amenable and capable skipper.

Turnstone Scavenging

Further evidence that Turnstones, a highly specialised wading bird designed for extracting creatures from the foreshore for food, are rapidly changing their habits to take advantage of their human neighbours. Here one blazenly pecks away at my herring bait just yards from me.