23rd February

Predators below the bait balls.....

Dave "No Fish", going against the grain with a nice flounder

Back for more of the same. But with the bigger tides and still calm seas, there were more fish around. Very little to the worm anglers, except for marina regular Dave "no fish" who's only bite to the worm resulted in the flounder above. The herring were there from the off, and now fishing to the 20cm rule it made a big difference to the amount taken. Instead of 40 or 50, I took ten. Goes to show how the MLS does work to protect juvenile fish I guess!! I my quest to improve my hit rate with the bigger herring, I was playing around with my float rod, fishing tiny herring strip baits just off the bottom. I had the very occasional bite, missed, which I put down to herring, and then I had a far more confident bite.

Be warned - Weever fish lurk below the shoals

As I relled it up, through the water it looked like a small pouting. As I reeled it up the wall I recognised it straight away. A weever fish, a common summer visitor to our parts. I guess a sign of summer! Almost certainly attracted by the huge volumes of herrings, I wonder what else has been similarly affected! My friend Steve drove down from Essex to have a look what all the fuss was about.

Nothing stops the wheels of industry.... Steve and a four shot. Species first!!

It wasnt long before he too was enjoying the herring fun, and as a new species for Steve, worth the long drive down. Ironically, there is some excellent fishing to be had up in Essex at the moment....!! The herrings also stayed a lot longer on this bigger tide. In fact, Steve and I left about an hour before low tide, and they were still coming through in patches.

The unlucky sizeable herrings...!