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With just a couple of weeks to go until this years Jersey Open Shore Angling Festival (JOSAF) I thought it would be apt to write a post about it.

I remember way back in 2003 when it was announced there would be a week long festival along the lines of the Alderney angling festival I was super excited to have a go. I didn’t have enough holidays to take the full week off but I did have a couple of days left so had the Monday & Tuesday off. Back then it was held at the beginning of June so no bank holiday Monday.

When the entry forms came out and I saw the qualifying weights my confidence took a dent, they were super tough with Wrasse 5lb, Conger 20lb & Black Bream 2-8 to name a few. They are however of course the same for everyone so you can only have a go. That first year I fished really hard but never managed a single qualifying fish, the closest being a Wrasse of 4-10. It was a reality check.

The second year was equally difficult but I did finally manage to weigh a fish in with a 5th placed Wrasse just over 5lb.

It’s a fantastic comp and a real challenge but it can also be super tough when you are putting in so much effort and failing to find a single weighable fish.

2005 was when the comp was moved to August giving everyone the bank holiday weekend. I was in Florida for 3 weeks arriving back in the island on the Friday before the start and heading back to work on the Tuesday. I actually got off to a good start with a weigher Thick Lipped on the Saturday, a lovely 5-7 Wrasse on the Sunday and then a British Record White Bream of 1-7-4 on the Monday. It was pretty frustrating having to go back to work but I was completely exhausted and found the rest of the week really tough. Looking back through my diaries I actually have the final board from that year which makes interesting reading.

2006 was dads year to get his name on the trophy. He managed 4 on the board, Wrasse, Conger, Bass & Mullet. There were some incredible fish that year including a 14-3 Bass & a 35-4 Conger.

2007 was last morning heartbreak for me, not for the overall but for the Gavey family trophy for best Wrasse. I had the biggest on the board at 6-5 but was pipped by Roy Newton on the last morning with a 6-6-2. I did have the consolation of the best Ray with a 9-2 Small Eyed. Other fish that year were a 6lb ThickLipped and a 3-3 Trigger but there were a lot of gaps on the final board.

On to 2008 and it was my year. As often is the case for whoever wins, everything comes together and you also have a bit of luck. I finished with 5 on the board, Wrasse of 5-14, Bass of 6-7, 3 Bearded Rockling of 1-12, Smalleyed of 6-14 and a couple of Mackerel over a pound. I also had a 19lb Conger that wasn’t big enough to weigh in. Other winning fish that year were 5-6 ThickLipped, 5-15 Wrasse and 7-12 Bass.

2009 I had a Wrasse of 5-1 and some Triggerfish to 2-9 but unfortunately I don’t have the final list.

2010 was an incredible year for big fish, Conger of 41-4, ThickLipped 6-3, Golden 2-9 and even a 2-12 Plaice. If I remember correctly the Golden record went 2 or 3 times during the week.

2011 I had the most incredible start with 6 weighable fish at the first weigh-in, 5 ThickLipped Mullet and a BlackBream. Unfortunately I misunderstood the rules and thought I could only weigh 2 in so put a couple back lol. It was another year for amazing fish topped off by an incredible 46-12 Conger.

2012 was a special year for me because I finally managed to win the Gavey trophy for best Wrasse albeit with a modest fish of 5-3. That year was quite tough, biggest Thicklipped was 4-14, Golden 2-4, Bream 2-6 and Bass 6-12.

2013 is another year I don’t have any results for but it was another good Wrasse that was the highlight of the week to retain the Gavey trophy, this time a proper fish of 6-13.

2014 and Déjà vu for me as I made it a hatrick of Wrasse wins with another beauty of 6-12-2.

2015 was another great start for me with 4 fish at the first weigh-in, 3 Black Bream & a White Bream. If only it could start like that every year!

2016 sadly I missed, the only year I haven’t entered due to an illness in the family. It was really hard watching the Facebook feed throughout the week and not being a part of it. If my memory serves me correctly Paul Wheaton won that year with 4 weighers.

Frustratingly I don’t seem to have any notes about the final board for these years, 2017 for me was 3 weighers, White Bream, Black Bream & Bass.

2018 was a real struggle for me finishing with just a Black Bream on the board.

2019 was another tough year, a nice Wrasse of 52cm and a Mackerel just over a pound being all I managed.

2020 was even harder only weighing in a couple of Black Bream just size. This comp is really really tough 🤯

2021 was a strange year with tiny tides and tough fishing. For quite a few years now I hadn’t taken any time off work and just fished the opening weekend and a few hours after work each day. I had a weeks holiday booked from the final Saturday so for the first time would miss the presentation. It was a slow week with a lot of people including myself on 2 fish late in the week and it was looking like whoever got the 3rd fish first might get over the line. I decided to do a short Rockling bash and managed a weigher of 1-7 which in the end made the difference. I was a little embarrassed to not be at the presentation made all the more frustrating when for the only time ever we won the 4 man team. Lesson learnt. I have a few results from that year that included 8lb Bass, 6lb ThickLipped, 6lb Wrasse, 4lb Triggerfish and a 25lb Tope.

2022 was another close year with a number of anglers finishing on 3 fish weighed in with Wayne Cassin taking the honours for being the first to achieve that target. It was memorable for me with a 4th Gavey trophy for the best Wrasse caught on the last morning.

2023 was a year to forget when I had a possible weigher Bass wading and stupidly unhooked it in the water to put in my dry bag to walk back to shore and dropped it. Not the first time I’ve lost an important fish late in the week due to a stupid mistake but tiredness does that to you.

2024 I had holidays spare so for the first time in many years I decided to take the week off and in my own words “ Just chill out and enjoy a weeks fishing” err yeah of course.

As it happens it couldn’t of gone better, a 62cm Bass on the first day, a 1-13 Black Bream on the Sunday and a 50cm Wrasse on the Monday got me off to a great start. It then gets really tough and I fished really hard for a 4th fish which finally came on Thursday with a 55cm ThickLipped. There was one final twist on the Friday night when I had a 10-1 Bullhuss to finish my week, if only it could be like this every year!

On to last year and very much a comp of 2 halves. A great start with 4 weighers by the end of Monday but I couldn’t find the 5th dropping a Bass while walking it back to the beach and Sam Bennie put in an incredible performance to come back and finish on 5 fish.

So what will 2026 hold. If my fishing the last couple of months is anything to go by it will be really tough but let’s be honest it is never easy. I have always said if you have a fish on the board at the end of the week then you have had a good week because it’s super tough to catch anything big enough to weigh.

That said it’s a great week, a very well run event and a hell of a challenge. If no sleep, erratic meal times and a massive rollercoaster of emotions sounds like a fun week then give it a go. If you’re not local but want to follow the week look up JOSAF on Facebook.

Well I have to be honest, I am finding the fishing really hard at the moment, plenty of effort but very little in the way of quality to show for it.

After catching that lovely PB Thick Lipped Mullet last year I have spent some time this month exploring some of my old north coast Mullet marks but they seem devoid of Mullet, maybe with the hot weather they are all on the beaches and in the shallows.

My fishing month actually started ok, a short Mackerel session to get a feed and I managed 8, enough for us and dad and my first of the year.

Then it was a Mullet session on the rocks. The start of the session was ambushed by a shoal of Black Bream, catching one after the other about 3 feet deep on Bread which was good fun but not the target species. They were a decent average size with the best just shy of a club weigher at 1-7. Eventually they moved off and it went quiet before I finally found the intended target although not a monster at 2-13.

Then it was the same attack at a different mark that I had ground baited for a couple of days and then fished for best part of 3 hours without seeing a single fish or having a bite before finally accepting defeat and float fishing in one of the rock pools where I had seen some Giant Gobies for my species hunt. Desperate times indeed!

I then decided on a change in approach and had a go on a beach for a Mullet instead, not something I have done much of. I managed to get quite a few small fish feeding but with the wind was struggling to present a bait and only managed a few missed bites. Perhaps next time I will take the ledger rod instead.

It was then time to get dad out for a session so we hit the town harbour to try for either a Gurnard or a Common Eel. First cast I had a classic Common Eel bite and when it slowly moved off I hit it and all hell broke loose. This was clearly the mother of all Common Eels and on braid was going mental. After a few minutes struggle I started to think maybe this wasn’t a Common Eel after all and sure enough a Conger of about 5lb finally surfaced after giving me a hell of a run around. Not expected in the harbour on a bright hot sunny day but as it turned out we went on to lose several more.

Next it was another of my old north coast haunts to try for a Mullet, another session that was ambushed by Black Bream only this time I did manage a club weigher of 1-8.

I had so much fun I went back the next day but as often happens when you do that it’s never as good and after an early flurry of Bream it went quiet before I finally had a Mullet albeit only about a pound.

Then a bit of Déjà vu another rockmark for Mullet with the same result, Black Bream on bread and no mullet.

It was then time for the Sinkers Wrasse comp. Frustratingly I didn’t have much time over the weekend – I had a 90th birthday party & a 40th wedding anniversary party proof I’m getting old! – but I did squeeze in a few short sessions.

Friday night I managed a couple hours at the start at a low water mark that was unbelievably quiet and I couldn’t quite believe I blanked.

Saturday I only had a few hours in the afternoon so I went to St Catherine’s with dad where we had a few small fish but nothing over the 40cm minimum.

That just left one last opportunity on Sunday morning so I picked a rock mark I’ve not been to for a few years that was always good for a few bites if not quality fish. It was a bit of a climb down with no path which filled me with hope as it didn’t look like it had been fished in a while. I finally got down, put my rod down, turned around and there was a bloody great seal right where I fish! Needless to say I couldn’t get a bite before eventually moving a little further over and catching a few small fish.

In all seriousness we are seeing more and more seals inshore and they can do some serious damage especially to a slow growing species like Wrasse. I have a few marks I used to fish that are now devoid of Wrasse after a seal moved in.

There were some decent fish caught over the weekend with Adam Loxton taking the honours with a chunky 50cm fish of 5lb.

I then did a couple more beach sessions on worm hoping for a Bass or maybe a Golden Grey Mullet. First session the weather was a lot windier than I expected which coloured the water resulting in loads of small Bass & Giltheads. The second session the weather improved but despite moving a couple of times I only managed small Bass again.

Next up was a bait collecting mission after reports of a few more Mackerel showing. They weren’t exactly in their hundreds but I did manage 21 for the freezer in a couple of hours with a chunky one of 1lb amongst them for another club weigher.

Then it was time for the next club competition, this time the Mullet competition. Apart from helping my wife set up and pack up at the craft market on Saturday I had a relatively free weekend so was looking forward to having a go even if I struggle with Mullet at the best of times and lately haven’t been able to catch one of any size.

Friday I continued the theme of doing a rock mark, this time a 3 hour session without a bite. I did see a couple of mullet but they were tiny.

Saturday while the craft market was going on I was off to another rock mark and again no sign of any mullet despite me having chervied this one for a few days before. I did have a few Black Bream but never saw a Mullet and I think I have to concede it’s not going to happen on the rocks while the weather is so warm and I’m going to have to fish in the shallows.

With that in mind I was up super early on Sunday to fish the tide up from low to high. The session started slow and took a turn for the worse when I got my Costa sunglasses out to find they had somehow got broken in the case. I then had a few fish feeding, signs of life at last and was almost in shock when I actually hooked one, but that elation turned to despair when it came off. I persisted and eventually started to get the measure of it and managed a couple of nice fish, the biggest going 53cm just a little bigger than the next at 52cm.

At the weigh-in it was just big enough for a surprise 2nd place, some distance behind the winning fish of 57cm for Sam Bennie.

The end of August sees the annual Jersey Open Shore Angling Festival (JOSAF) so hopefully I can improve my results a bit by then. It’s a week long festival that will run into September so the August review post will follow the end of the comp.

If you’re taking part good luck, it’s my favourite comp of the year because it includes all species but it’s always super tough.

Way back when I was a member of the now defunct Jersey Light Tackle Group there was a trophy for the most unusual fish of the year.

With climate change who knows what species we might see in the future, some fish I have caught or seen caught over the years were super rare when they were caught but transgressed to become quite common.

I remember catching a Triggerfish at St Catherine’s Breakwater during my school holidays way back in the late 80’s and having no idea what it was. Triggerfish went on to be quite common at different times, I can actually remember catching 14 in one session during the JOSAF. They are not quite as prolific today but there are some caught most years.

Similar can be said of quite a few species Smoothounds, Stingray & Thinlipped Mullet all unheard of when the first few were caught but now regularly targeted and caught.

Another example of this is White Bream. When I caught my first White Bream which was also during JOSAF it was a British record and only the second recorded capture in the UK. Again I wasn’t sure what it was when I caught it, I have since caught quite a few and while they are far from common they are no longer considered an oddity.

If I look back at the most unusual fish I have seen caught there is one clear winner and that is the Lumpsucker dad caught while float fishing for Garfish. With our seas getting warmer I think it’s extremely unlikely I will ever see another one caught.

I think the most unusual fish I have caught personally was a shore caught Ling caught fishing for Smalleyed Ray in the middle of a sandy bay. Proof you really never know what you might catch next.

Back in 2014 the world sea fishing forum set up a species hunt with badges for 20/30/40 species so I thought I would have a go as something different to do. I had no idea about the different mini species you would catch locally and identifying them all was a bit of a learning curve. Quite near the beginning I went to the steps on the Albert Pier with my newly acquired LRF Rod and isome worms to see what I could catch. With little clue what I was doing I struggled to catch anything but eventually managed to hook a little fish so I took a photo on the species card before letting it go. When I got home I got the species book out to figure out what kind of Goby or Blenny it was and it turned out to be a rare Butterfly Blenny. I had never seen one before but a few years later dad also caught one at St Catherine’s.

There are also of course species that are common in the UK but pretty unusual locally for example Cod.

A pretty common species but always a nice surprise when caught locally although I have seen a couple of winters where there has been a few Codling.

Another one that would fall under the bracket of common elsewhere but rare here is Thornback Ray.

I was over the moon with this microscopic one I caught a few years ago to make it 5 rays species for me locally.

Another unusual one that does turn up occasionally normally to lure anglers is the protected Twaite Shad. I was lucky enough to catch one of these Mackerel fishing at Bouley Bay pier a few years ago to add to my species list but it’s the only one I have ever caught.

There are quite a lot of species that turn up locally that I have never caught or even seen caught. Examples of these are Sea Trout, Salmon, Marbled Electric Ray although I did witness the first boat caught one many years ago and even a Topknot a species I have found often low water fishing but never actually seen caught.

So what’s the most unusual fish you have caught?

What will we see next? I used to think it was only a matter of time before we had Couches Bream but they have been in the other Channel Islands a long time now and apart from maybe a handful haven’t shown up here. We did have some Chub Mackerel a few years ago but they seem to of disappeared.

We will have to wait and see but with the summer we are having this year surely it’s only a matter of time before something else new turns up.

Well I have to be honest there’s not a great deal to report this month due to spending a big chunk of it on holiday meaning my first local trip didn’t happen until the 22nd of the month.

We were camping at Lyon’s Gate Caravan Park in Dorset which has a few lakes you can fish, nothing serious but you can have a bit of a fun with the Carp while you’re chilling out. I managed plenty of Carp like these.

And even managed to get one on video on the last morning.

First trip back was to St Caths with dad to try for a Smoothound which was a complete blank for both of us.

I followed that up with another Smoothound session, this time on the rocks. It started pretty slow but as the light faded they came on the feed and I finished up with 5 in total, nothing big but I at least managed a common and a starry over the 4lb club minimum as well as a bonus Bass of a couple of pounds.

That only left time for a short experimental Mullet session which was another blank.

No more off island holidays now till September so while I can’t promise more fish in July I hopefully can promise a fair bit more fishing.

Yeah ok this blog is called Shore Fishing Jersey but as I’m currently on holiday camping in Dorset with no access to my diaries I thought I would write about the trip I did to Canada in 2012.

It was a surprise trip for my wife Zena to see some family in Canada, I booked the trip and then decided to look into what fishing opportunities there might be while we were there having no real idea about the fishing in Canada.

I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered you can go guided Sturgeon fishing on the Fraser river in British Columbia which was close enough to where we were staying in Vancouver. Anyone who knows me will know I will do anything to avoid getting on a boat so I researched the idea of fishing from the bank but quickly discovered it’s illegal as you are likely to get eaten by the bears, a fairly compelling reason I guess.

It was going to have to be a boat then, so I set about researching the available guides and there a lot of them. After looking on the various forums I was recommended one of the smaller companies called Cascade Fishing Adventures which were actually one of the older companies. I booked the boat to myself for 2 days to give myself the best chance of hooking a fish.

We were in Canada for 2 weeks and the 2 days fishing were in the middle of the second week so I had a lot of exposure to the truly phenomenal views that are just everywhere and I knew the river was going to be stunning.

The whole Salmon and Sturgeon fishery set up there is really incredible and an education for us all. It’s a massive tourist attraction with hotels set up to cater for the anglers and a massive tackle shop all in the same area. I was dropped at the hotel the night before my first days fishing, not getting much sleep due to a mixture of excitement and apprehension. The hotel was full of anglers from all over the world and it’s like that all the time.

The first morning I was waiting outside my hotel for my guide along with all the other anglers as a stream of 4×4’s and boats arrived to pick everyone up. It was quite interesting that we were one of the last to leave and we went in the opposite direction to every other boat. The guide told me that most of the guides will just go to the obvious places and all be congregated together, we were going somewhere more remote where we would most likely not see another boat.

The view were really breathtaking.

The gear was quite interesting, the rods were actually cut down beach casters with lever drag reels loaded with braid. It wasn’t very deep but there was a lot of flow and 1lb of lead was needed to hold bottom. Bait was sections of lamprey which I believe is a seasonal thing with salmon eggs being the first choice at different times of the year. The one thing I struggled to get my head around was they don’t change the bait, often using the same bait to catch several fish which seems pretty alien to me.

The sturgeon are a complete catch and release fishery, barbless hooks only and you are not allowed to take any fish out of the water unless they are really small, if you want a photo you have to get into the water with the fish.

The first day the fishing was quite slow, there had been a lot of rain in the previous few days which causes a lot of debris on the river causing a similar problem we get with weed. I had one smaller fish which was nice to avoid a blank.

And then right at the end of the day when it was just coming to pack up time I hooked into a much bigger fish. It might have been 14 years ago but I can still remember these things really go. Imagine hooking a fish of around 150lb in less than 20 foot of water with so much flow you need 1lb of lead to hold bottom and your using braid!

After what felt a titanic battle including the fish jumping right at the back of the boat a few times it finally tired a bit and we were able to slowly motor into the bank where we could get a measure and a converted weight. I can’t remember the exact conversion but it was in the region of 150lb

The second day we again went in the opposite direction to the other boats and found ourselves all alone. The debris had cleared and the fishing was much better with a constant stream of fish. Early afternoon I hooked into another big fish that wasn’t stopping so we had to lift the anchor and follow it with the boat as it had gone around a bend in the river. It turned into an epic battle that resulted in my biggest of the trip at 6ft 10inches and around 170lb.

We motored back out to the spot and dropped the anchor and within 2 minutes of the bait hitting the bottom I was in again with another big fish. This was really jumping, a spectacular sight. I managed to land this one without having to up the anchor but we released it at the side of the boat with the guide estimating 150lb plus. I was completely wrecked and we still had a couple of hours to go.

At this point I think he could see I was shattered so suggested we go try for a Salmon for the last couple of hours. I had seen some Salmon fishing in Canada on tv a few times and they struggled to catch so I was a bit sceptical but he assured me there was a good chance of fish so we went and had a go.

We moved to where another river converged with the Fraser and for the first time in 2 days we saw other anglers. The gear for this was really strange, a spinning rod with an Abu 7000 set up on float with a tin head lure instead of bait. There were Salmon jumping regularly and he said just stand in the water, trot the float down the seam. Easy enough I thought, just like snipe fishing and first trot I was in to a decent sized Salmon. It turned out at that time of the year they are heading back into the river so are pretty tired so the fight is nothing special. I went on to catch several before it was time to pack up mainly around 10-15lb, I was told I’m allowed to keep one but I can’t give it to the guide. I declined but Zena’s family were not impressed when I told them lol.

And that was it. An epic adventure which I would recommend to anyone. While we were there Zena’s uncle took me to a greasy spoon cafe in a builders yard. I wondered what we were doing there until he showed me a wall of loads of really old photos of giant Sturgeon from back in the day before the fishery became controlled, some of these fish were over 12 foot long and likely over 1000lb.

The guide told me normally once they get much over 400lb it normally takes more than one angler to land them. I can imagine.

May started how every month should start with a bank holiday weekend which provided some great fishing.

I started on the Friday evening with a trip for a Stingray. I had a small Gilthead Bream first cast before a better bite produced a much better Gilthead of 4-1, by far the biggest I have caught from this area and a lovely start to the weekend.

The session finished with a small Smoothound, no sign of a Stingray but a great session all the same.

Saturday and the weather had changed with cloud and rain so I decided against another trip for a Stingray and went and had a go for a Tope instead. The session started pretty well with a couple of decent size Black Bream and a Pouting to give me some fresh bait. After that it was pretty quiet with just the odd strap Conger and Dogfish. I got down to my last 2 fresh baits so put both rods out for one last cast. 5 minutes before reel in time the left hand rod pulled over and the reel started running. I picked the rod up and let it run for a bit before putting my thumb on the spool and lifting in to it.

I have fished the rocks at night for big fish on my own for years and always have a plan in place for landing a fish if necessary. This was the same but the fish hadn’t read the script and ran the complete opposite direction to what I was expecting, taking me away from my net and where I had planned to land it. It took a while but I gradually managed to coax it back where I wanted it, scrambled down the rocks to see it was a decent fish. I was a bit worried it wouldn’t fit in the net but I really don’t want to gaff a Tope so I got the head in, dropped the rod and lifted both sides of the net and it was mine.

It was definitely bigger than I was expecting and after climbing back up for the sling and scales it weighed 35-2. A couple of quick photos and back it went, with me packing up a happy man. Finally a Tope off the rocks.

I have learnt with the Tope that when you get one it’s worth another session as there’s often a few in the area so the next day I went off in the morning and caught enough Bream to go back in the evening. That night I was back again but unfortunately I couldn’t do it again and only had a few strap Conger.

Bank holiday Monday was just another short trip in the evening for a Stingray, it started with a school Bass before a proper Ray bite pulled the rod over. I left it for a bit and nothing else happened, it was either on and just sitting still or it had dropped the bait. I wound down and felt a decent bit of weight and enough movement to know it was a Ray and not weed. As it got closer in it starting kiting all over the place before I managed to slip it in the net, not a monster at 13-10 but nice to catch one.

After the excitement of the weekend the fishing for me went downhill pretty quick.

The following weekend the weather was not nice and I only managed a short Mullet session which was a blank.

Then it was time to get dad out for his first session in 3 months following a knee replacement. We fished the bottom wall of St Caths each with a Tope rod and a bait rod. There was a fair amount of Dogfish and Spider Crabs to contend with but I did manage a couple of Black Bream for bait. I shared them with Dad and he had a strange episode on his Tope rod. He had a typical Dogfish bite and picked the rod up to check the bait. He wound in to what felt like a Doggy until it was right under the wall when a big Tope appeared instead of a Dogfish, shook its head and let go of the bait. It must of picked the bait up and swam the whole way in and then let it go. We were both gutted, what a comeback session that would have been.

Then it was back on the Stingers but again frustratingly the tides were good but the weather wasn’t and I even had a hail shower, not typical Stingray weather and an unsurprising blank.

It was then time for the challenge match, this is a 24 hour event where the 2 local clubs fish against each other. I decided to fish it with dad at St Caths with it being Tope or bust really. I went off in the morning to catch some fresh bait which turned out to be a lot harder than expected with just 3 Bream in with the Dogfish & even a strap Conger. The Tope session at St Catherine’s was completely dead with just a couple of Dogfish and a lot of spider crab trouble for our 4 hours effort.

At the weigh in there was only 3 ThickLipped Mullet to just under 4lb for the specimen hunters and 3 Giltheads to just over 3lb for the Sinkers meaning the specimen hunters took the trophy. This was actually the 2025 event due to a postponement so we will have a chance to win it back later in the year.

Then it was yet another session for a Stingray, I am doing really short sessions for these this year, normally 2 hours at the peak tide times as I’ve rarely not caught in the first couple of hours and then had one. This trip produced a nice Bass of 54cm first cast which was deep hooked so came home for dinner but there was no further action.

The next day I had a spare hour in the afternoon so decided to go and try for a Mackerel for tea. As soon as I got out the van I was greeted by white water as there was an unexpected huge swell running. I nearly didn’t bother but decided to try anyway giving up after 20 minutes as it was clearly a waste of time.

It was then the second bank holiday weekend of the month and this time it coincided with a heat wave and scorching hot conditions. I didn’t fish so much over this weekend, my wife had a craft market on the Saturday I needed to help set up and pack up so in the middle time I went and caught a few Black Bream before trying for a Tope in the evening that turned into one of those sessions where everything goes wrong. Firstly when I arrived at the mark there were lobster pots right in the way that must of had an enormous amount of rope on them as they must have moved a good 300 yards in either direction throughout the session causing a lot of lost gear. Then I noticed the top ring on one of my rods was damaged but still usable. I then noticed some damaged line on my other rod and on closer inspection found a crack in one of the eyes that was fraying the line. it wasn’t going well and I ended up fishing super short range to avoid the pots and only managed a small strap conger.

I didn’t fish the Sunday but decided to try for a Stingray on the Monday for a couple of hours. It wasn’t the best tide but it was super hot so decided to try anyway but to no avail.

The next day it was back to work but I nipped out after work for a couple of hours to try for a mullet. There was still a big swell making it challenging fishing, nothing had happened when I saw a solitary fish take a bit of crust, I shallowed right up and cast to it and a couple of minutes later the float slid away and after a cracking scrap for the size of it I slid a mullet of 3-6 into the net, the only action of the session.

Then it was back on the Stingers for the final weekend of the month. I decided to do a couple of short sessions on the evening tides, the first producing one small ray of 8-7,

The second night the conditions were a little better and produced a small Bass, a nice Gilthead of 1lb + and another stinger which I didn’t weigh of similar size that absolutely tore off like a Tope.

As much as I’m enjoying catching these Stingers fairly regularly I feel it’s now time to move on from the usual area and try and find somewhere new. It’s likely to mean a lot of blanks but hopefully it will eventually lead to finding a bigger one.

With that in mind I did one last session today with the rest of my bait in a new area for me. No Stingray’s but I did manage a few Bass with this the best of them all quickly returned.

And that’s another month over.

I am off on holiday in a few days for a little over 2 weeks camping in Dorset so there won’t be much sea fishing for me in June. There are a few lakes on the campsite so I will have a bit of fun with the carp, no monsters but good fun on the right gear.

One final note for this month, our local fisheries department and conducting a survey of recreational fisherman. I personally believe it’s really important as many people as possible fill this in. I know there is some scepticism about their motives but it’s really about trying to factually show the positive benefits recreational anglers bring to the island both in terms of the economy but also the physical and mental health of people who fish. The more we can show we are contributing the bigger our political voice will be when future policies are decided. If you don’t want to complete the section on the areas you fish that’s fine but please take the time to complete the rest of the survey which can be found here. https://survey.gov.je/s/JRFS2026/

Following on from Leigh Mullins superb 13-8 Bass last month I thought I would dig back through my diaries to find the entry where I just about managed my own “teenager Bass”.

It was way back in August 1991, just the 35 years ago! I would have been 18 at the time and working in Eddie’s at JFS Sport. I was really into my Bass fishing at the time and was involved in a local tagging campaign in which I actually managed to re-catch one of my own tagged fish. When the set of spring tides would come around I would fish every morning before work, often starting at 2am then dig rockworm in my lunch hour, a lot of effort but the fishing was exceptional.

On this particular set of tides I had a Bass of 6-9 on the first morning.

The next morning I had only been fishing about 30 minutes, it was just starting to get light and the bite time of the tide was just arriving when the rod pulled over and the fish moved off every so slowly, not the screaming run you might expect. This was light fishing in the shallows, tackle was a 10ft ugly stick spinning rod paired with an Abu 6000 loaded with 12lb line. A super long running ledger with a 2oz lead and a 3/0 Mustad Viking baited with fresh rockworm.

I struck into it and it just carried on as if it had no it was hooked. It ran left and must of taken 60 yards before I stopped it. It then turned and started heading back towards me in a huge loop. As it passed in front of me I remember clearly even today I could see the dorsal fin and the top of the tail fin breaking the mirror calm surface and the gap between them looked huge.

It then continued to the right and must of taken another 50 yards in that direction. I had caught some good Bass but I had never hooked anything that had fought anything like this, it wasn’t quick but the power was incredible.

Eventually I got it back in front of me, I don’t know how long it had been on but it was a really long scrap. At this point the fish had gone down deeper and was hugging the rocks in front of me. I was slowly pumping it back to the surface and the weight came out of the water right in front of me and the long trace slowly came up in the water and suddenly there was this enormous Bass lying on the surface in front of my totally exhausted.

I reached down and slid my hand into the gills and lifted it out. What a battle.

As you did back in those days you wanted an official weight on a big fish. I didn’t have a car in those days, was fishing on a motorbike back then. As most fish went back I had nothing to put the fish in only having a small bag for the few bits of tackle I had. I had to zip it on the inside of my coat to ride home with the head under my chin and the tail resting on my knee!

My neighbour back then worked at weights and measures and I managed to get home before they left for work. Greg took it to work and weighed it for me, a new PB and a teenager just at 13lbs 8drms.

This was a long lean summer Bass, in those days we measured fork length so to the centre of the tale and it was 33 inches, around 84cm so I would imagine full length of around 86-87cm and a girth of 16.25 inches. As I was tagging Bass at the time I sent some scales away for aging and it came back as a 73 year class, it was the same age as me.

Obviously today it would have gone back but it was different times that we have fortunately moved on from.

My tally for August that year was 10 Bass with the biggest 3 being 13-0-8, 9-11 & 9-7, fantastic fishing.

I occasionally go back to the area I was fishing just in case and I very rarely catch a Bass proving nothing lasts forever and you have to make the most of it when the fishings this good.

Just another fantastic memory from a lifetime of fishing.

April started for me with round 3 of the BOM, an extended 4 nighter over the Easter weekend. Thursday night was a beach session with worm to try and get a qualifier early on. It was a pretty quiet session with only 2 Bass caught, the biggest just scraping the 42cm minimum.

I didn’t have too much time over the weekend so Friday was a short daytime session over the low. A quick pit stop to dig a few lugworm before a couple of hours wading over the low. It was windy with a fair swell so it was going to be one of those sessions where you have to have all your gear and bait strapped to you and hold the rod. Not easy fishing. First cast I had a decent bite and connected with what felt like a reasonable fish. You always get a great fight in such shallow water, it’s a lovely way to fish. It turned out to be a 54cm fish which was badly hooked so I decided to keep it for dinner since the ban was now over. I put it in the bottom of my landing net with a bungee to keep it safe, clipped the net back on my dry bag and cast back out.

I then had what started as a schoolie rattle before a nice slow pull down and I was in again. This felt a lot heavier and was quite slow moving. At first I thought it was a smaller fish and a lump of weed, but then it surfaced about 30 years away and I could see it was a good fish. As I got it close in I could see the hook right on the edge of the lip and I had to somehow get my net unclipped and net it with the other fish already in the net. Luckily the hook held and I managed to net what looked a really nice fish. A quick walk back to dry land to measure and photograph my fish, a solid 70cm weighing 8lb exactly, a nice surprise for the middle of the day.

After a few minutes to recover off she swam.

I carried on fishing but in the time I’d spent sorting out the fish they had passed through and I only managed one little schoolie before it was time to pack up.

I was unable to fish on Saturday and opted for a Tope session at St Catherine’s on Sunday night which started well with a couple of decent sized Black Bream for fresh bait but only managed a couple of Dogfish. TBH our Tope fishing sessions are still very much done in hope rather than expectation but you have to keep trying.

I didn’t fish on the Monday but did manage to make it down to the weigh in where there were 3 fish over 70cm with the best this fish by James Bertram of 72cm to take the round win.

Then it was time to start my annual hunt for a decent Stingray, first bash was unsuccessful with the exception of this nice 5lb Bass that was safely returned.

Then it was time for something a little different. A friend had some relatives coming over from Australia and the teenage lad was a keen angler and wanted to try and add a few new species. It’s a tall order to make daytime fishing in April look exciting compared to Australia but I did my best. The weather didn’t help and the first date pencilled in came with force 5-6 westerly winds. St Catherine’s was the venue of choice and Cam fished well and managed 5 species, Ballan Wrasse, Corkwing Wrasse, Pouting, Dogfish and Conger.

Cam was telling me about the trouble they get with huge Stingray and how they desperately try to avoid them, which I seem to find pretty easy lol. He was then telling me how some guys catch the smaller ones for bait and use steaks of them for Tiger sharks which they Kayak their baits out for. What a different world.

Cam then fancied a bit of lure fishing which on a dead nip in the middle of the day was likely to be pretty slow. We started on the Bass with no sign of life before trying for a few Wrasse managing just one about 2lb.

Then it was already time for the 4th round of the BOM, the last before the summer break. I have to confess I couldn’t resist trying for the Stingray in the warm conditions on the off chance of a bycatch Bass. First night was slow with just little Bass but the second night I had a classic slow pull down followed by loads of slack line and when I caught up with it I was in to my first Stinger of the year, albeit only a small one at a touch under 9lb but at least it’s a start.

The weigh in for the BOM was again impressive with 8 Bass over 60cm, the biggest this one of 68cm for current champion Daniel Bryant. It’s been a fantastic start to the BOM this year and it’s looking like something like a 65cm average will be needed this year.

Next was a short session for a Gilthead which was really quiet followed by an experimental Stingray session in a new area that was a total blank.

That just left time for one last session so I decided to try for a Mullet for a change. After a slow start I finally had a proper bite and was in to a really hard fighting average size fish of 2-10. I fished on for quite a while without any further sign of life. I put my rod down to grab a drink and sure enough the float disappeared, I grabbed the rod and was surprised to manage to hook the fish and it went off like a train. After what felt like an epic battle I slipped a fish just over 4lb into the net hooked in the chin explaining the fight and the fact I managed to hook it.

April has seen some truly exceptional fish caught by other Anglers. For me top of the pile is this incredible new Jersey record Stingray of 42lb caught by Sam from the Beneath The Waves YouTube channel breaking Jersey’s longest standing shore record which has stood for an amazing 71 years. I think we were all expecting it to go at some point as they become more numerous and it will be interesting to see just how big they get.

Not far behind has to be a massive shore Bass for Leigh Mullins of 13-8, a double is a dream fish for most anglers but a “Teenager” is a truly special fish, and a well deserved one for a top Bass angler who puts the hours in.

And if that isn’t enough Leigh’s dad and local legend Steve managed a new PB Stingray of 32lb another well deserved fish.

For those that have asked, dad is doing well after his knee replacement and in the last couple of days has gone back home and started driving, I don’t think it will be too long before he has the rods out.

Throughout my fishing life I have always liked to set myself targets. I always find I’m more motivated when I’m going for something, I wouldn’t say I’m competitive but I like to challenge myself.

The main one for me has always been the Jersey Specimen list which I have talked about before but I feel I have exhausted my options with that with the only realistic way of adding to my tally a fluke fish like a Sea Trout or a Lumpsucker or a new species turning up like a Couches Bream or maybe one of the smaller Tuna species.

That has led to me looking for new targets, one of which was to catch 10 species from the shore of Jersey over 10lb.

Perhaps surprisingly my first double figure fish wasn’t a Conger but was a 15-4 Undulate Ray rather ironically caught trying to catch my first Dogfish way back in 1984 when I was aged 11.

That was followed a year later by the Conger at 23-12 in 1985.

There was then a gap of 5 years till 1990 when I added 2 more double figure species, firstly a Blonde Ray of 17-13-6

Followed by my first double figure Bass at the end of the year at 11-1-5 to take me up to 4.

There was then a decade wait to add to the tally when the Smoothounds arrived and grew a bit, my first double being a starry of 10-12 in 2000

It took me a further 7 years to finally crack the double for a common but when I did it was a cracker at 17-12.

Still only on 6 so 4 more to find. Next one wasn’t added until 2015 and a fish I had chased for many years catching loads over 9lb before finally catching a double figure Smalleyed Ray with this one of 10-12.

Next was another dream fish to catch from the shore, my first shore Tope in 2019. It wasn’t a big fish at 19-8 but boy was I pleased with it.

8 down and 2 to go, the obvious next target being a BullHuss, another fish that had eluded my over 10lb. This one came in 2020 around Covid time. I had gone to a mark to try for a Huss but there was already other anglers fishing so I took a punt and went somewhere completely new to me and it paid off with a Huss of 11-2. Funnily enough I went back the next day on the low to have a look and I was fishing right over the top of a massive head, not sure how I managed to land it.

So just one more to go and it’s also a target I need for my Jersey Specimen list a double figure Stingray.

I had already spent a lot of hours trying for this one and with it now ticking off 2 boxes for me I became a little obsessed. The day it finally happened in 2022 the weather was actually horrible. I had picked up a lot of surface weed on my line so waded out to clear it before winding in to pack up. When I got back to the rod and wound down it was on and took off like a train. When it got close in I could tell it was a double but I was probably 200 yards from dry land with no net so a very slow walk back to the beach. Then to add to the drama when I went to unhook it the tale whipped round and stung me in the leg through my heavy Guy Cotten chest waders and my jeans and it hurt like hell. I got a weight of 18-5 and a few quick photos before slipping it back and hobbling the long trek back up the beach and home before getting told to go to A & E to get it checked out. It was a great feeling to get the 10th species but it didn’t half turn into a drama.

So that was the 10 x 10 completed and half of them coming from St Catherine’s, a mark I tend to avoid despite it producing many of my best fish.

Well March has been a bit of a strange month. Dad has been living with us while he recovers from knee replacement surgery and it’s not been all plain sailing although thankfully he is making good progress now and gradually getting more mobile.

As a result fishing trips have been a little more opportunistic than usual, I have still fished a fair bit but it’s been more about getting out when the opportunity arises. Unfortunately, it was more about the one that got away than the one I caught this month.

In fact the first round of the BOM was my first trip in two weeks almost unheard of for me. Time over the weekend was limited but I did have the Friday night to fish so decided on a beach trip with worm to just try and get a qualifying fish over 42cm to get the ball rolling. Well it didn’t exactly go to plan, best part of 4 hours in near perfect conditions and I blanked. I only had time for a couple of short daytime sessions over the rest of the weekend so it wasn’t going to be easy to get a fish.

Fortunately there was a fair bit of fog around keeping light levels low giving me a little bit of hope.

Saturday I only had about an hour and a half over the low water so I grabbed the lure rod and went for a wonder . It didn’t start well when I realised I had left my lure box on the bench in my shed. Luckily I had chucked a packet of Sidewinder Skerries in my bag so could still fish. About 30 minutes into the session I was hit and although it was only 45cm it was a welcome catch.

Sunday I had a couple of hours, this time over the high so I again reached for the lure gear making sure I had my lure box with me this time! It turned out to be a fun short session, 4 Bass landed, 1 hotdog, 47cm, 50cm and the best of the trip 52cm to finish off my weekend.

Unsurprisingly there were plenty of Bass caught over the weekend with 22 of the 40 entrants managing a qualifying fish, the best 2 both being cracking fish of 74cm for current BOM champion Daniel Bryant and local legend Steve Mullins. They were a fair bit bigger than the next biggest fish of 59cm.

Next up for me was another short beach session, this time hoping for a Gilthead. Mission was accomplished first cast with my first Gilt of the season of 1-7 which was followed up by several school Bass.

Then it was time to get out for a session with the big baits. There was a fair swell running so I decided to target Huss with the theory being if it was too bad to net a fish I could hand line it on the leader and hope it didn’t cough the bait up as they so often do.

Second cast in I had a decent bite and when I wound into it there was a bit of weight but it didn’t feel like an eel. After a decent scrap I could see the telltale reflection of the eyes of a Huss in my headlamp. I made my way down to the water to try and net it and after a couple of near misses and a boot full of water I decided to trace it out and fortunately it stayed on. It wasn’t quite a double but at 9-12 I wasn’t complaining.

Next cast I had another good bite but before I could pick the rod up everything went slack and I reeled in to find my leader had parted which seemed really strange to me as if it was damaged I would have expected it to part on the cast.

When the same thing happened the following cast I had another idea what the culprit might be. I didn’t have any Tope gear with me but I did have some Conger traces so I put one of them on and banged it back out. Sure enough the rod went again and as I wound into it, it took off like a train undoubtedly a Tope. Sadly the hook pulled and my chance was gone. I was gutted having not yet had a Tope off the rocks. To be fair it would have been a challenge to land it and I would have been pretty reluctant to use a gaff so maybe it was for the best. At least it gives me a bit of confidence to try again for them on the rocks.

I did return a couple of days later but the tide and conditions were very different and I only had the usual straps and dogs.

Then it was time for the 2nd round of the BOM. Again I opted for a beach session on the Friday night with worm and had a 45cm second cast. That was followed by quite a few over the 42cm minimum with the biggest just going 50cm.

I did however have a lovely bonus Gilthead of 2-8.

Saturday night I opted to go back on the lures for a couple of hours, a Pollack first cast and 1 Bass of 49cm being all I managed.

Sunday I only had the opportunity to fish daylight hours and being fairly bright i decided to try for an early season Mullet instead of a Bass. The theory was in the unlikely event I caught one it might be a decent fish. Well I proved the theory wrong as I did catch one and it was only 2-10.

Again it was a very good weigh in with 6 fish over 60cm with the biggest 68cm for Mark Le Moignan.

That just left time for an early season session for a Black Bream that only produced Dogfish and strap congers (They are even a nuisance in the day) before another bash for a Tope that you guessed it, produced Dogfish and strap conger.