TBT#9 Jacks 34 Specimens

As I’ve mentioned before I have this little obsession with catching as many different species over Jersey specimen weight from the shore as possible. It’s a great way to motivate yourself to learn how to catch species you perhaps don’t normally fish for and it’s turned into a challenge that’s spanned a lifetime as new species turn up and species you used to catch thin out or disappear completely meaning it would be difficult to get beyond the mid 20’s without having been around a long time!

Following on from dad achieving his 34th species over Jersey specimen weight last month with his Tub Gurnard I thought it’s only right to have a look back at what really has been a lifetime of angling. I asked dad to dig out some photos for me, he doesn’t have photos off all of his specimens but he does have the vast majority of them. Even I was a little surprised to find that the earliest of his 34 specimens was actually caught in February 1973 some 52 years ago and actually before I was born. When it takes 52 years of fishing to get to that point it makes you appreciate how challenging it is.

I was fishing with him when a fair few of these were caught but there a couple of memories that stick out. The first was his Lumpsucker. We were going to Sorel point to try for an early season Snipe. I turned up with a float rod and a decent landing net, something I very rarely go fishing without. Dad proceeded to rib me a little about bringing a landing net Snipe fishing but as I told him you never know what you might pick up. Anyway dad fished like a complete novice, allowed his stop knot to slide way up the line and his float to drift right into the rough until it started laying on its side as he was catching bottom. The float then went down and didn’t come back up and when he reeled in he had a Lumpsucker on! Of course at that point he had to eat humble pie about me having a decent landing net. Oddly I’m pretty sure we saw the Lumpsucker swimming around earlier in the session, we thought it was probably a Bass at the time but I reckon it had finished nesting and was getting ready to head back out to deeper water.

The other one I have real fond memories of is actually a pretty recent one, his Tope. It’s not that long ago that the idea of catching a Tope from the shore locally was unthinkable and a dream fish. I had managed to catch a few but despite a couple of drop runs and a straitened hook he was still waiting for his first. I had taken a day off work for an appointment that got cancelled so dad and I went to have another go. He actually either had the take on the drop or as soon as it hit the bottom as he cast out and before he could put the rod down it went in his hand. After a pretty epic battle it proceeded to get tangled around the strop ropes on the drop net, always a nightmare but with a bit of patience it eventually swung the right way and it was in, and a cracker it was as well. so here is his list followed by some photos of most of them.

Bass 11-12-0 (2004)

Black Bream 3-6-0 (1993)

Gilthead Bream 2-9-0 (2020)

White Bream 2-4-0 (2008)

Bullhuss 9-3-0 (2019)

Conger Eel 43-12-0 (1980)

Common Eel 2-4-0 (1993)

L.S.Dogfish 2-9-0 (?)

Flounder 3-13-4 (2018)

Garfish 1-6-0 (2012)

Tub Gurnard 1-2-0 (2025)

Mackerel 1-8-0 (2015)