Author: Simon Gavey

I have always set myself targets in my fishing and although some have taken many years to achieve I have normally got there in the end. The one that has escaped me and was always one of my biggest dreams was a shore gold medal for the British Conger Club preferably from Jersey.

I have been a life member of the BCC since the late 80’s. To be a full member you have to catch a qualifying eel which from the shore is 25lb. I caught my qualifier way back in 1985 aged just 11 with this fish caught in Alderney of 27lb.

You don’t get a medal for your qualifier but once a member your biggest eel of the year will win a medal with the medal weights 25lb for a bronze, 35lb for a silver and a challenging 45lb for a gold.

Conger has always been my favourite species and I can’t imagine how many hours I spend chasing that 45lb gold but despite a total of 57 over the bronze medal weight of 25lb of which 25 were over 30lb and 16 of which were over the silver medal weight of 35lb the 45 has never happened and while the recent mini revival in eels has given me a glimmer of hope it seems unlikely to happen now.

It actually took me until 1990 to win my first medal, I started with a fish bang on 25lb which I upped about a month later to 26lb before smashing my PB with what is still my Jersey PB of 41-8. I remember that fish well, it was the first time I had ever used mono for conger traces after years of using wire. I was fishing with my mate Michael who had never gaffed an eel before. He managed to nick it and somehow it stayed on the gaff. We only had weighmaster scales with us that only went up to 30lb and we had no sack to retain the eel. I took my oilskin waterproof coat off, tied the ends of the arms up and we zipped it into the coat and carried it up the cliff between us. I was on my 50cc motorbike so we had to persuade his mum to take it to be weighed for us, special memories.

1991 I made silver again with 2 over 35lb, the first on Conger gear of 35-4 and the second the 39-4 caught on bass gear described in a previous post.

1992 and it was silver again, this time a St Catherine’s Breakwater fish caught on the back wall by the rings at 35-6, this was back before the boulders had been dropped on the end and you could fish the rings on a dead nip tide before the high and just about hold bottom. Check out the length of the trace used!

1993 and my biggest from Jersey was 27-8 caught from Greve pier so my medal fish was a Sark fish and my closest to a gold yet at 44-4.

1994 and it was silver yet again with a solitaired eel which put up a really memorable battle of 38-0

I then had a gap in my fishing, busy getting married and working so I never managed a medal in 95,96 or 97 before getting back into the swing of things with a bronze medal 25-0 eel in 1998.

1999 and it was silver again, this was again a St Catherine’s Breakwater fish, this time from the last bench on the backwall at 36-4.

2000 and it was back to bronze with this one of 32-0

2001 and my medal fish came from the main harbour in Sark, caught on a fillet of wrasse on a tide so big dad managed to gaff it from the top, this one another silver at 38-8

2002 and back to Jersey and back to bronze with an early January fish of 31-8.

2003 and back to silver with my second Jersey 40 as described in a previous post in a session that also produced a 30-8.

2004 and a couple of 25’s from Jersey but my medal fish was again a Sark fish and again Silver at 36-8 from an appropriately named rockmark called Congriere.

2005 was back to Jersey and back to bronze with a 26-0, 2006 also a bronze at 27-4.

2007 and it was back to silver with a nice eel of 35-8.

2008 and I had a great autumn run of eels with fish of 28-12, 31-12, 32-12, 33-12 & this one for another silver of 37-0.

2009 and it was silver again this time with an eel of 35-0

2010 and it was back to bronze with a fish of 27-8, 2011 started with a 31-12 but ended with another silver fish of 38-8, a memorable catch as I was fishing at Sorel Point straight off the front by the life ring on my own and somehow climbed down, gaffed the eel and climbed back up. Crazy really.

At this point you were really starting to notice a change in the catches, there were still the odd big fish if you put the time in but there were nowhere near as many fish in the 15-25lb bracket.

2012 started with a 25 pounder in the Conger Festival that came second but my medal fish was yet another silver at 37-0, again solitaired in a big swell.

2013 was back to bronze, this time with a 28-12

2014 and Bronze again this time at 32-0, a fish I traced out without gaffing and is actually the last 30+ I have caught.

Then in 2015 my medal run came to an end with my best eel of the year just 18-4.

I did have a bronze in 2016 for an eel of 25-8 but my best in 2017 was only 21-12 before this one in 2018 from Bouley Bay Pier of 27-8 was my last medal fish

So 8 years without a medal, a few 20’s over that time but none over the 25lb minimum and the chance of that elusive gold seems to be gone but there are definitely signs of improvement and I have seen more eels in the 15-20lb bracket this year that there has been for some time and the conger festival results certainly offer some hope for the future. I certainly hope it comes back, for me there’s nothing like a night congering on the rocks.

October got off to a decent start with a short but hectic session on the Thin Lipped Mullet. I had a small window of an hour and a half to fish which produced 3 Mullet & 1 Bass as well as 2 lost Mullet. Nothing big with the best going 2-9 but great fun.

Then unfortunately I got Covid for the first time which wiped me out for a week although I am still feeling a bit sluggish. First session out after was a short trip on the north coast with big baits that only produced the usual small Conger. I followed that up with another Conger session that was remarkably quiet with just 1 Dogfish to show from what is usually a really productive mark.

Then it was a St Catherine’s session on the bottom wall with dad. I decided to hedge my bets a little and put 1 out for eels and 1 out for Ray. Action was constant on the bait rod which provided a steady supply of fresh pout as well as the usual dogfish.

We also had a few small eels and one slightly better one of 15-12 which fell to my Ray rod. It had been previously lost by another angler and had a conger trace in it which is probably what stopped it being able to bite through my 40lb trace.

The main objective of the session was to try and get dad a club weigher Conger. Typically at the exact point he went to the toilet I heard a noise and turned around to see his rod had been pulled over the railings and although it was tied the tip section was gone! When he returned I had to hand line the fish in. We managed to net it and retrieve the tip section of his much loved Century Slammer. We quickly returned the eel without weighing it but it probably would have made the club minimum of 12lb.

I then did another Conger session on the north coast that was non-stop with small eels, eventually running out of bait after my 8th Conger. Another St Catherine’s session with dad was next to try again for an eel. We had planned to fish the end but there were already other anglers fishing so we did the beginning of the back wall which only produced small eels and dogfish although I did have a nice bonus Lobster.

Then it was time to try for something different. I managed to dig some nice Whitecat on the bigger tides to have a go for a Red Mullet or maybe a Sole. The session started pretty slow with just a couple of small Pouting and a very small Lobster before a typical Red Mullet bite pulled the rod over followed by slack line which resulted in the first Red of the night at exactly 1lb. About half an hour later a carbon copy bite produced a slight improvement to 1-2 with a 3rd of just under 1lb towards the end of the session. I was just about out of bait so I put the last few bits of worm on the hook and chucked it back out while I went down to clean my fish. When I came back up I had a load of slack line, I wound in to feel a decent resistance and a few minutes later up came the best of the night at a chunky 1-5. Dinner well and truly sorted.

I then did a daytime harbour session with dad where we managed just 1 bite between us in two and a half hours, a screaming run that after a cracking scrap turned out to be this feisty Bass of 4lb.

That just left time for one last session, so after seeing a few reports of Ray being caught I decided to have a go for a Smalleyed. It was a slow start with just the usual strap conger and dogfish but just as I was thinking of calling it a night I had a classic Ray bite. On winding down I felt a fair weight which got heavier the closer in it got. After a great scrap close in up popped a decent looking Ray and after a couple minutes judging the swell I managed to slip it into the net. After a quick weigh at 9-8 and a couple of photos it swam off strongly.

So that was October for me.

There were a couple of other significant events during October, firstly local angler and Sinkers member Tony Richardson broke the British record White Bream with a fish 3-9-8, unfortunately I haven’t seen any photos as yet but what an outstanding fish.

Secondly the annual Alderney Angling Festival was held in what can only be described as unbelievable weather. The conditions make it even more incredible that the winning angler this year weighed in 6 fish, I believe the most ever. Here is a list of the winners.

I have only entered twice way back in 1987 & 1988 when I was still at school, the first year we camped which was grim! The second year we had a house but I never managed to weigh in. Dad has entered every year with the exception of the very first year 86 until this year. Hopefully he will be able to resume participation next year.

November sees the Jersey Bass Festival, the completion of this years BOM and is the last month of the Sinkers club year, so along with my wife being involved in the Simply Christmas markets and an extremely hectic work schedule it could be a very busy month.

Late add on – I have now been sent photo’s of Tony’s Potential British Record White Bream, what a stunning fish. Thanks for the photos Tony and good luck with the claim.

What an absolute pleasure it was to spend an afternoon in the company of Colin Shales, probably the first person to target specimen fish from the shore in Jersey. I took dad with me and listening to the two of them talking about their memories of fishing St Catherine’s during the 60’s, 70’s & 80’s and the characters of the day was just wonderful.

Colin was born in Jersey in 1934 and was evacuated to the UK with all his family in 1939 returning back to the island after the war in 1945. It wasn’t until Colin was in his early 20’s that he started fishing, so the mid 50’s. In those days most people simply fished for the table catching Pollack, Wrasse and Mackerel. Colin told me when he first started targeting bigger fish it was Conger at St Catherine’s using hand lines with bricks for weights. Back in those days there were no railings on the breakwater.

It wasn’t look before Colin progressed to cane rods and reels made by Intrepid and Mitchell and started targeting bigger Conger and Undulate Rays. Colin soon became the master of the Undulates and caught many cracking Rays before breaking the British Record in 1978 with a fish of 15-12-9 which broke the existing record by 5lb. For this incredible achievement Colin won the Anglers Mail best overall performer award, and Colin and his wife were flown to London for 3 days where at a luncheon he was presented with a gold Abu Ambassadeur reel which sits proudly in his living room.

Colins family are no strangers to British records, as well as Colins British record Undulate, Colins son Martin held the British record for Marbled Electric Ray and even Colins late wife got in on the act with a British record Rockcook Wrasse, a species I have never seen caught locally.

As extraordinary as Colin’s record Ray was it was beaten by another true character of St Catherine’s and today’s record holder Ken Skinner with this fish of 17-8

Colin did go on to catch many other Undulates including a lovely personal best of 16-15-5, a massive fish by anyone’s Standards

It wasn’t just Ray that Colin could catch, he also caught plenty of big Conger, Bass, Wrasse as well as many other species. Dad often talks about a massive Conger Colin lost on the end one night, 3 times they had it in the net and 3 times it rolled out. This was Colin’s biggest eel of 35lb.

Apart from catching many incredible fish and laying the foundations for specimen hunting that we all follow Colin has also made a huge contribution to angling in Jersey and indeed to Jersey life. A member of the Jersey Sea Fishing Club and the St Catherine’s Angling Association, Colin was also one of the organisers of the Jersey Junior Sea Angling Festival more commonly known as “The Smiths.” Most of my generation and the generation after me will have fond memories of The Smiths. Colin was on the committee for the full 30 years that it ran for, some years attracting an incredible 300 kids. I remember it being packed solid, you would have a midday break where every kid was given an ice cream, a bottle of drink and a packet of crisps all sponsored by Smiths Soft Drinks hence the name. You would have Bel Royal Radio who would rig up a tannoy system along the entire length of the breakwater, St John’s ambulance in attendance and the lifeboat on patrol. It was a massive undertaking for the organisers who did a fantastic job.

Colin and his late wife Lilian are also well known for their fundraising for the RNLI. Originally Lilian would knit soft toys which they would sell on their charity stall in the car park at St Catherine’s. After Lilian passed away Colin who by his own admission can’t knit decided to continue selling shells and to date they have raised an incredible £55,000.

Here are a few more old photos to enjoy.

I hope you have enjoyed this post and these wonderful old photos as much as I enjoyed chatting with Colin. For most of us fishing today we have had people willing to show us the ropes. I was fortunate enough to have an angling mad dad who was happy to give up his time to take me. When I talk to dad about who had the time to show him it’s always Colin’s name that comes first. When I asked Colin there was no one before him targeting specimen size fish, he really was the first and for that we are all following in his footsteps.

Most of September can be described in two words; wind and swell. It was frustrating at times with the weather preventing access to the marks you want to fish or just creating completely the wrong conditions for the target species but of course we all love to moan about the weather!

The fishing started for me with a trip to St Catherine’s with dad where we fished the bottom wall trying to catch a Comber. Sadly I think it was just too wild and all we managed was a solitary small Black Bream.

Next there was a 24 hour window in the weather so I took the opportunity to have a go for a Stingray. I had been fishing for about an hour when the rod doubled over nearly taking the tripod with it. I tightened up ready to strike and everything went slack, my line had parted well up with no pressure on it at all, obviously damaged somehow but pretty frustrating and I thought my chance had gone. I rigged up again and carried on ruing the missed opportunity. About half an hour later the rod doubles over again and this time everything held as I tightened up and the fish took off like a train. They give a great account of themselves and can be quite difficult to judge how big they are as even a little one can give you the run around. After the first powerful run it swam in quite a bit before digging in close in. When it finally popped up it looked reasonable and felt fairly heavy in the net. On the scales it went 16-9, someway short of the monster I dream of but my biggest of the year and enough to put a smile on my face after the earlier loss.

The rest of the session was quiet with just a Gilthead of about 1lb which came home for dinner.

Next up was a bash for a Thin Lipped which I have found difficult to find this year, and the weather wasn’t helping. Frustratingly I had 1 in August which I didn’t bother to photograph for my species hunt or weigh for the club because I thought I would catch plenty and a bigger one. Lesson learned hopefully. Anyway this trip I tried 2 different marks, the first produced nothing at all, the second numerous follows from small fish but no takes.

Then it was a short harbour session with dad on the float which produced plenty of Mackerel as well as a single Scad.

Then another short Harbour session as the swell was making the rocks pretty much impossible, this time on the bottom trying for a Gurnard which produced several Mackerel and a solitary small Tub for my species hunt.

Then it was another roaming session on the Thin Lips which produced two complete blanks before I gave up and hooked the lrf stuff out the van and went rock pooling where I caught this tiny Rock Goby probably the smallest fish I have ever caught. Desperate times indeed.

Then another short session on the thinnies that produced a couple of follows and 1 lost fish before the swell washed me off. So frustrating.

Then it was time for the next round of the Bass on measure. I have to confess I haven’t really put the effort in for this comp this year after fishing it hard last year but I still enter each round and try and do at least 1 bass session.

I had plans for the Friday night, but when it arrived with bright sunshine and light winds I couldn’t resist the urge to try for a Stinger after weeks of bad weather. It turned into a fun session with a brace of Ray, the first a fat fish of 12-4 and the second a little baby about 5-8 as well as a couple of little Smoothound pups.

The next day the weather returned to its default wind and rain so I decided to try a beach mark over the low for a Bass. It was one of the slowest sessions I can remember on the beach with the only bite being a little Smoothound pup, hard work when your standing in the waves in the rain holding a 16ft beachcaster.

Despite the poor conditions I went back for a Stinger in the evening but the conditions make a difference and all I had was a couple more Smoothound pups.

When I got home I sorted some lure gear out with a plan to do dawn on the Sunday if I got up. The dog woke me up just after 5am and it was pouring down. I thought about it for a while then thought sod it I’m awake now I may as well go for an hour.

I made my way to the mark which was like a skating rink in the rain and just as it started to get light I got hit by a decent fish that took off like a train. I was just starting to get some control when it came off. Gutted. Next cast another hit,smaller fish but they only need to be 42cm. Then that one came off as well, what was going on. I checked the hook, super sharp so it was just one of those things. I moved along to the next point and second cast bang, another screamer. This one knew what it was doing as it charged along the shallows and i prayed it stayed on. Eventually I managed to get it to go out into deeper water and after a few more short bursts it was ready for the net. I needn’t of worried about it coming off, I could barely see the top of the lure, it had completely engulfed it so it came home for dinner. On the ruler it went just over 58cm, a nice lure fish and big enough for 2nd place in the round just 1cm behind the winner Dan Bryant.

The wind then swung to the East and the temperature dipped but the swell finally dropped and I felt there was still a chance of a thin lipped.

Well not for me, 2 sessions at 2 different marks and no follows or takes. They just don’t seem to be there like previous years.

There was just time for another short trip on the lures which produced a couple of Bass around 50cm before it was time for this years Conger Festival.

I did both nights at St Catherine’s on the bottom wall with dad where we only had small eels upto 10-6 but there was some outstanding fish caught which fingers crossed heralds the return of some better eels. Here is a list of the winners along with photos of the winning fish.

And that was the end of the fishing for the month for me. The Conger Festival Results have encouraged me to have a go for an eel over the autumn with a realistic chance of a 25lb eel for the British Conger Club and who knows maybe the chance to finally get a Conger Club gold from Jersey isn’t gone after all. We can but dream, it’s why we keep fishing.

With this years conger festival only a couple of weeks away I thought it was worth having a look back at what I believe is the Channel Islands longest running open fishing competition.

Started in 1980 by the Jersey Light Tackle Group which if my maths is correct makes this years event the 46th. As the JLTG gradually dwindled it was run for many years by Adrian Sangan and then by Peter Gosselin until the JLTG finally finished in 2007 when I took on the running. At this point I didn’t belong to an angling club so I approached the Sinkers Sea Fishing Club to ask if I could join and run the conger festival as a Sinkers organised event, much the same as the Bass festival. 18 years on and the Conger Festival continues to be a popular event in the competition calendar and has evolved to be a catch and release only event and in recent years to have a dedicated St Catherine’s Breakwater section.

Going back to the very beginning it started with a minimum weight of 10lbs with a prize for both the heaviest fish and the heaviest bag. Imagine having to carry every eel over 10lb back up the cliffs to the weigh in. The original prizes were a Hardy Tourney beachcaster and an Abu. 9000c reel. I don’t have all the early records but I believe there were winning bags close to 100lb! I know of at least one occasion where people haven’t allowed themselves enough time to carry all the eels up and have missed the weigh-in!

Over time the heaviest bag section was dropped and the minimum weight was increased to 15lb where it stayed until eventually the competition became a catch and release only event and no minimum weight was necessary.

Originally it was a one night event held over a Saturday night with most people fishing right through, these days it’s held over a weekend meaning even if you only have one free night you can still take part.

The first winner was dad with a Conger of 38lb 12ozs which was also big enough to win the heaviest bag that year. Dad went on to win again in 1989 & 2004 making him the only angler to date to win 3 times. There have been 3 Conger that have weighed over the magical 40lb at the weigh in as well as a couple that fell just short. Perhaps surprisingly the biggest two eels ever weighed in were 41-6 caught by top local coarse angler Greig Brown in 2008 which was caught on the middle arm casting into the Tanker Berth and 40-12 in 2003 caught by Mark Symons at St Catherine’s Breakwater on the bottom wall in front of the old tackle shop. The 3rd 40 pounder was 40lb exactly caught by Mark Le Houquet in 2000 from a rock mark.

The dubious honor of catching the biggest eel not to win goes to Andy Garnier who had a eel of 35-15 in 2014 only to be beaten by a St Caths eel of 39-8 caught by Mick Le Fevre.

The worst year has to be 2016. The forecast was to be ok until about midnight and then blowing up overnight. We made the decision at lunchtime to go ahead thinking everyone would have a few hours before the weather closed in. Unfortunately the weather arrived early and by about 9pm it was horrendous, some of the worst conditions I have ever fished in and I was really worried for everyone’s safety. It was a bad call to go ahead and I was ready to give up after that year, incredibly we actually had 2 eels over the 15lb minimum with Sam Chapon finding the winner at 17-12.

I finally managed to get my hands on the trophy in 2013. The year previous I had fished what is probably the most difficult rock mark I had ever fished and come second with an eel of 24-12. I decided to return complete with various pegs and around 300ft of rope just to get down to where I wanted to fish. The last bit you have to lower your gear down on a rope and then climb down. I tied my bait bucket by the handle and was lowering it down when the handle came off, the bucket fell and nearly all my bait went in the sea! I climbed down and figured I had enough bait left for a couple of hours so would fish for as long as I could. First proper cast in the dark and I hooked what was clearly a half decent fish, on the surface I climbed down to gaff it and after a couple of missed opportunities I gaffed the eel and made my way back up. I was just about back to the ledge I was fishing from when the eel span off the gaff. Luckily I’d had the sense to back my drag off but the eel went the whole way back down and into the sea! I climbed back down, pumped the eel back to the surface and gaffed it again. After finally climbing back up and putting it in a sack I weighed it at just under 25lb and a possible contender. I had another couple of casts before facing the challenge of climbing back up with all my gear and an eel. I decided to leave a fair bit of stuff down there and return for it the next day and gradually made my way up, being home in bed before 11pm.

Next morning at the weigh-in my eel went 24-4, big enough to win by just over 1lb. It is probably the competition I have been the happiest to win.

Now I’m a fair bit older and I like to think a little wiser I look back at where I fished those 2 years at night and alone and I realise how stupid it probably was. I have only been back twice since, one in JOSAF where I managed a weigher and once again in a conger festival where I couldn’t fish due to the swell and had to pack up early. I doubt it will ever be fished again.

So this years event in a couple of weeks has no minimum weight and is completely catch and release with only your biggest Conger counting. It is split into 2 sections, one for St Catherine’s Breakwater fish only and an overall section with the same top prizes in both sections meaning it is a competition available to everyone. We even have a trophy and prizes for the biggest Conger by a junior or lady entrant. If you’re interested in taking part entry forms are available at all the local tackle shops.

August started really slow, it’s often a month of two halves with the Jersey Open the final week a lot of the earlier part of the month is spent sorting gear, collecting bait and generally spending some time at home.

First trip of the month was a predictable poor Stingray session that only produced the normal small Black Bream and Bass. Next up was a light beach session which produced some small Bass and my first Golden Grey Mullet of the year for my species hunt albeit not very big.

Next up was a St Catherine’s session with dad, dad wanted to try for Wrasse so I chucked a Tope rod out and took a scratching rod to try and add a few new species for the hunt and finished with a mixed bag of Tompot Blenny, Black Bream, Red Mullet, Goldsinny Wrasse, Dogfish, Corkwing Wrasse, Ballan Wrasse and this chunky Baillons Wrasse the biggest one I’ve seen.

Then it was time for the first Sinkers Sea Fishing Club Thicklipped Mullet competition. This is a catch and release event with the longest fish winning. I fished with dad at St Aubins Harbour on the Friday evening but we blanked. I was unable to fish on the Saturday so did a rockmark Sunday morning and managed 2, the biggest going 52cm caught 2nd drop when I had only been chervying about 5 minutes. Not a monster but big enough for 3rd place with Sam Bennie taking the honours with a 56cm fish just ahead of Steve Mullins 55cm.

The next couple of weeks I only did a couple of short trips trying a few things before the open that produced my first Thin Lipped of the year of around 2lb and a Gilthead just over 1lb.

Then it was time for the open. For anyone not familiar with the format this is a week long festival with 9 different sections, the objective being to weigh in to as many different sections as possible. Your fish has to be over some very high minimum sizes and also beat the 5th place weight in that section. If at the conclusion of the competition there is a tie, the angler who got to that number of species first wins.

My week rather unusually started a couple hours after the midday start as I didn’t want to start fishing until the tide had turned. First up was a Black Bream session, minimum weight for these is 1-8 which is a lot tougher than it sounds. I lost count of how many Bream I caught on the first day, I would estimate more than 50 with the biggest just short at 1-7. I take a disgorger with me and managed to release all but 1 of them.

Then it was off to the beach for a short Gilthead session, these don’t have their own section so are in the “any other” section with a minimum weight of 1-8. The session started well with a Gilthead of 1-4 but sadly it was the only one together with a few Bass around 2lb and a small Conger.

So that was day 1 over for me and no weighers as yet.

Day 2 started at first light and a change of targets to Wrasse which have to be 50cm and are catch and release. 4th cast and I have a lovely slack line bite that must of swam in 15 yards before I caught up with it, the rod doubled over and I knew I had a reasonable fish. A quick scramble down with the net and I had a possible weigher. Out with the ruler and it just made 51cm, I was on the board which is always a relief.

So that was me heading off back up the cliff not long after climbing down to go home and grab some different gear and head off in search of a Mullet or Black Bream. 8am and second mark of the day I had some reasonable looking mullet feeding with the biggest looking like it could possibly just make the 54cm minimum. Unfortunately he wasn’t the one that got to my bread first and the one that did was only 50cm a little over 3lb. That spooked the shoal so it was a switch back to Breaming and after plenty to around 1-5 it didn’t look like it was going to happen. I left my rod out while I sorted all my gear out to pack up at the end of the session and when I turned around the rod was bent over and I had the biggest of the day, just big enough and finally went 1-9-4 when weighed in and my second fish on the board.

So another climb back up the cliff and another change of gear and I’m off to try for a Bass over the low tide. Conditions are terrible, bright sunny day flat calm crystal clear water but at this particular venue I have caught when it’s like this so I felt it was worth a shot. As it happens it wasn’t and I never had a bite.

The start of the competition had seen several Snipe (Garfish) over the 1lb minimum weight weighed in from the town harbour and with 1 space left on the board I opted to start Monday early trying for one of these, I think possibly the first time I have ever fished the harbour in the open! Weigh-in was at 7:30am so I started about 6 and had a couple of possibles by the weigh-in time, the first fell agonisingly short at 0-15-14 but the second just made it at 1-0-10, it wouldn’t last long but it was a 3rd weigher and it was only Monday morning. I also had a chunky Scad of 13ozs for the club.

Another quick pack up and gear change and it’s back down the cliffs to try again for the mullet I saw yesterday. Sadly they didn’t show up and I just added yet more Black Bream.

I then decided to go and dig some fresh bait to get up early and try for a Bass. I find bait digging has got a lot harder in recent years especially red cat and rock worm and it was a struggle until I found one little spot right at the end. I had enough for what I needed and decided to go and have a couple of casts for a Stingray since I had fresh bait. Not long after setting up another club angler set up alongside me and had a nice little Stingray just over 6lb. That was promising, a few minutes later my rod screams off and I have a ray on together with a fair amount of weed making it difficult to judge how big it is but in the net it looked likely to make the 10lb minimum. Sure enough it was comfortably big enough at 14-9 and a 4th fish by the end of Monday meaning another angler would need 5 to beat me, a tall order indeed.

At this point I had a 2 fish lead over everyone else and I felt one more would seal it but a 5th fish is really tough and has only been done a couple of times before. At this point as well the weather had completely changed from flat calm, hot and sunny to windy with a huge swell, the result of a far away storm. To me my obvious next target was a Bass, at 60cm not easy but possible.

My first attempt was an early morning session at a mark I haven’t fished for some time but used to be very productive. Sadly not anymore and apart from a few Dogfish it was very slow. Then it was another low water wading session, I was hopeful the changing conditions might improve the area I was fishing but it was still really slow and I only had 1 Black Bream & 1 small Bass.

Wednesday now and a couple of other anglers have moved onto 3 fish so I feel I will need to find a 5th. I decided on another wading session but a change of venue. The conditions were pretty wild so I opted for absolute minimum gear just a rod with a bait bucket clipped to my dry bag which just had my ruler and a few essentials in. I made the fatal decision not to take a net as it can be a nightmare when wading in a big surf. I had a few smaller bass to about 2lb before a much better bite and I’m into what feels like a better fish but will it be big enough. After taking my time I have the fish alongside me and it’s around 6lb and a definite weigher. I lost one in similar conditions a couple of years ago in the open by trying to lift it out so I decided the best option was to slowly walk it back to the beach. I had the trace in my hand and the fish was right alongside me so I could have netted it easily if I would have had a net! I was about half way to the beach when the hook pulled out and off it swam in about a foot of water. It’s amazing the emotions this comp can give you, from the elation of getting a Stingray to the despair in that moment. I wondered if that mistake would cost me.

I decided to return on the early morning tide and try again, 2nd cast and I have a cracking bite and can feel some real head shaking. After a decent scrap I turn my headlamp on low to be greeted by a Conger about 4lb! Not what I wanted and a nightmare to deal with in the waves. After having to walk most way back to the beach to sort it out I waded back out only to catch another one, fortunately this time lip hooked. I then finally managed to start catching Bass, mainly small stuff but I did have a slightly better one of 55cm, not big enough but at least I was catching.

I went back for the afternoon tide but it was really slow with just 1 small Bass, time to move on and try somewhere else.

The board was also changing fast and Sam Bennie was on a run, now also on 4 fish making that lost Bass looking like it could be costly.

I decided to go and try a high water beach Thursday night but after moving 3 times I abandoned it as just to rough or weedy for the areas I wanted to fish.

Friday morning and Sam has caught a 5th weigher, a truly outstanding achievement. It also meant I would need 2 more fish otherwise known as a miracle! And that’s if Sam doesn’t continue the charge and get a 6th!

I opted to follow the tide up on the beach, if by some miracle I managed a Bass I would push on through the night and try and find a 6th fish. I never had a bite for the first 2 hours of the flood, hard going when you’re holding the rod in the surf but then a cracking pull down and I strike to nothing. I wound in to see my entire snood is gone. I think it’s gonna be one of them days. I fished on and about half hour later a similar bite, this time the fish is on and despite a decent scrap it’s only about 3lb. As the tide got higher the tiny schoolies moved in on mass and I decided to call it a day. It had been a brilliant week, weighers in 4 sections would normally be enough but the last couple of years the bar has been raised and you have needed 5. The decision to leave the net at home turned out to be decisive, fine margins indeed.

Congratulations to Sam who fished brilliantly and quite honestly caught better fish and is this years worthy winner.

You can view a full list of results on the J.O.S.A.F Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/476672935758797

September see’s the competition season continue with the next round of the Bass on measure followed by the shore Conger festival.

On another note I want this blog to be about shore fishing in Jersey, not just about me. If you catch a nice fish and you are happy for me to share it please send me a photo and details.

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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)

Golden Grey Mullet 2-3-0 (2013)

Thick Lipped Mullet 5-2-0 (1998)

Thin Lipped Mullet 3-5-0 (2010)

Red Mullet 1-7-0 (1992)

Lumpsucker 5-15-0 (2011)

Tope 34-0-0 (2020)

Plaice 4-3-0 (1987)

Pollack 10-0-0 (1973)

Pouting 1-11-0 (1989)

Smalleyed Ray 9-7-0 (1992)

Thornback Ray 10-8-0 (1974)

Undulate Ray 15-15-0 (2014)

Sting Ray 11-8-0 (2024)

3 Bearded Rockling 2-12-0 (2017)

Shore Rockling 1-4-0 (?)

Twaite Shad 1-7-5 (1989)

Common Smoothound 18-12-0 (?)

Starry Smoothound 16-4-0 (2012)

Sole 3-13-0 (1987)

Triggerfish 3-2-10 (1999)

Ballan Wrasse 7-1-0 (1994)

Whiting 1-6-0 (2018)

The start of July saw the Mackerel shoals turn up in force so the first few sessions of the month were focused on filling the freezer ready for the autumn and winter bait fishing. Tbh feathering for Mackerel is not my favourite kind of fishing, it’s more of a work out really but it has to be done. I have a chamber vacuum sealer which does a great job and a few sessions was enough and I even managed a club weigher of 1-1.

First proper session was a St Catherine’s session with dad trying for a Smoothound. It was really slow with no hound action but I did manage this colourful Wrasse about 3lb

Next up was a beach session with the light gear which was pretty slow with just a few small Bass so I dug the LRF gear out the van and ticked Sand Goby off for my species hunt.

Due to the fishing being so slow I had some bait left so decided to nip out for an hour the following day and what a difference a day makes. I finished with 4 Giltheads & 4 Bass before I ran out of bait, all caught on 5lb line in about 2ft of water, fantastic fun. This was the pick of them just under 6lb and all safely returned.

That just left time for 1 more session before jetting off on holiday to Madeira so I went and wasted a few more hours on the Stingers with nothing but small bream and bass for my efforts.

No fishing took place on holiday but I did try the local speciality of Limpets which were interesting. To be fair the restaurant I tried them at turned out to be the worst place we ate all week so I would try them again.

While I was away a few things happened on the local fishing scene, firstly the Sinkers Sea Fishing Club held there annual Wrasse competition. This is held over a weekend, completely catch and release with the longest fish winning. By all accounts the fishing was pretty difficult and the best fish went to Neil Muldoon at 49cm.

There was also a few Tope caught from St Catherine’s, we are seeing a few every year now but there seems to be no pattern to when they arrive so it’s a case of putting in the hours until you get the timing right. Graham Carver has put the hours in for a few years now and has been rewarded with consistent results and managed this cracker during the recent run.

Also while I was away Peter Gosselin sadly passed away. Peter had the tackle shop in the fish market for many years and I have many fond memories of being a kid going in on a Saturday morning for a coffee listening to all the fishing stories of the week.

Peter made a huge contribution to angling locally, a strong political voice for the benefit of local anglers as well as contributing time and effort to a lot of the local competitions. I personally will always be grateful to Peter for his many years of involvement with the Shore Conger Festival. Peter ran it almost single handed for many years and also made the stunning team trophy we have in memory of Colin Le Monnier. If it wasn’t for Peter I doubt the Conger Festival would have survived this long so thank you Pete and rest in peace.

On returning from holiday I was pretty keen to get out after nearly 2 weeks without wetting a line, almost unheard of for me. I should probably of tried to catch the end of the Tope run but my obsession with Stingers got the better of me which turned a lot of effort into yet another blank. If I ever do manage to find a big Stinger I will of worked for it!

I then fancied a session on the rocks so took myself off for an afternoon to see what was about. The answer was plenty of small Black Bream that seem to be everywhere these days and a Conger about 5lb which had me dreaming on an elusive Triggerfish briefly. I then got bitten through by a bigger Conger before calling it a day.

That just left time for one last session so I decided to do a trip down the harbour with dad that turned out to be a special trip. It was extremely slow until dad pulled out his Jersey Specimen Tub Gurnard of 1-2, a fish he has been after for a very long time and takes him to 34 species over Jersey Specimen weight putting us level. We have actually had 36 between us with dad having Thornback Ray & Lumpsucker that I don’t have and me having Blonde Ray & Cuckoo Wrasse that dad doesn’t have. Sometimes it’s not the biggest fish that mean the most.

All I could manage was this little Goldsinny Wrasse for me species hunt!

And just like that another month is gone. August heralds the start of the competition season, first up is a new club Thick Lipped Mullet competition followed by the Jersey Open so plenty to look forward to.

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There was really only one place I could go with this week’s TBT post. It was 31 years ago yesterday I caught my “fish of a lifetime”. I have been very lucky in my fishing life to catch some amazing fish but this one still stands head and shoulders above the rest for me. A very special day I will never forget.

It was just a couple of weeks after my 21st birthday and fishing confidence was high after a string of good Wrasse including a new PB of 6-10. It was the first year I had targeted Wrasse with the static approach of 2 rods on a tripod casting out. Like Bass anglers that see lure fishing as the purists way, for me Wrasse fishing should really be done using 1 rod touch ledgering right under your feet but the purists way isn’t always the most successful way and I’m not too stubborn to adapt.

Tackle for the day was an Abu 174c for those of you old enough to remember paired with a Daiwa sealine real which was more of a boat reel loaded with 30lb line. Rig was a simple 2 hook paternoster tied directly into the main line something I would never do today and hooks were 1/0 Partridge Jack Hilton carp hooks baited with hardback crab.

On this day dad and I decided to move slightly over from the area we had been catching and we set up probably 50 yards apart.

We started fishing about midday and first cast in, the rod doubles over and I’m into a decent Wrasse that went 4-14. A great start and a fish on the dropping tide, a good sign as most low water Wrasse marks are always better after the turn. Another Wrasse of 3-10 followed before it went a bit quiet. If I’m honest I wasn’t even watching the rod when I had the bite about half an hour after low. I turned around and the rod was bent right over. I picked it up and hit it and instantly knew it was a big fish. The ground here is really rough and you have to bully your fish at the start to try and get them up and over a reef you cast over. Twice on the way in it snagged me and twice I put the rod down and patiently waited for it to swim out. As it was luck was on my side and both times it swam out. When it surfaced I had no idea it was anywhere near that big, I was thinking 5-6lb. I waded out slightly and dragged the fish on to the dry. I grabbed the scales and quickly tied a loop in the trace to get an idea of the weight, when I lifted the scales they pulled round to 9lb 1ozs. I never for a second thought that was close to correct, I just assumed I hadn’t zeroed the scales properly or something. I took the fish off, checked the scales were zeroed and tried again. Again it went 9lb 1ozs. I then really looked at the fish and it then dawned on me it really was that big. Dad was still fishing away further over oblivious to what was going on, at this point excitement took over and I’m jumping up and down waving my arms shouting for him. He made his way over to see what was going on and I remember saying to him what’s your biggest Wrasse ever anywhere because he had previously had a Wrasse in Alderney of 8-3 which was only 3 ounces under the British record at the time. I then doubted myself and said I think I’m weighing it wrong but the scales are saying this is around 9lb. I remember his reaction when he came over and looked at it and we weighed it again to be sure. At this time the Jersey record was 7lb and drams so this really was out of the blue. The British record at the time was 8-10 from Guernsey and this fish was so fat it looked like it could drop some weight quick. We never had a bag or anything between us so I wrapped it in my t-shirt and we packed up to go and get it officially weighed. Luckily we lived next door to a club weighmaster who had tested basket scales so we went there first and prayed he would be home. Luckily he was and after a nervous wait the scales settled at 8-13-2. Wow I had just broken the British record Wrasse, what a dream come true. We took it down to show Eddie at JFS and into the fish marked to show the guys in there and took loads of photos.

I’m sure many people would frown at keeping such a magnificent fish just to claim a record and I certainly wouldn’t do it today, in fact you wouldn’t have to but it was different times back then.

I did also the usual stuff with the angling magazines of the day winning a fair haul of prizes and I even got a free Barbour jacket from the British record committee.

Of course the British record has been beaten with a fish of 9-1 from Portland, but to my amazement the Channel Island record still stands after all this time.

I have many amazing memories from fishing, many with dad but this one is still the best and I can still remember it like it was yesterday.

After 2 lovely new pb’s in April & May, June was a quieter month with less fishing time and a nice week away camping.

The month started with a St Catherine’s session with dad that was really slow. Just the ever reliable Dogfish and Small Conger, no Bream and no Tope runs.

Next I thought I would have a try for a Smooth-hound. It was a little early in the year for this mark but the tides and conditions were good so I thought it was worth a try. Again fishing was slow with just a few Dogfish but just as I was thinking of packing up the rod pulled over and I had my target species albeit only 4lb 7ozs. I decided to stay on a bit longer to see if there were anymore but only added a first for me, a Conger on hardback crab.

Next was a short Stingray session that was a complete blank before a short but hectic Wrasse session with the leftover crabs from the weekend that produced 4 Wrasse before I ran out of crabs, the best a really long fish of 4lb 11ozs.

That was the last session before we headed off to Lyons Gate Caravan Park in Dorset for a week. I didn’t take any sea gear with me but I did bring along some coarse stuff to have a go on the campsite lake where I caught Roach, Rudd, Bream and plenty of Carp to just over 16lb, great fun on a 1.5lb test curve barbel rod.

First session on the return was a Bream bash which produced plenty of fish but nothing over about a pound but it was an opportunity to get some standby Tope bait in the freezer.

Then a session in the town harbour with Dad, mainly trying for a Gurnard as this is a specimen dad hasn’t managed to tick off yet. It was absolutely dead apart from a few blennies and gobies on my lrf gear.

That just left time for a couple more sessions on the Stingray. I am constantly trying new areas for these trying to find a bigger average size of fish which inevitably leads to a lot of blank sessions. Sadly no sign of any Stingers just a mixture of small Bream, Dogfish, a little Smoothound and a surprise little Red Mullet.

July see’s me off on holiday again, this time a completely fishing free trip to Madeira, a bit of a fishing detox before the autumn.