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Smooth-hounds are a really interesting species locally. Throughout the 80’s and first half of the 90’s they were never caught from the shore locally and I think the record was about 4lb. They started to appear in the late 90’s firstly from St Catherine’s Breakwater. At first there was no great numbers but there was enough to target them and slowly the record began to rise. Throughout the late 90’s the numbers and the size slowly increased and a pattern emerged of 2 notable runs, the first on the south coast which started early to mid May and ran through to around the end of June and generally produced the bigger fish. The second run was on the east coast, predominantly at St Catherine’s and was more July time and could often throw up big numbers but generally smaller fish.

I wasn’t really fishing in the late 90’s with my own business to run I just never had the time so I didn’t catch my first hound until 2000.

My first decent hound was in 2000, a fish of 10-12 which was caught during daylight on squid, at the time it seemed huge and at the end of the year when I did my diary I considered it a better fish than a 32lb Conger, a 15lb Undulate and a 6-1 Wrasse.

Gradually they got bigger in numbers and size and a couple years later I increased my pb by a couple of ounces with my first double from St Caths.

By the mid 2000’s doubles were pretty common and you could sometimes catch 3 or 4 in a session, some fantastic fishing. I had caught quite a few upto around 12lb when I had one that just dwarfed everything I had caught before and I remember being amazed by this fish of 17-12.

I would say by around 2010 the numbers had peaked and each year after there seemed slightly less but the odd fish just seemed to get bigger and in 2012 I caught my current PB, a fish that bounced the scales between 23-15 & 24-2 in my weigh sling which weighs 8ozs. It was a wet and windy night so I settled on a conservative 23-0, a fish clearly heavily in pups so a couple of quick photos before it was released. An amazing fish I still consider one of my most memorable catches.

The numbers were definitely starting to drop off now but there were still the odd really big fish each year, well worth putting in the effort for. In 2015 I had my second 20, a fish of exactly 20lb that went like a train.

The last doubles I caught was a memorable session in 2017. I arrived at the mark in daylight so decided to start with single big hard back crab to try and avoid small wrasse. I chucked 2 rods out and waited for the light to fade, dusk was always a great time for them. First cast and the first rod doubles over to what is clearly a good hound. After a cracking scrap it’s in the net and I put it in a rock pool as I went to find my scales. No sooner had I turned my back and the second rod doubled over and I was in again to another good fish. In the net it looked about the same size as the first. On the scales they went 18-7 & 17-14 now that’s a great first cast!

They turned out to be the last doubles I caught, lesson being when somethings good make the most of it because you don’t know how long it will last.

We still catch hounds and last year I had them to over 7lb, my best for a few years so maybe we will see them come back in size as well as numbers.

Who knows why we suddenly started catching them and why we stopped catching the bigger ones, the unpredictability is what keeps us fishing, you never know what might turn up next.

The first half of May was dominated by easterly winds, resulting in often cold days and flat calm crystal clear seas, not the best fishing conditions. Despite that my luck continues to be good and I have been blessed again with some nice fish including another PB, my 3rd of the year which is pretty unusual for me.

First session in anger was a mackerel bash hoping for a feed and maybe a few for the freezer. Tbh it was hard work with just 3 Mackerel, 2 Pollack and a Sandeel to show for my 2 hours hard graft but at least it was enough for dinner.

Then it was back on the Giltheads and another fairly slow session with a few small Bass and 1 small Gilt for me but dad did have a slightly better one of about 1-8.

I then did a spur of the moment session on the rocks for a Mullet. I used to fish the rocks for Mullet quite a lot years ago and had some nice fish with plenty of 4 pounders and a few 5’s but for quite a few years now the average size on the rocks has been really small and a 3 pounder is quite rare. I started ground baiting and after about 20 minutes saw what looked like a decent fish come through the chervy before disappearing. At least I knew there were fish in the area. Nothing happened for the next 40 minutes so I set the depth a little deeper and put on a fresh piece of bread flake and dropped it back in. A couple of minutes later the float dips and we’re in. The fish came straight to the surface and shook its head and I was convinced it was a decent Bass. It then plodded around deep under the rod tip for a while before screaming off out to sea and then coming round in a big ark and taking me on top of a shallow reef that was barely covered. I could now see it was in fact a Mullet and a good fish. With patience and a bit of luck I managed to keep the 5lb hook length away from the heads sticking out the water and steer it back into open water only for it to turn and go straight back onto the head. Again I got it back into open water and again it went back on to the reef, this fish wasn’t stupid. Eventually it moved back into the open water and as it tired I managed to steer it back in front of me and was relieved to finally slide it into the net. It looked pretty big to me, possibly a Pb but then a mini disaster, I went to get my bag which I keep my scales and camera in only to discover I had left it at home. Open water mullet are one of my favourite eating fish so I decided I would keep it so I could weigh it properly and get some photos. I fished on for another hour and had another Mullet, this time normal stamp for this area about 1-8 before curiosity got the better of me and I packed up and went home to weigh my prize. I was very happy when the scales settled at a PB busting 6-11. Dad popped up and we went and took a few photos. Oh and it tasted amazing!

I went back a couple of days later just incase lightning was going to strike twice and had another one of 2-12

Next was a session on the Stingray which was a blank, I have been trying lots of different areas for these over the last couple of years and have got used to many blanks but you don’t know until you try.

Next was a St Caths session on the Wrasse with dad which only produced small stuff before another session on the Sting Ray only this time I actually caught 1! It wasn’t a monster at 13-6 but was very welcome.

Then another session of the Giltheads that was really slow with just Bass upto about 2lb followed by another Mackerel bash which produced zero Mackerel but amazingly 47 Sandeels the most I have ever caught from the shore in 1 session. A mixture of Lesser, Greater & Corbins also ticked off 3 species for my species hunt.

Then it was back to St Caths for a Tope bash which again was really slow with just Dogfish and small Pouting although dad did have a nice Lobster which he kindly donated to me and Zena.

The remainder of the month consisted of 6 Stingray sessions that actually produced 7 Stingray the best being 13-0, 12-12 & 10-13 with the others being 8-0 to 9-12. Not huge fish but it’s nice to know what you are doing is working as you continue to search for some bigger ones.

June sees me away camping for a week so a little less local fishing but I will keep searching for the elusive big Stinger and probably have a try for a hound.

As always thank you for reading, if you are enjoying my blog please give it a share.

1994 was a busy year for me. It began with a new job as an apprentice print finisher after 5 years working in a fishing tackle shop, in the summer I turned 21 and in the December I bought my first house and left home.

On top of that I fished 183 days, not unusual for me in the early 90’s but the last year I fished that amount as I got married and started working for myself.

The fishing was very different then to what it is today so I thought it might be interesting to look back and show how much difference 30 years makes.

January was predominantly spent Conger fishing which produced no less than 5 eels over 20lb the best going 23-8, however it also produced a bonus Pollack of 6-14.

February was more of the same but the fishing was slower with the biggest eel going 20-4

March was also mainly Conger fishing but the fishing was a lot slower and the best eel was only 15-8.

It was quite typical to spend the beginning of the year preoccupied with the eels before the clocks change.

April was a bit of a mixed bag, eels to 18lb, as well as the first Ray of the year, an Undulate of 13-4 and a few Smalleyed’s to 6-0.

May produced more Smalleyeds to 5-12, Wrasse to 4-13, lots of Garfish as I chased a specimen, a bonus 1-12 Turbot and a short trip across to Sark provided some Thick Lipped Mullet to 5-2.

June was the beginning of an incredible run of Wrasse fishing I described in an earlier post with a lot of 3-4lb fish topped off with a 5-11.

There were also more small eyed to 6-3 as well as Wrasse to 5-0 & Thick Lipped Mullet to 4-4 from another short trip to Sark.

July was a special month, Wrasse of 8-13, 6-10 & 5-13, Smalleyed Ray of 8-8, 7-6, 6-4 & 6-2, Conger of 16-8 and Black Bream of 2-6.

August wasn’t bad either with Wrasse of 6-14, 6-0, 5-9 & 5-6 as well as a potential C.I Triggerfish record at the time of 3-8 that was returned alive.

September was more Wrasse again to 5-10, 2 eels in 2 nights both weighing 24-12, Thicklipped mullet to just under 4lb and a lovely shore Pollack of 8-6.

October was mainly spent mullet fishing when we used to get a good late run on the north coast and produced a few 4 pounders upto 4-6.

November was back on the eels and I finally got my conger club weigher for the year, a lovely solitaired fish of 38-0

And December was more of the same, plenty of eels including a 26-8 caught in horrendous weather on the back wall of St Caths and solitaired which was quite a challenge.

So how does that compare with 2025?

Lots of Conger over 20lb, plenty of Rays, lots of Wrasse and Mullet all of which are harder to catch today. On the flip side back then we could only dream of a shore caught Tope, you never saw a Gilthead and I doubt I even knew what a thin lipped was so while we’ve lost a lot we’ve gained a few as well.

Who knows what will be different in another 30 years. Fingers crossed at least one new species will turn up and I can get me specimen tally to 35!

First trip of the month was a little frustrating really. It was a Gilthead session and I had made the effort to get some fresh Razorfish but the tide was late for midweek and I found myself packing up much earlier than I would of liked to having caught a handful of Bass to about 2lb and a solitary Gilthead just over 1lb.

It made me doubly determined to get back out at the weekend and as it turned out it was worth the wait. The night started with a little Bass, I then had another bite that looked like a schoolie. Nothing much happened so I wound down to have a bait check to feel a decent resistance. At first I thought it would be a bigger Bass but as it got closer in it felt less and less like a Bass and I began to believe this could be the big Gilthead I was after. After a few nervous moments in the shallows I slid my prize up the beach and wow it was by far the biggest Bream I had ever seen. I instantly knew I wanted to put this fish back as quick as possible so out came the scales which settled at 7lb 14ozs, a few quick photos and after some recovery time in the shallows off it swam.

I fished on in that confidence buzz a decent fish brings and had 3 more Giltheads to a decent 2-12 as well as a Bass of 61cm – 4lb. 7ozs.

What a cracking session!

Next was a short exploratory daylight session of a potential new Gilthead area that produced a surprise Common Eel.

Followed by a short mullet session that was very slow.

Next was the 3rd round of the Bass on measure and I have to confess with the conditions flat calm and the sea crystal clear I decided to hedge my bets and fish for Giltheads and Stingray in the hope I might pick up a Bass along the way.

Stingray have become a bit of an obsession of mine and over the last 4 years I have spent or wasted depending on your point of view an awful lot of time for very modest results but I love a challenge and I feel there is the potential to catch more than we do. It’s just difficult trying to put any kind of pattern when you catch so few but while I may well fail I certainly won’t give up.

Anyhow the Friday night did produce quite a few Bass upto 41cm so just under the minimum as well as 2 Giltheads each for me and dad the biggest going 2lb.

Saturday night was really slow and we only managed 1 tiny Bass between us.

Another short session on the Gilts only produced 1 small one and a couple of schoolies before I decided it was time to do something different and do a night session on the rocks in the hope of a Bullhuss or Conger. Despite just the right amount of swell it was fairly quiet with just a few strap Conger before I had a lovely bonus 3 Bearded Rockling of 1-9.

A St Catherine’s session with dad followed which only produced the usual Dogfish, a few Black Bream, a Pollack of 1-12 for dad and a small eel that did a great job of impersonating a Tope to get the heart going.

Then there was just time left for the 4th round of the Bass on measure which for me consisted of 3 Stingray sessions that produced a grand total of 1 small Gilthead and 1 tiny Bass.

May is most likely going to be predominantly spent trying and failing to catch a big Stingray but you never know, as that Gilthead at the start of the month proves sometimes in fishing miracles happen.

If there is a theme to my angling life it’s my obsession with catching as many different species over the Jersey specimen weights as possible. To be honest the current Jersey specimen list is somewhat out of date with some weights pretty much impossible while other species that have improved in recent years still having relatively low specimen weights.

It’s fair to say though that it has always been the case that some are much harder than others and for me Plaice at 3lb has always been super challenging.

It’s hard to believe today but back in the late 80’s & early 90’s Plaice were one of the main target species locally but the average fish were 1lb – 1lb 8ozs with anything over 2lb a really good fish. Despite a lot of time and effort I had only managed a couple over the 2lb mark with the best just over 2-2 so well short of the required 3lb target.

It seemed to me that most of the bigger fish that came up were often caught away from the more popular flatfish marks of the north coast, in fact a lot of the biggest Plaice were caught at St Catherine’s Breakwater, so I spent a fair amount of time at less popular marks.

The day it finally happened for me was in December 1992. I dug a bucket full of redcat and went out St Aubins fort for a full day trip targeting flatfish and chucking a couple of bigger baits out. Just on dusk I reeled in to have a bait check having not seen a bite only to have a fair bit of weight on. As it got closer in it got heavier and heavier and starting diving. A big flattie actually gives a hell of a scrap. When it hit the surface I could see it was a really big flatfish. I grabbed my drop net – incidentally the same drop net I have just used to net my pb flounder some 33 years later! – and threw it out. What I didn’t realise was the weight on the bottom of the net had swung over the net meaning it had no depth and was just a flat board. I guided the fish into the net with the light fading fast and quickly pulled it up the wall. It was only when it got to the top that I realised what had happened with the net, thankfully the fish didn’t move!

When it came over the wall I couldn’t believe what I was looking at, it was a truly massive Plaice. On the scales it went 4lb 2oz 8drms, and one of the hardest specimens was crossed off.

I would say today Plaice at 3lb would be close to impossible, I doubt I have caught one over 1lb in the last 20 years but I have heard rumours of a big one recently and I know of a 3 pounder caught last year so if your out there fishing miracles can always happen.

After a great start to the year with some lovely fish in January and February, March was the reality check.

It started with a rare NFW (Non-Fishing Weekend) mainly due to the Sinkers annual dinner where I managed to pick up a few trophies.

The first fishing trip was a beach Bass session which was really quiet with just 2 Bass the biggest being this one about 3lb

Next was a rare and rather hopeful Ray session on the rocks. Sadly the Rays are very few and far between these days and all I caught was plenty of Dogfish and a small pout.

The following afternoon I tried an equally hopeful early mullet session which despite seeing a couple of fish was bite less.

Next up was a short spinning session where I had Dolphins about 15 yards in front of me before I managed my first mackerel of the year.

I then moved venue for the last half hour to see if there were any Bass around on the lures ahead of the first round of the Bass on measure, didn’t see any Bass but did have a chunky Wrasse

Then it was time for the first round of the Sinkers bass on measure comp. For anyone not familiar with the format we have 7 weekends over the year with your longest bass from each round counting towards your final score. You then drop your 2 lowest scores with your best 5 rounds making up your final tally.

Round 1 started with a beach session which only produced small Bass under the 42cm minimum for me but dad did manage to get on the scoresheet with a 46cm.

The following night was a change in venue which produced loads of Bass with quite a few over the 42cm minimum but the biggest was only 45cm. I did also manage my first Gilthead Bream of the year at 1-6.

Next was a St Caths trip which only produced the usual Dogfish, Pout, Strap Conger and a solitary Black Bream but no significant action on the big baits although I did see another angler catch a lovely Undulate Ray, first I’ve seen at St Caths in a long time.

The following evening I did a short low water beach session which produced lots of small bass up to about 2lb.

It was then time for the second round of the Bass on measure. The first night was a beach session in tough conditions with a big swell and lots of weed but perseverance found a few fish over the 42cm minimum with the biggest just making 50cm.

The second night we opted for some easier fishing out the back of the van and actually managed a few up to a slight improver of 53cm

And that was March done. Not as much fishing due to work and other commitments but looking forward to April when things really start moving.

For this #TBT post I’m going back to July 2nd 1994.

For anyone who got into shore fishing as a young kid in the Channel Islands they will most likely of grown up fishing for Wrasse. The ever obliging Wrasse that are in abundance right under your feet on almost every rockmark are the perfect fish for a kid, non stop action and no need to cast any distance.

I was no different and my love for Wrasse fishing has continued right through until today.

Back in the early 90’s Jersey was very much the poor relation of the Channel Islands when it came to big Wrasse, with Alderney, Guernsey and even Sark producing numerous 7lb + fish as well as a few 8’s whereas the Jersey record of 7lb and a few drams was huge and fish of 6lb plus were genuinely a fish of a lifetime. I can remember catching my first Wrasse over 5lb out Elizabeth Castle, a fish I was so excited about at 5lb 3ozs I took it to be officially weighed as you did back then, and then the late great Pete Double picked me up from school and took me to take photographs which made it into his weekly column in the JEP.

This fish remained a PB for me for several years before I eventually upped it to 5lb 10ozs.

On the day in question neither myself or dad who at his peak is the best Wrasse angler I have ever seen had caught a Jersey 6 pounder. Dad’s PB sat at 5-14.

The plan was for a full day on the Wrasse, fishing the morning high and moving for the afternoon low. We were fishing about 50 yards apart on the high water mark and we hadn’t been there long when I could hear dad shouting a waving his arm. No mobile phones back then! I made my way over too see an enormous Wrasse in his net and a very excited angler. This one had to be over that magic 6lb barrier and sure enough on the scales it went a massive 6lb 7ozs, just 9ozs off the Jersey record. It was a special moment for someone who had spent there whole life trying to break that barrier and despite having had a Wrasse in Alderney of 8lb 3ozs just 3ozs off the British record at the time I think this one meant almost as much.

The day carried on without anything else too exciting happening and at about 7:30pm the tide was starting to cut us off and it was time to go. Now dad and I have fishing together for a lifetime and it’s never really been competitive between us so what happened next was really out of character. We made the call to pack up and as I walked over to pick my rod up and wind in dad said “ Well I’ve beaten you today”. At that point I was just reaching down to pick up my rod and it arched over, I grab it almost in surprise and hung on as a big Wrasse dived for cover. As always with the Wrasse the fight was short and brutal and pretty quickly a big Wrasse was on the surface and in the net. Time was tight now with the tide cutting us off so out came the scales and around they went to 6lb 10ozs. You couldn’t make it up, at the time that was probably 2 Wrasse that would have been in the top 10 Wrasse caught in Jersey both caught in the same session.

Little did we know on that day that it was just the start of something special and we went on to have some phenomenal Wrasse fishing over the next few years including the previous British record of 8lb. 13ozs 2drms just a week later. Another trip later that summer in August dad had Wrasse of 6-11,6-7 & 5-11 and I had 6-14,6-0 & 5-9.

It’s a mystery as to where all these huge Wrasse suddenly came from but it’s my belief that they had all been living where the current reclamation is before it was there and when they started blasting it scared them all out and they could be caught all along the south coast for several years afterwards until they eventually died of old age. Before the reclamation was built we used to fish for Wrasse off the Cobbs which is the back of the tanker birth and we used to regularly hook big Wrasse but you could never get them out.

Some special fishing.

It was a pretty slow start to February with a couple of beach bass sessions, the first a total blank and the second only producing 1 Bass about 2lb. That was despite having fresh rock work, perfect tides and near perfect conditions. I’m not sure if it was due to the huge amount of rain we’d had causing a lot of fresh water to run onto the beach or the fact it coincided with the bass ban starting so the beaches had been heavily netted the week before but for whatever reason they weren’t there.

Next up was a short and very hectic Garfish session in the town harbour. It was a fish a cast from the off and I had 25 in 2 hours although the only decent one I hooked came off! Dad did manage his first club weigher of the year though.

Next was a scratching session for Rockling, I used to like fishing for these in the quieter winter months but in recent years they seem to of more or less disappeared completely and I only had the usual strap conger and small pouting.

Then it was back on the beach looking for a Bass. This session also started slow with just a few little schoolies in the first couple of hours but then I had a more positive looking bite. I picked the rod up and felt a nice slow pull which I struck into and felt a decent resistance. After a decent scrap I managed to coax it onto the beach, a nice solid looking fish. After a quick photo (hence the poor focus) and weigh at 7lb 7ozs she was safely released.

I then had a couple more nice fish in the 3-4lb bracket before it all went quiet again.

I went back with dad a couple of nights later, very similar tides and conditions but they weren’t there and I only had a dogfish.

I then went back again a couple of nights later trying a different beach but despite moving half way through the session I could only find small fish around the 1lb mark.

Next session was a trip to St Catherine’s Breakwater with dad. I chucked a couple of big baits out and used a 3rd rod to try and catch some fresh bait. The big rods were really quiet but the bait rod was busy with loads of Dogfish, a few pouting and a couple of surprise Black Bream. I was just thinking of calling it a night when I had a nice slow pull down on one of my big rods. I picked the rod up and as the fish moved off I struck into a solid resistance which felt like a decent eel. I managed to get it moving and it started swimming in, really strange. When it got closer in it started running along the wall and I thought it has to be a small Tope or a big Bass. Once it was on the surface I could just make out what looked like a Tope in the gloom. Dad was quite a way further up from me so I decided to try and manage on my own. Over the net went and without too much drama I managed to net it solo. I started pulling the net up but about a quarter of the way up the wall everything went solid and I couldn’t move the net. Oddly I could roll the net along the wall (this is why we make them round instead of square) and I could lower it but I couldn’t bring it up. I can only presume it had picked up some heavy duty lost gear at the bottom of the wall. After failing to budge it I gave dad a shout to come and give me a hand. We managed to make some inroads and got the next about half way up the wall before everything went solid again. To be honest at this point I was far more worried about potentially losing my net than the fish. The net was handmade by dad 30 years ago as a surprise Christmas present and is one of my most prized possessions. Dad suggested tying the rope to his van and trying to use the van to drag it up the wall. It sounded drastic to me but as he said what other options do you have so reluctantly we gave it a go. Very slowly the net came up and we finally managed to land the fish. Once up it was clearly a lot bigger than I thought, it was really long and I thought it might even be a new PB. As it happens it wasn’t quite as big as it looked but at 37lb 6ozs I’m not complaining. A quick photo and back she went.

We fished on for another hour and dad managed a jumbo Pout of 1-2 for he’s second club weigher of the month.

We did another couple of sessions over the next few days as often the Tope come up in batches but no more runs and just the usual Dogfish, Pouting and small Conger although I did have a spectacular slack line bite from an eel about 6lb that had me excited briefly.

March sees the start of the Sinkers Bass on measure competition so hopefully there will be a few Bass sessions, maybe a try for another early season Tope and possibly an early Gilthead towards the end of the month.

For this tbt post I’m going back to 1st November 1991. The plan was a beach session on the beach at the back of St Catherine’s over the low. In those days my go to beach Bass set up was very different to the long rods and braid I use today. A 10 foot Shakespeare Ugly Stick Spinning rod, Abu 6500 loaded with 18lb line, a long running ledger with 12lb hook length tied to a 3/0 Viking. Bait was a mixture of Lugworm and Whitecat. In those days I never used a rod stand it was all touch ledgering holding the rod. The session didn’t start well as we were getting absolutely plagued by small Pouting even fishing at really short range in the shallows.

Eventually I got fed up with the endless Pout so decided to leave a small one on and lob it back out as a live bait. I can’t of been much more than 15 yards out in a few feet of water. It wasn’t long before I could feel the Pouting going mad and I said to Dad, this is gonna go soon. Sure enough a nice slow pull and I stuck expecting to hook into a nice Bass. What I actually got was snagged which I couldn’t understand as we had not long been standing where my bait was and it’s just sand. I tried giving it some slack but nothing happened. Eventually I though I would have to pull for a break so wound down tight, pointing the rod at the water and started walking backwards. That’s when the snag started moving at pace in the opposite direction. Oddly the first run was quite short before I managed to make some line and started pumping something really heavy back towards me. It was so heavy I could barely move it with the little spinning rod. We were speculating what it could be, big Ray, maybe a big Cod as a few had been caught on the breakwater. We didn’t have to wait long to find out as it finally realised it was hooked and the tail of a really big eel came out of the water as it turned and started powering out to sea. At this point with a 12lb hooklink I’m thinking this won’t last long. Over the next 15 minutes we had a too and fro, the fish would take a load of line and then I would gradually get it back to within about 20 yards of the beach but with no Gaff or net it was going to be difficult getting it in. It then went on a mad run along the beach hugging the back of the rocks and with such a short rod I had no control and could only hang on and hope for the best. Eventually I got it back in front of us and clearly it was tiring. Dad waded out into the surf to try and grab it but getting hold of an eel in the water is just about impossible. To make matters worse he had a floatation suit on and the waves were lifting him off the bottom. The eel then swam straight between his legs and the line got caught around his legs. Luckily by this point the eel was exhausted and didn’t make any runs which surely would of been fatal. Dad managed to untangle himself and then the amazing happened, the eel obviously disoriented swam straight onto the beach and dried itself. I ran over and grabbed the trace and the 12lb line parted in my hand with the 3/0 Viking firmly in its top lip stopping the eel biting through the trace. I couldn’t believe we had landed it, the amount of luck involved was ridiculous. As we all used to do in those days we took it to get weighed, it didn’t quite make 40 but I wasn’t complaining at 39lb 4ozs.

The twist to this story came when we gutted it. In its stomach was one of dads really old Conger traces, he must of lost it at some point previously on the breakwater. Clearly he didn’t have my level of luck!

What a mad session.

My fishing year started as it usually does with a traditional New Year’s Day fish. This year it was a short lure session, last hour of darkness and first hour of daylight. The conditions weren’t great so I was just hoping to avoid a blank, however I did manage 3 Bass and dropped one. No monsters but a fun session to get off the mark.

Next up was a night session with big baits hoping for a Conger or Huss. As is typical these days with the amount of small eels around I had bites from the start. Second cast I had a more positive bite which felt like a slightly better fish when I wound into it. Once on the surface it looked ok so I climbed down and traced it out. A reasonable eel of 14-4.

Next cast produce a little strap but the following cast I had a proper old school Conger bite. A nice slow pull down that just keeps going. It was nice to feel a bit of resistance and a bit of weight. On the surface it looked reasonable and with the tide as it was I couldn’t get down to trace it out so I had to use the gaff, a rare event these days. I took my time and managed to get it in the chin. On the scales it went 20-8, by no means a monster but nevertheless a good eel these days. This is actually my 108th Jersey shore eel over 20lb which just shows how much our Conger fishing has changed.

One more small eel followed before I called it a night.

The next couple of trips were easy sessions on the north coast piers to try and tick a couple of species off this years club list. Amongst the hoards of dogfish I did manage a weigher Dogfish & Whiting.

Next up was the first Sinkers Sea Fishing Club competition of the year. This is a 3 hour beach comp for the longest Bass. I opted for the safe area away from the weed in the middle of the beach but unfortunately it wasn’t where the fish were and I only had 1 little one and dropped a reasonable one in the surf. The winning fish though was pretty special, a massive 13-8 Bass for Danny Le Merrer, incredibly his 10th Jersey shore double. Some achievement.

There was a silver lining to my failure though. Due to the lack of action where I was I had a fair bit of bait left so got up the next morning to have a go for a flounder. I had 1 bite, a tiny rattle that I thought was a micro bass that turned out to be a new PB Flounder of 2-14 breaking my oldest PB from 1985, 40 years ago!

I was one of the first to fish St Aubins for Flounder way back in the early 80’s. My dad was working on a mates boat so I went and fished off the pier. I didn’t catch but there was an old guy there, I think he was French using about 50lb line catching flatfish and some of them were massive. At the time we thought they were Plaice as you hardly ever heard of Flounder locally. We went back with worm the next day and I had a Flounder of 1-9 which at the time was a club record. We had it to ourselves for a couple of weeks before word got out and everyone was having a go. I can remember catching 5 in a tide and you rarely blanked back then. These days you could spend all winter there and still not get one. I have fished for them on and off over the years so it was really nice to finally break that PB.

Next session was another trip on the rocks with big baits. Still no sign of a Huss but I did have several small eels up to 12-8 and a little one that had lost the end of its tail earlier in its life.

That just left time for 1 last session, a short pier session for Garfish, topping up the bait freezer and ticking another club fish off the list

A pretty good January, I normally find February and March the slowest months but I will likely do a few Bass sessions on the beach and maybe a couple more trips for the Conger and Huss.

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