alun j.

Good luck.....I was out for a few hours on Wednesday,,,,,,,and it was very quiet ! The weather was nice but the combination of murky water and very little tide resulted in just two very small plaice and a little bass, The water was much less cold than you normally get in late Feb at 9+ C. I'll give it another go next week and see if the big tide helps. Alun.

Tomorrow…pm ? Shame I’m busy (half term childcare !)

I'm sure it's not predators or 'toxic mud' ...[those chemical discharges stopped decades ago ] I think it is about recruitment...something to do with the spawning areas [in Lyme Bay ?]..baby flounders are not making it make into the harbours . Years ago, I would always see lots of postage stamp size flounder[lings] whizzing away from by your feet as I launched at Mudeford...not any more! The bass may have had some, as would cormorants [but there aren't many in Christchurch] but not enough to explain the virtual disappearance. Alun.

I got out for a few hours yesterday; the conditions were good...sun, relative calm, medium tide... BUT....the fishing was hopeless !! No whiting, no bass ...just a few annoying congers and dogfish. I'll blame the murky water and drop in temp...now around 6C in the bay. Alun.

There are some yellow markers. Last time out they were ok ..use as if they were red channel markers. Obviously, when swell is running , it gets hairy !

could be that shark in catch reports.

Kayaker ??

Octopuses...yum, yum!!

Jim....those are the gills...not toxic, just as inedible as feathers on birds; they get sieved out with the shell.

As we grapple with red signal crayfish and grey squirrels from the USA….it’s funny to read that the Eastern seaboard of America is facing an invasion of green shore crabs. It seems boats and their ballast tanks are responsible…and now our little shore crabs are upsetting their shellfish industry.! One approach to tackle it is trying to encourage people in the US to eat them! Trouble is it would take all day to extract a thimble of crabmeat! …but it is nice! The other approach is to make a’broth’ as they call it. I prefer ..bisque. This I can recommend…. go crabbing and don’t put them back….boil for a few mins in seawater…they go bright red. Crunch them up / blitz….and cook for a while with onion, carrot, celery, wine and a tin of tomato. a bit more blitzing and pass through a sieve reduce a bit…a splash of cream and serve with crusty bread. Yum!

A couple of months too late. One of mine broke , so replaced both and tossed the ok one !,

this is what I have.

Ohhh...What do you mean 'twin hose' ?

I do.

Whiting ???.....Shouldn't be long...the small fish they chase are starting to show