This
summer has not disappointed at all as far as fish catches have gone!
We
have seen a lot of fish caught from the shore and from the boat and kayak.
First
on our round up we see long time customer Gary Holland with a fantastic 11lb
Bass caught from Southampton water around the Calshot area. Gary has also
caught Tope, Smoothhound, Rays, Black Bream and many other species from
Southampton Water this year.
He
said “The Mackerel shoals and Bass numbers have been very high this year and
when you can get through the weed the fishing has been amazing!”
Beaulieu
River has also fished very well this year with many Smoothhound, Bass and Black
Bream being caught from small boats and kayaks around its entrance. The skipper
of charter boat ‘Lazy Daze’ Jeff Semple has had many good evening trips and
landed plenty of good fish.
This
picture is of shop regular Lee Woollon with a nice Starry Smoothhound of around
12lb caught while on a trip with Jeff. Lee caught the fish using live Peeler
Crab purchase from us.
The
shore fishing locally this year has been dominated by Sting Rays. There are
various areas of sedge along our shoreline between Bucklers Hard and Limington
River entrance and these sedges are situated on soft mud. It is this soft mud
that Sting Rays find irresistible! The Sting Ray are here for mating and
feeding and you will often see 5-6 smaller male Rays following 1 larger female.
These
fish are really not a fan of Crab or Sandeel, they prefer very large bunches of
Ragworm and when I say large bunches I mean between 5 and 8 large worms
presented on a pennel rig.
Local
anglers Steve Perry and Darren Mills have dominated the Stingray fishing and
they have both had their fair share this year.
This
is Steve Perry with a fantastic Stingray.
And
here is Darren Mills with another great fish.
Finally
we have kept the best to last.
Anchorman
Charter has had a great summer and the skipper’s wife Emma Mumford has had some
great catches.
This
is Emma with a beautiful Undulate Ray caught onboard Anchorman. These fish are
classed as a species that are on the decline in certain areas and this one went
back alive and well.
