Phil the Fish

The lesser spotted dogfish (Scyliorhinus canicula) has nasal flaps that are continuous with each other and also with the top lip ..... have a look at the picture I took of a doggies mouth http://web.ukonline.co.uk/aquarium/pages/lsd.html In the case of the greater spotted dogfish / nursehound / bull huss (Scyliorhinus stellaris) the nasal flaps are seperate, and are not continuous with the top lip.... Really sorry i don't have a photo just line drawings... but I hope this helps.... --- If anyone is able to photograph the underside of a bull huss head in the same way as I've done above with the LSD, I'd be very interested in using it for the Aquarium Project (also need a good quality pic of the whole fish WITHOUT angler) --- there you go all you happy Boat People a summer mission for you... Phil

OH NO .... Leon you never said anything about catching them ... if only I'd known, I just thought we were there to show them the nice floats, hooks and line, with the odd bit of bread thrown in .... now I know where I was going wrong, must remember to try and catch them next time... LOL Phil

.... sorry .... sink and draw for casts of any distance / depth.... if they are right under your feet then short gigs or just a straight retrieve will do .... judgement call on the day!!!! :-) I should have said that float tackle for garfish will pickup mackerel as well .. or is it the other way around :-) Phil

Yes ....... use a feathers rig with a weight, cast out .. then use a sink and draw technique... More sporting and lots of fun is to scale down from the beachcaster set-up and go for a spinning / bass rod and use a single lure ... you could even go down and try with a fly rod ......!!!!! What you really need to do is some homework on your local venues to see if they are known for mackerel and the normal sort of distance they come in to the shore (and thus what sort of tactics are needed) ... some venues they can some so close as to be almost jumping out onto the beach ... tends to be on steep shingle beaches I've witnessed this the most ..... Any time of day (around high water normally) ... but if it was me, I'd probably focus on the evenings... Phil

OK --- How about this... http://web.ukonline.co.uk/aquarium/wrasse4ClaireProwse.jpg Phil

Some Ballan Wrasse are known to have white latteral stripes rather than spots .. and the general colouration would match as well .... the shape of ballans also varies -- so a young juvinille could be more elongated (maybe??) ... really difficult with out a picture.... This is from andy hortons site ---- http://www.glaucus.org.uk/wrasse-sp.jpg its green, but what if it was reddish brown you describe.. would it be close to what you saw?? This is picture taken by Andy of a young Ballan ... any help??? Phil PS --- yes I've been busy updating the Aquarium ID site .... Holidays are here, so no lectures to prepare or marking to do ... glad you like it, but I must say that there are many here who have helped it work over the years by contributing towards it.....

Jokes aside, I went down to the Warren today ... DISASTER ... they have started / continuing coastal defence work .. the second apron and Nags Head are out of bounds and they are filling the whole front edge with MASSIVE boulders ... work will not finish until Sept / Oct, and one of my all time favorite spots for plugging for bass is all but gone :-( I guess it maybe possible to fish off the boulders next year, but it certainly will not have the feel or ease / safety that it once had :-( I did stay and fish the first apron ... mackerel boiling on the surface, around high water .. no sign of any bass, but the water was choppy / coloured, and lots of bits of weed floating in it throughout the tide -- all made life difficult to use the plugs or see any chasing fish..... Phil

>>I'm off the the chippy for some.... Rock Salmon? And what is wrong with just a good plain old Rockling???? Just thought -- if you wanted to be a little more up market, how about Stone Bass?? Phil

well my thanks to Sean, Andrew, Dave, and Mark ... had a great time, and yet another one that got away story to tell..... My account of Sat can be found at: http://web.ukonline.co.uk/aquarium/diary/c...thJuly2006.html Hope it's sort of the way the rest of you guys remember in part.... Phil

souldn't be a problem as its for a legitimate purpose ... could well be a problem if it was strapped to your belt and walking around town with it, but in a tacklebox in association with a cutting board... na .... unless fishing goes the way of fox hunting or you get the hump and start waving it around on the pier at the guy with the big bass or cod!!!! :-) Phil

I fished the base of the Folkestone Pier on Sat for Mullet.... nothing about, nothing at all ... then a diver turned up and confirmed what I'd already suspected ..... :-( However he did say that things had picked up noticably over the past week, with the two main places that he'd seen bass, mullet and other fish including (from his description) small pollack, being Sandgate and Copt Point ... so maybe you should move off the Warren itself and try some rock fishing or plugging from Copt Point ... I fished with a chap a few years back now, who only ever plugged along that section and rated it very highly, something I can't say I've actually tried myself .... like the easy life walking along the aprons rather than bolder hopping ... HOPE THIS HELPS Phil

Sean ... is this a general invite or just for the players picked so far ??? I'd be interested in the Saturday fixture, if someone would tell me exactly when and where to meet up... if not then I'm free anytime (ish) for the second half of July if your up for it... Phil

I had one on bread whilst fishing for mullet from the shore at the base of Folkestone Pier a few years back.. http://web.ukonline.co.uk/aquarium/shad.html Did'nt count the gill rakers at the time.. but general feeling was that it was probably a poor condition Twait Phil

Sorry Davy, not much Bladderwrack (F.vesiculosus), but mostly Knotted wrack (Ascophyllum nodosum).. Very nice bass ... I do wonder what people would have ID'd it as had it been a cod!!!! phil

I have a trolly very much like the one on the left .. had it for 10 years or more, picked up at a fishing fair ... not had a problem with rust, but keep loosing the clip pins to hold the wheels on (all comes apart and is packed in the fish mobile (car) ..... The frame sits in the foot wells of the back seats in the car, and helps to support the rods when travelling, and stops them getting in the way of the handbrake!!! Jolly useful for long walks when used on piers and sandyshores, but not really any good on shingle, even with the over sized wheels .... quadbike would be better Phil

Think we were wetter than the fish by the time it was landed But I remember at the time (when we met up before the start in the Staples carpark) having some worries as to the splashing effect of rain drop impact, and if that would spook the fish - which obviously it didn't ( as you correctly told me at the time) -- but it did make trying to watch the float for tentative bites just that little bit more interesting!!!! Phil

Dave, you may well be right, but I use 0.16 and 0.14 fluro -- and I've watched them still turn away --- there is some thought about them being put off by the local conductivity or magnetic field around the hook, or maybe their just being mullet and being finicky, esp if their in shallow water when they seem that much more easier to spook!!!!! So line thickness, the hook outline in the bread, the way the bread is presented and sinking (or not) all probably contribute... Phil

Having sat in St Helier for many hours watching mullet come zooming in towards the baited hook, and then turn away at the last moment, I'd have to agree.. makes you wonder what is going on below, in less than gin clear waters, as one sits for hour upon hour without a bite!!!! Phil

For what it's worth, I've put an entry up on the Diary along with a few pix: http://web.ukonline.co.uk/aquarium/diary/c...10thjuly05.html Phil

The panshots need to be updated (when I get a chance) ... sometime over the past 2 years new coastal defence work (huge boulders) have been placed right up against the second half of the 2nd Apron, making the area of the slipway and that area of the Apron (IMO) unfishable, save for low water, when you could fish off the beach ... I wouldn't try off the boulders, as they are covered in very slippery green weed .....

Went down to the Warren last Sunday to throw some plugs at the bass ...... but nothing doing... not a tug ... could be that not having been fishing for almost 2 years that my technique was not all that it should have been ... there again .. maybe just one of those tides ... esp being a neap, which never seems to be great down there ....

Well Done.... I'm I going to suffer this all summer.. ..... bet your really pleased now that I'm not getting off the ferry this year to scare the fish off like last year!!! Phil

No but I can feel the need to come out of hibernation... start dusting down and cleaning up the rods and reels, and sort out the terminal bits and bobs..... Paul - Looks like I'm not going to make it over this summer Too many jobs to do around the house, and too little money whilst Karen finishes off the PhD .. but it may give me a chance to update the Diary and the Aquarium, and fish some alternative venues ... anyone want to fish with the mad bloke with the grey hair If we do get a chance then it will be last minute stuff via at the end of Aug, and fly in for a week, in which case the fishing will still be limited with all the people we'll need to see on the island ...... I've spoken to Chris B and let him know, and I'm sure he'd be up for a few outings if your game..... if things work out, maybe I'll get a chance to spend a week over during half term in Oct .. but no promises.. Leon - are you doing a novice medway fishin-in this year, and if so have you a date in mind???? If I can wangle things I may be able to come down over may / june on the odd wednesday if your at a loose end - in between all the jobs your dear lady wife now has you doing in your lazy retirement days ... Phil

well frustration is the word ... 4 more trips, and no more mullet to me (although Carl did manage a 10" specimen this morning!!!!) ..... how many blanks before you become a born again mullet virgin ???????!!!!! Back to the Ferry Terminal tommorrow morning, after tonights lack luster performance by Chippy, Carl, and myself.... :-( Phil

I've written a report with a few pix on the Diary .. well the Jersey Diary and you can see Carl with his Goldie..... web.ukonline.co.uk/aquarium/diary/j...29thjuly03.html (Elton - there is a link on the page to AN about halfway down re- how Carl and I met --- if posting the URL above causes a problem then remove -- I'll understand) Now to crumb some bread and go after the bigger fish this afternoon ...... Phil