Puffin

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A baby thresher shark was caught at the weekend, less than 1/2 a mile off the South coast of Alderney. Picture and story can be found in the latest reports section of www.alderneyangling.com

I've caught a good few mullet over the years and I find that Winter/EarlySpring mullet tend to fight much harder than summer fish. My theory is that it could be because at that time they are in peak condition prior to spawning. After they have spawned I think they spend the summer and Autumn building up their reserves again.

Something like the Hairy bikers maybe I was the other side of the valley from you at Dargets Wood. We bought one of the old M.O.D. semis in Smith Road.

Yes Barry, I'm lucky living here, for sure. Many years ago I lived in your neck of the woods, at Walderslade. I don't mind pollack, especially fillets off a 4lbs plus fish. It hot-smokes quite well after salting it for 4-5 hours to draw some of the moisture out, then rinse the salt off and pat dry with kitchen paper. Salting also improves the texture before coating pollack fillet in egg then seasoned breadcrumbs for frying. As you say, all the doggies are good tasty fish, especially good for a traditional fried fish supper with chips.

It's amazing how different people perceive the taste or lack of it in fish. I would have said exactly the opposite as you Barry, regarding pollack. To me it comes a fair way second to cod and a long way behind haddock for taste. IMHO wrasse is only worth considering as a filler in stews where the flavour comes from the other ingredients. It is virtually tasteless and bony as a very bony thing indeed. There is no firmness or flakiness to the flesh either. Getting back to Rock and chips. I caught a couple of smoothhound a while back and kept one for eating. I offered some to my mother-in-law and she nearly had my arm off! She loves a bit of rock eel, as they used to call it when she was a youngster in Essex.

Absolutely right, there's nothing like catching, cooking and eating your own fish, but to my mind, the nicest thing I ever tasted from the sea was live scallops straight after an early morning dive. Open the shell, loosen them with a knife and scoff them still twitching. Don't just swallow them like oysters, give them a good chewing, they are tender and sweet. They have got to be ultra-fresh to eat them like this, but once you do you'll never want to kill the flavour by cooking them or wrapping them in bacon again.

You forgot, didn't you Muttley? Seriously though, if you do get chance to find that number. I'm sure there's a few people who might be interested.

I rarely use anything other than a simple running ledger. It's quick and easy to tie right there on the beach or the rocks. No fiddling about with bait clips that might or might not release your hook when they land. if you lose it you've only lost a couple of swivels, a bead, a lead and a hook. It catches fish, what more do you need? I can understand the tiddler-snatchers, oops, I mean match anglers, using multi hook rigs when fishing for a biggest bag comp but otherwise I think you are better off with one big bait. Same scent trail but less to tangle.

I think you've probably hit the nail on the head there Leon. Easy availability of food will draw in the species that are able to exploit it. Look at the number of "inland" seagulls for a good example of this. Landfill sites all have their own colonies and we live in an affluent, well-fed society where people can afford to waste food and throw scraps for the gulls thinking they are doing a kindness. An abundance of food leads to a population increase as availability of food is probably the main controlling factor in natural populations. You can cull till you're blue in the face, but while the food supply is being provided by mankind, the birds will continue to migrate in or breed to fill the gaps at the table that are left by the cull.

Black magic. Not the chocolates kind but the selling your soul to the devil kind

Totally agree with you Stoaty. Professionals whose livelihoods depend on it are usually very good at marking their gear. It's usually "hobby" potters with the odd short string or singles that cut corners and use old plastic containers, drop pots in fairways and channels, etc, etc.

If asking for, and getting, a ban on parlour pots in local waters isn't a self appointed ban, I don't know what is.

Well done Glenn, That's a cracking fish. We rarely get cod down here but I imagine a double figure cod to you would be like a double figure bass to me. I think if I'd caught it they'd have to surgically remove the smile from my face.

It would be better if less pots were lost, but that is not always down to the professionalism of the fisherman. Sometimes yachties and motor boats run the buff over and the string of pots is lost. OK the fisherman will have the position in his plotter but grappling for lost pots is not always successful. Other times pots are carried away by extreme weather. As for banning potting altogether, i don't think that is a serious suggestion. Like a lot of your posts, Challenge, it could be construed as an attempt to stir up trouble. As I said in my earlier post, the local potters asked for the ban on parlour pots. I don't call that an unprofessional attitude at all. I'd call it a rare but welcome example of commercial fishermen looking to the future of their industry.

Not correct. A parlour pot will continue to fish long after the original bait has gone. It is not uncommon for pots to be lost. Crabs that went in after the original bait act as attractors to other crabs. Crabs can and will eat other crabs, so a dead crab in a parlour pot will draw other crustaceans in to feed on it. Here in Alderney parlour pots are banned because of this. Interestingly, it was not conservationists but the local commercial fishermen who asked for the ban because they realised that lost pots were capable of killing a lot of the crab and lobster in the fairly limited area they fish in. Parlour pots IMHO are extremely bad news and should be universally banned.

I don't know what the cuttle situation is like in your neck of the woods, whether they are abundant or not. They can be a pest around the Channel Islands in summer and autumn. I get a friendly charter skipper to bring ,me a few home for the freezer. Usually, when his anglers baits get cuttled they shake the cuttle off so as not to ink the boat up. Instead, he gets them in the landing net and drops them in a bucket for me. No mess and one less cuttle to nick his guys baits, everyone wins.

Nice one Stoaty, great "how to" article. I hope you give that board a wipe before making your sandwiches on it.

Which of the C.I. does "Mojo" run charters to? I can't say that I've ever seen that one in Alderney. Good point about boycotting known Boue Blondel plunderers, though I would have said "if you disagree with the targetting of bass during spawning aggregations, rather than disagree with commercial rod and line full stop. Rod and line is a sound method and less damaging than most other commercial methods. The same could be said about boycotting the Guernsey and Jersey "charter" boats that exploit Boue Blondel too.

NAFAC = Nobody actually flaming asked Challenge

Yes, I read your letters to the GEP and they are very good. I'm pleased to hear you've written to Sea Fisheries too. So have I. I hope we don't have too long to wait for their decision and that common sense prevails.

Barry, There was one printed last Monday. You can read it at- http://www.thisisguernsey.com/discus/messa...html?1164034039

BUMP Just a final reminder that there are only a few days left before the end of the consultation period. The deadline for submissions is November 30th. If you haven't written yet you can make your views on the proposals known by writing to: Senior Sea Fisheries Officer, Commerce and Employment Dept. Raymond Falla House, PO Box 459, Longue Rue, St. Martins, Guernsey GY1 6AF A copy of your letter can also be sent to the Alderney Sea Fishery authorities at: General Services Committee, States of Alderney, Island Hall, Alderney.

Glenn, It might more accurately reflect the truth to have a little tiny cod and a BIG goldfish. Greg, nice suggestion!

--> QUOTE(Norm B @ Nov 25 2006, 12:13 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Probably sold it to feed a habit, or pay a tax bill. Words cannot describe scum like these, not any words that I can use on the forum anyway

--> QUOTE(Norm B @ Nov 25 2006, 12:16 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I understand the Guernsey press are on the side of the commercials against the anglers so not a lot of point in writing to them. Still worth writing Norm. Their reporting is often heavily slanted but they've published a lot of letters over the last couple of years that don't coincide with the views of the commercial lobby.