What Did This?

[Toerag]

I can't see the pic, but if it's a bite out of the back of the neck it's a cuttle. Cuttles can catch anything, live mackerel on 12ft trace at drifting at 4knots is no problem for them.

[Elton]

 

Pic attached for those struggling with it on the site Sam hosted it on.

 

I'm going to go for cuttlefish. I don't actually have the foggiest, but that seems to be the favourite

[mahoo]

I reckon that it is something with proper teeth, take at look at the top edge of the bite, there is triangular shaped marks where something has torn the skin off, I reckon baby tope with not quite enough power to bite through!

[Stoaty]

I think a cuttle's bite would be more narrow and deeper. I am still sticking with tope. But the bosnians living under the pier could be the winning outsider.

[AlderneyBassman]

I agree with the cuttle theory.

 

They are a pain in the @rse here and will completely muller a fishbait in minutes.

 

I've even had loads on hard crab when wrasse fishing.

[wurzel]

Hello Sam

 

quote

Wurzel, would a doggy go for a live mackerel on a 3 foot trace, it was a very lively one!

 

 

I don't see why not.

 

There are so many these days , the sea if full of them, most of the ones we catch are coughing up hermits but quite often we see chunks ot herring or even gar fish in them.

 

Another culprit could have been a roker, if they can catch herring and gar fish which they often do a tethered makerel would be no problem.

[Westie]

The bite of a female fish though? Won't quite kill ya, but the scars will linger for a while. That bad boy mackie aint going to be hanging around the pier struts again...

 

Curious though - Sam - you say you suspected a bite - tope would have had the rod jammed over quicksmart, no? Sounds like a delicate mauling - ahh - back to the female fish....

[Newt]

Sam - you are too popular. Here is your picture as of a moment ago.

 

 

 

[Ian Burrett]

It's definatley not a tope. You can tell 100 % by the tiny inscissions made by their teeth