What's your SMALLEST UK sea fish?

[Westie]

Wher do I start? Hardly ever catch sizeable fish...

 

Last trip resulted in a 6 inch bass, on a 4/0 hook, perfectly lip hooked. And the rockling was half that size.

 

I specialise in catching whitebait sized fish, me.

 

[Matt Baldwin]

Hi

I have had a small plaice, cauhgt it in a net while on holiday up in Blackpool, Probably about 1' long. I have cauhght with hook and line a 2' weever. Had plenty of them at Blackpool too! (bloddy little things).

 

 

I am sure were are after the monsters, not the tiddlers!

 

Tight Lines

Matt

[A Norfolk Boy]

In my opinion this is the better thread, what with fly caught pollack and fish getting caught in split rings. I've had a right chuckle.

 

I seriously might just have to try for a whitebait this summer, size 24 hook or something I would guess.

 

I sometimes use a 6/0 hook to avoid the tiddlers but I guess I'm just too skillful as I still get them.

 

Anyway, anybody can make a fish look big with Adobe magic.

[Socksy Squirrel]

The smallest fish I have ever seen 'caught' on rod and line was a sea horse.

It was about 2" 5cm long and the body was about the thickness of a drinking straw.

It had wrapped it's tail around a boom and had forgotten to let go when the gear was retrieved.

[Socksy Squirrel]

The smallest fish I have caught fair and square, hooked in the mouth etc are;

 

Blenny 3"

Sand smelt 4"

Poor cod, pouting or sea scorpion 5"

I have not managed to catch a weever yet but they are fairly common in Jersey; warm seas, shallow sandy beaches

[Big Jeff]

I caught a sandeel while fly fishing for bass with an sandeel pattern fly!!

 

Also had a tadpole fish on fish n strips (but that probably served me right!!)

 

Jeff

[Vagabond]

Because I am interested in all sorts of fish I sometimes do a bit of paddling around in rock pools looking for the unusual. A size 24 hook, baited with a scrap of shrimp or limpet, fished with the top joint of a pole kit, has turned up a few unusual fish. (eg 15-spined stickleback, spotted dragonet etc)

 

Smallest UK fish I can remember catching this way was a Two-spot Goby (Gobiusculus flavescens)

 

Length - two barleycorns (0.66 inches)

Weight - about one pennyweight (that's less than a dram)

 

Put up a good fight too

[A Norfolk Boy]

Another winner!

[Vagabond]

Norfolk Boy:

Another winner!

...but then I'm just another Norfolk Boy.

 

Used to get stacks of tiny fish whilst "crowding" a shrimping net at Cromer "when I were a lad" during WW2 - most of the round fish were too small to identify. Lots of flatties about postage stamp size would turn up in the net also.

 

Used to get huge catches of dabs on handlines in those days too.

[blindog]

Once had a Lumpsucker about finger nail size !!!

 

It had stuck itselfe to the side of my float, weired lookin dude.