Apologies for the absence of Catch Reports this summer, we have had a technical problem with the Photo Galleries which is thankfully now resolved. As a round-up, I’m including some additional photos from the SMAC activities as well.
What a summer! The lack of rain hasn’t affected the sea, and the sunshine and many calm days has meant plenty of opportunities for fishing. Sea temperatures have been unusually high around the country and the Solent is no exception. In fact the early October sea temperature for Portsmouth of 19C has broken records, the average in previous years for October is 15-16C. Sea temperatures in October have previously dropped rapidly, which allows the fish preferring colder water (cod and whiting) to travel south to Hampshire, and fish that prefer warmer water (bream, smoothhound, tope) also go south but from Hampshire. As I report in early October, there are still plenty of bream and no reports of cod or whiting which is no surprise.
We have seen a lot of gilthead bream and bass catches reported, but not as many tope as in previous years. Plaice sadly are almost non-existant but bream have been plentiful right through the summer, and not just the pesky small ones either.
Another seasonal observation is that we are seeing large numbers of squid and cuttlefish being caught as autumn draws in. They have always been around at this time of year but more are being caught either because more anglers are targetting them or there are more to be caught – probably both.
Futher offshore we have had reports of bluefin tuna activity, and this seems to be moving closer to our area as the years progress. It will be interesting to see if the bonito being caught from the South West and Bristol Channel ports also move up here.
The future trend is very hard to predict. I just hope that some cod appear in time for the SMAC Open Cod Competition at the end of November!