Well, what a windy month September was. The SMAC Open Species Competition was scheduled for 1st September and was postponed every single weekend until finally running on 28th September. There were a few calmer days midweek, allowing those with more flexible arrangements to grab the opportunity and nip out for a few hours. Unfortunately that doesn’t apply to a lot of us!
The Open Species Competition when we were finally able to hold it was a great success and the species count is always a good indicator of what is around at the moment. The 25 different species recorded included both summer mackerel and winter whiting, showing that we are at the crossover point as seasons progress.
Most notable fish recorded this month was a 42lb stingray boated by Andy Bird of Andy’s Baits. That won him Fish Of The Month from SMAC. Squid have become a popular target in recent years, and this is the time of year when they show up in good numbers. Look for them over rocks and features, although they are also being caught on open ground if there are enough small fish for them to hunt.
There are still a lot of bass around, and the schools of small bass that used to behave like mackerel now contain larger fish so if you see birds working late in the season when the mackerel have gone, it’s worth trying a lure near the commotion.
Rays, smoothhound and bull huss have been making up catches – check out the photo gallery below. In next month’s Catch Report we will be including our first Bluefin Tuna report from Southsea, but because that happened in October we’ll have to wait to tell you about it.