Owner of www.boat-angling.co.uk and
www.arfordbooks.co.uk
Author of "Angling Boats"
Director of Pure Potential Development Ltd www.pure-potential.co.uk
Researchers from the University of Portsmouth are carrying out acoustic tagging of European Seabass to track fish movement around the Solent as part of the wider Solent Seascape Project.
How does it work?
Fish are tagged internally with acoustic tags
This allows fish movements to be tracked
Tagged fish emit unique acoustic pings
Receivers on the seabed listen for these pings
When a tagged fish is in range, receivers record the detection.
Tagged fish will be identifiable by their external T-bar tags. If you catch a fish with a T-bar tag, please record the following: Tag number, date caught, location caught and, if possible, size Please then release the fish, and send any info collected to: joanne.preston@port.ac.uk
Our popular Open Bass Competition will be held on Saturday 18th July 2026, with a reserve date of Sunday 19th July if weather conditions are against us. Fishing will take place between 8am and 5pm, with all claims to be submitted by 6pm. There will be presentations of prizes (lots!) in the Marina Bar or terrace from 7pm.
Longest single bass wins. You can pay the entry fee of £20 on arrival at the Marina Office on the day, or pre-pay using the Eventbrite link (booking fee applies). Please note all fish have to be measured on the club fish measures available from the Marina Office for £20 (refundable on return). Length must be verified by video. This is a Catch & Release competition, although anglers can retain fish if required subject to the prevailing national bass fishing regulations. There will be a “Shotgun Start” at the Roway Wreck marker at 7:30am. Prize claims must be made in person at the Marina by 6pm to qualify. This will be followed by a prize-giving ceremony in the Marina Bar. First Prize: cash of 60% of entry fees. Second prize cash of 30% of entry fees. There is a large prize table for runners up, plus a bonus prize for top Lady entry, a bonus prize for top Junior angler and a bonus draw of £100 for fuel for all boats represented at the prizegiving!
Entry fee will be £20 per angler, payable in cash on the day at Southsea Marina or using our online link for boats not starting from Southsea Marina. All claims must be made in person at Southsea Marina by 6pm.
Rules: Maximum two rods per angler, maximum three hooks in total. SMAC fish measures must be used, and length recorded and verified by video.
April used to be the month for plaice and early bream, but this year April was the monthfor dogfish and small congers with a few bonus fish if you were lucky. I was a bit worried that the SMAC Bream Competition would be a struggle with so few bream showing, but on the day plenty were weighed in. See our separate report for details.
May turned out to be full of fishable days, especially for those who have the option to fish midweek! Bream are around but not in the numbers we remember. Bass and pollack are coming from the wrecks, and Mark Banks hooked a huge John Dory as a bonus while wrecking.
I am seeing more Gilthead Bream reported in this area than previously, and certainly larger than the average Black Bream seem to be. Maybe that is another sign of fish boundaries moving with the temperature changes.
The first mackerel and garfish are being caught in the Solent which is another sign of summer. We should be seeing the large tope following them as they come inshore to pup. The first few Smoothhound have appeared and some good fish can be found inshore in shallow water and in the harbours. Stingray are also here if you target them in the same places, but with large ragworm baits.
After a week or two of settled weather we now seem to be in for a blow, but hopefullly we can be out again soon and seeing what can be caught in June!
We had a strong cold breeze, the Marina Bar kitchen was closed and so was the chippy but that did not deter 11 loyal members from attending our monthly meeting. Steve Kelly probably spent most of his night shift sorting out our competition standings now there are five categories each with five places. Thank you Steve! These are listed below. Mark Banks is currently leading the Club Champion points but there are a lot of ways in which that can change!
Next up was the Fish Of The Month competition. This was a stark contrast to the months where no fish were logged, because we had 23 entries (6 from the Bream Competition) of which 5 were specimens. However, there were two monsters among those: a John Dory of 7lb 7oz (247.9%) for Mark Banks and a Gilthead Bream of 5lb exactly (250%) for Andy Bird. As per Club Rules, we had to vote on the Best Fish which was extremely difficult because they were both exceptional. However the members voted for the largest specimen, Andy Bird’s Gilthead Bream so it was fair play whichever way you looked at it.
Eleanor presented the Treasurer’s Report which involved very little cash movement but the significant news for the club is that we are proceeding to open a bank account with Nat West. This will make subscription and competition entry fees for members much easier. We will stick with Eventbrite for visiting competitors who will also pay the transaction fees.
The SMAC Annual BBQ will be on Saturday 27th June with free food (bring your own drink) and an excellent cash raffle. It will be held in the Southsea BBQ area above the utilities block at the West end of the marina.
The Bass Competition will be held on 18th or 19th July, weather dependent. We have sponsorship agreed with Rapala, and others are under discussion.
There will be a SMDAC/SMAC Pier Competition in the summer, date to be confirmed by SMDAC.
A night sole trip is proposed, probably to coincide with the Cowes fireworks on Friday 7th August. This will be confirmed nearer the date.
In Any Other Business, Pete Churchill requested that entries into the Catch Register in the Marina Office to be made in pounds and ounces to avoid confusion with pounds decimal! Thank you.
Next meeting will be on Tuesday 7th July, 7pm in the Marina Bar.
It was another sunny evening and the Fish Book shows a lot more entries so things are definitely looking up. A couple of good bass were added to the book today which threw Steve’s carefully crafted, complex calculations of our Competition Standings completely haywire. At the moment, Andy Bird and Pete Churchill are neck and neck with 8 points for Club Champion but that will probably all change tomorrow. A Leaderboard App would be good but I don’t think any programmer could have anticipated our rules.
Although there were a number of good fish logged, the stand-out specimen Fish Of The Month was Pete Churchill’s Ballan Wrasse of 4lb 10oz which is 92.5% of Specimen Weight.
Our subterfuge to get the Bill Arnold Trophy to Steve Kelly on Presentation Night without him knowing missed one important element – the engraved glass. We remedied that today with an engraved tankard which we presented to Steve.
Our member list stands at 54 with a few more to renew and some new boats welcomed to the marina, including Lawrence Seagrove returning with a new Bob The Magnificent.
The Bream Competition was held on Sunday, you can read the full report here. Best-Placed Members were Richard Pack and Steve Tamblin who tied for second place.
Our next event will be the Annual BBQ on Saturday 27th June, fingers crossed for good weather.
The Bass Competition will be on 18th or 19th July and we have sponsorship confirmed from Rapala, which is great news. We are looking for more new sponsors from local businesses.
SMDAC have challenged us to a Pier Competition which is always good fun. It will be an afternoon and evening event in July, with Afternoon Tea included. Date to be confirmed after we have tried to get a closing time extension.
There is interest in a night sole trip in convoy, and if it is timed to coincide with the Cowes Week Firework finale on Friday 7th August we could have a bit of extra entertainment.
Date of next meeting is Tuesday 2nd June at 7pm in the Marina Bar.
Our Open Bream Competition is always popular because it marks the turning point from a rather barren spring season (these days) and the arrival of larger breeding fish and the summer season. We have grown very tired of catching dogfish and small conger so the chance of bream is very welcome.
On Sunday 3rd May the forecast was favourable so we had the green light. 45 anglers registered to fish including Ladies and Juniors so it was very competitive. The target was a single largest black bream, and as the fish came in to be weighed we were seeing a lot of fish in the 2lb plus range. When all were back, we ranked the fish and moved onto the prize giving ceremony, held in the evening sunshine outside the Marina Bar.
First and Second places included a cash prize plus additional vouchers from our sponsors. Runners-up received tackle and voucher prizes according to place. We are very grateful to Premier Marinas, British Big Game Charter, Andy’s Baits, Newnham Builders, Southsea Marina Disabled Angling Club, the Marina Bar and Portsmouth Distillery for their generous donations of prizes.
Here are the winners:
First: Mark Jackson (Harvest Moon) 3.58lb
Second: Richard Pack (Full Throttle) 2.78lb (tie breaker dice throw)
Third: Steve Tamblin (Sea Jay) 2.78lb (tie breaker dice throw)
Fourth: Dan Lumsden (Sea Jay) 2.76lb
Fifth: Stuart Newell (Harvest Moon) 2.53lb
Sixth: Dan Shipman (Harvest Moon) 2.50lb
Top Ladies Entry: Penny Arthur (Full Throttle) 2.36lb
Top Junior: Luca Budd (Cavalier) 1.54lb
We also had a surprise additional prize. Donated by Newnham Builders, this was a £100 fuel contribution drawn in a raffle by boat name and awarded only to the skipper present at the prizegiving. The winner was – yes, Harvest Moon! Definitely a day of skill and luck for Stuart Newell and his crew on Harvest Moon.
Our thanks as always to the organisers, sponsors and competitors who together made another enjoyable and memorable day.
Thank you to our loyal Club Members who turned out despite the warnings of traffic chaos around the Portsmouth game! It was a great excuse to get down here early and chat for a bit.
Anyway… on with the meeting report! Standings are as below, early days yet and lots of blank spaces. Pete Churchill is racing off on the Species Hunt but there’s plenty of time for a chase.
Fish Of The Month was very easy this month because NO fish were entered in March and I didn’t have to do any complicated specimen percentage calculations. Instead, we changed it to Fishless Of The Month which by precedent is awarded to whoever we like, so we awarded it to Dave Newnham for being a great help in organising the Open Comps and being an all round good chap. Dave donated his cash prize to the RNLI/GAFIR fund.
Membership Update isn’t such happy news, 24 members have not paid their renewal yet which means we are £480 down on club funds. Members won’t be able to enter ANY fish that they catch in our competitions if they aren’t paid up – you can’t backdate the payment, so please make sure you have dropped off your £20 before your next trip. It would be a shame to miss out on a decent prize because of that. You can put the cash in an envelope with your name/SMAC Membership 2026, and drop it into the office. You can message Steve, Eleanor or any committee member to confirm.
Members may recall a recent debate on Fisheries Regulations. We took this opportunity to remind members that SMAC takes both legislation and guidance on minimum take sizes and catch limits very seriously. No abuse of these rules will be tolerated.
Our next Open Competition is nearly upon us: the Open Bream Competition with a date of Sunday 3rd May and following Sundays as reserve dates. Details on the Link. This is a popular competition because everyone is in with a good chance of catching a bream big enough to secure a place on our extensive Prize Table! The Committee will be looking for new additional sponsors for our Open Competitions over the next few weeks.
Our next monthly meeting will again be on a different date from usual due to the May Bank Holiday. It will be on Thursday 7th May, 7pm in the Marina Bar.
This is the night for a get-together, fun, banter and to celebrate the achievements of our members over the past season. We combine the SMAC awards with SMDAC to make it even more of a family gathering. This Awards ceremony was a little daunting for your new chairman because it was the first in living memory not hosted by Steve Kelly. Nevertheless (and to the huge relief of the chairman), Steve had carried on behind the scenes managing the club competition standings and the winners’ trophies for this event too.
We invited Rupert Bremer from Premier Marinas to present the trophies and he lived up to, and exceeded, his reputation for glamorous costumes. This year he topped off his amazing goldfish suit with a fender-head of epic proportions, and I was rather relieved when it came off safely.
Anyway, on with the show and Steve Kelly who is Treasurer of SMDAC took the mic to announce their prizes. First thing however was to welcome John Calton as the new Chairman – wait, no, it is now Commodore, selected to top the rank of his brother in a neighbouring club. To seal the appointment, John was presented with a hat of suitable glamour which I’m sure will attract admiring glances when he wears it around Southsea (which he is now obliged to do).
The official trophy winners for SMDAC were:
Cod Cup (ok, Whiting then): John Calton
Best Specimen Cup: Tony Tadd
Species Hunt Cup: Frank Chatfield
George Dominy Memorial Cup: Frank Chatfield
Silver Fish Trophy: Jenny Munday
Lake Specimen Trophy: Tony Tadd
Mixed Lake Cup: Frank Chatfield
Champion Runner Up: Ben Munday
SMDAC Club Champion 2026: Frank Chatfield
Before moving on to the SMAC trophies, we had a quick catch-up on the Fish Of The Month winnings that hadn’t been collected, and distribution of the 21 Specimen Fish certificates and medals to:
Sam Cofie
Ray Plomer
Dave Chapman
Steve Tambling
Andy Bird
Pete Churchill
The Trophy Winners for SMAC based on the final competition standings were:
Pollack Cup: Mark Banks
Best Turbot or Brill Cup: Jim Atkins
Ladies Cup; Soulla Banks
Junior Cup: Jack Dickson
Catch & Release Cup: Steve Tambling
Best Specimen Cup: Andy Bird
Species Hunt Cup: Pete Churchill (32)
Junior Species Hunt Cup: Fergus Morrison (2)
Ladies Species Hunt Cup: Pam Eckersall (10)
Nelson Mandela Cup: Everyone that fished it!
Cod Open Best Placed Member: Dan Lumsden
Bream Open Best Placed Member: Jim Atkins
Bass Competition Best Placed Member: Steve Tambling
Bill Arnold Memorial Trophy: Steve Kelly
This trophy is awarded to the member who has made the most significant contribution to the club, and the recipient remains secret until the night. This trophy was awarded to the same person that was actually organising the trophies – Steve Kelly, so that involved some careful deception. An award to Steve for his amazing service and dedication was long overdue so it was a delight to see the surprise on his face!
Cod Pool: Tim Andrews (First and Second)
Place Cup: Dan Lumsden
Bream Cup: Tim Andrews
Bass Cup: Jim Atkins
Cod Cup: Tim Andrews
Pairs Cup: Tim Andrews and Mark Banks
Champions Cup Runner Up: Neil Glazier
SMAC Club Champion 2026: Tim Andrews
After an interlude for food and a top-up of drinks, we drew the raffle prizes. We had an impressive array of tackle and accessories, and huge thanks to all the members who generously paid for tickets even though some couldn’t attend on the night.
It was a very enjoyable evening and it’s great to socalise and talk fishing at a time of the year when any other fishing activity is a bit grim. We would like to thank Steve Kelly, retiring chairman who still did a lot of organising for the evening; Eleanor Atkins particularly for ticket sales and organising food; Dan Lumsden for prizes and raffle; Jim Atkins as photographer and assistant organiser; Dave Newnham; Premier Marinas for prize donations, Rupert Bremer for his celebrity presence; the Marina Bar for looking after us; Steve Tambling, champion lead-maker for his prize contributions; and of course everyone present and absent who helped make the evening a great success. Next year, do come along, bring your partners, don’t be shy and have a great time.
This new chairman is finally getting the hang of the job and that is entirely the result of all the supporting work Steve K. is doing behind the scenes. This has been made more complex by us voting in all the extra places on the Standings, sorry Steve! And thank you, big time.
We had 17 members present, including those that stayed on from the SMDAC meeting for the entertainment. First up was a rendition of the (now two-page) Standings, thankfully short this early in the season. Later on I think I’ll get you to read it yourselves.
We had five entries for Fish Of The Month, the final vote being hotly contended between Frank Chatfield’s Spurdog of 18lb – 112.5% of Specimen Weight, and Richard Pack’s Cuckoo Wrasse of 1lb 8oz – 120% of Specimen Weight. The result was a win for Richard and a round of applause for Frank for a very competitive fish. Frank’s consolation prize was to now be in the lead for the Catch & Release Cup with his fish, but no £10 unfortunately.
The Premier Berth Holders Social will be from 10am to 12:30pm on Saturday 7th March in the Marina Bar and SMAC will be supporting it with our information board display. All are welcome, and there’s a free bacon buttie and hot drink from Premier plus whatever corporate branded loot you can beg for. By the way the bag is good but the pen doesn’t last.
Preparations are well under way for our Presentation Night on Saturday 14th March with a free drink and raffle ticket for members, free food, a very generous cash raffle and lots of prize-giving banter. Do come, partners welcome. 7pm for 7:30pm start in the Marina Bar.
Membership subscriptions are due so if you haven’t paid yet please contact Steve Kelly or Eleanor Atkins before they call in The Collector.
There was a call for the SMDAC vs SMAC Pier Competition again this year, so if SMDAC are game we are up for the challenge. Unfortunately the burger van is no longer on the pier so we may have to go further afield for supplies – like to the other end of the pier.
Our friend Dan Sissons is organising a Bass Beach Competition on the same weekend as our Open Bass Boat Competition 18/19 July. Their presentations will probably also be in the Marina Bar. If they coincide….that could be fun!
There was a reminder that the Bass Closed Season is upon us, Catch & Release only until end of March. The good news is that from April onwards our take limit goes up to three fish per angler per day, minimum length 42cm as before.
Finally, the University of Portsmouth Angling Club is holding a 24 hour Fishathon on or around 5th May, so if any of our members are available for a few hours to fish alongside some newbies and give them some tips I’m sure they would be very grateful. Location probably at the Portsmouth end of the seafront.
Next Monthly Meeting is Tuesday 7th April at 7pm in the Marina Bar as usual.
The Bass Closed Season (Catch and Release only) runs from 1st February to 31st March. After that date, recreational anglers fishing from boat or shore can retain up to three bass per angler per day with a minimum length of 42cm each. For more information, see the Government Bass Fishing Guidance 2025/6
Note that local Bass Nursery Regulations apply in addition to these rules, for details see here.
