Things have been quiet on here for the first few months on 2023 because unfortunately there hasn’t been much to report. The start of the year is always slow and many angling boat owners take advantage of that but lifting for annual maintenance, and not missing much in the process. The weather hasn’t been particularly cooperative either. However, people have fished and people have caught. Spring is heralded by the arrival of plaice, although nothing like as plentiful as they once were. Some have been caught, although mostly small and all thin from spawning. They will fatten up over the next couple of months. We usually expect the bream to follow as the larger ones move to inshore rocky marks to spawn. Again, some have been caught but we are still waiting for them to arrive in the usual numbers. Hopefully they will arrive in time for the SMAC Open Bream Competition on 7th May. The bass season is now fully open after an extended closed season, caused by aligning the recreational and commercial seasons. Two fish of 42cm and above may be retained per angler per day until the end of January 2024. Anglers pushing out to the Channel wrecks have caught some good pollack and the occasional cod. The first tope and smoothhound have been boated from the deeper marks, so I expect by May we will see better catches of bream, bass, plaice, smoothhound and tope. Meanwhile the residential rays and conger have been making up catches so there’s always something to catch if the weather is kind.
