chesil , colder winters

[geejayy]

this past few years the water temps along chesil & the south coast in general seem to be dropping earlier & getting a tad colder, currently by about 3-4 degrees on last year.
i cant find data off hand for sea temps back in the 60's/70's & 80's (which aint surprizeing,) but i'm wondering if this is one of the factors that produce , directly or indirectly the increase in cod/codling along the south coast & bristol channel?
also , thinking on from that , in the past there were often reports of packs of spurdog running chesil in the winter/early spring, i know commercials hammered them & destroyed stocks years ago , but they are still caught quite regularly up around scotland i hear.
if numbers are on the increase does anyone else think that they may start to show again along the chesil .
i've heard of just 2 caught along the bank in the last 3 years , but i don't hear everything
so what i'm looking for is info, from the guys back in the day who were regularly catching them , ie best tides & conditions .
anything to give me a chance of a decent sized target specie for dec/jan & feb, god i hate rockling , if thats all thats on the cards i'll stay home & keep warm.

[Platitudinus]

Hey Geejayy;
Next time you are in an old bookshop, library or online try and find a copy of "Hugh Stokers - fishing in Dorset"
It will tell you where to fish, when and how. His series was produced (I think) in the 1960's and updated in the 1970's for many boat and shore marks now lost or forgotten. I still have some of his books and have fished many of the marks in Sussex, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall.
I still have a Jack Hargreaves - Tope Rod that also came from the "good old days".
I am old enough to remember when we still had monsters (probably shark or large rays) off Chesil Beach and we fished a large fish bait well out for them. More a summer thing though, rather than winter.
Good luck
Plato

[geejayy]

that sounds like a good read,

unstoppable monsters still occasionally get hooked along the chesil.
usually attributed to big eels but once they've broke you up who knows what it was .

[scottish_and_mental]

Originally Posted by geejayy

that sounds like a good read,

unstoppable monsters still occasionally get hooked along the chesil.
usually attributed to big eels but once they've broke you up who knows what it was .

Yeah i remember one summer my brother hooking into a monster that pulled his rod clean out the tripod and half way down the beach before he managed to grab hold of it !!
Turned out to be a specimen sized blue 'chep' pallet that had come by unannounced on the tide

I agree about the book, sounds like my kinda read

[geejayy]

my own chesil monsters hooked & lost list include several that i never got to see over the years,
a section of post and rail fence that gave me the run around at the masonic carpark section while fishing with greenheart.
and the 15-20 (est) eel i lost near the wreck of the adelaide in 2007?,
hook broke in surf.
followed by a large ball of lostmacky feathers + pound & a half codling @abbots.

[Greenheart]

LOL I remember that fence post Gord. What a battle that put up. You looked almost as knackered as I did by the time I got back to the Chesil Cove car park. That banks a killer. I've got a copy of the Hugh Stoker book that I borrowed from Fullcreel. Very interesting reading....

[Platitudinus]

Hi Greenheart;
Glad to hear you found a copy of Hugh Stokers book. I think mine are boxed up in the garage somewhere so when I have found them I am happy to 'add information' to the forum if its applicable. From memory Hugh Stoker did a series of books for each county right along the South Coast. A lot of the information was gathered from 'locals' and old time charter boat operators - even before we had the 'Decca Navigator' on board. He updated his series a couple of times which is why it became almost an anglers bible for anyone wanting to know where and when to go fishing and how to try and catch something.
The other guy who wrote a lot about angling in the South West was Mike Millman who was an angling writer and photogragher and used to be on a BBC TV show called spotlight South West.
If you are interested in Cornwall try and find his books:
'Looe and Polperro for fabulous fishing'
'Mevagissey for Great Sea Fishing'
And then there was Trevor Housby who also trail blazed a number of new ideas and publicly opened up a number of hot spots and great places to have a fishing holiday worldwide.

We oldies only have to be asked!
Cheers
Plato
PS: Just googled up Hugh Stoker Fishing and a great deal of stuff came up including AMAZON books have copies of some of his works from $10 each!!!

[Portland Pirate]

Hi Geejayy.

If you are to get a run of spurs, and they do come of Chesil, it will be in the next 3 weeks. Keep an eye on the reports from the charter boats, as they will tell of 70 or 80 spur days when they have been out after Cod and Whiting. As soon as you here them catching, that is when you will get them from the shore a well. Boxing day is well known for producing spurs.

The downside is that once the spurs have been the only fish on Chesil then seems to be the slugs.

[geejayy]

thanks pp,

[Greenheart]

Originally Posted by Platitudinus

Hi Greenheart;
Glad to hear you found a copy of Hugh Stokers book. I think mine are boxed up in the garage somewhere so when I have found them I am happy to 'add information' to the forum if its applicable. From memory Hugh Stoker did a series of books for each county right along the South Coast. A lot of the information was gathered from 'locals' and old time charter boat operators - even before we had the 'Decca Navigator' on board. He updated his series a couple of times which is why it became almost an anglers bible for anyone wanting to know where and when to go fishing and how to try and catch something.
The other guy who wrote a lot about angling in the South West was Mike Millman who was an angling writer and photogragher and used to be on a BBC TV show called spotlight South West.
If you are interested in Cornwall try and find his books:
'Looe and Polperro for fabulous fishing'
'Mevagissey for Great Sea Fishing'
And then there was Trevor Housby who also trail blazed a number of new ideas and publicly opened up a number of hot spots and great places to have a fishing holiday worldwide.

We oldies only have to be asked!
Cheers
Plato
PS: Just googled up Hugh Stoker Fishing and a great deal of stuff came up including AMAZON books have copies of some of his works from $10 each!!!

I remember reading articles by Trevor Housby. Great writer. I seem to recall he did a bit of trout fishing too.