12/01/08 - Steetley - Hartlepool

[..::Pike Pirate::..]

As promised, me nd dad went to the Steetley last night, and for me it was the first time i had ever fished this mark, so i was quite excited to be honest!

High tide was at 5:57 and we set off at 3, couple of hours up then down. All went as planned (apart from having to drive back after forgetting the frozen bait but shush!), got to the Friarage which was open this time thank god! then set off and parked up at the Bruss or Brus or whatever its called, which was such a pleasant area to park (see below) and went on a bit of a trek to get there.





But we got there in the end, just a couple of scene photos to give some perspective





Got set up and cast out by about 4 o clock, and as you can see, the two big green pipes with fence or something on the edge made getting the fish in a bit of a swing and reel jobbie, and the pier is quite high as well.

bait was Rag, Squid, Macky, Mussel, Sandeel and Frozen Blacks on two hook flappers, and within 5 minutes of casting out i had a rattler on my mussel that i missed, then dad did, then i did, and can you see a pattern forming here?

the bites kept on rolling in but it was a night of missing 70% of everything, the nights that really nark you off but i managed to get the ball rolling and i finally hit one of these rattles to get us off the mark with a little Whitey, and then they just came and came, until i was 4-3 up on dad



After that flurry of action, it literally WAS a hectic hour or two, with a bite coming in, miss it, re-bait, see that dad was striking, cast out, watch dad wind in, realise i had another bite, strike that, notice dad had a fish, let him cast out, then get a bite, then make some tea and throw it all over when theres another rattle on BOTH rods!

just before everything started to tail off and go dead, dad had a rattle and he said "ey up theres some weight on this!" and true enough, i see a canny flattie comin up over the side, and we get another 1.5 points with a nice Flounder! (dad retakes the lead, 6.5-5)





ended up dad winning 7.5-6, dad with 6 Whiteys and a Flounder, me with 6 whiteys, so all in all the Steetley was good to me on my first trip!

Upon taking the fish home (only kept 2 whiteys and the flounder) and filleting them, i made a shocking discovery! after i filleted the Flounder, no worries (plenty of twitches though ) i moved onto the whitey...and once i had taken off one fillet, i saw all these browny yellowy nodules all over its guts, and they had collected in its abdominal cavity...we threw it away and didnt eat it but im now curious...so if people could take a look at the pics below and see what they think id be grateful! these nodules had also dispersed themselves inside the flesh of the flank of the fish as well as in its guts(can be seen in pic no.2)





perhaps some form of parasite? im guessing they are alive because they have burrowed into the flanks of the fish. if anyone happens to be an expert dont be afraid to go into scientific diagnosis...im very interested about it! oh yeah...and they also had tiny minute black specks on them, one on every one bang on in the centre.

[Norfolkboy]

Nice one PP, glad I'd finished my breakfast before seeing those pics.

[silverfish]

Well done on the fish lads.Have not got a clue on what the problem is with the fish.( some kind of stomach ulsers?) Look forward to finding out.All the best martin.

[Twiddler]

Well done on the flatty and whiting, i haven't got a clue about the thingy inside the fish, would be interesting to find out what it is

[pingu]

nice one
seen plenty of worms in fish but not sure on those nodule things

dave

[Vagabond]

Nice report - and seeing the trek involved, well deserved fish.

[..::Pike Pirate::..]

thanks for the comments! and apparently from NESA (north east sea angling) a few people have had similar fish and they think its some sort of parasite that feeds on the fish and when it dies it burrows out of the flesh...im still totally unsure so i think im going to go to Wikipedia!