Chesil - 13/14th Aug

[bulletproof]

Having set off from sunny Gloucestershire at 4pm our party of four arrived at an overcast West Bexington just after 6pm.

Having set up we were soon in business on the feathers. We seemed to catch in small steady patches but nothing too heavy. By the time it got dark we had 25 or so in the bucket – many being a good size.

I also managed to hook – by shear fluke – what I believed to be a codling (although I may be completely wrong). I managed to hook it on one of my red feathers right in the breakwater. It was no more than 12” long and I suspect around about a 1/1.5lb in weight.

Two in our party had a few casts around 6am but having no joy decided to head back home. Myself and a mate decided to stick at it in the spitting rain and were soon rewarded with some heavy catches (including several “full houses”).

Around 3pm we had two buckets brimming with 70+ mackerel ready for the freezer.

Certainly made up for the no show we had a few weeks back.

Hope to pop down again next week.

[browners]

well done on the mackys . did you take some pics of the fish , might of been a scad ...................

[bulletproof]

Unfortuantly I didnt - it's only in my minds eye.

It has a light brown speckled top and a white underside. It's first dorsal fin went up in a fan of spikes when it was unhooked.

At first I thought it was a weever fish but i think it had too many spines on the first dorsal fin (6 or 7).

[scottish_and_mental]

Originally Posted by bulletproof

Unfortuantly I didnt - it's only in my minds eye.

It has a light brown speckled top and a white underside. It's first dorsal fin went up in a fan of spikes when it was unhooked.

At first I thought it was a weever fish but i think it had too many spines on the first dorsal fin (6 or 7).

what size was it fella ? roughly... a cod doesnt have spines in the dorsal fin like that and a weever isnt out of the question

[bulletproof]

I'd say it was at least 10"-12" inches long which I thought might be too big for a weever.

The fact I caught it just as my feathers were coming out of the breakwater made me think it was a weever.

Having looked at a photo of a scad I'm more inclined to think that's what it was though.

[scottish_and_mental]

huge big buggery eyes and pointy black pectoral fins ? scad it is

[bulletproof]

Hmm the pectoral fins were definitly not black and I would say the eye were big or bulgy. The shape of the pectoral fins - like a fan - looks like that of a scad but definitly not black spines.

Coddling perhaps?

[scottish_and_mental]

if we're ruling out a pout im not sure.. a codling will have a barbule under its chin and ive never in my life seen a codling raise its dorsal ..

the scad or horse mackerel shoals with mackerel and is the most likely suspect .. note the weird shape of the pectoral fins and as you can see they can be as light as almost silver aswell as almost black



im after one for the species hunt so might be on a scad hunt pretty soon

[bulletproof]

It definitly raised its dorsal. In fact it's dorsal was huge. Like a 6-7 spined fan. I was quite an attractive fish with delicate marking. I had that fat wide head like a weever.

Wish I'd taken a flippin photo.

[scottish_and_mental]

ooooh i have a brainstorm ......i think i know what it might have been !!

fat wide almost triangular head ? silvery grey in colour with spiny dorsal fin ?? wide fan shaped pectoral fins ?.....
pretty fish with a body that tapers from the head to a smaller tail ?....