What Is This Fish?

[SIXFOOTSTEVE]

Striking colours ,I'm always amazed.

[5150]

yes Lumpsucker, I remember there was loads of them caught in the mid 1970's when I was a kid and fishing amble pier with my dad. Seem to go through phases where they're as common as muck then you hardly see any for a lot of years.

I also remember another odd one for the area about 10yrs back, was a hell of a lot of Dragonets being caught off Blyth pier one summer, had only seen one once before in my life then one day hods of them.

[northeast1]

Yer am abit late reading this thread but its a male lumpsucker in his breading colours. Caught 2 from shields pier last year going for coalie.

[TerryC]

This time of year they come into shallow water to lay eggs. Both the male and female guard the eggs , usually attached under an overhanging rock. I found a pair of fish once in a large pool north side of of Cullercoats harbour on a big tide. (I was looking for plunders) The eggs were attached to a rock , creamy yellow and about the size of a rice crispie.

[Red5]

Agree with everything said, male lumpsucker, they're usually much smaller than the females. Like 5150 said I remember 80's there was one year where you couldn't get shifted for them. The beach at Boulmer was full of them and their eggs.
If I remember rightly (was a kid at the time) it was a pretty rough summer with many a big sea. Think the same year there was a container ship lost its load of timber (telegraph poles)overboard and the kids of the village were told that if the wood was recovered there was a £1 bounty per pole. We managed to get a couple of dozen stashed below me house (the pub) but some fisherman twocked them for himself. The ****!

[elton]

Thanks for all the replies. Mystery over.