The Big Question?

[Graham B]

It has come around again this season, a question I do not know the answer to! I hope some can shed there views/light on the matter!

:Are there any fish on the wrecks/marks at the minute and they are just not feeding/pre-occupied with spawning or are they not there at all and somewhere else?

It always baffles me and the amount of wrecks that must have been covered by Nesa members alone so far this season for nowt keeps bringing me back to the question!

The only place there seems to be any fish at all is inshore as the Kayak lads are highlighting.

I still can't get my head around the fact that a wreck is barren with not a fish on it? Especially as the down South charters have great bags of various fish off the wrecks down there all through the winter and into the summer?

Six weeks and six days until fishing again! This "work" thing is a pain!

Graham.

 

[amblecol]

Think it's down to spawning Graham, they're maybe like salmon/trout and switch off feed when the hormones kick in. May be why they feed so hard in the winter before spawning. Not just cod as well, flats etc. go missing this time of year. I've found the first rush of cod in the season are often in such poor condition that a lot aren't worth keeping - like kelts. Should be in good nick by the time you get back though.

 

[endeavor16]

Tried several wrecks off seaham saturday and sunday last weekend ,plenty fish showing on sounder but nothing interested in either bait or lures.
The biggest problem in my opinion is that the water is so dirty,think we will have to give it a couple of weeks to clear up a bit.
:red::red::red:

 

[ships cat]

we were 20mile plus water was clear no fish

 

[big cod]

Algie its thick with it and it may seem clearish at the top but its thick on the bottom crab potts out in the deep water are covered with it its especially bad this year at the moment and fishing is allways poor with zero visibilty at the bottom if there is no fish on bait or lures its clarity it needs to starts to break up and go patchy need sun and offland winds.

paul.

 

[Kev1n]

From the marina talk I’ve heard, the netters are catching next to nothing from round here. Boats netting up towards Seahouses are doing better. I hope that the fish are on their way and the weather is about to improve in time for their arrival. At this rate, we’ll be fishing for mackerel, not for bait but because there’s nothing else to catch.

 

[alcaucin]

i thought the same as paul with the clarity of the water at depth, but surely the cod wouldn't stay in an environment where they couldn't see the food or wouldn't feed because of algie, surely they would move on. Yet boats have reported that even in clear water they do not feed so i think that other factors may be responsible, if i ever catch another cod i'll ask it.

 

[alcaucin]

one other thought(which may sound daft) do fish feedoff the algie either knowingly or not? could getting it through their gills actually trick their brains into thinking that the algie is a food source and craves for it so they wont be attracted to anything else. What do you reckon?

 

[oldessox]

I think the evidence points to migration, no fish caught by rods or nets other than a few juveniles close in suggests they simply are not there. I've read they prefer cold water and that's why we get the spring run , the fish from further south move north as the water warms and back again as it cools.
Whatever the reasons, I wish they were here and the weather was right to get out and catch them.

 

[alcaucin]

good point, but how do you account for good marks on wrecks and no fish?

 

[alcaucin]

and if i can add i have noticed more foul hooks in these conditions

 

[Falcone]

Because the fish are not there.

 

[Graham B]

Going with your thoughts Colin I have had some of my biggest bags from the shore in late March from Sid's hole and the South side of the boilers and they were fish with no roe in them????? But then I suppose that would link in with the Kayak lads getting a few whilst everyone else is struggling close to the shore.

The Algae theory is going to get a deeper look I think and do a bit of research on it!

Any more theories?

Graham.

 

[northeast1]

Only fish around 4-5lb+ go off to stawn we should still have the smaller fish around AKA the spring run but with conditions not right and no feed the fish not here. I cant explain why the wrecks go dead as they must hold a food source and shelter all year round.

I guess i am like everyone very worried about the season ahead....if its 2012 all over again i can see me taken up fly fishing again. Still loads of time and as i have said before look back at the last 2 good years i.e 2010 and 2011, even April then was poor with only the odd fish. may is always the starting point for me but saying tha we do always pick a few fish up rough ground and wrecks from late March onwards.

Fingers crossed the lot here

 

[amblecol]

Going with your thoughts Colin I have had some of my biggest bags from the shore in late March from Sid's hole and the South side of the boilers and they were fish with no roe in them????? But then I suppose that would link in with the Kayak lads getting a few whilst everyone else is struggling close to the shore.

The Algae theory is going to get a deeper look I think and do a bit of research on it!

Any more theories?

Graham.

Think the bottom line is we don't know where they go to spawn, but it could be some distance. I had fish from Sid's hole in march as well (2003 last time) and one year (1998) the last winter! cod I had from the beach was late april. I put that down to it being an exceptional season that year. I know that flounders go out just a mile or so on to the mud to spawn, the prawn trawls often get them in march looking like they've swallowed a golf ball.

 

[canman]

I think the fish are a bit like us, they just want a bit of sun on their backs