Fishsubsidy.org say

“Illegal fishing contributes to the overfishing of valuable fish stocks, many of which are at dangerously depleted levels. Very limited data on convictions for serious infringements of fisheries rules (illegal fishing) and other criminal offences has been compiled from France, Spain and the UK. Unlike data on fisheries subsidies, it is not official data obtained directly from governments but information collected manually from government websites, press reports and court records. It is therefore certain to be incomplete.”

Further Reading

When Crime Pays – How The EU Subsidises Illegal Fishing

EU Subsidises Illegal Fishing

http://fishsubsidy.org/infringements

You can read more about this ridiculous situation on the fish subsidy website here. If you would like to comment on this news article please use the comments form below. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Match Details

• Date : Sunday July 25th 2010
• Times : 11am Start, weigh in by 4.30pm
• Prices : TBA
• Weigh In Times : TBA
• Presentation Times: TBA
• Prizes : TBA

Forum Topics About The Match

Slideshow From Previous Years Matches

Match Gallery

Fishing On Whitby’s West Pier

Cod, Pollock, Mackerel And So Much More.

The Stone wall piers at Whitby have been in existence since 1632 when they replaced the old wooden piers that used to protect the harbour entrance. The new wooden extensions which now give extra protection to Whitby harbour were added in 1913. Whitby West as it is affectionately known by the locals is home to a diversity of fish species and provides convenient easy access to anglers of all ages and abilities. In the early days it was possible to drive as far down the west pier as the stone lighthouse and fishing was possible from your car boot upon the stone pier. With today’s health and safety regulations the pier is only accessible on foot, however there is plenty of parking space in the surrounding areas and less than a 5 minute walk sees you on the end of one of Yorkshires top fishing marks.

Summer Fishing At Whitby West Pier

The summer fishing at Whitby west pier is second to none with a wide variety of species on the cards including Mackerel, Pollock, Flounder, Coalfish, Shad, and more recently Bass.  As with all summer fishing best tactics involve lure fishing and the favoured methods are : mackerel spinners, hokeye rigs, Jellyworms and bass plugs. Catches on the pier are usually driven by the tides and the best fishing usually coincides with high water. However fishing at other times is not to be ruled out and some exceptional catches have been taken at all states of tide by anglers willing to put in time fishing the pier. The best tackle for summer fishing is a 7-9 foot spinning rod coupled with a light spinning reel filled with 8-12 pound mono line.

Above : Local angler Philip Mead catching mackerel on Whitby West Pier

Winter Time Is When The Real Fun Begins

The autumnal equinox signals the start of winter fishing season at Whitby, and this is when hordes of shore anglers from across the region dust down there trusty beachcasters and multiplier reels in anticipation of some excellent cod fishing. Whitby itself has long been known as the cod mecca of the UK and the west pier has given up many a decent sized fish to the many anglers that fish the pier in anticipation every winter.

September usually sees mixed bags of Cod, Pollock, Coalies and Whiting falling largely to peeler crab baits. Fishing at this time of year is most productive over high water on relatively calm nights. As the seasons move on and winter bites hard its usually big cod that are the target of those brave enough to fish on in the worst of the winter weather. A diening northerly swell will see the pier lined with die hard anglers all hoping for that fish of a lifetime. Best baits for the true winter months include peeler crab, mussel, fresh lug, ragworm and frozen blacks, remember to bait up big for the larger fish. Best rigs include the Pulley and pennel rig and breakaway type leads of 6 ounce or more are essential. Best rods are the middle to top range beachcasters coupled with a 7000 size reel filled with 30 pound mono. Many anglers now also fish lighter lines with heavy shokleaders.

Big Cod

Make no mistake. Whitby west pier is a big cod venue in every sense of the word. In Winter 2007 well known Whitby angler Paul Kilpatrick ventured onto Whitby west pier just as he had done many times before since he first fished the pier as a young lad many decades earlier. What happened next is something Paul will never forget as he hooked into a monster cod of 16 pounds, the battle that ensued last fully 45 minutes and ended with Paul the winner when he landed the fish 1000 yards up Whitby harbour at the bandstand. You can read more of Paul’s story here.

Above : Paul Kilpatrick with his 16 pound cod.

More Pictures

How To Find The West Pier At Whitby

The west pier in Whitby is all but un-missable. Simply drive from the swing bridge, down pier road and you will find the pier at the junction of pier road and khyber pass.
View Larger Map

Health and safety

Angling from the shore in the UK is very hazardous to say the least. Every year lives are lost whilst pursuing our fascination with sea angling. Anglers of all levels of ability need to be very very careful indeed – having fallen badly myself last year I’m as aware as anyone of the dangers of rock fishing. At this point I would like to offer a few words of advice to anglers.

Never attempt to fish a new area without the help and advice of someone experienced in fishing that area.

Always check the tide and ensure you will be safe to access and exit your chosen area. Watch out for cut off points. If unsure don’t go. Its not worth it.

Be aware of the weather forecast. Conditions can change fast.

Don’t access closed areas, eg piers whilst the storm gates are shut.

Carry some form of communication.

Tell someone where you are going and when you intend to return. Ask them to raise the alarm should you not return.

Do not fish heavy seas. Its very dangerous and your wasting your time anyway, fish don’t like really rough seas. Leave it a day or 2 until the sea is dieing.

This year sees the 100th anniversary of the Scarborough Angling Festival. The festival committee will once again be hosting the annual kayak fishing match which has become a huge success over the past couple of years.

This years event will run on the18th of September. That is the first day of the Festival giving us the option to re-run it later in the week in the unlikly event that the weather is bad. Of course those of you that have been the last two years know that the sun always shines & the sea is always calm in Scarborough.

Match Details

• Date : 18th September 2010
• Times : TBA
• Prices : TBA
• Weigh In Times : TBA
• Presentation Times: TBA
• Prizes : TBA

Slideshow From Previous Years Matches

[[Show as slideshow]]

As always the event will be held of Scarborough marine drive with launch sites in the North Bay. Further information will be released on this page as and when it becomes available. Please also stay tuned to our fishing forum for updates, tatctics discussions and general pre match banter.

Match Gallery

Last Years Results

Well I shot up to North Wales Friday evening and it was dark when I got there, I had booked into a Youth Hostel and seriously guys for cheap good accommodation it cannot be beaten. Great atmosphere, drying rooms and comfy beds, beats sleeping in vans – certainly at this time of the year anyway. I awoke to an amazing view of the Snowdonian Mountains. Breathtaking….

Read More

http://www.whitbyseaanglers.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=14489.0

Having used a cable tidy for the past two years, I decided it was time to sort myself out with something a little better for storage of my anchor rope.
I have found myself short sometimes with the 50m of 8mm rope that I normally use, so replacement storage needed to hold more rope, using 8mm would need something large to hold 150m or more. I needed to change my requirements on the size of rope for anchoring. Fishing a lot of rocky ground means a fast anchor needs a comfortable grip on a thicker rope, to pull it free. Deeper water often has cleaner ground so thin rope would be ok, as a lot of yak anglers I know use paracord, I opted for the same. With my thinking cap on I began my calculations for making a reel and how big it would need to be, after some scribbling and use of a calculator I had achieved a size and design.
Next a list of materials, what I had already and what I needed to source. I had everything I needed but required something for the sides, a quick trip to Tesco`s and I had a good sized 8mm thick nylon chopping board for a minimal price of £3.
A friend of mine has a very big old lathe, I had a word and got a couple of hours time in his workshop.

I marked out the chopping board with 2 circles at 165mm diameter, then marked one of these with all the drilling centres I needed for fixing the hub, the shaft, the turning knob, a shackle and ventilation holes. First hole to be drilled was in the centre, this allowed me to bolt both pieces together for machining everything else, and end up with two matching sides. I drilled a pilot hole in every point marked, then began with a 5mm bit drilling all the hub fixing holes and the points where the knob and shackle were to be fixed. The ventilation holes were drilled with a 20mm and a 25mm Fostner bit as these are neater than holesaws. The next job was to mount the whole thing in the jaws of the lathe chuck, the bolt holding the 2 pieces together was of sufficient length to do this. The job of turning was very easy because of the soft nature of the nylon board and they were soon down to size with a nice smooth finish.
The hub was next, a spare piece of 50mm nylon bar was put in the lathe and both ends machined flat reaching a length of 100mm. While in the chuck I took the opertunity to drill the centre for the shaft, a 6.5mm drill to allow a clearence hole for the 6mm stainless shaft.
While the lathe was still warm, I decided to get everything done that involved machining so some 20mm nylon rod was put in the chuck. I turned a knob on the end of it and drilled the centre, this was cut off and I machined the inside face. I put the rod back in the chuck and proceeded to make the handle for the shaft, length was 125mm. One end of the handle and one end of the knob then received further attention and were recessed to hide the ends of screw threads and nyloc nuts.

Back to the hub, this needed to be drilled and threaded to fix the sides to it. A piece of 6mm screwed rod was cut to size and the reel side plates were bolted in place using the centre holes. The whole thing was then held on the pillar drill and every other fixing hole was drilled. I had intended using 6 fixings on each side but thought better of it and 3 would do. Once drilled, the screwed rod was taken out and the fixing holes were tapped to 5mm.

The final piece to make was the shaft, this was made from a piece of 6mm stainless rod cut to size and threaded on the ends, the finished length was 240mm.

The side plate on the knob side of the reel then had the centre hole drilled out to 14mm, this was to recess the nut on the end of the shaft but also allow the use of a socket to tighten it up.

An oversight soon became apparent, the only place to fix a cord to the reel was the ventilation holes. A quick thought on the matter soon had a drill in my hand and I was drilling into the hub through one of the unused side plate fixing holes, this came out just inside the edge of the hub.

It was finished, my new anchor reel. A small D shackle was put in the hole opposite the knob, this will be used for a snap link to lock the anchor reel off and fix it to the anchor buoy.

I just needed to put on the paracord. I had purchased a spool of 100m off Ebay, price £7. I threaded the end through the hole I had drilled in the hub and tied a knot, then began to wind, it didn`t take too long before I reached the other end of the spool leaving plenty of room on the anchor reel for at least another 50m, maybe another 100m once the cord has been wet and re-wound back on tight.

I am pleased with the end result and look forward to using my new anchor reel. I must admit, making it was a great pleasure which will always be in my mind when I have it in my hand.

Total cost for this project including cord was around £13.

Article By Neil Bugnol – Kingfisheryakking

Anyone who knows the Yorkshire Sea Angling scene will of heard of Hawsker. The stories of big match winning cod are often told in the local tackle shops. Hawsker itself is just a small village roughly 2 miles to the south side of Whitby.

The fishing marks lie around half a mile outside the village and the descents to the shoreline are steep and dangerous. Any budding anglers thinking of heading here for the first time should really find himself a qualified guide as this mark is not for the feint hearted.

Finding Your Way To The Marks

The marks of South and North Hawsker are best found by parking in the local caravan park and taking the walk to the cliff top. The caravan site owner is happy for you to park onsite in the hours of daylight, at a charge of £1 per day, which is donated to the local RNLI. Please remember to pay as they will not welcome you back a second time if you don’t.

The area of Hawsker, in terms of angling stretches from the lighthouse near Saltwick all the way down to the north cheek of Robin Hoods Bay (roughly 1.5 mile of coastline). From the Caravan park the main marks of North Hawsker are Iron Springs And Green Springs which are roughly a 25 minute walk to the north.

The marks of South Hawsker including: White Stone, Jetticks, Hommeril Hole and Castle Chambers are found to the south side of the caravan park, with the actual get down being only 5 minutes away. As stated above, it will be best for you to seek the aid of a local guide on your first outings here as the get downs are very difficult to locate and both involve a pretty severe decent with the aid of a rope.

What To Catch At Hawsker

Largely speaking the North Hawsker marks are thought of as Cod only. Iron Spring and Green spring are certainly winter cod marks with the best fishing coming with a good sized sea swell. The marks to the south are also excellent cod marks in winter, many a north east open match has been won from here with cod well into double figures.

However South Hawsker appears a little more versatile to the marks to the north. Summer fishing in this area can provide excellent sport with red cod, some rather large pollack, wrasse, coalfish, mackerel and even bass.

Tackle And Techniques For Hawsker

Tackle for North Hawsker is simple. You need a rock rod with a rock reel filled with 30lb line. The only technique for the cod is large baits of peeler crab, peeler cocktailed with worms and/or shellfish. Cod fishing at south Hawsker follows the same rules.

If you intend to fish for summer pollack, bass and wrasse you can scale your tackle down to a spinning rod and a bag full of plugs and jellyworm style lures.

If you require more information on fishing at Hawsker you may post any questions below or start a topic in our fishing forum

Related reading :

Hawsker Forum Topics

Hawsker Cod

Health and safety

The Coastguards Health And Safety Publication Is Available Here :

http://www.mcga.gov.uk/c4mca/safety_guidelines_for_sea_anglers.pdf

Angling from the shore in the UK is very hazardous to say the least. Every year lives are lost whilst pursuing our fascination with sea angling. Anglers of all levels of ability need to be very very careful indeed – having fallen badly myself last year I’m as aware as anyone of the dangers of rock fishing. At this point I would like to offer a few words of advice to anglers.

• Never attempt to fish a new area without the help and advice of someone experienced in fishing that area.
• Always check the tide and ensure you will be safe to access and exit your chosen area. Watch out for cut off points. If unsure don’t go. Its not worth it.
• Be aware of the weather forecast. Conditions can change fast.
• Don’t access closed areas, eg piers whilst the storm gates are shut.
• Carry some form of communication.
• Tell someone where you are going and when you intend to return. Ask them to raise the alarm should you not return.
• Do not fish heavy seas. Its very dangerous and your wasting your time anyway, fish don’t like really rough seas. Leave it a day or 2 until the sea is dieing.

The position with regard to commercial fishing for bass by an Irish fishing vessel is very clear. Commercial bass fishing activity, including fishing for bass, taking bass using nets, or even having bass on board an Irish fishing vessel, has been prohibited since 1990. However pressure is growing to have this law removed. In recent times the Federation Of Irish Fishermen have been lobbying the government to allow commercial bass fishing to become legal once again.

On the 21st May 2009 the Federation of Irish Fishermen (FIF – main commercial fishermen’s organisation) made a proposal [1] to Minister Conor Lenihan to allow Irish commercial fishing vessels to land sea bass caught in offshore waters.

Quite clearly the reintroduction of commercial bass fishing in Ireland could spell the end for Ireland’s Bass Angling. Should numbers and average size of the fish start to reduce, those travelling anglers mentioned earlier may just decide to stay at home.

In a bid to stop the commercial fishermen in their tracks, a group of anglers are asking for your support. Members of the website : www.sea-angling-ireland.org have started a survey to support their claims that commercial bass fishing in Ireland should remain prohibited. If you would like to support this group in their work then please head over there are take a look at the survey.

Bass Angling In Ireland Survey

If the survey doesn’t really relate to you, then maybe you could just drop in on the forum and offer a few words of support – Sea Angling In Ireland Forums

Sources And Further Reading

Bass Angling And Conservation In Ireland

Opposition To Commercial Bass Fishing

Save The Irish Bass – Times Online