RAYMOND FALLAIZE has annihilated the Couch’s sea bream boat-caught records. He legered a sandeel bait at the Susanne, off Guernsey’s west coast, and caught a 6-9-8 specimen.
It beats the 4-8-2 Bailiwick and Channel Island records caught by Colin Truffitt at Anfre in June 2006 and the 4-14-4 British record caught off Newquay in Cornwall in 2001.
It has been entered in the April Fish of the Month competition where it will score nearly 150% and must be odds-on to go on to become the Fish of the Summer and the Fish of the Year.
It was the only bream caught by Fallaize and his colleague David de la Mare on the trip. In fact it’s the first bream they have ever caught at that particular mark. The remainder of the day’s catch consisted of a couple of bass and a few pollack.
The necessary formalities to claim the records are well under way, forms have been completed and the scales will be checked by the States Weights and Measures Department to enable the final accepted weight to be confirmed.
The capture of this magnificent fish raises an obvious fundamental question: just how big can they get in our waters?
The first one caught by Bill Le Billon in August 1993 set the first shore-caught record at 0-13-8. Over the 14 years since then the Bailiwick, Channel Island and British records have gradually risen to 2-15-1, the fish landed by Lynton Carre last August.
The late Dave Fox-Reilly established the first boat record in 1995 with a 1-10-4 fish. Subject to formal acceptance Fallaize will push all three record up to 6-9-8.
Marine biologist Richard Lord considers that there is a real possibility of a 10-0-0 plus specimen being caught in the future.
It’s more than possible that the continuing saga of the Couch’s sea bream is not yet over and one thing is certain, Carre’s 2-15-1 shore record must be very vulnerable indeed.
BERNARD FLOUQUET has entered a boat-caught brill in the April Fish of the Month competition. It was boated at Boue de la Schole from Richard Seager’s Out the Blue.
The flattie was tempted by a legered sandeel bait and weighed 8-7-0. It will be judged against the 13-9-0 Bailiwick boat record.
Entries will now be welcomed for the May competition. Prizes up for grabs are the Shakespeare Monthly Angling award for the best overall fish, the Boat Exchange Tankard for the top boat-caught specimen and the J. Meerveld and Sons Tankard for the best shore-caught specimen.
There are also the two runner-up prizes of Bucktrout’s Bass Beers and the Aval du Creux Award for the best catch by a junior.
Article posted on 3rd May, 2007 - 12.00am
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