An unusual catch: Dave Druce with his undulate rays of 14-11-4 and 12-8-15 as reported last week. (0612700)
IT HAS been a frenetic fortnight as regards record fish.
First we had Simon Newton breaking the British and Bailiwick bests for shore-caught Couch’s sea bream and now we have claims for the national and local boat-caught record for Spanish mackerel and for a local freshwater record.
Kevin Beausire caught the Spanish mackerel at Banc au Nord. It was not caught on feathers as you might have expected but took a legered sandeel.
This is a comparatively rare fish in local waters with only one or two being reported each year. The Bailiwick best stands at 1-2-2, a fish caught by Chris Perchard east of Herm in August 2001, while the British record is a 1-5-4 fish landed off Cornwall in 2001.
When placed on the Record Committee’s scales, Beausire’s fish weighed 1-5-7.
As part of the necessary formalities, to claim the national record the scales have to be tested by the Guernsey Trading Standards Service. It is hoped the test of the scales will prove their accuracy. With only three drams between Beausire’s catch and the current record, a small inaccuracy could well prove to be vital.
Not surprisingly, Beausire has entered the Spanish mackerel in the July Fish of the Month competition.
The new freshwater record fell to Steve Le Cloarec. He legered a boilie at one of the Guernsey Freshwater Angling Society’s waters and caught a 16-13-0 grass carp. It easily beats the current 16-5-8 record, which was caught by Paul Priaulx in September.
Le Cloarec has no chance of challenging the British record, which currently stands at 44-8-0.
For the uninitiated, a boilie is a commercially prepared bait.
It is usually the size of a small marble and is made up with various ingredients, which appeal to the carp. They are usually fished on leger tackle on the bottom.
Meanwhile, formalities to submit the British claim for Newton’s 3-4-6 shore-caught Couch’s sea bream, reported last week, are proceeding.
The scales used to weigh his fish were the same as those used for Beausire’s Spanish mackerel. They have been tested and the results are positive as far as Beausire was concerned, for they were only one dram out, which increased the accepted weight of Newton’s fish to 3-4-7.
It seems, therefore, that there will be no startling discrepancies when they are tested again, this time at 1-5-7, the submitted weight of the Spanish mackerel.
St Peter Port Breakwater produced a big ballan wrasse for Malcolm McLaren.
He legered a ragworm and caught a 5-14-4 specimen. It has become a July Fish of the month entry, where it will be judged against the 8-10-13 Bailiwick shore record.
After that awful start to the year with the appalling fishing, things have greatly improved, with good catches being reported on inshore and deep-sea marks.
This has been reflected in the Fish of the Month entries, with a well above-average number being submitted in the last two months.
The organisers and sponsors of the competition will hope this trend continues into August.
Prizes at stake will be the Shakespeare Monthly Angling Award for the best overall fish, the J. Meerveld and Sons tankard for the top shore-caught specimen and the Mick’s Fishing Supplies tankard for the best boat-caught fish.
There are the two runner-up prizes of Bucktrout’s Bass Beers, the Tackle Direct spot prize and the Aval du Creux Hotel award for juniors.
JUST one fish was sufficient to give Darren Dewe victory in the Sark AC’s July competition.
The seven-hour roving shore event attracted eight members, with five bringing fish to the scales.
The total catch consisted of two ballan wrasse, one black bream, one grey mullet, 12 mackerel and one scad.
Dewe’s winning fish was a 4-4-0 grey mullet worth 32 points.
Colin Golds, in second place, had a ballan wrasse and a black bream for 4-8-0 and 28 points, while third spot was filled by Heath Curry, who landed four mackerel and one ballan wrasse for 4-3-0 and 24.75.
Junior member Jason Brehaut had five mackerel and the scad for 3-7-0 and 21.75 points to take fourth.
Dave Brehaut completed the catches with three mackerel for 1-14-0 and 12.5 points.
Article posted on 30th July, 2008 - 2.29pm
One Article Comment
i recently went fishing an caught 2 spanish mackerel the bigger one out of the two was at least 2 pounds in weight[being modest]. not knowing that they are a rare fish i took them home and ate them.I think i should’ve checked the records befor thinking of my stomach! but they were very good.
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