Please ignore the previous August newsletter, an old newsletter was sent out by mistake.

Please accept my apologies - this is now the correct 2012 August newsletter.

Water temperatures are presently 18 degrees and steady, the winds have stabilized at last as the jet stream has moved off from the south coast and this has meant consistent results when drifting on the neap cycles. In the near decade I have been guiding I have never seen such huge shoals of young stock stay resident for so long and many clients are reliably taking 30-40 Bass per session each - All catches are between 40-45 cms, very few Bass are above that at the moment, but great sport on a 7-8 weight fast taper rod.

Mike Bedford finishing well in Iate July

Wet, misty but a happy Glyn Fanger

Normally these shoals remain for a few days but recently with the settled weather since mid-July, the Bass have harvested the hatches of young sand eels and mullet fry which seem to be awash across the South coast. The total catch this season is just above 1600 fish (July 2012), with the biggest above 5 lbs but no double figured trophies on the gallery just yet.

Wading is still troublesome with many nets being seen at Norton and Hayling/Bracklesham bay areas - Wading is still troublesome with many nets being seen at Norton and Hayling/Bracklesham bay areas - some legal, others when left static are illegal and should be reported when witnessed to Tim Dapling at SFC (See June Newsletter for contact details).

Interestingly I've noticed the weed beds in Chichester Harbour have died back considerably which may be the reason why the harbour is not holding as much forage food for non-resident fish, also I feel the PH values became more acidic during the recent flooding due to the vast run off from the fields and roads (Apuldram water works too was discharging directly into the Dell quay area) - this would have driven Bass out of the nursery area and into the more stable saline water.

Another interesting observation is that the harbour is working better on the ebb cycle over and above the flood tide, normally we work through the LW mark from -4 hrs down up through the mid flood time period (+4 hrs). This has not worked as well as working from HW down - has anyone noticed the same trend? There is a trend starting to emerge as these observations are extremely similar to last season when the wading was very inconsistent and the drifting less so.

Hosted Trips

Connecticut is just around the corner and the reports were similar to ours with troublesome fishing in shore until two weeks ago when it all kicked off with the arrival of many Bass and Monster Blue fish - August will see the arrival of the False Albacore so fingers crossed those of you who are counting days until your flights, will get your fingers burned again this season - literally!!

The shop is doing consistently well, with lines and flies in constant demand. "Seawolf" rods and 8/10 large arbor reels have been a great success story, so we have designed the new Seawolf "S" series which will be here in November, I have beefed up the drags specifically for the International traveller as well as designing a whole new range of 11.6" Switch rods alongside some brand new semi tropical lines which with slightly stiffer cores and larger heads can be used for warmer waters when abroad - the densities are floating, Intermediate and sink (3 ips) in 8,9 and 10 WF AFTM's ratings, all dual colour coded for easy loading.

New Switch-craft lines developed for the new 11.6" series rods

The guiding diary for 2012 is full to date so let's hope the weather holds for the following few months as although the sport is hot we need more black fish in the net.

For now, great seeing you all this summer to date and those who are scheduled to meet up shortly, bring big lines, red flies and a long hauling arm, I helm you hook - that's the deal!!