Sea fishing off the East Yorkshire Coast gives Stewart Calligan a quick snap of brill or turbot while concerns are raised over a giant Dutch fishing vessel

I had heard that turbot and tope were being caught from the beach.

Giving the tope sharks ferocious teeth a miss I decided to concentrate on the more docile plodding of the sedate turbot.

Turbot prefer the warmer shallows in summer and only favour deeper water in the cold winter months. I have not seen this fish caught very often from the beach and it could be that the slightly warmer climate is tempting the turbot out of its ‘staycation’ to holiday closer to the shore.

Venturing onto the sandier beaches of the north end of our East Yorkshire coast, I set up two rods. They both had three hook flappers. These allow the bait to lay on the bottom when the rod tip is placed low down on the tripod rod rest.

Turbot generally feed in the sandy bottom looking for worms and small fish. Using fresh live lugg on one rod and strips of mackerel on the other, I could gauge which bait was preferred.

There was a brisk southerly blowing, about a force 5 on the Beaufort scale, producing too much swell for comfort. Undeterred I turned my back to the wind and concentrated on the rod tips on this grey overcast late summer’s day. I saw my lugg worm rod tip twitch, the tip gave another twitch and as I tightened my line I felt a fish.

It was cast well out with around 75 yards of braid to retrieve so I kept the rod tip well up into the air as the fish seemed to get stuck in gulleys running parallel with the shore line. It could be diving into the soft sand which is typical flat fish escape tactics.

After gentle coaxing, a nice turbot or a brill was sliding through the surf. After a quick smart phone photo I put it back, still undecided whether it was too round to be a brill or the caudal fin was too long for a turbot. Its skin was very rough. I’ll have to let you knowledgeable readers decide for yourselves.

It is a wonder we have any fish left to catch from the beach after a giant fishing vessel has been seen off the East Yorkshire coast. The Margiris is 9,500 tonnes and 140 metres long, which is said to be the second largest fishing vessel in the world, capable of catching 250 tonnes of fish per day. It is owned by a Dutch fishing company and we should use every piece of legislation to constantly check the catch and practices of this vessel. The Australians got rid of it.

The second Lobster Luncheon Club was a roaring success with Lobster Americaine. We could admit many more members if it wasn’t for the Covid restrictions. Thanks to Chris of Bridlington Independent Shellfishermens Cooperative Ltd for supplying such tasty lobsters.