SPURRED ON!
The spurdog used to be so common along the west coast of the UK. You could even catch them off the rock ledges in Wales and Scotland. That was before the long line fisherman pretty much cleared them out. I remember a 13-mile daylight shark drift we did back in 1988 off Aberaeron in Wales some 30 miles offshore and carried the spurs with us the whole day. We caught and released one heck of a lot of spurs. Not my type of fishing, I admit, but I'm glad I did it, as that was the last time I caught a spur until this autumn.

I was fishing off Dun Laoghire just south of Dublin with famous Irish skipper Charlie Robinson. This guy had no less than 127 Irish specimen spurdog during 1997, the specimen weight being a fish over 12lbs. Overall he literally caught thousands of spurs during that and subsequent seasons, virtually all being returned.

Spurdog genes

Charlie and I discussed the state of the spurdog fishery and it raised a thought in my head that I haven't seen mentioned elsewhere. The eastern Ireland spur fishery has held up well after average commercial pressure, but the Welsh fishery has all but collapsed after very heavy commercial fishing that pretty much wiped them out. Spur numbers off Wales are still dangerously low compared to pre 80's levels.

Now you might have seen that after Foot & Mouth last year, farms where the sheep were all killed has resulted in newly acquired sheep struggling to feed themselves during bad weather. This is put down to a genetic education passed on down by each generation of sheep that has lived on that land to the next on exactly where the best feed will be in certain conditions. The new sheep, alien to that farm, obviously don't have this gene or knowledge.

Could it be then, that the same has happened to the Spurs? With almost all the spurs wiped out, and with their reputed slow growth rate, there were just not enough adults to pass on the necessary genes to educate subsequent spurdog as to where to migrate to feed as the seasons pass. Without this local knowledge, it would maybe explain why the spurs have never rebuilt in major numbers in the eastern Irish Sea. I'm not stating this as fact, just as a reason for us to look far more closely before we blindly fish out our seas.

TIPS AND TRICKS
A mate has a different way of washing off his reels after a fishing session. Instead of running the reels under the tap, which without care allows water to get inside the reel and can actually wash sand back in to the reel rather than getting it out, he uses a bottle spray.

He fills the bottle with warm soapy water and reckons that the spray allows him to direct the water right in to all the nooks and crannies of the reel to flush out the salt, but without flooding the reel. I haven't tried it long term yet myself, but it sounds ideal. Once he's finished the wash, he dries the reel in the airing cupboard, gives it a quick wipe over with rag soaked in WD40 and he's ready for the next trip.

BOAT HADDOCK TACTICS

Haddock fantastic!

Haddock are making something of a comeback after a few lean years. This sudden explosion in numbers is most noticeable off the west and northeast coast of Scotland, in Northern Ireland, but also in the Irish Sea. There are also reports of the odd haddie being taken off southwest and north Wales from the rock ledges.

Many anglers fail to recognise haddock when they catch one. They are cod like, but have a distinct black lateral line down the body and a black spot just above the pectoral fin.

Haddock tend to live over seabeds comprised of clean shingle and rock or a mix of shingle and sand. This is typical of the smaller fish up to 3lbs. Above that weight they prefer more mixed rocky ground amongst sand patches. They also prefer deeper water over 100-feet, but occasionally venture shallower during the colder winter months.

Haddock are bottom dwellers responding best to drift fishing with booms incorporating long hook traces using flasher spoons to draw the fish in. Hook sizes need be no more than 1/0 Aberdeen patterns. Also try baited shrimp rigs or small feathers worked lift and drop bouncing on the seabed. A 12lb/15lb class rod is ideal for haddock used in conjunction with a light multiplier reel. Haddock can be shy biting fish and this set-up maximises your chances of hitting the bites. Some anglers also choose 20lb braid as their main line for its sensitivity and it's advantage in requiring less lead weight to stay on the seabed.

Though haddock take long thin strips of mackerel, by far the best bait is lugworm or mussel, though razorfish can also work well, as does queen cockle.