Awesome - standing fishing this afternoon and a pod (apparently that's what a group of them are called) of porpoises decided to put on a show - jumping out of the water etc everyone on the pier stopped to watch the show. Personally when I have been fishing I have seen the odd one or two but this was something else
Fantastic, I'm so pleased for you ...... what a great thing to see, our lass says she's totally jealous
You can't buy entertainment like that I saw them last August off Marsden. Just went down to walk the dog and thought I saw a diver about 200 metres out, until it leapt into the air, followed by the rest of the pod. They were feeding on fish which were taking to the air trying to escape. Took a video with mobile which didn't show a thing so went back every day for a week with video can & binoculars but saw nowt. Have to go down again though. What sort of time and tide was it?
It was about 2.00 - 3.00 in the afternoon and high tide was 5.00ish with a 4.9 metre tide - but I suspect that there was more than one pod cause they were leaping in different places - probably about 100 -200 yards apart as though there were 2 groups. I tried to take photos on my phone but all you can see is a disturbance in the water but that probably says more about my skills as a photographer (just got a smart phone under sufferance)
We've seen porpoises doing that a few times near my in-laws place in Donegal. I reckon they drive a school of fish into the shallows to trap them and feed. Slightly more worrying, my kids were about waist deep splashing about in the sea on a North California beach last year and my wife and I walking down the beach when we saw a fin pop up just about 12 feet from them. It straight away jumped out of the water and was a dolphin, but my first thought was shark.
If the powers that be could sort out the south pier we might get some. Very little from the lighthouse end.
What's your views on stopping the fishing boats, for a few years and subsidizing them, and giving the fish a chance to breed and numbers increase?
I was near the lighthouse and I caught 2 flatties and 2 coallies but they were all too small the bloke next to me caught a 2ish pound coallie - and there was a lass a couple of hundred yards closer to the shore caught a codling about 2 - 3 pound but that was about it
Well I don't get out much with the rods these days but my mates say that down by the glass centre & Hendon blast beach can be canny.
At certain times, the pub at south hylton....something lion. Used to be canny for flatties, but the boozer is there, when it goes tits up.
Don't know the Hylton area but my mate Jerry does. Maybe I can persuade her to take me fishing over there one day, she'll be enthralled.
