The Amputee Angler

15/01/2026

The Amputee Angler Report 🖊️📔

Some of the 19 pollack caught, pictured below 👇🏻

A last-minute change of boats onto mine, due to a minor issue on John’s, meant a quick fuel stop and then heading out into a tiny tide that was ebbing most of the day.

I’d planned to fish jigs for most of it and early on that worked well, but wind with tide meant we still had a solid 1.8-knot drift, so we switched to traditional tactics late morning and again picked up plenty of fish.

Three wrecks fished, with the second one a two-drift afterthought really, but our two main ones were both holding 🙏🏻

John had a cracking double for best fish of the day, on what was a slightly sloppy but perfectly workable and pleasant day out with mates 👌🏻

Rhubarb and Custard and Green Super Reals proving the winners ✊🏻

Ben

14/01/2026

Before someone says it, I know you don’t need a dedicated Squid rod to catch Squid. I know.

BUT.

If like me you fish for maximum enjoyment and fun then having one does elevate that experience over catching them on a stiff beach caster or carp rod and it does work that jig better too.

So if you’re thinking about one this is my honest review on this one 👍🏻

An honest, straight to the point review of the Penn Conflict Eging rod, one of Penn Fishing’s purpose built squid fishing rods.I’ve fished this rod hard duri...

14/01/2026

Back in from a great day 🎣

I shall get the report up later or tomorrow for you.

Timed the lock just right to see Essex poacher arriving here for a few months on his boat Dawn Tide 2 👌🏻

That of course is said tongue in cheek, Mark is a great guy and skipper and is here for a few months to give his regular clients a taste of what is to offer here in Sussex and it’s great to see him here and I wish him and the crews all the best 🙏🏻

14/01/2026

A few of you yesterday were asking, “Who is responsible, and who is going to clean this lot up?”

It seems the answer locally was the Environmental Agency, along with a bunch of good Samaritans armed with rubber gloves and litter pickers.

They’ve done an amazing job, though sadly I fear this will be washing up for the next few weeks at least.

Milk, black shoes, and bags of onions 🧅 are what have been seen locally so far, as well as all the other junk that goes with the units themselves.

Well done to everyone involved in this 👏

14/01/2026

It would be rude not to 🎣

13/01/2026

The one washed up further along at cow gap was full of onions and chips 😂

Local wildlife is going to have a field day 😂

Thanks to Kate for the pictures 🙏🏻

13/01/2026

It’s a short sharp weekly round up tonight that I filmed yesterday. Must of had the crystal ball out given the containers beaching up everywhere today!

I have just taken the power 0 and power 2 slow jig rods off the wall and loaded into the car too 😉

Hopefully we avoid any of these hunks of metal bobbing about!

A nice, simple weekly round up this week. Short, sharp, and straight to the point.Thanks for watching,BenThe Amputee Angler📍 Follow The Amputee Angler:📘 Fa...

13/01/2026

I mention it in tonight’s weekly roundup about how those missing containers that went overboard at the Isle of Wight during storm gorreti could end up anywhere as they would stay semi buoyant for a while and we need to keep eyes open locally,…

Well one has washed up here at Seaford this morning 👀

A journey of some 50 miles and contains tins of milk!

There is still nearly 20 odd missing so eyes on swivel people!

10/01/2026

Abit of relaxing in the winter sun here but we do bag a PB car bonnet 😅 and of course a few bits aswell.

Easy. Simple. No Stress.

Join me for a relaxing few hours down at my local Newhaven Harbour, casting small baits in search of a dab.What started as a quiet session quickly turned int...

09/01/2026

Life Jackets 🛟

Do you wear one, or do you not? What’s your take on it? 🤔

Just my usual Friday night chit chat, guys. We’re all grown adults, and what you do or wear is up to you, but I’m just throwing some conversation out there.

I fish alone a fair bit, and for that reason I wear a waistcoat-style, self-inflating Crewsaver life jacket that inflates automatically on contact with water.

I wear this style, rather than a more compact or waist-belt style one, for two reasons.

Firstly, many of those are not self-inflating, meaning they require manual inflation, you have to pull the cord.
So if you went in unconscious, or cold shock hit you on entering the water and rendered you useless 🥶, then that device isn’t going to inflate. At that point, you may as well not be wearing one, and it’s a slow sink to the bottom ⬇️

Secondly, many of those smaller, compact devices are not even life jackets, but buoyancy aids, and many state this at the bottom of the product descriptions.
This means that even if inflated, they will only make you semi-buoyant and assist you in staying afloat with effort, and will not actually keep you afloat if you did nothing!

That said, there was a period where I didn’t wear one after a bad experience.
The toggle got caught up in some net while clearing it, which sent me briefly into the net flaking machine, bouncing me off it before the net snapped and I dropped to the deck 😬
There have also been incidents of boats rolling and self-inflating jackets going off, pinning users to the roof and preventing escape.

If you do go over and they don’t find you, insurance payouts can take much longer, and you’re not legally dead until seven years have passed.
This can sometimes be expedited if the courts feel you are almost certainly gone, but a decent life jacket will, at the very least, help ensure you are found and recovered for your family ❤️

So mine is on every trip now regardless, along with some sharp scissors clipped to it , and I should probably add a knife as well 🔪

What’s your take? Thoughts? 💭

09/01/2026

As I mentioned last year when they started the “restoration works” it wouldn’t be long before a storm will soon make short work of it and that is now the case.

It’s a completely slow and steady decline to water edge again with no big undulating shingle banks of protection as they call it and is now made up of the tiny pea shingle and has been completely cut away from the top of the beach as you can see.

The sea is still very angry here though the swing has swung round to the north again all be it very strong!

The earlier foragers would have had any buffs or lobsters that always wash up but there is a good few battered whelk pots and drift wood scattered about the place!

Did anyone find anything good (or bad) after last nights blow?

08/01/2026

It’s going to be sporty as hell in places this evening, especially down west 💨

I’ve been down to my marina today and checked not only mine, but a few others too, for anything obvious like loose ropes, fenders, or alarms. Everything I saw was good and in order 👌🏻

A rope had snapped on John’s Barracuda in the previous wind, but the marina had already been on it and replaced it, a sign of a good and attentive marina. Fair play to Premier Marina Eastbourne 👍🏻

Stay lucky, guys and girls!

Ben