THE ULTIMATE ANGLING BUCKET LIST

I've mentioned Merseyside and I've
mentioned mackerel baits. But
probably the best gurnard haul
including reds, tubs and greys I ever
took part in came on an exploratory
trip out of Rhyl fishing aboard Tony
Parry's boat 'Jensen II' on which we
were trialling a synthetic bait shaped
like a ragworm called Gulp from
American tackle giant Berkley.
The actual shape probably didn't
matter other than making it possible
to break it up into small hook sized
portions which we put down on two
and three hook dropper rigs, and at
Phill Williams, Tub’s Loch Ryan 1972
times were coming back filled to
capacity with gurnards on virtually every drop. Mickey Duff in particular was having a field day.
We did catch a few other species on it including dabs and rays, but the gurnards simply couldn't get
enough of the stuff. The problem then is that in the heat of such action, you can tend to loose
concentration during handling which will lead to sore hands.
Extreme care is needed as both the bony head and the gill cover are lethally sharp. So too is the spiky
first dorsal fin which needs to be flattened down with the hand as you take a firm grip if you want to
avoid shedding some of your blood.
Gurnards are said to form small loose shoals within which individuals can keep in contact with each
other through clear audible sounds created by muscular contractions forcing air through chambers in
their swim bladder.
You can often hear them grunt during disgorging if squeezed too hard around the mid body region just
behind the pectoral fins. In fact, the name gurnard is said to be derived from the French word grogner,
which means to grunt. This loose aggregation suggestion however is said to be more prevalent with
greys, and to a lesser extend tubs than with the other species.
Natural feeding also varies slightly from species to species, with shrimps, small crabs, hermit crabs and
small demersal fishes being the common denominator, in all cases sought out by the slow methodical
search technique of using their free pectoral rays almost to walk along `feeling' and even `tasting' for
their food before perhaps flushing it out, then making a darting grab as the victim flees.
Blunt head shape and the positioning of the eyes suggest this to be a likely mode of hunting. Those free
pectoral rays are also used to raise the gurnard up higher as if standing on its finger tips to increase its
field of view.
RED GURNARD Aspitrigla cuculus
Bucket List status – result
Very similar to the other gurnard species in terms of blunt sharp bony head and three free pectoral fin
rays. Unfortunately, a fish with a name that is bound to create confusion on account of two of our other
home waters gurnard species also being red, with even the grey gurnard sometimes having a reddish
tinge, depending on where it lives and what it's been feeding on.
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