THE ULTIMATE ANGLING BUCKET LIST

ANCHOVY Engraulis encrasicolus
Bucket List status – result outside of home waters
At our latitude, the anchovy could
hardly be described as common,
despite there being the occasional
flurry of commercial interest when for
whatever reason, large enough numbers
decide to invade our side of the western
approaches to the English Channel as
they did in back 2009.
This probably was as a consequence of
prevailing local climatic conditions
linked to climate change more
generally, as the anchovy is not a
common fish in our corner of the world.
This, together with its smallish size
which rarely exceeds eight inches makes its interest to anglers minimal, though it does willingly take
small baits and feathers.
Its normal geographical range more or less mirrors that of the pilchard to which it is related, though it
lives very much closer to the shore during the summer months.
Anchovies are elongate slender fish with a more rounded body than the other members of the herring
family. The mouth is large extending well back beyond the eye, with the upper jaw protruding
noticeably further than the lower.
Colouration is green on the back and upper sides and silvery below, the two colours being separated by
a greyish band.
A fish I have caught on small baits in the Mediterranean while collecting illustration specimens off
Majorca back in the 1970's for artwork done by Dr. Dietrich Burkel.
TWAITE SHAD Alosa fallax
Bucket List status – result
Like the herring and sprat, the twaite shad has formed a number of geographically localised races, one
of which has become permanently landlocked in Lake Killarney in south west Ireland where it is known
as the goureen. Elsewhere, the species can be identified by colouration and markings, though this is not
an entirely reliable approach.
The upper back is a brilliant deep blue becoming yellowish, particularly around the head, giving way
to silvery white below. There are usually several conspicuous dark spots running along each flank
starting just behind the gills, with the operculum or gill cover having a number of radiating ridges on it.
Unfortunately, the flank markings may not always be present, allowing the fish to resemble the allis
shad which has either a single dark mark behind the gill cover, or in some cases, no mark at all.
The only fool-proof method of identification is a gill raker count on the first gill arch which will contain
between forty and sixty gill rakers. However, due to the undoubted damage this would cause, and their
current protected status, this now is no longer an option.
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