THE ULTIMATE ANGLING BUCKET LIST

LESSER WEEVER Echiichthys vipera
Bucket List status – result
A small, short, but still rather elongate
bodied fish with a large up-pointing
mouth and quite large eyes situated
almost on top of the head, typical of an
ambush predator that likes to almost
totally conceal itself in the soft
substrate and attack from below.
The edge of the tail also has a dark banding.
Colouration is probably the key to
instant recognition. When alarmed or
threatened, its black first dorsal will
repeatedly shoot up erect. Otherwise,
the back and upper sides of the body
have a very fine mottled patterning of
yellow, black and brown, while the
lower body is quite a striking white.
The lesser weever differs from its bigger relative by its eyes being set higher up on the top of the head,
an entirely black first dorsal fin, and by having completely rounded pectoral fins.
A locally abundant small fish in inshore waters where it poses as much risk to bathers as it does anglers.
Because of its relatively large mouth, also a fish that many anglers are likely to encounter over clean
sandy ground at some point or other.
I come into contact with them quite regularly off Blackpool when feathering with shrimp rigs or sabiki's
too close to the bottom when after mackerel for bait.
We also pick up a lot at the entrance to the River Ribble on worm baits, and again see quite a few out
in Morecambe Bay when flattie bashing.
So expect them anywhere over shallow clean ground, around estuaries, and over offshore banks the
length and breadth of the country both east and west when the hook sizes and baits are small enough
for them to manage.
A common fish, and one which everyone should familiarize themselves with as they can so easily be
mistaken for a small whiting and grabbed by un-suspecting hands, with painful, though rarely fatal
consequences. This causes venom to be injected into the wound up the hollow spines of the first dorsal
fin and gill cover, forced through by handling pressure applied to the fish, or by inadvertently standing
on one.
Hot water supposedly helps the body break this toxin down, or hot coffee in the case of my boat parter
Dave Devine who got spiked by one close to his thumb as a passing shot while the culprit was swinging
about on the end of his line. And very painful he said it was too. So much so that if it persists, the advice
normally given is to seek medical assistance.
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