Sunday 27th was spent engaged in a small competition run by Sussex Sea Fishing. It was held at Seaford beach from 10am through until 3pm. One rod, three hook limit and no bait restriction.
I’m not really into the match scene, being more into recreational angling. As such, my tactic for the day was to use a one hook clip down rig baited with lugworm or calamari strip and have a relaxing session with the possibility of maybe winning a prize on top.
Fishing was slow, as although there was a reasonable amount of movement in the water, it was bright and sunny with the water not having a lot of colour to it. The main aim was to bag a few flounders, with the chance of whiting as well.
First fish of the day was a welcome flounder of 13½ oz. (my first of the year) which was weighed and returned. The rest of the day was a total blank, apart from a minute 5 bearded rockling which could only have weighed in at a staggering 2oz or so. It didn’t even reach the minimum size, so was returned immediately.
At the end of the match, after the weigh in, it appeared that I had come fifth out of sixteen, so not a bad result and the prize of a few bits of tackle added to the collection.
I decided to fish on after the match to see if I could bag a few more as the sun set and it got a bit darker. It would seem that the fish had learned of my plans and so deserted my bit of the beach, preferring to go and bother someone else. I called it a day at 5.30pm, deciding that a hot shower and dinner were a better option.
Competition report and results are posted here.
Due to other commitments, weather and tide conditions, last night was my first session of 2008. I have to say, it was welcome too, I was almost having withdrawal symptoms.
I scouted the beach at Seaford beforehand during the early afternoon to check out the current ‘wood problem‘ which was affecting other parts of the coast. It didn’t seem to bad, with most of the larger pieces having been moved above the high water line and little evidence of more in the water. Reassured, I decided to return to fish the evening tide.
Arrived at Edinburgh Road at about 7pm and set up just West of the car parking area. The Southerly breeze had picked up since the afternoon pushing the cloud in. There was a reasonable swell which increased during the evening. All in all, conditions looked pretty good.
One rod was set up with 2 hook flapper using size 1’s baited with lugworm/slipper limpet cocktails. Second rod set up with 4/0 pennel baited with lovely big cuttle fillets.
Action (or lack of) was slow for the first couple of hours with the odd knock but no fish. I used this time to scout around for any timber that could prove useful for mending my garage. I couldn’t fit the bigger lengths into my car and found that the suitable stuff that was left had been broken up beyond use. As the wind and wave action increased, I did noticed more wood being washed in further West of me but funnily enough I wasn’t affected by it at all.
An hour before the 11pm high water, the whiting started to appear, hitting both the lugworm and the cuttle. Although numerous, none were of a decent pot size.
The whiting onslaught carried on until I called it a night at 12.30. Total tally was in excess of 20, so not a bad start to the year. I would of been happier with a codling or two or even a few pot size whiting but at least I didn’t blank and didn’t lose any gear to the wood.
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Fishing
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sea angling, seaford, sussex, whiting | 
