I hadn’t been able to get any lugworm, so had to rely on some peeler crab I’d obtained and Launce strips for the scratching rod, which I set up with a DVice on a running ledger. I cast this out with the Launce and set about getting the Bass rod all ready for when the sun had gone down. The rig was, as usual, a long link running ledger ending with a 4/0 pennel setup baited with the lovely large launce, I had managed to get from The Peacehaven Angler.

When I returned to the scratching rod, I saw that there was loads of slack line, so retrieved it only to find a Mackerel had taken the bait on the bottom – more bait! Apart from that, there was no other interest shown in the offerings I was chucking out.

As darkness fell, I swapped the Launce for crab on the scratching rod but this only resulted in more Whiting in the same bracket as the previous night – all pins. Once the crab had been used, I went back to some Mackerel strip instead but again this only produced Whiting.

The slight breeze that there had been earlier, died totally leaving it very still, warm and humid – enough to get away with wearing just a tee shirt, although I did put my jeans back on after protests from a passing dog walker

The first proper action didn’t happen until about 11.15 when I saw a small pull down on the Bass rod which resulted in a schoolie Bass of about a pound. This was just after I’d spent a good while talking to another guy who had been fishing further along.

The next fish was at 1135 and was a better fish at 2½lbs which had really punched above its weight, giving a really good run and dogged fight which had me believing it was something a bit bigger. It was a nicely conditioned fish, lean and fit.

It wasn’t until an hour later that I had the next and last fish of the night, another schoolie of around 1½lbs. After this, it went completely dead with no further indications of any sort. I had anticipated at least one take during the hour period after high water but there was no interest shown at all. I gave it until 2.30 before calling it a day and heading for home. All three Bass were taken at a range of no more than ten yards out. I think this is something people should bear in mind when targeting Bass and should give confidence to those who are not great casters (myself included) and who perhaps try too hard to get those ‘extra’ yards. It’s not always about distance.

I arrived at the Edinburgh Road parking area at about 7pm and walked over onto the beach to be greeted by a fresh Westerly wind, whipping up quite a lumpy sea with large breaking waves on the beach. I could already see rafts of weed in the nicely coloured water but it didn’t look too bad provided there wasn’t more of the damn stuff unseen lurking under the surface.

Fished two rods, one with size 4 two hook rig baited with lugworm, the other a long link running ledger with a 4/0 pennel rig with the Sandeel. The worms were sent out about 40 yards and although I didn’t expect much on the other rod during daylight, I cast it out anyway to see if anything was around.

Before it got dark, I had a small Gurnard and two schoolie Bass on the worm and nothing on the Sandeel. Once darkness fell, it was a Whiting fest on the worm – virtually a double shot of the bloody things every cast; all of them pins and nothing of any decent size.

It wasn’t until about two hours before high water that I had the first hit on the Bass rod – a huge pull down and screaming reel but I missed it whilst doing an impression of Billy Elliot as I tripped over the tripod. 10/10 for artistic impression but ‘nil point’ for results.

Had another take on the Bass rod about 20 minutes later and this time I connected and landed a plump Bass of about 2½lbs. Missed another take about 10 minutes later through inattentiveness and  that was it for the rest of the night.

By 11pm the wind had died, the sea calmed right down to a swell and it remained fishless until I packed up an hour after high water.

6500 CS Rocket Strip

I got onto the East arm by 7.30pm, an hour and a half after high water and got myself a space up at bay 31. I set up a rod with feathers to get some Mackerel for the Bass and another rod was set up with a size 4 two hook Sole rig baited with worm and cast out about fifty yards. While that rod did its work, I set about getting some Mackerel which didn’t seem to be that abundant.

It was a beautiful evening to be out – warm, with absolutely no breeze, slightly overcast sky and an oily calm sea.  Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the worm rod pull down, I struck and the first fish of the evening was soon on the deck – a Bream of around 20cm which went straight back. Another one was added to the tally a short while later. In the mean time, I managed half a dozen Mackerel which was enough for the session.

While taking the feathers off and setting up the Bass rod, I saw the other rod making the movements that meant the dreaded weed. I decided to bring it in before the weed built up too much and was soon dragging a heavy weight in. As it got near the base of the wall, I felt the ‘weed’ pulling back in jerking bursts and instead of the expected ball of crap, I saw a lovely Lobster flapping away. It was carefully hauled up the wall and was soon in its new home – a bucket. Normally they get themselves tangled up in the line but this one was fairly hooked in the mouth parts after dining on the presented worm. They are usually found in the craggy parts near the wall base not out in the open fifty yards out. If I caught nothing else during night, I wouldn’t be bothered as Anna and I would be having a beautiful dinner anyway.

A few more Bream were brought in but they were all in the 20cm bracket, so got their freedom. A break from the Bream came in the shape of a small Thornback Ray just as darkness fell, this was followed by two schoolie bass in quick succession before it all went quiet for a long period. The Bass baits remained untouched apart from nibbling by whatever micro beasties were lurking in the vicinity.

All chances of a decent Bass were blown when a group set up not far down from me and proceeded to make more noise than a noisy thing and insisted on lighting up the whole area like Blackpool with unnecessarily bright lights, shining them everywhere and on to the water about them and me.

With this in mind, I packed up Bassing and continued with the Sole rig which brought in a few more small Bream. While awaiting the next capture, I busied myself, changing the water in the Lobster bucket and generally sorting through kit and making sure all rubbish was put away in a bag. I suppose it was half an hour later, when I retrieved to re-bait and noticed that there was a fish on, I was well pleased when I saw that it was a nice plump Sole of 28cm – oh what a lunch we were going to have!

Apart from the noise and light show along from me, it was a deathly quiet night and at times I could hear what seemed to be the noise of a Dolphin or Porpoise surfacing some way off, a slosh and whoosh sort of sound. Fish-wise, a couple more schoolie Bass fell to the worm bait, along with one small ‘Bootlace’ eel and another small Thornback.

By 3am, things had died down and no more bites were coming, so it was with thoughts of a decent lunch, and happy at having had a good night’s fishing, I packed up and headed for home. Once home, I put an air pump in the Lobster bucket to keep it  aerated and tucked it into the fridge along with the Sole.

When I got to the beach, it was about two hours into the flood tide and I saw that there was some weed present but didn’t look too bad and was certainly fishable. The sea was pretty calm with just a small swell and a bit of movement surf-wise. There was no wind to speak of and the sky was cloudy with sun breaking through at times.

I set up the scratching rig first, a size 4, two hook flapper baited with the lugworm which I cast out about fifty yards. I then set about the Bass rod which I would use later on and used a long link running ledger combined with an eight foot trace and a 4/0 pennel to be baited with the Launce. These were frozen ‘Ammo’ and were a pretty good size, being about six inches in length and thick bodied. Since I started using these, I have found that the larger sized Launce seem to work better than the smaller ones which have caught significantly less fish.

First fish to be landed came in about three hours after low water and it was a double shot of a school Bass and a small Weever. Next in was a small Thornback Ray, shortly followed by a small Tub Gurnard – all these came in before full darkness and fell to the lugworm. Once dark, I had another hit which turned out to be another school Bass.

By about 10pm and four hours into the tide, the weed started to become a problem – long strands of the ‘Spaghetti’ weed got caught up on the hook, sinker and leader knot. The best way to deal with this was to abandon the scratching rod and concentrate on the Bass gear which I had by now deployed. While packing the other rod up, I heard the ratchet on the Bass reel scream off as a fish took line. I picked up the rod and felt the fish pulling strongly and struck into it. A short while later, a bass of around 2½lbs was on the beach but before I could reach it, the hook fell free and the next wave took the fish back. Ah well, at least I knew there were fish  there.

I re-baited with a fresh Launce and cast out again just beyond the breaking waves. Almost immediately I saw the rod lurch over and the reel sing again, I lifted into the fish which was on for a brief moment before going free – arse! Another fresh Launce was cast out but nothing touched it – or so I thought. The rod was moving in a wave-weed like manner but when I retrieved it, I found a spider crab firmly attached. Unfortunately it wasn’t peeling, so went back.

By now, it was about an hour before high water and the weed was getting to be a real problem; at least on this rig, there was no leader knot to worry about as it was a straight through line. I saw the rod moving and was about to bring it in, when it dramatically arched over and the reel screamed’ I picked it up and felt a reasonable fish on the other end. As it got nearer the beach, I let the waves carry the fish closer to land and soon a nice fish was on the beach – success! It measured 52cm  and weighed in at a shade over 3lbs – not huge but very satisfying for my first session there in six months.

The weed become intolerable around high water and the place was just unfishable – huge rafts of it could be seen in the waves and after a minute in the water, line and terminal tackle were smothered and being dragged along by the weight of weed in the current. I was down to my last Launce anyway, so chucked it to give the fish a free meal on me before packing up for the night.

Given that there was a nice variety of fish (although on the small side), I may give the marina a rest for a while and concentrate on Seaford a bit more along with Newhaven for the Sole.

The plan was to fish Mackerel heads on the bottom for Bass and use a second outfit for anything else around that would take a worm bait. I’d been unable to get any lugworm but had a quantity of good sized king ragworm. While waiting for Phil, I had a go for some fresh Mackerel but this transpired to wasted energy as someone had forgotten to invite the Mackerel. That being the case, we would have to settle for frozen.

Once Phil arrived and serious fishing got underway, I used a long link running ledger with 8′ trace ending in a 5/0 hook and Mackerel head for the Bass and a size 4 two hook Sole rig for scratching.

As the evening wore on, the wind increased, the temperature dropped, the sea got lumpier and filled up with weed; the really ‘orrible slimy shit like weed we’ve been plagued with. By around 3am, the sea was starting to spout up the wall and the weed was getting worse – things were not looking good and it was time to call it a night. The results? Phil had the one and only fish of the night, a pretty little Thornback Ray (pictured right). As for me? … the first blank of the year…blox.

Once we got to our spot, Mike and I set about trying to get some some fresh Mackerel to supplement the frozen stuff we already had but er some time time trying, we gave that idea up as none seemed to be about. Time to set up the main tackle of the night. One Bass rod with a long link running ledger, 8′ trace with a 5/0 hook and Mackerel head and another rod out as a ‘scratcher’, using a size 4 two hook flapper baited with some stinking old lugworm left over from the last trip out on Saturday, to be used for any Sole (or anything remotely fishy) that might happen to be about.

The water was very coloured with silt and the amount of weed was shocking. The bigger weed had big root balls encrusted with Mussels while the other was something that resembled wet cotton wool mixed with mud and clogged up the terminal tackle within minutes of it being in the water. My biggest ‘weed fish’ was too big to handlined up the wall and actually broke my 20lbs test line.

As it happens, apart from the weed situation, the fishing was dire and I think Danny and Mike had the right idea packing up early and having the time better spent at home. I decided to stick it out and being the optimist I am, was convinced I’d hit the jackpot. In the end, I was saved from a blank by two snotty Eels that knackered two of my rigs and that was it, no other interest shown. It was indeed a pants session but to get that big result, you have to put the hours in.

After booking in, it was raffle time and this year, it was the first ticket out that would win the kyak – luckily this year it wasn’t me. Well done to Alan for winning the ‘boat’ and hope you enjoy it and get to those marks you were talking about. For myself, I won a surf rod and a decent spinning rod but the surf rod went back into the raffle as unfortunately it was rung for a fixed spool reel (which I don’t use) and not a multiplier.

As far as the fishing went, it was crap, one fish landed for the whole day for me, a small 23cm Bass that I didn’t even realise I had on until I retrieved to re-bait. I did have  Mackerel though, that took a stringy bit of lugworm on the retrieve but even that dropped off at the wall.

Well done to Ally for the win, a good result considering it wasn’t even a ‘Home’ venue for him.

Full results here Post no. 68

Finally, well done to Sea and Mike for your organisational skills and thanks to all sponsors . It was a great day out and good to put more faces to names from the fishing forums.

Photos of the day

Set up one rod with a long link running ledger, ending in a size 5/0 hook baited with frozen joey Mackerel head and chucked that out a few yards. Rod number two had a size 4 two hook Sole rig baited with lugworm. I then set about trying to get some fresh Mackerel and had a few chucks until it was too dark, before giving it up with zilch results.

It wasn’t until about an hour and half  after the 9.20pm low water that I had the first hit on the Bass rod while I was re-baiting the other one. The rod pulled down hard and the reel screamed as line peeled off it but just as I got to it, the reel stopped; I picked it up and then felt another savage pull before all went dead – bugger! I left it a couple of minutes – just in case – before retrieving, only to find the head just hanging on by the skin of it’s teeth (literally).

I put on another head, lobbed it out a few yards and stood by the rod for a while before leaving it to have a coffee. The next run was just as savage and came at nearly three hours after low water. I was ready this time and took hold of the rod as the line was stripping off, followed by the lull before the fish took off again. I struck and lifted into what  felt like a good fish, only for it to go right and run tight up beside the wall. It was only a matter of seconds and then the inevitable twang as the line parted, being no match against concrete and barnacles. I was gutted – two lost fish in the session, disastrous. It was the hook length that had parted, although I had to strip a few yards of main line off too, as it was so badly chaffed.

I carried on fishing but knew deep down that there wasn’t going to be another chance. Anyway, the other rod produced a schoolie Bass, a small Thornback Ray, few Pout and one slip Sole. I stayed on until daybreak and tried for some Mackerel for bait, ahead of the ‘Paddle round the Pier’ charity fishing competition in aid of the charities: Oopsadaisy, RNLI and Surfaid International being held on Saturday. Even those normally obliging buggers wouldn’t play and so eventually left empty handed.

As an angler there is nothing more disappointing than losing a decent fish, it just makes you wonder where you went wrong and what could have been.

I got to the West arm at about 4am and started chucking the feathers out and got one almost immediately – looked like this was going to be an easy task, I thought. I had spoken to soon and obviously put the mockers on the morning. Over the next two hours, I only connected with two more Mackerel, which to my dismay, dropped off at the wall. By 6am, the water was dropping fast, was starting to colour up and was choking in weed, so I decided on a move over to the East arm to try there. A short dash later saw me over on the other wall and chucking feathers there.

The water there was also choked, with large rafts of that ‘orrible ‘spaghetti’ weed we had for so long last year. Anyhow, I carried on and after a few casts, had another two Mackerel on, only to drop at the wall again. I changed over to some slightly larger lures and started with them, thinking that the slightly larger hooks wouldn’t pull out as easily.

A few casts later and there was a fish on but felt different, very un-Mackerel like, I got it up the wall and saw that there was a quantity of weed with a small fish buried in it all. As I pulled the weed off, I saw that the fish was a small Lesser Weever which had been foul hooked. I know most would recognise this poisonous little bugger but some may not, so thought I’d get a picture just to act as a reminder for everyone to be aware. DO NOT HANDLE THEM, the black dorsal fin and gill covers have spines that will inject venom when picked up. They are often mistaken for small Pout when caught in low light situations or when covered in weed. Please make sure you know what a fish is before handling, unhooking etc. I very carefully unhooked the creature with pliers and lobbed it back before continuing with my efforts.

By 8am, I had only had one more fish which managed to get off the hook soon after it had taken the lure. With the water dropping ever faster, this looked like being a fruitless activity and decided to call it a day, so walked back to the car with the one solitary fish looking lost in a rather large and optimistic bucket. A total contrast to a week ago when the place was alive with Mackerel.

The one benefit of my failure was that I would get to sit at home with a coffee, instead of standing in the school looking like a muppet, while Anna cooked fish for the little darlings who would in all probability not eat it anyway – result!