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By Vic, 18 March, 2008 16:42

Needed to get out for a few hours yesterday even though the neap tides weren’t brilliant. Wanted to stay local so, decided on the Buckle as I haven’t fished that part of Seaford seriously for years.

Sea was flat calm with just a hint of colour. Slightest of Northerly breeze. Sky was overcast with the odd sunny spell.

Fished from about 2pm until 8pm, Baits were ragworm, lugworm and peeler crab used on one hook ledgers in DVices.

First fish was a small flounder followed by 5 Bearded rockling. It then went deathly quiet for the rest of the time until dusk, when a few more  rockling and Pout showed.

By 8pm, I’d had enough and called it quits. It didn’t appear that there was going to any further action and I couldn’t see the point in wasting any further bait. On getting home, the remaining bait I had was safely packed and put in the fridge ready for my next session.

It’s only a matter of time now before the spring and summer species start to migrate in and save us from this barren period of the year.

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By Vic, 7 March, 2008 09:29

Fished opposite West view at Seaford Beach last night . Fished from 8pm over high water at 10.30pm and packed up at about 11.30pm. It was only a short session for the reasons below. Bit of a breeze with a decent amount of water movement. Sky was overcast and threatened rain which never materialised.

First bit of bad luck was I left my lugworm and calamari bait at home so had to fish with ragworm only. Second bit was I’d left home with only one rod. I could have driven home and collected the stuff but decided against it and opted for a shortened session. The other reason for a shortened fishing time is that I prefer to fish from low water up and a few hours down but a late arrival at the beach meant that I’d missed low water.

I used one of Fishyrob’s amazing DVice on a running ledger with head-hooked ragworm on single size 1 hook. I varied my casting distances to search out some fish but the only ones showing any interest were Pout and 5 Bearded rockling. Although I didn’t hold out much hope for a decent fish, I stayed for the hour or so after high water but nothing else was happening, so packed it in.

We’re still in the quiet period at the moment but hopefully, things should start to pick up near the end of the month with the arrival of the Spring/ Summer species.

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By Vic, 25 February, 2008 17:18

Having fished the Eastney fund raiser on Saturday, I had quite a bit of bait left over which needed using. So Sunday evening, I decided to go out and drown it for a few hours instead of sitting in front of the telly.

I packed one rod, 2 reels, one flask and a Snickers into my bag, got the bait from the fridge and plonked it into the bucket with my leads and rig wallet. Loaded it into the car and set off towards Seaford at 8pm.  At 8.02pm, I returned home and retrieved my wellies and flotation suit from our other car and headed off again.

Fished just East of Edinburgh Road. Well, I couldn’t do any worse than I did at Eastney could I. There was a slight SW breeze blowing and a bit of movement in the water, the sky was overcast with a bit of on and off drizzle so things looked promising apart from it being a bad time of the year.

After a couple of hours, the wind dropped, the sky cleared and the sea calmed. Great!! Anyway, I fished on using up the ragworm as if it was going out of fashion. Then just before High water the fish started. In the space of an hour or so I hauled out 5 pin whiting, 2 Pout and a 5 Bearded rockling.

Called it a night at 2.30am having reassured myself that there were still fish in the sea

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By Vic, 24 February, 2008 16:06

In a continuing effort to raise funds for the family of the missing Bristol Channel angler Alan Wright (See 11.2.08 entry), a friendly competition was organised by the Hampshire Hookers Angling Club and was held on Saturday 23.2.08 at Eastney beach, along the Esplanade near the Royal Marines Museum.

I started the journey from Sussex at 5.15am and made reasonable time considering the thick fog in places. I arrived at about 7am and met up with other hopeful anglers who had turned up. Donations to the fund were deposited in the bucket. In total, some 25 attended in support.

The target species for the day was plaice for which Eastney is famed (apparently). Although a bit early in the season, there were reports that a few had been caught in the area, so everyone was optimistic.

After introductions, I trudged off in company with ‘Fishyrob‘ to find a spot to fish . Once we had selected our ‘patch’, we set up and started fishing. I used two rods with one using a one hook clipdown rig baited with the preferred ragworm. The other rod was armed with a two hook flapper, again baited with ragworm but with thin strips of calamari tipping it off.

To say fishing was slow is an under statement, it was non existent; no bites, no indications, in fact no sign of any fish being there at all. I passed the time by sorting through my gear and making totally unnecessary changes and checking things over again. I had a good scout around amongst the debris and general flotsam on the high water mark and was rewarded with a few Slipper Limpet which I added to my bait bucket. I tried all the usual tactics that would normally induce a bite, I ignored my rods, I had numerous coffees, I even wandered off and chatted with Rob to my West and the chap to my East, Kev I think (If you’re reading this, I apologise for not remembering your name – I have a severely crap memory).

From what I heard along the grapevine, I was not alone in being fishless. It seemed that the plaice were still away on holiday or had decided not to play. At one point though, the beach was filled with excitement with whispers that one of our gathering had battled and brought ashore a flounder! There was hope after all. There were later sightings of a “Scorpion Fish” – probably a Bullhead of some description being beached, followed by wild tales of a Blenny of some sort (there are numerous types) being hauled ashore. I did hear later that a whiting had also been thwarted but I do believe this was after the official close of the competition.

No matter what the rumour mongers were spreading, my rods stayed securely in the rest and did not budge during the whole day except when being picked up for bait changes, rig changes and hook replacement after being snipped off by crabs (not a medical condition). It mattered not one jot what I tried in my quest for fish, nothing worked, it was that simple.

Slowly but surely, people started to pack up and drift away from the beach until the only fools left were me, Rob and another guy far away to the West. By about 3.30pm I called it it quits and buggered off leaving Rob to his manic endeavours. It was a tiring drive home and I was certainly glad of a good hot shower and spruce up.

Despite being dire as regards to fish, it had been a good day out and a different venue for me. It was all for a good cause which had a few more quid in its coffers. A huge thanks go to local lads, Big Ivor and Pompeyboy for great organisation and making everyone feel welcome. I would seriously consider going again once the plaice are in. In fact as my mother lives not too far away, I don’t know why I don’t try it more often anyway.

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By Vic, 13 February, 2008 20:27

Just a quick report this time. Last night, I fished Seaford at the Edinburgh Road mark from 8pm-3am. High water was 2.30am. No wind to speak of, sometime very, very slight breeze from NE. Clear sky, flat calm sea.

Baits used were lugworm, calamari & ragworm, either singly or as cocktails. Rigs used were one size 1 hook clipdown.

Total for the night was five 5 Bearded rockling, two whiting, one Pout and one tiny codling of around 6 inches. Not fantastic results but better than blanking and it certainly was a lovely night to be out in the fresh air.

Hopefully, we’ll soon be out of the ‘Doldrum’ months and into proper Spring fishing. I have vowed to wait until then before fishing again and to spend my time cleaning gear and building rigs – but you never know when the fishing bug will bite!