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By Vic, 11 February, 2008 16:23

Yesterday, I took part in a competition organised by the Shoreham Angling Squad club. Funnily enough, this was held at the West arm of Shoreham harbour.

It was an early start for me, leaving home at 6.40 am in order to stop off at ‘The Tackle Box’ shop at Brighton Marina for bait. Whilst getting my lugworm and ragworm, Dave Grinham kindly gave me a large bag of Slipper Limpet to supplement my supplies.

Arrived at the venue at the allotted time of 8am. A long wait ensued while we waited for everyone to arrive, book in and draw numbers for the order of ‘walking off’. I unluckily picked 32 which meant I would be one of the last to walk off and would thus be limited to where I could fish.

My spot was quite a way inshore and I would be casting not far of the beach itself. Anyway, armed with a good supply of quality bait, I was confident of doing well. Targets were flounder and dab. I tackled up and awaited the hooter to mark the beginning of the match.

First few casts produced numerous knocks and bites but I couldn’t connect. First fish of the day arrived soon afterwards and I found the culprit to be a small 5 Bearded rockling which sadly was under the 18cm limit and therefore didn’t count. This was followed shortly after by another non qualifier. That was it for the rest of the day with no further fish landed. No matter what I tried, I just could not get the fish to bite. Frustration grew as I heard reports of a few fish coming up the blokes fishing at the end of the arm.

Gladly, it was a warm bright day with little wind – nice and comfortable for me but not good conditions for fishing.

The hooter marking the end of the match sounded at 3.30pm. Time to tackle down and make my way to the meeting point to watch the lucky ones receive their prizes. I didn’t even win anything in the raffle- pffft.

I then faced a journey of nearly one and a half hours through Brighton to get home. It had been an enjoyable day, even though I was virtually fishless.

Incidentally, I believe a reasonable amount was collected from people who fished the match towards a fund being set up for the family of Alan Wright, a young man who was washed away whilst fishing in the Bristol Channel. Alan was a member of WSF (World Sea Fishing), a fishing website/forums used by many of us anglers.

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Our thoughts are with his family and friends.

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By Vic, 30 January, 2008 11:48

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.

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By Vic, 23 January, 2008 12:11

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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By Vic, 31 December, 2007 11:35

Well, that was it, the last session of 2007.

Fished Opposite West View at Seaford Beach from 8.30pm through til 4am. Not a breath of wind, overcast with clear patches. A small swell put a bit of movement in the sea but not much.

I fished one rod with a 2 hook clip down at varying ranges using squid strips /slipper limpet mixes. Second rod set up with 3/0 pennel baited with squid – either whole small or fillets of large.

As usual, the whiting were first on the scene, attacking anything in front of ’em. Then I hit a small persistent bite and lifted into what felt like a good fish. I had thoughts of a decent codling the way it was ‘nodding’ and the reasonable weight it felt. Alas it was not to be – as I beached the creature and the water receded, I was left with an eel of around 1lb or so but it was foul hooked half way along it’s length and had come in sideways.

That was pretty much it until about an hour before high, I had a decent bite on the pennel rig which turned out to be a little codling of around 1½ lbs. This was followed a short while later by another of the same size. Both were taken at about 50 yards range. Things then returned to normal with a few more whiting coming in with no signs of any additional codling. It wasn’t long after this that I decided to call it a night.

A decent end to 2007 with hope of a better 2008 and the resolution to make more effort to try new venues and tactics.

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By Vic, 26 November, 2007 18:37

Haven’t been able to get out for quite some time now and have missed out on quite a bit of fishing. The only thing I’ve caught is a case of ‘cabin fever’ and fishing withdrawal. So once I decided I could go, I settled on Seaford for Sunday night.

Got to Edinburgh Road at about 6.30pm during first hour of the flood tide. No wind to speak of and not much in the way of movement in the water. There seemed to be a few people fishing further East and some to the West. Just one other guy fishing near me. Had a chat and he said he normally fished Shoreham way but had come to this way for a change. So far he hadn’t had much luck. This didn’t look too promising.

Used frozen black luworm on single 1/0 clip down on one rod and whole squid on 4/0 pennel on t’other.
It was very quiet with no bites or fish to disturb my relaxation and star gazing. It wasn’t until about 2 hours before high water when I had a reasonable whiting of around 12oz.

I missed a couple of stonking takes on the squid at about an hour before high water and then nothing until an hour after, when I had a few more whiting and some small Pout.

There was no further action and at 2am, decided to call it a night. Although it wasn’t the best session I’ve had, it was great to be back out after my spell of involuntary incarceration.