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By Vic, 13 August, 2011 15:01

To use up the bait I had left over from the previous day, I headed off to Seaford beach again last night, hoping that the weed had subsided just enough to fish. I got there at about 7pm and could immediately see that there was still a lot of weed but nowhere near the amount of the day before. The sea was again rough but had calmed quite a bit in comparison. The plan was to fish the flood tide up and over high water which was predicted for about 11.30pm.

I set up the bass rid with the now usual long link running ledger and 6/0 pennel. I should point out here that I’ve been experimenting and modifying this rig over recent months having found that all the fish I’ve had have come to the top hook and in an attempt to reduce the amount of dropped fish, I now use a 4/0 circle as the top hook. So far this has proved to very effective and all fish have been securely hooked in the corner of the mouth with a firm hold.

The first few casts ended up in the familiar leave for ten minutes then have to bring it in to clear the weed which was hanging just about where I wanted to put the bait – just behind the breaking waves.

I was soon joined by another fishing fanatic, Clive, who set up just along from me and soon had his bait in the water. We spent the time in between retrieving balls of weed, having a chat and mulling over the usual things that you do on the beach.

Things were very quiet and there was no indication of any fish interest until about half an hour after high water when I saw the rod tip pull down and bounce back, which I initially thought was weed again but while holding the rod, I felt a couple of tugs and then the rod tip pulled down again and I was soon into the first fish of the night. A short while later, after negotiating the incoming waves, I beached a nice plump bass that measured 48cm and weighed in at 2lbs 12oz.

Half an hour later, the rod tip twitched a few times, pulled down and I was into my second of the night. This was a lot smaller and I reckon was around the pound mark, maybe a bit bigger. That was it then, as the tide dropped, the wind kept the weed firmly inshore and again it was difficult to get a bait in the right place for any length of time.

We gave it a while longer on the ebb before both deciding that it was unlikely we’d have any more luck and opted to call it a night.

I’ll be out again tonight in the hunt for that elusive ‘double’. Just hope that the weed may have subsided to make the fishing a bit easier.

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By Vic,

Thursday evening was going to be another serious attempt at getting a double figure bass from the beach, so it was off to Seaford beach again armed with a couple of boxes of squid. First stop was West view but that was way too weedy and rough, so went back further West and stopped at an area between Edinburgh road and the Buckle – didn’t look too bad and decided to give it a shot.

Setup one rod, long link running ledger, 6/0 pennel – the usual thing. Baited up, chucked out into the waves and stood holding the rod; within seconds, the lot was being dragged left by weed. With considerable effort, I dragged the lot in and spent the next minute or so clearing all the crap off the gear, tons of horrible, snotty and stringy weed…. yuk.

The next two attempts resulted in the same mess, so it was up sticks and move elsewhere. From the top of the prom, I scanned along the beach and looked like it was everywhere and moving Eastwards at a rate of knots. With that in mind and knowing deep down that it would make no difference where I fished, I decided to go back up past the beachcomber and stick it out there.

I took a couple of pictures but they don’t really convey just how rough it was and you can’t see the amount of weed that there was in the water, in hindsight I should have shot some video – just a thought for next time.

Within a few casts it became obvious that there was going to be no fishing that day. So to save wasting any more bait, I opted for the ‘cut and run’ and headed off home.

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By Vic, 10 August, 2011 18:25

Yet again, I hit Seaford beach yesterday, more out of a need to get on the beach than out of any great expectation, owing to the tides at the moment. Arrived during daylight to catch the 8.30pm high water, with the intention of fishing the ebb and over low water.

First snag I saw when I went over the beach, was the amount of weed in the water – tons of the stuff being held against the shoreline by the brisk South Westerly blowing but at least there was a half decent surf up. Not to be defeated, I set up a scratching rod with a size 4, two hook flapper, baited with some over-ripe lugworm and ragworm and chucked it out over the weed. Within what seemed like seconds, the weed collected on the line, dragging down into the breakers, where it collected even more. On bringing it in, I had to clear the leader knot before I could get the gear back in, where I saw there was masses of the horrible, slimy ‘spaghetti’ type weed clogging everything up. Another two casts and I admitted defeat and didn’t bother again.

Instead, I set up the bass rod with a long link running ledger, 6/0 pennel and whole squid and cast that out and tried  to get it into an area that wasn’t overly clogged up. I still had to retrieve and re-cast every few minutes and hope a fish found it before there was an excessive build up on the line and I had to drag it back in to clear it – but at least I had a bait in the water.

While participating in this fruitless exercise,  I got chatting to a guy visiting from Tonbridge, who was checking the beach out as a prelude to him returning to sea fishing after many years trouting (is that a real term)?  Turns out he is also a member of WSF and one of his associates, ‘Geordie Si’ is also known to me. It was good to meet you Keith and hope to see you down here at some time with your ugly side-kick, Si.

There was no activity what so ever and I was becoming even more disheartened (how can you become disheartened when you weren’t expecting much anyway)? Not wishing to be beaten, I continued to fish into darkness and thankfully, as the tide receded, the weed became more manageable, even though it was still a right royal pain in the ‘arris. The other fly in my rather depressed ointment was that the wind was also decreasing as the tide ebbed, which squashed the surf that had been there to start with, leaving a flat sea, with just the most feeble of wavelets at the waters edge. Now I know this is beginning to sound like a catalogue of fisherman’s excuses but there was also a very bright moon out was well – I think you can see where this is all heading, result-wise.

I stuck it out until just on low water, had packed up most of my stuff, getting ready to leave, when I went over to bring the bass rod in and saw a quick pull down – I lifted into… yeah, you guessed it, a fish.. and some weed. It didn’t feel big but at least it was a fish. I brought it out to find it was a bloody whiting that had managed to scoff a whole smallish squid. SO..blanked saved but in the manner I was hoping for.

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By Vic, 8 August, 2011 12:04

After the success at Seaford beach a few nights ago, I thought it rude not to try again, especially as seeing the sea was nice and lumpy with a brisk South Westerly wind. So armed with some squid, I trotted over there last night to fish the last half of the ebb tide, over low water and a few hours up.

I was surprised when I got to the mark, to see that the sea had flattened out and the wind was near non-existent – bloody typical! There was still a bit of movement but it was more of a residual swell than anything else, ah well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. It was forecast to rain and I could see some ominous dark clouds not too far off and heading my way. I noticed one good thing – that there appeared to be a distinct lack of weed visible, now that was a bonus.

I quickly set up the one bass rod with the standard long link running ledger and 6/0 pennel and it wasn’t long before the squid bait was out in what little waves there were. It was about now that the first drops of rain appeared and was my cue to get the waterproofs on. Within seconds, the drops became torrents as it literally chucked it down and nicely accompanied with some striking lightning and thunder – looked like it was going to be a moist evening!

The lightening and thunder stopped but the rain continued to cascade down. I endured the next couple of hours with nothing to show for it until during a brief respite about half an hour before low water, I had a cracking take and then loads of slack. I wound like crazy until I re-connected with the fish, which was beached shortly after – a nice little 48cm 2lbs 12oz bass. Right, that was number one, now to get the others. Sadly, that was the one and only bite all night.

Whilst standing out (looked like I was the only one out there) on the sodden beach, the rain continued, the only differences were when it changed from light to heavy. Did have a another brief rain free spell from about 2am until 2.30 and then again from about 3am but by then, I had lost interest, was somewhat damp and a tad disappointed that there had not been more fish, so packed up and set off home for the task of hanging everything up to drip dry in the garage.

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By Vic, 5 August, 2011 13:22

I’ve been out of action for a little while with the back absolutely screaming but looking at yesterdays forecast and seeing some nice South Westerlies breaking up the recent calm, I just couldn’t resist a visit to my old favourite hunting ground. So dosed up on painkillers and with my trusty beach chair, I set off for Seaford beach.

With a low tide predicted for about 9.45pm, I arrived at 8.30 to a blustery beach, opposite West View. It was blowing a good ‘un, with a big surf running and I suddenly had a feeling off déjà vu – surely it wasn’t going to be another nightmare! Always game for a laugh, I set up anyway, using only one bass rod rigged with a long link running ledger and 6/0 pennel to be baited with whole squid.

First couple of casts resulted in line getting clogged with weed and being dragged along the beach – this was going to be fun! I persevered all the way through low water and the first couple of hours of the flood, when it seemed to improve, with the weed lessening and the water losing some of its energy as the wind started to drop. Still no fish but at least I got to spend some quality time in my chair.

At about 1am, I had a huge pull down of a bite and was briefly connected to what felt like a reasonable bass before it spat the bait – at least I knew there were fish in the vicinity. 1.30am, I had another pull down and this time the fish stayed on and was soon beached, a plump little 42cm, two pounder. Couldn’t get a picture, as the camera came up with some cryptic warning of a ‘card error’, which later turned out be that the card wasn’t seated properly and easily remedied.

It wasn’t long after this that I had a chat with a guy that was fishing just along from me and who I’d seen earlier while he was walking his dog and had stopped to ask what the conditions were like. Anyway, he tells me he reads these pages often, so I thought I’d mention him – although embarrassingly, I didn’t catch your name (sorry).

It was coming up to 2.30 when I seriously thought about calling it a night – but as always, I decided to carry on until the bait ran out, besides I was quite enjoying myself in my little chair watching the quite numerous meteorites.

At 2.30ish, I had a cracking take, which had the rod whipping round as a fish picked up the squid bait, turned and shot back out through the waves at a rate of knots. This felt like a better fish and after a short but spirited fight, my shining prize was on the beach a lovely 54cm four pound bass.

I re-baited with a larger squid and lobbed it out to roughly where I’d had it before, about twenty yards out in the turbulent and now thankfully, weed free water. I let the bait settle, before turning to have a sit down and a coffee. It was a long sit, as it all went a bit quiet, with just the rhythmic nodding of the rod tip, as the waves broke over the line. 3.20 and time for a fresh bait, so I retrieved, selected a particularly fat and juicy squid, mounted it on the hooks and lobbed it back out.

I had just put the rod in the rest, so I could dig out a spare tip light, when the rod tip slammed down and the butt slipped out of the cup and shot skyward. I made a grab for it and could feel a hard fighting bass on t’ other end, I felt sure that this going to be a cracker! I gently but firmly steered the fish through the breakers, letting take line when it wanted – I did not want lose this one! I go the timing just right and I let the next big wave carry it up the shingle, where I was surprised to see it was smaller than I expected; nevertheless, it was still a reasonable bass of 60cm and 5lbs 1oz.

By now, I was down to my last couple of squid, so stuck the larger of the two on the hooks and cast it back out and waited. Twenty minutes later, there was a plucking on the rod tip that was out of sync with the waves, so I felt the line and there it was again – tap, tap and then wallop! Tip down, fish on and shortly after, it was fish on the beach – another 42cm, two pounder. The last squid was hooked and cast out and then I set about clearing up around in preparation for moving off. I then sat and finished the last of my coffee before deciding that I’d had enough for the night and desperately needed my bed.

So, it was another successful session at my favourite spot with some nice fish – I know that my elusive double is there and waiting and that this is all training for that night – fingers crossed.