Comments (0)

By Vic, 6 May, 2013 13:11

After a minor success at the squid competition, I thought I’d make use of the decent weather and take Alex along for a shot at the squid. So we were up early the next day and shot off to Brighton Marina before the crowds descended. We were on the East arm by about 8am and shortly after, the float was in the water.

I’d set up a 9′ sea spinning rod with a 5000 size baitrunner for Alex and this seemed a perfect match for him, nice and light, easily controlled but with enough strength to handle a squid.

It was a glorious morning, bright sunshine, clear water and no wind. It would have been perfect apart from the fact we were on a very low tide and there was hardly any depth at the spot I wanted, so aimed for a higher bay but even then, we would have a wait until there was sufficient depth to fish.

I set up the gear and after a few short refresher lessons on casting and explaining that it was different from casting off the beach, Alex set about with gusto. There were the odd misfires but on the whole, he did pretty well and was soon into his stride.

After a couple of hours, the breeze began to pick up a bit and it was soon proving difficult for Alex to cast into the wind. There had been no signs of interest on the jig, so I set another rod with the same sliding float rig, only with a size 2 hook replacing the jig. I baited with small slivers of mackerel and had that one out in the water too.

Due to lack of action, impatience was setting in and Alex found new activities to amuse himself – cutting up mackerel into small strips. Surprisingly, his knife skills are pretty damn good and so he proved to be an excellent bait provider. In between doing that, made numerous runs back to the cafe to obtain snacks and drinks.I think the most widely used terms that morning were “Do you need another drink?”, “Can I get you anything from the cafe?”

It soon began too feel like a hopeless mission on the squid front and nothing was showing any interest in the floated bait either. We decided it would be better to pack up and go home to cook the squid I’d caught the previous day.

All in all, a nice to day to be out and although nothing was caught, Alex at least had an opportunity to practice his casting. The bait cutting should see him in fine form if he ever decides he wants to be a pathologist.

Comments (1)

By Vic,

Well, eventually it happened, after previous postponement due to weather, the 6th. All England Squid Championship, a charity and fun day, raising funds for the R.N.L.I. got under way at Brighton Marina on Saturday 27th April. As usual, the event was organised by ‘Fishyrob’ and sponsored by George Cunningham of TronixPro. Thanks also to Dave at The Tackle Box for allowing the use of the arm for the event. I believe, in total, some sixty eight fools gathered at the East arm cafe, ready to hand over the entrance cash and draw lots as to who fished where.

In contrast to previous draws at this event, and against all the odds, I managed a low number and drew to fish at bay 4, so only a short walk away. I normally draw numbers so high, even Carol Vorderman would struggle to count that far.

And so it was I made the short distance to my slot and started tackling up – my usual set up, a 12′ 2½lbs carp rod, 5000 size bait runner reel and a simple sliding float rig with the TronixPro jig at the end of the hook length.

I was full of optimism, watching the float in anticipation just, waiting for it to gently slide under as a tentacled creature took the jig. Hmmm… the anticipation continued but not quite at the levels of earlier. The hours ticked by and it wasn’t until we were nearing the end of the competition when the first squid started coming aboard.

My high hopes and optimism were fading quicker quickly and I was staring at the prospect of a blank session. It was good to hear the shouts going up and seeing the squid coming in – at least it showed they were there – but not near my jig it would seem!

I was into the last hour when I saw the float dip slightly before disappearing – first thoughts were that I was stuck in the weed but… there were signs of life on the other end. Rob kindly began netting the beast for me. I have to say, his attempt at humour almost had me taken in with his cry of “Sorry Vic, it’s gone, dropped off”. I very nearly let out a string of obscenities but in time, I saw my catch safely in the net.

It wasn’t huge and it certainly wasn’t in with a chance of the trophy but it had saved the blanked and would be extremely tasty for lunch the following day.

It wasn’t long before the shout went up that the competition was over and we all began the packing up, clearing up and trudging off the arm. I didn’t stay for the after comp knees up but opted to get home, shower and take a rest. The standing up for that length of time certainly do my back any favours.

Comments (5)

By Vic, 10 March, 2013 12:23

In a quest to up my species targets, I decided on a trip to Brighton Marina on Friday just gone to have a crack at crossing plaice and herring off the list.

I arrived on the east arm at about 8am to filthy weather, chucking it down with rain and just the slightest north easterly breeze. The arm was empty of people so I had the choice of where to pitch up, so I settled for bay 25 – one of my favourites.

I got setup, one rod with simple running ledger with blingy hook length to target plaice, the other rod with a small Sabiki string to get the herring.

Plaice rod was baited up with lug plus squid tipping and chucked out at distance. I then started working the sabikis but could only manage a few chucks at a time before having rest due to my back giving real grief.

I had the first herring at just after 9am which sadly, turned out to be the only one of the day.

The first plaice came just after the herring, so that was both targets achieved in reasonably quick time.

The rain was relentless and a real pain in the arse, it wasn’t heavy, just that horrible persistent stuff. The breeze had started to drop had even stopped ruffling the surface of the flat calm sea.

Another two plaice were landed about an hour after the first one. It was turning into a tidy session considering i was now well into the ebbing tide and the sea was dropping quite quickly.

With no herring showing, I took the sabikis off and replaced them with a two hook flapper, baited with lug and squid. I stuck on a 2oz plain lead and chucked it as far as the floppy rod would allow.

Another plaice landed which turned out to be the largest of the day at 34cm and a whisker under 1lb (13oz). It had hit both baits on the flapper and taken them well down (all had apart from one) and so was swiftly dispatched.

I was considering packing up as everything was getting soaked through and I had already accomplished what I had set out to do. I decided to stick it out anyway see how far I could go into the ebb and still nail a plaice.

At just on midday, I was slowly retrieving the flapper, hoping that the movement might trigger a response from a plaice as the static bait had long since stopped tempting them. Just few yards from the wall, the bait was nailed and soon, another plaice was landed.

It was around this time that I was joined by local guide and all round good bloke, Fishyrob. He was targetting the same as me but was going down using the artificial route to try and tempt the flatties out. By this time, we reckon they had all moved on with the dropping tide, as neither of us could manage any more.

Time was pushing on and I needed to be away sharpish – and so it was an extremely wet and happy Vic headeing off home to clean up and get ready for work. Now looking forward to the next session.

Comments (13)

By Vic,

To pop my 2013 cherry, I hit the shingle at Seaford last week for a rare (for me) daytime session. Was on the beach and setup by about 9.30am on a rising tide. Water was dead calm with a hint of colour. Breeze was from behind the beach and the sky overcast. High water was going to be around 1pm.

Decided to use just the one rod, wishbone rig with blinged hook lengths and baited with lug and squid tipping.

The only thing that was going to ruin the day were the shingle shifters re doing the beach profile as part of the sea defences annual maintenance. Big trucks up and down the beach delivering the shingle and the bulldozers doing the profiling. Got a bit too close at one point and almost engulfed the guy fishing to my left!

First rod tip nodding of the day resulted in a double shot of fakking rockling and the smallest bass I have ever seen on the beach.

Next up was a single dab about quarter of an hour later. From then on, it was small dabs with a handful of rockling. I was hoping for plaice and maybe a flounder for the species hunt but it wasn’t to be.

By about 12, I was done in, my back was screaming and I had to pack it in. Shame really ‘cos it was not long before high water and I’m sure, I’d have had better results then. Anyhoo, it was great to be back out again, even for a short while and started off this years species hunt with three in the bag.

Comments (0)

By Vic, 9 July, 2012 00:13

Due to crap weather mixed with work, my crap back and other commitments, it’s been ages since I’ve been out on the beaches, so on Friday night, I went out to Seaford beach to fish the tide up from the 8pm low water.

Once on the beach, I checked out the conditions which didn’t look too favourable. The sea was flat apart from small wavelets on the shore line, wind wasn’t doing much either. Water was clear with some colour in it.

Two rods deployed, one with a size 4 sole rig baited with black lugworm and the other with long link running ledger, terminating in a 6/0 baited with squid (I did want fresh mackerel but was busy yesterday and couldn’t get any).

Two cups of muddy coffee and two hours passed by before I got my first bite of the night – a couple of sharp taps followed by slight trembling on the rod tip. On retrieval, the culprit was identified as a small (and I mean small) thornback ray (pictured). Not exactly what I was looking for but at least it saved a potential blank and it’s another one crossed off the species list.

Next up was a small bootlace/snotty eel which luckily was only lip hooked, so I could shake the bloody thing off and release it before too much damage was done to the rig.

A short time later, I had a terrific pull down on the worm rod and once hooked, it seemed like a bit of weight on the end. As it reached the waters edge, any hopes I had of a decent flattie were completely shattered when it turned out to be a whiting – a decent sized whiting I’ll grant you but still a bloody whiting, in July? At this rate, it would seem we are going to be plagued by a resident, all year round whiting fest – oh deep joy!!

Anyway, I gave it another hour so before calling it a night with nowt else showing up, not even the slightest of twitches on the bass rod. My mojo is currently spiraling downwards but to be fair, I haven’t put in as many hours as I normally would due to other things needing my attention. Hopefully once all is settled, I’ll be back out with mucho gusto!