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.