I haven’t managed to get out for a while, so took when the opportunity came up to go out for a session last night, I took it and decided to fish a regular spot at Seaford beach. I got there at about 8pm and set up just West of Edinburgh Road. The weather was calm with very little breeze and what there was came from NW. The sky was clear but cloudy over to the West and could have been heading my way (but didn’t). The water was clear and calm with just a bit of wave action as the tide started to flood. High water was predicted to be a biggie at over 7 metres and due at around 2am.

One scratching rod rigged with a size 4 two hook sole rig baited with black lugworm. The bass rod was rigged with a long link running ledger and using a long 8′ fluorocarbon hook length ending in a 4/0 pennel baited with large launce. The scratcher was cast out about 50 yards or so, while I kept the bass rod back until the light faded.

The first bites didn’t come until after sunset, at which point, someone flipped the whiting switch – the bloody things virtually hitting the bait as soon as it settled on the bottom. I wouldn’t mind so much if they were a decent table size but they weren’t, just little pins of about 15cm. There was one small schoolie bass of about 20cm in amongst the pins but it was the only one.

I think it was at about 9pm or so when I was joined by Graham (good to meet you by the way) – another guy who uses a couple of forums I’m a member of – WSF and Fishing Forum. We had a good old chin wag over various topics while I hauled in a few more whiting and then miss a lovely take on the bass rod which resulted in the fish dropping the bait after its initial run. Shortly after this, I had another run, shorter this time and less frantic but at least I got a fish onto the beach this time – a lovely conditioned 2½ pounder (pictured) of 46cm. If I remember correctly, this was at about 10.15pm about 3½ hours before high water. As for the whiting? I abandoned the scratching rod as it would just have been whiting all night and just concentrated on the bass rod.

I had another bass at about an hour before high water which was a small one at about a pound or so. Missed another take about half an hour later and then that was it for the rest of the night – distinctly quiet and fishless.

While I was standing there, frantically not catching fish, at least there was Perseid meteor shower to watch and keep me occupied. There were some real stunners, leaving trails that were visible for a few seconds afterwards. I was lucky really, as the day had been quite cloudy at times but this was a fantastically clear night, so had good views as they streaked across the sky.

Just before I left, I cleaned the bass and found a whole small squid in the gut along with two very small hard back crab, this got me wondering – is now the time to switch from launce to squid? I don’t know but the next trip will be a comparison, squid on one rod, launce on the other.