In the continuing hunt for the big bass, I decided to hit Seaford again last night and use what bait I had left over from last night to bag a few pout and whiting and use as live baits. I was on the beach by about 8.30pm and was going to fish the tide up to and over the midnight high water. The sea was flat calm and gin clear with just the odd small patch of floating salad that had managed to avoid being taken out and away by the current.

I used a size 4, two hook flapper baited with lugworm to tempt the the little stuff and it wasn’t long before the first whiting obliged. It was duly hooked and clipped onto the rig and slid down the line that had already been cast out and settled.

Now was the waiting game, so I used the time usefully to do…. precisely nothing. I sat in my almost comfy beach chair and drank coffee and just watched the world (well Seaford anyway) go by. All the time, I was keeping an eye on the rod tip to watch for any signals that a bass might be panicking the bait; by the look of it, the bait was in no immediate danger of scoffed.

Once any twitching on the rod tip had ceased, I retrieved the rig and found that the whiting had done a runner, leaving just an empty hook… hmm. I wondered just how long exactly had the empty hook been lying there.

I cast out the scratching rig and within a minute or so, a pout was brought in, rigged up and sent back out. I returned to the comfy chair, coffee and watching until it was time to repeat the procedure.

… and so this went on until high water had been and gone with not the slightest hint that bass had been in the area. Ah, well, I expect I shall be down there again in the near future doing the same old thing and hoping for that biggun.