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By Vic, 12 May, 2011 11:43

Having had a disastrous squid championship result, I thought I’d have a go on Tuesday morning to see if I could get my squid mojo back. I arrived on the West arm at about 5am just after high water to find that the dreaded May rot was as bad as ever. With a flat calm sea, the water should normally have been crystal clear – what I had in front of me resembled pea soup, a horrible murky green with clouds of particles swirling around. It was nicely topped off with a generous helping of foaming patches….mmmmm, what a delightful recipe.

I setup two rods – one with standard float gear and squid jig, while the other was rigged with some feathers in the hope that maybe some not so bright mackerel put in an appearance. I have to say though, that with the conditions, I wasn’t really hopeful of a result on either front. However, not to be defeated at the first gate, I decided to selflessly carry on in hope. I do feel that fishing and blanking is better than not fishing at all – and as they say, “you have to be in it to win it”.

As the morning wore on, I hoped that maybe the sea would clear out at least a bit. It soon became apparent that the sea was going to remain nasty, cloudy and full of crap, although there were some clear patches at adistance away from the wall. I did sling some feathers out into the patches searching for any mackerel that may have been hunting in the clear. This exercise only resulted in an aching arm and a sense of ‘Why?’ The water got cloudier and the foam hung about and gave no impression of moving on.

A breakthrouogh came at 10.30, when a solitary, terminally stupid mackerel wandered through the murk and found my feathers – the blank was saved! I carried on for what seemed like a lifetime, alternating between feathers and float with no reward. I eventually gave in and had my last cast before calling it a day and trudging off.

Hope to hell, that this bloody rot disappears soon, so that normal fishing can resume.

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By Vic, 19 April, 2011 18:36

Now, normally I would write up this report and insert pictures in a chronolgical order but to be honest, I couldn’t say with 100% certainty, which fish came from which wreck and at which time. Plus too many pictues and not enough text make it all look a bit messy, so to keep things tidy and to stop me blathering about on about anything and everything, I’ll give a bit of an outline and put up some nice pictures. Photos are curtesy of the resident photographer for the day, Mr Terry Hill.

Following my trip out on Friday, I had the opportunity to again set out to sea on Sunday – this time, aboard a private boat, ‘Sea Mistress’ skippered out of Newhaven by WSF member Terry Hill. We met up at about 8am at Newhaven and after a bacon butty and coffee at The Captain’s Table, Terry arranged for his boat to be trailered from the boat yard, down the slipway and into the water. We set about stowing our gear aboard, while Terry fuelled her up and did other stuff. We were joined by fellow forum member, Dave and once everything was ship-shape, we set off out of the harbour.

Terry opened up Sea Mistress once we were clear of the harbour confines and headed off to some wrecks in search of cod and pollack. Like Friday, the sea was mirror calm and with no hint of a breeze to ruffle the surface, we made good time. It wasn’t too long before we were over the first wreck and Terry set up the drift.

Tactics were the same – long flowing traces with artificial lures worked close to and over the wreck. Although the water was clear, it was evident that there was already a lot of the dreaded ‘May rot’ in the water which could have an effect on the fishing. Terry was the first into a fish and nice bass was soon aboard. Expectations were high and we were buoyed up by such an early result. Unfortunately, that was the only fish on that wreck, so after a few fruitless drifts, we were off to the next mark, a few more miles out.

Fishing was slow over the next couple of wrecks but Dave managed a couple of reasonable pollack, while I seemed to be attracting large pout for my efforts.

Terry started up the engine again and we were off, this time to a wreck some sixteen miles out. Progress was good, with a steady cruising speed only interupted by the wakes of occasional passing larger vessels. First couple of drifts, I was getting small snatches at my lure but couldn’t get anything to take it fully. It wasn’t long though before I boated my first ‘proper’ fish, a small but welcome pollack.

…and then not long afterwards, Terry got the first of the target fish of the day, a tidy codling.

With renewed vigour, we continued to work the lures but to no effect, apart from more pollack for me and a beautiful little tub gurnard for Dave.

I then boated a whiting of all things – all this way out and I still get bloody whiting. At least it was of a decent size anyway.

Another wreck later and although we still weren’t getting large numbers of fish, we sort of ticked over with bits and pieces. Dave then had his first bass of the session after a short tussle.

…and he followed this up a bit later with the biggest pollack of the day at a shade under the ten pound mark.

While he was doing the pollack – so to speak, I had my first codling of the day but unfortunately didn’t get a picture of it.

We fished on for a bit and did some wrecks on our way back to port but as the tide slackened off, the fishing died with it. We decided on some ground fishing on the shoals off Beachy Head, so swapped our artificials for ragworm fished on long traces with plenty of beads and colour, in the hope of attracting a plaice or two. Alas, this wasn’t to be the case and all we managed to attract were pin whiting and pout.

So it was with an Easterly breeze picking up and chopping the surface, we headed back to port. I attempted to fillet my catch on the return but this proved a little risky, so after one fish and deciding I’d like to go home with the same amount of fingers as I had when I left, I opted to fillet the rest at home.

Back at port, we unpacked the boat and did other nautical things with ropes and pipes before collecting up our assorted bits and pieces and going our seperate ways. A big thanks again to Terry for the day out and putting us on the fish.

Here’s the stuff I didn’t get around to preparing on the boat and is awaiting the filleting knife.

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By Vic, 16 April, 2011 15:18

One of the wardens from Brighton Marina, Frank was celebrating his birthday by having a trip out on one of the local charter boats, ‘Lady of The Lake‘, skippered by John Barrow. I had been lucky enough to be invited out by him to join his party, consisting of his daughter, sons and friends, along with some indiviuals (sorry, I didn’t catch your names) and two additional crew, Alan and John(2),to make up a full complement. To say I was excited is an understatement, as it was my first trip for quite a few years and I was keen to venture back into the boat fishing scene.

We met up at The Tackle Box to stock up on any last minute items, after which, we were soon down by the boat loading up, making ready for the 7.30am departure. I have to say, Lady of The lake, a Tremlett 42, is a fantastic, sleek looking boat, is extremely roomy with a well set out deck and ample facilities. While we waited, we set up the rods to save time once at our destination. The basic tackle consisted of what is essentially a single hook paternoster with long flowing trace (sometimes known as a flying collar rig) and artificial lures such as sidewinders and shads.

Soon, engines were fired up and we set off out of the marina and headed to the chosen marks, which were to be deep water wrecks out in the channel. The tactic for the day was to drift and work the lures in front of and over these wrecks in the hunt for the cod and pollack which inhabit these rusting hulks. Frank’s target and a great way to make his birthday better was to get his first cod, in fact he had said that he “Didn’t mind catching chickens for the rest of the day, providing I get my cod”. So, fingers were firmly crossed – and that went for all of us!

As we left the marina, we motored out onto a flat calm sea, which was going to make the jouney a lot quicker and a lot more comfortable than you would get on bumpier water – Perfect conditions for a great day out.

Soon, the engines were opened up more to a good cruising speed and we headed for our first wreck which I believe was some 20 odd miles out. I took the opportunity to go over my kit and make sure everything was in order, with all knots nice and secure and extra traces and rigs made up ready in case of losses caused by getting getting caught up in the submerged ironwork.

The anticipation mounted as the engines throttled back and John began positioning the boat over the first wreck. Once the drift was established, the buzzer was sounded which meant we were safe to drop our lures down to the bottom. I felt the lead hit the seabed and then I began the slow retrieve, working the gear up and over the wreck, waiting for the tell-tale pull down on the rod and the weight and power of a fish crash diving after taking the lure. Sadly, the first drift produced nothing – or the next, or the one after that. Hmmm.. disappointment all round.

We headed off to another wreck and this produced similar results apart from a couple of pout. I had one tentative take with a fish briefly on before it was lost. We then headed off to another mark, where I had my first proper take and after getting it to the surface, I had my first codling of about 4lbs aboard – thing were looking up at last.

The next drift saw my gear caught up in the wreck, the line was quickly wrapped around a cleat by John and I waited for the drifting boat to break the line – damn, my first loss. I quickly retackled in time to catch the next drift, which produced nothing for me but I believe a couple of pout to the others.

The next drift saw me blank again but there was a shout from the other side of the boat and Frank’s long awaited cod was soon on the deck… and he was a very happy bunny.

Another couple of blank drifts and John decided to move onto another hulk which again produced zero results. Things were not looking good on the wreck front, so John asked Frank what he wanted to do (it was his day after all) – stick it out with the prospect of similar results, or move inshore and have a go for dabs and mackerel, so that at least some people went home with fish. Decison made, he motored back inshore and drifted over the ground just off the marina.

Tackle was changed – thanks Alan and John(2) for providing the lighter gear that I hadn’t taken with me. A spreader boom with beaded traces and size 2 hooks baited with lugworm were dropped over the side and before long, I had my first dab aboard – pity it fitted in the palm of my hand though! Things went very quiet and apart from a couple more undersize dabs and a couple of pin whiting, I had no more luck. The rest of the crew were bagging up on mackerel and Frank had a couple of lunker garfish. By 5pm, it was evident that we weren’t going to get anything decent, so it was time to had back into the marina and the end of the day.

Despite the lack of quality fish, it was a great day out with excellent company and great weather. Thanks again to Frank for the invite and to John and crew for helping out and making things run smoothly. I’ve now got the taste back for boat fishing, and am looking forward to making my next trip whenever that may be.

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By Vic, 27 March, 2011 18:35

Yesterday was a tale of two two halves – crap and brilliant.

Round 1:
Up at 4am, get ready and leave the house at 4.30 to get to Brighton Marina for first light and a crack at the herring that have been showing. I arrived on the East arm at about 5am, two hours after high water, to a flat calm and clear sea, slightly overcast sky and no wind. I headed out on to the virtually empty arm to bay 32 and firstly setup a scratching rod, using a size 2, two hook flapper baited with lugworm and ragworm and cast this out about 30 yards, just to see what, if anything else was about. On each subsequent cast, I varied the distance to cover more ground.

The other rod was set up with a string of 5 size 10 Sabiki lures and a 3oz lead which I then started working. On the 3rd cast, I had a herring on, right up until it got to the wall, at which point, it flicked off the hook and was away. There were no other takes for the rest of the morning. I did have two pinwhiting on the scatcher rod while i had been working the feathers though. By 10am, it became obvious that no herring were going to show until later in the day, so I decided to head off home and return later to catch the 4pm high water.

Round 2:
I returned to the East arm at around 2pm to find it a bit more crowded than earlier but managed to get a space at bay 35. The Easterly breeze had picked up a bit with a resultant to chop to the water surface. It was still an overcast sky with occasional breaks of sunshine. I again set up a scratching rod using the same rig and bait as before and cast that out. The herring rod was set up exactly the same as before.

I started working the lures through the water, just bouncing the lead of the sea bed in a sink and draw fashion. The current was quite strong on the run up to high water and using such a small lead, the lures were being dragged laterally at quite a rate. With so many people having lines out nearby, it beame difficult to prevent manoevre through them, so decided to quit for a while until the current died down a bit.

Anna and Alex had by now turned up for a flying visit after doing the shops in the marina. While Anna and I chatted, Alex spent time exploring but failed the “sit quietly, watch the rod and see if the end moves” test but he did manage two retrieves of the feathers before declaring enough. While there, they witnessed my one and only catch on the scratching rod – my first weever of the year, that had taken a worm bait that was bigger than itself. As I’m awaiting delivery of a new camera due to the demise of my old one, Anna managed a quick photo on her HTC phone.

After they left, I had another go at the feathers and found that the current had eased a bit and working the lures was a bit less troublesome. Just to make sure, I brought in the scratching rod – it wan’t exactly doing much good out there anyway – and packed it away. It was about half an hour after high water when the herring appeared, my first of the year was a safely landed double shot. It was then a steady trickle of ones and twos until about 5.30, when it went a bit hectic with a few more landed, along with a solitary mackerel in amongst them. Most were caught only a few yards out from the wall, while a few were out at about fifty yards or so. I did get a couple of pictures but had to use the iphone camera, so not brilliant. By 6pm, it was over and they departed as quickly as they came and in that time, I had managed just shy of two dozen herring and the mackerel – a nice few suppers and lunches shared out.

So after a disappointing morning to a fantastic afternoon, some nice fish and a great day out. Managed it all while wearing ‘normal’ clothes, got a bit of a red head from the sun – summer is on it’s way.

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By Vic, 3 September, 2010 14:35

As a change from Seaford, I decided to have a stint down at Brighton Marina yesterday. Couldn’t get any lugworm, so instead, I got some decent king ragworm and some squid from the Tackle Box. I arrived on the East arm at about 7pm and was greeted by a light North Easterly breeze which was putting a little chop on the surface of the ebbing tide. It was a decent evening, quite sunny and warmish.

The idea was to fish the tide down and target bass over the low water period. After getting a space in bay 22, I set one rod up with a size 4 two hook sole rig baited with worm for scratching. Once this had been cast out, I set about getting some fresh mackerel for bait. It wasn’t long before I had a couple in the bucket and later on, just as the sun began to set, the mackerel went mad and were shoaling along the wall. I added a few more to the bucket before stopping. Once the bait collecting session was done, the rod was re-rigged with a long link running ledger, a long hook length ending in a single 5/0. I also had a similar long hook length but ending in a 5/0 pennel all ready made up. This gives the option of fishing a mackerel head on a single hook or a fillet or squid on the two hooker.

Nothing much happened during the time it was light, apart from the hooks coming back clean on the scratching rig but this all changed once it got dark. The whiting came on in a absolute frenzy, every cast brought in a double shot of the buggers, nothing of any size though. It didn’t matter where or how far I cast, it was whiting every time. To be fair, they were interspersed with the odd pout and even one small suicidal smooth hound pup of at least six inches.

It was during the retrieval of another double shot that I missed the one and only bass take of the night – a real screamer as the mackerel head was taken for a ride, only to be dropped within seconds. I never learn; I know I should always be near or holding the rod but I can never resist scratching to while away the hours of bass waiting.

Back to the whiting that failed to show any signs of stopping their gluttony. By now, they were also hitting the big bass baits, either ripping the guts from the head or shredding the fillet or squid. By 3am I came to the conclusion that there wasn’t going to be anything other than whiting (I’m a bit slow see), so decided to jack it in. I only had a couple of worms and squids left anyway and gave those back to the fish as a give away.