Needed to get out for a few hours yesterday even though the neap tides weren’t brilliant. Wanted to stay local so, decided on the Buckle as I haven’t fished that part of Seaford seriously for years.
Sea was flat calm with just a hint of colour. Slightest of Northerly breeze. Sky was overcast with the odd sunny spell.
Fished from about 2pm until 8pm, Baits were ragworm, lugworm and peeler crab used on one hook ledgers in DVices.
First fish was a small flounder followed by 5 Bearded rockling. It then went deathly quiet for the rest of the time until dusk, when a few more rockling and Pout showed.
By 8pm, I’d had enough and called it quits. It didn’t appear that there was going to any further action and I couldn’t see the point in wasting any further bait. On getting home, the remaining bait I had was safely packed and put in the fridge ready for my next session.
It’s only a matter of time now before the spring and summer species start to migrate in and save us from this barren period of the year.
Fished opposite West view at Seaford Beach last night . Fished from 8pm over high water at 10.30pm and packed up at about 11.30pm. It was only a short session for the reasons below. Bit of a breeze with a decent amount of water movement. Sky was overcast and threatened rain which never materialised.
First bit of bad luck was I left my lugworm and calamari bait at home so had to fish with ragworm only. Second bit was I’d left home with only one rod. I could have driven home and collected the stuff but decided against it and opted for a shortened session. The other reason for a shortened fishing time is that I prefer to fish from low water up and a few hours down but a late arrival at the beach meant that I’d missed low water.
I used one of Fishyrob’s amazing DVice on a running ledger with head-hooked ragworm on single size 1 hook. I varied my casting distances to search out some fish but the only ones showing any interest were Pout and 5 Bearded rockling. Although I didn’t hold out much hope for a decent fish, I stayed for the hour or so after high water but nothing else was happening, so packed it in.
We’re still in the quiet period at the moment but hopefully, things should start to pick up near the end of the month with the arrival of the Spring/ Summer species.
Having fished the Eastney fund raiser on Saturday, I had quite a bit of bait left over which needed using. So Sunday evening, I decided to go out and drown it for a few hours instead of sitting in front of the telly.
I packed one rod, 2 reels, one flask and a Snickers into my bag, got the bait from the fridge and plonked it into the bucket with my leads and rig wallet. Loaded it into the car and set off towards Seaford at 8pm. At 8.02pm, I returned home and retrieved my wellies and flotation suit from our other car and headed off again.
Fished just East of Edinburgh Road. Well, I couldn’t do any worse than I did at Eastney could I. There was a slight SW breeze blowing and a bit of movement in the water, the sky was overcast with a bit of on and off drizzle so things looked promising apart from it being a bad time of the year.
After a couple of hours, the wind dropped, the sky cleared and the sea calmed. Great!! Anyway, I fished on using up the ragworm as if it was going out of fashion. Then just before High water the fish started. In the space of an hour or so I hauled out 5 pin whiting, 2 Pout and a 5 Bearded rockling.
Called it a night at 2.30am having reassured myself that there were still fish in the sea
Just a quick report this time. Last night, I fished Seaford at the Edinburgh Road mark from 8pm-3am. High water was 2.30am. No wind to speak of, sometime very, very slight breeze from NE. Clear sky, flat calm sea.
Baits used were lugworm, calamari & ragworm, either singly or as cocktails. Rigs used were one size 1 hook clipdown.
Total for the night was five 5 Bearded rockling, two whiting, one Pout and one tiny codling of around 6 inches. Not fantastic results but better than blanking and it certainly was a lovely night to be out in the fresh air.
Hopefully, we’ll soon be out of the ‘Doldrum’ months and into proper Spring fishing. I have vowed to wait until then before fishing again and to spend my time cleaning gear and building rigs – but you never know when the fishing bug will bite!
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.
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