Fished Seaford last night from 7pm through til 12.30am. Parked at Edinburgh Road and then found a spot just West of there. A very still, bright and clear night with no surf didn’t bode well for a fishy night but I was willing to give it a shot.
Bites were frantic from the start using one hook, DViced ledger baited with lugworm/squid strips. Loads of whiting landed, some a decent size, some not. I guess there must have been a carpet of them, there were that many. This made it difficult to target any codling that might have been around, as the whiting were taking the bait virtually as it hit the sea bed.
A second rod had the usual ledger with Pennel mounted whole calamari lobbed out about 20yards. This resulted in the one and only bass of the night. It was a very thin and scrawny 46cm specimen which looked like it was in need of a decent meal.
By 11.30pm, the bites stopped and all went quiet but I stuck it out for another optimistic hour before calling it a night.
Once again I opted for my old favourite and fished just up from the Beachcomber pub last night. Arrived and set up just after 9pm about and hour before low water. I was confronted by flat calm sea, the slightest NE breeze and overcast sky which made it quite warm.
Usual tactics – one rod with 2 hooker flapper rig using size 2 hooks baited with lugworm varying the distances. Second rod with 3/0 pennel and whole squid.
Wasn’t long before my old friend Tiny thornback appeared again…and again….and again, taking the lugworm. This was followed by some small Pout.
I had a couple of knocks on the calamari but put this down the usual suspects, small Pout or whiting.
Fishing was pretty slow until not long after 1.15 when I had two bass of around a pound and a bit hit the squid on successive casts. Next take was a beauty which had the rod slammed down hard. A nice bass of 44cm was beached. All three fish were taken, at most 20 yards out.
After these three, it was back to Pout. By 5.30, I’d had enough and decided to head for home. I don’t know if sticking it out longer would have resulted in any codling or not but quite frankly the thought of a warm bed was more appealing.
Fished Seaford beach last night but seeing that two of my favoured marks looked like they were taken, I settled for a spot near to Edinburgh Road.
From the 8pm start, I wasn’t too hopeful. There was quite a stiff Northerly breeze blowing but the sea was flat calm with no surf. The moon was so bright, that at times it almost like day.
Fished whole calamari on a pennel rig quite close in, hoping for bass. Other rod was baited with lugworm/squid strips and fished at varying distances looking for codling.
There were persistent bites that produced loads of whiting up to about 12oz. Didn’t seem to matter where I put the bait, it was immediately snaffled. Nothing touched the whole calamari apart from crabs and small stuff nibbling away.
I carried on until 2am before calling it a night. Total for the night was about two dozen whiting, none of which were keepers.
Hopefully the wind will come round to SW soon to stir things up a bit.
Had a decent session last night at Seaford beach, fishing from 8pm from low to over high water.
Set up just East of the Beachcomber and saw that there a reasonable surf running, although there was no wind to speak of. On one rod, I used a running ledger, single size 1 hook baited with black lugworm and cast out about 50-60 yards. Second rod also had a running ledger but using a 3/0 Pennel rig baited with whole squid and lobbed out about 20-30 yards.
First fish was a mackerel that took the squid. This was promptly filleted and used on the same rig. During the time that the various sections were used, it wasn’t touched once, apart from being picked at by small stuff. The lugworm was continually pestered by small thornbacks and Pout but not one decent fish all night. Can’t say I remember ever having had so many small thornbacks before and am wondering, is there that many more around this year or is it normal and I just haven’t been catching them in the past.
By about 2am, the wind had shifted around to a more SW direction and had strengthened enough to produce a good surf which was running well up the beach.
The fishy action didn’t start proper until after high water when I had an almighty take that almost had the rod out of its rest. The result was this codling of 18 inches. 
It was quite scrawny and the belly didn’t seem particularly full. In the next hour, I had another five, although these were only about 12 inches or so. All fish took the squid and were hooked no more than 30 yards out just beyond the breakers. As sudden as it had started, the action stopped, by which time I was ready to call it a night.
On a side note, I had added a ‘secret’ ingredient to the squid which I’ll reveal when I’ve tested it a bit more to make it wasn’t a pure fluke.
Have to say. it was one of the best sessions I’ve had at Seaford for a while. I don’t know how much longer the codling are going to be around for but I hope they stay long enough for me to get at least one more crack at them.
After the last session at Seaford , I decided to have another there to see if I could get better results. High water was due to be at around 10 pm so I got there at 7pm while it was still light, so I could get some fresh mackerel to add more bait. I set up near the Beachcomber pub and although there were still loads of people enjoying the beach, I managed a half dozen mackerel on feathers.
There was a faint breeze blowing in from the North but the sea was flat calm with hardly any movement.
I set up the main gear and started to fish at about 7.30. One rod had a two hook Paternoster with size 1 hooks baited. The upper hook was baited with King ragworm and the lower hook with lugworm. The second rig consisted of a Pennel with size 3/0 hooks baited with mackerel fillet and lobbed out a few yards.
Palm size thornbacks were the first fish to come in and fell to the ragworm. I did hope that there were going to be some larger fish during the evening once it got quieter and settled back and enjoyed the last of the sunshine.
My optimism about a quiet evening were quelled when large numbers of youngsters turned up further down for a beach party. As time passed, the party got louder with much squealing and loud music. I had to smile to myself as I remembered my youth and the beach parties I went to as a teenager. Not wanting to drag all my stuff further away, I opted to stay where I was and hope that the party ended early.
Next fish were small bream and numerous tiny Pout which savaged the worm baits as soon as the landed. I alternated between mackerel and calamari on the other rod but apart from them being destroyed by small fish, there were no takes of any consequence.
As high water came and went, the action stopped and there no further fish. I stuck it out until 2.30am before calling it a night and packing up.
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