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By Vic, 3 September, 2011 14:34

It was back to Seaford beach on the bass hunt again last night, although this time I moved a little further East and fished a spot between the Martello tower and ‘The boats’. At 7.30pm – an hour and half before low water, I met up with fishing pal, Phil – well I think it was him, I couldn’t really see much of him through the thick fog that had blanketed the area. After confirming his identity and having a quick chat, we decided that we’d stick it out until the 3.20am high water, which would maximise our time with bait in the water and to fish the spread of a whole tide.

The sea was flat calm with barely a ripple apart from the small wavelets at the waters edge, which was hardly surprising, seeing as there was bugger all breeze to ruffle it. Did I mention the fog? It was foggy. In fact it was more like a drizzle and it wasn’t too long before our clothing was getting a bit damp through. What was surprising, was how warm it was, so warm that it was down to just a ‘T’ shirt under my floatie trousers.

On to the fishing! The plan was to fish live baits throughout the tide if possible, with the backup of big squid baits if no suitable pout of whiting were forthcoming. So the first thing was to set up the scratching rod with the usual size 4, two hook flapper baited with small sections of lugworm and flung it out while I set up the bass rod – long link running ledger with a bead above the running swivel. Doing it this way meant I could either clip on a trace with the pennel for using a squid, or leave it off and then use a slider for a live bait – two rigs in one.

The first couple of pout that came in really were a little too small and although, I could have used them, I would have preferred something a bit larger, so out went the worms again and the squid stayed on the bass rod. As Darkness proper set in, the bites stepped up and soon we were getting the whiting, although not as many as we would have got further West along the beach. I could have used these as livies but I really wanted pout.

Next fish was a snotty eel which swallowed the hook, luckily though, I managed to cut it free before it caused too much damage to the rig, so I got away with only having to tie on a new hook. A few more whiting came in to me, while Phil was getting whiting and pouts.

The fog seemed to get thicker even though a very light Southerly started to come up and was enough for me to have to add another layer over the ‘T’ shirt just top try and keep the damp out.

At 11.30, Phil and I were having a chat, when I saw my rod tip rattle a few times, then fall still before a lovely little pull down a short time later. I lifted into what was obviously a fish and soon, I had a double shot on the pebbles – a whiting on the top hook and a gorgeous sole on the bottom one – so that was lunch sorted, Anna would be pleased – she do like her soles. This was actually my first sole of the year and I was beginning to wonder whether I would manage to bag one or not. I have to admit, that I really haven’t targeted them as much as I have before but you can normally bank on one turning up by ‘accident’ while fishing with worm. In the photo, it looks a bit like it’s raining or that there is crap all over the lens but that was ‘the fog’ (reminds me, damn that was a good film).

It wasn’t that long before Phil was in with a possible sole, until that it is, it turned out to be a white plastic bag – an easy mistake. Mind you, it was a particularly striking looking bag (Sorry Phil, couldn’t resist it mate).

Next up for me was a bass but alas, it were only a tiddler of a schoolie which had picked up the worm. Phil meanwhile, had brought in a small ray. He also caught a small pout that looked like it had gone through the wars, fins all ragged and deep lacerations down both flanks, so something had taken a fancy to it but I guess we’ll never know what it was.

The hours went on and nothing else of any note came to the shingle apart from more whiting (one of which was a keeper for me) and we got more and more damp from the fog. Phil called it a day shortly before 3am and as is usual, I just had to stay, even if it was just see over the high water period.

Just after Phil left, I had another double shot but this time it was a whiting and a small bream. Woohoo – I then had two double shots of suitably sized pout which were added to the bucket for use as live baits. So that I was prepared, I dismantled the scratching rod that had now done its job and packed it all away. I then put a pout on the slider rig, sent it out, sat back, poured a coffee and watched through the gloom for signs of predatory activity. After about 20 minutes, the rod tip started rattling away like crazy, so I stood by the rod, with hands resting on it gently and patiently waiting….bang! Just one hit… but no follow up, no dramatic pull down….nothing. I left the bait out there for another ten minutes before deciding to bring it in – it was dead and looking the worse for wear.

Next pout was slid out into the gloom and I sat and drank the last of my coffee. Half an hour went by and … bang!.. again one hit and nothing else. Another dead pout brought in and the substitute sent out in its place. That was to be the last bit of action as nothing else happened until I eventually admitted defeat and headed off home at about 5am.

So, no decent bass but an enjoyable session anyway, along with six species and the added bonus of a tasty lunch.

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By Vic, 1 September, 2011 21:54

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.

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By Vic, 29 August, 2011 12:19

Saturday should have been a great session at Seaford beach, with some great South westerlies stirring things up to get the fish on the feed. I arranged to meet a fishing buddy, Phil down that at the beach and fish from the 5pm low tide, up and over the 11pm high. I was going to fish two rods, both with big baits, searching for a decent bass or two.

I got down on to the beach and saw big rollers and a crashing surf, with little signs of the dreaded stuff I said I wouldn’t mention again – game on!

As a tester, I set up one rod with long link running ledger, 6/0 pennel baited with whole squid and launched it into the breakers. It managed to hold bottom ok but looked like it would be too difficult to manage two rods, so one rod it was going to be.

Phil turned up at about 7.30 and set just to east of me and soon had his bait in the water.

Darkness came and with it, the wind started to drop and the sea lost a lot of its energy but was still great looking conditions. Things were very quiet and there were no takes during the early part of the flood but I was confident of success later on towards high water.

About an hour or so before high water, the first of the ‘sea salad’ turned up – big clumps of the slimy stringy stuff. I thought it had been bad recently but things were about to get worse! As we neared the high water time, the damn stuff got heavier and seemed to choke up the sea from close in to medium range – it was everywhere! The main problem with it was that unlike before where I could unravel the stuff and pull it away from the line, this appeared to be dead and rotting, so just broke up as I pulled, meaning it had to picked off bit by bit, taking a lot more time to remove.

Phil timed one of my casts and found that after only 3 minutes and forty five seconds of being in the water, the line was clogged and had to be brought in for the crap to be removed. This obviously meant that baits weren’t being in the water long for anything to find it. I swear I was going demented, it was was driving me mental.

What made it worse, was I had a text from ‘Fishyrob’ to say that at Brighton where he was fishing (and where me and Phil had thought about going before opting for Seaford), it was relatively clear and that they were doing well with the bass. After that news, I reckon my language would have made even Kevin Wilson cringe.

Another Pal, Richard stopped by and said that he’d been fishing up by the Martello and had found the conditions to be just as bad and had given up. At least he’d had one fish but unfortunately, it had only been an eel.

Anyway, we persevered but it was all in vain with it being just about unfishable. Phil packed up at about half past midnight, whereas I thought about a few more casts. As we were chatting, I saw a good pull and bounce type of bite and unbelievably, I had a fish on! Alas, this was only for a few seconds and then it was gone before I could get it through the waves. Balls! – probably my one and only take of the night and it resulted in no fish.

Phil headed off home and I decided on ‘one last cast’, as I usually do but only lasted until about 1.30 before giving it all up as a bad deal and nightmare.

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By Vic, 26 August, 2011 20:25

The West arm at Shoreham has always been a popular spot for fishing, with it’s ease of access and variety of fish encountered. With this popularity comes the bad side of people who fish there. I’m not going to say anglers because serious anglers don’t do the things that were being done. Squalor, that’s all it can be described as – rubbish and rotting bait being left behind along with discarded line and tackle. People defecating on the lower deck, urinating anywhere. At times, the place smelled worse than a really smelly thing.

I reckon that if you took a load of people with ‘digestive problems’ and put them on a fishing boat with one toilet, fed them on cat food for a few days, then left the resulting carnage in the sun for a week, it would still smell sweeter than the West arm. I think you get the picture!

I digress. A few years back, some local anglers took it upon themselves to try and do something about the disgraceful state of the arm and improve it for everyone. The SAS (Shoreham Angling Squad) was born. The guys voluntarily cleared the rubbish, put bins up and kept the place in good order. Of course the usual Neanderthals carried on as before, not giving a damn about anyone or anything else apart from themselves, leaving their revolting crap behind and generally behaving like dick-heads. The lads of the SAS, undeterred, carried on cleaning and tidying. As well as trying to keep the West arm a pleasant place, they found time to organise charity fishing matches and managed to raise thousands of pounds in the process.

Anyway, it had to happen. Despite the best efforts of the lads, the Neanderthals won and because of the mess they left and their behaviour, Shoreham Port Authority decided that the West arm would be closed to anglers and it would be fenced off. A long standing, popular and productive fishing mark was going to be lost… until…

Some guys from Prime Angling in Worthing, Ally Harvey and George Cunningham (CEO of TronixPro) stepped in and put an offer to the port authority. They would find the funding to manage the arm and have someone on there to regularly clean up and keep good order; and thus West Breakwater Fishing (WBF) came into being. While these two guys are the main driving force behind the venture, they are obviously kept occupied with their business and so the day to day issues concerning WBF will be handled by Mark Sumner of SAS. This is a four month trial and the port authority still have the right to close the arm (and will do) if this venture fails.

To finance this, it was decided to start charging a small fee for fishing on the arm, in a similar fashion to what they do at Brighton Marina. This will go towards paying staff to man the arm, initially from 6am to 10pm. £3 for the first rod and £1 per additional rod. A steel hut has been erected at the beginning of the arm and will act as the HQ for WBF Tel: 07926 811882. From here, tickets can be purchased, along with bait, small items of tackle and now, even hot and cold drinks.

So far, the response has been positive, although there have been some moaners who want something for nothing. To them, I would say It’s either pay and support this idea or lose it as a venue for good. As already said, this is a four month trial. If it appears that the venture cannot be afforded due to lack of funds, then it will close and be fenced off – end of story. If it succeeds, then it stays open and will be a clean, pleasant place to fish, with the added benefit of having tackle and bait available on site. So if you think that by boycotting the arm and refusing to pay, you will somehow get them to change their minds and it will go back to being free to fish – think again, it will be gone, plain and simple. Is three quid a time too much to ask – really?

I really hope that this venture succeeds and goes from strength. Thank you all who are in involved – George, Ally, Mark and others and thank you to the port authority for listening and having the balls to trust these guys to make a good job of it. You can get the latest updates and news here on the WBF Facebook page

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By Vic,

On Wednesday, I wanted to get out for an evening/night session, so loaded up the car and headed for my usual spot at Seaford beach, getting there at about 7pm. High tide was at about 8pm and the plan was to fish over high and then fish the ebb down to the 2.30am low water and an hour or so back up.

What little wind there was, came from the back of the beach which made the sea a little flat, although there were some small waves which gave a bit of movement. I was going to stick to the big bait principle in an ‘all or nothing’ approach to bagging a decent bass but thought I might stick a scratching rig out in the hope of maybe getting a sole after dark.

Bass rod was set up with a long link running ledger, 6/0-4/0 pennel, loaded with whole squid and cast out. The scratcher was rigged with a size 4, two hook flapper baited with lugworm.

Soon after I got there, a mate, Phil turned up and set up to the east of me. First off, he had a shot with some feathers in an attempt to bag some mackerel for bait but after half an hour of thrashing around, he gave up and began to set up his serious fishing outfit.

Darkness fell and bites started almost immediately, unfortunately, there was nothing decent on the end of the line and the long procession of whiting started. It mattered not a jot where the bait was put, as soon as it was settled, the bait was pounced on by these greedy, toothy little critters. Even the close in, squid bait wasn’t safe! To most small fish, a bait of this size would be a daunting task but not for the whiting, which unable to swallow a bait of this size, tore it to shreds more efficiently than a chain saw.

We were soon joined by Arkam, a guy who came down from London to fish with us after reading on Facebook about recent exploits at Seaford. He set up to the West of me and soon had his baits in the water, before coming over for a chat. He told me that he usually fishes at Dungeness but had wanted to try somewhere different to get away from the whiting – bad move my friend, bad move.

All three of us were catching at all ranges but it was just whiting, with nothing else getting a look in. Phil called it a night not long after midnight, while Arkam and I stayed on for a while longer but by about 3am, I’d had enough of the bloody whiting and decided on home time as well.