- Vic Fisher's sea angling journal - https://www.vicfisher.co.uk -

Breezy Seaford Bass

With the local waters being murky with May rot, I was going to give it a week before trying any serious fishing again but as usual, the draw of the sea was too strong and I just had to hit the beach. So last night, after work, I rushed home, filled the flask with a good strong coffee or “mud” as the FPO describes it, threw my gear in the car and headed off to Seaford beach.

Once there, I saw that condition wise, it was breezy with a South Westerly blowing straight into the face. Sea was nice and lumpy with some colour but with some weed thrown in. There was some cloud cover but this was somewhat patchy.

Photo of bassThe spot I had picked was just East of the Martello tower and with lightning speed, I was setup and in the water around high water time. The rig was just the one rod with a long link running ledger, ending in a 4/0 pennel baited with whole (well minus head and tail) launce. It was then time to sit back and wait – I wasn’t expecting too much activity while it was still light but was hopeful for when darkness fell. I was a bit surprised when I heard the reel singing and saw the rod arch over (yet again it happened when my attention was pouring a cup of the aforementioned ‘Mud’). I picked the rod up and felt a fish on and quickly navigated it through the breakers and onto the beach. My first bass of 2011… woohoo. Not large but a reasonable one of about 2½lbs. (First picture)

Photo of bassI re-baited and sent the rig back out at the same distance and thirty minutes later another little run and another bass on the beach – smaller at about 1½lbs. (Second picture). Re-bait, re-chuck and not long afterwards, another schoolie on the shingle. Another similar sized schoolie came in about twenty minutes later. Subsequent casts produced nothing and the fish seemed to have gone off the feed completely as the tide fell rapidly. It was at about this time that weed started to become a problem, clogging up the gear within minutes of being out. Also, local beach foxes became a nuisance – two them stalking and checking my bait bucket out at every opportunity. I don’t know if they understood my accent or not but I couldn’t seem to get through to them, until I used an old trick and spoke louder, which seemed to do the trick – for a while. They stayed hanging around and showed no sign of disappearing completely.

With no more bites coming and my patience with the weed and foxes wearing a bit thin, I packed up and trudged back over the shingle to the car. No big fish tonight but at least there was some fish to be had. Looking foward to some more beachy stuff in the near future.