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By Vic, 9 September, 2007 21:00

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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By Vic, 2 September, 2007 12:48

Saturday night was to be a late do, with high tide predicted for about 3am. I was going to fish a certain area on Seaford beach near Edinburgh Road but changed my mind and moved further East to a spot near the Beachcomber pub.

There was a fair breeze blowing in from the West which produced a decent size surf to stir things up a bit.

I set up and started to fish at about 8pm. One rod had a two hook Paternoster with size 2 hooks baited with lovely fresh black lug and cast 50 yards out. The second rig consisted of a Pennel with size 3/0 hooks baited with whole calamari and lobbed out just beyond the surf.

First two fish of the evening to come in, were two palm size thornbacks which took the whole calamari. It’s not often that the bait is actually larger than the fish that takes it and gets hooked.

Next fish to visit was a small ‘Snotty’ eel which managed to reduce my precision made rig into a ball of knotted, mucous covered line. By the time the eel had been unhooked, there was no choice but to attach a fresh rig and cut up the tangled one.

Next in were two smallish whiting on successive casts. A bit bigger and they would have been keepers but as it is, they were returned to put on a bit of weight.

Apart from a couple of really small (and I mean small) Pout, that was it for the night until around half an hour after high water when I had two savage takes on the calamari rig which I managed to fluff up and miss. That got the adrenalin going and expecting more of the same, I stood by and kept a watchful eye on that rod. Time went on and nothing happened.

Disappointed, I packed up at around 4.30am and as I headed home, I was already planning a return.

It later transpired that one of the guys from World Sea Fishing forums fished at the spot I was originally going to use and he ended up with a couple of codling of just under two pounds each. Read his report here.

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By Vic, 22 August, 2007 11:50

On Friday 17th. August, the weather looked awful with quite high winds and didn’t appear ideal for fishing. Undeterred, I decided I was going to fish come hell or high water. The East arm of Brighton Marina was the favoured venue and I was aiming to go quite a way around on the arm but as there was quite a bit of water being thrown up over the marina wall (slaps) by the wind, I decided to fish further inshore on Bay 18 .

I set up at around 9pm with two rods; one on a single running ledger baited with lugworm and sent out at about fifty yards or so. The second rod was a 2/0 pennel rig baited with whole calamari and lobbed down the side in the hope of a large bass.

The wind was blowing quite a bit with a strong W/SW breeze and there were a few slaps coming over but on the whole not too bad. There was a lot of weed though, which eased towards high water.

The first fish to come were small ‘bootlace’ eels which created havoc with my rigs, coating them in slime and knotting them up as they usually do. A couple of bass soon followed but were unfortunately only small schoolies, not large enough for the table. All these came to the lug baited rod. The next few fish were to my surprise, small codling of around 12oz. again too small for the table but indeed a welcome sight and perhaps a sign of better fishing to come.

As it neared high water, the wind strengthened and the sea was getting lumpier, with ‘slaps’ becoming larger and more frequent. It was time to leave, so having packed up and donated my unused bait to a chap fishing along from me, I trundled back to the car quite content with the evening’s result.

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By Vic, 20 July, 2007 16:13

Yesterday, I looked at the weather forecast and it didn’t look good for the evening tide (early hours of today actually). Storms were predicted with heavy, thundery showers. I was determined that I would fish and this instinct overtook the logic part of my brain, which suggested an evening in front of the telly.

Armed with a bucket of prawns, some lugworm and mackerel, I headed off to Brighton Marina (creature of habit, me). I arrived at around 6.30pm with the tide dropping away and about half way through the ebb. I settled myself in bay18 and looked at the horizon, from where the storms were supposed to be coming. Didn’t look too bad, heavy, grey and low cloud looked dramatic in the evening sun.

I cast out one rod using one hook ledger baited with lugworm and then set about float fishing with the prawn. I had a few takes on the prawn which I suspected were small wrasse but failed to land any. I did have one small bass but nothing spectacular. My meagre eyesight and falling light stopped play.

I had one small bream on the lugworm but nothing else.

Couple of blokes fishing up from me in the 20’s had a smooth Hound (Smut or Smoothie) using frozen Hermit crab. Looked to be in the 4lb range.

They kindly gave me the last of their Hermit crab before they left, for which I am grateful (for the crab – not for leaving). By now it was raining heavily and I was beginning to get a bit damp – even through a so called ‘water proof’ jacket.

The donated crab bagged the first smooth Hound within seconds of being cast about 20 yards out. It was only a pup weighing around a couple of pounds or so but it was a Smut. This was later followed up by another four of roughly around the same weight, although the largest was probably nearer four pounds.

I was amazed at the light show provided by the lightning, which seemed to be going no-stop. At times, it just seemed to be all around, which was a bit unnerving considering the carbon rods I was using.

Once the crab had gone so did the bites and my enthusiasm, as more rain began to fall and top up my already soaked clothes. I trudged back to the car, emptied my shoes and headed for home.

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By Vic, 16 July, 2007 12:15

After many reports of smooth Hounds being caught along the South coast, it was a toss up as top whether I went to Goring beaches or fished at Brighton Marina. High water was due to be at around 1130 pm. and the weather looked promising.

I popped in to ‘The tackle box’ at Brighton Marina to pick up some fresh bait and some odds ‘n ends. Dave, who owns the place reported that plenty of ‘Smoothies’ were being caught on the East arm. Hmmm. I was still undecided.

In the end, convenience won. That evening, armed with plenty of peeler crab, I headed off to the East arm. Looked like quite a few people also had ideas about fishing that evening. Found my self a spot at bay 17 and started to set up.

First rod set up with simple running ledger ending in a single 1/0 baited with peeler crab and cast about 80 yards or so out. Clutch was slackened off and rod placed in tripod.

Second rod also set up with simple ledger ending in single 2/0 baited with mackerel chunk and lobbed just a few yards out from the base.

Hours passed with not a sniff from a Smoothie, in fact no sniff from anything on the crab bait. From what I could see, no one else was having any either – it looked like the Smoothies had gone.

My baited drop net produced some small Prawns which were lobbed out on the second rod as livebait. Nothing there either except one savage take which produced a large Common eel which was immediately returned.

By around 1am, I decided that enough was enough and that it was unlikely that anything else was going to be caught. So, disappointingly, I packed up my gear and headed home.