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By Vic, 13 October, 2006 15:56

I decided on Brighton Marina East arm as the venue for last night.

Arrived at about 9pm. and made my way to bay 58, to find I was the only one fishing in this area – lovely peace and quiet!

Weather was fine, clear sky, no wind at all, smooth sea with just the hint of a swell. The only sound was the incoming tide against the rocks below.

One rod was set up with standard paternoster with size4 hooks and baited with lugworm in the search for sole. The other rod had single paternoster with size 2/0 hook pennel rig baited with whole calamari and lobbed a few yards from the base.

A couple of hours passed with just a handful of Pout to show for it. This could be bait wasting exercise I thought to myself.

At around midnight or so, the lug rod arched over savagely, I lifted into what seemed like a reasonable fish. Got it to net and a few seconds later, a lovely conditioned bass of around 2 1/2lbs.was lying on the deck. Normally this would have gone back, but it had taken the small hook down so deeply, it had caused serious injury. There was no way that it would have survived, and so was quickly dispatched.

At this point, the second rod lurched over and the ratchet screamed as line was pulled from the spool – another bass? No, a pollack of around 2lbs. had struck the pennel rig. This was brought to the net and landed. I couldn’t believe it when I saw that this too had taken the hooks right down and had to meet it’s maker. I hoped that this wasn’t going to be the theme for the night.

After re-baiting casting, I sat down for a coffee and fag. I sat and studied the glowing rod tips when I saw the worm rod nodding a couple of times. I left it for a few seconds before lifting into the fish. A palm sized sole was duly landed – not quite the size I was hoping for but a sole none the less. This was lip hooked and was returned unharmed. A short while later another small sole was landed nda returned.

A few casts later, I was retrieving the worm rig and had got to the base just before lifting it out of the water, when the rod was wrenched downward so quickly, I nearly lost my grip. Another pollack slightly larger than the first had followed the worm and struck almost at the surface. It was duly landed and returned.

That was about it for the rest of the session apart from the usual suspects. So with a bass in the bag for lunch and pollack for the cat (although I do like it fresh like this, so the cat might have to fight me for it), I headed for home with plans for a near future return.

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By Vic,

This is a bit of a ‘catch up’ type post. Due to lack of a PC recently, fishing exploit updates have been sadly neglected.

Since 23 September, I’ve only had a few sessions, mainly at Seaford. Not much to write home about when I think about it, mostly whiting and Pout.

…Was this post really needed? Possibly not.

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By Vic, 23 September, 2006 00:10

Decided to have a session at Seaford beach last night. It went something like this:

Got to the beach at about 7.30pm not long after low water to be greeted by a strong gusting SE wind blowing straight along the beach. Looked like a good surf running so was quite optimistic. I had the pick of the beach, as it appeared I was the only one insane enough to be there and not tucked up in front of the TV. This being the case, I opted for West view as my chosen spot.

At this point, realised I’d left the calamari behind in the freezer, so had to rely on a somewhat meagre supply of lugworm and ragworm. To conserve bait, I only fished one rod, so that reduced my chances a bit.

Throughout the incoming tide, I tried long range, medium range, short range and at one point sideways range due to a mis-cued cast!

The result of these explorations was a steady flow of whiting, mainly really small stuff.

At about 11pm, the wind mysteriously dropped. It seemed quite weird with no wind, but still really heavy wave action. Still, it made ciggy lighting extremely easy and I could drink coffee without having it being blown down the front of me (thank god for the new chest waders).

As quick as it gone, the wind then came back with vigour from south SSW straight onto the beach and into my face. Sheeesh, more coffee and ciggy disasters on the way.

A few more whiting came to the hook, still small with the odd one slightly larger at about 8-12oz. None worth keeping, even for the cats, one of which hates any fish and the other only being partial to cod or prawns.

After high water, the bites stopped, the wind increased, my coffee supply was running low and I needed some sleep, so I packed up and headed for home.

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By Vic, 13 September, 2006 12:37

Recent trips have been, how can I say, unproductive as far as bringing home “summat for tea”. As nice as it is, being in tranquil surroundings, observing nature and just being out in the fresh air, it would be a treat to take something home for the table.

In an effort to prove to my wife that I am indeed possessed with the “Hunter gatherer” instinct, I set off on Monday night armed with bait I had left over from the previous outing to Seaford. My chosen venue for this was Brighton marina, the East arm. The target was the delicious sole.

I wandered out as far as I could to the favoured ’50’s’ bays to get a decent spot. My normal favourites are around the high ’50’s’. However as these were occupied by a large group of people who were obviously camping there, I set up at bay 56.

One set was baited with lugworm and cast out about 20 yards or so. The other rod was set baited with squid and gently lobbed out a few yards out from the base of the caissons.

The weather night was still with not a breath of wind, warm and humid. The sea was flat calm with no wave movement. A distant thunder storm provided a fantastic light show with lightning bolts striking the sea. In fact as it got closer, I did consider leaving as I didn’t fancy waving thirteen foot carbon fishing rods around and acting as lightning conductors.

The baits were continually bombarded with bites from Pout which were savaging the squid and worm to pieces.

The next bite I saw was different, not the ‘rattling’ sort you get from a Pout. I left it a few seconds before the rod tip dipped right down and stayed there. I lifted into what felt a reasonable fish. Got it to the drop net and brought up a nice sole (along with some weed).

Then the inevitable happened. I had just lobbed a new fresh calamari and was busy sorting some bits and pieces when the ratchet screamed and I turned in time to see the rod arch over and then bounce back. I left it there for a while longer but there was no more action on it. Yet another example of “Sod’s law”.

By about 3am, I was just about ready to go home to a nice comfy bed. I began to retrieve the set baited with a whole squid and thought it felt unusually heavy. It was bound to be another clump of weed entwined in my line. As I dragged the weight up the side of the caisson, I felt a vague ‘flapping’ sensation from something on the end. Once the lot reached the top, I was pleasantly surprised to see a lobster firmly gripping onto what was left of the bait. An absolute bonus to end a pleasant evenings fishing and something to earn some brownie points with my wife.

Tuesday’s lunch was a real treat. The sole was simply grilled with butter, salt and pepper. The lobster was steamed and served with Mayonaisse dip.

I have now been ordered to make a return trip and do the same again.

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By Vic, 12 September, 2006 10:36

…is that when you least expect it, something dramatic happens?

I returned to Seaford Beach on Sunday night for a late session, hoping for a decent bass. Fished the tide up from 8.30pm opposite West View using lugworm and squid strips.

Small bream were in abundance and started to becoming annoying, rattling away at the baits as soon as they hit the water, leaving little chance for Billy bass to have his fill.

Anyway, onto the reason for the title. Over the years that I’ve been fishing, I’ve pondered on a phenomenon that has me puzzled. Why is that you can spend many seconds, minutes or even hours watching the rod tip for that sign that something is going to take the bait and nothing happens but as soon as you turn your back or are distracted in some way – Bang! You get a huge take, but you’ve missed it just because you had the sheer gall to have pour a coffee, have a pee, have a ciggy or perform some other badly needed function.

I have come to the conclusion that it’s probably nothing more than “Sod’s law” . Of course, the other theory is that fish have an acute sense of humour and like nothing more than taking the piss out of the humble angler.

Ah well – C’est la vie!