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By Vic, On 11 October, 2006 16:58

Haven’t posted much recently, due, in part to the absence of a computer.

The old girl finally gave up the ghost and shut down forever. There had been intermittent problems and signs of impending doom such as a hard drive failure which resulted in some lost data. I know I should have had backups and I was going to do them ‘tomorrow’ but I never actually did it.

I managed to recover about 80% of the data using the hard drive in a freezer trick. I didn’t for one second believe it would work, but luckily I was proved wrong.

Finally the main board died and that was it. It worked out cheaper in the end to get a new system rather than to get new main board and have to upgrade all the components along with it.

I settled for a ‘barebones’ system from Novatech which comprised of:

MSI Intel 975X PCI Express Mainboard
Intel E6600 Core2Duo processor
1024Mb DDR2 667Mhz PC5400 RAM
Thermaltake Tsunami Dream ATX case

I got it up and running with a Maxtor 200Gb SATA drive plus all other components salvaged from the old system such as the LG DVD writer, LG DVD player, GeForce 7600GS 256MB DDR2 graphics card.

What followed was the usual slog of re-installing the OS (Windows XP Pro), all the software and re-configuring to get everything ‘just right’. Well it’s all done now, so things can get back to whatever normal is supposed to be.

Next on the agenda is to set up Linux (Suse 9.2 Pro), so I can have my dual boot machine again.

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By Vic, On 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, On 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, On 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!

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By Vic, On 11 September, 2006 12:13

Friday was going to be another foray to Seaford beach for an evening session at bass. For some reason I changed my mind and instead decided to head for Brighton Marina.

I went out on to the East arm and set up at bay 38. Two rods – one fished just down the side with small whole calamari or side of one large for lurking bass. The other rod fished with either King Rag or black lug.

It was expected to be one of the highest tides of the year at over 6 meters and they weren’t wrong. There was a strong current, which together with the huge amount of weed in the water, made it difficult to fish. Every few seconds saw the rods arching over under the strain of the weed collecting on the line.

Only catch of the night fish wise, was the smallest Pout I’ve ever seen. How it managed to get on the hook I’ll never know.

I tried all sorts to try and avoid the weed but to no avail. In the end, I just called it a night and packed away.