Float and sabiki fishing Samphire Hoe

Never Too Young

Samphire Hoe, Dover, Kent CT17 9FL, UK

Start em young I say,  is he even paying attention?

It's been a hectic few months lately with the arrival of a new member to the family, and I can't wait till he's old enough to handle a rod, but for now, the sun was almost out, and we needed some fresh air, even if only for a few hours. After some thought to ease of access with a pram, toilets, small coffee shop, Samphire Hoe stuck out as a good venue considering the circumstances. I'd fished Samphire Hoe a few times in the past, and knew a great tactic to catch various species straight down the sea wall edge, but a trip late last year which left me clinging onto my rod for dear life as without doubt the largest fish I've ever hooked sea fishing took a live bait, then stripped near to 50yards of line off the spool, before snapping the 60lb leader, the memory of "the one that got away" or more precisely "the one that nearly pulled me in!" had giving me optimism to fish Samphire Hoe with 2 rods, a light spinning rod with baited sabikis for small stuff and to catch the live bait, and a second rod float fishing a live Pouting.

Garfish, loving the fight these put up

Tompot Blenny, these got some bite for wee fellows

I set up the spinning rod using a 3 oz lead ball, sabiki rig with size 14 hooks, baited with tips of squid tentacles, I gently lowered the rig straight down the side of the sea wall, until the lead rested on one of the large boulder that are stacked up against the bottom of the wall, I set the drag very light, and left the little one in charge of watching for bites. The rod was motionless whilst I set up the second rod, with a large sliding float, without a bite for 10mins now and several recasts, I decided to fish a smallish slither of squid on a size 7 carp hook on the float rod whilst I waited for a small pouting to bite the sabiki rig. well this wasn't going to be easy, It had been a hour and not a touch, I tried further out, closer in, left and even right trying to locate some fish but nothing, a little bemused, I convinced myself that in 10mins the tide was at its lowest and the fish would come out to play then. Then I hear the drag go on the float rod, a short sharp pull that then stopped, I looked at the tip and it bent over and rattled quite violently, I excitedly picked the rod up and struck into a fish, it was quite a good little scrap, and the culprit then surface in a explosion of water splash, "Mackerel" I said, but no, as it came over the wall and I got a proper look I could see it was my first UK caught Garfish weighting 1lb, was a fish that made the trip worth while. a long slender body with a sharp bill bristling with needle sharp teeth, it was a welcome catch for sure.

Corkwing Wrass gets my vote

The little one still hadn't had a bite, I decided to change bait and instead of squid I baited the sabikis with tiny sections of Lugworm. Instantly the rod rattled away like I been expecting, then the fish started coming one after the other, Corkwings, Pouting and Tompot blennys cast after cast, was it the bait change? or my original though of them coming out to play over low water, it didn't matter, they were out in force. I used a small 3oz Pouting as live bait, 60lb florocarbon hook link and a 4/0 circle lightly nipped through the top lip, and gently lowered down the side of the wall so as not to stun or hurt the live bait, and left drifting down tide bouncing along the sea wall. setting the drag a light as possible just in case of a violent take. All attention turned to the sabiki rod, more of the same cast after cast, bouncing the lead around gently under the rod tip till it found a deep hole between the boulders and in some instances the rig was dropping another 2 meters deeper, making me wonder how big the boulders actually are!, but this would ensure a bite within seconds.

Pouting, great live baits!

It had been a frantic 30mins, then disaster struck, I got snagged and lost my sabikis, and without a spare set, things were about to change, I was happy I'd caught some fish, and had a lively live bait still patrolling the sea wall. So I decided to try some Feathers and see if I could catch a Mackerel. allthough I tried for 30mins, I didn't feel a knock or anything. It had been short session, and it was time to get going and get the little one safe as the wind had picked up and thicker clouds put a slight chill in the air. Although I'm sure the little one will not remember his first ever fishing trip, it was more about the sensory experience, fresh salty air, the sound of the sea, the seagulls squawking, and the peace and quiet Sampire Hoe offers in stark contrast to the town in which we live, that I sure he enjoyed.  I myself have always enjoyed fishing light gear for small fish at Samphire, it's such great fun! and even still to this day throws up new unexpected species for me. I also know there are monsters of the deep lurking between those big boulders too, and although one teased me last year, and today they avoided me, but I'm really, really looking forward, to gearing up heavy and doing a over nighter to see what comes out to play after dark!

Plaice Fishing. Hastings

Right Plaice, Wrong Place

Hastings, East Sussex, UK

Spring has sprung, Hastings

In all my fishing it had dawned on my that there was a species that had eluded me, I'm not sure how but the Plaice has managed to avoid me for a long time, to be fair I hadn't really targeted them specifically, more so I had just targeted flat fish in general. Now that the Plaice was firmly on my radar this was now the time to start trying for them, with an exceptionally warm winter I was guessing that they would appear early and with some settled weather the Northerly winds clearing the water, conditions looked good. Now all I needed was a venue, a few stuck out but with only a few Plaice being reported so far this session and that was only hear say, I decided to pick my venue on a hunch, venturing further west along the coast I felt would give me the best chance of a early Plaice and Hasting struck out to me as a low water venue fishing a sand bank good for flat fish, would the Plaice be there? I didn't know but there was only one way to find out!

Homemade rigs are the best

I arrived as early as the bait shop opening times would allow me, with 60 fresh Black Lugworm and a box of Squid I arrived at my mark at 8.30 am a few hours after high tide, my intention was to fish all the way down and up a little for a 6 hour session. upon arrival I had the pick of the beach surprisingly I couldn't see another angler at all. I set up next to a concrete groin where I had had some good sessions before. I fished 1 rod at range with a single 1/0 Aberdeen hook on a up and over rig with beads and sequins to attract the inquisitive sight predatory Plaice, baited with a whole Lugworm and a slither of squid to tip it off, I used a plain lead and cast out as far as I could uptide and let it roll across in front of me seeking out any dips or gullys where food would congregate and hopefully find the waiting fish. the second rod was a simple size 2 hook flapper with size 1 Aberdeen hooks with a gripper lead baited with half a Lugworm, which I cast about 40 -60 yards straight out off the end of the concrete groin, from previous visits on bigger tides, I had seen that there was a gully where the tide flowed stronger around the end of the concrete groin, which I believed any fish swimming from one section of the beach to the other would swim along it.

The Rock Slugs are back!!!

Well, it was fish from the off, both rods were only out a few minutes before the tips were rattling away, small Dabs and small Whiting were out in force keeping me so busy I barely had a chance to have both rods out in the water. Then on the close in rod a bite that was notable bigger than the rest, I struck and lifted into a weight that put a big bend on the light Bass rod, excitedly I slowly reeled in and landed a larger Whiting at 33cm and large Dab at 26cm, 2 keepers right there! Now firmly finding my place to cast to, I recast the close in rod to it, again within seconds rattle rattle the rod tip went, and again a bigger bite than the previous, it bent over again, and I struck, yes something a little bigger maybe a sizable Whiting, but as the fish approached the beach it skimmed across the surface, it was a flat fish and a decent one at that, I expected a Flounder, why I'm not sure I was targeting Plaice!, and a Plaice it was at 34cm, I couldn't believe it,my first Plaice! mission accomplished and the session was only early, so I set myself another mission, as family were over visiting, I thought it would be nice to catch enough fish to put on a Sunday spread.

The Flounder

With in the next 3 hours I had another 2 target Plaice at 33cm and 37cm, a Flounder at 35cm, several Rockling, lots of Whiting and another larger keeper, and lots of very small Dabs, but also another bigger one which I kept. It had been nonstop all day and as the tide turned the fishing very much slowed, there were still plenty of fish biting,but now I was having to wait 5 mins for a bite and frustratingly missed a lot. Whilst most my action and all the keepers I'd caught had been on the close in rod with a plain flapper, the distance rod with a purpose made blinged up drifting Plaice rig had only been picking off Whiting at range of approx 120meters, But It did account for 1 Plaice dead on low water, and the biggest of the 4 that day at 37cm a new PB weighing in at 1lb 1oz.

The days bounty soon to be sunday dinner

Biggest Plaice of the day

I fished the flooding tide for a few hours as planned, and amongst the tiny Whiting and postage stamp sized Dabs with the odd bigger one, i did pluck out my 4th and final Plaice at 28cm, I fished till I run out of bait. I have to say there are some sessions that you hate, some session you love, and some sessions like this one, where you just really enjoy yourself, which is what I did, it seemed the winter cold and dark with gales and heavy rods and line was over, the sun was out, the wind was calm, I was fishing the continental and bass rod both very light rods and back to using braid instead of mono, ok it helps with casting but even more so it makes the bites from little fish exciting. I can honestly say this was a pleasure trip to remember and its not very often I take fish home for the table, but I had 3 Plaice, 2 Dabs and 2 Whiting to take home, just enough to feed the family on Sunday. And not forgetting I had finally found my illusive Plaice, and considering the rigs I used and the range I was casting to, I really cannot believe I've never caught one before as this is exactly the way I've fished for Soles and Dab for many years now, but hey, maybe it was all about location, or maybe as I suspect the Plaice normally turn up a little later in the year when the dreaded May water is about, which is a time where my rods stay firmly in the shed.

Thornback Ray Fishing, Deal Pier

Deal? Or No Deal?

Deal Pier, Deal, Kent, UK

Deal Pier, rods at dusk

A long old shift of 22 hours at work gave me an opportunity to have a evening fish, the weather was perfect, the gales had stopped, and the wind calmed to nothing but a breeze, the sun was out and the sea flat with a brown tinge to it. I had a freezer full of Blueys waiting the first venture of the year out searching for Thornback Rays. I gave my friend Warren a ring, who I consider to be a local Ray guru, by chance we both had time off, and we decided to give Deal Pier a bash from 3pm till 6pm. I made up a few pulley rigs, 60lb straight through to a single Sukuma size 4/0 hook, bait clip and stop knot and sequin to stop the bait travelling up the line away from the hook. I was all set and took a slow leisurely drive to one of the furthest venues I frequent.

Homemade Pulley Rigs single 4/0 

I met Warren in the car park at Deal sea front, we learned that a few Rays had been out along the arm which filled me with confidence, but we made our way to the bottom deck to fish the deeper water as the tide receded. within minutes, our first rods were cast out at range, the tide wasn't that strong during our trip, but being advised that it can be very snaggy, I opted to use a fixed wire 7oz lead real good for holding bottom, and if it got snagged the wire would just bend straight out releasing the lead. I held bottom without any trouble, I probably could have gone lighter, but I was comfortable and felt confident fishing so used it the whole session. We had loads of space, with only a couple of other anglers on the bottom deck and it didn't take long to get some action, my first and second baits were stripped by whiting, whilst Warren landed 2 Dogfish on his first casts.

1st Thornback Ray of 2016, Deal Pier

I never put a second rod out, and it was just nice having time to watch the rod tip and waiting for them bites. on my third cast my rod took a big pull down and then slack lined, the line was flapping in the breeze, and without moving the rod I reeled in till the line tightened, it had traveled a little way down tide, and with another pull down, I picked the rod up and struck. I was on, there was no doubt in my mind this was a Ray, and it put up a fair good fight, I wasn't sure if it was because of the deeper water than I'm used to fishing from the shore, but slowly and steady I bought the fish to the surface, I have to say it looked quite small looking down, but Warren had the drop net ready and landed the fish for me. Close up it was a bit bigger than I first thought, a female Thornback Ray weighing in at 8lb 2oz, well, for my first session for them this year, target caught, and a decent one at that, I was well happy.

The Rays Hayes

It didn't take Warren long to stamp his mark, taking the next Thornback Ray again on Bluey, this time a male at 5lb. We were both very happy now, with the target fish achieved, the only question remained, was "Are we to go elsewhere?" and continue fishing when the pier closes, We didn't, I really didn't have the energy, I had bitten more off than I could chew with a 22 hour work shift and only a few hours sleep, my body clock was smashed to bits. We fished right till the end with the pier attendant very politely ushering us off the pier in the dark. We had 2.5 hours of fishing and without snagging the bottom and losing any tackle with 6 casts each, we had caught a Thornback each and a mixed bag fish, with Warren's Dogfish, and a a Whiting and Pouting for me, the weather was glorious for the time of year albeit a bit cold, but I was dressed for the occasion. It's always a pleasure to fish with Warren and I'd very much enjoyed my first proper pier fishing trip, something I've always avoided due to not having a drop net, but probably if I'm honest, mostly because I try to avoid the crowds piers attract, allthough today we did had the whole of the deck.

Zander Fishing, Old Bury Hill Lake

Zander Play Ball

Bury Hill Fisheries, Dorking, Surrey.

Bury Hill Fisheries

It's been a while since catching anything of note worth blogging about, but when my cousin Richard invited me to go Bury Hill Fisheries with him and his friend Wayne. I didn't hesitate, although our target fish was Carp, I kind of knew that due to the recent cold snap that it was going to be a tall order, where 1 fish would of been good. But with three rods, I was always going to use one for Pike/Zander during the day,  it's the season for them at the moment and a better chance of catching. The weather looked quite good for the time of year, mild at 10 degrees Celsius during the day and about 5 at night, no rain forecast, with a wee bit of wind here and there, and with the gear ready I arrived at Bury Hill at lunch time with a boot crammed full of gear. It amazes me how much gear you need for these overnight Carp trips, and with out the help of a barrow or 2 getting the gear to our swims would of been a major task, But all that aside it's nice to have a warm cosy camp to snuggle up in for the night.

A very natural baiting table

With 3 rods baited with boilees and a sprinkling of loose bait fished close to the island under trees the night went past fast, even though a few fished crashed giving us hope, with 9 carp rods between the 3 of us, not even a run. With a good nights sleep, and a clear head, a change of tactics was needed. I changed one of my rods over to a dead bait rod, to target Pike or Zander, the rig was a simple running leger with a 1oz lead and a single size 6 barbless hook on a 20lb soft trace, with a long hair rig, which I used a gate latch needle to thread a small section of mackerel tail on to. I cast this out about 10 meters to the left well out the way of the carp rods. with the other 2 rods, I scaled one down to a size 10, use a single pop up corn and fished over stick mix in the deepest water at about 3/4 of the way to the island, the other rod I kept on the boilee rig and left it tight against the island. It was wasn't long before the dead bait rod had a run, I lifted into the the fish as it was taking line off the baitrunner, but didn't connect. At least it was action and with fresh bait on I recast it too the same spot.

A very welcome fish breaking the blank

An hour later the dead bait rod alarm sounded, the baitrunner started to click faster and faster, I picked up the rod and struck into a fish, It was not a big fight and when the fish surfaced I knew it was a Zander, a small one at 4lb 14oz, but none the less, it was a fish, and only my second ever Zander that I've caught. I was on a roll, after another missed bite on the dead bait rod, it tore off again with in the hour, and this time what was on the end was putting up a much better fight, i though maybe a pike this time, but no another Zander drifted into the net. This was a lot bigger, and weight 7lb 2oz, yes! my third ever Zander and a new PB. As I examined its mouth I was impressed at the set of teeth they have on them and how none of the runs that I missed or hooked the fish the mackerel tail bait was perfectly intact indicating these fish were just swallowing the bait whole rather than what a Pike does and grabs the bait with its teeth and swimming off before turning and swallowing the bait.

Happy me with a new PB Zander of 7lb 2oz

That was it for the dead bait rod, with a sense of accomplishment, all my thoughts now turned at getting a Carp, none of us had a had a run yet. although I'd had a small finicky bite on the single corn which was most likely a small Roach or Bream, I failed to connect with it, but I was sure one of us would get a Carp that night, as it got dark the wind picked up and I set the dead bait rod back to a Carp rig with a boilee and and PVA bag of stick mix, I cast it next to the sweetcorn rod and tucked myself in the bivey to get out of the gusty wind  After dark, as if by a switch, the wind stopped, and the lake went flat as a mill pond giving me hope of a run, and really good view of the lake in the full moon whilst we ate toasted cheese sandwiches. It never happened, my rod alarms were silent all night, not even a bleep from the wind or a liner. But at least Wayne managed to winkle one out, and the only Carp of the trip at about 5lb. I had gone for Carp but they proved too hard at this time of year for myself, luckily my second plan came through and the Zander played ball saving a blank and even giving me a new PB. 

Cod Fishing, The Boardwalk, Dungeness

A Well Timed Brace

Dungeness, Romney Marsh, Kent TN29, UK

Live Bait Rig, Bait the small hook

After waiting what seemed like an eternity, firstly for a months worth of easterly winds to change direction, and when they did they turned to perfect strong South Westerly gales that battered the shore line, turning the water brown with mud, dislodging and smashing up worms and shellfish that then get blown into the shore and washed up on the beach which is what the cod come into feed on, waiting even more the weather changed hourly for days, and after a week the perfect window appeared on the met weather, 15mph winds with gales of 22mph and no rain, which is as good as it gets especially as the gales had been in the 40mph and even 50mph the preceding days. It was a school night and although I had work the next day I wasn't going to miss this opportunity, low tide was at 11pm which I prefer to high water, honestly its a easier fish, less weed, less tide, the only thing to consider is location, and I picked the boardwalk at Dungeness, a steep shingle beach which at low water with a decent cast can still put you into deeper water.  It was going to be a quick 4 hour fish which if went to plan should see me back at home in bed by 3am after a 1 hour 3o min drive.

A Hungry 4lb 5oz Predator with bait

I arrived at 8pm, 3 hours before low water, and conditions were perfect, light wind, no rain, and coloured water with angry swell. I fished 2 rods my 12'6" Greys Centaur TSX 4-6oz paired with my Shimanos Ultigra 10000 XSC spooled with 15lb Daiwa sensor with 15lb to 70lb tapered leaders. I fished one with a live bait rig, which has 2 hooks one smaller baited to catch a whiting, the another bigger hook just above designed to hook a cod that eats the whiting. The other rod was fished on a clipped down pennel with 6/0s baited with large cuttle, squid and lugworm combos. Within minutes of casting the Whiting were showing, mostly little pins the ideal size with a 7/0 circle hook hanging in front of their nose. they keep me busy for a few hours until the tide came to a stand still. Then the Whiting became more scarce at distance, and my rig returned empty twice, so I scrapped the live bait rig and was now on 2 clipped down pennels with 6/0s. I was watching my other rod which had been rattling away for at least 5 minutes with a Whiting clearly hooked, unwilling to bring it in, I left it out as a live bait, well I did have 2 big 6/0 hooks so a good chance of hooking any predator that attacked it. 

2nd Plump Codling at 3lb 3oz

On the other rod I had landed 2 dogs and 2 pouting which were quite large, and got the heart pumping as they gave big bites. Then the first rod which I had left out with a whiting on took a slow pull down, too big for the whiting, then again another slow pull down, not very big, but deliberate. was there weed on the line? I waited for a slack liner or big pull down, it never happened, but I knew something was not right, and after a few minutes of the same I lifted the rod and struck gently to set a hook just in case, I kept pressure on the rod till the lead broke free as it had been a long time out and been buried in the sea bed, it popped out eventually, and immediately I knew I was in, no dramas in the slack tide, I just gently slide a nice 4lb 5oz Cod onto the beach. not sooner had I landed it then the other rod baited with cuttle started doing the same sort of bite, not big enough to get you excited, but very gentle deliberate pulls, again I waited for big pull down or slack liner, it didn't happen. again I lifted the rod and immediately knew I was in confirmed by a knock or two felt down the line, a second Cod of 3lb 3oz. I was over the moon, and as much as I expected to catch another but unfortunately that was it on the cod front, as the flood tide started to gently push though, the Whiting returned with a vengeance, it was time to pack up. I'm really happy I caught one on a live bait, shame it wasn't on a purpose live bait rig, but I'm sure I will soon, It just goes to show how predatory these Cod are, they have bucket mouths and considering the size of the Whiting they eat its hard to see them as innocent fish and chips.

The Bace Together, Meet Battered Cod, & Cod Pie hmmm

Bass Fishing Bude Breakwater

Big Bass, Little Bass

Bude Breakwater, Bude, Cornwall. UK

Bude Breakwater

I was looking forward to this week away in Cornwall, for many reasons! from cream teas, BBQs, and fine food to be sampled, and then walked off over miles of the most beautiful coastlines in the UK. This place is absolutely stunning! But from a fishing point of view I was coming back a second time, more prepared and hopefully with the weather on my side. Last time Cornwall beat me up, and taught me a lesson, with 1 Dogfish to show for which I had fished in gale force winds, horizontal rain, got soaked in the surf, and impaled myself on a hook, it wasn't my finest hour,"Beach Fishing Widemouth Bay" But like I said, I was a little more experienced this time and looking forward to round 2. I kept my tackle to a minimum, just my Vercelli Sypra Fiamma continental 14" rod for beach casting and my Snowbee Sea Bass Special rod for spinning. Both light rods, which pack away into short sections and perfect for keeping in the boot of the car. For tackle again I kept it simple and light, 5 lures, a few packets of feathers, just enough terminal tackle to make up any rigs I may need, a couple of floats and a small selection of leads. The only thing I took that was annoyingly big and bulky was my tripod, a must for bait fishing on hard rock, and an ideal sand spike would of been too restricted.

Sand Eel Ready To Cast

I had a whole week in Cornwall, but had agreed to have a designated day where I could fish, of course this didn't stop me taking my spinning rod with me everywhere and having a few chucks here and there when time permitted, I even had a small 1 lb Bass on a Fiiish Black Minnow on Wanson beach, I even sneaked out after dark for a few hours and revisited my old nemesis Widemouth Beach, although no dramas this time, the outcome was the same, just a lonesome Dogfish which managed to hook himself on a large circle hook whilst playing with the Mackerel head bait which was bigger than his!!! I had formed the opinion that I would fish for a different species than I could catch at home, Rays or maybe Bream, but the reality is you only catch whats in front of you, and after some thought I realised that this is prime Bass territory, and very quickly my attention turned to them. I had decided to spend my day fishing at the Breakwater at Bude, a concrete wall sloping steeply onto a sandy bottom with a deeper gully where the River Neat and Bude canal flowed into the bay, all surrounded by big jagged rocks providing a vast array of features to fish, it screamed Bass! I had collected some bait and gained some valuable intel from the local tackle shop, and it was just a waiting game now till the day came.

Best Bass Of The Year At 4lb 4oz

It was now time, the weather was fair, no rain and quite breezy with a big swell, the only downside was the preceding days heavy rain had been running into the bay causing the water to be coloured, although this would make lure fishing more of a challenge it actually suited bait fishing better, and added an extra array of features as you could see clear and muddy water mixing in different places during the different tide state. I decided to fish Sand Eel on a clipped down rig, although distance wasn't really an issue, it allowed me to keep well up on the rocks out of the way of them pesky surging waves that come out of nowhere, and cast parallel with the breakwater to the side of the rocks at the end of it, this area interested me as I could see a big eddy of clear water covered with foaming white water as it surged around and over the rocks into the bay, and gave the added bonus of allowing me to fish up tide and get a good grip with the lead in the strong flow. On the third cast I caught my rod tip bouncing around violently, I picked up the rod and lifted into a fish, The fight was short lived as the tide bought the fish straight at me and I then slide him gently onto the breakwater, I chinned the fish and he flapped around furiously still full of energy, Yes! a beautiful Cornish Bass weighting 4lb 4oz and between you and me, I would have been dancing around like a loony except for the watchful small crowd of tourists, and now it didn't matter that this was my only bite of the day.

Gully Caught Flounder 

But fate had given me a chance to return a few days later, a kindly payback for sober nights and a hell of a lot of driving around sight seeing, and even better was the tackle shop just had a delivery of fresh Ragworm. This time the water was gin clear, the sky was blue, and the wind was but a gentle breeze, whilst waiting for the tide to come in and cover the sand, I fish the outside of the breakwater onto a shallow sandy strip edged by large rocks, as good as it looked, I never had a bite. but the tide was moving quickly, and now the inside had water to fish, remembering where the gully was, I launched a 1 up and 1 down rig baited with Ragworm out into the bay to fish in gully. The tide seemed a lot stronger today but I let the rig slowly work its way along the bottom. A fairly large bite revealed a greedy Flounder that had taken both baits on the rigs.

When Angler Becomes The Bait

As the bay filled with water I returned to the same tactics that I had caught the Bass earlier on, casting to the same area, but to no avail, I did pick up the odd tiny 6" Bass though, Changing tactics again, I used my spinning rod with a 2 hook flapper baited with small Ragworm and dropped it onto the sand at the foot of the Breakwater, immediately tiny rattles on the rod tip which resulted in a lot of missed bites and stripped hooks, I dropped the hook and bait size down from a 2/0 to a size 2 and then I started to catch the bait robbers, tiny little Common blennies, there must of been hundreds of them close in. One even decided to bite my finger in revenge for dragging him out the sea, oh my God!, they got a strong bite for a little fish, and he didn't want to let go either!!

As Small As They Come

I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed fishing the Breakwater at Bude, again very different to the beaches I'm used to fishing in Kent, but for a small area the vast array of features and how it changed during the tide and even from day to day kept me interested and constantly searching for fish, trying to second guess their routes into the bay and intercept them with the right bait and rig, It had rewarded me with my biggest and smallest Bass of the year, a new species of Blenny and a sizable Flounder, I'd made a fishing friend, and when that sun is out and the water is turquoise blue, and the surfers are bobbing around waiting for that next big wave, its easy to imagine your a million miles away from home, Cornwall is such a beautiful place, and definitely not the last time I will visit!

Hythe Beach Casting

Mixed Bag Of Suprises

Hythe, Kent. UK

Hythe at night

With Winter approaching the lure of getting out the heavy hitting rods and smashing big leads and baits into a stormy brown coloured sea for Cod is proving too alluring, well its not quiet time yet, but you have to have a line in the water to catch, and at the very least test the rigs and tackle and make sure its up too the job for when things get going. Well, early in the year as it may be, reports of a few Codling were already known, in anticipation, I had some pulley pennels and live bait rigs made up, also a freezer full of frozen lug, squid, blueys and a few crabs. Only work was getting in the way, I'd worked 13 days straight many of which were 24 hours shifts, but with a full day of strong SW winds dying off into the night, and a night time high tide at midnight, It didn't take me long well a nano second if I'm honest to decide that as tired as I was, this was a window that I wasn't gonna miss.

My Cod special

In my mind I had decided to go to Dungeness, because it fishes well after SW winds, but whilst talking to my friend Keith who at short notice was accompanying me on this late night venture had another plan, with some family camping at Hythe he had secured some fresh lugworm which we would pick up on the way, and rather than drive back along the coast to Dungeness, we decided to stay and fish at Hythe, We arrived at Princes Parade and parked randomly along the beach where we could see a gap big enough to fish comfortably without interfering with the fisherman either side. A little later than expected but we were set up and baits were in the water 30mins before high water. I wasn't messing about tonight, big baits and big hooks for Cod, 1 rod cast to the horizon with a live bait rig, a rig with 2 hooks, a small baited hook to catch a whiting (live bait) and a larger hook further up the snod designed to catch a Cod that takes the whiting. and on the second rod a more conventional 6/0 and 5/0 pulley pennal rig baited with lug and a squid head a successful combo I used last year.

Tub Gurnard, A New Species

It wasn't long before both rods were tapping away with the tell tale knocks of whiting, I left the live bait rod out confident the whiting was still on, and reeled in Whiting 2 at a time on the pennel rig, I was off the mark, and the tide had just started to recede, I decided to try a different bait and sent a bluey on a small hook pennel out as far as I could cast. At range the Whiting seemed more sparse, and the rod tip stayed still for a whole 4 minutes longer that at closer range, as the rod tip rattled away, I reeled in what I expected to be a Whiting, but to my surprise I had just landed my first ever Tub Gurnard, known as the butterfly of the sea, it was a beautiful fish, terracotta in colour with a massive head and extremely large pectoral fins, well I didn't expect that! that alone made this session for me, but things were going to get a bit more interesting. Having messed about a bit, I decided to change again whilst Keith was catching Whiting and Pouting on a size 2/0 flapper rig, I decided to have 2 live bait rigs out and use them plentiful Whiting as bait in the hope of a large Cod.

First Cod Of The Winter Season

Keith's First Ever Cod "SMILE!"

I had only just recast the 1st rod at range, and was still baiting up the second rod, when the rod tip made a quick rattle rattle like a Whiting bite but a lot bigger, then went slack line, by the time I had put my second rod down, the line was well down tide, I picked the rod up and lifted into a fish, I wasn't sure what it might be, as the bite wasn't a conventional Cod bite, I thought maybe Bass, but it was putting up quite a fight with a lot of knocking felt down the rod, I beached the fish and to my joy it was the target fish, a lovely 52cm 2lb 15oz Codling, The fish had taken the small lugworm intended for the Whiting but with its bucket sized mouth was hooked by the large 6/0 hook I was over the moon by now, and Keith wasn't going to be left behind and quickly landed himself 50cm 2lb 6 Codling himself on a size 2 hook, Unfortunately this was as many Cod as we were going to catch tonight, but the Whiting and Pouting kept us very busy.

Thorny Suprise

I was getting a bit tired of the Whiting, and whilst keeping a live bait rod out decided to fish the other with very small hooks close in and see if any Dover sole were around, they weren't just hundreds of micro Pouting and Whiting, by now I was just plain exhausted, to give me a rest I decided to try and advoid the Whiting, I decide to put a Bluey bait at far range, as earlier this seemed to avoid most the Whiting. It did, my rod stayed still for at least 5 minutes. as I watched the rod tips the bluey rod tip was slowly dipping and going straightening again, Keith also pointed out my rod tip was moving, not constantly but every 40 seconds or so, presumably I said that's a Ray, I'll wait for it to eat the bait and take off resulting in a big pull down or slack liner, it never happened, and I curiously wondered weather a plastic bag was just wrapped around my line and moving the rod tip or maybe a Dogfish was just sitting there doing nothing as they do, I lost patience after about 10 minutes, I reeled in the rod, something was heavy on the end, I kind of expected to see a Dogfish but when I dragged a small 2lb 8oz Thornback ray up the beach I was ecstatic!!

We had been fishing for 4 hours it was very early morning and now Keith was snoring away, I decided that it was time to call it a night before I felt the same with a long drive home I woke him up to pack up. This session had been full of surprises, normally you target a species and catch a few others, and if your lucky get your target fish, not only had we caught a target fish each, tonight left me never knowing what I was going to pull in next, considering Bass and Dover Sole were also on the cards and a good possibility of catching them, The decision to fish Hythe had payed off, between us we had caught over 60 fish and 9 species in 4 hours, we each had one keeper for the pot, Keith had caught his first Cod and I had caught my first Tub Gurnard. Tonight was a special trip that I will remember for while, not only was the fishing good, the company was also good, and even the rain stayed away. happy days!

6/0 Pennel Good For Two Whiting At A Time