Happy New Year

End of the Year

/Boat Caught Conger PB Its a baby!!

Firstly I would like to wish you all a very merry Christmas, and all the best and tighter lines in 2018!!!!.2017 has been a fascinating and unusual year, on the bad side, I haven't blogged as much as I should of, maybe due to me not catching any real specimen fish this year and the Cod never showed for a 2nd year in a row which unfortunately ends the year on bad note as it should be in theory the big crescendo to the year with the biggest and best fish caught and taken home to for the pot. And especially now since the new laws limiting the keeping of Bass to 1 per 24 hours from July to Dec, but don't get me going here as I would probably get arrested with what I could say about that!. But on the good side, 2017 has thrown some severe curve balls at me that I did not expect with a few new species along the way, and the biggest fish I've ever landed!!!

Blew the length/weight conversion out the water!!!!

The facts, 40 sessions, 381 hours fished (includes 7 full days fishing in France for carp), 29 species and 453 fish caught. 3 new species, Conger, Smelt and Squid and a new PB Mirror Carp at 45lb 8oz and biggest fish I've ever caught. Its been a fairly successful year with lots of fish, another note is I have not blanked once this year, even managing a solitary Rockling or Bass on the hardest of sessions. And if I had a claim to fame this year?.......well, I think it would be catching 2 x small Congers from the beach, although not unusual in the past, but in recent years I've never heard of, or seen any caught, and suspect I'm one of a handful who have in Kent and Sussex, and other areas in the UK have seem vast improvements in Conger fishing, so watch this space next year!

New PB and Biggest fish ever caught.

Another Joy this year was catching my first ever Squid, Having been tormented by them last year, I purposely went out my way to find them, and can honestly say these are true monsters of the deep and such beautiful and visually stunning creatures, and very good eating also! something I'll be looking to increase my PB kracken next year for sure! This year I also fished a lot of new local venues, Medway City Estate, Bartons Point, Dymchurch, Gravesend, and a fair few new stretches of beach on well know venues. and even visited very old haunts from my childhood like Admiralty Pier in Dover and The Jetty at Sheerness. All my fishing this year was fairly local, with no holiday trips (except France Carp fishing) and I didn't get to build up my species tally by travelling around the country, but at least it will show a true reflection of sea fishing in the South East of England this year.

The final sunset of the year spoiled by novovirus!

A few things come to note about 2017, hardly any Rockling, Caught more Bass and Eels than ever, lots of tiny Hounds pups about, still masses of Whiting about,and the Cod never returned for a second year in a row. I ended 2017 fishing a beautiful sunset on a cold calm day, but was short lived and Novovirus took hold, and sent me packing after 5 casts. But onto 2018!, I'm going to target flatfish this year, get some decent Pb's on Sole, Place and Flounders. I'm also going to smash my biggest fish ever with a boat caught Conger, and I got a few far away sessions planned targeting species that I wouldn't normally catch, plus lots more of the same!! and please fishing Gods!!! please return our Cod, thank you in advance. Wishing you all a Happy New New Year and tight lines for 2018, may you all catch that fish of a lifetime!!!

Squid Fishing, Hythe

Jigging Around

Hythe, Kent. UK

Squid attacked live Whiting

Ok if I'm honest, I'm cracking up here! waiting for some Cod to show!!! the winds dropped right off the sea is crystal clear and like last year the Cod haven't showed (yet!) I'm hoping still they will!! but even at times where things aren't going the way you expect, sometimes just sometimes, something gives you a gentle prod and reminds you of something, but in my case it literally was a big bang!!! With the explosion of a loud firework that almost made me drop my coffee, obviously I had fishing on my mind, and a flash back reminded me about a session at Hythe where I took my father fishing, on a very calm, cold and dark night fishing over high tide in clear water, where we watched all the different Guy Falks firework displays along the coast for most the night, we caught nothing of note, but I was having live bait whitings attacked by unknown assailants, at least 4 whiting suffered the same sort of wounds and had a chunk missing out of the back of the head!! it was only later I found out that these were Squid attacks and that was why I frustratingly never hooked up! now that the fireworks had reminded me, or maybe more to the point took my mind off the Cod, I had bought some Squid lures earlier on in the year as I really did fancy catching myself some, so with a calm dark night, clears seas and high tide at 10.30pm the conditions were exactly the same as that session with my father, I had set myself up for a my first Squid fishing trip

The final session, RIP Sea Bass Special

I sent a message to a group of angling friends that I was going Squid fishing, to which no one replied, I have to admit that maybe it did sound a bit far fetched and out of nowhere, or maybe everyone had better things to do on a school night.  I know its not really common knowledge about the Squids or they are very over looked, who knows, and I'm guessing the abnormal silence was warranted. Regardless to say, I wasn't to be deterred. I set off for Hythe and arrived about 8.30pm 2 hours before high water, I had my favourite set up, my Snowbee Sea bass special lure rod, a shimano stradic 5000 loaded with 20lb power pro, a spool of 16lb flourocarbon, 3 x Yamashita Q Live Squid jgs, pliers and a bucket, now that's going light!! At first I opted to tie my braid straight onto the squid jig, but being a total novice at this I will tell you right now don't!!! In 2 casts I must of spent 30 mins untangling the braid from the 2 rows of 20 odd needles at the back of the lure. So I put on a meter of flourocarbon leader on which stopped this happening.

First Squid ever!!!

Getting the jig on is working

Although this was my first Squid session, and I was clearly out of my comfort zone here as it dawned on me, I had done absolutely no research and didn't have a clue about how to actually jig for Squid. So I made it up, trying something different each cast, I probably wasted a good hour and more fishing very badly, but I didn't know better or even care at this stage, I was having fun, jigging about here and there, moving along the beach in search of some Squid. Then bang whist I was doing absolutely nothing with the jig slowly sinking into the sea and getting dragged right to left in the tide, the rod tip pulled quite hard, and again very quickly, I started to reel in, well this I did know, the trick is to keep a steady and constant pressure on when a squid is hooked so it cant free itself, I knew I was on, and I pulled the Squid out the water, at this point my heart sank, as I really then at that moment thought it was a plastic bag!! but as I swung it towards my I went to grab it and realised it was a Squid, just the biggest Squid I've ever seen!!!! not that I've seen any before, but I kind of expected it to be 12cm or smaller like the Squid I buy for bait!! but this thing was huge !! 26cm mantle, let alone the head and tentacles!! It was absolutely stunning!!! luminescent colours pulsating down it's body, it made quite a hard clapping sound as it tried to swim. As much admiration as I had for this Squid, it was eating size, and all I could see was calamari rings!, and in the bucket it went!

Cracking food, natures best!

I was over the moon with my first ever Squid, but one thing bothered me, the fact that I didn't have a clue how to jig, it was a lucky fish! so I spent the next evening watching hours of YouTube videos on how to jig for Squid, not only did I now have a good basic understanding of the Japanese language as they seem to be the experts and pioneers in Squid fishing, I also had a renewed confidence that I would be able to catch more Squid, so I returned a couple of nights later, and set about Jigging properly, or at least with the right technique and practising it. Well my second cast my beloved Snowbee Seabass Special tip snapped clean off!!!! (saying a prayer) for the fallen rod, a true tool, which was worth every penny, and had a long and fruitful innings,which still had a little more to give in its final fish at 3/4 length, and produced 4 Squid!!! not as big as my first, but a nice size 15 to 20cm mantles. I have to say these creatures fascinate me, they are beautiful with there colours, creepy with there movements, one thing I am appreciating is that they are proper predators, and to top them off, easy to prepare and cook, and taste great!!!. One thing I will continue to target Squid when the oppotunity arises, and maybe even try for Cuttle fish one day. Now let hope those Cod get on their toes, and hurry up and come to visit, cos they are still driving me mad!!!

Pike Fishing

Sprat Bashing

River Medway, Tonbridge, Kent. UK

It's been a long time since I really dedicated any time into Pike fishing, a favourite past time target of mine, with techniques and tactics passed down from my father and honed during British Pike Championships. It was time to change that, I have moved and now within 15mins drive have vast swathes of the River Medway from Tonbridge to Maidstone, ideal for last minute trips, where a few hours is ideal to travel light and search out every nook and cranny of the River and it's back waters. and it was these back waters where I decided to start my campaign. I was to travel light my Snowbee Sea Bass Special lure rod combined with a Shimano Stradic 5000 with 30lb braid. a simple box with a few choice lures and a few traces, and a bag of Sprats as bait.

I set out to old but familiar swims, and already in my mind, I had decided not to lure fish, I don't know what it is, but my lure fishing has a lot to be desired, even back in my day it was almost non existent, a discipline I have yet to learn. My plan was to flutter a small 4" Sprat head hooked onto a size 3/0 circle hook under a small Fox pop up using it as a control float, the waters were shallow, and I fished around 2' deep most the time, I drifted the bait down stream in the light current, hoping to waft a sprat in front of any Pike waiting to ambush an unsuspecting prey. I allowed the bait to drift bouncing along the margins and right under overhanging trees, and then slowly reeled in, back past the features which makes the Sprat excitedly flutter higher up in the water. I spent no more than 5 minutes in each swim, I hadn't had any takes in 6 swims, so I made the decision to walk 15mins to an old favourite spot, which turned out to be productive.

I arrived at my old spot, and sett up very quietly so as not to disturb any fish in the swim, where a large tree over hung 3/4 of the River, providing plenty of cover and making the clear route down stream long and narrow, somewhere where you would expect a hit, I wasn't wrong, as I drifted my Sprat down it dived right without any warning, I lifted into a fish and had a fantastic little scrap with a small Jack of around 3lb, well, it was a start to my Pike season at least. I had a few more hits after but after seeing the Pike hit the Sprat, they just left the head hanging on the circle hook, although I was really testing these circle hooks, I have to admit, 2 trebles would have been a better rig, and would have resulted in a few more fish.  Even so, I had caught my first of the season Pike, a small lively Jack Pike, and things can only get better, I've got a lot of water to explore, I got a bike to get me to the furthest reaches and I'm setting myself a challenge to get a 10lb plus pike from the River this season, start small then we'll see where we end up.

Doing The Conger

Surprise Strap On

Princes Parade, Hythe CT21 6AQ, UK

A short blog this time, admittedly this was a half hearted attempt for a early Cod, I had picked Hythe to fish as at this time of year as it had the possibility to throw up so many species, from Eels,, Mackerel, Scad, Pouting, Whiting, Dogfish, Sole, Dab, Flounder, Plaice, Gurnards, Bass, Rays, Hounds and Cod, in fact I could even add Squid to that list. And what I was gonna land wasn't even on my rader ever, let alone on that list! the plan was quite simple, one rod at range pulley rigs with 3/0 hooks baited with lug and squid or fish baits for Cod/Rays and maybe Gurnards and live bait rigs fishing live pout or whiting close in targeting big Bass.

Well fishing was constant, the Whiting I tried to catch for live baiting were few and far between, but the Dogfish were out in force, eventually I had a live bait kicking away in the surf, unfortunately no bass took a liking to it. The other rod kept me busy, a few Whiting, Pouting and a small Hound pup, but mostly Dogfish, every bite had me hoping and praying for the double knock tell tale sign of the Cod. And I had hope all night, and then it happened!!! a firm but gentle pull down quickly followed by another, and then another leading to a slack liner, I picked up the rod and gently reeled in the line to remove the slack, I felt the fish knocking, I lifted into the fish to set the hook, immediately I knew I was into something different, and I really thought it was a Cod!, to my dismay an Eel surfaced and slide onto the beach, but it was big and then I realised that it was my first ever Conger Eel, a tiny strap conger of around 3lb 8oz. Now I know this fish is small by Conger standards, ok even tiny!, but it was my first ever!! and can only get bigger. It was shore caught at a venue that I don't thing anyone in their right mind would even think they are. And I suspect very few anglers can claim to catching a Conger off the beach in Kent, even if it's just a little strap, so I was very happy angler.

Thornback Ray Fishing, Hythe Ranges

Thorny Rays on Lovely Days 

Dymchurch Road, Hythe, Romney Marsh, TN29 0TY. UK

Traps set

After kind of finding my fishing mojo, I was meeting up with my friend Jason at Hythe. It was a new venue for me, a classic shallow sandy beach broken with breakers. I'd heard a few things about, and was very keen to go and fish this venue. Our target was to be Rays, with a second target of Sole. Our plan was to fish from low to high tide, an all nighter involving dusk and dawn. We all met up after work an hour before low water, the sun was out, the wind nothing more than a gentle breeze blowing over ours shoulders, and the sea was calm, conditions were near perfect for our targets and for us! I set up a Yuki Q7 and my old faithful Vercelli Spyra fiamma both with Shimano Ultegra XSDs loaded with 20lb braid, both rigs were pulley droppers, one with a single size 2/0 Sakuma manta extra with 30lb snod for the Rays, and the other rod was a single size 4 Aberdeen with 15lb snod for the Sole. And baits were to be Bluey and Lugworm.

1st ray at 4lb

With both rods cast out, The Ray rod cast to the horizon, that's as far as I can cast, which is closer in reality and further in my mind lol, well only thing I'm sure it's over 100m. And the second rod for Sole cast around 40meters. I sat back and waited, the rod tips held perfectly still, baits untouched by crabs and the apparent lack of  Whiting or Pouting which can be a nuisance, was leaving the baits out and confidently fishing for their intended targets. It was very quiet indeed, the sun went down, and in the darkness I expected a deluge of bites, but nothing! Then out of the blue a big big pull down followed by a slack liner. I watched the rod tip, it didn't move again, but I noticed the line peeling off downtide to the right towards Jason, the fish was on the move and in a hurry!!!, I reeled in the slack line, and lifted into the fish to set the hook. It was a weird and very hard fight, it literally seemed like I dragged the fish nose first through the sand all the way in! it was a Thronback Ray around the 4lb mark and a very welcome catch.

2nd ray at 6lb

Although having caught a Ray, I should of been happy, but the truth was I was having a nightmare casting, I'd cracked off 5 times with wind knots, I never had this issue before, well so many times in one session, compared to a few times over a year! not only was I down to my last rigs, and no components to make any more, I was at a loss, and was considering calling it a night. After a sulk and chat with Jason, I decided to carry on, I stripped about 70m of braid off my spools, as I was convinced it was loaded to close to the lip, I'd lost about 50meters in wind knots, and now I had removed even more, this left me about 150meters on each spool, it was s'#t or bust!!, one more crack off and it would of been game over!! I was casting carefully, and purposely not overpowering it, 1.) because I didn't want to crack off again and lose my last rigs, and 2.) I could see the spool as there wasn't very much braid left on it after casting. The plan worked, and after a series of successful cast  saw a big pull down that continued to strip braid off the spool, I hit the fish straight away! a very different fight where I could feel it fighting and pulling back, I slipped it out of the water and onto the sand, another Thornback, and the biggest of the night at 6lb.

3rd Ray at 3lb

It had been one hell of a beautiful night, and a stunning dusk and dawn, the fish had been few and far, and the lack of tide and crabs meant the rods were staying out for long periods of time, giving me time to relax, which I really, really enjoyed, it's something we all need from time to time. The Sole rod had been quite all night and only accounted for a few Whiting, but I had 2 Thornback Rays and cheekily reeled in 3rd weighing in at about 3lb on the last cast. The venue was stunning, more rougher around the edges than Dymchurch main beach and sandier and shallower than most of the main beaches at Hythe. I would definitely come back! All I needed to do now, was drive home safely after no sleep, and re spool my 2 reels, now what line to put on them? oh.... and not forgetting to tie lots more rigs!

Bass And Sole Fishing

The Great Escape

Jurys Gap, Rye TN31, UK and Rock-A-Nore, Hastings TN34 3DW, UK

Jurys Gap is some awesome beach!!!!

Its started off a very funny year for myself this year, I've been plenty of times and caught lots of fish, I think the best fish has been a 6lb odd Thornback Ray, but nothing else really of note, and I found it hard to get excited and write a blog. I've said it before that if I only wrote blogs about those special captures that I would only be writing about twice a year if I was lucky! So I guess my point is really what is a good session worthy of a blog? well if it numbers of fish caught then that's what I have done, and if its catching a target fish, then I've caught my target fish, and if it is catching a new species, then I have done that. So why have I not written many blogs this year?, I don't know, maybe I've just been to busy, Preoccupied with my 1 year old son, Life is a complete rush at the moment, or I just need to find the inspiration and motivation, and that is only coming from being out there fishing, so I decided that I would be blogging about this session regardless, and as it happens it wasn't a bad one either.

short snod wessex rig, size 4 hooks

It's Sole season, and with 2 score of Black Lugworm and 1/2KG of live Ragworm, 6 x Wessex rigs with size 4 hooks, and my Penn Fierce 2 reels loaded with 12LB mono with 12lb - 30lb tapered leaders, I was 110% ready to go Sole hunting! Only thing was they just hadn't quite showed yet, I had fished about 4 venues unsuccessfully, and even other anglers only reported the odd one caught hear and there, this session was going to be more about finding where they are. Because I already knew where they wasn't really showing, I even changed plans with a friend who I was was supposed to be fishing with, on one of these venues in north Kent venue, which left me going solo! and the adventure began then, I was confident the fish were going to be on the South Coast. one venue had always been on my radar, but I never had the chance to fish was Jurys Gap, a shallow sandy bottom filled with deep gullys and holes, with a narrow shingle storm beach with a close range gutter, the perfect Sole territory!

nice fighting schoolie Bass

I arrived at 7pm on a hot Friday evening to hoards of kite surfers, picnickers and everything thing else imbetween, I was not fishing close, I looked right and it got busier, I looked left and it got very dead, I couldn't see anyone! so I walked along the beach for around 15 minutes found this very quiet bit of beach, I realise that I was going to get cut off by the tide hear and trapped in what I think was a military firing range, but more on this later!. it was quiet I had the whole beach as far as the eye could see to myself, no dogs, boats, no people in the water, this is where I would be fishing!, and I picked an area where I could cast each rod into a deep hole in the sandy bottom, hopefully where the Sole would come and wait for food to congregate in. It looked perfect! the tide crept over the sand as the sun was setting, one rod baited with Lugworm, the other baited with Ragworm, my traps were set! Well, I keep this short, I caught 10 Bass, from 8cm to 41cm, lovely fish of coarse, and enjoyable fishing made better by the complete lack of perceived nuisance fish, but I will move this along as this was only the first half, and things only get more commando from now on.

Bass selfies

The tide was fully in now, and as I sat there, I had lost confidence of catching a Sole, the tide would retreat leaving me fighting to keep up with the retreating water and navigating in the dark around the permanently water filled gullys and holes.  probably would have gone home at this point, but I still had half my prime bait, and with dawn only 3 hours away, I had time to relocate and fish for Sole on a less demanding beach, I decided to go Hastings, and fish my favourite spot. Well I climbed up the steep man made shingle wall onto a path and walked towards the car, very soon I was enclosed in barbed wire and a locked gate and guard tower, my fears were right, I was trapped, or at least until the tide went out, this was no good I had Sole to catch!! Barbed wire, locked gates, the sea, a giant boulder wall, and even a concrete wall were never gonna stop me!!! climbing around in the dark with a head torch breaking out of a military compound with 2 rods, a tripod, a tackle box and a cool box, ie no free hands, I think this proved my dedication some what, or I'm just crazy!!!

First Sole of the year

Having made my great escape, I drove to hasting pulled up in the car park Dam!!! people were camped out and fishing my obviously not so secret spot, it's actually a well know spot, but I like to think otherwise. I set up on the beach about 40 meters from them, very disappointed that I wasn't getting where I wanted to be. I walked over to them to see if they had caught much, but I saw rods and a bivey but no one standing, as I got closer it became clear they were not presently fishing and fast asleep in the bivey, I made a quiet retreat hoping not to get caught, I mean, what would you think if you woke up to someone creeping around your fishing rods in the middle of the night? As I returned, I decided, that I was gonna take advantage of the situation, hell I had broke out a military establishment to get here!! I turned my torch off and enter stealth mode, I crept quietly along the shore line with all my gear, until I reached the groin, with the still sleeping anglers up on the high tide ridge, I was around 40 yards in front of them, I set up and cast both rods out, with high expectations.

a small slip

It didn't take long, 5 mins, and the first bite was a cracking bite!, I struck and played a hard fighting 2lb plus Eel, dam the rig was twisted to hell, covered in slime and ruined, I cut the Eel loose, he wasn't even hooked, he then speedily made his way across 10 meters of beach to put himself back in the water! It took another 10 minutes for the next bite, a shy and gentle bite, definitely a bite but more like a crab pulling the bait off the hook. I struck and it felt like I was stuck to the bottom like a crab, it pinged free, and I reeled in a weight, it was fish or crab on I wasn't sure until I  beached it,it was a Sole!!! yes get in !!! a lovely perfect keeper Sole of 30cm! it didn't stop there! the next bite was a bigger Sole of 34cm, and after a few missed bites, I landed a third of 26cm, the sun by now had fully risen, and with it, the bites soon dried up and the expectation of catching another disappeared. 

The best of the trio at 34cm, daddys dinner!

It was time to pack up! the sleeping anglers camping behind me were still fast asleep as I left, and to my knowledge they will never even know that I had been there, as I walked back to the car, I could see they were serious about saving the spot, I counted another 5 rods, along the beach and sea wall that I didn't see in the dark! If they had woke of coarse I would of just moved, luckily for me they didn't. This had been a adventure I think most wouldn't of encountered, I had escaped one camp and broke into someone else's in my attempt to find the Sole, and I'd caught 3 keepers!, strangely enough, one at 34cm for daddy, one for 29cm mummy and one at 26cm for baby. That's the whole family catered for. Dover Sole are some of the best tasting fish I know, and I'm very much looking forward to this meal!! I asked at the begining of this blog what makes a session worthy of writing about, and I refound my reason, it's the adventure, that's what I've been missing for a bit, and that's whats gonna keep me going!

Wrasse Fishing Samphire Hoe

Beautiful Ballans

Samphire Hoe, Kent Downs AONB, Samphire Road, Dover CT17 9FL. UK

Just a few rocks to check then?

Well, It's been a while since my last blog, I've been fishing and I've even caught fish, but life has been so busy with the little one, who's now keeping me and his mother awake, all night and every night, and even more so, he's keeping us on our toe 24/7 as he's just learnt to walk, regardless, I do occasionally get the chance to get out fishing, and this trip was a very enjoyable session. This time of year there is a lot of May weed in the water, a algae bloom that can ruin fishing session, I normally swear I'll pack the sea fishing gear away till it goes away, and start fresh water fishing for Catfish, which I do, but I did have a plan! looking at close range fishing to avoid the May weed problem, I had always fancied dedicating a day to targeting the bigger Ballan Wrasse at Samphire Hoe, although I'd caught plenty of smaller Wrasse and other species with tiny baited sabiki rigs as written about in my blog sabiki fishing Samphire Hoe , it was time to get serious, and crab baits were a must!. 

Rockworm (Rockies), tough old bait

A quick call to my friend Dave, a local match fisherman and bait collector to Samphire Hoe, and it was agreed we would go collecting at silly o'clock in the morning, having always bought my bait, Dave was gonna show me the ropes in bait collecting and make me a complete hunter gather fisherman, and it went like this!, we got up after a few hours sleep, bleary eyed and very tired, we set about wondering about for at least a few miles over dangerous rocky ground almost on all 4's only stopping, to practice heavy lifting with sharp and jagged rocks and occasionally sticking your fingers in deep and dark holes to be pincered by the local crabs for 3 whole hours!!! I would like to say this was fun, well maybe a little, but this was extreme hard back breaking work!! and maybe it would pay many of us to do this occasionally to remind us what goes into finding our bait. With the hard work, I came away with very few crabs that were peeling, the best ones for bait, but I did learn the difference between Blue Velvets, Shore Crabs and Edible Crabs and how strong the claws are off the edible crab, seriously not to be underestimated as they crush clams and mussels and a little finger is a lot softer!!!!!!! I also found some worms, believing them to be Maddies, I later found out the were something a little bit different, Rock Worms. 

Blue velvet peeler crab

With a bucket of crab and a pot with a few worms I said my thanks to Dave, and set off to Samphire Hoe to see if I could find these bigger Wrasse.. I had my 2 Dawia Therory Bass rods, paired with Penn Fierce 2 reels loaded with 12lb mono direct to pulley rigs, plain 4oz leads, with a single size 1 chinu hook baited with soft peeler crabs or hard back crabs. The sea was a little bit more coloured than I would of liked and definitely not that calm, guessing that this would push the fish away from the wall and deeper into the nooks and crannies of the big boulders, I launched the baits out about 40 yards, where I envisaged the big boulders gave way to the natural sea bed, as this should be a good place for the larger fish to patrol. It didn't take long for the first rod to take a massive pull down!, excitedly I struck the rod and played the fish hard, fearing it darting into the rocks and invariably snagging me up, the fish was free and coming up in the water, it felt big, and it was!, just not what I expected or wanted, a Dogfish!, but a welcome catch and starting the session off.

Stunning Corkwing Wrasse

Peeler crab was the bait bringing the fish, the next 5 fish all came to peeler rather than hard backs. my first was a Pouting, closely followed by a couple Ballan Wrasse of about 1lb,and 1lb 8oz, and another Dogfish and Pouting. It was fantastic fun watching the bites on the soft bass rods, and 1 thing was slowly dawning on me, I had not snagged the bottom yet, Samphire Hoe is a tackle graveyard, and somehow I was lucky enough to be avoiding the snags. Even though it was still early into the session I had another issue I was down to my last Peeler, the hard back crab rod had not had a sniff of a bite. But I wrapped the bait up as carefully and perfectly as i could, it was a very small Blue Velet Crab but fitted perfectly on the size 1 chinu hook. I sent it out about 40 yards, felt the lead down to the bottom and rested the rod, It was high water and I felt very confident. Well it took 30mins before taking a severe pull down followed by lounging runs each stripping line off the reel with a burst!!,

Best of the bunch, 2lb 6oz Ballan Wrasse

Micro Pouting likes the Rockworm

I picked up the rod, and tightened the drag, and lifted into a fish, immediately I felt it knocking down the rod, was it a Bass, or was this my big Wrasse? I bullied the fish to the surface as I didn't want to give it a chance to dive into one of the big holes between the big boulders, all by myself, and i think I need a medal for this! I lowered the drop net down, in strong winds, over a ledge, and into the sea, and scooped up the fish, with one hard, as the other was holding the rod and playing the fish!! It was my big Wrasse, a beautiful Ballan weighing 2lb 6oz, OK not my biggest, but the best looking one!! What a cracking session this was turning out to be, I had run out of peeler, and still no bites on the hard back crab, I was now onto the Rock Worm that I had found, and accounted for a few more fish, my bringing my tally was 4 x Ballans, 2 x Corkwings, 3 x Dogfish, and 4 x Poutings, This wasn't the most hectic of sessions, but peeler crab bought out the bigger stamp of Wrasse for sure, Just wish I'd had more, as the hard back crabs did not induce 1 bite!!. It had been a wonderful day, and to top off the sun burn, I got I finally got snagged up losing my rig, With that it was time to call it quits! knowing I had been a very lucky boy not to lose more tackle.

Flat Fish Fishing, Hastings

Floundering Around For Plaice

Hastings, UK

A small selection of flat fish rigs

It's been a while since I've written a blog, for that I'm sorry, because I've just not been catching any fish of note, the winter sea fishing here in the South East of England should of been about catching Cod, but they never showed on the beaches, I must of had at least 6 beach sessions targeting them and I didn't catch one, let alone see one, only bags of Whiting and the odd Dogfish or Pouting. And it wasn't only me, most anglers struggled with very few Cod caught over the winter. Personally I think it was all to do with the weather, we had mostly Easterly winds keeping the water gin clear and calm, rather than the stirred up muddy food filled angry sea that the South Westerly storms cause, which brings the Cod inshore. Also the water temp was unseasonably warm for the time of year, even in December Mackerel were chasing White Bait along the shore line, testament to the clear warm water. But maybe just maybe we may get a spring run of Cod, so I'm holding fire on them for the time being. Knowing that the water was still quite clear and still fairly warm, I was looking at spring species that I suspected would turn up a little early, one target kept popping up, and that was Plaice, our prized spotted flat fish, that's very good eating.

As still in real life as in this photo

I had attempted to target Plaice a few times, but weather and tides stopped me going fishing, But I soon had my window, a calm warm day, preceded by a north easterly wind, which would clear the water, and a nice high tide of around 4pm which was important as the water is normally at it clearest at high water, as Plaice are sight feeders, and during daylight is the best time to target them. I was spot on!!! 2 days before my planned trip reports from many anglers, of many Plaice being caught from a few venues, ok, not the venue I planned to go to, but Hythe. This put doubts in my mind as to weather or not to go Hasting which was my planned destination, Well maybe it was my pride or stubbornness, but I didn't want to follow the reports, I had my plan, my gut feeling and if I'm honest I convinced myself that if Plaice were at Hythe then they would be at Hastings also, only time would tell!. I set off early doors, and arrived at my mark at low water, a Dawia Theory bass rod for close in work, and my Yuki Q7 for distance fishing, baits were fresh Black Lug tipped with squid, on home made rigs with bling, consisting of, up and overs, 1 up 1 down flappers, boons, pulley droppers, you name it I made it! the idea was to present a bait on the sea bed and have the beads, sequins, blades and pop ups attract the Plaice.

40cm Flounder loving the bling

Well, what can I say, and I'll try beef this out a little, I had 2 bites and 2 fish in 8 hours fishing!, I cast out with bait, I reeled in with bait still looking exactly the same as when I had put it on, there was obviously no fish or crabs around for the majority of the session, I tried over 10 rigs, at all ranges from ridiculous close to extremely far, and everything inbetween. The name of the game was to locate fish, and mostly I drifted rigs on plain leads in the current searching for gullys and features, I must of covered more ground over this session than any other I can remember, It was dire! not even a Whiting! but as I said earlier, I did catch 2 fish, a tiny postage stamp sized Dab, and a Flounder, to be fair, one of the biggest Flounders that I've ever caught, this should of been a welcome catch, but my disappointment that it wasn't a Plaice seemed to over shadow the capture of this lovly fish. I just wanted a fish to take home, like the Cod, the Plaice didn't play ball, and I will not eat Flounders, they are snotty horrible things to me, so this one was released to continue on his merry way. Its been a hard end to last year, and a hard start to the this year, but this is fishing, and one decision, one little change, can make the difference between good fishing and bad fishing, All we can do is use our experience to help us make the best decisions given the circumstances, and hope for a little luck, and remember, it's not all about catching, if it was easy,  it would be boring! I can't wait to get out again waving my sticks around in the fresh sea air, chatting with friends, watching the sunsets and stars whilst listening to the waves breaking on the beach, and I'm sure, some fantastic catch reports to come.