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!

Sole Fishing

Summer Sole Searching

Hythe, Dungeness, Hastings

Traps set, now to wait till dusk

This blog is a bit different to the previous ones I post, I have been searching for Sole since late June and it's now September. not only has this been a challenge, but thrown up some lovely fish and a few welcome surprises along the way, this blog is over 11 sessions and a few venues. The plan was simple enough, to fish small hooks and small worm baits close in during dusk and night. and to pin the baits to the sea bed where the Sole are more likely to find it. I had made myself up plenty of 2 hook boom rigs with size 4 Aberdeen hooks in preparation. One of the things about summer fishing, is the fact the calmer sea allow you to lighten up everything, 12lb main line, 50lb leaders, Bass rods rated at 2 to 4oz, and small leads makes for a much more enjoyable and less strenuous session, something which I very much look forward too after the brutal strain and stress that winter fishing into a stormy sea, in bitterly 20 to 30mph winds and rain.

Best Bass of the summer

2 hook boom rig, size 4s

Now having a full time job where I work the same amount of hours again in overtime doesn't leave me much choice in when I can go fishing, so with limited free time and sometimes I was lucky enough to have my last job of the day by the coast also gave me a opportunity to go, rather than the tide, weather and sea conditions, this was where my tackle was ready at a moments notice and I would be taking every opportunity when I could within reason of coarse, but if I'm honest, sacrificing a nights sleep on a work day isn't beyond me either, well my job prepares me well for sleepless long days. Ideally weather would need to be hot and a sunny day with high pressure and a gentle Northerly wind with a clear water and fish a rising tide. I think the first 4 sessions I done, the only thing that was right was that I was fishing in the dark, conditions were not hot, and the sea was angry with stiff Southey wind giving rise to a very muddy and angry sea with big surf, more akin to Bass fishing.

New species Horse mackerel

Although conditions were not right for Sole, The fishing was good, I fished multiple places along Hythe and Dungeness, catching Bass with a few nice keepers for the frying pan, also plenty of Rockling, Pouting, Dogfish, a new species for me Horse Mackerel and more Eels than I've ever caught in my whole life, now I'm not a Eel hater, and I'm happy they seem to be making a big comeback after becoming a protected species, but seriously they are rig wreckers and hard work to unhook, twisting the rigs into slimey "tangballs" (my invented new name for this particular tangle ) which results in it being chucked away. needless to say, the bigger Eels that I caught of around 2.5lb gave brilliant accounts of themselves on the light gear and heavy surf, that definitely gets the adrenaline going.

Biggest Eel of the year

Still Soleless, I decided to try a different bait, I'd been fishing local black Lugworm, but had my suspicions that Ragworm maybe the right bait. This in itself created a new problem, my local bait shops did not supply Ragworm, so I used a online store to deliver live Ragworm to my home address the day I had planned to go fishing, this did not go smoothly. the first delivery ended up at the wrong address, where a elderly lady accepted my delivery of live Ragworm, and opened it up in her kitchen believing it to be a new kettle, I would of loved to be a fly on the wall when she reached in and found the worms, needless to say, now with a traumatised complaining neighbour and having to send my wonderful wife on a peace keeping mission to collect the worms, I did get to go fishing with Ragworm as bait which resulted in my first couple of Sole this year, both were very small and released to grow, but very welcome none the less. Convinced the Ragworm was the difference between catching Sole and not catching Sole, I ordered twice again, but both deliveries failed, and left me baitless and unable to go fishing, I don't blame the online shops, but the parcel companys that seem unable to deliver to my address, and make a purpose made process where getting in touch with them to complain or locate the parcel is almost impossible.

Its a start, a little Slip Sole

Although I'd found a couple of small Sole, I wanted to do better, at least get a keeper to take home and cook!. The next lot of sessions were Soleless even though the weather conditions seemed perfect, back to locally bought Black Lugworm I just continued to catch Eels, Bass, Whiting and Pouting, by now I had worked myself all along Hythe beach front over the summer, fishing a different mark each time, I'd fished close in and at range, I'd fished 2 marks at Dungeness with no avail, I was confident of my tactics and bait, even though the Rag had worked, there was no doubt in my mind the Lug would be taken by Sole if they were there, so more the question was what was I doing wrong? It had to be locations, and work came to the rescue and offered the chance to fish Hastings, obviously I would have to repair a chiller in a store along the sea front, but damn it would be rude not to take the rods with me for after.

Slimey tangballs

After procuring some local Lugworm, a lot smaller than the Dungeness Blacks I'm used to, but they were top quality live Lugworm, and the absolute perfect size for a small size 4 hook and small mouths of the Sole. Setting up on my favourite mark the wind was ferocious, the surf was big, again I thought Bass rather than Sole. I struggled with the light Bass rods, they bounced about all over the place making bite detection almost impossible, but the fishing seemed the same Whiting, small Bass, and yes even more rig wrecking slimey sea snake Eels! I had almost given up hope of a Sole, as I sat there way later than I had anticipated, I had now changed one rod to a live bait rig, which Whitings were happy to attached them selves to, in the hope of a big Bass nailing it during the darkness in the rolling surf, and my other rod still a boomed Sole rigs cast about 15 yards out. Then bang, a big pull down followed by a slackliner on the Sole rig, the biggest and most definite bite for the night!, as I reeled in I knew a fish of a bigger stamp was attached, a bass or big Eel I thought, but no! finally my target species! a 36cm Sole, a plump fat keeper, perfect for dinner for 2!, I was over the moon, it didn't stop there, I had another 3 more smaller Sole in the consecutive casts, until I ran out of bait, and I'm sure I could of had more.

Biggest of the year Dover Sole

Well what have I learnt?, this has been one hell of a challenge catching a Dover Sole, let alone a decent sized one, I tried my hardest, and 10/10 for effort, I'm sure I was just unlucky, or possibly was fishing the wrong venues or tides, I just haven't nailed this Sole fishing quite yet. But I was catching fish, and lots of them, with new species of Horse Mackerel, some lovely Bass, and Eels, on top of the normal species, the surprising thing was how close these fish get to the beach, most of my fishing for Sole was around the range of 10 to 30 yards out, and many of the better fish were taken even closer in! Using the Bass rods light lines and leads was a sheer pleasure, I also enjoyed the warm summer nights and appreciated them knowing the pending winter season is closing in. And I definitely haven't had a very successful Sole hunt this year, but the one bigger one I did catch, was well deserved, I enjoyed sharing this top class eating fish with my wife, and who knows although winter has started, we have just had our hottest day of the year, so maybe just maybe I may get another crack this year before the winter comes.

Bass Fishing, Hastings Beach, Hastings

England v Germany

Hastings Beach, Rock-a-Noir Parade, Hasting, East Sussex. TN34, UK

Typical English bank holiday weather!

Easter bank holiday, my partners German brother and girlfriend were staying over for a week, a hotel booked in Hastings, what could go wrong????? That's right! The weather! OMG! now I know that its a given that bank holiday equals bad weather, but even this was extreme, We arrived at 8am on Sunday to torrential rain mixed with marble sized hail stones and gales force winds with gust of 50mph, As I parked the van, I looked at the sea and knew there was no way of fishing, The surf was too big, the wind was way too strong, and to top if off the hail stones bloody hurt, So we spent the day darting in and out of various restaurants, museums and arcades, and systematically on the hour, every hour checking the forecast for a break in the weather, hoping for the best. Our planned night fishing fell on its face as well, the weather stayed the same through out the night, and combined with the big spring tide the surf was actually hitting the road, which made fishing from my hotel window now possible, but I couldn't as I needed both hands to hold the window because the wind would of ripped it off its hinges, so I just watched the storm with ore, and dreamt of fish.

The morning after

I woke up far too early, went straight to the window and opened the curtains to check the weather, I do it every time I go fishing. Its the excitement, "fishing fever" as Sarah calls it. And what a change! the sun was beaming through the curtains, I looked out to whispering clouds dotting a bright blue sky, with the low tide and big surf! I thought bass! I'd heard rumours that they had started showing, and I knew the fishing should be better after a big blow, but was the blow too big? there was only one way to find out. I woke the other camp in the room next door and before we knew it, we were all drinking coffee and eating bacon rolls with our rods in the water.

Great surf for a bass

Myself and Emil had Shakespeare 11'6" Salt extreme bass rods, with Shakespeare Salt Surf reels loaded with 15lb Ultima Power Braid each, whilst Sarah opted for Spinning with A Shakespeare 9" Ugly Stik Lite rod with a Shakespeare 035 front drag Mach 3 reel, A small,  but very strong, light and extremely well made reel, which was loaded with 10lb fox soft steel mono. The rigs were standard 2 clip down, size 2 hooks, 6 oz breakaway leads. and we had plenty of fresh lug and squid, with a few mackerel.

Fresh lug worm, Top all round bait!

Ive not used braid sea fishing before and was keen to see if it made a big difference to my casting, my first cast and I spooled out!!!! What the hell! that's about 180m of line in the sea and none left on the reel. Then the penny dropped! I didn't see the lead hit the sea but then I realised that it was the gigantic bow in the line caused by the strong wind which had taken all the line, later casts were at best in the windy conditions reaching maybe 60m being cast hard and low with some heavy feathering to keep the line as straight as possible , but this wasn't the time to test fishing lines although my first impression was good, it reeled in a lot smoother than mono and flew silently of the spool.

Aka "the match rig"

Low tide was very quite bite wise, but then 2 hours into the flooding tide they started coming thick and fast, Mainly Whiting and Rockling, I really hate Rockling, the little buggers have got such a tough jaw and usually swallow the hook into their tiny mouths making unhooking them a absolute nightmare and eventually leaving you with a bent and twisted Aberdeen hook that needs replacing! Then my German counterpart hit his first bite and landed a small Dogfish,  whilst my unhooking nightmare just continued, as I landed an Eel. Emile realised that because I was casting further than him I was getting more bites. I then watched as he launched a lead with all his might, 20 degrees straight up at the sky, I panicked for a second as I gauged where the lead would land in the strong wind, thankfully I was about right, it hit the sea about 30m in front of us, he looked at me as if to say that was a big cast, and believe me it was!. I stuck my thumbs up and smiled at him, although I didn't think he had a clue where he actually cast, I knew he had casted just behind the first breaker into bass territory. I was happy for him to leave it there because I was aching to try close in for bass, but the bites were coming further out, and fishing with one rod didn't give me the option to do both. He then asked me to look after his rod saying "If I fish over there with Sarah, I will get a bite!" he took the spare spinning rod and joined his sister in spinning for bass with Dexter wedges and spoons off the groin. It was nice to see them chatting and spending time together, as they don't get to see each other very often.

Here Bassy Bass

 He had only been gone 5 minutes then I watched his rod tip slam down violently! I hadn't seen a bite like this beach casting since the summer, it went again so violently that the rod lifted up into the air and pivoted on the tripod. I grabbed the rod butt just before it came crashing down on the stones. I didn't need to strike, and the braid fishing line meant I could feel a fish fighting straight away, It felt a lot bigger than the other fish, I shouted and screamed relentlessly at Emil and Sarah to get their attention, but the wind made my screams fall silent, I watched them obliviously fishing no more than 15m away as I played the fish. By now it was close in and I concentrated my efforts to beach the fish in the very rough surf, rather than shouting. It was a lot smaller than I thought for the fight and violent bite, but it was a bass and the best fish I've really caught beach fishing so far this year. Me and Emil shook hands and agreed that it was an joint English/German catch, I was just happy to see a Bass!.

I'm a Dab hand!! lol

I managed to catch even more annoying Rocklings, a few Dabs, and even a plate sized Flounder before the bites dried out just before high tide. To be honest, even though it was fairly sunny it was very cold and the wind made it even colder and I was ready to leave. It had been a good session and I hoped that Emil would remember his English fishing trip with a smile, and why wouldn't he? between us we had landed about 25 fish, 7 species and 4 keepers for dinner, which was more than enough to make the previous day and night wash out a distant memory. I've usually had good fishing at Hastings, and this was perhaphs one of the best, but god am I looking forward to some warm weather, please hurry up summer!