Sabiki Fishing, Samphire Hoe

The Species Hunter

Samphire Hoe, Dover, Kent CT17 9FL, UK

After a stormy day putting a stop to my fishing plans, but by lunch time it had turned to sunny and hot, with only a pack of squid, and time running out, I decided my best option would be to return to Samphire Hoe in the hope to increase years tally on species. My plan was to fish 3 hours up and through high water till dusk, leaving most my tackle and fishing clothes at home, I pulled out my old Fox Warrior 12' rod, a carp rod with a 2.5 test curve, a light rod which I opted for, rather than a shorter spinning rod as the length meant that the line would be kept free from the wall when the rod was leaned against it as a rod rest, I paired the rod with a shimano baitrunner reel loaded with 10lb mono. I cut a sabiki rig with size 14 hooks in half so it had just 3 hooks left and baited them with squid tentacles, which looked fantastic, like a little fish which would of fluttered about in the current, Feeling the 1.5oz plain lead down to the bottom of the sea wall, I set the rod down with a gentle curve and put the bait runner on as I remembered nearly losing a rod here to a tiny Pollock.

Sabiki baited with squid tentacal

A Pouting Pouting?!?

Fishing was slow, frustratingly I had missed a few violent bites, As I very slowly worked along the wall trying straight down and out a little further about 5 meters from the wall attempting to find some fish, I didn't seem to matter, all was quite, but just as the tide turned, a rattle rattle on the rod tip followed by a pull down, I lifted the rod and was into a fish, a beautiful Tompot Blenny, and exactly what I was after a new species. the next few cast resulted in missed bites, but at least the fish were biting, and the third cast resulted in a Pouting, which put up a good fight on the light tackle, I was on a roll, and the next cast resulted in a small Corkwing Wrasse and again another new species for the tally. the flurry of missed bites and fish came to an end. It had gone quiet again, my rod had not moved for at least 20minutes, I tried jigging the Sabiki rig, bouncing the lead gently up and down off the rocks at the base of the sea wall, but to no avail.

Tompot Blenny

I set the rod down and became distracted with the beautiful view of the cliffs and watching other anglers, "Your rod!" shouted Sarah, I looked round to see the rod bending right over, I pick it up and gently lifted it up, oh no!, I'm stuck on the bottom, then it freed itself, then tap tap, and stuck again, It felt like a Wrasse darting into the crevasses of the rocks for safety, I pulled it free again, and the fish was still on, I could feel it tapping away, then it got stuck again, and again with a nervous pull I freed it up, but this time whilst reeling in I lifted the rod right up in the air and pulled what ever away as far away from the rocks as I could, bearing in mind I was fishing with tiny size 14 Hooks, which had allready been bent back into a curve several times by myself after getting straightened because of catching the rocks,
 

Corkwing Wrasse

I lifted the fish over the sea, I went to grab the fish and for the first time in a long time I recoiled. I didn't recognise the fish as it spun around. it kind of looked like a sea cucumber, but as it slowed down from its spin, I realised it was a flat fish curled up like a pirates map. what I had caught was a first ever for me a Topknot!, a very strange flatfish with a rather large protruding mouth. As I offered the unknown fish for a picture It clung very tightly to my hand using its side fins to form a kind of sucker, I later googled and found that the fish can cling to rocks even upside down in underwater caves where it waits camouflaged before pouncing of passing fish and crustaceans. And I must thank the anglers next to me who were kindly able to identify the species for me. As without them I may still be trying to find out.

Topknot, nice to meet you, you sticking around?

All in all, although it was a fairly quiet session, I had done exactly what I wanted to do, and that was to add new species to my shore caught year tally, which now stands at 16, which is no small feat considering that its not even half way through the year, and am well on my way to my target of 25 species caught in a year from the UK shore. There are many more species left for me to target, but I'm hoping for a few more surprises catches of unknown species that I may encounter on this challenge that are hopefully as strange and as fascinating as the little clingy Topknot.

Thornback Ray Fishing, Sandwich Bay

The One That Got A Ray

Sandwich Bay, Kent, UK

Magnificent View

My quest to catch my first ever Thornback Ray has been proving quite a difficult task, just this year alone I've had 5 sessions over two venues, twice at Sandwich Bay and 3 times at Herne Bay, I had fished day and night sessions without any luck hooking the odd Whiting here and there, except one session where I cuaght lots of Dogfish, so what had I been doing wrong? I'd mostly been using fresh Herring as bait, but reports were saying Bluey was catching better, I'd not found any Blueys untill now, but looking through a Pike bait pack in my freezer I realised that there was 4 halves of a bluey mixed in with some Sprats, Mackerel and Sardines, so now I had some bait, I also went from using size 4/0 pennel rig to a single 3/0 hook,to give better presentation.Was it the weather? I could not believe my luck as the weekend coming was my only weekend off in the month, allowing me to night fish and pick the tides, which was a perfectly timed rising spring tide, with high tide at 1.45am, a full moon and to top it off the weather was sunny with no wind meaning flat warm sea. This is as ideal for Thornback Ray fishing as it gets, So with all the signs there, I headed off to Sandwich Bay with sheer determination to catch my target species, I arrived at 10pm with the intention to fish till 3am.

Herne BayView From Bivvy

As I said before my plans don't always go right, in my hurry to go fishing, I had failed to notice that my scale batteries were flat and totally forgot to bring the camcorder, checking my phone I had 12% battery, maybe just enough for a few photos and a small video if I was lucky. But I didn't let this get me down because if ever there was a omen that I would catch a Ray then surly this was it. I fished 2x Greys 12' 6" TSX Centaur rod with a Shimano Ultegra XS-C 10000's loaded with 18lb mono, and my rigs were up and overs, with long 30lb snods with a single size 3/0 hook, I immediately baited them both up with chunk of Bluey put one to the horizon and the other at about 60meters, it wasn't long before both rods had registered attention, but the little rattling bites resulted in Whiting, the next few hours produced Dogfish and due to the tide starting to push through harder they were able to pull my 6oz breakaway lead free giving me a slack liner bite, and lot of excitement as each time I though this is a Thornback Ray, but not to be.

Where Are These Thorns

The tide was reaching high water and had started to ease off by now, still wondering and hoping that a Ray would be out there with my name on it. Then I noticed a boat coming along the coastline towards me, it was very close to the shore, but luckily went over both my lines, it then turned and headed directly at the beach 20 meters downtide of me, upon hitting the beach a large buoy was thrown over board, and the boat turned 160 degrees and powered away back out to sea. "Insert Censored Swear Words Here" I grabbed my first rod and reeled it in as fast as I could and saved the rig, but the buoy which was attached to a fishing net had now passed me at a range of 15meters and my second rod didn't have a chance. Totally dejected at the sheer disregard the boat had for me fishing, considering they could have warned me as they were well within shouting distance, but more annoyingly, I just had a long drift net floating across the whole bay in front of me, were there going to be any fish left for me to catch?.

My First Ever Thornback Ray

By now I was very despondent, having fished 4 hours and not caught a Ray, and now knowing a large drift net had just combed the sea in front of me, I couldn't even be bothered setting the second rod up, but I did manage to rebait and cast out my remaining rod. My attention soon turned to hunger, as in my hurry to go fishing I had not eaten dinner, but at least something went to plan, I was well prepared with kebabs and sausages which I started to cook on a little disposable BBQ, which whilst cooking gave me time to ponder at the beautiful stars in the clear night and the large red full moon rising above the horizon, well the fishing's gone wrong, but a BBQ on a beach on a night like this, drinking Jack Daniel's and Coke with my Mrs makes up for it for sure. I had just managed to turn my sausages a few times and I noticed a firm gentle pull on the rod tip, I look at the rod with little enthusiasm, I soon turned my attention back to the BBQ, but again a firm gentle pull followed by the rod tip snapping back to to a straight position, another slack liner, as I watched the line, it then got tighter putting a curve back into the rod which got bigger and bigger until the drag set in and started clicking releasing line, could it be?

A Pretty End To A Thorny Tail

I picked up the rod and gave the drag a quarter turn to tighten, and gently lifted the rod whist reeling in to take the strain, I felt a single thump vibrate down the rod, I was on and definitely a big fish! I reset my drag on the careful side, so as not to snap off, or pull the hook, and preceded to play the fish, this was clearly the biggest fight I had experienced sea fish in the UK, but the calm flat sea, and the fact it was dead on high tide with little tide meant that I could feel almost everything and a sheer pleasure to experience, it wasn't long before the torches picked out the nose of a Thornback Ray sticking out the water and then gliding on to the beach. Yes at last!!! I couldn't believe it,  the excitement set in, causing me to run around like a headless chicken looking for forceps and a cloth. It wasn't until I returned to the fish and pulled it a bit further up the beach I realised that this was quite a beast, and a angry one at that, it's tail covered in spiky thorns was trashing about violently and almost reaching its nose. But after some careful examination to see where I could get a hold of it without get spiked I turned the fish upside down which instantly calmed the fish down, with the mouth now exposed, I used long forceps to easily unhook the fish which was perfectly hooked. After a few, well lots of photos, I realised that this fish weighed a lot because I really struggled to hold the fish out away from my body to avoid any contact with the fishes thorns, I released the fish back into the lapping surf where it disappeared back out into the sea. I couldn't believe it, I was now over the moon! I had finally nailed my my first Ray even though my dinner was now a black smouldering mass surrounded by charcoal, I couldn't of cared less.

Dinner On A Perfect Night

I am gutted I didn't have working scales with me, not only had I caught my first Ray, I had done it in style with a large specimen, I have an idea about how much it approximately weighed as an experienced angler, and a fish lenght to weight convertor confirmed my guess to within 2lb. I'm very sure this is my first double figure fish from The UK shore, but the truth is the fish's weight will only ever be speculation, and I'm sure I would be extremely lucky to catch another of this size. I have the photo to remind me and the memory that I will never forget, the ups and downs and the effort over the years all came good in the end. As I said before with fishing, one fish can make a difference and whilst you got a line in the water anything can happen. I can now happily close the book on Thornback Rays and concentrate on other species, well at least till next time anyway.

Dogfish Fishing, Sandwich Bay

Ray Is In The Dog House

Sandwich Bay, Kent, UK

Flying The Flag

To be honest, my fishing plans at the moment are not going to plan at all, I've been on what feels more like a impossible quest now, to catch a Thornback Ray, whilst everyone else is enjoying lots of captures, PB's and record hauls, it's one nut that I'm finding difficult to crack. I'm sure it's just bad luck and maybe a few more sessions will show me the error of my ways and produce more than foul hooking a few hungry Pin Whiting on a over sized hook. And even though I've not achieved my goal of landing my first ever Ray, yet!, and yes I'm still optimistic despite 5 attempts this year alone,  that's not to say I havn't had a good days fishing, far from it! whilst all other fish seemed elusive one species was out to play, the Dogfish! and just proves that "Every dog has it's day"

A Small Fish To Catch A Big Fish

I arrived at Sandwich Bay at low tide, the plan was to to fish till high water to target Thornback Rays using big "up and over" rigs to keep the bait and 40lb snod pinned to the seabed, bait was fresh Herring and Mackerel with squid and sand eels to use as cocktails, these were to be mounted on 3/0 penal's, I used 18lb main line to 15lb to 70lb tapered leader, but I cut the first 3 meters off so the leader, so it actually started at about 18lb to match my main line. and using my Greys 12' 6" TSX Centaur rod with a Shimano Ultegra XS-C 10000's which would give me a good cast with a 6oz lead and medium to large bait. The sun was out, the wind was barley a gentle breeze and reports had been good so with confidence I put one rod out as far as I could cast, and the other fished shorter at about 70m, the rigs settled nicely and I set the rods with a slightly bigger bend in the tip, and awaited the tell tale Ray slack liner.

Who's A Good Boy Then?

The rods had been out 10mins without so much as a twitch, and I was setting about baiting another 2 rigs so I could swap over and recast immediately giving me more time in the water. then the close in rod tip took a dive, and then again, and again, not the biggest pulls but definitely a fish, I waited for the bite to develop, as I read that rays can be missed due to early strikes as they can cause a lot of false bites as they settle on the bait and rig. As I finished baiting the second rigs, the second rod was doing the same, I couldn't wait any longer, it had been too long anyway. As I lifted the rod gently into air, i then took the strain and waited whilst the lead popped out, yes I could feel a weight on the end, I tentatively set the drag and proceeded to reel in, was it a Ray, maybe but no pulling back, weed? no about 20meter from the shore line I saw what was on the end start bouncing across the surface and I immediately recognised it as a dogfish, and quite a big one at that. Well that's all I need to say about the session, for the next 3 hours, a fish every cast, and all dogfish, at mid tide the bites dried up and the rod stayed still and baits returned untouched, giving me time for a little snooze basking in the sun, and awoke to find a boat sailing across the bay proudly displaying the English flag, for St Georges Day.

How Cute Am I?

I had given it my best shot at catching a Thornback Ray, but they just didn't show. The Dogfish saved the day, I wasn't disappointed, and with 12 all over 1lb with the biggest at 1lb 15lb, put me landing approximately 18lb of fish, not bad by any ones standards. Dogfish or more precisely "lesser spotted dogfish" are the smallest member of the shark family to claim the coast of Britain as its home. I love Dogfish, But over the years I get the distinct impression that people either love them, or hate them. I've sadly seen piles of dead Dogfish on beaches where anglers seem to even resent putting them back in the water, for some inexcusable reason!, and thankfully less and less in recent years. Why? Are they a pest? No, how could you not expect a fish not to eat a bait you put in the water. Are they inedible? difficult to skin, yes!, but very much edible, they have no bones, just a central cartilage, and are perfect for children and anyone who's worried about eating bones. So what is it about Dogfish? and why would a friend, come fishing with me then describe his catch in the pub as "just got a manky Dogfish". Are they really manky? Of course not! It's their sleepy eyelids slowly opening and closing to show their beautiful reptilian eyes, that makes you realise that it isn't a fish, but a shark. And maybe that's the point! some peoples impressions of sharks tend to be more of big powerful predators with teeth, and something anyone would be proud to catch and brag about, so I'm wondering if the negative way some people talk about and treat Dogfish is just them showing their disappointment at catching this little, cute, sleepy, crab crunching, piece of sandpaper when unfairly comparing it to the likes of Jaws. But lets be honest, your biggest fish next time you go surf casting from the South East UK coast is most likely to be a ?????......yes you guessed it, a Dogfish.

Coal Fish, Dungeness

You Just Never Know What You'll Catch

 Dungeness, Romney Marsh, Kent TN29, UK

Having seemingly being forced at short notice to take my remaining years quota of holiday before the 1st of April or else lose it, left me with nothing to do except a bit of fishing, see life's not that bad! I have done a 6 hour session at Hastings resulting in Rockling after Rockling and to rub salt into my pain of catching these cursed creatures the wind was ferocious. having practically given up, I decided to fish a sabiki rig off a sea wall, baiting the hooks with very small pieces of lug worm, in a vain hope of catching something different, I wasn't disappointed! after a few minutes of the rig being in the water the rod tip bounced up and down, I lifted the rod and reeled in a small 10cm Pollock to my surprise.

And today I fished Dungeness beach, the weather was a lot kinder, the sun was out, the wind was calm and the fish were constantly throwing their selves on my hooks, what a lovely little session, 29 fish comprising of Dabs, three of which were keepers at about 30cm, Whiting, Flounders and micro Rockling, most of my bigger fish had all come from a single 1/0 hook on a running leger fished 20 to 30 yards out, I was hoping for a Bass. As I dragged 2 more Dabs onto the beach with my Continental rod, I saw my bass rod swing round to the left and bounce violently almost pulling the rod sidewards off the stand, in a fisherman's style panic I dumped the rod in my hands faster than a magician and grabbed the rod which was still bouncing and lifted into a bigger and harder fighting fish, which I was convinced was a Bass, But no! A Pollock? but something was wrong, the colour wasn't a Pollock's rusty brown colour, this was blue, It was a Coal Fish, a very rare catch in this neck of the woods, the first I've seen and my first ever Coal fish at 1lb 4oz.

Coal Fish at Dungeness - Species No. 12

This by its self isn't that strange, fishing always throws up the odd surprise, but now having caught my first 2 Pollock from the beach this month, the fact that lots of tiny Cod are still being caught along the coast, and that I have just seen my first Coal Fish which is seldom seen this far south is telling me this season is going to be very different, and for the better!! and I bet it's got something to do with the very mild winter and severe flooding and storms that constantly battered our shores for a few months, I know the commercial fishing nets have not been out during these months and some which were seemed to of been destroyed and washed ashore.  Either way, this seems to be good for the fishing, and my UK shore caught fish tally for the year all ready stands at 12, and with such a good start with so many species I cannot help myself! I'm setting a target of 25 UK species to catch off the shore, and with the summer species coming soon and with a little bit of effort I'm going to have a lot of fun trying to achieve this!

Bass Fishing, Weymouth

Double Bass Is Music To My Ears

 

Bowleaze Cove, Weymouth, Dorset. UK

Beautiful View, Preston Beach

A long weekend trip to Weymouth, and an opportunity to fish the famous Chesil Beach, but just like most my plans, they get twisted and changed, and this was no exception. I had done a quick recce of Several fishing marks including Chesil Beach, some rock marks off Portland and the North and South harbour walls in Weymouth where I watched 4 anglers try their best to catch something else other than a crab, and due to recent weather and winds, I had come to the conclusion that Portland and even more disappointingly Chesil Beach were practically unfishable due to the gigantic waves and ferocious swell which was littering the beaches with 1000's of unopened but waterlogged cigarettes, dog food and even fetter cheese, which were obviously the consequence of the recent storms or flooding claiming someones cargo. Having come to terms with the fact Chesil was off limits at least for the time being, it was time to get some advise and local knowledge, I went to Weymouth Angling Center, where luckily and almost to my disbelief I was advised to fish for Bass from Preston Beach about a 1 minute walk from my hotel door.

Benny The Blenny

I arrived at my mark at 3pm with the intention of fishing till dusk which coincided with high tide, armed with my 14' Vercelli Spyra Fiamma coupled with a Shimano Ultegra 10000 XBS loaded with 15lb mono, 15lb to 50lb tapered leaders and a simple running ledger with a plain 4oz lead and a single 1/0 Mustard Big Gun hook on a 1 meter 10lb flowing snod. I had almost kicked myself after leaving the tackle store as I had taken frozen Peeler crab even though I was told they had live ones, remembering the unsuccessful Smooth hound sessions that I had in the past with poor quality washed out frozen peeler crabs, but these frozen peeler were top quality, once defrosted they were still juicy, orange in colour and even come ready peeled! they even restored my faith in frozen baits, well a little,  I'll still try to avoid frozen baits if I can.

Biggest Bass Of The Day

Baited up with a whole peeler crab wrapped with bait elastic holding it into position on the shank of the hook, I cast out about 40 yards into the sea, a bit further than I would have done for Bass, but I knew from a earlier visit at low water this was a clear patch of sand and small rocks and would give be the best chance of not snagging on the larger weedy rocks and boulders which surrounded it. After a few little taps and knocks keeping me focused on the rod tip, it slammed down hard and then started to bounced violently, a classic Bass bite, I gently struck, and immediately could feel the knocking of what was on the end, my first cast had resulted in a beautiful little school Bass of about a pound. I rebaited and recast to the same spot, no longer than 5 mins waiting and the rod slammed down hard again, followed by a big wobble, I struck, and attempted to reel in, but a loop of line had gone under the spool, as quick as I could, I pulled line off the spool and untangled it from the shaft of the reel. I took up the slack and lifted the the rod putting a curve back into it, and luckily the fish was still on, it was another Bass, this one was bigger at 2lb 4oz and a new personal best for me.

Big Balls For A Tiny Pollock

The rest of the session was quite, the Bass had disappeared, only leaving the crabs to pick the bait off the hook sending tiny tell tale vibrations up the line to the rod tip, whilst moving my bait with each cast trying to locate some fish I managed to foul hook a tiny Blenny, not quite what I was after but something different and a very pretty little fish. After no joy fishing close in just managing to not lose any tackle to the rocks, I was down to my last Peeler crab, I had decided to cast this as far as I could. As soon as I settled the rod in the stand the rod tip rattled, tiny little rattles, I wasn't sure if this was the current, and was reluctant to reel in as it was my last cast. My rod tip had now been intermittently rattling away for 10 minutes, I was now sure it was a fish but it had to be very small, I reeled in, I couldn't feel anything fighting on the end, but I wasn't surprised to see a small silver fish wriggling away on the end of the big hook as I swung the rig towards me, I thought the fish was a familiar Whiting, but upon closer inspection and under shot lower jaw of the fish, I then realised that this was in fact a tiny Pollock, and a 3rd new species this session taking this years tally up to 10.

Asian Cigs Washed up At Chesil 

This had been a lovely little session, fishing a unknown location and not only managing some fish, the view over to Weymouth with Portland in the distance during the sunset was breath taking. And whilst the rod stood still my attention diverted to scanning the beach for hidden fossils amongst some of the most beautiful stones and rocks that I have ever seen which make up the Jurassic coast of South England. The weather had been extreamly changeable, from sunny with blue sky to overcast and rain within minutes of each other, whilst the clouds raced across the sky in the strong off shore winds, and for once and a welcome change, I was sheltered behind some cliffs, over which a kestrel was hunting, Sarah managed to get some magnificent video footage of it hovering watching the ground for prey to attack. I did get to visit Chesil a few days later and have a few casts, but even though the wind had gone, the swell and waves were still rough, and even as far as I could cast and with the stand on the high water ridge, I could not get past the violent surf, which threw the heaviest 6oz breakaway leads and my continental beach caster which I had bought with me around like rag dolls. Which left me returning to Preston beach where I caught one of the biggest 3 Bearded Rockling I've ever seen at 14oz. But one day I'm sure I'll return to fish Chesil, but better equiped and with a bit of luck the weather will be on my side.

Beach Casting, Hythe

Spring Codling

 

Princess Parade, Hythe, Kent. UK

Home Is The Darkest Blue Bit

Having being given the heads up about numerous Codling showing at various locations all over the SE of England, and having only ever caught one Cod before and then failed to catch one since despite numerous attempts, Nothing was going to stop me getting the rods out at the first opportunity this poor weather would allow, and yes, its been raining constantly since before Xmas, and now officially the wettest winter since records began, with the SE getting the most rainfall. But having the weekend off work, and a full day of no rain forecast with the winds dropping below gust level for the first time for a long time, I couldn't wait to get to the shore and just get out fishing. Having had to cancelled a 3 day fishing trip for catfish due to the bad weather, John had decided to join me in this consolation session, and his first shore sea fishing trip, We set off at the modest time of 9am, and stocked up some fresh lug worm and a box of squid from Mick's Tackle in Hythe.

The Codling Father

We fished 1 rod each, rigs were three hook flappers with size 2 hooks, these were baited with half a lug worm and tipped with squid, With the Sun shining, and the wind, which was twice as strong than it was forecast, blowing straight in our faces with a chill, we both cast out into the flooding tide, whilst John was fishing closer in, I fished further out, which helped us locate the fish, immediately my rod tip rattled away, my first 3 casts had resulted in 6 fish, 4 large and very fat Rocklings, a small dogfish, and a new fish for the species list a small Pouting, which was nice to see one, because as a kid they was all I ever remember catching, but now days they seem quite sparse with the rising sea temperature being the most likely culprit. Just as I was going to ill advise John to recast further out, his rod tip rattled away, and to my excitement  he landed His first shore caught fish, a tiny plump Codling!

PPPPPPouting

He didn't stop there, he had found his area to cast to, where they seemed to be, and proceeded to show me how to do it, and landed another 5, and I'm sure he missed and lost a lot more, I could tell by the Codling bites being very distinctive compared to the Whiting and Rockling bites that I was getting on my rod. As hard as I tried I couldn't match him, but I did at least managed to land a couple of Codling myself. We were both plagued by the onslaught of the fattest Rockling I had ever seen, I had to laugh at how quickly John was complaining about how difficult they are to unhook due them being slippery, with tiny mouths, and the Rock in Rockling must refer to their head, They're my least favourite fish to catch just for this reason, and even useless as bait or food. All in all it was a very enjoyable and productive 4 hour session, although no keepers and the fish being very small, we had 40+ fish and 6 species caught between us. And although I had to give John the title of Cod Father, I was happy to think that the numbers of these tiny Codling being caught at the moment will bode well for the future, providing they can avoid the commercial nets, I wish them all the best, and hope to see them again in a few years.

Big Smile For Something So Tiny

Beach Casting, Dungeness

Scratching Around

Dungeness, UK

A brand new year has started, with great excitement it's time to get the ball rolling on my 2014 species list. I would have loved to gone fishing, well any type of fishing full stop, but due the recent extreme rainy weather which has left the south of England flooded since before Christmas, swollen rivers are overflowing and creating newly made lakes and swamp lands making fishing impossible to dangerous. But more to the point it has cause so much devastation to peoples homes and property, businesses have been washed away, as has much of the infrastructure isolating people, and leaving them without power, and my thoughts and prays go out to everyone who has been affected.

The Vileda Mop!! aka Vercelli Fiamma

With a small break from the gusts and rain I decided that a trip to the beach was the most viable option than tackle a muddy flooded still water. I decided to hit Dungeness, I love this place, just fisherman and photographers, no traffic, no noise, and a little piece of the unique wilderness of England's only desert, dotted with unique flora and the abandoned wrecks of fishing boats. With the largest shingle bank in Europe jutting out into the World's busiest shipping lane, ever growing and reaching ever closer to France. With the surreal backdrop of the power stations, this place looks like it could be a set from Star Wars. It is a eerily surreal place at times, but that's what makes me feel a million miles away from my life, and when sitting on the beach looking up waiting for the rod tip to rattle against the backdrop of the stars on a clear winters night, are just magical!

Slimey Rockling

This time of year is often called the "scratching season" due to the size of the fish present and the lack of any of the big species, I didn't mind though, rather than sitting on big baits targeting larger species, I'm always happy to do a bit of match fishing with smaller rigs, picking off whatever fish happen to be in front of you, it has, and will again throw up some unexpected catches. Due to the very calm wind and sea not being as rough as I had expected, and the the fact it was a neap tide, I decided to use a continental rod over a conventional beach caster, A 14' Vercelli Spyra Fiamma coupled with a Shimano Ultegra 10000 XBS loaded with 20lb PowerPro braid. my rig was a simple three hook flapper, decorated with 5mm beads and size 4 hooks baited with lug worm and tipped with squid on 1lb 16 long snods, I started with a 5oz breakaway lead, which the rod effortlessly lobbed far out to sea.

Pin Whiting

I didn't have to wait long for the first tiny, and I mean tiny Rockling to undetectably hook itself and only reveal itself upon being beached, I had a few missed bites and a had few even smaller pin Whiting, but as the tide turned and started to rise, Surprisingly it got harder, and I hadn't had a bite for over a hour now even though I had tried three rigs cast far and near, but I had a plan, the current was starting to push through now, not too much, but enough to play with, I desperately searched my tackle box for a plain lead, but not one to be found!! typical, so in a improvised fisherman's way I settled for not clipping the wires into position on my breakaway leads and letting them hang loose, the idea being that the current moves the rig around searching out holes and gully's where hopefully hungry fish are laying in wait to ambush passing morsels.

Floundering Around

My first cast went out at 45 degrees down tide, with the delicate rod and braid I could see and imagine everything the rig was doing as it rolled and got dragged along the seabed in a big arc. And then wallop, a big pull down followed by rattle, I picked up the rod, took the slack and on the next rattle I gently struck, on this rod I could feel every movement of the fish, and was very exciting, I didn't have a clue what it was, apart from it was a little bigger than the micro fish I had already caught, it turned out to be my third species a plump little Flounder. I continued with success fishing with a unfixed lead until the current died down enough that even my smallest 4oz lead was  able to hold bottom, but as the tide stopped running so did the bites, but I had managed to land 16 fish even adding a few Dabs to the tally, I tried casting from 10m to as far as I could, but everything seemed quiet.

Dab Swollen With Row

The wind was picking up now and with even with a few hours till high tide and enough bait, I knew rain was coming and decided to call it a day, as I reeled in the rod for the last time, and I could feel something heavy on the end, but not fighting, I suspected weed or maybe a plastic bag, and was surprised when I saw a Dogfish curled into a ball come skimming across surf towards me, The biggest of the day and taking my tally up to 17 fish and 5 species, not a bad for a 4hour session, It was the only window to go fishing so far this year and I feel I made the most out of it. It was mild, dry and calm, and a very pleasant session all in all. but what a decision to pack up when I did, by the time I had packed up, the wind had gone from 20mph gusts to 50mph constant wind. Walking back to the van was extremely difficult in the gale force strong wind blowing straight at me, I nearly got blown over several times struggling to keep my balance or even breath properly against the wind,  and as I reached the van, out of breath and physically knackered, the sky blackened and the heavens opened with a ferocious clash of thunder and lighting, pelting hailstones and rain, lucky me! is all I can say, I sat in the van and watched the storm with oar, until the rain eased enough for me to drive home.

Both Blinking For The Shot