12/08/12 part 2

Hi all,

Went on a trip to Bracklesham with Glenn (ArnoldTeamSSF) on Sunday 12/08/12. Nice for us both to get out as fishing has been somewhat limited this past couple of months.

After a bit of a delay getting crabs for bait, we headed off at about 4.45 and arrived at 1745. We parked in the car park on the beach and walked 3 or 4 beaches west towards the new houses. As we arrived we saw a chap and his young son bringing in a hound which was promising and good to watch as the little lad was bringing in some good fish. 

Set up with a pulley rig with 3/0 Tronix big dog hooks in a pennel set up and clipped down rig. About a 5oz grip lead as it was first time fishing there and wasnt sure of the tide against the wooden pilons.

I had 5 peelers and the rest were hard backs so i started with a peeler and hardback combo which worked. First cast and into one after about 15 minutes of 9lb10oz. I swear that adrenaline buzz of the take never gets dull. Then glenn had one shortly after which was a lovely PB of 14lb 8oz.

We took pics, returned fish and cast back out. The fishing wasnt frantic but I had a couple more with best being 10lb just before HT. 


The chap to the side had a few more and Glenn had another better fish which was giving him some stick. He got the fish ashore and was another PB of 15lb! Things slowed down as High tide hit. 

Not sure if this is a combo of running out of peeler so just using hard backs or that the fish had slowed down. I had one more of about 8lb and that was it.
Glenn lost another in the surf after a great take. Missed a couple of slack liners too between us but all in all, a lovely 3 hours fishing. 

On the gutting side, i lost my wedding ring in the surf so if anyone has a metal detector and finds it there i will gladly give a reward of £150 as it wasnt insured. Apart from that it was a great afternoon with some nice fish and good company.

Hope you enjoyed.

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12/08/12

Hi all,

Apologies again for the delays in updating. Due to work commitments and general life getting in the way i may have to limit updates to 2 per month now.

I have fished a few times since the last update. The most productive was when i went out on the boat 2 weeks ago with HDSA. I headed to a spot about 4 miles out and anchored up with Pete. Ideally we were targeting rays and hounds but also whatever else we could.
Initially it was a bit slow but then the bites began. I had a smoothound on crab to 6lb which gave a cracking fight. I had also had quite a few dogs and bream with pete catching some dogs as well. Pete then lifted and realised that something better was on, instantly realising it was a ray, and a good one at that. After quite a fight we managed to land the fish weighing 14lb 10oz!

We continued to fish and had a mixture of species including plaice, dabs, gurnards and a dragonette. Most of the bream were small and despite catching 20 i didnt manage to get a sizeable one. besides that, it was a cracking day and great to see pete land such a nice Ray.

Elsewhere, Brighton marina is producing the usual expected mackerel, gars and bream. pollack have been caught on prawn or white rag near the walls and rocks. Wrasse and pout down the walls with Plaice being caught by casting out. ben arnold has had some lovely Mullet with the biggest just under 5lb.


I am off to fish with my good pal Glenn today in the pursuit of more hounds so i will post a report regardless of the catches.



17/07/12

Hi all,

I have just got back from holiday so not been able to fish or catch up with reports.

I am aware that hounds have been caught between shoreham and selsey with best marks being selsey, east preston and ferring.

I did manage to fish myself at Ferring before my holiday and have the following report:

Arrived at EP at about 2100 and set up my gear. The tide was still quite out and it gave me plenty of time to check the rigs, practice cast and prepare everything. I had 2 rods but only fished one. I was using Pulley rigs with size 3/0 aberdeans in a pennel set up and double patting. On the other rig i had the same set up but with a Tronx Big Dog 3/0 hook. Plenty of peelers in the bucket and everything set up. As the sea hit the shingle at about 10, i had my first cast. Left it for 20 min and nothing so reeled in, rebaited and cast. This continued until about 11.40 without a touch. Not even a Dog. Weed was on the line, not enough to be horrid but enough to block your leader knot.

Other reports from friends at Pagham and Selsey also said things were slow and i was thinking, not another night like the last ones i had had. The guy next to me hadnt had any so i knew i wasnt just missing them!

Then at about 11.45 (about 50 min before HT) the rod gave the tell tale pull twitch and bend and i knew a fish was on. I grabed te rod and could feel the pump of the fish (get in)! after a brief tustle, and a decent last run, i got the hound ashore for my first of 2012 at 7lb on the nose.

Adrenaline pumping, i recast and within 5 mins there was another thump then slack, i lifted the rod and reeled until i felt contact. This one felt better and was at 10lb. The guy next to me was also into one about the same size as it was evident they had come on the feed.













Again, recast and 10 minutes later while baiting up, i had another on. This swam the opposite way and gave a better fight. Unfortunately, so much so that it seemed to get caught around one of the groyne wooden posts as it mad a dash left! After some swearing and easing out, the fish freed itself and then came ashore. this was the biggest at around 11lb. I had one more at about 8lb around 1am and in between that i had 2 come off, 1 that didnt feel as big and 1 that felt reasonable and lost near the shoreline but such is life. I was just happy to get a double and break the curse that felt at if it had been weighing over me!.



All were caught at about 80 yards out with peeler. I will add pics later and apols for poor photography but it was the phone resting on my box with a timer on!

Thanks again to all of you who PM and replied to me, these werent my first hounds and no PB but a great session after what had been 3 or 4 very bad ones that had made me start to doubt myself and my tactics (even though when i didnt catch no one caught but you know how it is)!



Thanks and please check back for the next updates.





12/06/12

Hi all,

Sincere apologies for my absence but I have been away with work and unable to update the site or fish, so have basically been sulking!

Although, that said, i have had some great news as i am going to be a dad! so it has been a very busy few months!

On the fishing front,

Brighton Marina - Is producing the usual expected species. Gars and Mackerel on floats fished mackerel strip and feathers. Bream have been caught with bottom fished baits just out from the wall. Lots of plaice have been caught in the past month to baits cast out and Wrasse and pout have been caught down the wall.

Shoreham beach and hot pipes - have had shoals of mackerel when calm over the high tide with some good size fish. There has also been some nice bass showing up in the surf as well as some dogfish after dark.

Pagham - a usual haunt for hound and bream hunting has started to produce some nice sized specimens of each species. Hounds after dark and bream in the day by the rocks. I have been itching to get down there and am planning a trip down there when weather/tides are good/


10/04/12

I didnt manage to fish this week due to other commitments, however, my dad fished with HDSA and went out on the boats on Sat. They were targeting plaice and most anglers managed to get their quota of 5 sizeable Plaice each.

Most drifted around the Marina and piers area. Lots of boats repoerted that there were undersize dabs and Whiting in large quantities which made catching sizeable Plaice hard. A couple of boats headed to deeper water and some managed a couple of larger size Plaice.

Elsewhere, Brighton Marina has produced Flounders and Plaice during the day on worm baits. Squid jigs are still producing squid.

Hove & Seaford beaches have produced Flounders and Schooly bass in the day with some pin whiting after dark.

Widewater has produced some schooly Bass as well as some Dogfish at dusk.

With the SW stirring up the sea, I would imagine that there will be some reports of Bass over the coming week, so it may be worth wetting a line and fishing the surf.




03/04/12

Hi all,

I fished with HDSA this week and we headed out on Sunday 01/04/2012. We were again targeting plaice and were all optimistic after last weeks catches. 8 boats went out in total and conditions looked perfect with a sunny calm day. I headed to a spot that has produced some plaice in the past near Coles hole and drifted around 2 miles off the end of the pier. We started fishing at about 10ish and low was approaching.

For bait I had Black, Blow, Kind and whites. I was using running ledgers on the drift with size 1 or 1/0 Tronix Aberdeen hooks. I had 1 rod with a single ledger and the other with a type of wishbone ledger. All hook lengths had a range of patterned hooks. After the past weeks success on black and green, I had more of these but also had some yellow and white as these were also working well. I had added some Tronix Plaice beads for added attraction and a silver holographic spinner.

First drift I was straight into 2 plaice and a dab on the other line. All undersized. My dad (who I was fishing with) managed to get 2 sizeable ones quickly and a sizeable dab during about 30 mins of drifting. I was struggling with undersize ones but managed to get 2 sizeable plaice. It was also slightly snaggy with what we think were muscle beds and we lost a couple of sets of gear. The fish slowed down and we started to get lots of whiting bites so moved closer inshore.

We started drifting again and was straight into dabs and whiting, all undersize. They were hitting baits before the Plaice but also, there seemed to be less Plaice about than last week. My dad hooked into a couple in quick succession and had his target and limit of 5 while I was on 3. We moved a little closer to shore and after about an hour I hit a patch not far off the pier where I had 3 Plaice, 2 sizeable with one being 1lb 8oz. We both had our target and limit of 5 so were now after other species.

We moved from the piers and headed back towards hove as it was nearing the end of the match. We thought we would try a different patch to see if we could get any dabs. We were about 2 miles off HDSA club and got 1 sizeable dab but bites were few and far between. At the end of the match, my dad and I both had 5 Plaice and a Dab that were sizeable. He had a slightly heavier weight by a few ounces.

Amongst the other catches were Steve with a Plaice of 2lb 5oz and some Mackerel & a small Codling.

I will not be fishing this weekend as I am away but I will get reports from the guys who are.

Brighton Marina has seen a few Mackerel and Gars show up but nothing in great numbers. There are still Plaice and Flounders on worm baits fished on the bottom. Squid have started to show so its worth getting squid jigs and giving it a go.

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Hi all,

SSF is now on twitter so please follow me @sussexseafishin for regular updates and tips. Its actually easier for me to post on here live as im fishing and with quick messages on a regular basis.

Anyway, onto the fishing.

Most marks are producing Plaice of varying sizes off the beach, including seaford, pevensey, shoreham and Brighton. After dark, these marks have also been producing Dabs & pin whiting for the most part.

Brighton Marina has been producing Plaice in the day on ragworm and colourful bead baits. The first few squid are also starting to show on the arms now, so get your squid jigs at the ready! A few Mackerel and gars have started to show but not in great numbers yet.



I Fished with HDSA inshore boat club on sunday in the first match of the year. Conditions were great and lots of excitment about the prospect of fishing as we were getting the boats ready.

We launch off the beach and are allowed within a set number of miles within the club. Rules are 2 rods 3 hooks and the target species was Plaice with a max weighable bag limit of 5 Plaice. Bonus points are awarded for each Plaice.

We set off at 10.30 amd all the boats headed to their respective areas. I was with Harry and we headed just off the Btn Marina. I had my 2 rods set up, with ledgers, 4oz weights, a single hook on one and a type of wishbone on the other. size 1 and 1/0 hooks. Lots of beads in set patterns that had proven successful before. For bait i had pumped Black, dug lug & whites and had some king as well as frozen squid.

We started our drift with the tide taking us towards the marina. Within 5 minutes Harry was into his first plaice. I was getting taps but it was from dabs. Then my rod gave that familiar Plaice bite and i was into one. Harry quickly had more Plaice and within the first hour had his 5! i was on 2 and a sizeable dab at that point. I had other fish but they were undersize.

We moved position as started to hit a few snags and then i qas quickly into my 5 sizeable in total. Given that we had achieved our target we headed out to deeper water to try and get a few other species but still got the same Plaice, whiting and dabs. In total i kept 8 for the pot and returned the rest alive as had about 20 in total. Also had countless dabs and about 10 whiting but no other species despite trying.

King was proving to be the most attractive for Plaice on that day but fresh blacks also landed some fish. I found that tipping the king with a white really helped.

at the weigh in, i met with the other guys and most had the 5 limit so it was a very productive day for everyone. Amongst the fish was a cracking mackerel that was between 2-3lb as its the biggest i had ever seen and looked like a small Tuna! my dad had the heaviest fish of the day with a Plaice of 3lb 5oz which is a nice fish at this time of year. He also won the match overall, jammy git! I will ad pictures later.

Fingers crossed we get out this weekend too!

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IM BACK!!!

Well, I am back from Mexico a married man and am celebrating a great catch (poor pun I know). I hope you have all had a great few weeks fishing and have had plenty of action. My sources tell me that there have been a lot of Plaice off the beaches and arms locally, especially Brighton Marina. Im hoping there will be some left for when my boat season starts in a few weeks!

As for me, I managed to go fishing twice on a deep sea fishing boat called Marlin Magic at Captain Ricks in Mexico. I went with 8 mates and we hired the boat both times. On the first time, it was flat calm and there was very little showing up while trawling. Given this, we opted to reed fish and had some luck with some nice fish. It’s a different type of fishing as its into over 100ft of water on the edge of a deep reef with only tiny weights. Feeling the bites was also hard but I managed to get the knack of it and hooked a few fish, including a tiny Grouper, trigger fish, and a nice Red Snapper. My snapper was caught on a free bait which I just dropper over, let free line to the bottom and jigged. It was a tiny rod and reel and a great arm aching fight. The rod was bending right down to the butt. Sam also hooked into a nice fish which was suspected to be a grouper but it went into a snag and after fighting it for 15 mins he lost the fish. Being a great mate, I was using the free line bait again and hooked up so gave it to Sam who after another great fight landed a similar sized snapper (pics below)

The second trip was ROUGH and was a week after the first! They said that it was nearly no go conditions but ok enough so we went for it. There had been Dorado caught over the past couple of days as trawling is more productive in choppier conditions. We saw lots of flying fish breaching the surface and flying across the water which was great to see. As there was 5 rods out trawling (different depths & lengths) we all took rotas and paired up on certain rods to ensure it was fair. The first 45 mins passed with nothing except lots of sea spray. Then suddenly the unmistakeable screaming sound of drag and line being released could be heard and fish was on! It was Simons turn on the set rod and he took up the seat to have a cracking fight with a barracuda that breached the surface many times (vid and pics below). It was a great fish and not bad for his first ever trip!

About 30 mins later my rod screemed but it wasn’t a Bara! As it came clear of the water in the waves it was clear that it was a Dorado (Mahi Mahi), which was a fish I always dreamt of catching. Adrenaline running, I reeled in and got the fish to the boat! My first Dorado and I was over the moon! After my adrenaline rush, I went up to the top deck of the boat and had the great site of seeing an amazing splash on the surface of the fish taking a bait, I shouted just as the reel screamed into life and the fish was on. My dad had his turn on the rod and managed to land another (smallerJ) Dorado (video below). We had 1 more take but lost the fish but for 4 hours, we were very happy and I hope you like the pics and footage.

Thank you all and thanks for checking back with me. I know I have been away for a few weeks but I will now continue to update the site on a regular basis.

16/01/2012

Hi all,

Fished tidemills on sunday in a HDSA match. Fishing was between 1230 and 1730 with a pegged match with about 16 anglers. Usual HDSA beach rules applied (if you have read my previous posts). I had pretty much everybait i could need (having dug in -1 on the previous morning). This included whites, reds, blow, black, king rag, squid and mackerel. I had an assortment of rigs including wishbones, 1up 1down clipped downs and pennels with a mix of hook sizes to cover all bases.

I started with optimism as the sea was coming in and relatively dirty, although the fres SE wind was slighlty denting my optimism. A few casts in and nothing was biting. The bright sunshine and SE wind was slowing things, or at least that was my 'fishermans excuse'. No one on the beach was catching and then suddently i hooked into a couple of whiting all on rag on the bottom hooks as did a couple of the anglers near me. None sizeable though. Mine was 26cm and three quarters but no chance of going to 27, unfortunately. It went quiet again until dusk set just after HT and some whiting started to show, mostly on my fresh black. The 1up 1down was proving most productive.

I had a few double shots but again none sizeable, most tiny but a couple near the mark. In total i had about 9 fish but no sizeable ones. My first blank of the year in only my second comp! doh but at least its out of the way and I caught something. Most people blanked and the 3 of us that were top of the league all blanked but some sizeable fish were caught, a few dabs, rockling and a flounder. Judge P managed a few sizeable fish to beat me too, which he reminded me of lol!

That said, as it was the best 5 of 8 matches, im pleased to say that i won the winter beach league and gave myself a pat on the back having won my first league. Fingers crossed its the start of more, i hope. nice way to start the year.

In summary, as you probably already know, there are better places to fish than tidemills at the momment lol.

__________________
Craig


Shoreham beach 17/01/12

I had a quick 45 min session last night on shoreham beach. My first since moving there. Grabbed a rod, tripod, 2 rigs and a wrap of black and walked 100 yards over to the beach. Fished from 1800 - 1845ish and was using 2 hook clipped down (1up1down) rig. there was a light breeze but relatively calm and enjoyable. there was a light breeze but relatively calm and enjoyable. No one else was around so had the beach to myself. Within minutes of each cast i was getting bites. first retrieve had 2 sizable whiting. Next 4 casts produced double shots each time except last cast with 1. The rest of the fish were undersize whith some very small ones but at least i had 2 keepers for fresh whiting dinner that eve! lush and looking forward to some more ventures across the road! Would say use bigger baits to avoid the smaller ones if you are considering it.

Pevensey bay
Has produced whiting in the day and night as well as Flounders and Dabs.

Tight lines for 2012!

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08/01/2012

Hi all,

Apologies for the delay in updating the site but i have been ill with the lurgy that everyone seems to have at the momment. Anyway, im better now and have managed to go fishing. 

Seaford
I went for my first trip of 2012 with HDSA in a beach match. We were intending to fish the area between beachcomber and edingburgh road in seaford but by the time we met there was already anglers from here to the deep end so we moved to the buckle car park.

We fished from 1900 til midnight and usual HDSA rules of 4 hooks 2 rods applied. I had a range of baits including Black, Blow, whites, Squid and Mackerel. For rigs i had a selection of 2 hook clipped downs, clipped down wishbones both with size 1s and a pulley pennel with 3/0s.

I started with the first 2 rig types and was double patting. For the first hour i couldnt catch anything but whiting around the 24-26cm mark. Then i managed a double shot of sizeable fish (dab and a whiting). Fishing was hard with probably 1 in 6 being sizeable and plenty of double shots. I changed to the pennel in order to try and get a bigger whiting but still got small ones. I continued fishing and trying different distances and bait set ups.

I was finding that the bigger whiting were being caught on the wishbone with black and mackerel strip. The fishing was constant with a slight lull over HT. In total i managed 19 sizeable fish (2 dab, 1 Rockling & 16 whiting) to com joint 1st with Iain. I kept 6 whiting for the pot and all others were returned alive. Pretty much everyone had similar species except Wayne who had a very good size doggy. Unfortunately no Codling or Bass despite a few of the 12 anglers targeting them. 

Pevensey bay
Has fished similar to Seaford but has also been producing more fish in the daytime.


Hope Inn
Glenn fished the Hope Inn and had a selection of 7 species. With the water rough and dirty, the hope provided a good place to comfortably fish from but 7 species in a session at this time of year is a great haul. They included, Pout, Flounder, Whiting, Rockling, Dab, Eel & a pollack!

I know that more recently it has been producing quite a few small whiting and the odd flounder as well.

Tight lines for 2012!

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Hi all,

I fished with HDSA in the xmas comp yesterday. Fishing from 1400 - 1900 with about 18 people. I had a range of baits including black, blow, king, whites, squid, slippers, mackerel & frozen peeler. Fish 2 rods 4 hooks and catch and release (unless keepers to eat) as per the usual rules. Rigs were wishbone, 2 hook clipped up (1 up 1 down) both with size 1 hooks & a pulley pennel with 3/0.

Action started instantly with a dab just undersize on my wishbone rig. Then Rockling and a flounder on the next cast on the other rig and both were sizable. I was alternating rigs at different stages and trying to work out what was producing the better fish by also casting near and far. Distance seemed to be working for me. I had numerous whiting but all half a centrementer too small. After the first hour i had about 4 sizeable fish and then the fishing picked up. It was pretty much at least a fish a cast and usually doubles. The difficulty was getting the bigger ones as many were under. I did notice that the larger ones were taking black and squid so i increased this combo and started to get better ones. In the last hour just after HT, i had something heavier on that was giving some kick and put a bit more bend in the rod than normal. Optimistic, i reeled in and got it through the slight surf that was on the shore. As its tale flapped i thought it was a small Codling and a whiting on the other hook but actually it was 2 whiting (on squid and black). It was 46cm long and i kept it to weigh as knew it was a PB whiting for me. At the scales it went 1lb 12oz and a new club beach record so i was chuffed, especially as it got me 10 bonus points in the match. I will add a picture later. Just goes to show that 14 years of beach fishing and you may catch a decent whiting lol.
















There was also a small Schooly and a doggy caught. One of the chaps also had a nice slack liner on whole cuttle but unfortunately didnt manage a hook up.

Overall i managed to win with 32 fish so was a very productive night for me which was nicely rounded off with a few pints in the club house with all the anglers!


All in all a nice way to end the beach league for 2011.

Thanks and merry xmas!

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13/12/11

Hi all,

This past week has seen some of the strongest winds to hit the coast in the past couple of years and looking forward it doesn’t look like its going to stop until after the weekend 18^th ish?

Saying that, there was a brief lull in the wind which meant that I actually managed to wet a line in a match on Hove beaches with HDSA on Saturday 10/12/11. We fished 1930 – 0030 with HT about 2230 ish. I was armed with a range of baits including; black lug, blow lug, Frozen peeler crab, Mackerel, squid and White rag that I had dug earlier on. The sea looked promising given that the whole week had been rough so this was the first real calm day. I was optimistic of a potential Codling. I was using 2 rods and 4 hooks as per the club match rules. It was catch and release and you can keep the bigger ones for eating if you wanted. In terms of rigs, I had 3 styles ready and 2 of each prepped and ready for certain times of the match. I had 2 clipped down wishbone rigs with size 1 hooks and plenty of 2 hook (1up 1down) rigs at the ready with size 1 hooks. I also had a clipped down Pulley pennel rig ready for a few casts on one of the rods as we approached HT with 3/0 hooks on.

First cast and within seconds the rod was tapping with the unmistakable knock of whiting, as was the other rod, so I pre baited the rigs and reeled in. Had 2 on each rod but these were all 25-26cm so 1cm too small. This continued for a few casts and I mixed baits around to see if anything was tempting the bigger ones. A few casts in and the wishbone rig was proving to take the bigger ones with Black and quid being the most productive for larger fish. This continued to be a theme through the night as I had many double shots of gooduns. Biggest was about 38cm so not too bad. About 2 hours in and I had a good bite so reeled in, this time it was much harder and there was some certain pulling back. About 20 yards out it went light and then when I got it in there was 1 sizeable whiting with a big chunk out of its head! I assumed this was a cuttle or a squid. The same thing happened a few casts later with a good bite, fight and then nothing, clean hooks and no fish so fairly sure something pinched it!

Approaching HT I tried the peeler and squid on separate casts on the pulley pennel but it was just taken by hungry whiting, although sizeable. The whiting theme continued to the end where I had notched up 26 sizeable whiting and what felt like double that undersize. Tiring work really in the end and a bit gutted nothing bigger or better showed but at least there was fish! I came 2^nd overall behind Iain who had over 30 and a Flounder.

Fingers crossed im fishing this coming Sunday so I will add another report (weather permitting).

On a side note, I was contacted by Paul Vincent who sent me this picture from when he fished on the Palace Pier (what a cracker) - I thought you may be interested in this picture,I caught it off the top deck on the east side at the top end of the resteraunt.Bob grifhis and railway Jim helped me net it in October 1972 .

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23/11/11

Hi all,
I fished hove beaches on Sunday 20/11/11 in a HDSA beach league match. Weather was good with a bit of an easterly blowing which eased as the afternoon progressed. We fished 1430 – 1930 with HT at 1815. There was quite a swell still hitting the beach but was still easily fishable and a pleasant afternoon. We fish with 2 rods and 4 hooks in the league and operate catch and release unless you want keepers for dinner etc. I set up and was using a mix of rigs. I had intended to try a bit of sneaky float action off the beach given the reports of gars etc at Shoreham arm but the water looked to dirty so it was bottom rigs I opted for.

I was double patting and used a selection of three, 2 hook clipped up rigs (1 up 1 down) with size 1 hooks, the other rig was a pulley with a pennel of 3/0. I basically rotated the pulley every so often and used squid in the daylight and then bigger black and squid cocktails after dark. For bait I had Black, king, squid and mackerel.

First cast I put both rods at distance. As it was daylight I wasn’t expecting much but got a tap on both rods after a few mins so I pre baited my other rigs and then wound in. 1 sizeable whiting on 1 rod and then a double shot of marginally undersize ones on the other. Cast back out but put 1 rod at distance and 1 closer in the slight surf with asquid on the pennel for Bass. The distance rod tapped again and another double shot of undersize fish.

Things then slowed down for an hour with hardly anything being caught apart from the odd undersize one. Then as darkness came so did the whiting and for the last 2 and half hours I fished my pants off to get 17 sizeable whiting and a pout. I kept 4 with the biggest being 38cm and a couple around that. They took pretty much all baits. I also had 2 undersize thornbacks on rag and mackerel strip which at first made me think I had something better on as they kited in the tide.

One thing I did notice was that the whiting were quite fussy at biting managing to pick the bait off the hooks rather than aggressively biting. This led to a few retrieves with nothing and no bait left so I started to elastic the squid and mackerel strips around the worm which produced more fish. I knew my hooks weren’t too big as 1s are fine but I think it was the calming conditions and smaller whiting just picking at it.

Overall I finished 2nd of 12 behind Ian who won with 25 fish. There was some notable other catches such as a couple of doggies and a Bass of 2lb 14oz by my dad (pic to be added). He had it on black and squid cocktail fished about 40 yards out. It was also quite odd as I fished the beach by the HDSA club, as did Ian and it seemed to be fishing better than the beaches to the east of us where I think the most fish was about 10.

All in all an enjoyable nights fishing and looking forward to my next trip which will likely be Shoreham beaches when i move in 2 weeks.

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17/11/11

Hi all,

Firstly, sincere and much overdue apologies for the delay in updating the site over the past couple of months. Due to increased work and personal commitments it has meant that I have been unable to fish as much as I would have liked this summer. In fact, up until I went fishing 2 weeks ago, I hadn’t been for 2 months! I don’t think I have ever had longer than a week or 2 absence in the past so it was horrid. On the plus side, I have been wetting a line much more in the past 2 weeks with 3 outings. I also have some reports of local fishing for you as well. So without further delay, here are the reports:

Brighton Marina:

Is fishing well with a good mix of species. Mackerel, Gars, Wrasse, Flounders and Pollack in the day with some Schoolys as well. Feathers and float fished mackerel strip have worked best for the macks and gars. Baits down the wall for Wrasse, pout and schooly bass. After dark there has been quite a few good sized whiting as well as the odd Dogfish. Some good size pout have also been caught.

Shoreham arms:

After dark there has been whiting, dog fish and pout. I haven’t heard of any Codling off there but there has been schoolys. In the day time there are still plenty of Mackerel and Garfish, along with some Shad.

Hove beaches:

Report from me:

I fished a HDSA beach league match on 05/11/11. Was a pleasant calm eve with a N wind keeping the sea flat. Fished from 5pm til 10 and had black, squid and mackerel for bait. Action was thick and fast with many whiting. Most were at range on clipped down rigs at the lower tide but were coming closer as tide came in. Must have had 50-60 in total. Most were just under size but managed come 3rd and get 22 sizeable whiting with a couple of crackers around 40 cm. Also had a handsome edible crab (will add pic later). Also, i couldnt believe how much the beaches had changed after the rough period we had previously had.

Amongst the catches were a few doggies, flounder, a good pout, schooly bass. We fished from outside the clud to about 6 beaches down. It was won with 26 whiting and a dog.

Seaford:

Report from me:

After much deliberation I decided to fish Seaford on Friday11/11/11. I picked up my old man and we headed off to Seaford at about 6ish. We arrived at Edinburgh road and fished opposite. The sea looked slightly calmer than I had expected and all looked good. I set my 2 rods up, 1 with a live bait rig ready to catch a whiting for live bait with a 3/0 trailing behind, the other with a 2 hook clipped (1 up 1 down) with size 1 hooks. My dad was fishing a single rod with a 3 hook flapper. We had frozen black, mackerel and squid for bait. First few casts were productive with 1 or 2 whitin per cast. My dad had a few treble shots and I had a few doubles. Things were looking good. We also had some pout and they were pretty much taking any bait combo as you would expect.

Then, as the wind picked up, my luck went down! Cast out and started to hear a rattling on my rod, the top eye on my century tip had broken, great! Then I got stuck on a snag and lost the gear. Undeterred I continued, and cast back out with both rods, hoping that my luck would change. By this time, the wind and waves were picking up to what felt like a stronger sea than had been forecast. I was hoping that this is the part of the report where I could say I was rewarded with my perseverance, however, its not, I ended up losing another set of gear, as did my dad and about an hour later we called it a day at HT. I did manage more whiting and a couple of nice ones approaching 35-40cm which I got some good fillets from for dinner the next day so all was not lost. In total we probably had about 20 whiting each and some pout. All in all a disappointing session but in some respects I wouldn’t have it any other way as it will make the next Cod or Bass all the sweeter and also is a reminder that not every session is about a PB or cracking report but about getting out there and just getting involved. Despite my frustrations, it was enjoyable to wet a line, spend time with my dad and catch some fish.

From other reports, it has been fishing similar which is surprising as its usually very productive but by comparison to other marks its being slightly out fished at present.

Widewater:

Has been fishing well after dark with some Whiting and Dogfish. Some of the whiting have been very good, going over 1 and a half pound in weight. There has also been a few Bass and Codling both around the 2lb mark.

Pevensey bay:

As I know a lot of you are in Cod mode I have some reports from local Cod marks:

Dungeness:

Has been fishing as expected. Lots of Whiting and dabs but mainly whiting. There has also been a flurry of bass with some to good size. There has been a few Cod caught with a double being reported on the point. The biggest issue has been getting through all of the whiting. Live bait rigs have been working the best for Cod and Bass according to reports.

Chesil:

Quite a few Cod have been caught here and some very good size ones in the day and at night so if you are thinking of venturing out, it may be worth a try. Check out world sea fishing forums for some more detailed reports from here.

Lastly, I am fishing a match on Sunday afternoon so I will update you shortly after with the catches.

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06/09/11
 

Hi all,

I would like to start by sincerely apologising for the lack of updates over the past couple of months. This has been due to work and personal commitments meaning that i havent actually been able to wet a line in 2 months! i was hoping to go this week as i booked a week off but the weather has decided to throw some of the strongest winds this year on our coast my way, which means little chance of fishing. In the meantime, i am making rigs ready for the autum winter season as we are likely to start seeing whiting and pout after dark as well as the odd cod as the past 3 years i have had them in Sept. In the daytime (when calm) you are also still likely to get all the summer species while the water remains warm.

Anyway, I know that there has been some fantastic fishing over the past month. Most notably, a few friends catches. Ben Arnold had a 9lb mullet in Brighton Marina! its a monster! Also, a couple of friends went out on their boats a few miles off Brighton and had 60 Plaice between them! most were returned with only a few over 2lb kept! sounds like a fantastic day!

Glenn of BPPAA provided this report from 4th Sept on Btn Marina:

12 turned out for the Palace Pier Clubs latest match on the marina, and for the 1st time in a while there was Arnold Clean Sweep. I probably would have won but i ran out of ragworm and moved down the arm to catch some gars 2 hours from the end of the match but the gars just werent there and havent been out in numbers all year.
Arnold Senior (Roy) was the victor with 9lb 1oz which included garfish, mackerel, pollack and a small thick lip mullet of 1lb 7.5oz. Ben Arnold finished with a flourish of Wrasse to finish 2nd which included the days heaviest fish a wrasse of 2lb 1oz. I (Glenn) finished 3rd after getting tactics all wrong when i was probably winning

The wind picked up as the day went on which hindered the fishing a bit, a few waves came shooting over the wall, one of which soaked my dad and all his gear which included one set of our clubs match scales with now dont work!! it also poured down for a good hour.

1st Roy Arnold 9lb 1oz (5lb Macke rel, 1 Mullet, 2 Garfish, 2 Pollack)
2nd Ben Arnold 8lb 2oz (3 Pollack, 5 Wrasse, 1 Garfish)
3rd Glenn Arnold 7lb 4.5oz (5lb Mackerel, 2 Garfish, 1 Pollack, 1 Wrasse)

Until the next reports in a week or so, i hope you have had a fantastic summers fishing so far and carries on.

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06/07/2011

Hi all, A great weekends weather and some good reports. i managed to get out a few times so without delay, here we go:

This week I managed a few trips and definately experienced the highs and lows of fishing!

My first big decision was whether to fish last wednesday as i had heard of hounds at ferring. After much contemplation, I decided (with the advice of Glenn) not to go. Needless to say I was gutted to learn that there had been hounds landed and i had missed out. The next day, I had planned to go to pagham as it had been pencilled in. Armed with Peeler i set off and when i arrived it looked perfect! calm with no weed so I was optimistic of catching. As darkness set, I started to fish hard and managed to get a schooly bass which was returned. Then, for the next few hours i watched my rod tip eagerly but nothing! a long drive and gutted (especially given the missed opportunity the previous day). Ben Arnold and Roy managed a couple of hounds between 5-7lb and i saw one other caught but by normal standards it was slow to say the least. After a few days sulking, i wanted to wet a line again but had missed the best hound days so i planned a couple of yakking sessions closer to home.

The first day was saturday and I spent a few hours drifting near the jennies at HDSA club by hove lagoon. I managed to hook into some Mackerel on Feathers and a couple of bream. Mackerel were while trawling and the Bream were drifting with Black lug. A lovely session in the sun and helped ease the pain of the last session. I also met Steve who i know reads the site and he seemed to be a mackerel magnet as he had more than me. Always good to meet another yakker while out on the water.

The next day I met up with my mate Charlie for another yakking session but this time we fished between the banjo Groyne and the end of the palace pier. We paddled out to the end of the pier and drifted slowly back towards shore with the tide. We did try around the pier briefly but the tide and jet ski traffic made it a bit too hazardous. There was a lot of boat traffic which was a pain because the wake has a big impact on your kayak. Anyway, we fished with king rag and as we were about 200 yards off the pier I hooked into a small plaice which gave a good fight for its size. Then as we were drifting in, Char had a couple of good bites and managed to hook into a double shot of plaice on his running ledger wishbone rig. 1 was a keeper near 1lb and the other was undersize and returned. Char had to leave after that but I paddled out and managed to get a couple of nice Mackerel on the way out. I then drifted back in with rag on a ledger rig (size 2 hooks) and beads with sequins. I managed to get 2 plaice at a similar spot to the last. Both were returned with one of them being about 1lb. It gave a great thumping bite and fight which made me initially think it was bigger. All in all a great weekends fishing after a dissapointing few days.

Cant wait for the next session, just have to wait for the wind to calm down.

Hounds are showing at Ferring on crab.

The Marina is fishing well with mackerel, garfish and pollack on the float/feathers. Some bream are being caught on baits fished on the bottom. Some nice bass are also being caught. After dark there are some smoothounds starting to be caught.


Tight lines

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28/06/2011

Hi all, a real mixed week of weather but some good catches to report:

I went out on 27th kayak fishing and glad i did! had a cracking session about 500 yards off the beach by the white houses and HDSA club near Shoreham harbour. Only had 1 pack of old black and running ledgers with size 2 hooks and beads as was after a Plaice. I also took another rod with a small dexter wedge on.

First few drifts gave me nothing but i did see a lot of action on the surface with a couple of fish jumping clean out the water. Not sure if they were shad, sea trout or mullet but definately round fish. Then an almighty splash which was something decent hitting the surface, not sure if it was a bass but made me jump and hear jaws music in my head. The sea calmed down to a glass like state so I paddled a little further out and got a bite straight away over rocky ground. Im not sure what it was but suspected a Plaice as its was quite a slow bite. Nothing for a while so I rebaited and drifted again and got instant quick thudding bites, unmistakably bream. Managed to hook into a few of them but missed as many. Had one nice keeper (pic to be added later) and had i known bream would be there I would have taken more bait and size 4s. Met another yakker who was trawling feathers and getting quite a few Mackerel.

Cracking weather, fishing and sunset to top off first trip out in a while.

HDSA went out on Sunday (26/06/11) and fished between 2 - miles out in 5 boats. For the most part there was a lot of dogfish. There was also some Bream and a couple of rays but none of great size. some smoothounds were caught on crab. There were also quite a few nice bass caught.

The Marina is fishing well with mackerel, garfish and pollack on the float/feathers. Some bream are being caught on baits fished on the bottom. Some nice bass are also being caught. After dark there are some smoothounds starting to be caught.


Tight lines

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19/06/11

Hi all,

Firstly, huge apologies for the delay in updating the site, and secondly, thanks for sticking with the site. I have been unable to access the site due to a combination of net access and work commitments. Also, I have been unable to fish for the past month which has meant that like a big child I have sulked and not kept up to date so that I couldnt see what I have been missing out on!

Anyway, I am hoping to be able to wet a line soon and I am also hoping that this crazy wind calms down so i can get out on the boat or the yak! Onto the reports:

Brighton marina has fished relatively well when it has been open but access has been limited due to the strong winds forcing the arm to close. There has been a few Bass with a couple of nice ones between 5-7lb. Bream have been caught on small worm baits and mackerel have been caught occassionally but the murky water has turned them off a little. Crab has produced eels up to 1.8lb and small hounds. Ben Arnold also had a cracking Rockling of 1.5lb! which is a good size one, especially in june!

Pevensey bay has been producing Eels, flounders and schooly bass.

River Ouse is producing Mullet, eels, flounders and schooly bass or red (harbour, maddies) rag.

Pagham has been producing hounds amongst the seaweed with quite a few around double figures! so if you have crab and a free evening it may be worth having a look or checking out Selsey.

Thanks for sticking with me and I hope to be able to update the site more frequently from now on.Until then, tight lines.  

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23/05/11

Hi all, Apologies for the delay in updating the site but due to a combination of not fishing and other events, I havent been able to update the site over the past month. 

Anyway, onto the reports:

Brighton Marina has been fishing well with Mackerel and Gars on Feathers and Float fished mackerel strip. Pollack have been caught on prawn down the walls and over the rocks. Bream have started to show on worm baits and there are some Bass showing on both arms taking a range of baits including Mackerel. Roy Arnold from the BPPAA has a lovely mullet on the east arm over 5lb! Pout and wrasse have also been caught down the wall on worm baits. This week i can see the arms being closed until the wind calms down. If you are thinking of heading that way, it may be worth calling the tackle box in advance. 

Shoreham arm has been fishing similar to the Marina with some Dogfish showing after dark as well. I also saw a few scoolies landed at the hotpipe when I was pleasure kayaking the other day.

Brighton beaches has been producing a few Bass and Flounders with a couple of bass around 3lb.

Eastbourne has seen Flounders, schoolies and the odd Plaice off the beach.

Pevensey bay has seen Flounders and schooly bass on Black lug. 

Seaford has been fishing quite well with quite a few scooly bass up to 1lb, baby Thornbacks & vthe odd smut pup. A few Pout have also shown after dark. Jay fished it the other day and had a load of Dogfish and a couple of whiting!

Pagham and Selsey, whilst outside of Sussex are a hunting ground for hounds at this time of the year so I thought i would let you know that they have started appearing with a few around the double figure mark. Also, Dogfish and some nice bream have also been landed. The weed hasnt been an issue to date but I can see it now being a problem with this strong wind.

The current weather is not good with strong winds meaning that the sea will be rough and most likely full of seaweed along most of the sussex coast (goring, shoreham, brighton etc). That said, the rough weather will bring the bass on the feed and will keep the water dirty for hounds, eels and flounders. Best bet is to try just as it calms down. 

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19/04/2011

Hi all, 

What a glorious week we have had. Summer catches are really starting to pick up. Unfortunately, I dont have much free time to write a full report this week but something is better than nothing so here we go. 

Brighton Marina - has been producing quite a few Mackerel and garfish during the day. After dark there has still been a few dabs, dogfish and pin whiting but nothing much of any great size. 

I went out on the boat on sunday in a hdsa match. I took my friend Toshi out and it was flat calm, the calmest i have ever gone out in. The sun was shining and no wind to report. Everything looked great. 

We headed out from the club to a mark near Coles hole about 2.5 miles out. We were on the drift for Plaice which is the target species in these matches at this stage of the year. I had Black lug and king for Bait and Toshi had similar. we both used rods and 3 hooks as per the match rules. For the first part we were plagued by small whiting and dabs. I managed to have a few Plaice, 1 or 2 undersize with a couple of sizeale ones as well but the whiting were non stop and just taking our baits. Toshi was having similar results. 

We moved position a little further out and had similar but at least we were getting some Plaice. Other boats in the same area were not having the same luck, although a couple of the guys fishing another area had already had double figures while we were trying to get our allocation of 5 max weighers (there is a max limit to weigh in. After this, you target other species). 

Both Toshi and I had a go with feathers and apart from the odd whiting we also managed about 10 mackerel each and Toshi had this lovely one just over 1lb. 



















After this, we moved position and had much more luck. During one period we were almost having a Plaice a cast. Nothing big but good eating sizes. I had 15 Plaice in Total along with Dabs, mackerel and whiting, i threw most Plaice back. I weighed in 5 Plaice (allocation) and a dab. Toshi also had 3 Plaice (one nice one) to weigh in, amongst the other species. 

One boat recorded over 30 Plaice between them. My dad also had a nice plaice of 2lb 8oz. 

Anyway, tight lines for this week!

 

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11/04/2011

This week has seen some of the best weather of the year so far. As such, we have seen more evidence of summer fish starting to show.

I fished with HDSA on Sat 09/04/11. The match was targetting Plaice with a 5 fish limit, plus you can weigh in other species. Prizes for position and heaviest fish. We headed out from hove lagoon (where the club is based) at 11.30 towards our chosen spots - we fished between marina and rottingdean for a while before coming closer inshore near hove at the end of the day. There were 4 boats with 2-3 ppl per boat. We all headed to different areas and I was on boat 2 with Harry and Peter. After 30 mins of motoring along we got to our chosen spot. At this time there was a light easterly with a few small waves but nothing too strong. We dropped our lines over and started to drift. Within Minutes, Peter was into his first fish (sizable Plaice). Then Harry was into one and Peter had a cracker for his second which was a Plaice of 2lb 5oz. I managed a Plaice but it was undersize and I also had a dab. We could use 2 rods and up to 3 hooks so i used ledgers on each with 2 hooks on one with plenty of bright beads and a holographic spinner on each for attraction. There didnt seem to be any prefference for the fish, although i did notice that Yellow beads produced slighlty more. I was using Black and king for bait and the other guys were using Black and blow.

After about 40 mins, my rod held the position of bending and staying tense but not snagged, this is usually a good indication of a Plaice. I reeled in and fish on. My first Plaice of the day. As the day progressed we continued to drift and the waves got stronger as the wind picked up to the point where there were some white horses. The wind was higher than forecast but calmed down as predicted by the time we got in. We drifted through the day and Harry had 2 sizeable Plaice amongst smaller fish. There were patches of ground where suddenly all 3 of us hooked into Plaice so these were plotted ion my GPS quickly. I then had a double shot of Plaice on one rod which at first lead me to think i had a real monster but 2 or 1.5lb were netted so I couldnt complain. In total Peter managed 5 sizeable Plaice and a sizeable dab for 6lb 2oz. I had 10 sizeable Plaice in total but only weighed 5 and I also had a sizeable Dab which helped me win with 6lb 3oz. Peter had the heaviest fish of the day. We did try a drift closer to shore but the ground was too snaggy and ended up losing gear. 

Other boats had similar or slighlty less catches with a couple of boats landing Mackerel which was a good sign. I also had quite a few whiting but these were all tiny pin whiting which seemed to hit when the small dabs also started feeding. All in all a cracking days fishing and nice to get a win under my belt as it was a nice Bonus. Had the Plaice yesterday with some home made chips and they were beautiful!

Elsewhere, Brighton Marina has been producing Mackerel and a few Garfish. The odd Plaice and Flounder has been caught in the day as well. After dark, the odd pin whiting has been caught. I have heard reports that the first few Squid have started showing on the arms too with a few being caught this weekend. If you havent done it before its worth a go. Get your squid jigs out and give it a go.

Seaford has fished well after dark with some Dogfish and pout being landed on worm baits. I have also seen a picture on wsf of a guy catching a 3.5lb conger off the beach there this week too!

Hove beaches - I have heard about a few Flounders in day and night with some whiting after dark. Not too much else to report from there as yet.

Pevensey bay - a few Schooly bass showing in the day with some flounders as well. After dark there are still a few dabs and whiting showing but thining numbers due to the calmer conditions.

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06/04/2011

Hi all,

This past 2 weeks has seen glorious, almost summer like weather mixed with teh odd reminder that we are coming out of winter. As we are in the change over season (where winter fish start to exit and summer fish start to head in), it means that the catches have been few with little fish of any notable size being caught from the shore but some positive signs.

Brighton Marina has seen the first Mackerel of the year over the big tides. A few more were caught and reports of a Garfish but has the tides have become smaller, the catches have lestened. This is a good sign though that the fishing is close to picking up. There has also been a few Flounders, dabs and Plaice on worm baits with Pin whiting after dark. As we moved into last week, the wind picked up and meant that the arms were closed for a few days. When reopened, they have produced some flatfish and a few Dogs in the dirty water. With clear weather forecast, we may see some more Mackerel.

A few friends have managed to get out on their boats in this good weather, drifting for Plaice, between Peacehaven and Hove with few nice ones being landed about 3 miles off shore. There has also been a lot of Whiting and some very good size dabs caught. This is also confirmed by HDSA who went out last weekend and had similar catches with some nice Plaice.

Hove beaches have been slow with only the very odd Flounder showing up in the day. After dark there are still some pin whiting and Rockling.

Seaford has proven more productive after dark with some nice Doggies being caught along with small whiting and rockling.

The winds are forecast to pick up this week which will slow down the mackerel and gars side of things but will keep the whiting, flounders and ling about while the water is dirty inshore. 

Tight lines

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23/03/2011 

Again, apologies for the delay in updating the site, however, pressing work commitments have meant that I have had very little time to update the site or go fishing. 

I have kept my ear to the ground and heard that sprats & herring are being caught on Brighton marina to small feathers. With the water slighlty clearing, there has also been a few Flounders and the odd Plaice during the day on worm baits. After dark, there has been Whiting but mostly small ones on a range of baits.

Elsewhere, Kingston & hove beaches have been producing a few Flounders during the day. While the water is clear bright beads have been producing more takes. 

Pevensey Bay has been producing a few Whiting, Rockling, Dabs and Flounders on lug but none of any great size.

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20/02/11

Hi all, 

Apologies for the delay in updating the reports but due to work commitments i have had limited access to the site. 

Anyway, there is little to report at the momment as we appraoch the slow period of the year. best results at most marks have been after dark although there has been some good Flounder action at places like Pevensey, Seaford and Hove. 

Brighton Marina has been slow. the water has been dirty which has meant there are some fish about but mainly small whiting, Rockling, dabs and the odd flounder. Best results have been after dark on Black lug. 

Pevensey and Seaford have produced similar but slightly better numbers and sizes. 

Hove and Shoreham (kingston beach) have produced some Flounders during the daylight hours with a couple of good size but again relatively few and far between. 

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25/01/2011 


Hi all,

This week has seen slightly better reports with the weather churning up the sea.

Brighton - has been producing whiting in the day when the water was dirty but as it has started to clear it has meant that most have been caught after dark along with Rockling. There have been reports of some Bass on the east arm with one around the 4lb mark. Flounders and Dabs have also provided some sport and have mainly been caught on ragworm and black lug respectively.

Seaford - Seaford has produced Whiting, dogfish, dabs and rockling after dark. A few schooly bas have also been landed. In the day it has been the odd dab and flounder near the tidemills area on worm baits.

Pevensey - I have heard the odd reports of Codling when the water was at its dirtiest with a few around the 2-3lb mark. besides that, it has been similar to Seaford in its catches.


I fished Dungeness on sun 23rd with the HDSA club in a dab match. The rules were fairly simple, 2 rods, 4 hooks max. Heaviest dab and heaviest round would win prizes. The idea was to prevent the slaughter of lots of sizable fish and just have a get together.

I left at 5.30am and picked up my mate harry. We arrived at dungeness just after 7 in time for the 7.30 book in. I fished in line with the pub and the old derilict wooden building. As i walked over i noticed there was lots of sprats on the high tide line and pretty fresh so i picked up a load for bait! As i was setting up, there was lots of bird activity and a few seals too so i knew something would be attracting them and decided to use a pennel rig with sprat on 1 rod and a 2 hook clipped down (1up 1 down) with size 1/0s on the other rod. Bait was a mix of freshly pumped black, frozen black, some squid, mackerel and the free sprats.

First few casts produced some dabs and whiting. On the Pennel i knew there was some weight but not too much action so was unsure if it was a fish or weed. As i got it onto the beach it was a doggy. The sprat had worked. More casts produced more dabs and whiting. Nothing of great size. Then I had a couple of nice dabs on (around 9oz each) - well nice in comparrison to the smaller ones. My next double shot produced a dab and a hooked (not foul) sprat! A few casts later and i had some small whiting and a sizeable one on the pennel. Just before the tide picked up i managed to get another dog on lug tipped with sprat.

Over the high, the tide was very strong and  there was lots of weed. This was more complicated as another club had turned up and put themselves between us on the beach! it was already crowded when it was just us but now it was worse. Fortunately, the guys were ok and tangles were avoided, despite my fears.

As the tide ran i lost a couple of sets of gear on what felt like old tackle as i dragged across the bottom. Therefore, I switched to casting about 40 yards and didnt lose any gear and also managed to get a few whiting and dabs while avoiding the weed. Towards the end of the match the tide began to ease so i had a few longer range casts and managed to get a sizable dog again.

In total, i had 3 dogs (2 of 1lb 5oz and one of 1lb 4oz) this won me heaviest round which was good. I had a dab of 9oz for my biggest and had countless others with all but 2 being returned. I had plenty of whiting but only a couple of sizable ones. Once my fish were weighed all were returned alive except 2 dabs which were kept for the pot.

Another thing was that some sprats were washed in with the tide and there were bits of sprats in all of the weed so it was apparent that the boil was churning up the sprats and thats what everything was feeding on.

The results were that my dad had the heaviest dab with a lunker of 11oz and i had heaviest round with my 1lb 5oz dogs. 

2 dogs and Dab before i threw them back

A really enjoyable day. 

Craig

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17/01/2011 

This week has seen much stronger winds. this has really stirred the sea up and should provide some good fishing. I havent had too many reports in because for the most part people havent fancied it in this weather but here is what i have: 

Brighton marina arms have been closed this week due to the strong winds so there are no catch reports from there. 

Kingston beach has been fished as has provided some cover. There has been flounders, whiting, rockling and the odd schooly bass. Nothing huge but fish none the same. Rag for the flounders and lug for the other species have been the most productive set ups.

Pevensey bay has been fishing better this week and the dirty water has turned the fish on the feed. As such, there has been whiting, pout, dabs and the odd (3 or 4 reported) Cod up to 50cm long on fresh black lug. Other reports from the area have also said that dabs have been aught to good size as well as rockling on black lug.

I am planning to fish a match at Dungeness on Sunday so hopefully (weather permitting) i will have a few reports and pictures for you. 

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05/01/2011

Hi all,

Firstly, apologies as i know i have been slack with the updating of the site recently. This is due to starting a new job and having an extremely full schedule. Anyway, thats no excuse and my new years resolution is to update the site weekly.

Therefore, without any delay, onto the reports.

Hove beaches - have been best fished after dark. In the day time there is the odd Rockling and Flounder but after dark there has been the addition of the odd Whiting, although not many this past week. My dad fished a night match with HDSA by hove lagoon. it was won with a few rockling and no sizeable whiting.

Brighton Marina has been fairly slow too with the odd rockling and flounder during the day. After dark there have been a few whiting showing on worm baits tipped with mackerel. The wind has started to get up so hopefully this will churn the water up and bring the fish back in.

I fished Dover breakwater on 2/01/2011 with Glenn & Ben Arnold and a mate. We were optimistic of Cod as previous years trips at this time of year had produced for us. We made the drive at 5am to get to the boat for 7.30ish. We were on the first boat and headed up the breakwater to our chosen spot (pegs 25 - 45). Our optimism had been dented having spoken to local anglers who just said that it would be dabs only all day. Anyway, they were hardly wrong. Each cast produced fish but not the dogs, cod & pout we were hoping for but Just dabs and the odd Whiting or Rockling. It was one of those sessions that you knew you were outfishing other marks but were still a little disapointed because you know how it can be. I was using 2 types of rigs on 2 rods. 1 with a 3 hook 1 up 1 down and size 1/0 hooks and a pulley pennel with 3/0s on the other. I mixed baits on the 3 hook rigs and opted for whole squid on the pennel for a Cod.

Each cast more or less produced dabs with something the odd  whiting and rockling (some to good size). I was amazed at the good size of the dabs as there were plenty of chunky ones. I had quite a few treble shots and reckon I had between 30 - 40 fish. A few sizeable whiting and a monster Rockling. Glenn and Ben also had the same and we all kept a couple of great tasting dabs for the pan! All in all an enjoyable day even if we didnt catch our target. The biggest positive is that we know that we caught more compared to anywhere else we may have fished locally.

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12/12/2010

Hi all, apologies for the delay in updating the site with reports but i have been extremely busy with work and unable to update the site. I had even written a couple of reports when i had time but didnt have a spare momment to upload. 

Anyway, Onto the reports. 

There has not been much action on the Marina because the East arm is closed for repairs. The west arm is still open and there was a few whiting earlier in the week during the day when the water was dirty but now they are only showing after dark. There has also been some Rockling and Flounders in the daytime. 

There was a HDSA match last week and due to the rough conditions (sat 5th) it was moved from the beach to Soldiers point in Shoreham and was won with a couple of sizeable whiting. 

Pevensey has been producing quite a few nice whiting after dark on lug worm baits. its been referred to as a whiting fest these past few days so gives you an idea that they are there in good numbers. A few dabs and rockling are also showing after dark. 

Shoreham arm has fished similar to Pevensey, as has Seaford with whiting hitting the bait almost instantly. All action after dark as in the day its slow with only the odd Flounder. Im not sure if the whiting will stay on the feed quite so hard as the week progresses as the water is still clearing a bit. 

Im hoping to fish a match on sat so will report back. In the meantime, please email me with your reports. 

Thanks

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16/11/2010

Hi all,

After fishing the dover 3 day festival with Arnoldteamssf I had rediscovered some of my fishing passion after a month or so away. As such i fished a beach match with HDSA last night (14/11/10) on hove beaches at the lagoon end between 2p and 7pm.

The rules for these matches are different from others i have fished where you have 2 rods and up to 4 hooks. Its designed to make ppl put out a bigger bait on 1 rod but its up to you how you approach it. Its also catch and release unless you want to keep any.
I was armed with a selection of 3 types of rig for the match. 2 hook clipped up with size 1 hooks, a pennel rig with size 3/0 and some clipped down 1up 1 downs with size 1 hooks and a yellow bead on each snood. For bait i had some good quality frozen black, squid and mackerel. The water was dirty and looked all good so I baited up my 2 1up 1down rigs and cast out. As it was daylight to start with I wasnt hugely expectant but thought thigs would pick up as darkness came (which it did).

To start with i had some undersize whiting with a double shot of weighers just before dusk. I also rotated and put out the pennel with either lots of lug tipped with squid or a whole squid every other cast. To be honest this still produced whiting although the bigger ones for sure. I fished at a steady pace and double patting throughout using lug throughout and tipping with either squid or mack.

The fish were constantly on the feed and as i was baiting up my rigs the rod was already rattling. In total I had 27 weighers (some over 32cm) and quite a few undersize. I returned most and kept about 8 for the table. Black tipped with squid seemed to be the most productive bait and I was casting at distance using the clipped down rigs. This seemed to do the trick as I think the nearest result to me had about 16 fish.

All in all, a really enjoyable session with good company, plenty of fish and a win to round it off. Just looking forward to the next one.

As for elsewhere, there has been pretty much similar catches across the county's coastline. Dogfish have also shown up at Pevensey Bay where there has also been some nice Flounders up to 1.5lb and Eels as well. 

Similar catches at Seaford and Brighton with reports of some Schooly bass showing. The Palace Pier club held a match on Sunday at Seaford beach, fished between 10am and 4pm. Top weight was 9lb 5.75oz which was 20 odd whiting, 2nd was 9lb 5oz which was 14 whiting, 2 dabs and a barely sizable bass. Heaviest fish was a 1lb 6oz whiting.

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11/11/2010

Thanks and tight lines

Craig
 

 11/10/10 


Hi all,
This week there has been a number of good reports so with no time to waste, on we go.

Hover Beaches are fishing very well after dark at the moment. There are a lot of Whiting and Pout around to keep you occupied. They are pretty much taking any bait on offer with lug and mackerel strip working well for the Whiting. There are a few Schoolies and Sole around the 1lb mark as well. I have also had reports of a couple of Dogfish being landed and a 4.5lb Codling on whole Squid. Oh, and the first few Rockling have started to show.

Brighton Marina has provided good sport in the day and night. During the day and dusk there are the usual Mackerel and Garfish. Wrasse down the walls to 1.5lb on ragworm. Some Nice Pollack and Schooly Bass on live prawn. Bream are also still being caught. After dark there have been pout, whiting and some nice Sole. All mainly on worm baits fished out from the wall (pout down the wall).

Seaford has fished similar to Hove beaches, as has Pevensey bay. Both have produced a few more Schooly bass and some action from Flounders. All 3 locations are worth putting a big bait out at this time of year as you have a chance of a Bass or Codling depending on conditions.

Newhaven East arm is still providing good garfish and mackerel sport on floats and feathers. There are some good Mullet and a few nice Bass up to 4lb landed. Sole after dark when fished facing towards the seaford side and some Whiting as well.

Shoreham arms have been fishing similar to Newhaven east arm with a few doggies as well.

Personally, I think we are in the best month for fishing so get out there, give it a go, and let me know how you get on so that I can report back! One tip if your after a fun session just to catch (if your fishing the evening) from a wall/pier is to try a slider rig with a bait on the bottom (check out rigs pages). This gives you the chance of something on the bottom but if no luck, will at least keep you occiupied with gars and mackerel action. Thanks and tight lines.

30/09/10

Hi all, there has been a bumper set of catches this week so without further delay, here we go:

Brighton Marina has been fishing well in the daytime with Mackerel, gars and Pollack on float fished Makerel strip. The Pollack have been landed near the rocks and have also been caught on live prawn. Bream are still showing to a range of baits fished about 20 yards from the wall. Mullet have been caught on makerel flesh and bread when fished down the triangles and ground baited. Quite a few Gurnard up to relatively good size have also been landed on ragworm. After dark there have been a few Sole landed to lug worm baits. small Whiting are also starting to show and some small thornbacks have been caught. There have been quite a few pout down the side of the walls. Thanks to Glenn and my dad for supplying catch reports.

Newhaven East Arm has been fishing well. i took a trip there on Sat afternoon and there was a lot of makerel about on floats, spinners and feathers. Some nice size garfish have been caught on the Float. A bass of 8lb was landed on mackerel head fished down the pier struts and mullet have been caught using similar tactics as on the marina. I had a quick go for Bass while i was fishing with live bait but no luck on this occassion. After dark there have been pout, whiting and Sole.

Seaford has fished similar to Newhaven with mackerel showing over the HT. A few Bass up to 3-4lb have been landed on a variety of Baits. A bas of 6lb was landed last night on live bait in the surf. After dark there have been lots of small whiting attacking baits before most other species get to it but in between the whiting there have been some Sole up to 1lb. Its about this time last year when i had my fisrt cod of the year at Seaford so I am looking to give this a go over the next evening HT.
Pevensey has fished similar to Seaford with the odd Eel and Flounder thrown into the mix.

Hove beaches have been producing a few Mackerel in the day and the odd bream. After dark there have been quite a few Pout and a couple of nice Bass around the 4lb mark.

Hi all, this week has been pretty windy with the odd calm period thrown in. This has lead to a mixture of catches so without delay, here we go.  I managed to get out on my kayak on Sat morning for a quick session down by Hove lagoon. I fished the HT and had some king rag and pures as bait. It was calm with a NW wind, which meant it was calm until a few hundred yards out where there was no land protection and this led to choppier water. Early signs were positive because as soon as i hit the water i could see white bait breaking the waters surface being chased by mackerel. This was only within casting distance of the shore but i put a little dexter wedge on and had a go, bagging a few mackerel which was fun. After this, i decided to move onto my main plan of drift fishing over a spot known as the jennies. This patch has given me a mix of catches before (wrasse, bream, red mullet, gurnard, bass & Plaice) so i was optimistic i would have a chance of catching something. I started to drift using a 2 hook ledger. It had a size 2 hook at the end with beads and attractrs with a size 4 hook further up the snood. Baited with king rag, i started to drift. I had initially thought I would drift towards shore with the tide coming in, but as it was a small tide and a wind pushing the opposite direction, it meant i drifted out wards at a good pace for drifting. I drifted out for about 15-20 mins and would then paddle in and rebait and start again. On my second drift i had a definate knock to get the adrenaline running. it wasnt the usual bump of the weight hitting a rock and you can clearly feel the difference. It didnt tap again for a minute or so, so i thought it may have been a plaice hitting the worms tail. Then, with a strong pull the rod bent and the fish was hooked. After a good tustle i saw the lovely colours of a nice gurnard coming up through teh water. It was a good size and i would estimate just under a pound in weight. I released it and off it swam. I paddled back in and started again. After a couple of mins i had another tab, more irratic and intense. i struck and had hooked a small bream, which was returned. I had another few drifts and managed a bream again and that was my session. Unfortunately, i didnt hook into a Plaice, which was my main target but I had a good session none the less.  Brighton Marina has been producing fish when open. Mackerel and gars on feathers and float fished mackerel strip. Pollack on mackerel strip and prawns float fished over the rocks and down the walls. Wrasse up to 2lb on worm and peeler crabs down the sides of the walls. Bream have been taking many baits when fished about 20 yards from the wall and this has also produced gurnards. Mullet have been caught on bread and mackerek flesh when fished down the triangles. After dark there has been some nice Sole, Pout and some small Whiting.  My dad fished Shoreham east arm on Fri night with a friend. They had Mackerel, Scad and Bream on a mix of techniques. Apart from that, he didnt see many other species landed. Seaford has been showing good shoals of Mackerel on the HT with some very close to the shore line when calm. A few Schooly Bass have been landed as well. After dark there have been some nice Sole around the 1lb mark. Whiting and Pout have also been caught after dark and its this time each year that a few Colding start to show there before the Whiting take over.

Im back from my holidays and got a real itch to fish! I have had a few reports while i was away and more will come in over the weekend, so i will update the site as soon as i get them. 

Brighton Marina has been shut for most of the past week due to the strong winds. This has churned the sea up and made it fairly dirty but when the arm has been open, there has been quite a few mackerel, garfish and bream. Reports of a few good bass up to 4lb on mackerel baits. Wrasse down the walls on worm baits and Mullet on bread.

The Hope Inn has produced some Eels & Flounders on crab and worm baits. Pout have also been caught as have schooly Bass. 

Newhaven east arm has produced flounders and schooly bass on worm baits in the day. Mackerel and gars have been caught on float fished mackerel strip and feathers. After dark there have been some good sole caught on worm baits.

Seaford has been fishing fairly well. There has been less weed than Brighton and Hove for a start, which is good. There has been some Mackerel and garfish during the day, with the odd bream. A few nice Bass up to 4lb have been caught in the surf. After dark tere have been a few nice Sole on worm baits. Some baby Thornbacks & Eels have also been landed. The first of the whiting have started to show as well but all very small along with pout and the odd Dogfish for good measure. Now for the bigger point of interest, a small Codling (under 1lb) was caught but its the first i have heard of this year.   

Pevensey has fished very similar to seaford with reports of whiting, eels and flounders on lu or crab baits. Some nice sole over 1lb have been caught as well (after dark).

I am hoping to get out and yak soon so hopefully i can provide a report asap. 

Thanks 

Hi all, 

Just a quick note to say that i am on holiday this for a week as of today so I will not be able to respond to any emails or post any items purchased via the shop until i return. In the meantime, have a great weeks fishing. 

Brighton Marina has been fishing fairly well. The wind has been up which has meant that the water has been dirty at times and the fishing not as fast paced as usual, however, things will pick up as soon as a few calm days come our way. There has been Mackerel on feathers from both arms and garfish on float fished mackerel strip. Plenty of bream have also been caught but mainly small. Wrasse and pollack have been caught down the walls on worm and live prawn. Quite a few schoolies have been caught on these baits too. A few Mullet have been showing on groundbaited bread. After dark there have been pout and Sole on worm baits, with some hounds still showing on peeler crab. 

Shoreham arms have fished similar to the marinawith weed being a bit of an issue at times. Some better size bream have also been landed with reports to some over a 1lb. 

Golden grey mullet have been caught at tidemills in the day with some nice sole starting to show after dark. Seaford has produced mackerel and gars in daylight, with some pout and sole after dark. 

Newhaven east arm has been providing good sport with Pollack, pout and wrasse down the walls/struts. Mackerel and gars caught on the usual methods with some mullet and bass also showing.

Pevensey has produced some nice Sole after dark. 

Hove Shoreham and soutwick have been producing some nice bass in the surf. 

Until next week, tight lines

Craig

19/07/2010 

Here is a quick midweek update report from Glenn, so a big thanks:

We had a Palace Pier Comp on the East Arm today. Fished from 9.30am till 5pm and 12 turned up. Overall it was hard work for very few fish, but there were some decent fish caught.

1st Ben Arnold 7lb 6oz (8 Wrasse -Biggest 1lb 7oz, 1 Eel- 1lb 13.5oz)
2nd Glenn Arnold 4lb 13oz (2 Shad -Biggest 1lb 6.5oz, 3 Mackerel, 1 Garfish)
3rd Roy Arnold 4lb 7.5oz - 1 Thick Lipped Mullet.

Most fish- Ben Arnold 9
Heaviest Fish- Roy Arnold - 4lb 7.5oz Mullet

My third 2nd place finish on the trot (nice guys come 2nd ) only because i had to leave nearly 3 hours before the end of the match and at that point i was over 3lb infront of everyone

Didnt see much else come up other than a few mackerel, garfish and wrasse. 

Glenn

Hi all, 

Its been a pretty good week for reports and catches so with no further delay, here we go:

Brighton Marina hasnt changed d gars have been in fewer numbers than would be expected. One of the best ways for the mackerel is to try fishing a little deeper than normal. Garfish are on float fished  still being caught on mackerel strip (fished near surface) and Pollack to prawns (fished deep - pref by rocks or close to wall). There are still Bass being caught with reports of fish up to 5lb being landed on Mackerel. Small bream and wrasse have been caught near the walls on worm baits. After dark the smoothhounds have started to show (because the spider crabs have come in) and there has also been some Sole on worm baits. A few small thornbacks have also shown. The seaweed may start to become a bit more of an issue with the windy weather but on the flip side, there is a chance of some nice hounds after dark and some good Eels too on crab baits.

I went out on my yak at the weekend and while it was a bit to bumpy to fish from i did see a few mackerel shoals break on teh surface about 60 yards out. 

Seaford has been producing some nice sized eels and pout after dark as well some schooly bass. Mackerel have shown on feathers but they may now be slightly further out due to the rougher weather. 

Glenn fished Kingston beach and had some schooly bass and a couple of nice Flounders. It was also his boys first trip out fishing and he is a natural, pulling in a nice Flounder! Here is his full report:

Ever since my son Toby was born just over 3 years ago ive been itching to take him fishing and mould him into a angler. He started pre-school a couple of months ago which has calmed him down a bit and made him more sensible. So i thought id pick a safe spot to take him fishing where he had a chance of catching a few little fish.
After reading Puddlemans report, i thought Kingston Beach would be a perfect little spot and it'd be easy for me to dig some i brought it in very quick as i didnt think there was a fish on and maddies before i went to work.

So i had to drag the missus along with my 18 month old daughter, knowing that they'd only want to stay for a hour or so. Luckily i had rigs made up and id be able to get set up fairly prompt. We arrived at 5.15pm and the water was fairly low and i noticed there were a few snaggy rock infront of us which might hinder Tobys winding in as he wouldnt be able to retrive very fast as he had never held a fishing rod let alone used a reel.

I got him set up with a short 2 hook rig with a flowing bottom trace with a few maddies on and managed to cast his 7ft rod out about 20 yards. Quickly followed by my rod which i pinged out around 50-60 yards. We waited about 10 mins with no bites, so i got Toby to wind his rod in. He wound in about 5 yards before getting snagged, i pulled and yanked for a couple of mins before getting off the snag and typically there was a small schoolie of about 6ins. Toby was excited to see a fish but i felt guilty as i had brought it in

For the next 30 mins nothing happened but Toby was behaving himself and didnt seem to be getting bored, then he had a knock on his rod (schoolie bite) and he wound in without getting snagged but the bait had been stripped off. Straight after i was into another small schoolie.
Next cast Toby had a bite soon after i had cast out and i could tell there was a small fish on this time and after a brief struggle Toby had landed his first ever fish, a schoolie of about 8 inches. He was so pleased as was i! Mission Accomplished, he was hooked already.

The bites were becoming fairly rapid now but i was running low on worms. Next cast i had a good bite and i was into a fish that was putting a bend in my rod, and i pulled out a fairly decent flounder of 33cm maybe 12-14ozs in weight. Toby said "wow daddy, thats a whopper!" and he began asking lots of questions about the flounder. All i needed now was for Toby to hook into a flounder of his own.

It was 7pm now and i could see the missus was wanting to go home so i put on the last half dozen maddies on Tobys hooks and cast his rod as far as i could and waited. I packed my rod up and sat with Toby whilst he was watching his rod for a bite, all of a sudden there was a single pull down and then was the rod was motionless again. I was sure it was a flounder bite so i said to Toby we'll wait 1 more minute and then it was time to wind in and go home.

I could tell as soon as i picked up the rod there was a fish on it, i stood behind Toby and held the rod about 2ft above the reel to help steady him and keep the rod up high as he struggled to wind in, "its heavy daddy" he said. I told him to keep on winding in as there might be in a big fish on. As it got closer in the line started shifting to the right so i was sure it was a flounder and the rod was nodding and then to the delight of myself and Toby a plump flounder of 29cm slid up the beach, and he was so chuffed, as was i.

Pevensey bay: has produced eels and Sole in the day. Some better sole have started to show after dark. A few Bass have been landed after dark along with more eels and pout. Some hounds have also started to put in an appearance. 

The Ouse and Adur have started to produce some nice Mullet as well as a few Flounders, schoolies and Eels. 

It may be well worth a bass session this week because of the SW winds creating perfect surf conditions.

06/07/2010 -

Hi all, 

Firstly, apologies for the lack of reports and updates over the past week and a half. The reason is due to net issues, which are now fixed. 

So, onto the reports:

Brighton Marina has been been hit and miss depending on what you are after. There has been quite a few Garfish on float fished mackerel strip (fished near surface) and Pollack to prawns (fished deep). The mackerel have been about in spells but not in their usual good numbers. There have been some good bass caught with reports of fish around and just above the 5lb mark. Small bream and wrasse have been caught near the walls on worm baits. After dark the smoothhounds have started to show (because the spider crabs have come in) and there has also been some Sole on worm baits. With the winds getting up, there is a chance of some nice hounds after dark and some good Eels too on crab baits. 

Thank you to Steve for this great report from Hove & Shoreham:

This week has definately seen a marked improvement in numbers been caught, I fished tues night and after three hours came away with 5thornbacks,3dovers,two schooly bass and an eel all on one rod with twin booms and size 1aberdeens bait was ragworm,,i had live lug from internet not a bite on it.Fish all taken before high tide and about an hour after low tide thornbacks are small but put up a good fight on a salt bass rod.Friday the mackrel turned up i managed 37 in two hours with a single 28grm dexter(mostly joeys which went in my freezer for bait in winter).Another mate of mine was on 68 when i'd had enough (mostly returned),and the following day 40% of the beach had the seasonal mackrel fishermen down on it(total chaos casting over each other and all that palaver).So sunday saw me,mark and mohammed treking to shoreham beach where we'd been lured by tales of half decent bream by a friend of marks,there was a low pressure weather system passing over most of the day which kept the surface really still so i went to the rocks at the far end so i could plug the rocks,the water was so clear you could see all the weed.Mark and mohammed set up in the middle where after half an hour marks mate came and set up there as well.At the end of the session we'd caught 4bream,1flounder and marks mate(sorry if your reading this head like a sieve)caught a cracking 47cm length by 27cms girth golden mullet first time iv'e seen one, lovely fish though returned of course.I plugged the rocks but to no avail a little bit early yet,still it gave me chance to try my new gravell teklon concept spin 802 ml out. 8ft in length casting weight 10-40grammes half the reel seat is moulded into the rod this puts the reel seat about 14inches above the butt of the rod which when i put a light rear drag reel on balanced at that point in my hand.This rod is an absolute must for any spinners out there its perfectly balanced and you can cast it with one hand it only weighs 7ozs.It will fling a 38grm dexter out to the horizon with impunity or a 10grm lure with a backbreeze 60yds.the tip of the rod is one and a half millimetres in width and will take a double figure bass.The rod becomes an extension of your arm so you can really work your lure, the bite detection is unreal you can tell what your lures doing by the tip, i really can't fault this rod its a beaut.distances cast was with 30lb braid.  
To add to Steve's comments, i also saw a couple of Mullet at hove beach jump clear out of the water!

I also popped out on the boat with HDSA a week and a half ago and managed to get plenty of bream at a spot just a few miles out. I also managed some dogfish and a couple of hounds. There was a 10lb undulated ray caught by Iain on another boat.

Seaford has been producing some nice sized eels and pout after dark as well some schooly bass. 

Pevensey bay: has produced eels and Sole in the day. Some better sole have started to show after dark. A few Bass have been landed after dark along with more eels and pout. 

13/06/10

Hi all, hope you had a good weeks fishing. There is a good set of reports this week so lets get cracking:

The first one is my report from Pagham. I decided to fish it on Fri 11/06 in persuit of the illusive double figure hounds. Those of you that often read my reports know that despite being able to help friends catch doubles there, i have had no luck, until now. It was a bit of a last minute trip but i managed to get about 20 peelers plus a couple of frozen ones i had.

I got to pagham at about 8ish and set up by the end of the fishing boats (between boats and pipe). There were quite a few anglers on the beach but as i had made a walk i did manage to get a patch where is was clear 100 yards either side.

The water was flat calm and no wind. I started properly fishing at about 9.30 just as the sun went down. I did see a hound pup caught which gave me a bit of optimism. I was using a clipped down pulley rig with a single 3/0 hook baited with fresh peeler elasticed on. I was casting as far as i could which is a good distance but no record setter. For the most part weed wasnt an issue until just after slack when it came on strong!

At about 10.15 as the tide started really coming in i saw my first bite, a few light bumps and then slack, i tightened the line and the the rod doubled over so i lifted into the fish and a good battle started. After a while of fighting i got the fish near the beach and knew it was good when my headlamp flashed on it in the shallow water and reflected off its eye. I was pretty certain this was going to be my first double for sure until as just on the beach it went ping! unhooked and turned back! gutted! i was down to say the least as just lost my first double and thought that i may have missed my only chance.

Like a true glutton i switched my pre baited rig and cast out again. Within 10 mins i had another similar bite, slack then thud! fish on! After the battle of wills i managed to get this one onto the beach and onto the scales, 12lb 8oz! Woo, my pb hound and first double. I was over the moon! I ran along to the chap next to me for a photo (thanks again)and waded in to return the fish, which was amazing as got to hold it and then see it swim off in the light of my headlamp. 

I cast back out and again the same bite and another hound of 12lb 3oz, its like buses, no doubles for ages and then 2 at once but i wasnt complaining! Mission accomplished. 

There was little action after that as the weed picked up around half eleven and just before i left i managed a small schooly. I packed up, gave the guy next to me a couple of peelers as thanks and went home a happy guy to say the least!


Thanks to Steve for this great report from Hove beaches: 
Well this week has fished pretty much the same as last week,schoolie bass,eels the odd flattie.The may rot is hanging round like last year so no mackrel yet,the bait fish are about 250 yards of shore(judging by the ammount of gulls round there).Kenny and i fished the low to high on thursday to no avail.The bait kept comming in untouched.We also managed to pull in some of the same weed that plagued us for a while last year after the may rot went(please not again).I did hear reports of another seven pound bass at the hot pipes(courtesy of lagoon bait and tackle).

Brighton Marina has still been producing mackerel but the numbers have been limited due to the may rot sticking around. They have been caught on feathers and float fished mackerel strip. gars have also been landed using this technique. Live Prawn floatfshed over the rocks or down the wall has produced a few Pollack and schooly Bass. Quite a few bream to worm baits during day and night. Wrasse are still being caught down the side of the walls as well as some schooly bass. After dark there have been some Pout and dogfish caught as well as hound pups. I have heard that the spider crabs are showing and this means that the bigger hounds wont be far away. 

Palace pier - Charlie fished the palace pier on his kayak as a bit of a last minute trip. He had some old black lug and a few lures to use. He yakked out to the end of the pier and tried his luck with the lug but not much happening so he headed further out and managed to get some mackerel using a dexter wedge lure. He managed to get a joey so paddled back in to use it as live bait near the pier but he didnt manage to catch. He did catch a few schoolies using his lure around the pier but no bigguns.


My dad fished Shoreham on Sunday with HDSA and had Dogfish, Plaice, some good Bream and a small ray.  

Seaford has been producing some nice sized eels and pout after dark as well some schooly bass. 

Pevensey bay: has produced eels and flounders in daylight as well as the odd ling. A few Bass have been landed after dark along with more eels and pout.

Finally, i have started to update the gallery for 2010 so feel free to check it out. If you want a picture of your catch in the report or gallery, then feel free to email me and i will add it asap.

Hi all, hope the fishing has been good. I have just returned from my trip (not a fishing one - unfortunately). Despite being away, i did manage to get one trip in which i will detail below and i have also had some good reports emailed to me.

Brighton marina has been fishing relatively well this past week. There still appears to be a bit of may bloom about but its lestening. Mackerel have been caught on feathers and float fished baits with best results being when fished slightly deep. Garfish have also been caught on float fished mackerel strip and pollack to small prawn. A few schoolies have shown and one or two better bass have also been landed. Wrasse and bream have been caught on worm baits down the walls. Smoothhound pups have been caught after dark on crab baits and the odd dogfish has also shown. Glenn fished on sunday in a match and came second with a nice eel of 1lb 4oz.

Hove beaches (a big thanks to Steve and the chain groyne boys for this report): This weeks report go's thus: Regardless of the may rot this week has fished quite well with several bass taken from the groyne and areas either side(to next groyne) weight's ranging from 1lb to 2lb 6ozs, all taken on black lug.We've also seen some doggie pup's for the first time this week.I had a really nice 30 inch 2lb 6ozs silver eel along with a 2.2lb bass(black lug) 47 centimetres over monday and tue's evening session,my mate kenny had three bass over two day's fishing the low water mark.There has also been the odd flatfish and rockling caught behind the king alfred. 

Will fished Goring beach and had half a dozen bass in a productive session (pic to be added).

Langley point has produced schooly Bass, Eels and Pout after dark.

Seaford has been producing some nice sized eels and pout after dark as well some schooly bass. 

Pevensey bay: has produced eels and flounders in daylight as well as the odd ling. A few Bass have been landed after dark along with more eels and pout.

Pagham: Decided to fish pagham on 25/05/10 as it was my only chance at getting a relatively night tide as I now cannot fish for a week or so and wanted to try and catch a hound.

I turned up armed with peelers and fished 1 rod with clipped down pulley rig 3/0 cast about 90-100 yards with fresh peeler elaticated on. The weed wasnt too bad but i knew i would be lucky to get a hound as most of the incoming tide was at dusk and only an hour of incoming in dark and then slack at dark. I kept my rod tip up high to avoid most of the weed that was in the surf.

I pre baited rigs and basically fished my nuts off but no hounds! gutted again as pagham has the hoo doo over me (I seem only be able to help other catch good double fig hounds there as my mates i take catch em but i havent had a double there yet - i set up their gear etc). I did manage 2 Bass which was nice, 1 just under size and one just under 2lb, either side of HT. The 2lber gave a bite as if it was a hound to start with as it was a long pull but clearly not a hound. Both were returned unharmed. 

Speaking to everyone else on the beach it was pretty much the same as no hounds caught but i left at 11 due to an early start at work.

We have had great weather again this week. The biggest issue has been the May bloom which is still effecting the fishing. This is an Algae which blooms and turns the sea a green or tea colour. It fills the water and puts many fish off feeding in shore. It will go soon but for the next week or so, will reduce catches along the coast.

Brighton Marina has still been fishing relatively well with mackerel caught on feathers and gars to float fished mackerel strip. Pollack and Schooly bass have been caught on float fished prawn. Bream and Wrasse have been caught down the walls on worm bait and a few Sole and Smoothhound pups have been caught after dark.

I fished a match with HDSA on Saturday and took my mate Charlie out for his first boat trip. We headed out at about 2 ish and were heading to a good mark for bream and other species. On the way we stopped almost every half mile for mackerel but didnt get any until we were at least 3 miles out and only then they were few and far between. We got to our mark and set anchour. We both used 2 rods, 1 set up for larger species and the other for bream and smaller species. On my fist cast, i put peeler crab on a 3/0 running ledger and put it about 20 yards from the boat. The other rod i set up with a 2 hook ledger and tronix luminous beads and put this closer to the boat for bream. Within 5 minutes i noticed that my big bait up had moved against the tide and thought a hound had picked it up, as soon as i lifted the rod i realised this was no hound as it stayed low and powerful with the odd thud, it was a ray. After keeping the tension tight and fighting for a good five or so minutes, the ray was at the boat. it had managed to wrap itself around my line so it felt a 10 pounder rather than a 6lber but it was 6lb on the dot and a PB thornback for me. 

After this, the bream came on the feed and we had a few between us. Charlie then had his first dogfish and then another and another, until he became pro enough to realise the bites and call the species when reeling in. He then had a Whiting, Dab, Gurnard and a small Plaice to add to the mix of species. We also had a few Hound pups around the 2lb mark on peeler crab over the high tide. I also managed to get plenty of bream and the above species, plus a small schooly bass. The wind eased as we got to about 1900 and the fish came on the feed with mainly Bream and dogs taking the baits. At some points i had to strike one rod while reeling another due to the bites. In total i weighed in 13lb of fish, which consisted of 2 Dogfish, 5 Bream, 1 ray, 1 dab and 1 Plaice. Charlie was a guest in the match so didnt need to weigh in but i can honestly say that excluding the ray he wasnt far off me. I also feel its important to say that club rules only permit a certain number of fish per species and this is why i weighed 2 dogs and not 15 and the same goes for bream as its in the interest of only taking a sustainable amount that you will eat. I won the match with my catch and Kev came 2nd with nearly 12lb and lost a very good fish after a 10 minute fight. On the way back in we got to admire a fantastic sunset just to finish off a great days fishing. On the other boats, there were a few good other fish including a 2 lbb 11oz Bream caught by Merv at Lou Gate. 

Elsewhere, ferring, worthing and goring have produced Dogfish after dark and Schooly bass in the day. 

Pevensey has produced Ling, Pin whiting, dabs after dark as well as some dogfish. During the daytime there is still a few Flounders and Plaice being caught. Also a few schooly bass have been landed.  

A few Mackerel and Gars have been showing at Newhaven East arm and Seaford beaches during the daylight but they are still slightly fewer due to the may Bloom.

17/05/10

This week has seen good weather with mostly sunny skys and settled seas which have just started to stir up at the end of this week. I have a few catch reports so here we go:

Brighton Marina has been slower this week than in the previous week and this is due to the may bloom/rot which has slowed the fishing down. This happens each year and tends to slow the catches down. Saying that, there has stil been a few Mackerel and gars caught on feathers and floats. The first few Bream have started to show and schooly bass and wrasse have been caught down the side of the wall on crab and worm baits. A few Smoothhound pups have started to show after dark but no big fish, as yet.

Seaford has suffered the same fate as the marina with slower catches. There has still been a few mackerel and schooly bass caught and the odd dogfish after dark.

Pevensey Bay has produced a few Scholy bass and flounders but not too much to report.

I popped up the river ouse and spotted a few Mullet swimming about. I only had a brief bit of time to fish and unfortunately couldnt lure any, however, my next trip (below) was much more productive!

I fished sat with the HDSA. We headed out on a flat glass like sea at about 9am and stopped at approx mile intervals and tried to get some mackerel. We didnt hit any until 3 miles out and even then they were hard to come by. we anchored and set up for the day. There was 3 of us on the boat and a range of baits (prawn, crab, rag, lug, squid and makky). For the most part we were using ledger rigs and 2 rods each. 1 with a big bait for rays or hounds and the other for smaller species such as bream. I was using a 1 hook ledger with 3/0 for hounds, rays and the inevitable dogs and a 2 hook ledger rig with size 2 hooks and tronix luminous beads. these really worked as i had more fish on them than the plain rigs.

The tide was running hard but first cast produced a double shot of bream and then the next cast a double shot of dabs. Through the day we had more bream, about 5 plaice and more dabs. then the dogs came on and attacked our baits. Harry had a ray of about 4 or 5lb just before HT, which was returned. I had about 5 hound pups up to 2lb which gave a nice scrap on light gear but no real big fish. My dad had a sizeable Plaice and then a gar on the bottom. In total we had dabs, plaice, bream, dogs, hounds and a ray (oh and starfish). The dogs were suprisingly good size and put up scraps instead of deadweight. the weather got up for a bit and there was a little white water which gave us a bumpy few last hours and the fishing seemed to slow a little. Most of the bream were taking worm and the hounds were taking prawn or crab. The ray was on mackerel and the plaice, dogs and dabs pretty much had anything on offer.

We then moved to lou gate for the last part of the day and had some nice bream before we headed in. I dont know the number of fish we caught but it was nearly a fish or two every other cast and a really enjoyable day. I hadnt expected to catch as much and while there wasnt anything of great size, it was constant good sport which i cannot complain about! its nice to have a productive session after a slow past few months.

I have added a couple of pics. These were the only fish we kept (plus 3 bream) between 3 of us on a very productive day. I think it worked out that we had about 4 fish each to keep and the rest were returned alive.