A Sea Angler's Notebook

Fishing Report: 2nd October 09 - St Osyth, Essex

2009-10-16T01:36:00.024+02:00

I'd originally planned a trip to the Bird Reserve end of the beach on Saturday night but a quick look at the weather forecast Friday evening changed my mind and so I headed off at the last moment to fish the flood on a midnight tide, deciding to fish amongst the rock groynes to maximise my fishing time. As well as my usual Frozen Blacks (which I reckon is a top bait for the Codling) I was also trying a first for me, salted Ragworm. I'd had half a pound or so left over from a previous session and rather than waste them I decided I would try salting them but to be honest I wasn't that hopeful that they would catch.

By the time I arrived at the beach at about 7:30pm things had roughened up a bit with a SW breeze and it was obvious from the off that the Whiting were not anything like as thick on the ground as my previous session; they came out steadily throughout the night though really nothing of any great size with the general stamp of them about 8oz, though it does have to be said that they seemed to really like the salted Ragworm.

The positive side to the reduction in the Whiting hordes is that it does give the other species a chance to go for the baits and it was just as I was resigning myself to a so-so session that one of the rods bent over and I was into something better than a Whiting. I was hoping for a Bass but it wasn't to be, though I was hardly disappointed to see a Codling appear on the beach - it went about 3lb I reckon but was a terrible "stretch", should have gone about 5lb and would normally have gone back to put on some weight. Having taken the hook way, way down there was little point in returning it however and it had to come home for the pot all the same.

Things continued with the odd whiting showing till just on the top of the tide when a good bite on the salted Ragworm turned up a real treat for me, a Sole. I catch them rarely (mostly because I tend to fish for Bass or Cod with big baits and hooks) and this one was well worth catching; it tipped the Avons down to 1lb 8oz at home, not my biggest ever but not far off and certainly a meal to look forward to!

Normally I would have liked to stay for the ebb but with things to do in the morning I couldn't stay and so reluctantly started packing up at midnight. Just by way of bonus as I was packing one rod up the other had a good hit on Black Lug and a very, very lively Eel of 12 oz or a pound hit the beach in a very bad mood. It was entertaining to say the least; the damn thing climbed up my arm, attached itself to my leg and at one point had its tail wrapped round the rod butt! I have never come across such a pissed off Eel and considering that I have been catching the things regularly man and boy for over 30 years and can normally deal with them easily, it made me look like a complete beginner! Having completely failed to get it under control I was relieved when it eventually came off the hook by itself and slithered down the beach back into the water leaving me to scrape off the slime, pack the rest of the gear and head home for a few hours sleep.

Fishing Report: 18th September 09 - St Osyth, Essex

2009-10-02T11:35:00.008+02:00

The beach was calling again and with a good tide and an excellent weather forecast for the Friday night I headed, yet again, for the Bird Reserve end of St Osyth, a favourite spot of mine. I decided to be a bit adventurous and walk from home in Jaywick but in hindsight it was probably a tad too adventurous as my feet were just not up to that sort of distance at the moment (I'm showing my age) and I suffered for it terribly the next morning; actually if I'm truthful none of me was up to going that sort of distance with 2 rods and associated kit and it is a lesson very much learnt!

Anyway I arrived at my favourite spot about 4 hours before the tide and sent both rods out with a variety of baits. Within 5 minutes both sets of gear had returned to the beach with a fish on every hook and so it pretty much continued throughout the flood. Frozen Blacks, Fresh Lugworm and Frozen Sandeel all accounted for Whiting and in truth it didn't seem to matter what bait you put on the hook or where you cast it. About two hours before the top of the tide I had a flurry of small Bass in amongst the Whiting, all to Ragworm and an Eel of about 8oz (again falling to Ragworm) joined the party just at the top of the tide, as the Whiting action died off a little.

I was hoping that the ebb would maybe bring perhaps a better Bass or maybe a Codling but it wasn't to be. Fishing at range was virtually impossible with a huge upsurge in the amount of weed about and within minutes the gear had to be brought back in with 2 foot or so of that horrible thin weed adorning the mainline by the leader knot - mind you I was still pretty much getting a Whiting a chuck even then. To keep the fishing a little more refined I decided to try for a Bass at close range (away from the dreaded weed) but even here the water was full of Whiting, albeit that the fish here were a much better size than most I had already taken on the flood.

I eventually tired of the Whiting at about 3.30am and headed home. It makes a nice change to be able to say that I really was too busy to count the Whiting. I know I had 5 Bass and the Eel and a conservative estimate (based on some (very) rough calculations) of about 50 Whiting, although most were only about 5 - 7 inches long. The walk home became a bit of a slog and at the end of it I was glad that the streets were deserted and there was nobody around to see me hobble up my driveway like an old man, though I have a theory that it was the extra weight of the 10 million sand hoppers which stowed away in my rucksack for the journey home (the beach was alive with them) and which duly took over the kitchen as i gave my reels a rinse when I got back.

I was not popular with Mrs Blakdog in the morning, she is not a fan of wildlife in her kitchen!!!!!!!!

Fishing Report: 13th September 09 - Jaywick Beach

2009-09-17T21:11:00.007+02:00

Its a sign of how busy I've been when I say I have lived 400 yards from Jaywick beach for nearly two months and not even had time to take a look at it yet. I decided it was time to put that right and so on the spur of the moment headed to the Golf Club end on Sunday night for a few hours worm drowning. As usual on these kind of trips something is always forgotten and on this occasion the camera was left sitting in the kitchen - with hindsight I have to say this was no great loss.

Usually I would have liked to have some Ragworm with me but the impromptu nature of the trip meant I had to settle for some of my winter stock up of frozen Black Lugworm and so in all honesty I wasn't expecting any Bass to fall victim (spot on with that call). Instead I decided to try for a variety of target fish, fishing at range (with larger baits) and then close in with three small baits (for Flatties) every other cast, in the hope of just gleaning a little clue as to what might be on the offing for a more serious session.

My first pitch was a bad move and although it was no surprise that it was relatively shallow the lack of current at the peak of the flood wasn't really encouraging; in fact I think its finding a spot with a good flow of tide which will prove to be the difference between success and failure at this beach amongst the rock breakwaters (not that I'm an expert this being my first visit in nearly 20 years) and so I moved to another spot, where at least the water was moving.

The move paid off in some respects, though it wasn't what you would call exciting. As the ebb started top flow a few small bites started to show to the rig fished close and I ended the night having at least scored a first blood on my new home patch having managed two small whiting of about 8 ounces tops. Not any kind of early glory but it can only get better - I hope!

Fishing Report: 8th August 09 - Bateman's Tower, Brightlingsea

2009-09-17T20:53:00.014+02:00

As we are about to complete on our new bungalow on Monday I decided it was time for a last fishing session on Bateman's Tower as a Brightlingsea resident - I was hoping for better results than my last few sessions which have, quite frankly, been crap.

In an adventurous mood, I dug a couple of pounds of Ragworm in the evening and then, after a bite to eat and a couple of hours sit-down headed off with the gear, arriving eagerly at the Tower at about 12.15am; not surprisingly I had the place to myself. It was a fairly big tide (3am ish) and an absolutely flat calm night and the first cast opened my innings with small Bass falling to a big Ragworm bait at range. I thought it might turn into one of those nights when the rods don't stop nodding after the second chuck produced an Eel of about half a pound but then it all went quiet.

About an hour from the top of the tide a good bite resulted in a big Eel thrashing just out in front of me as I cleared a weed jam in the tip ring. I got rid of the weed just in time to see the fish climb up the line and shake free of the hook as they quite often do ... but the next cast my luck improved and an Eel (a very green one as you can see from the picture) of about a pound duly surrendered and was returned after a quick picture.

Encouraged by a few fish on the flood I was hopeful of a Bass or two on the ebb (by far your best chance here) and sure enough, the best fish of the night came about 2 hours on the turn, just as the run started to ease. At 45cm it wasn't the biggest Bass in the world but nice to see given how scarce sizable Bass have been from the river this year. Within an hour the tide had completely died and I decided it was time to head home, not least because I was bloody knackered. Although not the best ever session I've had on the river it did at least turn up a couple of fish that put a bend in the rod and ended my recent fish drought .... a pleasant way to say goodbye to the town really. Mind you, having used a pound and a half of Ragworm up on one rod some might say I deserved a couple of fish!

Fishing Report: River Colne - 25 July 09, Essex

2009-09-17T20:36:00.008+02:00

Having not fished together for some time it was a really pleasant change to spend a few hours fishing way upriver on Saturday afternoon with Geordie pal Stu. It was a stretch of river that can sometimes produce but to be honest I hadn't fished it for years and wasn't really expecting to catch much; neither of us were disappointed on that score. It wasn't that we had crap bait it was just that there is much too much going on up here in the summer and while the boats passing up the river and the piss-heads in the riverside pubs give you something to watch when the rods aren't busy, they don't do a hell of a lot of good to the prospects of a Bass.

Saying that it was a beautiful spot and with lovely sunshine our tans were topped up well. Those boats that passed by didn't cause too much bother and it was generally a very relaxing afternoon, though apparently Stu was struggling a bit with the shakes as we were way too close to a pub for him to ignore .... he promises me he isn't physically an alcoholic and that its all just in his head.

To cut it short the fishing was crap but that was of secondary importance to me as I just wanted a few hours by the river chewing the fat with a buddy after a few months of non-stop work and very little fishing. As for the fish, both myself and Stu managed a couple of bites each but Stu took the prize on the day for the only fish of the session; a sizable Eel.

Fishing Report: 04 July 2009 - River Colne, Essex

2009-09-17T20:26:00.003+02:00

With an impending move coming ever close I've been keen to get a few sessions in on the river but to be honest its not been the greatest of seasons so far and I've really been way too busy to fish. Its not that I'm moving that far away (only Jaywick) but it does feel like a major step after 45 years by the Colne and the river seems to be making me pay for deserting her.

I spent an absolutely beautiful few hours today (weather-wise) on an upriver mark that hardly ever fails to produce even if only small fry but unfortunately spent the evening looking at two motionless rod tips for the whole session as not a fish fancied my Ragworm baits, which is rare up here indeed. It has to be said that the recent hot snap does suddenly seemed to have produced an awful lot of weed growth and the river seems very much out of sorts, certainly if the smell (probably of rotting Oysters which seem to be dying from the heat on the foreshore in their droves) is anything to go by.

Anyway nothing much to report really although the river didn't let me at the fish she did give me another sunset for the collection .... for those that are interested, home and family will be heading a few miles up the coast to Jaywick in a few weeks so if I'm honest I'm feeling a bit of a lump in the throat about leaving "my patch", though its only a 20 minute drive back to fish - on the plus side the new pad will be 400 yards from Jaywick Beach and a 20 minute walk from St Osyth.

Fishing Report: 4th June 09 - A Crap Week!

2009-06-28T15:26:00.008+02:00

There are times in all our lives when work and life (in my case house hunting) conspire to ruin a good days fishing. For me, recent weeks and probably the rest of the summer are to fall to those evil "important matters" that really we could just do without. Anyway, aware that my fishing passes are likely to be severely curtailed in the very near future I made the effort to make the best of what time I have before life gets really complicated.

Saturday 30th May 09

I decided to try the Wet Dock at Ipswich for a few Mullet as it was so nice , perfect in my opinion weather wise. Unfortunately the heat of the afternoon (when I prefer to fish) coincided with the high tide in the river, when the boats move about and with at least a dozen boats an hour moving through it turned out to be a really quiet session with not even one follower to show for 4 hours chucking a baited spoon at the opposite side of the dock. I did see a swirl off one small fish close in and a jumper further out but that was it ..... best bit of the day was chilling out watching the world go by with an ice cream with my 2-year old.

Sunday 31st May 09

Not to be defeated after the previous days lack of success I decided to use the leftover Ragworm and some frozen Sandeel on the Colne. It was a cracking afternoon and although the prom front was busy it was fairly quiet past the end of the prom. I fished the bulk of the flood at a favourite spot not too far along but the NE wind and small tides meant that the colour was dropping out of the water and things were quiet - I managed one bite to rag which resulted in a 3 inch long Bass but at the top I decided enough was enough and I headed up on to the saltmarsh.

I passed a couple of anglers (seemed quiet for them too) and headed further up having noticed that the gulls were working on the tideline at which point I thought my luck might change but rather than being fish the gulls were chasing it was a black fly hatch, with the gulls picking off the ditched flies for most of the afternoon. By about three hours down I hadn't had a bite and packed up to what has to be the most glorious sunset I've seen for a long time ... and headed home for my Sunday dinner.

Thursday 4th June 09

Still smarting from 2 really quiet sessions I decided to try a spinning session upriver, despite it being a bit early in the season. The North easterly winds had dropped a bit and stayed pretty constant direction-wise and that generally means clear water in my part of the river ... and true enough the water was much clearer than usual, however still a bit too milky to ever be that successful. Although there were a few (very) small schoolies hitting shrimp on the surface there seemed a distinct lack of better fish and I didn't have a single strike in 3 hours of trying. One surprise of the night was a little strike at the end of one retrieve turning out to be a small shore crab - very impressive really when you consider I was bringing the lure in quite quickly.

So there it is really ...... about 11 hours fishing for one micro Bass and a crab; so much for the summer fishing so far!

Fishing Report: 21st May 09 - River Colne, Essex

2009-06-28T15:22:00.007+02:00

After my last session on the river I took a long walk again in the hope of a good night with the local schoolies. With bright sunshine and the winds dropping I was hoping for some fair weather sport, arriving at the spot about 3 hrs before the 10:30pm tide armed with a pound of ragworm. It was the sort of night that you spend the winter looking forward to and to be honest it was just nice being there, which was a good job as the fishing was generally naff and not at all as lively as my previous session.

I started the night off well by blowing up the 5500 on the first cast (must remember to set the mags to full when I've done oiling it just in case I forget to set the brakes on the first cast) but after a bit of cursing and a new set of gear I was back on the go. I spent the bulk of the early flood in the (very pleasant) company of an old fishing friend from school who stopped by for a chat on his way back from crabbing and managed 3 small schoolies while we chatted. When he left just before dark he must have taken the luck with him as I struggled for a bite, finally managing to bring the tally up to 6 small Bass by the top of the tide, but that was it for the night.

I would usually have expected a few fish on the ebb here but sport was out of character for this spot and it produced only one bite which turned out to be a crab. Though I continued on, I finally got the hint at about half past midnight and set off on the long walk home. At least on the last cast I did manage to reel in the rig I lost on the first cast so I didn't have to return to retrieve the rig and line the next day.

A cracking night and a vast improvement on sitting in front of the telly but not too much to shout about on the fishing front .... such is summer on the Colne .... you have to learn to take the rough with the smooth.

Fishing Report: 17th May 09 - River Colne, Essex

2009-05-18T21:06:00.014+02:00

With the river the colour of pea soup after all the high winds I couldn't resist trying my luck upriver for the Bass as it generally fishes well in these sort of conditions and offers a little shelter if you pick the right spot. I'd initially intended to fish a spot nearer to the car park but as I made my way along the sea wall I passed one angler already heading up and came across a couple of lads on the first part of the saltings and so decided to be unsociable and head further up to a mark that I'd been intending to revisit for some time and which used to be one of my favourites for Eels when I was a lad.

In those days you didn't catch Bass at this particular mark because they were generally beaten to the bait by the hoards of Eels that flocked to it, but with the Eel becoming a rarity on the river many of these marks are becoming good for the Bass .... the theory proved to be sound one on this particular afternoon.

The mark is one of the more hazardous ones to reach and fish and is not made popular by the long walk and the gullies that have to be negotiated but I arrived in time to cross the gullies before they flooded (cutting the mark off at high tide) and had myself camped in shelter behind some short scrub with the Ragworm baits in the water about 3 hours before the 5.30pm tide.

The bites started immediately and the first two casts resulted in two small Bass lying in the long marsh grass. That remained the tempo for the session apart from a short lull at the top of the tide and bites came steadily throughout the session though with me fishing my usual large hooks and baits it was a forgone conclusion that I would miss a good proportion of the smaller Schoolies.

Just after the turn of the tide the rod smacked over and a sizeable fish put in an appearance. As usual for the Colne nothing to shout about but plenty big enough for the pot, although it was a bit of a “stretch”. The next cast resulted in a similar bite and another fish of a similar size to the previous one came into the shallows only to ditch the top hook of the pennel as I attempted to swing him onto the saltings.

The bites continued on through the ebb with the fish still biting as the water dropped too low to fish anymore but that was it for the better fish. I ended a very pleasant if windswept session at about 8.30pm having managed about a dozen small Bass ranging from 10 to 35 cm as well as the sizeable one and a token Eel of about 4 oz which took severe revenge on my rig, needing to be cut free in order to release it.

Bateman's Tower, Brightlingsea, Essex - 10/05/09

2009-05-18T20:21:00.017+02:00

With a fairly big tide expected the chances of a decent Bass go up in the river and generally if they fall when I have the opportunity to fish I will be found on the Tower at Brightlingsea. Being a creature of habit I headed to just this spot on Saturday in beautifully calm weather, arriving at about 11pm clutching a pound of Ragworm and feeling fairly confident that there might be the chance of a few fish. I'd expected to have the place to myself (as I quite often do) but to my surprise found a couple of other anglers already there though luckily my favourite spot was still vacant and there was plenty of room for all.

Though in the past all my better fish here have come on the ebb I am alway confident of something on the flood and it is often a good indicator of how the best of the sport on the ebb might fare but on this particular night the omen wasn't particularly good. The flood tide was a complete waste of time and no matter where I put the baits I couldn't even manage a bite from a tiddler, though one of the other chaps did have a small Whiting. I was expecting to maybe hit a fish just as the current slowed at the top of the tide but rather than slow down gradually the tide just seemed to stop dead. One second it was doing 5 or 6 knots the next it was slack water; but that did at least give us a rest from the weed which was being a bit of a pain, particularly the brown cotton-like stuff that seems to have a magnetic attraction to your leader knot.

Over the top of the tide the water seemed to drop about a foot and then, as the current started to flow outward rose back up to its original level, I assume because of the sudden surge of water. Fishing at this point in the tide is difficult here with the sudden burst of current and often on the bigger tides, some huge rafts of weed, but as I mentioned before the Tower tends to turn up its better fish on the ebb so rather than get despondent about the lack of sport on the flood I set at the fishing with renewed enthusiasm in the hope of avoiding a blank. An hour or so down, bang on the expected time, the first fish turned up and it was a good job I wasn't fussy as it was a little Bass only about 3 inches long.

I thought that might at least signal a short run of fish but an hour later without any more bites and losing the water fast I decided enough was enough and that it was time to call it quits on a bad session. Sorting out my kit for the journey home, I was about to pack up the first rod when the other had a good heavy knock which resulted in me adding a Schoolie of about 12 oz to my tally. On most sessions on the Tower it would have been way too late in the tide to contact any Bass but the following two casts resulted in two more fish; the first should have gone 2lb if length was any judge but was a real "stretch" with no meat on it at all so back it went as did the last one of about 6 oz.

By now I was fishing much later in the tide than I usually would and the breakwater round the tower (which will claim your rig if your not very careful) was well and truly showing; it was finally time to call it a night. The two other guys fishing (one of them, Rob, was on his first fishing session) only managed the one little Whiting between them but both seemed happy enough just to be out on a nice night and to be perfectly honest it was pleasant (even for an unsociable git like me) to have a bit of company for a change as i generally fish alone.

Big downer of the night was discovering that my wife had filled up the memory card on my camera and having it freeze on me as I attempted to delete a few frames so I could take a couple of pictures of the "stretch" Bass but I did at least manage to clear it in time for the last fish.

Fishing Report: 2nd May 09 - River Colne

2009-05-03T16:39:00.013+02:00

Pal Herbs and I had been planning to meet up for a Bass session on the River for some time before the lucky bugger emigrates to NZ. We've known each other for a good many years and both love the peaceful if somewhat unexciting fishing to be had on the river so it was probably going to be the last summer we would have the opportunity to spend a session or two chasing the local Bass. We finally managed to sort out a session this weekend on a surprisingly quiet Bank Holiday and at the last minute another mate, Stuart, decided to join us so at 3pm we met in the Bateman's car park and headed up onto the salt marsh for a few hours chasing the local schoolies from what is a really nice peaceful spot.

None of us were expecting to break any records as the Bass here generally run rather small and we weren't disappointed on that score, with even the little fish playing hard to get, but we did all catch Bass, even if none of them were particularly big. Fishing the bulk of the flood up to the high tide at about 7pm and a couple hours of the ebb pretty hard with a variety of Peeler, Ragworm and Frozen Sandeel baits with what, by normal standards, would be seen as pretty poor results, we did at least manage to find a few fish to keep us interested. Stuart had the biggest fish at 31 cm, amongst a tally of five schoolies with both me and Herbs managing a couple ..... most of the fish coming to Ragworm.

With the exception of one sailing boat (which came in way too close for comfort) and the local wildlife we didn't have any company up on the salt marsh at all but this is one of those places that even when the fishing is quiet it really is a beautiful place and its just nice to be there as the sun starts to set over the river; these sessions always seem to be more about chilling out in peaceful surroundings with good company rather than red-hot fishing and that in itself is a draw for those of us that generally fish to get away from the rest of the world.

Fishing Report: 25th April 09 - River Colne

2009-05-03T15:03:00.021+02:00

As the spring season starts to get into full swing I generally find myself wanting to spend more time fishing the Colne estuary and as it was a reasonably good tide on Saturday night, with a good weather forecast I decided to try Bateman's Tower for a few Bass. Its a good venue for something sizable and silver on the bigger tides particularly this early in the season, when the better fish haven't worked their way up the river.

Favourite bait on the river has always been Ragworm but I'd noticed the previous day when I was peeler crabbing that there were a lot of spent Ragworm on the mud, indicating that they had spawned recently and so I had reason to be optimistic that Ragworm would be the favourite for a fish; despite my confidence in Ragworm however I decided to try a bit of variety and added some Peeler crab and frozen Sandeel to the bait bucket.

I was into fish as soon as I arrived at about 11pm, although not the fish I was looking for ... just small Bass, Pouting and Whiting. I missed a lot of tiddler bites on the flood due to the size of the baits (and the hooks) but landed enough to keep my interest up until about an hour before the top of the tide when I leant into a cracking bite on Peeler which resulted in me getting a Bass of about 1 - 2 lbs to the edge of the concrete before it shook off the top hook of the pennel and disappeared. Things went quiet over the top as usual with a couple more tiddlers and then about an hour and a half down I hit into another good bite, this time to Ragworm. Things went much smoother for me this time and my first sizable Bass lay on the concrete - not massive by any means but about 2lbs and certainly nothing to turn your nose up to on the Colne given that the Bass generally run fairly small here. Encouraged by the better Bass I fished on till the water had all but disappeared in the hope of another Bass but as is often the case here that was was it for the better fish.

I ended the night at about 3am with about half a dozen each of Pouting and Whiting and a couple of small Bass as well as the better one. I probably could have caught a mass of tiddlers as it was a bite a chuck but I just don't do small hooks and baits when I'm Bass fishing, I really don't see the point quite frankly if you are looking for better fish though my strategy does come a little expensive on bait with me polishing off 1lb of Ragworm, 25 Peelers and 2 packs of Sandeel without trying that hard.

Fishing Report: 18th April 09 - River Colne

2009-05-03T14:46:00.009+02:00

Having been ill this week I wasn't feeling up to a full blown fishing session but fancied a couple of hours of gentle worm drowning in the sunshine so I decided to fish an upriver mark that I haven't fished for a few years, blowing the dust off the Bass rod and trying out a new 5500 reel in the process. As you can see from the picture, this mark is a very shallow water one and you can only fish a couple of hours over the top of a short tide so its ideal for a short session.

The spot is well known locally on both sides of the water for the little schoolies that swarm into the creek over the top of the tide to feed on the brown shrimp and as usual it didn't disappoint, although probably because of the very small evening tide, the fish only really fed for about 30 minutes, just at the top of the 7pm tide. I spent a lovely couple of hours in the sunshine and managed a couple of little schoolies to Ragworm but to be honest, even without the fish, there would have been plenty to watch as the river is alive with bird life at the moment with the stars of the show being a pair of Marsh Harriers which hunt regularly across the local salt marsh and nest nearby most summers.

You can see from the picture that the first little Bass I landed looked a bit rough, with a wound on its back and this isn't particularly uncommon here as the fish are often targeted by Herons and Egrets in the shallows or even by Seals, that sit in the main run waiting for the Bass to flood into the creek with the tide. As we move into summer this spot will come alive with shoals of these little Bass and, if you are lucky, the occasional sizable fish but the bigger fish here are rare and a big tide generally seems to give you a better chance of one. Anyway, nice to see a couple of Bass (albeit small) after what feels like a long winter and on the marsh it was like a summers day with Bees and Butterflies everywhere.

Fishing Report: 4th April 09 - St Osyth

2009-04-05T18:42:00.015+02:00

I'd had a mind to head up the local saltings with some Ragworm this weekend to try for some early Bass in the river but not having time to get the Ragworm I dug a few local lug, put Plan B into operation and headed to St Osyth to see what was about up there instead. The beach has had a tremendous scour of late which seems to have knocked the fishing a bit but with more settled weather recently the foreshore seems to have recovered a little and I was hopeful that the fishing may have improved a little: I was wrong, but you live and learn as they say.

I arrived in glorious spring sunshine at about 5pm in time to fish the last couple of hours of the flood and as much of the ebb as I could manage and much to my surprise, although there were a few weekenders about generally the bird reserve end of the beach was deserted and there was not one nudist up there. I passed only one lone angler fishing right by the first rock groyne, where the recent big tides have formed a high sandbank against the rocks but that was it as far as company was concerned, apart from a local Fox, a vixen in peak condition, who arrived just after darkness fell and came to within 3 or 4 feet of where I was sitting to sample a couple of Calamari Squid.

I had the baits out in the water by about 6pm, fishing Lugworm on one rod and whole squid on the other, but with the poor tide it was not until about 9pm, in the peak of the ebb current (such as it was) that the first bite came to a Lugworm bait and resulted in a small Codling on the beach, which was quickly returned and swam away strongly. Shortly afterwards a strong bite resulted in a good sized Pouting of about a pound and that signalled what turned out to be the end of any chance of a decent Codling for me.

Over the next couple of hours I fished the tide down to the bottom of the beach with a steady stream of tiddler bites, managing to put 4 more Pouting on my scorecard, two of which came in on the same pennel rig very much like "little and large" before finally deciding I'd had enough at just after 11pm. Despite reports of Codling still being caught in good numbers there is no doubt that the season (and therefore the fishing) is beginning to change. Although there are still a few scattered groups of Brent Geese about in the local estuary the bulk have moved on and with the days lengthening and the temperatures starting to rise its very likely that the Bass are on their way; for me that means its time to fill the bait fridge up with Ragworm and to head to the various marks around my local estuaries after the Schoolies.

Fishing Report: 21st March 09 - St Osyth

2009-03-22T22:05:00.015+01:00

Although I'd had an hours spinning on the Colne the day before (tempted by the illusion of a bit of sunshine and a longing for the Bass season to return) I really was in the mood for another spell on the beach. As I had a bit of bait left from the last session and the weather forecast seemed so good I thought I would finish it off by throwing it at a few hours of the ebb tide at my favourite spot at St Osyth again.

With the tide at about 8pm I arrived in time to be set up and fishing for the last hour of the flood on what was a really nice, calm night, passing only one other lone angler (fishing by what is left of the turn of the old beach road onto the dunes) on the way up to the far end of the beach. I settling back to watch the rod tip in the beam of the headlamp with only the occasional visitation from a patrolling Fox behind me in the dunes and the calls of the waders flying overhead for company and waited patiently for the first bite to come. To some it may seem like a very lonely way to spend a Saturday night but in truth this is the fishing I tend to prefer with nothing to distract me from my purpose and nobody to break the peace and quiet, away from the weekend revellers and the telly.

My previous session here a few days before had seen me manage a brace of Codling but tonight was a very different night. There was absolutely no tide run to speak of and the seabed in front of me seemed to be crawling with bait robbing crabs; to be blunt the fishing was crap. Apart from the odd tiddler bite, the only thing to save me from a blank was probably the best Whiting I have had for a few years, which slack lined a large Lugworm bait fished at range and went a good 14 inches. This time of the year I generally don't take Whiting home and such a nice specimen would have gone back had it not have taken the hook about 10 inches down!

Hopeful that the Whiting was a prelude to a Codling or two I fished on but by 11pm the water had all but disappeared and the air was getting decidedly chilly and so at 11.30pm after finishing off the last of the Lugworm on one last ditch bait I left the dunes to the birds and the leftover bits and bobs of bait to the Fox and headed home.

Fishing Report: 18th March 09 - St Osyth

2009-03-19T20:50:00.040+01:00

A break in the cold weather had me itching to get on the beach as other than for a few casting sessions, I'd not wet a line for a while. The forecast was for a bright, sunny spring day and there were reports of good numbers of Codling still about so it really had to be done. I opted to fish towards the bird reserve at St Osyth with a high tide at about 5 ish, getting on the beach and set up by about 1pm, just in time to fish the beginning of the flood and enjoy the warm afternoon sunshine. Despite the chilly wind the sunshine had brought out the more hardy of the "gentlemen nudists" and there were half a dozen or so lurking amongst the dunes behind me as I fished through the afternoon, though nothing like the number that appear in the summer months.

I fished through the bright sunshine of the afternoon, one rod out with chunks of Herring (in the hope of a Thornie) and the other with freshly dug Lugworm without so much of a twitch on either rod and it was not until pal Stuart joined me at about 5pm and the sun had started to drop in the sky that the first signs of life started to show with the odd tiddler bite on the Lugworm. I managed my first fish, an undersized Codling, about 45 minutes later and that was shortly followed by another Codling to the Lugworm, this time sizable and weighing about 1.5lb.

As the sun finally sunk below the horizon the temperature dropped sharply and I noticed that the Skylarks (which had been singing over the saltmarsh behind me all day in true spring fashion) had stopped singing. Stuart had managed a couple of small fish but it was only now, just as things started to feel decidedly more like traditional chilly Codling weather, that he pulled out a small Bass, prompting discussions of many more sunsets at this favourite spot of mine. We fished on through the first hour or so of darkness without much more action and so with the tide disappearing fast we decided at about 8pm to call it a night. It was as I was packing up my first rod that the session was really topped off. A full blown slack liner on the remaining rod ended with me slipping a second codling of about 2lb up the beach and finishing off the session quite nicely thank you very much!

As good as the Codling fishing is at the moment it has to be expected that the season will come to a close soon. The recent warm weather has seen the trees and hedgerows start to bud and bloom and on the estuary the Brent Geese are beginning to gather in large numbers, ready for their great journey north to breed. No doubt a cold snap or two will still come but there's no mistaking that feeling of spring and hopefully the impending arrival of my favourite quarry, the Bass.

Fishing Report: 19th February 09 - Clacton on sea, Essex

2009-03-15T13:56:00.008+01:00

I had originally wanted a session after some Suffolk Flounders but with various commitments getting in the way I just didn't have the time available for a long session across the border, which usually involves digging Ragworm on the way to fishing. Instead I decided to make the most of the time I had available and fish closer to home, settling for a shortish session at the Gunfleet Sailing Club at Clacton.

I opted to fish the ebb on the very small tide, a definite handicap when the target is Codling, slinging out my first baits of Frozen Black and Cuttle at about 7pm on what was, for a change, a very pleasant mild night. The fishing was slow to say the least, not a great surprise given there was very little run in the tide, however within an hour I had a Codling in the bag; nothing big but approaching the 2lb mark and a nice size for the pot. If I'm honest luck must have been smiling on me with this fish as I didn't even get a bite and it must have just taken the bait as I picked up my solitary rod to reel in and re-bait.

I had hoped to add at least one more fish to tally but it was just not to be. Despite the water being a nice colour there was just no run in the tide whatsoever and the fishing was just not up to much. The only other excitement of the night was one of those steamroller bites that lifted the rod butt off the ground on the last cast at about 11.30pm as the water began to really disappear on me. You would have thought that any fish doing that to your rod would be well and truly hooked but as is often the case, I picked up the rod to find it had gone and reeled in a bait that looked untouched so despite the ferocity of the bite it seems that the fish didn't take the bait properly.

Normally I would have tried that "one more cast" after a good bite but to be honest I was really just too tired and as I started to pack up the rain started to come down so it seems that packing up was probably a good decision (I hate the rain). Despite being a slow session, after all the cold weather we have had this winter, the mild night made for a nice change and I'm not one to complain at having a Codling in the bag for tea, especially not after some of the very lean Cod seasons I have experienced over the years.

Fishing Report: 7th February 09 - St Osyth, Essex

2009-02-11T01:47:00.031+01:00

As seems to be the norm in recent years my Christmas Flattie crusade went completely down the pan. The fluctuating temperatures, way too much rain and the sharp bouts of frosty weather have either confused the Flatties or the fish are just not there any more. I tried one daylight session at Brightlingsea with Stuart a few days after Christmas, when the prom front should have seen us take at least a few fish, but it just didn't happen and we managed not even a bite between the two of us; the only action of the day was watching a huge scrap boat coming into the river.

A lonely night session a few days later produced nothing more spectacular than a small Whiting and the first week of January saw my first Cod session of 2009 turn into yet another depressing blank, so it wasn't exactly the most exiting start to the fishing year. Thirty years plus throwing bait at the sea teaches you that these bad spells come every now and again and that things will look up in good time if you persevere, but when the weather is cold, the nights black and the wind blows right through you from the north a few naff sessions can dampen the enthusiasm of even the keenest angler amongst us, myself included.

With a never ending list of things to do on the website I decided to have a rest for a while and set to sorting out some more suppliers and getting the online cart in order; it took me a lot longer than I expected and in the end it was a good month before I had the site where I wanted and decided on the spur of the moment to fish a few hours over the top of the tide amongst the rock groins at St Osyth.

Starting at about 6.30pm on a freezing cold day I originally intending to walk up to the bird reserve end but with temperatures dropping decided that it would be a bit foolhardy, not to mention hard graft in all the cold gear required for the nights fishing and a change of heart saw me setting up two rods in amongst the rock groins in the hope of better results than my first session of the year.

Fishing both rods with frozen Black Lug and Cuttlefish baits I started the night off well landing a Codling of about 1.75 lb on the second cast but that was pretty much the end of my luck for the night the only other action being just on the turn of the tide when I hit a slack line bite which saw me connected to another fish for 30 seconds or so before it swam straight in towards me and dropped the hook. I spent the rest of the night without so much as a bite until my last cast when I managed to contact another fish and thought for one foolish moment that I would be heading home with a brace of fish to my score, but it just wasn't to be. This fish again swam straight in towards me and about 20 yards short of the beach stuck me into an immovable snag which resulted in a lost fish and rig. Such is life and as it was now midnight and the cold had started to get to me I decided to take the hint the fish were giving me and headed for home and a warm bed.

Quite clearly the fish are still feeding on the sprats as the fish I did land coughed a few up on the beach. If anybody is thinking of fishing at St Osyth in the near future I'd suggest using a lead lift as the beach as obviously had a good scour lately and this has left quite a number of small snags showing close in which tend to catch you out when you least expect it.

Fishing Report: 23rd December 08 - Clacton on sea, Essex

2008-12-25T03:45:00.011+01:00

I'd had a previous trip to the Gunfleet on the 12th December but to be quite honest it was such a waste of time due to rough weather caused by an onshore gale, that I hadn't bothered to post a report. However, after this last disaster of a session the fishing could hardly be any worse and I decided to have a last go after the Codling at my favourite spot tucked right in by the slipway before I turn my attentions towards the Flounders that will hopefully be gathering to feed in the local estuaries over the next couple of weeks.

It wasn't a particularly good tide with the high at about 9pm and so I decided to fish over the top, hoping to make the most of whatever run there would be to hopefully pick up a hungry Codling or two. I arrived at about 7pm to find my favourite spot vacant and a flat sea and had a large Black Lug and Squid bait out and fishing within 15 minutes of my arrival. Although there was some light drizzle as forecast by the weathermen it was hardly enough to wet the ground (certainly not enough to dampen my enthusiasm) and the mild night made it feel more like a mid-September session rather than one in December; not surprisingly having kitted myself out with full winter gear I had to lose the jacket fairly soon after I arrived.

I had hoped to pick up one or two fish on the flood but by high tide the fishing had been a complete let down with baits coming back untouched and not a single bite to my credit. The turn of the tide signalled a change however and as the run of tide strengthened about an hour after the top the Codling came on the feed, albeit that the bites were a lot more timid than usual and not the standard steamroller affairs that we associate with the species. Having had a steady rattle of a bite indicating a small Whiting on the end of the line I tightened into the first Codling of the night which measured in at about 48cm and this first fish was followed by a further two Codling over the course of the next hour, both of them also sizable although the last (which was just on the limit) was returned. Over the next couple of hours I was kept entertained by tiddler bites, hoping each one would develop into something more exciting but it was not to be and the only other fish of the night were the 3 or 4 Whiting that managed to take the 4/0 hook intended for much bigger gobs.

By 12:30am the water was disappearing fast as is normal on the mid-evening neap tides and with no run in the water and things to do the next day I decided it was time to call it quits and head for home, finishing the night very contented with two sizable Codling and a reasonable Whiting for my efforts.

Fishing Report: 6th December 2008 - Bateman's Tower, Brightlingsea

2008-12-12T11:51:00.014+01:00

I didn't really have the time to spare for a proper session this weekend but on the spur of the moment decided to have a few hours on Bateman's Tower once it got dark. Given that it was a neap tide (which traditionally have not given me good results in the river at this time of the year) and there was likely to be an awful lot of freshwater in the river, courtesy of all the rain we have had lately I wasn't expecting to catch too much and ultimately my hunch was right.

Things were much as I expected. I fished two rods reasonably hard for about 3 hours (1 hour of the flood, about 2 of the ebb) with Frozen Blacks, Squid and Ragworm and struggled for a bite in stark contrast to more recent results at Clacton. Despite the lack of action I stuck at it and eventually, about an hour on the ebb managed to take two fish in quick succession to save my pride, 1 small Whiting about 2 inches long and an equally small Flounder of about 4 inches. Despite having already replaced the camera that died on me during my previous session I was feeling the cold to the point that I really couldn't be bothered to take photos of my minuscule specimens and by 9pm, quite frankly, I'd had enough and headed home to warm up.

On the plus side the session did give me the chance to try out an old 1990 Black ABU 6500CT Ultracast that I have recently added a mag brake upgrade to. Its an old favourite that I've hardly used of late simply because I've got used to the ease of use of my Mag Elites which give you the opportunity to adjust the braking to suit the conditions, something that centrifugal brakes don't offer unless you fancy taking the reel apart on the beach. The reel behaved impeccably and the single magnet of the upgrade and two small centrifugal blocks gave me just the right amount of flexibility I needed. Despite having cold hands I had absolutely no problems casting it all night and if the reel is usable in the cold and the wet then I'm unlikely to have problems with it in the warmer weather.

As a footnote to this post, a few pals fished a match held at Brightlingsea (in freezing fog!) the following night. Results were similar to mine with only small stuff coming out and I wouldn't really expect this to change until better tides appear with the freshwater out of the river. If anybody is intending fishing this side of the river over the next week or two I'd suggest targeting the Flatties which should be just starting to gather up now for their pre-spawning feed up - they are probably going to be the only thing of any consequence feeding in the current levels of freshwater with the best bait for them being a good sized bunch of Maddies. Fish in the daylight to target the bigger fish.

Fishing Report: 22nd November 08 - Clacton on sea, Essex

2008-11-29T10:40:00.021+01:00

Initially this weekend I hadn't planned to fish but I'd been working my butt off on the online store and really needed a break. The strong winds had dropped off steadily during the day but were likely to have left a good bit of colour in the water which I reckoned would bring the Codling on the feed and so, although the weather front had turned round to come in from the north (bringing with it a sudden drop in the temperature) I decided on a spur of the moment trip to try a few hours at the Gunfleet Sailing Club yet again in the hope of adding a few more Codling to my tally.

I arrived at about 6pm with the tide almost finished with the flood expecting to see the seafront scattered with angler's lights but to my surprise things were relatively quiet (perhaps because of the weather forecaster's promise of snow) and yet again I managed to get into my favourite little corner, right by the Sailing Club slipway as I have done on so many winter sessions in the past. Further up the promenade there were other angler's lights but for some unknown reason the Gunfleet stretch was very quiet and so it was that I set up my single rod and flung my first Cod bait out over the large swells that were pushing into my little corner of the seafront and sat back to enjoy the solitude that as little as a decade ago would have been impossible on a winter Cod session.

The last hour of the flood was very uneventful and at the top of the tide I had only two average sized Whiting to show for my efforts with the large baits of Frozen Black and Squid. I took the opportunity for a break in concentrating on the rod for a drink and a bite to eat over the slack period at the top of the tide and then, as I watched a shooting star (or more likely a bit of space rubbish re-entering the atmosphere) flash down to the horizon a decent rattle on the rod followed by a slack line signalled that the ebb tide had started and that the Codling were, at last, on the feed. Although sizable the 42cm Codling that resulted from the take didn't take long to get in and a minute or so later I slid it up the slipway on a convenient swell and it was mine; a nice fit little Codling with an unusually pale colouration was destined for the frying pan.

Things then went quiet for a little while and apart from the odd bite which I presume were probably small Whiting the rod didn't move. As the tide started to fall away I began to think that was going to be it for the night then two Whiting turned up in quick succession, followed a couple of casts later by another Codling, just undersized. Half a dozen casts after the Codling I lifted the rod into what I thought would be another Whiting and was surprised to find myself attached to something that was tugging back and a couple of minutes later was pleasantly surprised to see the best fish of the night slide up the beach, a very clean, plump Codling of 55cm which had obviously just taken the bait and sat there in the now weakening current. It makes you wonder how many Codling we miss simply because we expect a furious bite from them every time.

I had another cast after I had sorted the Codling out but by now I was beginning to feel the cold a bit. I hadn't expected it to be quite as cold as it was and so hadn't put my thermals on under the waterproofs; now I was beginning to suffer for it! As usual towards the end of a session I got the digital camera out to take a quick few pictures of the fish and it soon became evident that the camera was feeling the cold as well; I managed four frames and then the screen went black (which turned out to be the CCD dying) and with that final bit of encouragement I decided it was time to pack up and head for home.

Fishing Report: 14th November 08 - Clacton on sea, Essex

2008-11-15T19:55:00.021+01:00

After having a decent session last weekend at the Gunfleet Sailing Club at Clacton over the ebb I thought I would try the same spot again, but this time on the flood. The weather was reasonably calm and with the south westerly wind it was really mild for the time of the year. Although I generally prefer to fish this spot when its rough we'd had some high winds during the week and there was plenty of colour in the water and, along with a reasonable tide, I thought there was no reason why it would not produce some decent fishing again.

I arrived at about 7pm to a deserted beach, set up in my favourite spot with a single rod and Frozen Blacks and Cuttlefish as bait and then sat back to wait for the action to start. Although the water was still quite shallow there is a definite area of deeper water at this spot and it seems to act to hold fish at low tide. The Whiting were on the baits from the minute the first cast hit the water and the first cast resulted in an average sized Whiting with things continuing along the same lines for the next couple of hours, sometimes with the fish just hanging themselves without any indication whatsoever. A decent bite finally signalled a change in the shape of my first Codling of the night, a nice clean little fish just short of the line at about 33cm and then, for a while, it all went very quiet and even the Whiting seemed to disappear.

A chat with a WSF forum member (who was having a bike ride along the front) broke the monotony of the quiet spell in the fishing for a time and then, just as the Whiting started on the baits again, I was joined by two of the drunkest anglers I think I have ever seen, who decided to fish on the raised point by the Sailing Club much to my annoyance. It has to be said that I am not the most sociable angler known and the two of them made me feel a bit uneasy for a while but they eventually came across for a quick chat and seemed pleasant enough, despite being pretty much pickled and so I settled down and got back to concentrating on the fishing. After a short lull in the action the Codling turned up about two hours before the top of the 12:30 tide and a "steam train" bite signalled the first of what was to be a quick run of Codling which left me with three sizable fish on the beach, the biggest going about 1.75lbs.

I fished on till about an hour after the top of the tide but the fishing died, as it normally does, over the top of the tide and the only other takers on the short bit of the ebb tide I fished were a steady stream of Whiting with the final fish of the night turning out to be a very respectable specimen. I headed for home at about 1:45am reasonably happy and with fresh Codling in my bucket despite the added annoyance of a flat battery on my camera, hence the lower quality than usual phone camera picture of the Codling for this post.

On a final note large shoals of Sprats and herrings are being reported close inshore now so its likely that the fishing bubble may burst over the next few weeks unless we have some rough weather to break up the bait fish shoals.

Fishing Report: 07th November 08 - Clacton on sea, Essex

2008-11-08T18:16:00.029+01:00

Although the Codling have been around for a number of weeks now it's only just lately that its actually felt much like the autumn really. The last of the trees are starting to lose their leaves and the changing of the clocks along with the drawing in of the nights have finally got me programmed in to giving up on the chance of Bass and succumbing totally to thoughts of chasing Codling from a windswept shore. It's true enough that it doesn't need to be rough to catch Codling but to me when I dream of Cod, I dream of big surf, strong winds and water with lots of colour in it and its that kind of weather that has generally brought with it better sport for me.

With reports of the fishing finally hotting up and a good weather forecast with a stiff onshore breeze on the cards I had been itching to get on the beach all week for a proper session after the Codling and after much deliberation I decided to try my luck at Clacton's Gunfleet Sailing Club. After skipping work early and quickly getting my gear together I arrived at the mark a little later than planned but just in time to fish the last hour of the flood on the 7pm tide and a few hours of the ebb at my favoured spot here, right by the Sailing Club slipway. Here both the Sailing Club's slip and the nearby land drain pipe way disrupt the tide, providing a patch of shore with slightly deeper water and with some rough ground which seems to attract the Codling and bring them in closer than other parts of the beach. It is however a difficult spot to fish and accurate casting is a necessity here if you want to avoid heavy tackle losses.

By the time I had got fishing the flood tide had eased and it was no surprise really that only a couple of average sized Whiting and a Pouting of about 12oz came to the rods. However, once the ebb started to move though it all changed and, pretty much as I expected, about 40 minutes into the ebb the Codling started to play, although they were being a bit finicky hitting the Frozen Black baits and then dropping them almost immediately. I missed about 3 or 4 of these finicky takes before finally I connected with a fish that had slack-lined the TT Sport and after it had tugged a bit in the surf I finally had a sizable Codling of about 45cm on the promenade.

The fish continued to play awkward for the rest of the ebb but despite this, by the time the water had dropped enough to allow me to get down off the promenade and onto the beach I had three sizable Codling in the bag and had lost another in the backwash on the concrete slipway. By now most of the other anglers on this stretch (most of whom were already fishing when I arrived) had disappeared but I stuck at it for another hour as past sessions at this mark have shown that a bonus fish or two can be had by fishing at range, late in the tide. My persistence paid off and by the time I packed up at around 10:30pm, having run out of bait, I had managed another couple of Whiting, A Pouting roughly the same size as the first, a Rockling and the best Codling of the night, which took a large bait of frozen Black Lugworm fished right by the end of the land drain pipe. All in all a thoroughly enjoyable few hours at a mark that has been a favourite of mine for 20 years or more and rarely disappoints when the Codling are around in force.

On a final note I should add a word of caution for anybody intending to fish this spot. During easterly and northerly blows this spot is an exceptionally safe mark to fish and offers good shelter from the wind, although you should watch out for sudden swells if you are casting or landing fish off the concrete slipway. The mark can however become very dangerous during southerly gales, particularly those from the south west, as the waves are forced by the wind into the corner of the promenade and up the slipway often washing along the promenade at some force. The recent addition of metal railings along this stretch have improved safety in rough weather (despite being a pain in the bum for casting) but in very heavy southerly winds you should stay off the slipway itself.

Fishing Report: 25th October 08 - St Osyth, Essex

2008-10-29T23:57:00.023+01:00

I'd had such a busy night on my last session at St Osyth I was itching to get back at the place and see if the whispers of a few bigger Codling showing were for real. If I'm being honest I really had too much to do at home but there are times when you just have to satisfy the need for a few hours on the beach and so in the end I decided on the compromise of one rod and a short session amongst the rock groynes just over the wall from the car park.

I arrived at about 7pm and was surprised to find that I wasn't the only angler with the same plan and that my favourite spot was already taken so in the end, after a short walk towards the Martello Tower, I had to settle for the last available bay where I quickly got myself sorted behind the brolly and got a 150 gram DVice, loaded with two good sized baits, out in search of some fish. In sharp contrast to my previous session here, the weather was definitely a bit more like Cod fishing weather and I was glad of the shelter of the brolly to escape what could best be described as "a bit of a blow"!

It was pretty obvious from the start that the recent rough weather had broken up the Whiting shoals that had been here previously so it was never going to be a repeat of my last session, where Whiting were on the baits as they settled on the bottom, but I consoled myself that the lack of Whiting and the rough water might provide a better chance of Codling and stuck to it, chucking out decent sized Black Lugworm baits as far as I could manage into the wind every twenty minutes or so.

The flood was uneventful except for one missed slack-line bite (it always happens when you pour a coffee!) and a couple of smallish Whiting, but I soldiered on in the now strengthening wind, and as soon as the tide turned at about 10:30pm a bit of current appeared and at last I started to get a few bites. A couple of sizable Whiting showed up and eventually a good bite about an hour on the ebb finally produced the sizable Codling I'd come looking for, which came in with a pair of reasonable Whiting attached as well, one hooked on the top trace and the other connected to the top hook of the same Pennel trace as the Codling.

By now I'd had enough of being sandblasted and after a couple more unsuccessful casts in the hope of turning my solitary Codling into a brace I finally decided discretion was the better part of valour and headed back past the now pretty much empty beach towards the car park to meet my lift home, with a final tally of six Whiting (four sizable) and one Codling of about 45cm.

Fishing Report: 11th October 08 - St Osyth, Essex

2008-10-14T00:32:00.031+02:00

I've spent a lot of time fishing on my own this year so it was quite a welcome change to join a couple of friends for a reunion trek up towards the Bird Reserve end of Hutley's Beach at St Osyth. I met Stuart and Paul (aka Stuartdv and Bread in fishing forum world) at Hutley's car park at about 6pm on Saturday night and after a brief chat and gathering together of the gear we headed up towards the bird reserve end of the beach on what turned out to be an absolutely cracking night both in terms of the fishing and the weather.

We were set up in time to enjoy what is probably the best sunset I've seen all year and, as usual at this spot, got the baits out and waited for the light to fade in hope that the fish would show us the usual courtesy of "switching on" as it got dark. We didn't have too long to wait and the first few small fish started to show up as the sun dropped, the odd Whiting, a couple of undersized Bass, a Pouting and then, as darkness fell, the Whiting arrived in force and what was to be a busy night started in earnest.

Throughout the flood tide the Whiting were on the baits almost as soon as they hit the water with regular doubles coming out (and a good few trebles to Stu and Paul) and at one point I was even getting double shots in on a Pennel rig fished with a DVice. As well as the Whiting there was the occasional undersize Bass and Pouting putting in an appearance just to make life a little more interesting and, as the tide neared the high mark with the resultant increase in the current the small Codling decided it was their turn. Ultimately that was what we had come for but although they did tug noticably better than the Whiting the bulk were too small and by about midnight (when we decided we were too knackered to fish any more) the only taker Codling had come to Paul, a fish of about 45cm, which he kindly donated to me.

The general size of the Whiting seemed to be a bit bigger than of late and my tally by the end of the night was 2 Codling (approximately 32 and 34 cm), about 20 Whiting and 2 small Bass. To be honest it was a struggle keeping tabs on my own tally so I really couldn't say what Paul and Stuart’s totals were for the night but I would lay money that they both did at least as well as me and Stuart seemed to be scoring regular treble shots in true matchman style. The fish may not be particularly large at the moment but I'm loath to complain as they are at least plentiful and it was a thoroughly enjoyable night of non-stop bites spent with very good company; there's not that many times over the year that you get a night where you don't get time to eat a sandwich.

Fishing Report: 26th September 08 - St Osyth, Essex

2008-09-27T14:01:00.012+02:00

I was finally getting my new online tackle store near completion and it had been a long slog. Most of the summer had been lost either to working on the store, family stuff or to the weather, which this summer has been completely naff and I was keen not to totally lose the autumn season. I'd been contemplating fishing the flood tide at St Osyth all week and after a report from pal Stuart of sizable Codling being caught during a weekday match I decided to give it a go amongst the rock groins on what was a really pleasant late September evening.

I was on the beach and set up with two rods by 7pm, surprised that despite the reports of Codling, the only company I had was two other anglers fishing in the next bay along and a coughing cat that was scavenging along the beach. As is usual for me at this time of year, although my target was Codling, I still had not completely given up the hope of a late Bass so with one rod sent out with frozen Blacks (for the Codling) I set up the second to fish for Bass with some very generous Ragworm baits which I hoped would attract something a bit more glamorous than the expected Whiting.

Things were slow to start but as usual, after an absolutely fantastic sunset, darkness set in the fish switched on and things began to liven up; though not with the Bass it has to be said. From that point on the Ragworm rod didn't stop all night and it was "a bite a chuck" with the Whiting, although because of my optimistic habit of using decent size hooks there were a lot I didn't hook. Not that it was a problem. To be quite honest I see no point in destroying the mini Whiting population and I'd much rather lose a few tiddlers, hook the slightly better ones and have a decent size hook on to cope for that fish of a lifetime when it appears.

About 3 hours before the top of the 11:30pm tide I finally had a break from the Whiting in the shape of a Codling of about 1.5lbs, which took the Ragworm rather than the Black Lugworm I had laid on specially for him and I was hopeful that more might show as the tide increased but that was it on the Codling front for the night. Despite the lack of further Codling it certainly wasn't quiet and the action continued with the Whiting for the rest of the night.

By the time I packed up at about 11pm I was knackered. The end result for a very pleasant evenings fishing was a nice round figure of 20 Whiting (most of which were sizable) and the solitary Codling, with all but a couple of the Whiting being taken on Ragworm. As I packed up I was relieved that I hadn't pushed up to the Bird Reserve end of the beach for a change as although I enjoy the solitude of being up there at night, I really wasn't up for the long walk back. No such problems amongst the groins though and a 50 yard trot with my gear saw me being picked up at the car park and on my way home with half a dozen Whiting and a Codling for the family pot. Time to stock up on chips, my Cod season has started!

Fishing Report: 13th September 08 - Bateman's Tower, Brightlingsea

2008-09-14T14:05:00.020+02:00

Although I hadn't originally planned to go fishing again this weekend last night was one of those beautifully mild, calm evenings that I just can't resist at this time of the year. As a young lad, myself and the gang of friends I fished with would eagerly await the first run of Whiting in the river and to us (in our early teens) there was no greater adventure than to be allowed to fish a night tide on our own down the Tower. Perhaps its those childhood memories that make me a fan of the Whiting or perhaps its because they are so obliging; I don't know but I am definitely a fan of what I think is a very underrated fish.

When the Whiting are in the river (and they most certainly are at the moment) this weather gets them shoaling up tight to chase the local Brown Shrimps and some really good catches can be had. Life is also made that bit easier, so far as Whiting are concerned, because Mackerel strip is the number one bait when they have just arrived and so a couple of quids worth of fish from the Tesco fish counter will often provide for a good nights fishing without the major expense or hassle of getting a supply of fresh worm.

I arrived at the Tower at about 10pm to fish the midnight(ish) tide and had my two rods set up within about fifteen minutes; one rod to fish Ragworm out in the tide in the hope of an autumn Bass and the other, the Whiting rod, sporting a clipped-down three hook paternoster baited with Mackerel. The general idea with the three-hook rig is that it allows you to fish at a variety of distances so you can experiment to find the fish, though to be honest when the Whiting are hungry and about in good numbers you will get them whatever.

The flood tide started off very slow with not a single fish, maybe due to the Seal that put in an appearance, but on the turn of the tide the Whiting appeared in force and it was pretty much a bite a chuck on both rods, which on a couple of occasions led to a treble-shot of Whiting on the three-hook rig. The rod fished at range with large Ragworm baits didn't fare quite so well and Bass were definitely not on the menu on this occasion. I have no doubt that the Bass were there but to be honest on a night like that they just won't be able to get to the bait because of the Whiting which are quite partial to a large King Ragworm, though really catching Whiting from range is just making things hard work for yourself; why bother when there are loads of them 40 yards out?

A very pleasant nights fishing ended at about 2am when I ran out of bait just as the water was starting to get too low to fish because of the wooden breakwater in front of the Tower. I hadn't managed any Bass on the long-range rod but total for the night was nineteen Whiting, with the bulk of the fish probably between 6 - 10 oz, pretty much the average size for the Colne and I was more than happy with that. A lot of anglers knock the Whiting and turn their nose up at them but to me they are a very welcome, easy to catch fish that signal the change of the seasons and set you up for the rest of the winter.

Fishing Report: 11th September 08 - St Osyth, Essex

2008-09-13T12:13:00.016+02:00

After a reasonably enjoyable night at Brightlingsea the previous night I decided to take a hike to a favourite spot up towards the Bird Reserve at St Osyth. Although there was a fairly stiff south westerly breeze the weather wasn't cold, though I did take my brolly (a fairly serious decision given the extra weight this involves and the distance this spot is from the car) just in case the light showers forecast by the weatherman turned into something more serious. With high tide at about 10:20pm and a neap tide I wasn't expecting a record-breaking catch but was hoping, if nothing else, that there would be a few Whiting around.

After the long walk to the spot I was sorted and fishing with my two rods by 7pm; one rod fished at range with large Ragworm baits and the other fished at long and short range alternatively with two hooks, one baited with Ragworm the other with frozen Black Lugworm. As usual things were slow to start but about half an hour after the absolutely amazing sunset the beach started to live up to its reputation for switching on at night and I reeled in the first fish, a Whiting of about 10oz which fell to a large Ragworm bait fished at range. From that point on the bites came fairly steadily throughout the tide particularly to the Ragworm, though as I was fishing larger baits in the hope of an autumn Bass I missed a great deal of them. Its most likely, given this spot's past performance, that a great deal of the bites were from Whiting and had I fished accordingly with a three hook rig baited with Mackerel strip I could have had a good haul of them but to be quite frank they are still a bit thin and in any case what I really wanted was a Bass.

By the top of the tide I'd been kept busy with a slow but steady stream of fish. The first Whiting had been joined by three others as well as a Codling just 2cm below the minimum size and I had at least managed one Bass, although at about 20cm long it was a lot smaller than I really wanted. As things quietened down over the top of the tide I took the opportunity to have a drink and eat my grub and then just as the tide started ebb the fish started again and I set to work to attempt to land a few more fairly quickly as I had to leave at 11:30pm. By 11pm I was wondering if my hooks had gone blunt as I hadn't managed another fish but a classic slack-line bite (which I was expecting to be a much better fish) saw the twin of the earlier Codling coming up the beach. I returned the Codling, which swam off strongly, and mindful of the long walk back decided to call it a night, reeling in the second rod to find another two Whiting of about 8 to 10oz hanging on it.

As usual the walk back to Hutley's car park seemed about twice the distance of the walk there, not helped by the added weight of the brolly. Overall not a bad night, though only the Whiting were really sizable and then I kept only two fish (because they had been deep-hooked and it seems a complete waste to throw back dead fish) as at this time of the year they are definitely a bit thin and not in their peak. Hopefully as the autumn progresses the Whiting will fatten up on the local shrimps and some better Codling will appear, particularly as there have been so many small ones around over the last couple of years.

Fishing Report: 10th September 08 - Bateman's Tower, Brightlingsea

2008-09-11T03:22:00.013+02:00

Apart from a couple of (very) short and unproductive spinning sessions the latter part of my summer has passed by all too quickly. As is so often the case, even amongst the keenest of us, other factors in life take over and fishing reluctantly has to take a back seat. I had been toying with the idea of starting up an online business for some time and finally decided to bite the bullet and go for it; just as I was starting my mother fell ill and died shortly after and that was effectively the end of my fishing this summer to all intents and purposes!

By the beginning of last week I had finally got on top of things and was itching to fish the big tides on the Colne(a favourite time for Bass) but ended up giving it a miss due to crap weather and the amount of rain that had fallen which was no doubt going to mess up the fishing. But with the tides fast coming round to mid-evening and a good southerly blow to liven up the fishing I could resist no more and so I headed to the Tower tonight, bucket loaded with some freshly dug King Ragworm, in order to get my long awaited fix.

I started fishing at about 7:30pm with a single rod and as it was a neap tide put my two large Ragworm baits out as far as I could in an attempt to find as much flow of water as possible and hopefully a nice early autumn Bass. Things were very quiet until just after the top of the 9:20pm high tide but then as the ebb started to flow I began to get the occasional bite, probably from small stuff, which needless to say didn't connect to the 3/0 hooks I was using. An hour later and a missed bite resulted in a well-slimed and tangled rig but it was not until the last hour of the session that I finally connected to a bite, not the small Bass I had expected to see but a sizable Whiting (already!) and actually not a bad sized one for the river at that. While the Whiting wasn't really what I had come for, after so long away from the beach I was glad to see anything, particularly anything sizable and so I fished on a little longer in the hope of catching more and, in the back of my mind, still hoping for a Bass.

By 11pm I had seen very little else in the way of bites although I had managed to retrieve a lost rig. As the water was disappearing fast and the current hardly running I decided enough was enough for one night and that it was time to head for home but as I was just about to pick up the rod to reel in the tip hit round and the line went slack. It took a few seconds to make contact with the fish and although I knew it was no monster I was sure that the fish on the end was no Whiting; after a quick tussle I was proved right and swung a sizable Bass over the railings of the Tower. At around 40cm the Bass wasn't going to be breaking any records but was a pleasant end to the night and was at least some consolation for the summer I missed: as if I needed a bonus, there was also another sizable Whiting on the trace!

Fishing Report: 4th July 08 - Sandgate Beach, Kent

2008-07-06T15:31:00.012+02:00

I had been trying to get down to Sandgate for a session with the Mackerel feathers for some time and at last the plan came together, although it had a somewhat protracted format in that we would make a detour on our way to pick up a friend of my wife's from Ramsgate and then head for the south Kent coast. Even with the detour the clear roads and fairly light traffic (by motorway standards) meant that we were at Sandgate by noon but again, it seems, the Mackerel curse struck again.

Although the water down there is generally much clearer than my local Essex beaches the recent strong winds (which were very evident on the day of our visit) had stirred the water and left it very coloured and I knew as soon as we arrived that the Mackerel were going to be a difficult proposition; I wasn't wrong. Although I worked hard with the feathers all day I had not a sniff of any Mackerel and it was all a bit disheartening really, as normally they surrender quite readily from this beach. There was a good spattering of other anglers along the beach as well, some fishing lures, some feathers and some bottom fishing, but all seemed to fare as well as me fish-wise.

As the tide dropped away towards late afternoon so the wind dropped with it but unfortunately the rough weather had left so much colour in the water the fishing was not going to liven up in time for me and so it was that we headed back to Ramsgate at about 6pm to drop my wife's friend back home without a fish putting in an appearance. On the plus side it was a nice afternoon to be on the beach and we did at least catch a glimpse of the local Dolphin (the locals call him "Dave") about 500 yards off the beach; no doubt that was where the Mackerel were, way beyond my casting range.

The journey home was pretty much problem free except for two lanes through the Dartford tunnel being shut, with a resultant scrummage of cars, bikes and lorrys trying to filter from the tollgates into the remaining two lanes. It was as we were getting involved in this scrummage that I noticed a Fox walking calmly along the pavement beside all the chaos of the traffic, occasionally stopping to sniff around the roadside bushes and seemingly totally oblivious to the melee that was going on at the tunnel. Foxes and cars generally don't go well together but this streetwise old Fox was obviously at home here and was thriving. It was a reminder that nature has a way of sticking two fingers up at you just as you think you've got it sussed, very much like the Sandgate Mackerel had done earlier in the day.

Fishing Report: 1st July 08 - Wet Docks, Ipswich

2008-07-03T19:15:00.026+02:00

I had planned a day at Sandgate in Kent but the Mackerel fishing curse struck again, the plans all went to pot and so I settled for a couple of hours on the Wet Dock after the "townie" Mullet. On my last visit I had enjoyed a cracking evening of sport but had lost three out of the five fish I hooked at the net, not least because the landing net I generally use is quite small; this time I brought along a specimen size landing net (a remnant from my Carp fishing days) to make netting a little bit easier. I also tend to "bully" fish a bit and this may well have been a factor in the lost fish so I decided to leave the 3lb Rogue Carp rod behind in favour of my Drennan Spinflex which, being a lot lighter, would mean I would be less likely to rush in a fish before it was ready.

I arrived at the dock at 6pm to find that a large sailing boat was docked right where I intended to fish, however, there was plenty of room so I simply fished a bit further up. Although there were no fish showing on the surface within ten minutes of starting (with my usual 1oz wedge fished as a baited spoon) I had a pair of Mullet follow the lure in, though neither could be persuaded to take the Ragworm on the hook. I continued to be frustrated by the fish for some time. Maybe there was too much disturbance or maybe they just weren't in mood but for whatever reason they would follow the bait in, they would mouth the very end of the worm, they would even nip off the tail of the bait right under my nose but no matter what depth or speed I fished the baited lure, they simply would not take the hook.

An hour later, just as I was thinking I was heading for a blank, a decent fish hit the bait hard about 30 yards out and promptly headed in the opposite direction. The Spinflex bent double and the reel screamed on the fishes initial run and then, as I find most decent fish do on light tackle, begrudgingly the Mullet allowed itself to be guided gently back towards me. Within a couple of minutes or so I had managed to get it about ten yards out from the dock wall but at that point it saw me and then the fireworks really started! It lunged, it rolled, it splashed, it bored down to the bottom and it even leapt clear of the water once or twice but eventually it was in the net and up on the dock. It was at that point I realised I had an audience of about a dozen onlookers, most of them amazed to discover that there were actually fish in the dock. It dragged the scales down to 2lb 14oz and after a few photographs (by the wife) and a very brief question and answer session with the audience it was lowered back into the dock with the landing net and shot off across the dock.

For the next 45 minutes or so things went very quiet on the Mullet front, perhaps because of the commotion of landing the first fish. I did see a shoal of a dozen or so fish pass right beneath me, hugging the side of the dock, but apart from hooking three small Bass I had not a sniff of further action from the fish until I managed to persuade a follower to take the bait at the last minute just under the rod top. This fish was noticeably smaller than the first but it didn't seem to stop it putting up a fight. It chose to fight at close quarters, preferring to go round in circles under the rod tip rolling and thrashing as it went rather than run as such and although less of a spectacle than the fight with the first fish it still wasn't ready for the net for a good few minutes. As with the first fish, I had attracted an audience and again I answered questions as I unhooked, weighed and returned the fish, which tipped the scales to 2lb 4oz exactly.

By now the sun was getting low in the sky and the air temperature was starting to drop, both of which do nothing to improve the Mullet fishing here and so, after a few more casts just for the hell of it, I decided to call it a day. The bigger net had made all the difference as netting the fish was certainly made easier (though not exactly easy) and the lighter Spinflex rod had forced me to play the fish out properly, rather than use the brute force of the Carp rod to get them to the net. Weather and time permitting I will be back to fish the dock very soon and to be honest, if it wasn't such a journey for me to get to, I would most probably fish the place every week; Mullet are one of those fish that never become boring.

Fishing Report: 29th June 08 - River Colne, Essex

2008-06-30T18:50:00.026+02:00

Spurred on by my recent good session with Ipswich's "townie" Mullet and with a week off work to play with I decided that it was high time I got back to the river to see if the local Bass were ready to play. With little rainfall of late the freshwater levels seemed to be getting back to normal and I was hankering to get to my favourite upriver Bass marks for a bit of peace and solitude; just me, the river and of course the fish. Rather than fish one of my regular marks I decided to chance a session at a mark I had been eying up for a couple of years now but had never got round to actually trying, hoping that this new mark (much further upriver than I usually fish) would provide better sport than my more usual ones had of late.

The main problem with these upriver marks is the short period you are able to fish (unless you want to be fishing up to your thighs in mud!) which is made even more difficult by the way the tide disappears on the ebb about 3 times faster than it rises; in fact on many upriver marks you are only able in practice to fish for about 2 hours. I was hoping that this new spot would overcome a lot of these problems as it offered fairly firm ground underfoot allowing you to fish much earlier in the tide and is in casting range of the main channel, where hopefully the Bass would be following the first influx of salt water upriver to feed.

With the tide at 9.15 pm I arrived on the mark in bright sunshine and was set up and chucking out my first baits by six, whole squid on one rod and the hot favourite, Ragworm, on the other; both fished out in the deep water of the main channel. For the first hour things were very quiet except for the odd passing yacht and a period of pandemonium amongst the wading birds as a Sparrowhawk shot across the salt marsh, but then the first bite came to the Ragworm and a little schoolie came up the beach. Two more small Bass followed on consecutive casts to Ragworm but just as things were starting to liven up three idiot jet skiers came through close in at a good few more knots than the 8 knot limit, heading upriver. They passed back down the way they'd come a few minutes later even closer in than the first time, typical of the selfish attitude of the people that ride these bloody things and that seemed to put pay to the fishing for a while.

The tide was well and truly on the ebb before the next bite came, again to Ragworm. This time a slightly better Schoolie of about 30cm came up the beach, accompanied by the calling of nearby Owl, which seemed to be having a duet with another one across the other side of the river. Another Bass of about 30cm came out next cast just as the main run of the ebb had started to ease and then all seemed to go quiet on the fishing front.

I fished on for another hour but by now the water was disappearing fast and the crabs were stripping the baits clean in about ten minutes and so at about 11pm I decided to call it a night, but not before putting out one last cast on the Ragworm rod as I packed up the one that had fished whole squid all night (without so much as a nibble). That decision turned out to be a wise one as, just as I was packing up the first rod, I had the best knock of the night to the Ragworm. A very brief scrap in the shallows saw my last and best fish of the night on the bank, a 45cm Bass; my first sizable Colne Bass of the year.

Fishing Report: 25th June 08 - Wet Docks, Ipswich

2008-06-26T03:36:00.031+02:00

It had been way too long since I last fished. Late May and early June sessions on the river had not lived up to expectations and the seemingly endless supply of rain had filled the estuary with freshwater, killing off the local Bass fishing for a while. Rather than making life hard for myself with the Wife for little return fish-wise I concentrated my efforts on jobs at home in the hope of earning some brownie points which could be cashed in for sessions when the fishing improved. The recent dryer, settled weather and rumours of Schoolies starting to show in the estuaries finally persuaded me to venture out onto the mud to dig a couple of pound of Ragworm for the bait tanks the previous weekend but as yet hadn't had a chance to drown any of them and with the tides not late enough for me to fish the local marks after work I decided on a spur of the moment visit to the Wet Dock at Ipswich to try for some of the "townie" Mullet with a baited spoon.

I arrived at about 6.30pm to find the dock was very busy with a RN fast patrol craft at the dockside (with visiting Air Cadets) and the Fire Brigade practising their hose drills on the dock so I wasn't expecting to do very well even though the humid, sunny conditions seemed perfect for a session with the spoon. Despite this I set to it eagerly and was pleasantly surprised when the first cast produced a good size follower. Although the fish could not tempted to take the 3 inch Ragworm on the hook, it was sign enough that I might be in with a chance of a fish and I carried on fishing the spoon at various ranges, speeds and depths until fifteen minutes later I was rewarded with the slow steady take of a Mullet (as apposed to the "smash" of a Bass take). After a 5 minute tussle, during which it went in and then out of the landing net about half a dozen times, I had my first fish on the dockside, a nice Thin-Lipped Mullet of 2lb 12oz, though it has to be said that had I not had help with the net from one of the spectators that had gathered to watch the fight I doubt I would have got it in.

As I fished on there were occasional swirls on the surface of the water and numerous followers and it wasn't too long before I had another fish on. A little bigger than the first it put up an absolutely tremendous scrap, finally slipping the hook right by the net just as I thought I had it beaten. One of the firemen that had been practising nearby came over for a chat (perhaps a bit puzzled as to why I was still so cheerful, having just lost a fish) and by now I had attracted a bit of an audience, a mixture of pedestrians, firemen and Air Cadets. As the spectators began to lose interest and filter off I hooked, played and then lost another (slightly smaller) fish, again right by the net and then, as the sun dropped behind the nearby buildings, everything went quiet on the Mullet front and the little Bass that frequent the dock came out to play, hitting the baits on pretty much every retrieve.

For an hour I had the company of a local angler who had stopped off on his way home from work to spin for the Bass and by the time he left at about 9pm I'd had four little Bass and had lost another very big Mullet that had leapt clear of the water as I hooked it and had snapped the hook-length. Just as the light started to fade and thoughts turned to home I hooked the last fish of the night, a smaller Mullet than the first, which again put up a brilliant fight and gave me lots of problems at the net before it finally came in. It nudged the scales to 2lb exactly and was the perfect finish to a brilliant evenings fishing.

The docks may not be the scenic and peaceful surroundings of the deserted upriver marks that I usually like to fish on the Colne in the summer and you won't see a Marsh Harrier soaring on the evening thermals above it, but it's one of those places that is very easy to like, even with the sound of the town centre traffic, police sirens and the comings and goings of the boats in the dock. It's the Mullet that make this venue, plain and simple, and if you like catching fish that put up a fight, then the docks (and the Mullet) won't disappoint!

Fishing Report: 1st June 08 - River Colne, Essex

2008-06-02T18:01:00.037+02:00

I had planned a few hours lure fishing the previous evening but as is so often the case family commitments made me late and I'd only managed about an hours plugging amongst rock groins without any success. Despite that I had seen a Bass of about 2lb hitting Sandeel on the surface and that (along with a good weather forecast for the next day) was enough to encourage me to try an early morning session on the Colne.

As promised the rain had held off overnight although it was still quite cloudy when I reached the first spot I wanted to try, the end of the local Sailing Club's slipway, about 5 hours before high tide. The slipway allows you to get right out to the low tide line and fish a narrow gulley, a natural fish gateway, as the water just starts to flood in and I'd hoped to maybe pick up an early Bass or two but after an hour it became clear that it just wasn't going to happen.

There may have been a lack of Bass at this spot, but there was certainly no shortage whatsoever of Mullet and I watched fish after fish, some of them a good size, work their way into the pool then following the tide as it advanced over the mudflats. Had I have had some Ragworm I would have tried a baited spoon but it was sod's law that I hadn't bothered this morning so that was that, the Mullet would have to wait for another day.

Once the tide was high enough I moved to Westmarsh Point (known locally as "Splash Point) which often turns up a Bass or two. You could see the bottom in three feet of water and I set to work with a white Redgill but after an hour with no takes or followers I realised that I was flogging a dead horse here too and set off for the sea defences further upriver, where I spent the rest of the morning till the top of the tide.

The whole foreshore along the rock sea defences was alive with huge shoals of bait fish which could be seen dappling on the flat calm surface and the Terns were having a field day. There was also a Seal and a Cormorant fishing and both of them seemed to be doing well but surprisingly there didn't seem to be any Bass cashing in. I fished various spots till the top of the tide at about 11am and tried Redgills, Plugs and Poppers but all to no avail. The river seem to be deserted Bass-wise, perhaps because of too much fresh water in the river which was evident from the clear scum line through the main channel which is caused by the mixing of large amounts of fresh river water with the incoming tide.

So, yet another lure fishing blank on the Colne. I did however have the opportunity to briefly meet and chat with another Bass fishing hopeful, Andy, who has recently moved to the area and contacted me via this site for some local information. He was heading up onto the salt marsh for some light ledgering, float fishing and some peace and quiet - he ended up with nought just the same as me but did report that there were masses of small fish "bothering" his float fished baits so it seems that the river is full of fish food and the Bass will have plenty to eat when the salinity levels get back to normal. Obviously that assumes that the rain will ever stop!

Fishing Report: 30th May 08 - River Colne, Essex

2008-05-31T17:23:00.026+02:00

Plan A

A planned trip to Wales to combine a family holiday with a bit of fishing had gone terribly wrong this week due to car troubles and with the absolutely atrocious weather putting a further mocker on things I was well overdue for my fishing fix. The forecast for the day was the first rain-free one for over a week but the high winds of the week I thought would have left too much colour in the water for lures so I opted for a short early morning session with beachcasting gear and frozen sandeel and peeler as bait.

As it was, it was the wrong decision. Although there had been some reasonable winds during the week, because of the wind direction (mostly northerly) and probably the high amounts of rainwater in the river, the colour had dropped and I realised pretty much as soon as I arrived that I should have tried spinning after all. However, rather than abort I set to making the best of a bad lot and just as I sent the first baits out was surprised to have company in the shape of another guy using up some left-over bait from the previous day on a boat trip. I usually prefer to have the river to myself but on this occasion I was glad of the company as it turned out to be a very quiet session fish-wise.

Despite bashing away at it till high tide I managed not even a bite but there were small Bass everywhere forcing shrimps and bait-fish out of the water in front of me. The local Terns were also very busy fishing along the shoreline so quite obviously the bait-fish were up in the water, closely followed by the Bass. In the end I called time at the top of the tide and left the other guy (who up till then had only a missed bite for his troubles) to it, handing him my remaining three frozen sandeel as I went.

Plan B

Not put off by the poor result of the morning session, after a few hours kip and something to eat I was back again with the lures for the early flood of the evening 8:30pm tide. The rain had held off and we had even seen the sunshine a few times during the day but the breeze had got up a bit so I wasn't surprised to see a little more colour in the water than during my earlier session. The local promenade was way too busy and so I worked my way up the river, stopping here and there and trying various lures in the hope of some Bass but it was slow progress. Eventually I ended up on the salt-marsh with not a sniff of any action and then after a brief rest retraced my steps in the hope of catching up with some fish on my way back.

The bait-fish were obviously still about as the Terns were very busy working along the stretch I was fishing but it was only when I was halfway back towards the promenade that I found some Bass striking on the surface. Finally after ten minutes of trying this lure and that I had some success in the shape of a 34 cm Bass which took my faithful old white Redgill fished behind a wedge and despite being undersized (and quite thin) the little fish made a very reasonable show of it. In truth I was unlikely to ever lose it but the sight of a fish leaping clear of the water as it takes the bait is exciting, no matter how big it is! Unfortunately that was the only real excitement of the night. Once I had put the little Schoolie back for another day I continued to work back towards the promenade but although I saw the odd small fish on the surface I had no more takes and headed home just before dark.

Fishing Report: 17th May 08 - River Colne, Essex

2008-05-18T05:00:00.016+02:00

With a few Ragworm left in the fridge from the previous evening session in Ipswich I decided it was too nice an evening to waste and headed once again for my favourite stretch of the local estuary. The tide was perfect to fish the early flood at one of my favourite spots and the slight northerly had, as it usually does, allowed the colour to drop out of the water a little. As I arrived I was quite encouraged to see two or three different shoals of baby Bass raking the surface, sending showers of the local Brown Shrimp jumping out of the water in their efforts to escape so I decided to try a bit of spinning first, hoping to take advantage of the unusually clear water for this time of the year.

After an hour of fruitlessly throwing a 4 inch Redgill at the river with no return I took the hint and changed over to the light ledger gear and settled down amongst the weed covered rocks to await my first bite on the bunch of Ragworm bait fished about 50 yards out. It took three casts before I had a sniff of a fish, a small Schoolie of about 4 oz but to be honest after a week stuck in the office it really didn't matter what size of fish I was catching or even whether I was catching for that matter; sometimes its just about being on the river for a couple of hours and away from the normal madness of life.

There's always plenty to keep you interested here if you can be bothered to look and listen and as I sat awaiting the next bite I could hear a Cuckoo in the distance, calling out across the marsh. If that wasn't sign enough that spring is here then the Common Terns fishing along the shore confirmed it, although as the light started to fade and the temperature started to drop it didn't really feel much like spring.

By 9pm the only other action I'd seen was another small Bass about the same size as the first as well as a couple of crabs and so I decided it was time to head off for some food. It had got decidedly chilly as well and I wasn't kitted out for the cold. Not a great night fishing-wise by any standards but as I headed for home the river had one last treat for me; my first sighting this year of the local Marsh Harriers working their way across the marshes behind the sea defences, probably heading towards their usual nesting site in some woods overlooking the valley.

Fishing Report: 16th May 08 - Wet Docks, Ipswich

2008-05-18T04:29:00.016+02:00

I've heard so much about this venue over the years as a good spot for Mullet but to be honest had never got round to taking a look at the place for one reason or another. Every year I would tell myself I was going to pay the docks a visit and every summer would end before I had time to get there but this week, as I had reason to visit Ipswich, I decided to put that situation right and carry out a bit of a recce.

The venue itself was pretty easy to find (once you work out the diabolical one-way system through the centre of Ipswich) and there is a long stretch of the dock which is accessible to the public and offers the ability to fish right beside the car. This fact alone makes this venue amazingly convenient but it has an added bonus which really appeals to me. As the water level in the dock is controlled by a lock linking it to the River Orwell itself there are no tides, which means you can fish whenever you want, making it an ideal summer evening venue to head to when the tides are not right.

My recce consisted of only a couple of hours spinning with a Ragworm baited spoon and despite trying my luck along a couple of hundred yards of the dockside I didn't even get so much as one follower, although I did see a couple of small fish on the surface. The only other angler I saw on the venue was a Cormorant and he was most certainly doing much better than I was; perhaps it was too early in the year or perhaps the place was just too busy, I'll never know. What I do know is I will be back later in the summer for another try at those Mullet.

Fishing Report: 5th May 08 - River Colne, Essex

2008-05-07T01:33:00.010+02:00

Undaunted by the disappointing catches over the last couple of sessions I decided to give the fishing one last go and make the most of the cracking bank holiday weather. As I had a few Ragworm left in the fridge from the last session at St Osyth I opted to try a local spot on the River Colne with a mixture of bait fishing and spinning, sure that there must be the odd decent Bass to be had if I just stuck at it, particularly as this patch of the river has given consistent catches in past years.

With high tide at about 1pm I opted to fish the very early flood and started off fishing the Ragworm under a float, using the current to trot the bait 50 yards or so down tide at a time in 18 inches of water. It was clear from the word go that there were a lot of tiddlers about as the float continually wobbled and bobbed but try as I might I seemed unable to hook anything and as the water deepened I decided that float fishing was getting me nowhere and opted to try a baited spoon for a while in an attempt to hook whatever was there. The water was definitely clear enough to catch on lures but unfortunately nobody had told the Bass and after an hour of hard work chucking a Bass Wedge at the sea with no return I decided it was time for yet another change of tactics.

Within 5 minutes of my first chuck with a ledgered Ragworm bait (fished "popped up" to avoid the crabs) I had my first fish of the session on the bank, a baby Bass of about 4oz. I had hoped that this first little fish would herald a short spell of action with the tiddlers which would at least have provided a little bit of fun, but unfortunately it was not to be. My first fish of the session also turned out to be my last despite me sticking to it till the top of the tide when my bait ran out. All in all not one of my best sessions, but it could have been worse; I could have been stuck at the local supermarket doing the weekly shop like Stu was!

Fishing Report: 3rd May 08 - St Osyth, Essex

2008-05-04T17:43:00.026+02:00

I hadn't fished with pal Stuart since last Autumn so when he invited me for a session at a favourite spot towards the bird reserve end of St Osyth beach I jumped at the chance, not least because there might be the chance of a Bass or two to be had. With both of us having family commitments over the bank holiday we opted for the only night convenient for the both of us and chose to fish the flood into darkness on an 11pm tide.

Another winter has seen a lot of change at this beach with much more of the old sea wall and road losing its battle with the sea and more and more of the natural saltings beginning to show. While the loss of the road may make this once very convenient fishing mark a lot more difficult to get to it has, in my opinion anyway, made for a vast improvement with a much more natural coastline, a lot more wildlife (particularly the dune plants) and a lot less competition for fishing space. I've always liked this beach but now that it is slowly turning back into the wild and desolate place that it should be it has become all the more attractive to me as I'm not a particular fan of the shoulder to shoulder type of fishing to be found on the more popular and convenient beaches.

After the long walk from the car park we managed to get ourselves to the mark and fishing by about 6:30pm. There was very little depth of water in front of us but it had been stirred up well and was the right colour for a good session at least, although the south easterly wind that had done the "stirring" was pretty chilly. Keen to make the most of the session we both set to it with two rods and a variety of baits. We hadn't expected much to come out on the early part of the flood as this beach is notorious for fishing better in the dark, and we weren't disappointed on that front. Regardless of what bait we tried (and we had a fair selection) there seemed to be very little in the way of fish to be had, although Stuart did manage a couple of very small Codling. As darkness fell the only action I had seen was one small Codling to Ragworm and having to save my rod from a flight down the beach as Stu managed to catch my line whilst back-casting, but we both kept at it sure that something better might show as the night progressed.

Despite bashing on with Peeler Crab, Ragworm, Squid and Sandeel baits till the top of tide the fishing didn't improve at all with only more small Codling falling to Stu's rods and two further Pouting (including one that took a whole squid!) falling to mine. At the top of the tide I had my best bite of the night, a slack-liner, which took me straight into a snag and with the chilly breeze getting stronger and little improvement in sport we decided enough was enough and called it a night.

Although this session had not been a particularly good one we consoled ourselves with the thought that every angler, no matter how good (or lucky) they are, has to suffer a few duff sessions every now and again. And so it was, that by the time we were half way back to the car we were already deep in conversation about summer Bass sessions to come, float fishing, spinning and the dream fish that would possibly come our way, the only interruption being a chance encounter with another beach regular, a Fox; working his way across the dunes in search of his supper.

Fishing Report: 2nd May 08 - River Colne, Essex

2008-05-03T15:51:00.003+02:00

It had been such a nice day that I couldn't resist spending a couple of hours on the river with the spinning gear again, even though I wasn't confident of getting much. As it turned out I wasn't to be disappointed because although I worked hard with a Rapala X-Walk for the whole session, the fish just weren't playing. Such is life!

Despite the lack of fish it was a truly nice evening and it was promising to see the water so clear this early in the summer season, so some action on the lures should only be a matter of time. I am reliably informed that some small Bass have been caught at Bateman's Tower and I've now seen the Bass working across the river twice, so things are hopefully soon to improve in the river, fishing wise.

Fishing Report: 27th April 08 - River Colne, Essex

2008-04-28T14:16:00.011+02:00

It had been a crap week as I had unfortunately lost my long time fishing and digging companion Jack, my Black Labrador from whom my online nickname comes. At just short of fourteen years old he'd had a good innings for a Lab, but all the same it was a choker and I needed a couple of hours by myself for some quiet contemplation; just me and the river. As the weather was beginning to warm up and the water clarity was looking reasonable I opted to try a couple of hours spinning further upriver hoping to maybe hook up with an early Bass. If all else failed it would give me a chance to try out the new Okuma reel purchased for the forthcoming summer season.

As it turned out the Bass were in no mood to play, but then nor was I. However a couple of hours by the beach on my own did the trick and it cheered me up a bit. The new Okuma Interceptor Pro seemed to perform well and felt smooth on the retrieve with a very reasonable line lay considering its low price tag and I'm hopeful that it will last a damn sight longer than the Cardinal Freerunner it replaced, which lasted only one season. ABU should hang their heads in shame, particularly as spares are not available! If all else fails at least the Okuma has a five year warranty!

Although for this session I opted to stick with the faithful 3 inch white Redgill fished behind a Bass Wedge (I wasn't really in the mood to get too technical) I've also been making some additions to my plug collection, adding a number of new patterns which I intend to try out this year. As I've rarely done well in the estuary on any of my current plugs I'm hoping a move to some different patterns will bring better luck, basing my choices more accurately on the bait fish and fry that I see in the river year after year.

Top of the list has to be two new X-Rap Rapalas, both of which are reputed to have a fantastic action and I'm hoping that the X-Rap Subwalk, which walks the dog a few inches below the surface will finally bring some success with the local Schoolies as I often see them feeding on bait fish just below the surface. I added the Luck Craft 11cm Flash Minnow to my lure box quite simply because of its scale pattern, which realistically resembles the local Mullet fry on which the River Colne Bass often prey and an Owner Tango Dancer joined it on the recommendation of a fishing pal who fishes the West Country estuaries. To be quite honest the Tango looks like no fish I've ever seen so we'll have to see how that one does.

Last on the list was an unusual lure. Although I've caught very few Bass on the surface in the past, I've always enjoyed fishing with surface lures simply because watching a fish hit the lure right in front of you is the biggest rush there is. The Maria Bull Chop is unusual in that it is a surface popper that sinks (they normally float) and planes to the surface as it is reeled in. Weighing in at 40 grams means it will get out there, allowing me to cover more ground and I'm hoping it will allow me to fish a surface lure slowly in the hard current of the bigger tides by allowing the current to plane it to the surface rather than the retrieve, but only time will tell.

Anyway, plenty of new stuff to try out this year, and a lot of creeping to do with the "Fishing Permissions Officer", she that must be obeyed. Unfortunately I will be doing it all without my old friend.

Fishing Report: 17th April 08 - St Osyth, Essex

2008-04-19T03:53:00.017+02:00

It had been a good while (over five months!) since I last fished and having just finished building myself a new Tip Tornado Sport, I was itching to get back in the swing of things fishing-wise and give the new pole a try-out. With the tide at 11pm and work the next morning it was never going to be the most adventurous session of my fishing career, so rather than travel any distance to fish I opted to minimise travelling time and make the best of the extra time on the beach by heading for nearby St Osyth, hoping that the reports of Codling still showing along this part of the coast were not just another fisherman's tale.

I arrived at 6.30pm to find that I had the beach to myself (excellent!) which meant I could fish in the third bay from the ramp, my favoured spot at this end of the beach and with the forecast 3-4 cold easterly wind putting plenty of colour in the water, I tackled up quite confident that I might just be in with a chance of a spring Codling or two. After a few practice casts with the rod (just to remind myself how to cast) I set up a bomber rig, piled on some big Lugworm baits and sent the whole lot out as best I could given that I have not cast a rod since last November (Note to self: I must practice my casting more often). Now anyone who fishes this beach regularly will no doubt tell you that it is one of those venues that 'switches on' after dark and my experience of the place is no different. Normally I find myself effectively killing time while it is light, waiting for darkness to fall and the action to start but this session was to be the complete opposite and so it was that shortly after the arrival of fishing pal Stuart (who had popped down for a chat) at 7pm I got my first decent bite which turned out to be a small Codling of about 25cm.

Despite this early fish I was still convinced that things would only liven up after dark so it was a complete surprise when about forty minutes later (while I was still putting the world to rights with Stu and not concentrating) the rod 'knocked' and then sat back with a classic 'slack-liner'. The fish continued to swim right into the beach and only really started to fight about 20 yards out and after a brief tussle in the surf a nice plump spring Codling of about two pounds sat on the beach. Granted it was nothing tremendous but it wasn't even dark yet and after five months off anything sizable will raise a smile; if the beach was up to its usual standards I was in for a very good night once it got dark I thought. As the light started to fade another rattle provided fish number three, not the second Codling I was hoping for but a good sized Pouting all the same of about three-quarters of a pound. At that point Stu decided he was heading off home and seemingly took my luck with him. As darkness set in the expected run of bites that usually come never appeared and I fished on till about 10pm taking only one other fish, an undersized Whiting, which hung itself on a huge Lugworm bait on a 3/0 hook.

Despite it not being the most exciting session I've ever had (or the warmest - that easterly was damned cold) I can think of a lot worse ways to kill a Thursday night. The new rod lived up to expectations and behaved impeccably, providing good bite indication in the wind. Despite being a powerful rod it also cast very smoothly and didn't feel at all top heavy as a lot of 13ft rods do. Add to that the bonus of a nice bit of fresh Cod for my tea and it was, when all is said and done, a very nice way to get myself back into practice ready for the forthcoming Bass season.

A Time Away From Fishing

2008-03-21T05:18:00.018+01:00

Assuming that I have any regular readers they will, no doubt, be wondering where I've been since November when I last posted. Perhaps some thought I had got bored with posting or maybe some were of the opinion that I was too much of a girl to brave the winter weather but in actual fact my absence was for much more dire reasons than either of these. A serious family crisis hit me in November, just after my last post, and I was forced to forget the fishing for a while and concentrate on other things much more important. That crisis, compounded with about five years of what was probably excessive work stress, took its toll on me and although things began to get back to normal in the new year it was too late to save me from a fall and I found myself in what I can only describe as a very dark and lonely place, accompanied only by a box of anti-depressants and a sick note, somewhere I never want to go again.

So why am I posting now? Well its not a fishing report because although some time off work has brought me slowly and steadily back into the light, to put it bluntly I haven't been fishing. But while I may have been in no state to fish, part of my therapy has still been fishing or rather thinking, planning and writing about fishing. Having taken the opportunity of three months off work to sort all my gear, fix rods and tie new rigs I then decided that this site needed a twin. Enter 'A Sea Angler's Reference Book', designed to provide a host of information that anglers from this part of the country will find useful. I eventually intend to provide step-by-step instructions in everything from rod building to reading tides but currently I only have the Galleries and the Minimum Fish Sizes up and running. Keep an eye on it though as I'm keeping up a steady pace and I have an awful lot of material for the site - another 6 to 9 months should have it finished!

At the same time I was asked to look into setting up a Sea Fishing forum for a number of my old friends from the Seafishing.org website as they had been the victims of a round of banning by the administrator. After a little work 'The Sea Angler's Clubroom' went live on February 3rd and has been busy ever since. Anybody that fancies a chat can register for free and currently myself and my pal Stuartdv (who helps with the moderation) haven't needed to pass more than an occasional eye over it due to the fact that it seems to have nurtured a friendly atmosphere. Long may it stay that way.

One final part of my therapy was to do something I have been doing since I was a lad and have never grown out of; go tackle recovering at a local mark. As lads myself and my schoolmates would trudge about in the mud around a local mark to recover leads and tackle that we simply couldn't afford to buy but these days I really just do it for the fun of getting something for free. A couple of hours of slipping about in the mud gained me a good pile of leads (I have never paid money for a sea fishing lead in my life) and did the environment and the reputation of our pastime a favour by removing hundreds of yards of lost line. If you look at the picture to the left you can see the complete haul.

So that's it really, probably not what anyone was expecting. I suppose what I am trying to get across is that actually fishing is not by any means the be all and end all of this pastime, there is so much enjoyment to be had from the activities surrounding it and those activities in themselves can almost become pastimes in their own right. Roll on the Bass Season ...... the dog is back!

Fishing Report: 4th November 07 - River Colne, Essex

2007-11-05T23:44:00.000+01:00

Despite a terrible return fish-wise on the long hike to the spot on the River Stour the previous day, I decided on a short session on a local mark using some of the Stour Ragworm that were currently lodging in my bait tanks. The sight of the gulls working the previous day had turned my mind back on the subject of Bass and I thought there might be the odd one or two to be had from my home patch. I had noticed that the water was clear when I had visited the previous evening to get fresh water for the Ragworm in the bait tanks, so rather than use the standard beach casting gear I decided to have a go with my 3lb tc Carp Rod and fixed spool and fish light-line tactics the same as I would in the summer. As I had plenty of it, bait would be bunches of head-hooked Ragworm fished on a "popped-up" 3/0 hook, in an attempt to avoid the attentions of the local crab population.

When I arrived at my chosen spot at about 4:30pm, four hours before high tide, the water was flat calm and the weather was clear. Despite the fact that I had summer tackle with me it was obvious that it wasn't summer and as the sun started to drop in the sky the temperature dropped with it! The river had taken on a distinct winter feel to it and after quickly setting up and casting out I settled back to watch the rod top with the sunset in the background and listen to the river's "winter song"; the calls of the flocks of Brent Geese which echo across the river valley, letting us anglers know that it is time to put summer methods aside and prepare for the winter gales and the Codling.

The first recognisable bite came about half an hour later and resulted in a tiny Schoolie which was only just about bigger than the bait. It was followed about ten minutes later by it's twin brother and I began to think that a lively evening was on the cards. Just as I was getting used to the idea of a fun night with the baby Bass the firework display started on Mersea Island and for about forty-five minutes the fishing died as various rockets exploded in the sky and bangs echoed across the creek, causing great upset amongst the Geese and the flocks of waders.

By the time the fireworks died down the fish seemed to have been well and truly put off and the initial flood of the tide up to the rocks I fish from, when the best chance of a sizable fish is to be had, was already over; my opportunity had gone and the atmosphere had been spoilt by the fireworks. I fished on until about 7pm managing another small Schoolie and a small Whiting before finally the chill started to get to my feet and I decided it was time to call it night and headed home for a very welcome plateful of Sunday dinner.

Fishing Report: 3rd November 07 - River Stour, Suffolk

2007-11-04T15:35:00.000+01:00

Fishing pal Stuart had said he was a bit bored of doing the same old kind of session and wanted to try something a little bit different so we had arranged a session after some Flounders on the Suffolk Stour. The plan was to meet early and then head to a spot that used to provide some fantastic sport with big, pre-spawning Flounders, digging bait nearby to add to the basic rations of Ragworm purchased just in case the digging was poor. It was a bit of an adventure in many ways. Stuart had never dug for Ragworm before, it was about a two-mile walk from the car and, if that wasn't enough, the general opinion seems to be that the Flounder in the river have gone, apparently all trawled up by local commercial boats to use as pot bait.

Stopping off to dig on our way we found there were plenty of Ragworm around and it didn't take Stuart long to get into the swing of things with his new fork. We managed a couple of pounds between us in about an hour and moved on earlier than expected, finally starting fishing at our venue at about midday. The weather was far from ideal for Flattie bashing. The fish generally feed in close and like a bit of colour in the water but there was very little in the way of a breeze and as the water started pushing over the mud we could see it was gin-clear, which wasn't going to do us any favours whatsoever!

Although confidence was lacking we set to it, piling on big Ragworm baits on three-hook paternosters and fishing them at various ranges to see if we could contact the fish, but despite sticking to it the Flounders were either not there or, because of the clear water, were not interested in our baits. While Flounder were not putting in an appearance the local Bass population were quite obviously feeding high up in the clear water and at least three or four times during the afternoon there were huge flocks of seagulls working the surface on one part or another of the river, picking off the bait fish that a shoal of Bass had pushed to the surface. With the settled, warm weather and the clear water it actually seemed more like summer than a lot of the summer itself and I commented to Stuart that we would perhaps have been better off bringing the Bass spinning gear.

We persevered on through the afternoon, catching only the odd crab here and there and in the meantime just enjoying the peace and quiet and watching the spectacle of the huge flocks of birds that have gathered on the river for the winter. Finally just as it got dark Stuart managed to get a fish to save our honour (well his honour anyway); only a tiny Schoolie, but a welcome sight all the same. After fishing about an hour of darkness with no further action we decided enough was enough as we both had other places to be and we headed back on the long journey back to the car.

So where were the Flounder? I've heard so many rumours that the River Stour Flounder population have all gone I could perhaps be forgiven for believing it. I'm still not convinced though. These are pre-spawning fish and, just the same as on my home patch on the Colne, it will take a certain combination of triggers to preempt them into gathering in the tight shoals that they form at this time of the year. The food is there for them, so that isn't the reason for their non-attendance. But the weather is still warm (as is the water), there is still a lot of the summer weed about and the prevailing winds of late have allowed the colour to drop out of the water; all these factors, in my experience will delay the Flounder's urge to head downriver and spawn. My hope is that some strong winds and a bit of a cold snap will see them gathering up over the next few weeks, ready and waiting for my return.

A Weekend Without Fishing

2007-10-31T22:01:00.000+01:00

Last weekend was my worst nightmare really; good tides forecast for the weekend and no chance to actually go! Unfortunately one of my bikes needed some urgent repair work and I finally had to deliver on the promise of tiling my Mother-in-law's kitchen (well she has been waiting six months) so getting to the beach was a non-starter. However, it did give me some time to get some other little fishing-type jobs out of the way.

My rig wallet got a spring clean and a sort out, which was well overdue, and it gave me a chance to tie some replacement rigs for the various worn out ones that I had been stockpiling for the last few months. The break also gave me the chance to replace a dodgy whipping on the beloved Tip Tornado with time enough to take step-by-step photographs of the exercise which should enable me (when I get a bit more time) to put together a simple tutorial on how to do the job; a lot of people are needlessly shy of this kind of job.

Much to my wife's disgust, I have at last also had a chance to get round to ordering the blank and components for a new beach rod as well; I'm pretty sure the endless list of jobs and the frequent fishing passes were part of a cunning plan on her part to deprive me of the time to buy "another rod", as she put it. If that was her intention she failed miserably as the credit card has again been well and truly "flexed" and in a few weeks I will hopefully be diving into building myself a Tip Tornado Sport. As with the whipping repair previously mentioned, I'm intending to put together a tutorial which I'd like to think will encourage a few people to have a go at rod building as it's really not that difficult and you can get a huge amount of satisfaction out of catching a few fish on a rod you've built yourself.

As for actual fishing, operations resume as normal next weekend and a cunning plan is already hatched which involves a two mile walk, bait digging on arrival and then hopefully pulling out a few Flounder before they head out to sea to spawn as they do every year; fingers crossed it doesn't rain!

Fishing Report: 22nd October 07 - Bateman's Tower, Brightlingsea

2007-10-24T01:07:00.001+02:00

With 90 Lugworm left over from last Saturday nights session sitting in the bait fridge I decided to have a short evening session at Bateman's Tower. High tide was at 10pm and with work the next morning it was only ever going to be a quick few hours, but it did at least get me out from in front of the telly and give me a good excuse to knock off work early.

It had been raining during the day but just as the beeb had forecast the cloud had started to break and the moon was showing it's face as I arrived at about 6:30pm. Although it was a bit early to fish because of the risk of snagging on the wooden breakwater at the base of the tower, I was keen not to waste any time and got my baits in the water within 15 minutes as I was hoping that there would be a fair few Whiting in the river shoaling up early on in the tide keen to get after the shrimp that gather in the light around the Tower. Normally I don't waste Lugworm on this type of session and would simply have bought along some Mackerel to cash in on the Whiting's normal autumn pre-occupation with fish baits but as I wanted to use up the Lugworm and I had limited time there seemed little point.

I was hopeful that there would be plenty of Whiting around and to be fair there was; unfortunately they all seemed to be about 4 inches long! As soon as my baits hit the water the rod tops were knocking to the attentions of very small fish or crabs. The first cast on each rod resulted in a Micro-Whiting on each rig and that is pretty much how it carried on for the rest of the night with only an undersized Bass and a small Rockling to break the monotony. The only strong bite of the night came about two hours before high tide and resulted in a seriously slimed rig so clearly the Eels have not yet completely disappeared. Luckily the 2/0 hook I was using prevented me having to deal with the slippery little bugger.

I eventually ran out of bait at about 10:30pm and packed up. Although the fishing was not a patch on the previous session at St Osyth I had been kept busy all through the flood and had lost count of the tiny Whiting I had caught. What was also nice is that not a one had been deep-hooked and so all had swam off strongly when put back; all too often, this kind of session turns into one of watching dead fish drifting away on the tide, which is not my cup of tea at all.

One final point to note is that the summer weed has yet to disappear completely and the leads came back coated in slimy tufts of weed on every retrieve. In fact, I would say that it doesn't seem to have dispersed at all since my last session on the Tower on 28th September which may cause problems on the next set of big tides or immediately after a good southerly blow; definitely one to miss as it will make fishing in the river a complete nightmare!

Fishing Report: 20th October 07 - St Osyth, Essex

2007-10-24T00:27:00.000+02:00

Having persuaded mate Stuart to join me for a disastrous nights fishing in the rain recently at Brightlingsea it was his turn for choice of venue and, after a few emails back and forth during the week, we finally decided to see if the good fishing I'd had at St Osyth a couple of weeks back was continuing. As it turned out, it wasn't a bad choice of marks at all. The weather forecast was for bright sunshine which didn't bode well for fishing prospects during the daylight hours (St Osyth is notorious for "switching on" as the light fades) so we arranged to meet at 2:30pm in Hutley's car park and take a walk towards the bird reserve end. As high tide was at about 7pm, the intention was to fish a few hours of the flood in the daylight, with the hope that the fishing would pick up as the light began to fade towards the top of the tide and on the ebb.

By the time we had met, walked to our chosen spot and got baits in the water it was way past 3pm. As usual the beach was pretty much deserted except for the odd walker and one other angler (who we assumed was fishing with light gear for Bass) and we sat back to watch the rod tops for a couple of hours, waiting for the action to start. As we expected, it wasn't until the sun began to drop in the sky (by which time the other angler had disappeared) that the fish began to make their presence felt, however, once the bites had started they came steadily throughout the rest of the flood and the ebb, with only a slight break in the action over the top of the tide.

My night was completely overwhelmed by the Whiting and it seemed no matter what distance I cast I always seemed to end up catching one. In the end I managed about 15 of them to Black Lugworm, Blow Lug or Mackerel strip, with only one or two undersized; the rest ranged in size, I would say, from 8 to 12oz. Stuart's night was just as busy with him managing a steady stream of the ever-present Whiting plus a couple of undersized Pouting and one Codling. Not surprisingly, with some Ragworm in his bait-bucket, he also managed a few Bass, the biggest of which went about 1.5lb and came on the ebb.

While the catch may not seem astounding we were kept busy with fish and bites throughout the evening and ended up calling time at 9:30pm with both of us completely knackered. The only mishap of the night was when a loud ripping noise echoed across the beach. I looked round to see Stuart killing himself laughing as he inspected his trousers which had turned themselves into a skirt as he bent down to bait up; I suppose you have to expect these kind of things if your favourite food is kebab. All in all it was a very enjoyable session. Although the walking involved to reach this venue is a bit of a pain, especially when you start to have to take the warm gear with you in the autumn, it does at least guarantee that you won't suffer from crowding problems and crossed lines as you do at some venues and we couldn't knock the weather or the fishing.

Fishing Report: 13th October 07 - East Mersea, Essex

2007-10-15T01:56:00.000+02:00

I'd originally been invited to fish at Frinton by mates Stuart and Paul but pressing commitments at home had conspired against me, not least my Daughter's first birthday, and in the end I decided to decline the invitation and grab a few hours at a relatively new mark for me across the river, by way of an experiment. With the tide at about 2:30am there was no way I was going to get away with fishing over the tide so instead I chose to fish over the bottom of the tide and the first few hours of the flood to see if this deep water mark would produce a few fish while the shoreline on my side of the river was normally high and dry. The theory was sound enough but as is often the case, it turned out not to be such a good idea in practice.

After a lot of rushing about I finally found myself with the mark all to myself and was fishing by 7pm, one rod out at range with Lugworm baits, the other fished at medium range with a mixture of Mackerel and small Lugworm baits in the hope of discovering if anything was actually about. Things were very quiet over the bottom of the tide except for the crab activity which was unbelievable but as the tide started to flood back into the river at about 9pm things started to look up with the odd bite missed and a small Whiting of about 3oz. Unfortunately at about the same time as the bites started to appear so did the weed; tons of it!

Although I fished on till midnight I really should have saved myself the bother and in the end I was forced to fish both rods at short range simply to avoid the worst of the weed. The only other catch of the night was a number of sea anemone, what the old-timers affectionately call "Fisherman's Arseholes", which always seemed to take the Mackerel strip; I may have caught a lot more of them but a Fox stole the Mackerel from right behind me at about 10pm.

Despite this session being a bit of a bummer I'm encouraged, I think, to return when the weed dies down a bit. We used to get a lot of fish from the main channel of the Colne in the dinghy at one time and an 80 yard cast will get your bait into extremely deep water. There are also a number of boils here when the tide begins to move which look extremely "fishy" so I think further investigation is required.

Fishing Report: 6th October 07 - St Osyth, Essex

2007-10-09T00:36:00.000+02:00

With high tide at St Osyth of about 9:30pm it was an ideal night to fish over the tide at my usual spot up towards the nudist beach. Although generally fairly happy this time of the year with Frozen Blacks and Mackerel as bait (which I keep stocked up in my freezer), as I had time, I also dug some Lugworm from an upriver bed on the Colne around mid afternoon, then packed my Rucksack light and rushed my dinner down before heading off to arrive at Hutley's Caravan Park at about 6pm. On the way there in the car I had wondered if perhaps I might save myself the walk and fish amongst the groynes to the left of the car park, but by the time I got there the decision had already been made for me; every bay was being fished already and so my usual hike towards the nudist beach was the order of the evening if I wanted any space or solitude.

By the time I had walked the mile or so to my spot and got my gear set up it was about 7pm and the light had started to drop, the time when the fishing normally "switches on" at this spot. The first rod went out with three hooks baited with Mackerel strip and almost immediately I got my first bite, before I'd even had a chance to get the second rod baited up. Having baited up the second rod with Black Lugworm and Fresh Lugworm on a Bomber Rig and cast out I then reeled in my first fish of the night on the Mackerel Strip, a nice little Whiting of about 12oz. As a bonus when I reeled in the fish I discovered that I also had a lost set of gear attached which turned out to be one that I had lost on my Bass Rod some weeks back; one of the benefits of fishing the same venues regularly I suppose.

Sport with one species of fish or another continued pretty much constantly through the remainder of the flood with either Whiting or Pouting falling to the Mackerel Strip and both types of Lugworm but it was at the top of the tide that the fishing really took off. The Tip Tornado was very nearly dragged down the beach but on reeling in everything felt very light and it seemed as though I had missed the fish. It was only when it reached the surf line that I realised the fish was still on and after a short tussle at very close range I was very pleased with the result; a Bass of 2lb 2oz which had taken a Frozen Black Lugworm. Not big by any standards but much better than a Whiting. The next cast was almost like a repeat performance but this time the Bass was smaller (about 1lb 8oz) and seemed a bit of a strange shape, almost as if it had the head of a bigger fish.

The ebb tide saw the sport tail off a bit. The fishing slowed down, although there was the odd bite to keep me busy, but the weed became an awful pain with the leader knot totally coated in huge amounts of thin, tightly bound weed on every retrieve. Finally at midnight with the tide starting to disappear I decided enough was enough, packed up and headed for home. Final score for the night was ten Whiting (between 6-12oz), two undersized Pouting and three Bass, only one of which was undersized. Currently this spot seems to be producing some reasonable fishing for me and has the added advantage of plenty of room (most anglers can't be bothered with the walk) and less snags than the rock-groin end of the beach. It will be interesting to see if perhaps a bigger tide later in the season will produce any sizable Codling.

Fishing Report: 4th October 07 - Halfpenny Pier, Harwich

2007-10-09T00:35:00.000+02:00

I managed to con the wife into combining an evening trip to Harwich to get chips and watch the harbour with an hours feathering off Halfpenny Pier. It was far from a serious session and was really just an experiment to see if I could catch some of the Herring I have seen swimming around the Pier on feathers. We got chips (very nice!) and then, having finished mine, I left wife and daughter to admire the lights of the harbour and headed onto the pier with my Whychwood 4lb Spod and a set of Owner Gold Rainbow Skin Sabiki feathers on size 12 hooks, hoping that the Herring I had seen on a previous trip were still there.

It was a flat calm evening and sure enough, the Herring were feeding near the surface under one of the pier lights. As I dropped the feathers down near the shoal and began working them I was getting bites almost immediately, though I seemed to continually fail to connect; judging by the general size of the fish on the surface they were just too small, mostly about 2 to 3 inches long.

After a bit of perseverance I did eventually manage to connect with one of the "tiddlers" and then promptly lost it to a small Bass of about 1lb as I lifted it to the surface. The next drop down resulted in a small Bass of about 2oz but then everything went completely quiet so I assume the Bass had spooked the Herring. After another fifteen minutes of fruitlessly trying various spots around the pier I was unceremoniously summoned back to the car for the return journey home; my time was up. Last time I was here the Herring were much bigger and though this particular session was (except for the chips) a bit of a waste of time I will be back at some point to try again.

Fishing Report: 28th September 07 - Bateman's Tower, Brightlingsea

2007-09-29T21:39:00.000+02:00

Every now and then we all have stupid ideas which, when they pop into our heads, seem perfectly sensible; the idea for this session was one of my most recent stupid ideas. It started with an email from Stuart during the week, "What you got planned for next weekend fishing-wise?". With hindsight he probably wishes he had never asked! The equinox tides were upon us and this meant big tides, strong currents and, if past seasons were anything to go by, the chance of a decent size Bass from the Tower. I suggested a night session over a 2:15am high tide and Stuart couldn't resist.

We arrived at the Tower at about 11:15pm just as the rain started but the winds were light and we were still confident of a good night. I set up one rod with Ragworm fished at range for Bass (though I wasn't confident of seeing one till the ebb) and the other with a three hook paternoster baited with Mackerel strip and Black Lugworm, hoping for maybe a Whiting or two. For the first two hours of the session the light rain came and went and I was kept busy with the odd Whiting to the Mackerel strip plus a Codling of about 30cm but, at the point the current really took off, the fish suddenly went off the feed and weed started to become a problem. Another half an hour and the tide was over the top of the Tower (much earlier than I had expected) and we were forced to retreat onto the grass and stop fishing; and to make matters worse Stuart had yet to catch.

By the time the tide reached it's highest point it was pretty clear that it was much higher than the forecast 5.3 meters, possibly due to the low pressure, and we were now cut off on a small grass island of about ten feet square. As if there wasn't enough water around the rain had now got much heavier and we were copping a proper soaking. About an hour on the ebb the water had finally dropped enough for us start fishing again. Stuart had discovered a leak in his wellies and the pair of us were like drowned rats but the thought of a decent Bass kept us going.

By about 4:00 in the morning it dawned on us that all hope of a decent Bass had gone. The rain was still tipping it down, the tide was fast disappearing and the only fish to show up during the ebb was a Codling 1cm short of the limit to Ragworm on one of my rods; poor old Stuart had the hex on him and hadn't managed a fish at all which is very unusual. My total for the night was two undersized Codling (the first I have caught from the river in some time) and five Whiting; no sign of any Bass at all.

Despite all this there were some plus points. My new Shakespeare Salt waterproofs had proved well worth the money I had paid out for them and kept the water out all night, and Stuart had been impressed with his new rod, a Zziplex 4500, which he was trying out for the first time. Stuart now has next choice of venue so I hope he picks a better night than I did!

Fishing Report: 23rd September 07 - Bateman's Tower, Brightlingsea

2007-09-29T21:38:00.001+02:00

I met up with Stuart and an acquaintance of his, Sugar, at about 7:30pm for an evening on Bateman's Tower. The weather had a distinct autumnal feel to it (unlike last night at St Osyth) and there was a fairly stiff breeze coming in from the south as we spread out around the Tower and started to set up our gear with me, as usual, hoping for a Bass or two.

We hadn't been there long when, as I was about to make my first cast, the juvenile hordes descended and proceeded to destroy the peace. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for encouraging junior anglers but this crowd had to be seen to be believed. In actual fact, it soon transpired there was actually only three anglers amongst the crowd, the other dozen or so individuals were there as spectators, and to carry the seemingly endless array of lights, car batteries and assorted luggage that suddenly seemed to appear between myself and Sugar.

To cut a long story short, rather than splitting up to utilise the available space, the three with rods decided they would squash in between myself and Sugar (despite them already having to all get out of the way so I could cast) and at that point I decided enough was enough and pointed out the lack of space. After a short discussion amongst themselves the whole lot headed off to another spot, looking like a team of Sherpas setting off on an expedition to tackle Everest.

With peace and quiet restored we set about trying to catch some fish but it was hard going and they weren't exactly giving themselves up. Stuart managed a Schoolie early on to Ragworm at range but failed to connect with anything else for the remainder of the night. Sugar did a little better and managed two small Bass to the same bait fished at medium range to the right of the Tower. As for me, it was all getting a little embarrassing really. As we began to think about packing up at 12:30am I had yet to get a bite, let alone a fish and my excuses of "holding out for a decent one" were starting to raise a few chuckles amongst the other two.

My honour was saved on the last cast when a textbook slack liner resulted in the biggest fish of the night, a Schoolie of about 35cm; by no means memorable, but welcome all the same!

Fishing Report: 22nd September 07 - St Osyth, Essex

2007-09-29T21:37:00.001+02:00

With a new Zziplex Bass Rod and 6500 Mag Elite to test out I was desperate to get on the beach this weekend. With the weather forecast to be nice I decided to fish a 9:20pm tide at St Osyth, as usual deciding to pack light and fish the bird reserve end of the beach. I arrived at about 5:30pm (just as the last of the nudists were leaving, thank god) and set up two rods with the intention of fishing one at range and one short for anything that should take a fancy to the bait. It was pretty obvious that the spot had been fished very recently by the angling litter left behind; there was a good selection of bait wrappers and Gemini rig packets (see photo) and quite frankly the muppets who left them should be ashamed of themselves.

As I was setting up, occasionally watching the Terns that work along the shore, I noticed something in the water about 200 yards off the beach and was encouraged to see a Seal was feeding right in front of me. I always find it strange that many anglers moan about the Seals; they might put fish off the feed for a while, but they generally don't linger and if they are feeding close in it is a sign that the fish are too. Personally, I have no problem sharing a swim with a Seal.

Despite the Seal the bites started as soon as the sun started to drop. Nothing frenetic, you understand, just a steady trickle of bites to one rod or another and the occasional fish. The pace continued over the tide, and by the time I packed up at 11pm I had four sizable Whiting to take home (nice when they're really fresh) and had returned another five undersized fish, two Whiting, two Pouting and a tiny Bass. The bulk of the fish were taken at short range on Mackerel, Lugworm or a combination of both, with only a pair of the Whiting (both at the same time on a Pennel rig, one on each hook) and the Bass being taken on the long range rod baited with Ragworm.

The new rod and reel behaved impeccably. The Zziplex, which I built myself, is light and really nicely balanced and with good weather will probably see a lot of Estuary and neep tide work over the winter. The Mag Elite (the 2007 Gun-Metal Grey model) also lived up to expectations, with a couple of minor criticisms. Firstly, ABU seem to have removed the numbered gauge on the mag settings which means you have to count the clicks as you set the brakes and, as with all ABU CTs these days, the handle is more suited to a cement mixer than a fishing reel; both niggles really but ABU do seem to have gone backwards slightly from the Green Mag Elite.

Fishing Report: 15th / 16th September 07 - River Colne, Essex

2007-09-28T21:05:00.001+02:00

Conscious that the spinning season (and the Bass season for that matter) would soon be coming to an end for another year I decided to try the spinning rod out on a sunny but breezy Saturday afternoon. It was a mid-afternoon tide and as I've always found the early flood the most productive for spinning on the river I arrived about four hours before high tide, just as the water was advancing across the mudflats.

The northerly breeze had turned the water a bit "milky" but it was still clear enough to spin and so I set about trying to add to my tally of Bass with my normal 3 inch Eel fished behind a Dexter Wedge. To cut a long story short, despite there being plenty of bait fish working the water and an acceptable water clarity, I caught bugger all. The only action over the four hours I fished was when a Schoolie of about a pound tried to take the Wedge right under the rod top; as the Wedge has no hook for this method, obviously it failed to "hook up".

The following day I met up with Paul (AKA Bread on Seafishing.org) with the intention of fishing a mark on the sea defences at Brightlingsea. The wind had picked up a bit and there was a stiff North Westerly breeze. Paul had intended to use his normal beach gear and I don't think had fully comprehended the logistics of fishing these kind of marks; he took one look at the rocks and promptly headed off to fish Jaywick beach! Undeterred, I continued on my own ledgering Ragworm bait close in with the Carp rod as by now the water was way too coloured to make spinning a viable proposition.

The rough weather made things difficult with the Carp rod but I kept at it and after a few hours of catching crabs I had a strong take which, after a reasonably good scrap for a fish of it's size, resulted in a Bass of about 42cm coming to the landing net. Feeling slightly encouraged I fished on for another couple of hours in the hope of catching another but it was not to be and so I headed home for some tea, wondering if all the hard work had really been worth it.

Footnote: I spoke to Paul the next day, who had fished with his father-in-law at Jaywick. His quick change of plans had proved to be worthwhile and had resulted in a nice Sole plus some other small stuff.

Fishing Report: 8th September 07 - St Osyth, Essex

2007-09-28T21:04:00.000+02:00

Having had a week of fishing in the river (not with resounding success I hasten to add) I decided that I needed a change from the spinning gear and with the tides coming back round to late evening I decided to try conventional tactics at a spot I used to regularly fish along towards the bird reserve at St Osyth.

I arrived at late afternoon and set up in glorious sunshine and light offshore winds, fishing the tide from the bottom up, as I generally prefer to do at this venue. As always I was, in the back of mind, hoping for a sizable Bass so I set up one rod with a 4/0 Pennel Rig, fished at range with Ragworm bait. The other rod I set up with a three hook clipped down rig and small hooks to fish close in, hoping to find maybe a Sole perhaps or more likely anything that happened along. I baited the second rod with Ragworm, Peeler Crab and Lugworm baits, the idea being to hedge my bets for any fish that might come along.

The daylight hours were very quiet fishing-wise and it was not until the light had begun to fade and the last of the nudists had disappeared that I started to get any bites. For the last few hours the fishing was fairly busy and the time flew by. Although none of the fish caught were of any size, there was a selection of species and the nice weather and peaceful surroundings made it a very enjoyable evening. I finally packed up at about midnight having managed a solitary Bass of about 20cm, six undersized Codling (biggest just 1cm under the size limit), one Pouting, 1 Whiting (sizable) and an Eel of about 8oz; all but the Bass and two undersized Codling came to the close in gear.

Fishing Report: 3rd to 7th September 07 - River Colne, Essex

2007-09-28T21:03:00.000+02:00

Over recent days the water in the river had seriously cleared and with plenty of leave owing I decided to make the most of the good spinning prospects and the nice weather and take a week off work.

Having fished the previous day at St Osyth I decided to try a few hours on the afternoon tide with the beachcasting gear on the Monday, more to use up the leftover bait than anything else. Three hours on Bateman's Tower produced only one fish, a tiny Bass on a 4/0 hook which was cleanly lip-hooked and swam away at a rate of knots.

On Tuesday, with very calm weather. I tramped upriver using a variety of lures. There were fish working accross the other side of the river, judging by the activity of the gulls but on my side of the river it was harder going and it was a releif to finally manage one Bass of about 30cm which took a 3 inch white Eddystone Eel retreived behind a 32grm dexter Wedge.

Wednesday turned out to be pretty much the same, although I started well, managing an early strike with a Bass about 5cm longer than the one of the previous day which came to the Eel and Wedge again. Encouraged by the early catch (in about 2ft of water) I covered over a mile of the river....without so much as seeing another fish!

After a day off I headed up the river on Friday determined to keep trying. As the tide first pushed accross the mudflats I tried a baited spoon in the slightly coloured water, there were hundreds of immature Bass working the shallow water and groups of them hit the bait (and the spoon itself) repeatedly as it was being retreived. I eventually managed to hook one of about 2oz cleanly in the side of the mouth before I decided that I was getting nowhere and switched to ledgering Ragworm close in on the Carp rod. Eventually, after about three hours of catching crabs, the rod tip smashed round and after a quick tussle a sizable Bass of about 40cm was in the net.

Fishing Report: 2nd September 07 - St Osyth, Essex

2007-09-28T21:02:00.000+02:00

Fished at the bird reserve end of St Osyth with Stuart, hoping yet again for a decent Bass or two. Although it was a nice day there were hardly any Jet Skis about and we fished from about 11:30am through to 7pm with so much as one passing us by. Unfortunately the sizable Bass were equally as thin on the ground and although we fished hard with Ragworm, Peeler Crab, frozen Sandeel and Calamari Squid over the top of the early-afternoon tide we didn't have much to show for it other than the odd Eel and a few undersized Bass; my biggest went about 25cm.

Quite frankly the only things out in force were the dune-muppet-nudists, who again were doing their best to outrage public decency and spread as much litter around as possible!

Fishing Report: 1st September 07 - River Colne, Essex

2007-09-28T21:01:00.000+02:00

Ye gods, is it September already?

Having decided I really wasn't up to an all-nighter I fished a 3:30pm tide along the river over 3 hours of the flood and a couple of hours down. The recent rough weather had stirred up the water a bit but I decided to be optimistic and give spinning a go. I tried various spots with various lures on the flood but despite my efforts it got me bugger all except weed, of which there was a fair amount around and so I put a paternoster and a 2 oz weight on the Carp rod and ledgered close in near some snags for a couple of hours of the ebb.

I managed a good few crabs, all of which gave a damn good bite on the Carp rod and eventually a Schoolie of about 30 cm took pity on me and yaffled the Ragworm so at least it wasn't a blank and an undersized Bass is better than none at all.

The water is still pretty clear, despite the strong winds, but if they would drop for a week I think the spinning would come into its own. It would be nice to have a last thrash at the summer spinning, just to tide me through to next year.