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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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: 29th June 08 - River Colne, Essex

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: 1st June 08 - River Colne, Essex

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

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

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: 5th May 08 - River Colne, Essex

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: 2nd May 08 - River Colne, Essex

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

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.