Just one last cast
Active member
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2021
- Messages
- 78
- Reaction score
- 430
- Points
- 53
- Location
- Somerset
- Favourite Fishing
- Shore
2024 Six months in
West bexington 24/1/24
Have been watching the weather this week looking for a gap in the winds & managed to get out Wednesday afternoon/evening, A mild day, cloudy & a building tide. Sea coloured & still rough, biggish breakers perfect conditions I thought,but the fish didn’t.
Frozen baits as no worm available due to the weather conditions earlier in the week. Fishing the high line due to waves & trying to get above surf.
Fished from 4pm till 1Am (just before high to low).
Baits returned untouched all night.
Lost 1 set of gear shingled & fell on my arse Lucky to get away with it several times.
Oh well there we have it my first blank of the year but as always it was good to be out, probably gonna skip February and return in the spring perhaps trying a little more lure fishing and broadening my approach hmmm we’ll see.
Three trips to Seaton Devon
& not much to report! So i will keep it shortish.
Trip 1 back in the old routine , fished over high , neap sized tide, windy, into darkness & down to low, squid Mack or combos of on pulley rigs hoping for a ray., ended up pestered by bait fish caught 2 dogs.
Trip 2 as above arrived 9pm low ended up fishing till dawn high. Far longer than I should have been got 1 dog.
Trip 3 if at this point you are wondering why go back ? It’s closer to me than chesil , roads open, free parking in the evening, no walking and usually quiet. Still struggling mobility wise .Anyway this was to be my first lure session of the year more to test drive a few lures & straighten out a few birds nests however I got sidetracked making running ledger rigs from braid ended up taking both lots of gear. Arrived 2..30am approaching spring tide ,flood underway, wind easing. Rigs were pretty useless & tangled every time.. back to the old rigs.
A bite at last feels heavy hang on a minute why’s my weight halfway up my line? Oh that’s not my weight anyway keeping it short after much hand balling in came a mass of line rigs and a large cod? carcass in a bag. Deep joy. The mind boggles
So salvaged some bling and bagged up the rest, more time wasted.
Lost a fish in the surf hook pulled out,
In no time at all it was morning and the tide was turning. Opted to stick with the bottom gear as sea chocolate coloured & looking good.left it to another day to give the lures an outing again. A few knocks but still failed to avoid the blank.
Oh well As always it was good to be out & glad to have been able to take advantage of a break in this weather.!!!
May have to bite the bullet & head to the big beach armed with worms if it ever settles down. As for the lures hoping to do a few early mornings and leave the rest of the gear at home
Seaton harbour entrance lure fishing June 2024
Arrived as first light was approaching & shuffled off to the harbour entrance bang on low tide., I was surprised at the difference when all the features were exposed having previously only fished further along the beach.
So a quick scout about & already regretting not picking up my wellies this morning but couldn’t risk that bloody ring doorbell going off & scuppering my escape.
Ventured out to the edge of the exposed area keeping 1 eye on my return route and the other on the floating popper I usually start with. Only 10 minutes or so & I was forced to retreat to the edge of the harbour entrance (yacht club side) gradually retreating.
Spent the next two hours picking off the bass as they passed through this bottle neck, well that was the plan anyway.
Kept at it covering every angle & numerous different lures freom metals to weed less soft ones to no avail as the features gradually disappeared.
Weather was clear & settled , water fairly clear.
So don’t expect to catch every time & enjoy getting out but a few questions arise?
Fished straight through today could they see my yellow braid?
Do they take a lure heading the same direction they are?
Should I have switched spots & moved along to the open sea?
Well till next time.
West bexington 6/6/24
It’s been a baron year thus far early sessions were largely focused on cod or other species that weren’t there & produced 1,2 or 3 dogs followed by a couple of blanks. Mix that in with the fact I decided to have a month off in February & the rubbish weather before long it was spring/summer and I had little to show for it.
I had vowed to try & break the mould a little this year (I am guilty of sitting in the same spot with the same rig & bait all year, single hook pulley 3/0 squid or mackerel. ) & try to use worms & lures more. Each have come with their own lessons.
In brief
Worms, when the weather is bad there aren’t any. When the weather is good there aren’t any because they are sold out. They’re still a pain the arse to use & expensive.
Lure fishing initially couldn’t commit to fishing without taking bait & the full set up though I do seem to have crossed that bridge now but am still yet to catch anything.
Windknots have been the bugbear of my lure fishing thus far I acquired a spool of 15lb Daiwa j braid on a penn combat reel. Waste ages trying to tie the fg knot giuve up just about manage the Alberto to add the fluro leader.
Arrive at venue (Seaton & highcliffe so far) all goes well for a few casts & you give it a bit more welly this is when they occur & as that wind knot leaves the reel & wraps around the bottom ring it doesn’t matter if it’s a £3 seatech dexter wedge or the most prized lure in your box that you spent hours on the vmo website choosing during the darkest days of winter, cotton candy or green mackerel?? It doesn’t matter now cos as that little xxxxxx leaves the rod tip you know it aint never coming back !
New reel back in the bag ,don’t like it anyway stupid thing doesn’t back wind, out comes the old faithful which has half a spool of 30lb Hercules braid left which seems to be doing the job.
Anyway I digress on to the catch report.
On arrival at west Bexington I was relieved to see it not too busy as struggling to walk too far at the moment let alone lug my gear very far.
Got there 6.30pm ish an hour or so before high tide.
Weather dry & settled an offshore breeze .
I tried the lure rod briefly no joy so got set up rad 1 surprisingly single hook pulleys or droppers with squid or king prawn.
Rod 2 2 hook flapper with ragworm
Nothing on either rod just a slight bend of the rod tip as the spider crabs go about stripping the baits. As the daylight disappeared the rods twitched more, struck a few times but hit nothing spiders again.
A few large, single quick tugs on the rod tip indicated there was something bigger on the prowl and it wasn’t long before the rod arced around and after a brief battle my first hound for a very long time was on the beach. Not massive but To say I was well chuffed would have been an understatement.
About an hour later I actually caught a small fish using worms though the elation was not as great and it wasn’t long before the worms were being whipped onto the side of squid or prawns on pulley droppers.
Chaos followed as I reckon I caught another 5 hounds in the period down to low tide the Biggest I estimate 8/9 lb unfortunately I didn’t have my scales. They provided great entertainment and I had to back pedal a few times as they shot off. Got snapped up once by myself as I unhooked one then got the line wrapped around my boot as I almost broke into a run as the other rod was going.
The action ended as the tide reached low and didn’t have any more bites. Stayed until about 7AM giving the lures ago but no joy just more wind knots.
Thank you chesil my fishing faith has been restored
West bexington 21/6/24
One of the many sessions where you end up wondering if you’re ever going to get there. Well eventually I did around midnight, car park empty, the main reason I didn’t want to leave it till Friday, approaching spring tide, full moon, clear sky, sea for once flat as a mill pond, an awesome sight & worth the visit regardless of how the night panned out.
Aware that the low tide was turning didn’t opt to walk too far just left enough room for the inevitable mackerel bashers in the morning & got set up.
Pulley droppers squid on one prawn on the other.
Didn’t have to wait long before the rod arced around & before 1AM an 8lb beauty of a hound was on the beach with the other rod twitching but no fish just a very mangled rig.
Well here we go again I thought & I did manage a couple more smaller hounds & a small eel but much of the night was spent striking at nothing or if left the bites failed to materialise also disappointed what felt like a big eel managed to slip the hook.
Well with my sandwiches & flask untouched & In what seemed like no time at all daylight began to break revealing a spectacular purple coloured sea .
Decided to give the lures a try but nothing doing on anything I tried ,by this time a small row of mackerel bashers had formed who were going for it early on but as the sun came up they were all sat down staring out to sea asking that infamous question; where have the mackerel gone?
No bites for me again once daylight arrived however a couple guys further on looked to pull out something worthy of a photo guessing a descent hound?
Seaton Devon 26/6/24
A very late decision this week & with more road closures kicking off on the A35 plus a photo on Facebook of a big ray being caught there I decided to give Seaton ago from high down to low.
Arrived just after dark armed with the usual & some sand eels incase there were any rays about.
Looked like half a dozen people already fishing.
A fairly clear night & slight breeze
Well struggled to keep 2 rods baited up & in the water. The fishing gods obviously didn’t realize ,when I said I was disappointed to lose an eel last week it was because it was a big one , and decided to bless me with a sea full of bootlaces.
Within minutes of casting out the rod tips were rattling , strike and you miss it , leave it and you end up with stripped hooks . The use of pop up beads made no odds. For once l changed rigs to a 2 hook flapper with 1/0 hooks and yes more eels which can now swallow the hook, as it’s smaller, great.
Stuck it out till around 3.30 then decided to pack up the bottom gear and give the lures a try as daylight broke but again to no avail. TBH my lure case could do with a sort out &. I should decide if I’m fishing for bass or mackerel
Left around 6.didn’t see anyone else fishing in the morning .
Well there we have it apologies for not commenting on reports that have been posted recently.
West bexington 24/1/24
Have been watching the weather this week looking for a gap in the winds & managed to get out Wednesday afternoon/evening, A mild day, cloudy & a building tide. Sea coloured & still rough, biggish breakers perfect conditions I thought,but the fish didn’t.
Frozen baits as no worm available due to the weather conditions earlier in the week. Fishing the high line due to waves & trying to get above surf.
Fished from 4pm till 1Am (just before high to low).
Baits returned untouched all night.
Lost 1 set of gear shingled & fell on my arse Lucky to get away with it several times.
Oh well there we have it my first blank of the year but as always it was good to be out, probably gonna skip February and return in the spring perhaps trying a little more lure fishing and broadening my approach hmmm we’ll see.
Three trips to Seaton Devon
& not much to report! So i will keep it shortish.
Trip 1 back in the old routine , fished over high , neap sized tide, windy, into darkness & down to low, squid Mack or combos of on pulley rigs hoping for a ray., ended up pestered by bait fish caught 2 dogs.
Trip 2 as above arrived 9pm low ended up fishing till dawn high. Far longer than I should have been got 1 dog.
Trip 3 if at this point you are wondering why go back ? It’s closer to me than chesil , roads open, free parking in the evening, no walking and usually quiet. Still struggling mobility wise .Anyway this was to be my first lure session of the year more to test drive a few lures & straighten out a few birds nests however I got sidetracked making running ledger rigs from braid ended up taking both lots of gear. Arrived 2..30am approaching spring tide ,flood underway, wind easing. Rigs were pretty useless & tangled every time.. back to the old rigs.
A bite at last feels heavy hang on a minute why’s my weight halfway up my line? Oh that’s not my weight anyway keeping it short after much hand balling in came a mass of line rigs and a large cod? carcass in a bag. Deep joy. The mind boggles
So salvaged some bling and bagged up the rest, more time wasted.
Lost a fish in the surf hook pulled out,
In no time at all it was morning and the tide was turning. Opted to stick with the bottom gear as sea chocolate coloured & looking good.left it to another day to give the lures an outing again. A few knocks but still failed to avoid the blank.
Oh well As always it was good to be out & glad to have been able to take advantage of a break in this weather.!!!
May have to bite the bullet & head to the big beach armed with worms if it ever settles down. As for the lures hoping to do a few early mornings and leave the rest of the gear at home
Seaton harbour entrance lure fishing June 2024
Arrived as first light was approaching & shuffled off to the harbour entrance bang on low tide., I was surprised at the difference when all the features were exposed having previously only fished further along the beach.
So a quick scout about & already regretting not picking up my wellies this morning but couldn’t risk that bloody ring doorbell going off & scuppering my escape.
Ventured out to the edge of the exposed area keeping 1 eye on my return route and the other on the floating popper I usually start with. Only 10 minutes or so & I was forced to retreat to the edge of the harbour entrance (yacht club side) gradually retreating.
Spent the next two hours picking off the bass as they passed through this bottle neck, well that was the plan anyway.
Kept at it covering every angle & numerous different lures freom metals to weed less soft ones to no avail as the features gradually disappeared.
Weather was clear & settled , water fairly clear.
So don’t expect to catch every time & enjoy getting out but a few questions arise?
Fished straight through today could they see my yellow braid?
Do they take a lure heading the same direction they are?
Should I have switched spots & moved along to the open sea?
Well till next time.
West bexington 6/6/24
It’s been a baron year thus far early sessions were largely focused on cod or other species that weren’t there & produced 1,2 or 3 dogs followed by a couple of blanks. Mix that in with the fact I decided to have a month off in February & the rubbish weather before long it was spring/summer and I had little to show for it.
I had vowed to try & break the mould a little this year (I am guilty of sitting in the same spot with the same rig & bait all year, single hook pulley 3/0 squid or mackerel. ) & try to use worms & lures more. Each have come with their own lessons.
In brief
Worms, when the weather is bad there aren’t any. When the weather is good there aren’t any because they are sold out. They’re still a pain the arse to use & expensive.
Lure fishing initially couldn’t commit to fishing without taking bait & the full set up though I do seem to have crossed that bridge now but am still yet to catch anything.
Windknots have been the bugbear of my lure fishing thus far I acquired a spool of 15lb Daiwa j braid on a penn combat reel. Waste ages trying to tie the fg knot giuve up just about manage the Alberto to add the fluro leader.
Arrive at venue (Seaton & highcliffe so far) all goes well for a few casts & you give it a bit more welly this is when they occur & as that wind knot leaves the reel & wraps around the bottom ring it doesn’t matter if it’s a £3 seatech dexter wedge or the most prized lure in your box that you spent hours on the vmo website choosing during the darkest days of winter, cotton candy or green mackerel?? It doesn’t matter now cos as that little xxxxxx leaves the rod tip you know it aint never coming back !
New reel back in the bag ,don’t like it anyway stupid thing doesn’t back wind, out comes the old faithful which has half a spool of 30lb Hercules braid left which seems to be doing the job.
Anyway I digress on to the catch report.
On arrival at west Bexington I was relieved to see it not too busy as struggling to walk too far at the moment let alone lug my gear very far.
Got there 6.30pm ish an hour or so before high tide.
Weather dry & settled an offshore breeze .
I tried the lure rod briefly no joy so got set up rad 1 surprisingly single hook pulleys or droppers with squid or king prawn.
Rod 2 2 hook flapper with ragworm
Nothing on either rod just a slight bend of the rod tip as the spider crabs go about stripping the baits. As the daylight disappeared the rods twitched more, struck a few times but hit nothing spiders again.
A few large, single quick tugs on the rod tip indicated there was something bigger on the prowl and it wasn’t long before the rod arced around and after a brief battle my first hound for a very long time was on the beach. Not massive but To say I was well chuffed would have been an understatement.
About an hour later I actually caught a small fish using worms though the elation was not as great and it wasn’t long before the worms were being whipped onto the side of squid or prawns on pulley droppers.
Chaos followed as I reckon I caught another 5 hounds in the period down to low tide the Biggest I estimate 8/9 lb unfortunately I didn’t have my scales. They provided great entertainment and I had to back pedal a few times as they shot off. Got snapped up once by myself as I unhooked one then got the line wrapped around my boot as I almost broke into a run as the other rod was going.
The action ended as the tide reached low and didn’t have any more bites. Stayed until about 7AM giving the lures ago but no joy just more wind knots.
Thank you chesil my fishing faith has been restored
West bexington 21/6/24
One of the many sessions where you end up wondering if you’re ever going to get there. Well eventually I did around midnight, car park empty, the main reason I didn’t want to leave it till Friday, approaching spring tide, full moon, clear sky, sea for once flat as a mill pond, an awesome sight & worth the visit regardless of how the night panned out.
Aware that the low tide was turning didn’t opt to walk too far just left enough room for the inevitable mackerel bashers in the morning & got set up.
Pulley droppers squid on one prawn on the other.
Didn’t have to wait long before the rod arced around & before 1AM an 8lb beauty of a hound was on the beach with the other rod twitching but no fish just a very mangled rig.
Well here we go again I thought & I did manage a couple more smaller hounds & a small eel but much of the night was spent striking at nothing or if left the bites failed to materialise also disappointed what felt like a big eel managed to slip the hook.
Well with my sandwiches & flask untouched & In what seemed like no time at all daylight began to break revealing a spectacular purple coloured sea .
Decided to give the lures a try but nothing doing on anything I tried ,by this time a small row of mackerel bashers had formed who were going for it early on but as the sun came up they were all sat down staring out to sea asking that infamous question; where have the mackerel gone?
No bites for me again once daylight arrived however a couple guys further on looked to pull out something worthy of a photo guessing a descent hound?
Seaton Devon 26/6/24
A very late decision this week & with more road closures kicking off on the A35 plus a photo on Facebook of a big ray being caught there I decided to give Seaton ago from high down to low.
Arrived just after dark armed with the usual & some sand eels incase there were any rays about.
Looked like half a dozen people already fishing.
A fairly clear night & slight breeze
Well struggled to keep 2 rods baited up & in the water. The fishing gods obviously didn’t realize ,when I said I was disappointed to lose an eel last week it was because it was a big one , and decided to bless me with a sea full of bootlaces.
Within minutes of casting out the rod tips were rattling , strike and you miss it , leave it and you end up with stripped hooks . The use of pop up beads made no odds. For once l changed rigs to a 2 hook flapper with 1/0 hooks and yes more eels which can now swallow the hook, as it’s smaller, great.
Stuck it out till around 3.30 then decided to pack up the bottom gear and give the lures a try as daylight broke but again to no avail. TBH my lure case could do with a sort out &. I should decide if I’m fishing for bass or mackerel
Left around 6.didn’t see anyone else fishing in the morning .
Well there we have it apologies for not commenting on reports that have been posted recently.
