Craig
Well-known member
So I finally managed to get out fishing at last, the first time since last September!
I didn't even care about catching or where I was going, it was just nice to finally get on the beach again and wet a line.
I'd done a couple of small favours for a mate recently so he supplied the bait for the session and also donated me a few leads as I didn't have any light enough for today's plan.
My plan was to fish as light as possible as there doesn't seem to be a lot of any size about, plus my wrist is still recovering from some problems last year and a smaller lighter rod is more comfortable than a beach caster.
So with the plan set, three of us decided to try sizewell and fish the tide up for an hour then most of the way down. Bait would be fresh lug and I had a few salted rag to try, though I did bring some frozen squid and blueys.
We had arranged to meet at 10.30 but with a few small hiccups I arrived slightly later than planned and wandered over to be greeted by one of the others swinging a double shot of dabs on his first cast, not a bad start we all thought!
I got setup with a gentle southerly breeze blowing up the beach, making things a little chilly despite the dunes being considerably warmer. Today's plan of fishing light meant I'd only brough a 20-50g spinning rod, a 150g spinning rod and a Shakespeare uptider. Rigs were up and over running ledgers with 1/0 hooks. Leads were 2oz square and 3oz watch lead.
Now, my track record here is pretty poor, I've fished there a few times and blanked more times than I've caught, so it's safe to say I wasnt exactly hopeful of great results.
I got the first rod ready with a clipped running ledger (up and over) and loaded a good sized worm on the hook, sent it out 50yds and sat back to get the second rod ready, tied the rig (same again) and sent that one slightly closer in. Not many minutes had passed and the furthest rod starts bouncing, so I leave it for a minute or two and figure if it's a dab it may take a little while to inhale the size worm on the hook. Finally I lift into it and once its on the beach I discover the dab is actually a small pouting, not something I've caught many of on the east coast, so a nice start.
The next couple of casts saw me land a dab, a rockling and a small crab in quick succession. This certainly boosted my spirits for the day, also seeing the other two pulling in double shots of dabs and whiting was kind of encouraging too!
3 species in less than an hour was certainly better than I'd ever done here before, so thought I'd try some salted rag for a change, this didn't result in a lot other than loads of crabs nibbling the bait. Then I finally he anothe proper bite and a small whiting came to say hello, I can't believe that it was actually nice to see a whiting for the first time this year! So 4 species in under two hours, safe to say I was fairly happy with that for the day and could have packed up then and there quite happy.
Not one to give up and being encouraged by the other two constantly catching, I kept on with the fresh worms and throughout the afternoon we were plagued by undersized whiting and dabs, to the point that we all got fed up with them, not a single in size one was landed all day to my knowledge. My vey last cast saw my second rockling of the day landed and a nice finish to the day.
The wind did keep up with the chill in the air and after a few hours we were all feeling it but the constant walking to return fish kept us all warm enough to carry on till about 4.30pm when we all ran out of bait and decided to head for home.
Now I have no idea what I did wrong but I only managed about 15-20 fish all day, where as the other two somehow managed atleast 30+ fish each! we al, had the same bait and we're all fishing within 50yds of each other, all around the same distance and with similar hooks and sizes, amittedly I was using single hooks and they both had two hook rigs on each rod, but they both had a lot more casts with fish coming in compared to me.
None the less, it was a nice day to be out with mates and fishing for the first time in 6 months. I really enjoyed it and can't wait to get back on the beach soon, hopefully with the light gear again, was so much more fun than fishing with a lead that weighed more than the fish being caught.
Certainly taught me a lesson that you don't need the big beach casters to enjoy beach fishing when the small stuff is about and I think I'll be trying this method a lot more when comditions allow.
Will post a few pictures in a little while.
I didn't even care about catching or where I was going, it was just nice to finally get on the beach again and wet a line.
I'd done a couple of small favours for a mate recently so he supplied the bait for the session and also donated me a few leads as I didn't have any light enough for today's plan.
My plan was to fish as light as possible as there doesn't seem to be a lot of any size about, plus my wrist is still recovering from some problems last year and a smaller lighter rod is more comfortable than a beach caster.
So with the plan set, three of us decided to try sizewell and fish the tide up for an hour then most of the way down. Bait would be fresh lug and I had a few salted rag to try, though I did bring some frozen squid and blueys.
We had arranged to meet at 10.30 but with a few small hiccups I arrived slightly later than planned and wandered over to be greeted by one of the others swinging a double shot of dabs on his first cast, not a bad start we all thought!
I got setup with a gentle southerly breeze blowing up the beach, making things a little chilly despite the dunes being considerably warmer. Today's plan of fishing light meant I'd only brough a 20-50g spinning rod, a 150g spinning rod and a Shakespeare uptider. Rigs were up and over running ledgers with 1/0 hooks. Leads were 2oz square and 3oz watch lead.
Now, my track record here is pretty poor, I've fished there a few times and blanked more times than I've caught, so it's safe to say I wasnt exactly hopeful of great results.
I got the first rod ready with a clipped running ledger (up and over) and loaded a good sized worm on the hook, sent it out 50yds and sat back to get the second rod ready, tied the rig (same again) and sent that one slightly closer in. Not many minutes had passed and the furthest rod starts bouncing, so I leave it for a minute or two and figure if it's a dab it may take a little while to inhale the size worm on the hook. Finally I lift into it and once its on the beach I discover the dab is actually a small pouting, not something I've caught many of on the east coast, so a nice start.
The next couple of casts saw me land a dab, a rockling and a small crab in quick succession. This certainly boosted my spirits for the day, also seeing the other two pulling in double shots of dabs and whiting was kind of encouraging too!
3 species in less than an hour was certainly better than I'd ever done here before, so thought I'd try some salted rag for a change, this didn't result in a lot other than loads of crabs nibbling the bait. Then I finally he anothe proper bite and a small whiting came to say hello, I can't believe that it was actually nice to see a whiting for the first time this year! So 4 species in under two hours, safe to say I was fairly happy with that for the day and could have packed up then and there quite happy.
Not one to give up and being encouraged by the other two constantly catching, I kept on with the fresh worms and throughout the afternoon we were plagued by undersized whiting and dabs, to the point that we all got fed up with them, not a single in size one was landed all day to my knowledge. My vey last cast saw my second rockling of the day landed and a nice finish to the day.
The wind did keep up with the chill in the air and after a few hours we were all feeling it but the constant walking to return fish kept us all warm enough to carry on till about 4.30pm when we all ran out of bait and decided to head for home.
Now I have no idea what I did wrong but I only managed about 15-20 fish all day, where as the other two somehow managed atleast 30+ fish each! we al, had the same bait and we're all fishing within 50yds of each other, all around the same distance and with similar hooks and sizes, amittedly I was using single hooks and they both had two hook rigs on each rod, but they both had a lot more casts with fish coming in compared to me.
None the less, it was a nice day to be out with mates and fishing for the first time in 6 months. I really enjoyed it and can't wait to get back on the beach soon, hopefully with the light gear again, was so much more fun than fishing with a lead that weighed more than the fish being caught.
Certainly taught me a lesson that you don't need the big beach casters to enjoy beach fishing when the small stuff is about and I think I'll be trying this method a lot more when comditions allow.
Will post a few pictures in a little while.
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