Beach-Caster.Com

Updated

14 February, 2004

 

Fishing Reports from East Anglia

 

 

 

Want to find out how the action has been at a venue near you ?

Want to know which bait has been producing the best results, or which species are currently coming ashore, then check out the reports posted by fellow visitors.


Venues Covered

Most recent Reports

 

 

 

 


Aldeburgh

22 November 2003

Braintree Sea Angling Club fished the 2nd leg of the Mick Allen Shield at the Thorpeness end of Aldeburgh town beach, as the dirty wall end was far too crowded. The weather conditions made it particularly uncomfortable with it raining practically all night, to make matters worse, the wind increased and changed direction so that it was coming into the beach buddies for the last few hours. With no codling, and only small whiting and dabs to be had, the fishing was rather disappointing for the time of year. After a long night first place went to Barrie Senior with 6 whiting over 30cm for 3lb 15½oz, Peter Costin also had 6 whiting and a dab for 3lb 9oz to claim second spot. Third place went to Kevin Thorpe with 5 whiting for 2lb 13oz. The shield now goes to Barrie Senior after also claiming success in the first leg of the competition.
Club's web site http://www.geocities.com/braintreesac/

Braintree Sea Angling Club

6 September 2003 

This is the time of year when beach fishing begins to peak as the arrival of autumn whiting and codling coincide with the last of the summer sport.
Braintree Sea Angling Clubs latest match on the "dirty wall" at Aldeburgh produced a wide variety of fish, which included bass, codling, eel, plaice, pouting, and whiting.
Club Secretary, Simon King won the match with the most notable fish, the first codling of the autumn for the Club. The fish weighed a respectable 2lb 6oz, which is good sign for the coming months.
Despite the large numbers and variety of fish caught, the only other fish to be above the size limits was a whiting of 6oz, caught by Simon Farrow.
Expectation are now running high for the next Club match, which will see members making the first of the winter trips over to Orfordness on the Suffolk coast.
Further details on the Club are available from their web site at http://www.geocities.com/braintreesac/ 

Braintree Sea Angling Club

 

26 October 2002 

Left my wellies (by accident) at the entry gate to Orford Ness & drove to 2nd gate only to findout via a phone call to the Missus that the Ness was closed. Drove back to 1st gate to find my wellies had disappeared!!! Fished Aldeburgh side of gate with carrier bags wrapped around my feet. Wind swung from SW to SE making conditions & casting difficult. Got wet feet & fed with undersize whiting (about 20 in total).

Steve


Bacton

18 January 2003 Time:Day

Only 2 Amigos fished Bacton today from 9.00am to 4.00pm,1 dab each to take home.

Lewis

30 November 2002 Time: Day

3 of us fished at Bacton on 30/11/2002 from 8.30am to 3.30 pm, total to take home 16 dabs ,1 whiting and a flounder.

Lewis

23 November 2002 Time:Day

3 of us fished Bacton on 23/11/2002 from 9.00am to 4.00pm.10 codling to 2.5lb to bring home between us. Frank 7, Carlton 3,me well I'm sure you can work it out! also 2 dabs ,1 flounder and 5 whiting.

Lewis


Bradwell 


27 October 2003 

Decided to fish the beach at the power station 3 of us fishing only half a dozen whitting all night weed was a big problem :o( not a very good session

Tom Hackett

 

28th December 2003

7 of us fished  the Gunnels on board the Vicky Emma out from Bradwell under the skip of Dillon. 50 - 60  fish in total ranging from small whiting to Codling around 4lb.

Plenty of sizeable fish giving everyone who wanted some, enough for a few Cod stakes. Best bait was squid / lug cocktal on a pennel floating trace.

Kevin Knight (Webmaster)

 

30 December 2002 

Fished Bradwell shore from 6pm to 11:30pm and caught eight reasonable size pouting & whiting and two codling between two of us on lug and squid cocktail fished at medium to long range.

James Doswell

28th December 2003

10 of us fished  both North and South banks on board the Vicky Emma out from Bradwell under the skip of Dillon (Yes, the one who caught the 26lb Cod last week !...I'm sure you have heard about, everyone else has !) Anyway no sign of anything but a few decent size Dabs, a few Codling around 2lb and a few whiting. About 80 fish between us from 8 till 4. All the Codling were full of Sprats when gutted, so I guess that means the end of any decent cod action for this year.

Kevin Knight (Webmaster)

22 October 2002

Power Station

Clean beach not to many snags, lots of small whiting close in and at range, only a few sizeable. dabs at extreme range . bait lugworm was best bait .

Tom"The pendulum" Hackett


Brightlingsea

20 July  2003  Time: Day

When: Afternoon tide. 
Bait: Using Rag. 
Where: Alongside the boating lake just up from the Boat club.
Who: Myself and my father in-law
Action: On Uptide large fish spotted jumping (A Bass) at the same time as my rod pings back alas no fish.
Although a high than usual tide very quiet.
About 1 hour into the downtide (last of the rag) -  1 x 3lb eel in great condition and 1 x Small Bass. 
In Summary: Quiet day but my best eel from Brightlingsea.

Kevin

 

29 March 2003  Time: Day

Despite a sea mist that lasted all day, the latest Braintree S.A.C. match still produced plenty of fish from close in. Launching from Brightlingsea was straightforward and with flat calm sea members were soon busy catching codling.
The match was won by Bob Pennick who ventured up the coast to fish off Clacton, his catch included 21 codling for just over 43lb. Close behind in second spot was Peter Costin who had 20 codling for just under 42lb, Alan Porter also had 15 codling to collect third spot with just under 33lb.
Club members are now keen to continue this success on into the NFSA Small Boat Festival on 20 April, launching from Brightlingsea, further information on this competition is available from Rolf Marchalek on 01449 77126

Braintree Sea Angling Club


Caister on Sea


10 November 2003 Time: Day

Went down at 7.30 to see huge waves breaking about 50yds of shore. I had 2nd thoughts but with the cost of bait I thought what the hell. Packed up at 3.30 with only 2 small dabs and a small whiting for all my efforts. Where was the codling??? And the bait has gone up in price!!
I will try again in a couple of weeks.

Name: Paul M

13 September 2003 

Started about 7pm and finished at 1:30am. Took the wife night fishing as she had never fished at night before and only been about twice during the day. Beautiful still night with a full moon. She caught 2 dab and 2 Bass. I got nothing!!! Shows I'm a good teacher!!!

PaulM

6 September 2003 

Started about 5pm and finished at 3am. A few small Whiting about and a few missed bites. Had a good relaxing night.

PaulM

28 June 2003 

Did 6hrs at the bottom of 2nd Avenue. Still nothing doing except a few crabs. This spot is generally OK but could be time for a change.

PaulM

31 May 2003

Did 12hr stint at bottom of Second Avenue and got 4 bloody eels and a few knotted up rigs. Still enjoyed the night.

PaulM


Canvey Island

3 January 2003 Time: Day

Fished Canvey Point. Caught one smelt. nobody else caught anything as far as I know. Bait was squid and mackeral. Apparently all the recent rains has put too much freshwater in the river.

Ian S


Chapel Point

No new reports posted in last twelve months


Clacton

27 July 2003 Time: Day
When: 11:00 ish tide
Bait: Using Rag. 
Where: Passed the Kings Cliff towards Holland (due to nets in place opposite)
Who: Myself and my brother (Two rods each)
Action: Nothing - Great conditions but Bad luck (or no fish due to the nets?)
In Summary: Topped up the tan

Name:
Kevin


Covehithe

7 October 2003 

Two of us fished at high tide. Sport hectic. Best beach fishing i've had for years. 4 bass to 3lb and 3 sole. Numerous keepable whiting. Lug bait. Fish close in between 30-40 yards out.

Nigel


Dunwich

22 February 2003 Time:Day

The 3 amigos fished Dunwich from 9.30am to 3.00pm,total catch 1 dab which Frank caught.

Lewis

 

2 February 2003 Time:Day

The 4 Amigos fished Dunwich from 9.30am to 4.00pm, 6 codling to 2.5lb,me 2 frank 2 Ian 1 carlton1

Lewis

 

26 October 2002 Time:Day

3 of us fished Dunwich again,Carlton got a codling + whiting, Frank got whiting + a dab,i managed 6 whiting the best just over a lb.

Lewis

19 October 2002 Time: 4.00pm to 10.00pm

7 sizeable whiting, loads of small stuff.

Lewis


East Lane

2 February 2003 Time:Day

Caught all six codling on ebb about 1hour down squid and lug cocktail all fish 3 pound plus + sunny all day

Alex

4 January 2003

Fished tide up and caught one whiting fished for a hour down and had a 3Ib codling at last a sizeable one !!

Karl Weir


Fambridge

7 November 2002

South Side

Got there by 10 o'clock for the 02.15 tide, two of us fishing using a single rod each.

bites non stop up until high water, all sizable whiting, very slow on the ebb, did get two very big drop back bites that took my lead a long way down river, constant pulling when reeling in but pulled out off both of them:-( ended up with 40 whiting between us .bait ,they seemed to like our squid.

Tom"the pendulum"


Felixstowe

1st March 2003 Time: Day

Braintree Sea Angling Club Boat match

Club records were under threat during Braintree Sea Angling Clubs latest match in which members fished from their own dingy's off the front of Felixstowe. Launching from Felixstowe Ferry was straight forward, but negotiating a path through the shifting shingle bars and locating buoys in the mist proved to be a much tougher task.

A combination of poor visibility and good reports from close in resulted in most boats anchoring up just off the aerials. Almost instantly members were into codling, but the best catches came after high water and continued right through to the end of the match.

Barrie Senior was kept the busiest with 23 codling and a decent whiting to win the match with a total weight of 54lb 4oz. Paul and Les Fitch bough their boat round from Stour using their new radar to join the others under the aerials, and were rewarded with plenty of fish. Paul had 18 codling and a whiting for 42lb 13oz, which gained him second spot, just ahead of Bob Pennick who had 17 codling for third spot with 40lb 1oz. New member Glyn Thomas wasn't left out as he managed to get the largest cod of 5lb 1oz.

Club members are now keen to continue this success on into the NFSA Small Boat Festival on 20 April, launching from Brightlingsea, further information on this competition is available from Rolf Marchalek on 01449 771262

Clubs Web site http://www.geocities.com/braintreesac/

 

8 December 2002 Time: Day

Braintree Sea Angling Club Boat match

The latest boat match had to be changed from launching at Felixstowe Ferry to Levington marina as the shingle bars on the entrance to the river Deben restrict access over low water. With a moderate North Easterly, fishing off the front wasn't possible and most of the boats ended up fishing off the south shelf in the harbour.

Despite the match being fished in the river there were still a lot of fish to be had. Bob Pennick, fishing aboard Les and Paul Fitches Orkney day angler managed 9 codling for a weight of 13lb 13oz for first place. Brian Grundy also managed to get some codling onboard his Orkney strikeliner to claim second spot with a total weight of 10lb 13oz. Paul Fitch claimed the third spot with codling totalling 9lb 8oz.8 September 2002 Time: Day

 

Braintree Sea Angling Club Boat match

This months Club boat match was fished off the front of Felixstowe in almost ideal conditions with only a light south westerly breeze and few light showers early on. Launching from Felixstowe Ferry on the river Deben is relatively straight forward and gives quick and easy access to a wide variety of marks. The match produced a sizeable codling for Brian Grundy and the first sizable whiting of the season.

1st place went to Brian Grundy with a codling, 2 eels and a whiting for 2lb 7½oz, Barrie Senior came Second with 3 whiting and a pouting for 2lb 5½oz, and in Third place was Bob Pennick with a whiting and pouting of 1lb 2½oz to give a total weight of 2lb 3½oz


Freston

21 December  2003 Time: Day

Barrie Senior returned to his winning ways by claiming the last match of the season for Braintree Sea Angling Club. Club members escaped the Christmas shopping with a 4 hour match on the river Orwell at Freston, fishing for flounders. The strong winds and extremely high tide made fishing difficult, but Barrie managed to catch 2 flounders late on in the match to claim victory. Glyn Thomas was the only other person to catch a flounder, which came on his first cast of the day.
The New Year will start off with another 4 hour match, again fishing Freston on the river Orwell, on Sunday 4th January 2004

Thanks for printing our reports through out the year.
Regards
Simon Farrow, Braintree S.A.C.


Gorleston

17 October 2003

STRONG EASTERLY WINDS ,LOADS OF SWELL ,HAD TO FISH ON THE PIER ,CAUGHT 10 WHITING ALL ON LUG TIPPED SQUID,TO ROUGH TO FISH FOR TO LONG ,BUT MANAGED 3 HOURS .MY SON FROZE (he is only 6 ) SO WE WENT HOME I WILL TRY AGAIN NEXT WEEK (OH THERE WAS ONE CODLING COME OUT RIGHT ON THE END OF THE PIER )

BERT AND BRADLEY

 

4th October 2003: Time: 20.00hrs till 02.00 hrs

Weather was c**p, but what a night of fishing. 30+ fish including two doggies, each 3-4 lb, one bass 4lb +, codling, pouting, dabs & whiting. All taken on Rag about 20 - 30 yards from peir wall. Several guys casting out 100 yds+ and moaning that they were not catching anything, tried to tell them, but would they listen !!! Are well their losss. One of the best nights fishing in years.

Kevin (Webmaster)

 

27 September 2003  Time: Day

Tried Gorleston Pier for the first time. Pulled in a lovely Dab but that was it for the day. A couple of young lads pulled in a beautiful Bass around 2 1/2 pound.

PaulM

20th September 2003 Time: 19:00 till 00:00 hrs

Fished for about two hours, not even a knock. Then I miss cast and was only 20 - 30 yards off pier, decided to leave wher it was and within minutes had the first knock of the night. Ended up both rods 20 - 30 yds out and twelve whiting landed. All taken on Rag tipped with Squid.

Moral of this story, remeber what it says on my own web site and try near to the pier !

Kevin (Webmaster)


19 September 2003 Time: Day

Been on holiday at Hopton and spent many a happy day fishing the river side of the pier, One small Bass 3lb, and saw a few landed, but the best was by a local lad at 10.5lb, caught on a spinner.
Hopton beach showing whiting, around 20 caught each night, and one decent Plaice 2lb.

Danny

31 August 2003 

I've been fishing the river and sea wall for the last 3 months every weekend and although there are reports of people catching the occasional bass i have seen nothing, where are the Bass?  I will try further up the coast this weekend maybe bacton, if anyone has any hotspots between yarmouth and cromer then let me know please.  Baits used rag, lug. squid.

Monty

18 June 2003 Time: Day

Fished with ragworm between 2-4 pm on the seaward side.Not a touch. A few of the locals were fishing the river as a few bass have been reported. Didn't see anything landed all afternoon. A lady and gent said they had a "dinner plate" sized plaice the day before. Very nice too.   

Nigel

 

19th April 2003 Time: 19:00 till 00:30

Fished the river side of peir, very fast flowing, nothing for first three hours then as tide reached top, had two pouting around 1lb each and three codling around 1- 2 lb each.

Kevin Knight

 

29th March 2003 Time: 16:30 till 23:30

Set up opposite Car Park, chill in the air, fog rolling in, but a calm and gentle sea. After three hours got my forst good knock on the rod, struck and wound in.... a crab nearly big enough to eat. Not put off I continued the challenge..... I waited, I baited, I waited and I baited again. The final result NOTHING not even another knock !!!

£15 on bait for one misely crab....and I still tell everyone how much I love this sport !!!

Kevin Knight

 

19th October 2002

Fished pier from 18:00 hrs till 00:00 hrs, Caught some Whiting, some more Whiting and, are yes, even more bloody Whiting !. All just undesized but made a fun night out, total 32 Whiting, 1 dab. Best bait (By far)   Lug.

Plenty of others fishing, but no big fish to be had.

Kevin Knight

 

5th October 2002

Lots of small stuff around but very dissapointing considering such a high tide.

Ah well, try again next week

Kevin Knight


Great Yarmouth 

14 January 2004

2 of us fished Yarmouth North Beach tonight from 6.30pm 'til 11 o'clock . Not ideal conditions I know but we thought we'd give it a bash. We caught 3  small dabs, one whiting, had one huge bite that we missed, Spent £18 on dutch lug etc. Weed was a problem so casting restricted to a dollop 30 yards out. No one else on the beach.  

Nigel

11 October 2003

FISHED EVENING TIDES LAST 2 UP AND FIRST 4 DOWN AT THE WATERWAYS AT GREAT YARMOUTH ,CAUGHT 30 WHITING 11 OVERSIZED 3 RODS MOST FISH CAUGHT ON LUG TIPPED WITH SQUID .WEATHER WAS PERFECT FOR WHITING .HAD A GREAT TIME ,CANT BELIEVE WE WERE THE ONLY ONES FISHING THROUGH THE NIGHT

bert and bradley

4 October 2003

FISHED FROM 8PM TO 1AM ,LAST 3 HOURS DOWN AND THE FIRST 2 UP ON THE WATERWAYS AT GREAT YARMOUTH .BLOWING A GALE AND VERY HEAVY SHOWERS ,CAUGHT 15 WHITING KEPT ONLY FIVE ,GOT SOAKED BUT LOVED IT ,CANT WAIT TILL NEXT SATURDAY.CAUGHT ON MACKERAL STRIPS AND LUG TIPPED WITH SQUID AT AROUND 100YDS

bert and bradley

 

27 September 2003  Time: Day

Fished the ebb at the waterways with 3 rods caught 6 undersized whiting ,2 weaverfish and 1 flattie ,baits mackerel strips and lug tipped with squid .GREAT OUTING FIRST ONE FOR 3 YEARS AND LOVED EVERY MINUTE .

Bert and Bradley

 

29 August 2003 Time: Day

From sea angling boat 'Tempo' out of Gt Yarmouth, 50ft ex-lifeboat, catch - mostly dabs, some dogfish.  Hoping to see some codling and whiting about soon.
John Temple

 

23 March 2003  Time: Day

Fished from high tide, very flat, had plenty of nets & seals. fished close in lug & squid. Only two bites, one a 4.5lb bass.

Colin

 

25 February 2003 Time:Day

Started fishing on the north beach at about 12pm tide was ebbing not much of a tide though.Bait was mussels and squid got a few small bites.I was given some lug later which was nice and used a cocktail of mussel and lug and caught a good flounder.A mate fishing near the wellington pier phoned me and said he had caught a large flounder but was having a lot of trouble with weed and had lost tackle through it. Called it a day about 4pm I will try next week.

David


Happisburgh

9th August 2003

Cart Gap

Fished from 19:00 hrs till 00:00 hrs

Bait lasting only a few minutes (Even Whole Squid) as loads of spider crabs feating on anything you chuck in. Still managed to get 4 dabs + one V.Small Bass. Beutifull evening for fishing even though the fog rolled in around 23:00 hrs. All fish taken on Rag

Kevin Knight

 

18th April 2003: Fished 19:00hrs till 23.00 hrs

Fished Cart Gap, Started of well, 3 codling but all under size, then the swell gradually come up, by 23:00 had to pack up as even a 190g Grip Lead was washing straight back in.

Kevin Knight

 

18 January 2003

After the good reports coming from arround the area during the week Mark and myself decided to fish up to and over the high tide until about 21:00. All the locals were out and expectations were high but all we got was one Plaice and one Dab.

Craig


Holland-on-Sea

26 September 2003

The total catch was 2 sizeable and 4 undersize, the weather was Cloudy and very mild with high tide at about 01:21, we managed to catch Bass, Flounder, Whiting, with the best fish landed being a Bass, 1.5lb, the top bait seemed to be Lug & Squid Cocktail.

Kevin Thorpe

 

22 September 2003

Fished from 21:30 until 01:30.
Catch: 1 sizeable and 5 undersize
Weather: Breeze from the North, Clear Skies  High Tide: Approx 23:00
Bait: Lug & Squid Cocktail

I managed to catch Pouting, Whiting, with the best fish landed being a Pouting, 31cm

Every cast provided a bite although quiet at top of the tide, Pouting came at 12:40. A very enjoyable Monday evening, Tuesday morning.

Kevin Thorpe

 

14 March 2003

Started fishing down brighton rd a couple of hours before high tide(9:02). Wind was strong so unusually there was quite a strong flow on the flood and surprisingly i had a couple of codling 2-3lbs. on the ebb good codling were coming up all along the beach and i had another two on the 3 lb mark. only one pout but there were lots caught further along the beach. All fish caught on lug crab cocktail. definetly worth ago for codling untill the end of the month.

Simon

9 November 2002 Time:Day

High Tide was at 3pm.

Started fishing about 1:30pm, had a couple of decent knocks early on, but nothing landed.

Bait: Lug , with whole Small squid.

After tide turned things improved about an hour down got a small Pouting, folwed by a small Codling under a pound I'd say. Returned both.

Then another smaller hit resulted in a drop back take to reveal a Codling just over pound and a half, 17" in length. Sadly only a small Whiting about an hour later, when bait was tipped with Mackerel.

It was a lovely day, no wind, calm conditions, some guys further down the point towards the Pier seemed to be excited on several occasions with loud cheers of jubilation, couldn't see what they had but I presume Codling was the order of the day.

Parry

 

9 November 2002

Fished tide down to bottom of wall. Sea very calm exept when tide turned bringing a bit of weed with. Nothing biting till an hour+ then had 2 whiting both small, 3 pouting about lb each and a small doggy about 2lb. No cod exept others on point at second slope from first toilets .

Simon

28 October 2002 Time: 

Fished at end of York Road. Plenty of whiting. Used Lug

Gappy


Hopton

26 October 2003 Time: Day

Took Andrew for his first ever beach trip,he managed a sizeable whiting,i caught 4 dabs and a whiting all sizeable.

Lewis

18 March 2003 Time: Day

Caught two small bass fifty yards off Hopton beach.  On lugworm but the thing is I have lived here all my life and never imagined that these beautiful fish would one day grace what was once a foul soup of sewage.  As water warms watch this space.

Michael Long

31 December 2002  Time:Day

Fished Hopton again today, Frank got 4 codling, Carlton got 2 codling and 2 flounders.I blanked.

Lewis

21 December 2002

Me ,Pete,Frank and Carlton fished Hopton again on the 21/12 from 9.30am to 5.30pm. 16 whiting and 12 dabs to take home was the total bag.bad weed problem mid tide.

Lewis

14 December 2002 Time:Day

Carlton and myself fished Hopton on 14/12/2002 from 9.00am to 3.00pm.3 codling each to 2lb and 12 whiting between us to take home.

Lewis

9 November 2002 Time:Day

Myself, Frank and Carlton fished Hopton on 9/11 from 9.30am to 4.00pm.14 whiting and 5 dabs to take home between us, loads of undersize whiting.

Lewis

 

5 October 2002 Time:Day

Fished from 9.00 am to 5.30 pm ,7 whiting,3 dabs to take home, loads of undersize stuff. majority of fish were caught during last 2 hrs of the ebb and over the bottom of the tide.

Lewis


Kessingland

24 October 2003

Fished up to high tide. Caught 10 Whiting nothing very big. Only saw Whiting come out.

Craig

3 January 2003

Fished up to high tide and 2 hours after. 4 Codling to just over 2lb, 5 Whiting and 3 Dabs. Excellant sport best session yet.

Craig

29 December 2002 Time:Day

Westerly wind blowing ,sea very calm. I fished the tide up to high tide 9:00 - 15:00. 10 whiting all fairly small 2 Plaice and 1 Dab. All fell to lug worm.

Craig


Languard Point

19 April 2003 Time: Day

Two codling one of 2lb and one of 2.5lb. Well chuffed first shore caught codling I've ever had. Bait was lug, rag and squid cocktail. Both fish caught around low tide.

Ian S

8 March 2003 Time: Day

6 codling,  5 between 2 & 3lbs. 4 obligatory whiting & one dab caught between 2 of us. Wind S/E force 5ish. 1/2 decent chop in the sea. Most caught on the flood between 12:30pm & 2:00pm with high tide just after 2pm. Fine display of sprinting by my cousin who left go of his brolly when packing up!!!

Steve

8 November 2002

Fished 5hrs up & 3hrs down. 14 undersize Whiting + 1 undersize Bass on Lug,Black Lug & Squid. Very mild, gentle SW breeze,rain. Worst thing was the weed - loads of it !!

Steve Wilkinson


Mersea Island

26 July 2003 

The latest Braintree Sea Angling Club match at Mersea was spoilt by the weather conditions, which deteriorated from a steady drizzle at the start of the match, to heavy downpours as the evening went on. Fishing the shallows on the West side of the island meant the match time was reduced to only 4 hours, whilst the water is up to the main beach. The only type of fish bought to the scales we're eels, which seemed to be present in reasonable numbers, disappointingly no sizeable bass we're caught despite the presence of a few schoolies.

Braintree Sea Angling Club

26 May 2003
:
Fen Farm after bass. Evening session produces two small schoolies and an eel for my efforts, pretty slow. Fish next tide, next morning from 7:30am. Dead calm, hot sun, and no action whatsoever for an hour or so. Up sticks and move down the beach a quarter of a mile to where I hope the bass might be. Take four bass in an hour on the ebb, one small schoolie and three around the 2lb mark. Last fish caught in a foot of water. Very small neap tide. Bait is lug.

Jeff Hatt

1 April 2003 Time: Day

Good Friday night session on a large Spring tide. Drive the Landy on to the beach and set-up to fish around 11.30. One bite all the flood, then at high tide with a North Easterly putting a swell into the water I start to worry that the water is going to come over the top of the strand and flood, with the tent and vehicle just behind. Thankfully the water turns just before this happens and I give in to a good nights sleep...dreaming of summer and some half decent fishing! Bait is fresh lug but may as well have been banana skins for all the fish cared.

Anonymous


Orfordness

25 January 2004  Time: Day

The first trip of 2004 to Orfordness for the Braintree S.A.C. attracted a good turnout from the membership. The venue provides plenty of opportunity to catch a wide variety of fish, and catches on the day included small codling, dabs, flounder, pouting and whiting.
Simon Farrow, used his knowledge of the venue and choose to make the long walk up towards the lighthouse across the shingle banks. His efforts were rewarded with a couple of dabs, pouting, and a whiting of 1lb 2½oz to claim first place with a total weight of 3lb 4oz.
Kevin Thorpe, who's become a regular angler with the Club had 2 whiting for 1lb 5½oz and second position.
Experienced angler, Barrie Senior managed a good sized pouting for 14¼oz and third spot on a day which saw everybody have plenty of fish, although most failed to reach the Club's size limits. New junior member, Robert Maples, showed some more experienced anglers the way by claiming forth spot with a decent dab of 6oz.
See Clubs web site : http://www.geocities.com/braintreesac

Braintree Sea Angling Club

9 November  2003 Time: Day

Peter Costin managed 3 whiting and a dab for 2lb 2½oz to claim the Alf Huit cup in conditions which would normally produced more. With a force 4 to 5 Easterly and a moderate sea, the expectations were high for a decent cod, but with none showing, whiting became the main target. Barrie Senior managed two whiting for 1lb ½oz and second spot, whilst others failed to catch anything sizeable. These results were common with the other angler over on Orfordnesswith only a couple of codling reported all day.
Club's web site  http://www.geocities.com/braintreesac/

Braintree Sea Angling Club

26 October 2003  Time: Day

Despite the high numbers of people fishing Orfordness, catches were poor for the time of year. Although there were some reports of the odd good size cod being caught, three whiting were all that was required for Simon Farrow to claim top spot in the Braintree S.A.C. match with a weight of 1lb 11oz, Peter Costin's single flounder of 13oz's was enough to get second position whilst other Club members failed to find anything above the size limits.
See Clubs web site : http://www.geocities.com/braintreesac/

Braintree Sea Angling Club

11 October 2003

The first leg of the Mick Allen Shield was fished in summer like conditions with a flat calm sea on a warm evening, with light N.E. wind. Although the whiting are there in numbers, the continuing warm conditions are also producing several dog fish which have become much more common.
Barrie Senior managed two codling during the night to boost his catch to 16lb 8oz for first spot, Peter Costin wasn't far behind in second spot with 14lb 9oz and Brian Grundy came third with 7lb 10oz. New member Kevin Thorpe managed 8 fish for 5lb 8oz in first Club match.
Braintree Sea Angling Club website : http://www.geocities.com/braintreesac/

Braintree Sea Angling Club

8 October 2003

Force 6-7 easterly. 2 of us fishing one road each between 7pm & 1am. No bites, no fish caught. Bait staying on. Why pay for a key to the gate when you can now just drive round it I ask.

Steve

28 September 2003 Time: Day
:
Suffolk's top beach venue, Orfordness, failed to live up to expectations as anglers struggled to find sizeable fish in the latest Braintree Sea Angling Club match.

The resent spell of warm weather, coupled with calm conditions on the day produced a smooth sea with clear water, which left hardly any fish within casting range.

Simon Farrow had to settle for second place after Barrie Senior landed a codling with last cast of the afternoon. Simon King and Peter Costin also managed to find a fish each to make the day worthwhile.

So the final results for the day were, Barrie Senior in first place with a codling of 1lb 3oz, Simon Farrow in second spot with 2 whiting for 12oz and Simon King in third spot with a single whiting of 6½oz.

The next match will be an all night match, again at Orfordness, when it's hoped the conditions will be better, and that cover of darkness may bring the fish closer in.

Club's web page http://www.geocities.com/braintreesac/

Braintree Sea Angling Club

 

18 May 2003 Time: Day

Members had to battle against blustery and occasionally damp conditions over on Orfordness last weekend, however nothing could stop keen beach and boat angler, Peter Costin from running away with the match.
With the arrival of many summer species and the need for conservation, the match was fished on a catch and release basis where unwanted fish can me measured and returned to the sea.
Peter's winning catch included the first sizeable smoothound from the beach in recent times as well as 5 dogfish and 3 dab's. This excellent catch has also earned Peter the "Alf Huit" cup for his trophy cabinet. The only other sizeable fish was an eel caught by Simon Farrow.
The next match will see members back in their boats, species hunting off Felixstowe.

Check Club's web site at
http://www.geocities.com/braintreesac/

Braintree Sea Angling Club

 

16 March 2003  Time:Day

With bright sunshine and hardly any breeze it felt more like a summers day for the latest Braintree Sea Angling Club match at their regular venue of Orfordness.

With reports of fish all along the coast members got off to an early start launching their own boat from the quay at Orford to get to the beach before the rush.

With a calm sea and bright conditions it seemed unlikely that the venue would live up to it's reputation for producing quality fish but right from the start there were plenty of fish.

Regular visitor to the island, Simon Farrow, dropped onto the perfect spot, which produced 11 codling to give him 1st place with a weight of 34lb. Other regulars to the island also managed to find the fish, Simon King had 4 codling and 2 whiting for 2nd position with 7lb 8oz, and Barrie Senior had 2 codling for 5lb 11oz to come in 3rd spot.

With so many fish to be had members are going to take their boats out for the next match, launching from Brightlingsea on Saturday 29th March.

Photo's on Clubs web site at http://www.geocities.com/braintreesac/

16 February 2003 Time:Day

Braintree Sea Angling Club returned to their normal winter venue of Orfordness after their previous trip out of the region to fish the Kent coast.

Orfordness attracts large numbers of anglers this time of year and with several reports of codling being caught from the venue, the Club’s match was fished at the “narrows” part of the island to give members more space.

Conditions on Sunday were excellent for catching codling and everybody managed to land at least one, the catches also included a few whiting and a bass.

Simon Farrow fishing up towards the point claimed his third consecutive win with a catch of 8 codling, including 2 fish of over 3lb, to give a total weight of 16lb 13oz. The battle for positions was a close with Alan Porter snatching second spot with 2 codling for 4lb 12½oz beating Peter Costin by ½oz who had 2 codling and a whiting for 4lb 12oz.

Best fish on the day was a codling of 3lb 12oz, which went to Colin Crocker, a regular visitor to the Club’s matches over on the island.

The next Club match will see members taking their own boats out to fish off the front of Felixstowe on Saturday 1st March, launching for the match will be from Felixstowe Ferry on the river Deben.

Pictures on Club's web site at http://www.geocities.com/braintreesac/

 

24 November 2002 Time:Day

Barrie Senior continued his winning ways by catching 3 codling and 2 whiting to claim top spot in the latest Club match. Being the first people over to the "Crouch" on Orfordness gave members the choice of the best spots, with several members making the long walk up towards the lighthouse. Simon Farrow also managed a couple of codling in his catch for second spot and was closely followed up in the weights by Colin Crocker in third. The next Club match will see members taking their own dingies out to fish off the front of felixstowe if the weather permits.

Photo’s on Clubs web site - http://www.geocities.com/braintreesac/

3 November 2002 Time:Day

The latest Club match saw members visiting Orfordness once again, the deep-water close in makes this one of the top venues in the region for winter cod fishing.

Simon Farrow claimed top spot on the day after choosing to make the long walk up towards the lighthouse where the water is probably at it’s deepest. Simon’s effort was rewarded with 10 codling for a winning weight of 16lb 2oz.

In second position was Alan Porter who had one codling, two whiting and a dab for 3lb, and in third spot was Peter Hibble.

The next match will see members returning for the second leg of the Mick Allen shield on the 9/10th November.

For venue and catch pictures, check out the Club's web site at http://www.geocities.com/braintreesac/

 

19 October 2002 

Braintree Sea Angling Club - Match Report - Mick Allen Shield - 1st leg

Members had a good break in the weather for the first leg of the Mick Allen shield, the all night match was fished over Orfordness on a clear and moon lit night giving ideal conditions for whiting.

The top 3 took full advantage of this and claimed over 50 decent sized whiting between them from the deep water at the "Crouch" part of the island.

After a rough week with strong winds, the conditions calmed right down and by dawn, the wind had totally disappeared giving a calm sea.

The Shield is fished for over 2 legs, both of these being all-nighters from Orfordness. Barrie Senior claimed first spot in the opening leg with a weight of 14lb 6oz, his catch included 2 codling, 6 dabs and 18 whiting. Top man for whiting was Simon King who's catch included 26 sizable whiting to give him second spot with a total weight of 13lb 10½oz. Third spot went to Alan Porter who managed 2 codling, a dab and an eel to go with his whiting. Alan also had the best whiting of the night at just under 1½lb.

The next match is normal Sunday visit to the island on 3rd November, before members return for the second leg of the Mick Allen shield on the 9/10th November.

Also, a reminder to members that Club's A.G.M. will be held on the Monday 4th November at the Eagle, Coggeshall Road, Braintree.

Clubs Web site : http://www.geocities.com/braintreesac/

 


Pakefield

12 October 2002 Time:Day

Tried Pakefield again,this time a better result,16 codling to 3lb between 3 of us(Keith 8,Brian 5,me only 3!)plus 16 whiting,7dabs.It

rained for most of the day(we fished from 9.00am to 5.00pm) with strong easterly winds.

Regards Lewis

28 September 2002 

Tried Pakefield again,this time from 2.30pm to 12 midnight.all thefish except 1 dab were caught at night.keith caught 6 whiting, I managed 5 whiting,1 dab and a sole.

Regards Lewis


Salthouse

5 January 2004  Time: Day

Fished Salthouse today from 12.30 to 17.30.
High tide was about 17.00.
Used Lug & squid & Mackerel.
Brother Joe & myself caught 7 Rockling , 8Dabs , & 7 Whiting between us.
Most of the Dabs were caught in daylight & the Whiting started feeding just as it was getting dark.
About half the Whiting & Dabs were big enough to keep.
There was a couple of Anglers arrived a short while before we left, I'D love to know how they got on.

Peter

 

31 December 2003  Time: Day

Introduced Shaun to the joys of bait digging at Hunstanton then moved on to Salthouse fished from 10.30 to 3.00pm total take home bag was 5 dabs and 3 flounders.

Lewis

 

21 April 2003 Time: Day

2 of us fished from low to high tide this morning.
One doggie 1.5-2lb
saw one flattie caught.
sea alot calmer than the last two days. light south-easterly wind

Kev

 

13 April 2003  Time: Day

Low tide was around 10.15am. I arrived at 11. Sunny and warm when out of the freshening Easterly breeze.  As I waded through the gravel to my mark, the guy next door reeled in a nice looking flatfish. The portents were good. I had no worms, only squid. Still confident though as I'd brought a secret weapon, Utrabite! Bass formulation. I used whole squid on a pennel rig plonked out 50 yards. Blanked. My lucky lug laden counterparts continued to regularly pull out flatfish.

Jon B

4 April 2003 Time: Day

Just call me the Bass master. 4 bass, put 1 back. Ideal conditions, good session.

Craig

30 March 2003  Time: Day

Fished from 11:00 till 17:00, HT 18:30ish
Caught one codling(5lb) on my last bit of squid on my last cast of the day. Saw one flattie and one whitting caught.

Kev

29 March 2003  Time: Day

Arrived at 10am, tide was at low around 11am. The fog was quite thick and slowly got thicker through the day. Light Northerly breeze and a definite chill in the air. Used HUGE Lug (from Fakenham at only £5 for 50!) Lots of bites, 4 small flatfish, 1 pouting AND a 2LB Cod, my first of the year. (The guy next door had a very nice Bass at around 4 - 5 LB) Other highlights. Very friendly Seal actually came onto the beach, 4 Avocets flew over.

Jon B

 

23 March 2003  Time: Day

Fished down to low water bagged a total of 10 fish 4 dabs 4 whiting 2 rockling none any grewat size except for one dab.Plagued by crabs all afternoon so gave up and went to Hunstanton and got 2 more flatties.

Glenn Hughes

 

22 March 2003 Time: Day

Arrived at 9.00am to witness bull-dozers chugging up and down the bank levelling the shingle. Briefly debated moving on to Weyborne, decided to stay put. The two of us fished for five hours, 1 bite and 1 fish (V small pouting) The guy next door had caught two weaver fish. Craig did manage to pull out an edible crab, not quite big enough to eat though. The crabs in general cleaned the bait (lug) from the hooks within ten minutes without fail. JonB

Jon B


16 March 2003 Time: Day

My first cast on a pulley pennell rig with 4 blow lugworm produced a codling to 1lb 3 oz followed by four dabs(no size to speak of) and a flathead scorpion fish, fished at low water for three hours.
lots of crabs also.

Glenn Hughes

11 January 2003 Time:Day

Calm(ish) sea. At least 6 fishing. Plenty of Dabs several Whiting. 1 Plaice. (No sign of any codling)

Jon B

7 December 2002 Time:Day

Tide too strong totally unfishable - blanked

Craig

7 December 2002 Time: Day

We had a look at Bacton, decided it was too rough, went round to Salthouse. The wind got worse and when the tide started running properly we couldnt hold at all.I even tried 2 leads on 1 trace (11ozs) eventually we gave up! Total score for all 3 of us? 1 undersized bass. Still there is always next week!

Lewis


Sea Palling, Norfolk

No reports in last twelve months


Sheringham

11 April 2003 Time: Day

3 0f us fished from 12:30 till 17:30 ht15:30. Only 2 rockling on rag and squid. Sea very flat

Kev


Trimingham

12 January 2003 Time: Day

The three AMigo's fished Trimmingham on 12/01/2003 from 9.30am to 4.00pm.total take home bag 17 codling to 3lb,7 whiting and 2 flounders. Cod scoresheet Frank (The Codfather) 11, Carlton 3 and me 3.

Lewis

28 December 2002 Time:Day

Frank,Carlton and me fished Trimmingham from 9.30am to 4.00pm.total take home bag 8 dabs,5 codling to 3.5lb,5 whiting and a

bass.yet again frank and carlton caught the cod!

Lewis


Shingle Street

No reports in last twelve months


Shoeburyness

No reports in last twelve months


Southend 

8 October 2002 Time: Day

Fished the pier, caught dab and whiting at same time on artificial shrimps was early evening only been sea fishing 2 weeks well chuffed :)

Mike Batson


Southwold

25 August 2003 Time: 

Fished North Beach from 19:30 to 23:00, one Sole about 15 inches
caught at about 40yds distance.  Other anglers had small bass and whiting.

28 June 2003 Time: Day

Fishing Southwold harbour and immediate beach was very slow with the only sizeable fish being a dab, caught by Barrie Senior.
The evening match was fished from 6pm to midnight with the unusual distraction of a firework display at 10pm!!!  As well as standard bottom fishing, float fishing, running ledger, and spinning also failed to produce any fish.
Club's website : http://www.geocities.com/braintreesac/

Braintree Sea Angling Club

 

4 January 2003 Time:Day

Fished from 10 am to 4.30 pm. Lug/squid. Myself and 5 other anglers all caught several codling each. All fish around 2-4lb...v good day.

Steve

12 December 2002

Fished beach south of pier from 4pm to 1 am using Lug, Black Lug & Squid. Caught 2 Codling to 3lb, 3 school Bass, a Dab a Rockling but not one Whiting !!

Steve


 

St Osyth 

27 January 2003 

Fish right in front of Hutleys caravan park. Two rods: three hook rig with straight lug on 1 & pennel rigged mackerel/squid cocktail on 2.

Very slow on the flood till a schoolie arrives followed next cast by a dab. Then no bites whatsoever till the ebb when a shoal of pin whiting arrives temporarily. catch 4 of these, then they dissapear as suddenly as they arrived. All fish on the lug. Not a touch on the cocktail

Jeff

21 October 2002 :

Hutleys again, intending to fish the whole tide up and down. Arrive at the start of the flood around 19:00. very slow until last quarter of the flood then all hell breaks loose with whiting almost every cast until half ebb. 90% of these are well oversize and take every kind of bait tried, lug, squid, mackerel, sprats and various cocktails . Things go quiet soon after with the occasional fish once in a while. Try fishing a whole pennel rigged squid to see if there is anything but whiting in front of me but a strong bite results in yet another whiting the same size as the others! The 4/0 is no deterent!

Finally catch something different when it gets light, a small rockling. Total whiting for session is 30 fish, most well over the size limit.

Jeff

 

5 October 2002 

Night session at St Osyth beach again after codling and whiting. Much slower than last trip, saturday night idiots making midnight a pain. Fishing picks up when they stop letting off fireworks over the sea! No codling this time out but plenty of fair sized whiting. 16 whiting & two pout total for session. Best time is well before high tide and then the ebb right down to low water. Next visit here will see me fishing the ebb to low water and up again, giving high tide a miss.

Fish under the tower at Walton again next day and find one eel on a big bunch of pennel rigged king rag

Jeff


Walton on Naze

22 May 2003 Time: Day

Fished morning tide at Burnt House. (8.30-13.00) Only one significant bite with nothing caught used fresh lug. x 2 fishing next to me using red rag also caught nothing.

Gappy

4 May 2003 Time: Day

Fished from 11:00 till 17:00 HT14:30. nothing , not even a bite. pier was very busy. everyone saying how quite it was. guy 3 rods up from me had a 2lb bass. someone else at the very end had 2 small pouting. a couple of other odds and sods came out. generally a waste of time

Kev

7 February 2003

Fished 12:00 Midday to 9:00 pm. Sea calm but coloured with a cool breeze from the South. Very slow to start but had a dab after 3 hours then another 2 hours later,both returned as undersized. About 5:00pm we started on some Pin Whiting (6 caught) and a very small Ling I think?

All in all it was very disappointing but for some reason we'll do it all again!

Huw Williams

2 November 2002 Time: Day

Fished early morning tide at Burnt House using lug. Plenty of small whiting but suffered with weed. Best spot either side of concrete groyne but watch for the tide whipping the breakaway out and around the post. Fished 6.30am to 11.00am

Gappy

1 November 2002 Time: Day

Fished morning tide again at Burnt House, quite a southerly breeze whipping up waves, plenty of whiting plus x 2 codling 2lbs each, used lug.

Gappy

30 October 2002 Time: Day

Fished morning at Burnt House, plent of whiting, used lug. Saw some men fising at the naze yesterday below the tower they had whiting and very small codling.

Gappy


Walcott

1 December 2003  Time: Day

Fished tide up from low tide 12:00 to 15:45.
4 small dabs and 4 small whiting. All caught on lug with two rods.
3lb codling caught on sat 03/01/2004 oppersite poachers pocket pub (lunchtime) by local geezer.
Only one i have heard about so far.

Liam

23 November 2003 Time: Day

Fished 0730 till 1130 using lug for bait. no cod showing yet but caught a couple of small bass both returned.

Neil

21 February 2003 Time:Day

Fished from 1130 till 1/2 4. One small codling was all i caught which took a lugworm bait on a 2/0 pulley pennel rig. at least the weed seems to have cleared up. stopped in for a pint at poachers pocket on the way home. nice pint of greene king IPA.

Neil

25 January 2003 Time:Day

The 3 amigos fished Walcott today, total take home bag, 3 codling to 1.5lb,2 flounders, 1 dab. Carlton 2 cod, me 1.

Lewis

 

23 December 2002 Time:Day

Fished from 0730 till 1230. not too busy,just one codling to lug and frozen peeler and a school bass to plain lug. bloke next to me had a good day with at least four good codling.

Neil

 

17 November 2002 Time:Day

Fished the beach 0930-1730. not much around, had a couple of whiting and a flattie just as i was packing up.to round off a poor day someones lovely dog decided to wee up my beach buddy :-(

Neil.

 

20 October 2002 Time: Day

Fished the beach from 1330 till just after five. 2 codling (1 undersize) and a schoolie bass.All caught on plain lugworm. Still getting to grips with my multiplier and as soon as I've posted this will be off to sort out the tangles. :)

Neil

13 October 2002 Time: Day

Fished the flood tide from 0830-1430. This was my best days fishing yet. 4 codling and 3 schoolie bass all caught on lug tipped with ragworm. Please God lets have more days like these:)

Neil


Weybourne

17 May 2003 Time: Day

17th May- fished from 06:00 till 10:00 HT08:30ish not a bite. A group of fisherman further down were caughting bass and cod to 3lb, plus pouting and flatties, all on crab.

18th May- fished from 18:00 till 22:45 HT21:15ish very quiet untill 21:30 when the rods started banging away. 7 pouting 2 flatties. 22:00 all went quiet again. Crab, squid, worm, sandeel, all worked.

19th May- Fished 11:30 till 18:00 LT 16:00ish. One flattie on crab at low tide

Kev

 

19 April 2003 Time: Day

3 of us fished from low to high tide in the morning on 19th and 20th. Sea very rough, strong easterly wind. Calmed down a little on 20th.
One codling 3.5lb 19th
One flattie underszed 20th.
There's been a trawler of the coast since Thursday. The local fishermen say he's been in close at night, hence no fish.

Kev

12 April 2003 Time: Day

3 0f us fished from 04:30 till 09:00 ht04:15ish. only 1 crab. No bites. Sea has gone calm.

Kev

6 April 2003 Time: Day

Arrived at 07:45, one fisherman was just leaving, had 2 codling.I fished untill HT 10:00ish. Had 1 codling (3lb) on Squid. Saw two other codling caught. Went home after being soaked by a wave. Very rough sea.

Kev

5 April 2003 Time: Day

2 of us fishing bagged 6 codling largest 5lb 12oz smallest 3lb 6oz
2 flatties and 1 whiting Fished from 3pm (low) till 8pm (almost high) missed three more (felt big) but lost them all due to very heavy surf.
a good day was had.

Glenn Hughes

29 March 2003 Time: Day

Fished from 13:30 till 18:00, HT 17:00ish.
Caught 2 x 3lb codling at 15:30 on rag worm at about 80yrds. lots of crabs

Kev

24 January 2003 

Arrived at about 19:00, beach packed. I managed to find a snag free swim. Jon joined me about 45mins later. We fished up to and over the high tide until 1:00. I caught one Codling about 2.5lb and eight smallish Whiting and Jon caught a large Whiting, a Pouting and two small flatties. We did not see any other Cod come out but plenty of Whiting.

Craig

4 January 2003 Time: Day

Report:

Carlton, Frank and myself tried Weybourne for a change. Very windy and cold, fish caught were dabs flounders rockling whiting bass and

codling, nothing very big , Itook home 1 codling 1 whiting 1 flounder and 2 dabs.

Lewis


Winterton On Sea

21 August 2003 

Fished Winterton all summer, a few small bass and 1 that we could cook, it fished the same last year but got better late Aug until mid sept, lets hope the bigger bass come closer, bait used squid, rag and spinners, all fish usually caught close in, a bad cast can be very lucky at winterton, watch for the seals, im sure they see me coming over the dunes and get closer everytime.

P.S  if there are seals does that mean there are fish or have they been scared away??????

Monty 

 
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