Brighton Inshore Fishing

First sailing and out with Richard, Paul, David and Andre. I had forewarned my crew that there would only be fishing close in available, with the screaming N wind, but that there would be squid (they are literally everywhere at the moment) and some bass but likely no beasts. And so it turned out. 8 bass landed, 3 killed. We forgot about squid until the last fifteen minutes, but even so a tidy feast went up the road. A good trip considering the brutally cold conditions. 2nd sa

Frustrations continue. I managed to get Stuart, Peter, Bruno and Kevin, all regulars, out to my current favourite spot for all of an hour before sea conditions meant I had to leave them alone. In that hour, 8 fish landed, three tidy ones. Then another hour spent in closer, out of the worst of the swell. Here, squid central for those who dropped down on them. For us bassers, we crept the total up to twelve bass landed. But by the end of the 2nd hour, with swell and no tide, I

Another upside down day on the forecasting front. I awoke, and headed to horse duties, with a gentle Northerly breeze hardly rippling the channel. But the forecast had been for 20 gusting 30mph. That wind is not for lure fishing really. And not for getting to where the fish are currently living, as waves are big beyond a mile. And so I cancelled and volunteered for horse duties. So, while I was with the nags, I un-cancelled the 2nd sailing, and at 1200 returnees Richard, John

A bit of a cock up day really. Which was a shame, especially the early cock up as the fishing was good, and more rods on board would have seen a greater tally, and more smiles. Although Dave and I did smile a real lot. And we had plenty of space to spread our big smiles. How did this happen? A sudden loss of oil pressure on the M25 removed 2 of my guys. And confusion as to what "next Sunday" actually means took out another. End result - 12 bass to Dave and I. 6 each I seem t

If only we didnt have wind... Today showed us a great example of how good the fishing is out there. And has been since September. But winds are doing a far better job of protecting the bass shoals than any government bureau. With me for this mornings sailing, three returnee's, Mark D, Mark P and Gavin, plus new to BIF1, Alan. Heading out into a very big swell, as the wind had been blowing Southerly for much of the night. Looking back at shore, it looked more the landscape of

Finally back at sea once more. I do get a little stir crazy that now the best of the bass fishing has arrived, Neptune used wind weapons to protect them. But we got to have a little survey today. Not that it was anything close to calm. Fairly windless, but Nilesh, Andy, Ed and Ian all quickly discovered how fun BIF1 is to ride on a swell of 0.8 meters. Out on the whiting holes, the session began beautifully to plan. The first 8 fish landed were killed, which gives you an idea

Usually, we follow the weather forecast, and watch with tears as promised windows of opportunity gradually become buried by forecasts of ever increasing SW winds. Especially at this time of year. However, this week we had the reverse. Today glowed as perhaps the only chance to get out there for a couple of weeks. Swell charts showed a distinct window of OK for BIF1, although perhaps just the one sailing, and with such good bassing now upon us, it did not take long to find fou

A day where, had the forecast held, we would again be talking about a fifty plus fish session. However, the forecast that was for light winds increasing later in the day had it back to front. We smashed out to the whiting holes to assess the situation. But sadly, although perfectly safe, the actual fishing would have been more guesswork than technique. The window for failure was far to wide, and so I returned closer inshore, where swells were far smaller, and fishing could h

A last minute trip, as I was originally not going to sail, to assist with my dock repairs. However, on seeing the cost of lifting it out, I felt I had to soften the blow. And with the squid and bass fishing the best it has been all year this week, it was no problem to fill the spots. It all hinged on wether or not winds would allow us to reach the whiting holes. It doesnt take much of a swell to make the technique difficult, especially with winds pushing us across the tide. W

Scheduled for 2 sailings today, but actually cut the first one shore due to a stronger than forecast NE wind pushing the boat way too fast across the current even for squid. With me regulars David and Fred, fishing bass, and Andrew and John, fishing for squid. We can actually facilitate this at the moment, as they are inhabiting the same grounds. In the two hours fishing, David, Fred and I boated 8 bass, with 6 despatched, which shows how the quality continues. And as for squ

Two sailings today. First sailing I was happy to receive Mitch, Shinji and John. Should have been a Barry but an admin blunder by myself meant I only got him on the afternoon sailing instead of both. Again, I am so sorry Barry!! Billed as bass with some squidding it was absolutely excellent for both. I am not bothering counting squid now as it is actually a job keeping touch. But everyone that wanted squid went home with bulging bags, and everyone that wanted bass, which was

Just the one sailing today, due to the need to be ashore in the afternoon for life stuff. I was worried we wouldnt be able to get to the scene of recent good fishing, as the forecast was for pretty strong NE winds. However, the actual winds were way less to begin with, so it was not a problem at all, especially with the combination of wind with tide. Made drift speeds reasonable despite a sluggish tidal coefficient. With me regulars Richard and David, and new to BIF1, Michae

A day that went rather well really. Winds were a bit of a pain as they went easterly on the ebb for a while, creating a bit of deep long...

Very brief report as still lots of real life stuff to do and having a bit of a run of good weather so long days again. First sailing out...

Today the forecasters were again wrong. But this time to our advantage. Instead of a fairly brisk Northerly wind gusting to 13mph, we...

Another day where the forecast and the actual weather were at odds with each other. Indeed, instead of the near calms that have been...

That very beautiful moon we have this week, is known as a harvest moon, because, in times before genetically modified seed, this was the...

Just the one sailing this morning. And after yesterdays session, only one place I wanted to be. And the fish were there. In the first 45...

I do love a whiting. As a child in South Benfleet, my father would often take me with him to the shops. Shopping back then was...

That has been a September that will quickly be forgotten. Indeed, Summer 2025 completely leaves without much to crow about. Warm and...