Brighton Inshore Fishing

One of the many advantages of having an insomniac character inside this aged structure, is that I sail very early at this time of year. And on days such as this one, it pays off by being able to just squeeze in a sailing before a stiff SW wind arrives to take away the rest of the day. And happily, insomnia is a common disease in East Sussex, as joining me were father and son Nick and Jake, plus Dean and Ted, all returnee's. Thanks to the birds bringing us tight to the edges w

First sailing, and possibly as a result of sailings not being very good lately just two lambs for some slaughtering. Slaughtering time with boredom as bass fishing without bass is very tedious. Not quite so poor this time for John and Simon. We did encounter some shoals of small fish, with five landed but, none killed. Still hard going. Next up, Kaz, Tim and Luke. All returnee's. All met my glum looks and my customer expectations management consisted of "Well, its a nice day.

Tiny tides and absent baitfish saw an eventual 4 hour session with 4 rods return a grand total of a single cuttle, a single mackerel, a single small bass and a single bream. Hard going, continues to be the theme. Change is imminent, as I see everything dropping into place, but at the moment it is better to be the client who is happy to be out afloat and breathing sea air, than the client who's expectant family is already prepping the bbq coals....

Not so much to report really. No changes since yesterday. Still running around a lot and only finding very few small shoals of fish. A big difference to the beginning of the season. Clarity is up to 30 feet viz so cant blame it on rot. Not so much baitfish around today. Across 2 sailings, just 6 bass, plus bonus big pout. Just 2 killed. Not great. Hoping for better things tomorrow. But it is hope. Not certainty.

I always feel a bit sorry for clients booking in with me after I have been away from the bass for a while. At this time of year, so much is going on from a food related perspective that a few days with them is needed to get ahead of the game. My two weeks in Portugal left me stabbing in the dark. All I could really do with the first sailing is get around as many marks as possible and see what I could find. Except the stiff NNE wind meant that antthing more than a mile offshor

Travelled back to the UK from a fly fishing with friends / relaxing with friends fortnight in Portugal, to what on paper was ideal conditions for catching cuttlefish. A dieing tide, and forecast zero winds. Except of course for the most of it we had an unpredicted stiff NE wind, which effectively made us race along on the tide at nearly a knot. Less good for cuttle, and perhaps why we only managed six. But boy, they were, all bar one, big bad bulls. A great evening with great

The difference 22.5 degrees can make... That is, on a compass. Because the NE wind we started the day with, gave rise to a really nice session. David, Andy and John enjoying 12 bass landed. Max kill (6) and other tables released. Mackerel, and I nailed another tidy tub gurnard. Then we finished, and headed in for breakfast. 45 minutes later, Matt, Ian, Paul Steve and I emerged into a different world. White caps, and a short chop. The wind now had decided it was happier being

Another day where the forecast and the actual wind, were alien to each other. The light NNE we had all been promised, in fact remained a fairly stiff at time NNW. This made for tough going, and the seas were far less bass filled than yesterday. First trip out, Lee, Stuart, Phil and Lindsey were, I though, unlucky to get just 5 bass on board. But that was before the 2nd trip, where Tim, Jake, Nick and Andrew were truly unlucky for just a single small bass and a tidy gurnard. S

J ust 1.3 sailings today, due to an inaccurate weather forecast. Out with me for the first sailing, where the wind really did do as it was told, Matt, Peter, Charlie and Ted. This one we held on for the full 3 hours, although actually it was pretty calm for all of it, with the breeze that would later become an issue only increasing right at the end. Finding the fish was the harder thing. I took the first hour to poke around, and then settled on the fishiest area I found for

Two sailings today, and further observations of change... Out with me for first sailing, David, Ted and Matt. The change was obvious from the first moment my transponder touched the water as BIF1 backed off her dry dock. Fish food. Lots of it. Various types as well, examining the shoals in detail on the HDS7live. Things have been hatching. Lots of things. Same story as we exited the marina... Bass food... everywhere... In fact, today it was rare to look down at the sounder,

Just the one sailing today, due to a combination of swell early and dentist later. Dimitri, his young lad Theo, and friends George and Detrus had a bit of a hard one compared to recent times. couldn't find any bream and just 4 bass to the boat, and a bonus mackerel. It had fished ok on the ebb tide for others, but the low and early flood, I just couldn't find the shoals.

With the last half of the tide to contend with, I did fairly expect to pick up where I left off yesterday. Especially as the only sailing of the day (winds were forecast to arrive mid morning ) coincided with similar state of tide as yesterday afternoons session, where rockworm abounded as the tide eased back. And this is exactly how it happened. Although the breaming deteriorated as the tide slackened off, the bassing perhaps got better, with rockworm zooming around the mirr

A very interesting day... First sailing, it was my pleasure to welcome back Dean, David, Alistair and Sam. Not quite the flat calm sea I was expecting, as the wind had only backed down an hour or so ago, but at least the wind was with the tide, so swells were quite manageable. Fish were, more complexed. It started ok, but today the fishing died with the tide. The last hour particularly slow. But from the ten fish landed, everyone had fish to take home for tea, and I would say

Just the one sailing today, with SE winds due to increase mid morning, which combined with a flooding tide would have made later sailings quite bouncy. Indeed, there was significantly more roll heading back to port than out of it. With me this morning, Armando, Dave, Helder and Nico, all BIF1 veterans. I was a bit worried that with rockworm now finishing the last of the ebb, early flood situation we had may have meant poor results. But although the last hour was slow, with th

A mirror of yesterday in many aspects. Other than it was much windier, but far less bouncy for first sailing. Out with me Nico, Paul, Adrian and David. All doing it right. But it took a brief break in the strong Northerly wind for a dash a little further off to find fish of the session, a nice bass for Nico. Quite frustrating as inshore although nice and flat, is still hit and miss for fishes on lures. Out a bit, more reliable. As proved by second sailing. Alex and Seb were j

1st day of the open season on bass. And even as recently as yesterday afternoon , I waa finding bass easily. A short session with a friend saw 11 landed. And now, kill day, with a full boat. David, John, Mose and Joel, all keen and ready for bbq themed action. It's just... three hours later, after enduring a surprisingly bouncy sea, just the early fish to John, a pout to me, and that was it for quite a lot of running around. A real struggle. Next up, John, Ian, Ed and Mark. S

Just the one sailing today, hoping to pick up from where I left off yesterday Joining me, all regulars, John. Paul. Curteis and Jude. But sadly, and perhaps predictably, the bass had moved on. Lovely flats seas though A secondary result of the super calms seas, was confirmation that the food source that is exciting many fish in this area, is indeed rockworms. Small pink ragworms that live in the chalk. It's their jiggy jiggy time and they scoot around often on the surface loo

First sailing, and it was my pleasure to invite some of my longest standing regulars aboard. Max, Mark, David and James. All very well finger trained. But with the tide dying away, it was actually a bit of a struggle from the off. Not a complete failure, with 8 bass landed. But not the fish fest I had hoped for. And it left me wondering about what the rest of the day may bring, with all trips sold out. What did happen for the rest of the day was quite fascinating. I do feel t

Just two sailings today. First up, I was joined by Nick, Andy and Dave. All regulars and well trained. The combination of a big tide and a pretty stiff NE wind meant it was quite bouncy out where I wanted to start. It began well, with a few fish landed on the last trickle of ebb. Then the tide turned, and the flood got a little bouncier still. This made for pretty difficult lure control. A move slightly inshore to a spot that I tell anyone fishing it with me in March, where b

First sailing (currently sailing times are 0630, 1030 and 1430) and thanks to some miscommunication I found myself with a full boat. Peter and Lawrence were joining me for two sailings, today, not Saturday, and first sailing they were out with two regulars, John and Bruno. Plan was 2 hours on the bass, and an hour on the plaice. And the plan went pretty well. Bass were on several spots today, which shows that more and more are arriving with every tide, and spreading out. Bode