A month in warmer climes... V-log style.

On learning where the commercials are finding good bass shoals, and with the results dropping down to zero bass today, I take it all back. It does rather look like bass are behaving more like five years or so ago, and have vacated the inshore region. It could still be down to rainwater, as our river shot up again to flood levels two nights ago. Or it could be the bass shoals migrating westwards, which last year did not seem to happen until the end of January. Time, as always, will tell. Fish were caught however. 7 rods across six hours of fishing made for five wrasse and double figures of small whiting. A lot of marks inaccesible due to nets today as well which didn't help. I shouldn't imagine those nets got much as I was marking very few fish anyhow, so likely they will be elsewhere when it is sailing time again. Highlight of both trips, was a pair of harbour porpoise working the herring shoals. A week off now, fishing of course. A wedding gift for a very lovely couple. They want a stingray. That should be on the first cast. Perhaps we can also squeeze in some bonito and white trevally on lures as well.

I think the thing that mostly impressed us all today, across two sailings, was the "brrr" factor. First sailing, I had bass hardcore duo (that sounds like a lure...) Scott and Stewart. Only bass would satisfy these guys. So, only one guy was satisfied after hunting my entire range. Yep, Scott had a bass, and that schoolie was the only bass of the session. Stewart did have a nice wrasse as compensation, and we all had a few small whiting. Not the best session of the year for sure. And a complete shock after recent good numbers of bass being boated. Second sailing, I welcomed aboard George, Ben, Nigel and Val. And for this sailing I was determined to see rods bending. Neptune was behind the plan. I opted for some rock in deeper water, mostly hoping for wrasse. And we did manage to land 7 wrasse, including a cracker for Val. But we also managed to boat, quite by chance, thirteen bass, although all smalls. 7 jumbo pouting made Val happy as he is a man who appreciates them for tea. And a single gurnard for a bit of variety. Had we herring feathers on board, I think we would have had 2 thousand silver darlings also on that session, with drift long shoals of fish abundant for the 2nd half. Apologies for few pictures. It was not weather for de-gloving if it could be helped. It also seems that will be the last sailings until the 16th December if wind allows, as wind looks like it has ruined this coming week, and as long as the plane is allowed to depart, I am having a weeks break in foreign climes 8th to 15th December. Fingers crossed for calm winds after that, as I still do not feel it is over. Just an off day, and we get those even in July.

You wont believe this. Two sailings today. I sh*t you not. Neptune must have been distracted. Light winds for the first sailing, pretty much zero wind for the second sailing, meant I could go wherever I felt. And I felt like going back to where all those fishes are living at the moment. First sailing, James, Max, Mark and David were on board. Quite chilly, unless there is lots of action. Happily, on the 3rd stop, there was lots of action. And the sun eventually got free of the clouds, which helped. Sizes were again on the disappointing side. And yet, the activity was frequent and fun. I would say that, despite just two being table fish, everyone enjoyed the session. One other interesting thing during these three hours. I tried a bit of ground I haven't fished for quite a while. And we picked no less than five wrasse off of it. Wrasse are bold, hard fighting and beautiful, with hardly any spikey bits. Come February, when we are pleased just to get a tap on latex, this ground will be getting further attention. Second sailing and it was my pleasure to welcome aboard Paul, Alex, Michael and Peter. Off we headed, and the fish were still there. Michael, with my permission and choreography (what he was about to do can majorly impact the other anglers on the boat due to the side slipping nature of the lure) and fishing for the pot, worked a pink jig with a set of herring feathers above. The bass tally thirty two, with three killed. It took a bit longer to get on the fish, and the fish were quite flighty, which isn't surprising I guess. But with patience and plenty of stealth going around the drift, we picked away. Michaels rig was not filling up with strings of bass, which I had quite feared. But it was bringing in what the bass were feeding on, with joey mackerel and herring to good sizes. And also what I think is a boat first. A Poor Cod. Very interesting I thought, and if we have foodies on board, I will allow limited feathering. But with a lead, to avoid the side sliding. So it would be a bit of a choice, bass or pelagics... I will leave you with that thought. Looking like a couple of days robbed by a stiff Northerly, but the weekend looking good (sold out though) as currently, does the first half of next week, which still has plenty of spaces. Check out the availability on the home page of this site. Scroll down when you get there.

Not quite the light NNW winds that we were promised, but we pushed out anyhow. On board, regulars Paul. Jon, Kas, and, brand new to fishing, Kas's friend and colleague, Mahmood. Quite chilly, as predicted and we were happy for the sun while it lasted. Fishing wise, not quite as many as last time and sizes were down, but still tugs a plenty. Final tally was thirty five bass landed, plus whiting and pouting by-catch, but just three bass killed from that tally, a reflection of the sizes available to us today. Most importantly, Mahmood caught his first ever fishes, and when asked on exiting the boat, if he had enjoyed the experience he commented "Very much, I will be back..."

Just the one sailing today, with the afternoon originally promising strong southerly winds by midday. However, that forecast has now downgraded, and it will be 1500 before the wind arrives. Another sailing lost to forecasting, although of course, it is all a part of the job. I did actually sail yesterday. The forecast had been for light Northerly winds in the afternoon. Instead we got fairly stiff WNW winds, that prevented me from getting to the only place I know where bass are in numbers just now. After an hour in the inshore rainwater, and just a couple of whiting taps to show for it, nobody was fighting me when I floated the idea of abandoning the session. Today however, we set out on flat calm seas and I knew exactly where we would be going. I did do a couple of pit stops along the way, and a couple of bass did show on each of them, which does suggest to me bass are starting to creep back to the edges with much improved water quality this morning. But the main event was even crazier than the last visit. Lee, Jude, Dave and Brunos faces were a picture, as bass after bass connected with the shad. On the top of the tide, the bass rose up in the water, and you had to feed the lure down as it WOULD be hit. The final tally was seventy four bass landed, with of course a max kill. No monsters, but lots between forty and fifty centimetres. Really good fun. Plus three cracking wrasse, and whiting and pouting by-catch. With still no wind, we decided we would add an extra hour and fish squid. That was abandoned after the first long drift. If the squid were around, we would have got them as we followed the feature perfectly. I suspect this full moon is the one that see's them leave East Sussex until around the last week of March. The wind again having robbed us of what was looking like a very promising squid season.

Wow... What a wet and windy six weeks that was. After eventually getting the hint that sailing was done for a while, I resorted to shore work, and initially found very good results. Great washes of shellfish on many local beaches made working out where the fishes were quite easy. Great, I thought. Who needs a boat? But Neptune got wind of my good fortune and sent whoever is in charge of rain in. Suddenly, about two weeks ago, even the crabs didn't want the bait, and odd fish, mostly small, made guiding a no go. Why rain? When our two local rivers get high, it increases the pressure of the outflow. All that mud running off the fields gets shot out at high speed, miles into the channel. And the lateral tides make sure we all suffer. At the height of it, the nearest clear water was twelve miles off. Which meant even on the one flat day in the last six weeks, the dog couldn't see the rabbit, and fishing was not worthwhile with latex. Just two days ago, on the beach, it was more river water than sea water. Which is why I warned my guys for this mornings sailing to expect the worse, with no penalties if they didn't want to try. But Richard, David, Armando and Max were just as desperate as me to get out and bob around for a bit. And yet, as it turned out, it was a tidy session. Visibility was erring towards poor, but erring is not poor. And the fishes responded, despite being on the last half of the ebb for the session. And as always, by-catch becomes interesting at this time of year. First drop down, a whiting. And then the first of twenty five bass. Inshore was still too poor, although even by this afternoons ebb, I expect a good improvement. But off a little way, fishes feeding quite hard. Also landed, Pouting, wrasse and gurnard. Lots of herring or sprat marking as well, so for those of you that like to feather, all is not lost. And with settled conditions looking currently viable Sunday onwards, and with no further rain, and with sea temps at 53.5 degrees Fahrenheit , I do believe the game is still afoot, with rubber, both afloat and ashore.

Bloody forecasting got me again today. The 7-10 MOH N winds were actually 12-20 NNW winds. It wasnt the shock of the sudden cold, as the last couple of nights have adjusted me already. It was the speed the boat was being pushed across the tide that was the problem, creating slacks in the line. And slacks mean inefficiency and poor results. This is why, for the last hour, with the increased wind and ever slackening tide, we hardly caught a fish. That was not so bad though, as for the first two hours we caught nine bass. Five of those were killed for the table. One was released at the side of the boat, and this one was a big one. Likely 6lb plus, the hook pulled just as James was lifting its head for the net to get under. A couple of gurnard and a couple of mackerel made up the total catch. And based on those results, the following sailing was turned into a shore session, and the 2 hour squid session planned at the end of the day was cancelled. And another 7 days of wind to look forward to. If anybody wants any shore sessions this year (river or open beach) now is the time to be added to my whatsapp group as the season is beginning to show signs of fishes retreating, especially from the rivers. Text your name and SHORE to 07970 112774 if that interests you.

Probably the last day of three sailings today, with an iffy forecast for the rest of the week. Some hope of getting out Thursday first sailing, with 2 spaces available. But that then looks like it until perhaps Sunday, when daylight hours mean I can no longer squeeze in 3 sailings a day, and drop to two. With our bass killing season running to 31st December, this does mean demand exceeds supply. I would recommend my regulars consider November and December dates now. First sailing, and I was out with regulars Richard and Jude, joined by I suspect soon to be regulars Bob and Steve. Seas were quite calm, but not the mirror I was hoping for. Sunrises always picture better in mirror calm seas. And bass were not rampant, but deffo taking part in the procedures. First stop first 3 fish were small, so we left that alone straight away. But second stop was more productive. Steadily picking away, we had the max kill of 8 fish, and returned more, in the final tally of fifteen bass landed. Second sailing was a cephalopod trip. If you like to eat, or use for bait, cuttle fish and squid, you might find good value in joining one of these trips. Squid are currently quite plentiful locally, but remain quite a high price on the fishmongers ice. You need to have Whatsapp, and message your name and the word SQUID to 07970 112774. With me was long time former sushi chef David, Dean, Lee and Mitch. Squid were there from the off. And cuttlefish. My boat can testify to it. I personally got a few direct blasts in the face but happily each time it was water, and not the horribly viscous ink that will almost certainly be coming my way soon as I keep running these trips. That's just the law of averages. Plenty of Forbessi in among the Vulgaris but none have reached kraken size yet. Getting there fast though, and I envisage super squid by the end of November. One cod to my rod, but skinny and quite small, so it got returned. Lee caught a tidy plaice on the 56gm Axia mighty minnow. When I say Cephalopod, we are also always looking for a cod as well if you wish, with a shad as the base weight. A gurnard to Lee, snagged on the squid jig, as well as a couple of mackerel on the shads. Lots of smiles, and lots of ink also. Final tally was fifty two squid and five cuttlefish. Final sailing, and the return of a very dear friend Andy, with his far too grown up kids Reece and Jasmine. Like, they have jobs and stuff, and I think of them as little people. I do not embrace reality. I am quite up for pausing time for a few decades every now and then. But no. It rolls relentlessly on, and the time for fitting everything in reduces quite literally, by the minute. On we go. A very food oriented trip, we started on the cod / squid for the first half, and moved onto the bass for the second half. The first half went really quite well. Jasmines lovely pink top was inked in no time. Smiles were constant, with some great sniping from the squid. Cuttlefish were released at the side of the boat which saved the worst of the mess. A cod, again to my rod, and this one tidy and despatched. With twenty six squid accounted for, it was on to the bass. Sadly, predators rather ruined it. Many fleets of gill nets suggesting someone with bass entitlement has decided it worth a go, despite the spider crabs still being fairly numerous. And, with just two schoolies landed, I was really scratching my head when the very old and very grey seal emerged, as Reece noted, like a hippopotamus. It actually made me jump (twenty feet right where I was watching my line enter the water) so much I did actually scream like a girl. Which shat the very life out of the seal, who also wasnt really expecting us, so he crashed dived more like we were all polar bears, causing a huge wake. Sometimes, I wish I always kept a camera running. For these moments. It would be amazing to share it with those not so lucky to be by the water daily. We left the area after that, but fortunes did not fair any better, other than another squid to Jasmine on the 28gm Mighty minnow as the sun set. Classic squid o clock. So, we headed back. A little despondent we couldn't make it with the table bass, but very happy to have been able to check in with Andy and the kids. Well, offspring I guess now. I still have a single rod available for a shore guide. Wellies required. Wednesday. Meeting in Brighton for 0730. River based, and dont worry about that screaming SW wind... Text 07970 112774 if that is for you.

First sailing, and the return after a very long time, of a chap with whom we kind of shared the whole becoming charter skippers with (Bruce and I) , a most excellent producer of motion medias (long ago on my fishyrob website was a prime example, filmed in Ireland. Happy times) , Alex, and with him, his friend Remus, and Remus's two very capable kids, Arlow (like Harlow without the "H". That will sit in my head forever) and Hayden. A little private confession here. I do stress when I know when nippers are coming aboard. In part, because it really raises the stakes. Any kid that says yes to going fishing rather than being in his / her online gang playing games (this is the modern reality. Kids social requirements are being met without leaving the house. It wont be global warming that bites us all on the arse. It will be the lack of life skills of those about to run the planet) is absolute gold dust for the future of sport fishing. They must be given the greatest experiences possible. Because, we and our rods and our dwindling stocks, are up against mega corporations putting amazing fantasy almost real experiences onto a micro SD card. Its a tough fight. Well, happily it all went quite well. Mostly due to the nippers being listeners, a theme continued on the 2nd sailing as you will see. Both Arlow and Hayden listened to instruction and followed it well. As of course, did Alex and Remus. And, as well as 13 bass landed, with seven despatched, Hayden was lucky enough to ensnare a tidy cod. Mackerel, and a foul hooked plaice when we spent the final forty minutes on the squid, which we also found. Happy faces, and a great communal feed on their return home to look forward to. Next sailing, and a referral from a very long standing clients Brian, Adrian was here, with his daughter Grace. Also along on this trip, regulars Loz and Ian. With quite slack tide to begin with, and quite good squid fishing just prior, and this being another food oriented trip, we kind of did the same as the previous session, but in reverse. Starting on the squid and cuttlefish, successfully, and then, on dead low tide, I went to an area showing bass nicely earlier and we fished the flood there. Grace, on her first EVER fishing trip, was simply awesome. She got the casting nailed, and then exceeded her dad frequently for distance. And she listened, so of course she caught as well. It was another quite rewarding session. Once again, 13 bass landed, with 8 dispatched. Plus squid and cuttlefish. And lots of laughs. Final session, was a big weight off the shoulders. Each year, I donate a session to the winners of a monthly best league of fellow lure anglers, based around a local river that we all like to wiggle our latex in. Last years, finally went ahead today. We began trying to make it happen in April. A valid reflection of how our wacky windy year has been. So, finally, Ray, Alfie, Simon and Clive were aboard. With all flood, expected to die at the end of the session which it of course did, and some very experienced lure anglers in the mix, I had high hopes. And the guys did not disappoint. 18 bass landed, before the tide died, and the bites with it. A patch I do not often fish, but a local dive charter had ten guys in doing a reef dive on the bit I had intended to fish. I elected to try plan B, just until the divers were all up and the area settled. But we just didn't need to. It was quite likely the dive activity pushed the fish onto the bits of rock we were drifting actually. Almost all over the 42 cm, and we killed 6 just because only 3 of the guys were taking for the table. Clive being the one not taking, as being the owner of an Orkney 19 day angler, he just takes when he fancies really. And Neptune liked this, and rewarded him with the bass of the day at 62cm. With the tide dying, we headed to the squid hole for the last forty minutes. Just 3 squid, and 3 cuttlefish. I wonder if the rest were already on their way into the shallows, with high tide right on sunset. Quite possibly. Be interested to know how people did on the shingle. Thursday is possibly looking sailable, and anyone booked on Wednesday or Friday may wish to look at it as it currently sits empty all day. And with winds not letting up, and some great results on some pokes locally, I will step up the shore guiding more. Charging £20 per angler per hour, all tackle included. Insured to 5 million liability. Max 2 anglers. I have a Whatsapp group where shore sessions are announced. More a notice board as it does not allow for discussion. If you would like to be notified of impeding shore ventures, simply text your name, and SHORE, to 07970 112774

First sailing I was joined by Mitch, Jon, and Stewart, all regulars, and Stewart had bought his life long friend Roger along to play. Roger last having been sea fishing in the days when Brighton was a renowned port for big ling and cod hauls off the wrecks. A very long time ago. And yet, with a little instruction, Roger was easily working his Heddon one knocker spook up there with the best of them. And the fish appreciated it. For the first hour the bass were happy to rise. At the first spot the fish were a little small, but a short move and we were finding the table fish. The final tally was 17 bass landed, and I seem to remember a couple of gurnard, but it could be false memory syndrome. Max kill, with the biggest to Roger, which at 61cm was 2 cm too big to meet its end on BIF1, and was released. 2nd sailing, and all returnees. Paul, John, and back down from Essex, Gary and Adam. (Adam has only previously been shore guided by me, where he showed why Essex anglers rock. They have to fish well, with so few fish there. He gave a great display of focus, and I seem to remember him being top rod on that session). Fishing was horribly slow in the first hour, as I poked ground I expected fish to be, but they simply were not. In the end, I gave up, apologised for the fifteen minute run to where I had caught fish in the morning (I hate putting too much travel time into a 3 hour session) but assured them it would be for the better outcome. They put their faith in me, and I gunned back to where, happily, fishes were still waiting. As a result, the final tally was less, with twelve fish. But from that, we killed 7. Two bonus pollack also appeared. If you depress easily, skip to the next paragraph. When I first came to Brighton, these 8oz-2lb pollack were a real pain. If you fished float and strip for mackerel and gar, they would often beat the pelagic fishes to the bait. Float and prawn for bass? 30 pollack before you finally got through to your bass. And now, I write about just two of them. 20 years of overfished pollack, by both commercial and angling interests. Fast growing, it would only take a 2 year pause in taking, and they would really have the best chance of flourishing again. 3rd sailing was a squid trip. These get organised short notice via a whatsapp group I run (text your name and the word SQUID to 07970 112774 to join) because for the best squid fishing, conditions need to all be correct. And boy, was today looking good, other than a slightly pacey tide. And yet, even that would be dying away all through the session. Then factor in zero wind and cloud cover, and it was the session I had been looking forward to all day. Indeed, still feeling the effects of a heavy cold, I was also looking forward to not being too physically or mentally strained, as chasing bass properly can be heavy in both parts when trying to lay it on for clients. That was the scenario when I called the trip on. And all was precise, except heading out on mirror seas was also accompanied by some filtered sunlight, which made it all feel even better. When the squid and cuttle came flying out from the first drop down, it was all even better. I could see a 100 + session in the making. I guess that's why, after 30 minutes, Neptune sent a stiff easterly breeze. He likes to protect his stocks. The problem with a stiff easterly on an ebbing tide, is it shoots you faster than the actual tide. And then your presentation changes, and the squid and cuttle give you the middle tentacle. We suffered it for another 30 minutes, but the catch rate had really dwindled. With no sign of cessation, we all agreed to head back in. But in that first 30 minutes, 7 cuttle and 20 squid hit the deck. And squirted a shit load of sticky black gunk far too often. Do not wear your best gear if joining a cephalopod session. It is an expected occurrence, and part of the fun. So, Neptune's double f*ck? As I was hosing down, which takes a little longer after cuttle especially have been aboard, I felt clammy suddenly. The humidity had returned. Weird. Except not weird. That's what happens when there is suddenly zero wind. I thought briefly about crying, but some looming, threatening cloud reminded me that we could just as easily have been bought back in by lightning. What would have been a 100 squid session, was cut short. Hey ho. It happens. A lot this year. All part of the job, and of the quirky requirements of light line lure fishing. The next cephalopod trip will be called at very short notice indeed. And it will be awesome...