rufus

Has anybody here got any good links to stingray pages or any info that might lead to some prior knowledge for a shore stingray hunt on the Blackwater estuary this coming summer? I know that they run very big here, to record breaking size in fact, and seeing as I spend a lot of time in the area around Mersea Island during the summer months, I thought I might have a go at catching one. Any info on bait and rigs would be helpful.

Thanks for that guys...the links are great, now bookmarked. We're going to try the Warren to start, see if we can find the fish there, then try to pick up on local knowledge and go where that takes us. Nice summer fishing ahead, long evenings, cool dawns. looking forward to it! I'm taking a beach rod so if I blank, I can go for the bass I hear can be got down at the Thames riverside just a mile away...what could be better than that! Might even convince my mate to have a go... Cheers, Rufus

Hi, new to the coarse forum, normally hang out in Sea, being a bass nut... Just met up with an old, old fishing mate I have not seen for 20 yrs. We used to fish South Weald for carp in the early 80's before bolt and hair rigs made carping into the sport it is today. We lost touch with each other but carried on fishing. He now fishes the winter for specimen roach on the Hampshire Avon which is hard work by his account. Anyway we might go out this summer looking for local Essex or North Kent rudd, bigun's if we can find them. I remember catching sizeable fish in The Warren at Stanford le Hope when I was a kid, wonder if they are still there? Can anyone give a few pointers here...Don't expect you to give away best marks but just a finger in the right direction would be enough to start with.. Cheers, Rufus [ 06. April 2003, 02:09 PM: Message edited by: rufus ]

Good to have you back Alan...speedy recovery good buddy.

I'd say that the fascination of carp & sea fishing, especially beachcasting are on a par. Carp fishing is technical, always has been...rigs and bait are approached scientifically. Beachcasting is similar and the best anglers are those who make empirical experiments to maximise catches..refining their techiques in order to improve understanding of the quarry. Of course there are many who slavishly follow the crowd and who's catches are mediocre. I'd say that beachcasting at the moment certainly provides an alternative experience to those carp anglers dissillusioned with the commerciality of the current carp scene. I mean the gear is ultra specialised, the rigs are technical, but the bait is pretty standard. The fish are not pressured so they'll eat anything fresh.. the real trick to success is presentation.... and an ability to cast the distance

I'd like to thank everybody who helped me out on this one...I am now well and truly sorted!! Couldn't be happier if i tried

Anyone feel like comparing scars?

Keep going mate...it'll be worth it! With what you save you could buy a nice little fishing boat! I gave up 10 years ago then started again last year when I started college...everybody there seems to smoke constantly and the habit is hard to resist, especially if you were once a smoker. Believe me the starting up is harder than the stopping! and I've little willpower. If I can start agin after all these years then you can stop!

A thought just occured to me while reading Eltons post on the Streamlight. Has anyone ever strapped a starlight on the snood as an attractor? Seems like something worth trying out as some fish do seem to respond to sequins and beads. Just wondering whether light emmiting beads would do the job as well?

Carp tactics could well work, the controller idea is good as I can get upwind of the fish depending on direction because there are a variety of mussel beds and other features jutting beyond the pools. Also I used to do a lot of stalking of carp and also chub in crystal clear water so know a few things about stealth. Looking forward to this campaign already...come spring I will catch my first mullet for sure!

Well, the fish are roving around 20 - 60 yds out, moving about in wide shallow depressions. One of the problems is wind which seems ever present here right at the edge of the intertidal zone, even on calm days. Should I use a swimfeeder full of mashed fishy bread? that would take care of the wind and I could use coarse tactics, quivertip rod and light lines. I could go out every tide over a weekend and introduce the groundbait to the area with a catapult as recommended in Leons article (thanks leon btw). Or I coud find a more suitable venue! seems a shame though as these fish seem quite large leaving big bow waves when they move fast. I suppose one of the advantages of the wind and ever present chop is that it obscures my presence and so if I were to wear light coloured clothing I could become fairly invisible and actually wade out to the fish, sit fishing in the pools rather than at the edge.

Decided to do a few sessions at low tide a mile out on the East Mersea mudflats, Essex last year. A lot of fish moving about in very shallow water...approx 12 inches or less. Can't actually see the fish to identify but on the exposed mud humps among the mussel beds I saw lots of mullet scrapes. So mullet most probably. How can I catch one of these fish? Are they going to be preoccupied with whatever they are scraping off the mud? Or will they take a bunch of harbour rag? The fish are far too far away to float fish so will a light lead spook them?

Digging lug in prep for a shore session from Jaywick, Essex today....met fellow digger who says that a British shore caught record bass was taken some years back at Jaywick Sands. Anyone here know if this is true? If so can anyone elaborate upon this (possibly tall) story ?

Thanks for the info Tom..especially interested in the conoflex, if it's a full beachcaster. I did see the shimano and really impressive reviews also pretty cheap considering the work that must go into the rod, but thought that it might be a little light. Cheers

I'm considering building myself a travelling multiplier beachcaster as I can't find anything suitable for the purpose ready built. I'm thinking of cutting a two piece blank into four sections and spigoting them all together. Can anyone suggest a manufacturer who might do this for me as a one off? I'll whip on my own guides. Are there any other issues I have to consider?

And they are expensive too, right at the top of the range along with lemon sole. Bass taste so good, especially the wild ones we get to catch.. I bet the farmed fish never taste like they do, and not nearly so fresh. We ate a four pounder from the beach last year and it was the best fish I have ever eaten! There is a Chinese fishmonger selling bass in Londons Chinatown and his fish are not farmed, they are wildies of 2-6lbs weight and dead fresh.. but he wants a lot for them. I suspect they are being used by the local sushi bars where this would be required. I would have thought that this effluent you mention would seriously taint the flavour of farmed fish.. has anyone here ever made comparisons with wild fish? I know that farmed salmon are really cheap at the moment and not rated by chefs. Scotch wild salmon still command a premium.

I have no experience of the Beach Buddy but have bought a Shakespeare Navigator and I can report that it is excellent....and relatively cheap at around £45. Have not used it in a gale yet but It copes with pretty stiff winds. It's held down by a skirt around the base which you flap out and heap sand or shingle on. The weight takes care of stability. Theres an optional guy rope for when conditions get out of hand.Used it in sub -zero temperatures with my wife and daughter sleeping inside and it created a really snug area of still air which stayed in the shelter and warmed up nicely...I sat in the doorway freezing my knackers off ! Only problem so far is erecting it solo in a stiff breeze when the cover flaps all over the place. I think the Beach Buddy works in a similar way

Does anyone know if there is a decent travelling beachcaster available? I want something 12 foot long, very well made and that will break into 4 sections to be carried on the back whilst riding a motorbike. Price is not an issue, I just need one!

The Canadians did not act until the greatest cod fishery the world had ever seen had been decimated. Measures for recovery were not implemented until it was far too late and this is what is going to happen here. What is so tragic about this current situation is that the Canadian lesson has not been learned.

Lets pick apart what you mean by farmed. Are you saying that we should settle for captive fish force fed on diets dreamed up by commercial concerns bent upon maximising profit? Or are you saying that we should farm the sea and treat the oceans responsibly? For what it's worth, I'd rather spend my effort on bait digging and fishing for really fresh fish. I dont blank often so I get a good supply of high quality protein for my efforts. Captive farmed fish of all species are inferior in every conceivable way....just flabby, muddy tasting, anemic rubbish. Who here would treat dinner guests to farmed salmon or what currently passes for trout on supermarket shelves? Anyone who has tasted either of these freshly caught will know what I mean.

I had a whiting recently that had got itself hooked on one snood and then got hungry waiting and took the others!

My impressions of Jack were formed as a boy..the programmes were all about discovery, developing an intimate connection with nature and reconnecting with the past. Heady stuff to a boy hell bent on discovering all that for himself. The conger story on the 'Strange Captures' thread consolidated all my impressions and formed a view of the man that has not changed in all these years. Till now!

Posting on the strange captures thread has reminded me of Jack Hargreaves..remember him? 'Gone fishing' and "Out of town' were two of the best fishing programmes ever made. Why don't they make progs like that any more? I used to watch these as a kid and promptly go out try out his sage tips... probably learned more about fishing from this guy than from anyone who ever lived.

Strangest capture I ever saw was a bloke who caught a 90lb+ conger with his bare hand!! At least that what my uncle told me, a 9 yr old standing on poole harbour with a crowd of gawping onlookers while the blood flowed all around. Then who should stride through the crowd like Wyatt Earp riding into town but the late great Jack Hargreaves ..,,pulling a dirty great knife from his pocket he neatly sliced the conger across the back of the neck and out slid the bloody pulp of the guys hand. Why he had his hand in there in the first place has never been clear to me Jack who was something of a hero to me at that age through presenting 'Gone Fishing' and 'Out of Town', became in that instant, a mythical being of omnipotent power.

I caught a bat once on the Norfolk Broads. Coarse fishing of course... floatfishing with maggots at night. It snatched them out of the air on a cast and flew around in ever decreasing circles until finally it met the rod tip.