christian kimber

Thats cool as i am going to try some macky head and guts off the rocks at eastbourne and see if that improves the size of bass. Had 2 last nite on tiny brown prawns,one very small schoolie and one of maybe 2 pounds that nearly pulled the rod in! thank god i had the bait runner on!

Tried to fish for mullet the other day, fed bread out regular and had the odd mullet take the odd piece of bread but nothing i could really cast to or set up and wait. But they were there will have to go down on a earlier tide next time the weather is good and will try again.

Thanks leon that helps,if the weather and wind calms tomorrow i will give it ago

Went fishing today and was blowing a hooley,so decided to fish the entrance to eastbourne marina. We had one small schoolie and a mackerel,though i think maybe there was some more bass there but the wind picked up even more and was making fishing difficult. Spoke to a guy who was fishing for mullet,and i would really like to have a go at this so can please someone give some advice on gear/tackle and tactics please.

Thanks for your advice it helps to steer me in the right direction. I could not get to beachy head today as tide up at 1300ish and can only fish the low tide marks there i believe. Fished the rock arm for awhile with plugs and lures, one pick up i think from a mackerel and a few follows of what could have been bass though hard for me to tell as left polarised sunnies at home. Moved from there to another rock mark a point and had a couple of follows of a definate bass with a red and white abu plug but no pick ups,wish i had brought sum live baits but there you go!!! Thanks again for advice.

Cheers so the rock arm i fish there is a possibility of it having some bass along it instead of only the little ones? i have caught schoolies from there before. Will be going down to beachy head today to have a go so hoping for a take or 2!

Fished the tide up this morning armed with prawns and mackerel, had 3 very small bass on prawns all returned and loads of mackerel all returned. Question if anyone could please answer, i could not get a take off any decent sized bass today, now the mackies werent jumping so does this mean they were not being chased by bass? (stupid question i know!) if so is there any point trying for bass in conditions like this? And i am going to fish the sugar loaf at beachy head on thursday if weather good, can anyone give me some advice as i am a local now of eastbourne and have had some good fishing for bass up at the castle, but feel i need to get away from the crowds a bit to have a chance of regular catching. I have only been bass fishing now for a month or there abouts and i have to say i just cant fish for anything else! so if any more tips especially for float fishing prawns for bass would be great.

Had another good day at eastbourne, it was a reasonably calm day so thought i might be in with a chance of a fish or 2. Once the mackerel shoals started moving through i hooked up to a couple and used the smallest one as bait, though unfortunatley i didnt get one take on this, does anyone know what kind of size joey mackerel i should be using as live bait? Nothing on lures either apart from mackerel so i switched over to live floated prawns and picked up 2 nice schoolie bass, one for tea! Just goes to show you should always be prepared and ALWAYS have some live bait to hand, i could only find 8 decent prawns this morning in the kelp but boy am i glad i slogged along those rocks for those! Tight lines

Out on tuesday morning and saw a couple of nice shoals of mackerel moving so this time i had some lures and no missus or dog! But no matter how much i tried all i caught was mackies,tried running a lure deep under them and all around. Varied my depths and changed lures but to no avail. Noticed the mackies were chasing small sivler fish not eels, any idea what? And would i have been better putting out a live joey under a float? or is it just that there is no bass shoaling the mackies?! any help would be great.

Was walking the dog today along the beach and so a wonderful sight this evening at sunset, shoals and shoals of mackerel jumping all over the place not 5 feet from the shoreline!! I have seen mackerel being shoaled up by bass and it was similar to this, but nothing on this size just normally 2-3 shoals. i kid you not they were everywhere, i counted 11 shoals in all and some were pretty big. My question is why was this, was it hundreds of bass shoaling them up? i find that hard to believe. Or was it mackerel shoaling up sandeels and some of the shoals i saw jumping were actually eels instead of mackerel? I would love some info on this one if anyone can help. And tomorrow i am taking my feathers and my plugs just in case!!!! (the missus wont stop me going back for them this time!)

Fishing the rocks at Eastbourne and i finally caught my first bass! Was fishing the tide up on the rocks and saw to my right the water just out from the surf erupt with mackerel and everyone fishing started to let fly with feathers and what not they were literally crawling up the rods!! And there was me some hundred yards from this action, on the rockes not a bite in sight and i really thought i had set up in the wrong place. But how good do i feel now i stayed where i was! I carried on and the mackies erupted all around me and i was ther only one on the rocks! i set up a spoon and started having some fun with the macks but it wasnt what i wanted so out come the diving minnow and WHAM my first true bass take and a nice litte 2 1/2 lb bass comes my way.I manage to get another of similar size before it goes somewhat qiuet and i can see some small bass are following my lures but not hitting. So i bring out a big waggler and some live prawns and i am back amongst them! 3 more come my way but all much smaller and its time to call it a day. My first Bass and then some! i hope i can get some more because i have truly got the bug now!! And i am so glad i brought that carp rod with me every time and some spinners and lures. Thanks to all the people on here who helped me get here as there are some great guys who helped point me in the right direction, my only gripe is i left the camera at home as i would have liked to post a pic on here but you cant have it all.

I brought a tiny drop net used for collecting bait, and got 2 blennies in it!!!!! Think that may have been the wrong place to drop it,oh well try and try again. As i have said i will persevere with my push net as i like the satisfaction when i get enough prawns for bait or a feed (sad i know) Was talking to a guy who has given me some great advice on how to collect bait round beachy head on the real low tides so will try that next week. This guy told me i could use tiny spider crabs if they are about to peel has anyone heard this? As there is loads of these critters so would be great for bait collecting Thanks again if i do get some decent prawns and catch i will post a photo (may have to wait a while!)

Dave i am gunna buy drop net as colin rightly says most of the shrimp i got with my net were too small for bait.Still gunna use push net as found i picked up some decent sized shrimp and the odd peeler. Colin i have tried with a little kiddie net for prawns round rocks and weed but just caught same sized shrimp/prawn as with push net.Any help on what net to buy etc would be great. Dave anytime you want a fish i am more than up for a meet,let me know i will check to see if i can do it. Went tonite had one great bite on crab but missed,think it may have been a bass and had just smashed into bait,also one decent bite on shrimps but missed yet again! Cheers for help

Dave thanks for advice i was thinking of doing my shrimping around the beaches to the right of the marina near to the sewer works but will have to wait for the real low ebbs that show up the most sand. I did go fishing yesterday as it happens and didnt do too good. Had one eel close in and a little flattie and bumped off what felt like a bream or flattie.But apart from that no mackies or bass. The weather has been pretty dire but i am new to the area so could be better further up the beach and pier. Phil that net looks the business and much easier to drag instead of pushing.But i have only just finished my push net and i want to try it out and see if i can actually get a few prawns for live bait!! Thanks again to everyone,will try this net out and let people know how it goes. Dave if i hear anyhing on the fishing or mine improves i will let you know.

Got sum thigh waders so the weavers are no probs and if in net have stick to flick them out! I thought it looked pretty sandy on low tide,looks like it is shingle top of tide and midway but sand at lowest so may have a hour or so shrimping before i have to move off. What about inside the marina and behind Eastbourne's marina arms? that looks sandy and mud? will check it out tomorrow at low tide and see. Thanks for your help both of you. I will learn this i suppose as i go along! tight lines