hi hadrian, have you thought about trying seaford beaches, just the other side of newhaven,
i fish for the n.s.a.c (newhaven shore angling club) alternate tuesdays and i leisure fish every sat (nights only). all matches i fish are at seaford. at the moment there are bags of whiting to be caught, pout, rockling.
there have also been a few sole, doggies, flounders, pollack cuaght. i also caught a 2lb 6oz plaice last sat from the hole, which is situated just to the right of the beachcomber pub. if you head to the martello tower end of the prom this is where you are likely to pull in the odd rogue codling using a pulley pennell rig loaded with lug. there have been in previous years the odd double figure cod pulled up at edingbrough road.
there is at the moment some smaller cod activity at billys tower in pevensey , eastbourne, ranging from 3-5lb yet again pulley pennell rig loaded with freshouts or black. fishes best on the flood tide, wade out past the gulley and launch as far as poss, then sit and wait. may be advisable to take two rods as you may not produce a cod . if you want to fish for other species then i suggest 3 hook clip down or portsmouth rig with a 5oz break away lead bait with lug king rag or lug /squid /fish cocktails. if fishing the hole at seaford then best fished at low tide up smooth ground but tide will run a little hence the breakaway lead, if fishing at the martello end you may be wise to use rotten bottom as the sea bed here has a mixture of mussel beds and med size rock formations. i had a codling of 6lb 2oz at this spot at the end of oct. no more since though.
all the fish being caught have either been caught by myself or i have seen other people catch these fish.
i hope this info is of some use to you,
cheers, kev.