mahoo

eh? Is this a stingray the tv show quotism? a little before my time - but only just!

In that case Sam, I had about two thousand double figure bass on the last tide on my hundred hook rig! Does that get you fired up old boy! only joking that must have been my favourite dream for the last ten years anyway seeing as you are just across the water from me, I think that a fish in must be on the cards for spring/summer with bass and stingray a possible target?

I must admit that a pattern is a little hard to come by but all the fish were within 1 mile of the shore and most of them at about half that. Lets hope the spring run will be a good one!

It was bloody windy out from Frinton today, we were only about half a mile off to try to get some lee from the shore and it seemed like the world and his mother had the same idea, including what appeared to be several charter boats with only a couple of peeps on board each! We all ended up with some codling, but none of the bigger fish we were all hoping for (all 2-3lb range). Interestingly none of the little coddies were coughing up sprats and seemed to be taking lug and whole squid with eagerness. Just had a fillet of very fresh codling and it was delicious Cliff, it does not sound like you had a very good day yesterday, some of the charter boats on the vhf were reporting that they had done pretty well a bit further down the coast but were saying that it was only fishing at certain times of the tide, we certainly found this to be case as well as one chap had nine in the first hour of the flood.

Let me know how you get on CJS2 as I beleive you are not far from me (beach launch from Frinton) bit much in a 16 nw though! hope the front either pushes through quick or takes it's time as either side it looks pretty good

Is anyone launching in Essex or anywhere for that matter this weekend? I have have heard that there is some nice cod about if you can get out Will have to be full balaclava and plenty of hot soup me thinks

Good luck CJS2, I am meant to be going on sunday but the weather is not looking too hot! Its fine saturday and monday but sods law says it is going to blow a hooly! heard a report of three good cod being lost in quick succession in the week about a mile out, one straightened the hook, one came off on the bottom, and the other was lost while the mate was trying net it! things can get blown out of proportion but they did have a good number of average size fish also. lets hope they are out there I have not been out on the boat for yonks!

I think Stavey you are beig a bit unfair on CJS2, as there are alot of worse people to be bothered about than a man who cares about his fish and fishing, CJS2 is more conservation minded than a lot of anglers I have seen and I personally would rather take a fish or two for the table and put more than that back, than buy fish or meat for that matter from someone you don't know (supermarkets/fishmongers etc) without giving it a second thought, do you eat fish at all? ps I have just come back from Barcelona, and from what I have seen the last thing we should be worrying about is a man who sticks to the rules and then some!!

Hi geffaz, I have used one unit like you say quite a long time ago but found them to be quite bulky and can catch your line as you are casting resulting in a snap off. I use starlights at the mo, although can be a pain when you run out and only realise that you have not got any more when you are on the beach In an ideal world, there is nothing better than having your rod tips silhouetted in front of a nice bright moon to get the excitement going

Cheers guys, I will have to have a bit of an experiment to see which performs best!

What does everyone use on their rod tips for reflection/illumination?, at the moment I have just got white electrical tape on mine, but as I try not to use too much light when I am fishing I am looking for something that shows up better in the dark, any ideas? Cheers

Nice post Sam, whats the difference between a softie and a jellie, I always thought that they were the same thing?

Is Jenever the original sweet gin, before we adopted it and made it 'London Dry' ?

Have you been on the hard stuff Leon?

Sam, it has been a really poor year this year for Thames Herring, I am after some as well, I do have a couple of contacts that may be able to help if you want but they will be Mersea way rather than your side of the blackwater. I can't wait to make some home made rollmops as well as they are delicous! I have said that I will get some for my old man and his mate, so I need a good few stone as well.

Hiya Dan, Not sure where you are from but Essex way we do get a good run around about his time of year and one or two all year round, the website you are referring to is quite good but based on the whole country/world? so I think it is ok to keep one or two and let any extra go. I find it best to keep the mid sized ones then put any big females back as these are likely to be good spawners/breeders!

Where I dig you can always tell where the worm or worms will be, as in amongst the sand/clay/mud you will locate an area of fine shingly stuff and the worm is nearly always in this bit. If the ground is fairly soft you can probe the ground around the cast and blowhole by just pushing the fork in and not removing any dirt till you hear the crunch of the shingle then concentrate on this. Doesn't half get the lower back, but worth it for top quality worms!

Good post Sam. A great way of getting hermits out of their shells is to immerse them in fresh water for a few minutes - it is a lot easier than using a hammer!

Cheers stoaty, looks like this year is going to see me try some new techniques and marks! shame they don't like LSD, even the herring gulls won't touch them

I am quite interested in the livebaiting for bass techniques. How often on average would you refresh your bait or can the baitfish usually stay out for most of the session? I fish the Thames estuary quite a lot but have only ever seen one bass landed by mistake on the top hook of a pennel with a baby smoothhound on the bottom hook! I am not sure if the bass (about 6lb) was trying to take the smut or was just competing and tried to take the same bait as I would of thought that a little smoothie would be a bit of a mouthful and quite indigestible I have had several times though of reeling in small whiting or pout and something, (presumably a bass) has had a go on the way in but the hooks have never been showing enough for a decent hook up. I presume that it is a patience game and you would have to put in the hours? cheers

I missed it but I believe you are talking about Prof Gunther Von Hagen, the really sinister bloke with the hat! I went along to the body works exhibition at the Truman Gallery in Brick Lane in London, and although eerily fascinating, at times it would make you feel rather sick, he replaces dead peoples body fluids in a process called plastination to preserve them, then cuts them up to reveal the workings of the human body. Some of the corpses still had the tatoos from the living part of their life on their bodys, and that really brings it home that they are real people! There was forms at the exhibition where you could donate your body to his gruesome research wen you snuff it! http://www.bodyworlds.com/ see here for details but make sure you have a strong stomach!

mine would be to get better sport out of the fish that I catch by scaling down tackle, so that even modest fish can take a bit of line and really show what they are made of. Also, a nice big local bass on a plug would make me smile

I have to admit that i am partial to eating bass, and would much rather catch and eat something myself than buy fish of dubious origin/capture method, however, on the rare occasion that i get a few, then i would only take what i need and let the rest go to sustain the fishery. When people just automatically take the fish for photos, sometimes when they have no desire or intention of eating it and just let it sit in their freezer then it is such a waste of a lovely fish. Sandpiper, it seems like you get some very nice ones down your way!

Last time I was out I hooked a fish that not only felt very heavy, but was stripping line at intervals, felt pretty sure it was a big double thornie, it turned out that it had taken the bait, then got the trace wrapped around its claspers/B*****cks and it was pulling like hell! If it was me with the line wrapped around my gonads i certainly would not be pulling as hard as i could, i would be swimming toward the boat as fast as possible CJS2, I once tested out the bite of a tiny little thornie of about a pound by putting my finger in its mouth, thinking that a tiny fish like this would just have a little nibble! suffice to say I will NEVER be trying that one again

Definately up for that Steve, I am keeping an eye on some very fishy looking areas for when the weather warms a little! Good thing is I can walk to the estuary in about ten minutes from where my new house is, just as well as i have just written off my motor so I have got to get used to some exercise