mahoo

Sam, I used to know someone who used to live around Dengie somewhere, trouble is, so close by boat and yet so far by road!! I was meant to be going out this weekend but the goddamn wind got up again even though it was southerly Still some reasonable coddies out there ...... well hopefully! , obviously dreaming again. Went to Southwold last weekend, unfortunately not for fishing, just weekend with the missus but some bloke had 7 sizeable little coddies of the pier and some of the biggest dabs I have seen in a long time!

Your'e very right Sharkbyte who gives a s**t about spikes in the hand when you have caught a fish of a lifetime!!!! If you are round my area (ish) then maybe a Bassing session would be good, I see that you already have experienced Jaywick and the delights of the nudist camp - sadly all blokes and a few fat old mingers there, I once virtually had to beat some old queens off just to get back to my motor

Great post Steve, being twenty seven and only really been sea fishing for the last ten years, I have to say I only caught my first bass about five years ago and then it was a thing of wonder! I went to grab it and little did I know that they had such viscious spines and promptly had about ten holes in my hand! however, just recently my success with bass has been much better with my best going 7lb 10 oz and I can't wait to get my first double. The one thing with bass fishing that I love more than anything is the fact that you can catch them at your feet and quite often I have been showing someone how to cast and it has all gone horribbly wrong, but five minutes later whilst still trying to sort out their birdsnest you get a cracking bite and have to try to land a fish with no reel! I say bring on the bass fishing, and personally I am going to spend a lot of time this year trying to get a biggie from my local Colne estuary! I have already had a few 40 cm fish from quite far upriver, and as long as the netters arn't too busy then I can't wait to get a proper size bass from my area

Funny thing is last summer they seemed to be taking squid as well as the usual crab baits and coming in to waters that they were previously unusual in! make sure that your hooks are up to the job as a big hound can easily straighten a hook that is not up to the job. Personally although having caught only relatively few smoothies, they fight like bloody tigers, and are just about the best sporting fish pound for pound that we have a hope of targeting. Great fun!!

Hi kieran, I have caught a few Barracuda from the shore in Florida and if the ones that you are after grow large then I would not go too lightly on the wire as they have dentures to fear!! Also make sure that you have a decent sized reel with a good clutch, if you don't fancy livebaiting then they will take deadbaits or a large plug such as the Rapala Magnum. Good luck and I would say that a glove and some long nose pliers are a must!

I have responded too, fed up with catching tiddlers!

I have never launched from Clacton so have little knowledge of it, agree Brightlingsea can be expensive though!!

The boat I fish from is a Warrior 150 with a 75hp so is quite heavy also, a 4*4 helps but is not essential, you just have to have a well oiled routine and a bit of luck we normally winch the boat on to the trailer then haul both up the beach using a length of rope from the dryer, more solid sand. This is easier on the ebb as it gives you a safety margin so the tide is not chasing you up the beach. because there is usually other boats and vehicles around if you have any probs like wheels sinking then you can get some help. Any largish surf can cause a few probs with the transom taking on water but this means that it will be pretty lumpy anyway so best avoid fishing. Only launched from West Mersea a few times so not that hot on the ins and outs but can be a bit muddy on the slip area. Hope this helps!

Cheers everyone, firstly Sam, the Thornies seem to be caught all year round now where we fish and are probably the most reliable species that we fish for - lucky something is! Sharkbyte, most of the sole I have caught this year have been in daylight but in murky water so light levels not so much of a problem as I think they are mostly nocturnal (?), the club i am in is East Coast Dinghy Group. Steve, we beach launch from Frinton usually, but sometimes from Brightlingsea, West mersea, or in the summer sometimes from Harwich for the rivers.

Thanks guys for the welcome! Sharkbyte, I don't often get out as far as the middles or the barrows, although a summer raid when the weather is fair may be in the offing. I usually go out as part of a small boat club and we normally have a limit at just past the Gunfleet to allow the slower boats to catch up and fish fairly! As for results the smoothies in the summer seemed to come a lot closer in and were taking squid, which is handy if you haven't got lots of crab, got some nice sole on the sands after making a decision to fish 'solely' for them with tiny hooks!. Cod have been caught all the way through the summer in varying degrees and although there has been plenty of small bass around, no biggies for me This year i am going to put in some hours experimenting with my shore bassing. How did you get on this year?

Hello everyone, Just a quick hi as I have just joined after browsing for a few weeks now, I live in Essex and do most of my fishing from my old man's Dinghy (Gunfleet/Wallet area) but also enjoy a bit of shore bashing! I got a new reel from my girlfriend for Xmas and managed my first sizeable shore cod yesterday from the beach at Holland on sea- all 1 and a half pounds of it and when unhooking it coughed up what i first thought was a small sprat and it turned out to be a small bass about 2 inches long! Happy hooking for 2006