Kent Beaches

[Jaffa]

It seems to be a reoccurring them that the beaches in Kent are not worth the effort of fishing now? Most posters seem to blame the commercials for it.

 

Im curious as to what king of species you used to get and what they feed on? Is it just the beach fishing that has gone downhill or all shore fishing?

 

What's the situation with the "feed" ; do you guys think it is reduced/ much the same as ever , or gone?

 

What commercial methods cause most dispute with anglers?

 

Would prefer not to be subjected to a barrage of insults and innuendo about my motives for asking this please . Im just curious.

 

Chris

[spanner]

I'm not sure Jaffa but I think that area has had a lot of disruption through gravel extraction. It may be that is an extra pressure over and above the commercial situation.

[maidstonemike]

Well Jaffa, here we go. In the past, from the sixties to late seventies, fishing was very good at times. No problem on a good night catching 100lb of Cod from Dungeness beach. Average size was around 8lb, with the odd 15 pounder . Bait lugworm. However, you could still blank in those days. I did many times, but the knowledge that you would catch a lot of fish sometime soon kept you going.

I also used to go after Sole at Dengemarsh, with a long trace and small hook baited with lug. No problem in the sixties catching a dozen in a night.

Plaice were another regular catch, but I havn't caught one for many years in Kent.

Large Turbot could be caught off Dungeness beach also, up to 16lb. The odd Sunfish used to turn up. Big plaice and flounders, good bass at dengemarsh in the surf.

Herne Bay pier was also a good spot for Cod and giant whiting, with Thornbacks up to about 30lb.

Loads of Bass under the pier, and Congers.

Today, the odd good bass, pouting, whiting, dabs, the odd sole, a few dogfish. Odd codling, but getting rarer. Many more blank days now, in fact, mostly blank days, apart from October /November for whiting.

It's very hard now to catch anything worthwhile.

I stopped fishing Dengemarsh for sole 20 years ago, when one night it was impossible to fish because trawlers were yards off the beach all night scooping up the sole.

[stavey]

For what its worth jaffa in the next county in east sussex where i am, the cod a bass fishing 3 decades or so ago would have been regarded utopia today, if you got time check out writers like the late john darling or ian gillespie on some of there or others publications there will be something about the huge large bass captures from beachy head that it was once renowned for, alas very different today ofcourse.

[Jaffa]

Reckon I would give up if I was trying to fish and trawlers were working within yards of the shore for sole. That must **** you off big time

 

The absence of cod may or may not not be due to the commercials though? My area got hammered in the 80s/90s yet the fishing is still pretty good, and the fishing seems to have outlasted the fishermen; not many left here.

 

As far as i know the big winter shoals will still head in to make their killing of all that summer growth. I hope anyway Plenty of food for them when the gales churn up the inshore reefs and beaches. Winter cod here seem to feed on anything, while the summer residents obsess on peeler.

 

What do kent cod feed on? I don't mean what bait might take em, but why do they come to beach "x" ?

[Stoaty]

What do kent cod feed on? I don't mean what bait might take em, but why do they come to beach "x" ?

 

On the north coast it's sprat and crabs. Curently the sea around sheppy is heaving with young sprat, there is no shortage of them. Everything is taking them. Whiting, schoolies and codling stuffed with them. When they go crab will be the target.

[Jaffa]

On the north coast it's sprat and crabs. Curently the sea around sheppy is heaving with young sprat, there is no shortage of them. Everything is taking them. Whiting, schoolies and codling stuffed with them. When they go crab will be the target.

 

 

So whats the best way to target cod that are focused in on sprats? Arthurcodsbody and I tried to arrange a trip earlier this year but the skipper said it would be a waste of time as the cod were there but couldn't be caught?

 

In our area all the evidence was that the cod were here in number; the lobster guys were geting them in the creels, and big marks were showing off the bottom. The usual NE drift with lure/bait/feather/ bounced along the bottom was a waste of time though.

[maidstonemike]

So whats the best way to target cod that are focused in on sprats? Arthurcodsbody and I tried to arrange a trip earlier this year but the skipper said it would be a waste of time as the cod were there but couldn't be caught?

 

In our area all the evidence was that the cod were here in number; the lobster guys were geting them in the creels, and big marks were showing off the bottom. The usual NE drift with lure/bait/feather/ bounced along the bottom was a waste of time though.

 

You won't catch Cod that are feeding on loads of available food, it stands to reason. When conditions are like that, anglers just accept it as natural. Why would you try and 'taget' cod that are feeding on shoals of spratts? Doesn't make any sense to me.

Surely part of angling is weighing up the odds, and only trying to catch fish when you assess that the odds might be in your favour.

As for 'what do Cod feed on in Kent'? Well, the same as anywhere else, just about anything. They are voracious feeders, and will take any large bait when hungry. Most here were caught on lug. lug/squid, squid, crab, mackerel, herring, rag etc.

[stavey]

Jaffa from south kent through sussex the beaches are mostly clean sand right up to the pebbles apart from the odd rocky outcrop like beachy head here, kent has a few more not much more, anyway these beaches and inshore marks have always been easy targets for trawlers especialy in the early days before rock hopping gear and the like, (no safe areas for pockets of fish to survive) i do think that rising sea temps have had a part to play in the cod dissapearance but not in the case of the larger bass, believe me the amount of large bass over the past 3 decades has shrunk drasticly and in the this last year even the good stock of 2000 has almost dissapeared (personally i think that with this winter and the next looking like a cold one i fear the bmp will be to late for these and future schoolies) even with the warming i feel if the cod had been left alone a bit there would have been enough to re-address the balance of things during the bad years, i look at the commercials part in helping the down fall by tipping the balance if you like, wreck anglers in the 70,s and 80's also contributed to the problem even myself whith the taking of substancially large amounts of mature cod from these wrecks.

 

As for feed for fish well in the last couple of years anchovy shoals are increasing indeed last month a local fisherman filled his boat up with them when after sprat we have always had a few but they are definently increasing, i have noticed that the sand eel and launce have almost completely dissapeared it was not a big fishery area for these but i always saw plenty inshore during the summer now i have not seen them in years, whelks and cockles have always been plentyful but again these have taking a pasting as more larger vessels have been frequenting the area one very large local one that mass exports all of his whelks to china, one of the consequeces is the decline now of hermit crabs, even the humle lugworm's beds are being dug out with hordes of non english speaking nationals (where do they come from?) it seems every man and his dog are buying lug pumps to try and cash in.

 

I could go on chris but my finger is starting to hurt, there is no doubt that my inshore area is in a hell of a state and for one reason and that is that 90% of it is easily accessible" if you live in an area up north or west with plenty of rock and kelp your fish and perhaps their feed has a certain amount of protection ours here hardly has any, something for you to think about chris, cheers.............

[Jaffa]

I could go on chris but my finger is starting to hurt,

 

No worries Stavey. Thanks for the interesting post. The east coast of Scotland and Kent are very different as you say, and for a whole load of reasons anglers here are rarely going to be bothered by boats working close inshore, atm anyway.... Might be very different if far eastern money spots an opportunity. Hard to see how any government agency will be able to keep up, as more and more different species find a market, be that for food, medicine recreation, .

 

Sounds like Kents fisheries are under pressure from all sides atm. Can't help being so close to London either.