Chapel-St-Leonards, Lincolnshire

SPECIES
Flounder and bass show from mid May onwards, with smoothound arriving in July. The same time period can also turn up the occasional thornback ray, and in recent season a few stingray have been caught. The whiting show from mid September onwards along with dabs, with the first of the cod in early October. There can also be a spring run of codling in March and April.

BAITS
Peeler crab is the essential summer bait for the bass, flounder and smoothound. The thornback take both mackerel and peeler, or a cocktail of the two. By September switch to lug tipped with mackerel or sandeel for the whiting and dabs, with big black lug baits tipped with blow lug or squid strip for the cod. White rag works well on this beach, especially for the early autumnal cod at long range.

TACKLE & TACTICS
A clean featured beach, shallow in nature, but with deeper parallel gullies running along its length. The water is deepest towards the point on the left hand side. Stick to night fishing, especially in the summer months as holidaymakers like this beach for bathing.

The knack is to locate the gullies and make sure you cast in to these as the fish congregate here. It fishes best on the bigger spring tides either side of low water and up to high water. Some rays and cod can still be caught at long range on the ebb by good casters.

Distance can help here, so a fast running multiplier reel loaded with 15lb line and 60lb shock leader matched to a 5-6oz beachcaster is the best combination. For general fishing for the whiting, flounders and school bass a simple three-hook flapper with size 1 Aberdeen hooks takes plenty of fish.

For the cod then a clipped down paternoster with two 3/0 Viking pattern hooks on the hook link is a good choice. The same rig produces all the bass, smoothound and rays, but a single 3/0 to 4/0 Viking hook is preferred for these.

LOCATION
Located between Skegness and Mablethorpe on the A52 and parking is available.