Irlams Beach, Little Oakley, Essex

SPECIES
A mark that starts to produce eels, flounders and bass from early April on, with some good mullet showing from late May to September. Better quality bass show between September and November, with whiting and flounders taken throughout the winter.

BAITS
Stick to peeler or soft back crab for the bass, flounders and eels, though maddie rag and king rag also works well here. The mullet take floating and sinking bread but you ideally need to ground bait to get the mullet feeding. Winter whiting and flounder take worm or mackerel strip.

TACKLE & TACTICS
The ground is a mix of mud banks and sand split by patches of rocks. It's quite shallow and can be treacherous in places due to the soft mud, so don not fish here alone. It can produce on most sizes of tide, but is best during the middle sized tides rising towards the biggest springs.

Nothing heavier than a 2-4oz bass rod is needed with a 6500 reel loaded with 15lb line and 30 to 40lb shock leader. Some angler choose to just fish with a spinning rod for the smaller species.

Choose either a one up/one down rig or a three hook flapper for the flatties, eels and whiting using size 2 Aberdeen hooks. For the bigger bass a simple flowing trace rig or one hook clipped down rig and single size 4/0 Viking pattern hook is ideal.

The mullet can be shy here, so use 6lb main line with a 4ft section of 4lb Fluoro carbon to a size 10 hook. Fish under a loaded waggler with just a smack shot about a foot above the hook to take the bait down. Fish a small bubble float if you decide to fish a floating bread bait.

LOCATION
Head for Harwich on the A120. At Ramsey Roundabout take the B1352 looking for the Devon Pub and turn right, then second left into Low Road. Go along the seafront and turn right into West End Tip Lane. There's a free car park here and the marks are a short walk towards Oakley in direction.