Dabs

They should be at their peak now but from what I'm hearing they are few and small. The last two years have been poor on numbers and quality. They were once prolific with many good sized and plump but so far it doesn't look like this will be a good year for them. I used to love a days dabbing in the winter with the odd big winter flounder thrown in. Sadly things are not what they used to be.

Scuttlebutt said:

They should be at their peak now but from what I'm hearing they are few and small. The last two years have been poor on numbers and quality. They were once prolific with many good sized and plump but so far it doesn't look like this will be a good year for them. I used to love a days dabbing in the winter with the odd big winter flounder thrown in. Sadly things are not what they used to be.

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🙁
I’ll Chuck some stinky black lug baits out nonetheless

Hi George. I think Scuttlebutt is right about the current numbers and sizes being caught on the bit of the coast you are thinking of fishing. I have specifically targeted dabs on 3 occasions recently including at Sizewell, but have only caught them once which was at Dunwich on the ebb at distance. Hopefully you will find the better fish

Had a go last night for a couple of hours up to high at tinkers end.
Double shots of small whiting almost every Chuck. One small dab. Good fun on the light tackle.
Have noticed a huge amount of activity ( cormorants and seals) this morning. 20-40 yds out on the sand. Will try again tonight for a few hours. I’ve got frozen blacks and some blows. Might get a bit of fish bait for tipping off.
Anyway tightlines and happy Christmas everyone

Not sure if anybody is after dabs but my work mate popped to land guard fort last night (beach rather than port side) and had tons of dabs and tings mostly small but a few bigger ones, there are a few about it would seem but nothing of any stamp

Dyna-Mike said:

Not sure if anybody is after dabs but my work mate popped to land guard fort last night (beach rather than port side) and had tons of dabs and tings mostly small but a few bigger ones, there are a few about it would seem but nothing of any stamp

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Languard viewing area side used to be prolific for quality dabs but sadly the numbers and size are no longer there. Even the front along the butts used to produce a dozen or more good sized dabs for the table. I remember one session there where my wife and I were catching lots of dabs and a guy turned up having driven from Bedford because he'd read about the dab fishing at Felixstowe. He didn't have a single one but went home happy with a 4lb plus codling.