[DoubleShotDamo]

Oh well, after staring out of the window all week at the clear blue sky, and reading reports of big plaice being caught, I decided to head off down to Eastney. As always, whenever I plan to go fishing, the weather breaks.
Got to the beach at 7.40am and waited for Howie to arrive. 8am we parked up in the free parking bit of the seafront, unloaded the gear and walked onto the beach, only to be greeted by a force 7 westerly whipping up the sand! The sea was definitely not looking very plaice like! More bassy than anything.
CueBall arrived ten minutes later. We all set up, and I cast my first bait about 80 yards. 15 minutes later I attempted to get my gear back on the beach, but the [email protected]@dy great snag that was sat in front of me had other ideas! One set of gear gone!!

Second chuck, I cracked off just lobbing it 80 yards, What a pr!ck! I knew I should have wet the line first. 2 sets gone!
It was not looking as if it was going to go well, and to be honest, it didn't go well. There were about 30 rods out and the only fish I saw was one pout for myself, a dab and a wrasse for Howie and a small schoolie and a wrasse for CueBall.

All in all, the fishing was dire, the wind was a pain in the @rse, and to top it off the snag gobbled up three of my rigs! On the plus side, Howie lost about four rigs and decided to go dredging with a spool of shockleader and a [email protected]@dy great Dover lead. He did well, retrieving 2 of my lost rigs a couple of his and one of someone elses I think. Cheers for that mate!

CueBall, nice to meet you. Let me know when the bass arrive in your little hotspot, and I will endeavour to meet up with you.


Roll on the smoothounds!!!!!

 

[stubbs]

sounds like a waste of time damo never mind always anouther time.

 

[MrBeachams]

Oh well, after staring out of the window all week at the clear blue sky, and reading reports of big plaice being caught, I decided to head off down to Eastney. As always, whenever I plan to go fishing, the weather breaks.
Got to the beach at 7.40am and waited for Howie to arrive. 8am we parked up in the free parking bit of the seafront, unloaded the gear and walked onto the beach, only to be greeted by a force 7 westerly whipping up the sand! The sea was definitely not looking very plaice like! More bassy than anything.
CueBall arrived ten minutes later. We all set up, and I cast my first bait about 80 yards. 15 minutes later I attempted to get my gear back on the beach, but the [email protected]@dy great snag that was sat in front of me had other ideas! One set of gear gone!!

Second chuck, I cracked off just lobbing it 80 yards, What a pr!ck! I knew I should have wet the line first. 2 sets gone!
It was not looking as if it was going to go well, and to be honest, it didn't go well. There were about 30 rods out and the only fish I saw was one pout for myself, a dab and a wrasse for Howie and a small schoolie and a wrasse for CueBall.

All in all, the fishing was dire, the wind was a pain in the @rse, and to top it off the snag gobbled up three of my rigs! On the plus side, Howie lost about four rigs and decided to go dredging with a spool of shockleader and a [email protected]@dy great Dover lead. He did well, retrieving 2 of my lost rigs a couple of his and one of someone elses I think. Cheers for that mate!

CueBall, nice to meet you. Let me know when the bass arrive in your little hotspot, and I will endeavour to meet up with you.


Roll on the smoothounds!!!!!

Sorry to hear about another sad sesh.....shame the weather turned on you .....but the blow and the colour now in the water bodes well for early Smutt hunting..........anyone up for a selsey bash?

 

[DoubleShotDamo]

Sorry to hear about another sad sesh.....shame the weather turned on you .....but the blow and the colour now in the water bodes well for early Smutt hunting..........anyone up for a selsey bash?

Don't be fooled. The small ones arrived early throughout Sussex last year. We all thought it was going to be a bumper year, but it was actually quite rubbish!

 

[DoubleShotDamo]

sounds like a waste of time damo never mind always anouther time.

Yeah, like next year! :giveup:

 

[MrBeachams]

Don't be fooled. The small ones arrived early throughout Sussex last year. We all thought it was going to be a bumper year, but it was actually quite rubbish!

But be honest ....how many times did you fish for them?........and those that were caught...how many were to scratching rigs/baits....?

 

[DoubleShotDamo]

But be honest ....how many times did you fish for them?........and those that were caught...how many were to scratching rigs/baits....?

4 times at Pagham; caught zero. I have always caught them every year at Pagham, but not last year.

Three times at Selsey; caught on two of those occassions (5 one night, 1 the next).

Worthing pier produced one ok sized one.

 

[JudgeP]

Tough luck on the weather & fishing DSD. I'd planned a trip myself tomorrow but that wind is staying and turning North Westerly. Am I right that these conditions are not good for the plaice? My other options include staying in Brighton and trying for one of those big bass that have turned up around the marina recently.

 

[solehunter]

Unlucky, though you wouldnt have caught me on the beach in that blast! Good to see people putting their backs into it!

 

[Roddy]

I never do well at pompey anytime of year if its over a force 5

 

[DoubleShotDamo]

Tough luck on the weather & fishing DSD. I'd planned a trip myself tomorrow but that wind is staying and turning North Westerly. Am I right that these conditions are not good for the plaice? My other options include staying in Brighton and trying for one of those big bass that have turned up around the marina recently.

Calm and clear is best, although I am no expert. It certainly wasn't calm!

 

[JumboHaddock]

Unlucky mate we all have days like that.
I reckon as the wind goes northerly this week and things calm down there will be a few Plaice caught.

 

[ChrisG]

Hi, I'm thinking about giving Eastney a try later on in the week, if the weather sorts itself out. would appreciate if someone could let me know where I should set myself up and what rig/bait is best. Never fished there before....I gather a bit of a cast is required but can you fish at any state of tide for the plaice?? thanks

 

[howie]

hi m8 1 of the best marks is either the bus shelter or the iron soilger about 80 yrds away from the shelter.im no expert but my total is i think 17 plaice to date out of them 14 have been take home all over the 1.8lb mark so i guess i might be able to help you out a bit.As for casting dont cast more than 100 yrds at the shelter best bet would be to start of with about 70 yrds then move up a little bit and keep trying the different distances untill you reach the fish bait wise will be ragworm m8 and as for the tide i have caught the fish at different states of tide from low water up to hi tide down i have also been on the beach when the beach is cramed full of anglers and hardly anyone else is catching as for the rigs m8 its got to be a wishbone but a lot of ppl make there rigs different to me so maybe thats why im catching the fish THE BEST TIME FOR THE PLAICE IS WHEN ITS BRIGHT AND THE WATER IS CALM.and at the moment the water is coloured so the fish wont see the bait and they will use smell to find it but really the conditions have to be spot on for them like it was last week
hope this helpd you out and best of luck
lee

 

[ChrisG]

Lee, thanks ever so much for the info. with rag do you mean whites, reds of king?

 

[cap'nhaddock]

I was down there last week local chaps told me big casts are not always the best, bait ragworm and slipper limpet if you can get it. Some shops sell frozen slipper, that needs to, shall we say, 'mature' for a day or three before using. Any state of the tide and anywhere along the beach probably as good as anywhere else. Have just added some notes about Eastney to my blog

 

[howie]

the answer to your question is white will pick up the fish if they are hard to find its something to do with the scent whites give off ive had all my plaice on worm that i have dug m8 if you can get hold of the big red kings then they will pick up the better stamp of fish (plaice) Dont use limpit for plaice as i have tried these out over the yrs and found out they only pick up bass as its been rough down here at the minute then if you want to go after the bass then use limpets pick them off the beach peeler crab aint working for plaice down here for some reason m8 so your best bet will be to stick with rag and if the bait is getting stripped after 10 mins or so then use a bit of squid to tip the worm off that way the crabs will nick the squid and with the white flashing of the squid on your hook you will pick up a big fat plaice over the 3lb mark if that fails m8 get a hand granade throw that in the water then collect the 100s of plaice at least them trawlers wont have them then m8
once again hope that helps you out
ps wait for the wind to die down or fish eastney on a night tide when its rough for the bass parking after 7pm is free

 

[JumboHaddock]

I would agree with everything Howie has said,bus shelter to the royal marine are the best spots .
Keep your rigs simple clipped down wishbone with size 4 fine wire hooks and rag.
Casting far will give you an advantage but dont be afraid to vary and scratch about.
Good luck

 

[crack off colin]

Fished Eastney with friends on Saturday morning. Beach was packed but not much caught only saw 3 Flatfish taken.

I had a nice plaice and dab at about 150 yds plus on plain rag and a single clip down rig and plain lead drifting about in tide an hour before high tide.:clap2:

 

[DoubleShotDamo]

Just to add, I could not hold bottom too well with a 170g gripper at 100yards+

If you don't fancy a punch in the gob by the bloke down tide of you :boxing: , I suggest you leave your rolling bomb leads at home!