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Having had a successful trip for the sole down on the arm a couple of weeks back, in horrible conditions (much wind and even more rain), I was keen to get down again and have another go; preferrably, in weather a little less like a monsoon! 
hmy:
I arranged a meet with Robin, who had a couple of clients (Stuart and his 13 year old lad, Michael), who were very keen to get amongst the sole also.....and kept a close eye on the forecast for the last few days.
So..........Driving down to Shoreham yesterday, in monsoon conditions, with about 20 yards visibility, I was starting to think I had really, really titsed off the weather gods!!!
I needn't have worried too much though, by 6.30pm, I had my shelter up, rods out, the rain had eased and the wind was a perfectly respectable and blustery W/SW of about 10mph, with only the occasional gust trying to thieve my shelter; by 8.00pm, the wind had died right off and the rain stopped for the night. :yahoo:
I started off about 20 yards inside the first bin, with a mackerel head on one rod (hoping for a crowd pleaser!), despite the conditions being less than favourable for a big lump; the second rod was armed with the 3 hook sole rig, I have been trying out....with king rag the bait of choice.
The sole played ball straight away, with both Robin and I having one in the first half hour and they continued to feed throughout the session; the most frenzied time, once again, an hour or so either side of high (9.00pm).
The arm was busy, with a selection of anglers trying all sorts of methods to catch varied species; one chap dropped in next to me and had a couple of golden greys in quick succession from the outside, (the second one was a stonking fish) and there were black bream, mackerel, eels, small bass, flounder, a weaver and even a red mullet caught, although the fishing was by no means hectic.......unless you were targetting the sole, which kept the rod tips rattling pretty much constantly.
Barry arrived and gave me another version of the sole rig to try out and at that point I gave up trying to find the highly improbable crowd pleaser.....and fished for the sole on both rods.
Sole were coming regularly enough, mostly small, some smaller and if Robin adds the piccy (please mate!).....you will see the smallest sole I have ever seen, let alone caught...very cute!! There were some sizeable ones now and then though, which allowed me to keep enough for a nice dinner.
By 10.00pm, I was having a ball, the weather was lovely, I was catching regularly and I was enjoying the company of lots of anglers on the crowded arm.....truly a pleasant evening and a friendly bunch. :group:
By 11.00pm, the bites slowed considerably and people started to drift away; just before midnight, Robin, Stuart and young Michael headed off.....at this point, I had managed 11 sole, an eel and a baby bass and Robin had managed 9 sole (not sure if he had any other species.....and I'll leave Stuart and Michael to report their catch).
I stayed on until about 1.30am and managed 4 more sole and another small bass, before the bites dried up completely and my thoughts turned towards a hot shower and a nice warm bed and I headed off on the 75 mile journey home, fully satisfied with a productive and most enjoyable session.
The End! :happy:
hmy:I arranged a meet with Robin, who had a couple of clients (Stuart and his 13 year old lad, Michael), who were very keen to get amongst the sole also.....and kept a close eye on the forecast for the last few days.
So..........Driving down to Shoreham yesterday, in monsoon conditions, with about 20 yards visibility, I was starting to think I had really, really titsed off the weather gods!!!
I needn't have worried too much though, by 6.30pm, I had my shelter up, rods out, the rain had eased and the wind was a perfectly respectable and blustery W/SW of about 10mph, with only the occasional gust trying to thieve my shelter; by 8.00pm, the wind had died right off and the rain stopped for the night. :yahoo:
I started off about 20 yards inside the first bin, with a mackerel head on one rod (hoping for a crowd pleaser!), despite the conditions being less than favourable for a big lump; the second rod was armed with the 3 hook sole rig, I have been trying out....with king rag the bait of choice.
The sole played ball straight away, with both Robin and I having one in the first half hour and they continued to feed throughout the session; the most frenzied time, once again, an hour or so either side of high (9.00pm).
The arm was busy, with a selection of anglers trying all sorts of methods to catch varied species; one chap dropped in next to me and had a couple of golden greys in quick succession from the outside, (the second one was a stonking fish) and there were black bream, mackerel, eels, small bass, flounder, a weaver and even a red mullet caught, although the fishing was by no means hectic.......unless you were targetting the sole, which kept the rod tips rattling pretty much constantly.
Barry arrived and gave me another version of the sole rig to try out and at that point I gave up trying to find the highly improbable crowd pleaser.....and fished for the sole on both rods.
Sole were coming regularly enough, mostly small, some smaller and if Robin adds the piccy (please mate!).....you will see the smallest sole I have ever seen, let alone caught...very cute!! There were some sizeable ones now and then though, which allowed me to keep enough for a nice dinner.
By 10.00pm, I was having a ball, the weather was lovely, I was catching regularly and I was enjoying the company of lots of anglers on the crowded arm.....truly a pleasant evening and a friendly bunch. :group:
By 11.00pm, the bites slowed considerably and people started to drift away; just before midnight, Robin, Stuart and young Michael headed off.....at this point, I had managed 11 sole, an eel and a baby bass and Robin had managed 9 sole (not sure if he had any other species.....and I'll leave Stuart and Michael to report their catch).
I stayed on until about 1.30am and managed 4 more sole and another small bass, before the bites dried up completely and my thoughts turned towards a hot shower and a nice warm bed and I headed off on the 75 mile journey home, fully satisfied with a productive and most enjoyable session.
The End! :happy:
