Another poor dab season which is a pity as a know lots of anglers love their dab fishing. As for the dog walkers I don't think 10% of them actually know the law and their responsibilities in public places. Who the hell enforces any laws these days anyway? Dogs are banned from areas of Thorpeness beach May to September but they are still there. Sadly simple respect and courtesy for others is not what it once was. Politely asking someone to control their dog is not even worth the breath it takes as you just get a lot of abuse back.
Thorpeness 02/01/2023
With the prospect of some better weather and light winds, Bill Stone and I decided to give Thorpeness sluice a try today. We fished the ebb down from HW at about 07:00 to just after 12:00. The sea was very calm which gave me the chance to give my light 75 - 125g continental rod a run out and I set out my stall out for dabs using small sections of frozen black lug on clipped down / flapper rigs with size 4 circles. Bill was using bomber rigs with one size 2 hook with lug together with a bigger squid & lug bait in the hope of something larger.
What was notable was the amount seal activity in the vicinity with a total of 4 at one time just off shore. One came relatively close to the shore and there were a couple of oily patches visible on the surface of the sea, I don't know if they were hunting sprats / herring but they stayed in the same spot around the sluice for good 2+ hours. Their presence did not seem to impact the number of bites however and we had fish from the off and throughout the session although it did tail off as it approached low water. I ended up with 10 dabs, a couple of rockling and about 20 whiting. Bill had 3 dabs and about 25 whiting. The dabs were below the size limit apart from one keeper, but they were in quite good nick like the one in the photo. Similarly the whiting were on the small size with exception of one 35cm fish that fell to the top hook on one of the dab rigs. The good weather also brought out the dog walkers out in force as the morning progressed and the number of dogs not under control on the beach was a pain the backside towards the end.
All in all a very pleasant session and a chance to get out after spending a lot of time inside during Christmas & New Year. Fingers crossed for some better sized fish in the next few weeks!
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What was notable was the amount seal activity in the vicinity with a total of 4 at one time just off shore. One came relatively close to the shore and there were a couple of oily patches visible on the surface of the sea, I don't know if they were hunting sprats / herring but they stayed in the same spot around the sluice for good 2+ hours. Their presence did not seem to impact the number of bites however and we had fish from the off and throughout the session although it did tail off as it approached low water. I ended up with 10 dabs, a couple of rockling and about 20 whiting. Bill had 3 dabs and about 25 whiting. The dabs were below the size limit apart from one keeper, but they were in quite good nick like the one in the photo. Similarly the whiting were on the small size with exception of one 35cm fish that fell to the top hook on one of the dab rigs. The good weather also brought out the dog walkers out in force as the morning progressed and the number of dogs not under control on the beach was a pain the backside towards the end.
All in all a very pleasant session and a chance to get out after spending a lot of time inside during Christmas & New Year. Fingers crossed for some better sized fish in the next few weeks!
