You should try with the bass guru,,down that way(FISHYROB)he will undoubtably put you in the know mate,,he is a guide and knows his stuff ,,,get in touch with him and i'm sure he'll help you,,

 

Thanks deano, yeah I know fishy rob is the man, but as I couldent afford a guided trip at the moment, I dont want to take the micky, as he already kindly gave me a bit of info anyways

 

Bass like the fast water, which brings food to them. Obviously this changes throughout the tidal cycle and is different for any beach, but usually if there's anywhere that sticks out, there will be faster water around it, and therefore the possibility of bass.
It's much harder to read in the sea than in a river though!

 

Many anglers like to fish `over the high`because the change of tide from flood to ebb and it means that their mark has plenty of water in it.
Almost all fish seem to like the change in the tide and will move themselves to another vantage point and will often feed while they are doing it.
So to me, its the change in the tide direction that triggers feeding so the low water is just as good as the high. ( obviously there are marks where this cant possibly be the case )
Best thing is to try a few sessions at a mark and fish the lows and highs and see how you get on.

 

some venues are only fishable at low tide. well at least that's time when weed and tide movements is minimum.

 

One reason that is believed to be why bass like low tide is because the volume of water is smaller therefore the area where their prey lives is concentrated making it easier for them to feed and use less energy. As soon as the tide floods it increases the volume of water and the prey is more spread out, meaning that the bass would have to use up more energy to feed. This goes for many species, such as flounder, rays, plaice etc

All low tide venues will have some sort of holding feature at the mean low tide line such as rocks, reef, groyne, gully, sand bars etc look for a low tide feature and chances are bass and other fish will feed there at some point on the early flood or the last of the ebb, however, the feeding time may be quite short as the bass will tend to move with the tide.

 

I like the idea of collecting bait at low tide, n chucking it straight out, fresh as f**k! while collecting it n then fishing the tide up n maybe floating n live baiting at high, LOL I hope this sortas makes sense?

Yes, it makes a lot of sense. As you live in Sussex here's a few guidelines

Flat Sandy beaches (Shoreham to Hove + Tide Mills) will only tend to fish well over low if there's some surf which means a decent southerly wind of 15 mph+. You can dig your bait on these at low but dead low is often the best time which inteferes with the best digging time at these venues too. Try fresh lug and slipper limpet for the schoolies but good old whole squid will pick up the biggies, especially in Autumn. I would dig your blow lug at Lancing/Worthing durng early low tide and try to get fishng by low.

The reefs (Brighton to Newhaven + Seaford to Beachy Head) are better bet when it's calm (but also good when rough). Here peeler crab does well but don't expect it to be easy to collect, you may have to buy it unless you're experience at collecting - squid & mackerel will also catch. Obviously expect tackle losses over this rocky ground.

One beach that will fish both at low and high (but not during the main flood) is Seaford bay whch is a steep shingle becah with no obvious features. Especailly good at night with mackerel head if the mackerel have been in during the day. Then a live pout for the first hour of the ebb gets a good take more often than not.

In about 50 sessions time you'll get the hang of it.

 

thaks so much all, sound advice!
I can see that a change of tide would see the fish feeding, as they moveing to another place, and they going to that place with the intention of finding prey that will now be availiable, so surely in like an estuary, the bass would sit n wait for the ebb to start n wash down food items? is that the right sort of way to think?
I been fishing lakes for years now n have learned how to read the water, when a big old carp is likely to feed in a certain spot, due to the conditions , but ,wow, its so so different to reading the sea :wiggle:

 

All good advice here, but also worth mentioning that time of day makes a difference as well as weather. If low coincides with dusk you will be way more likely to catch than if its noon on a bright sunny day. Likewise, calm seas are less of a problem if the water is dirty than if its crystal clear. All factors to consider...

 

, so surely in like an estuary, the bass would sit n wait for the ebb to start n wash down food items? is that the right sort of way to think?

Two things to consider about an estuary. Firstly that there is always a flow of water and therefore food downstream, so the ebb simply speeds up that process consderably. So fishing the early ebb when there is lots of water is likely to be harder and much more hit and miss than the late ebb when the water and therefore the fish are forced into the main channels. Secondly, at the early flood the flow of water slows right down for a while as the sea water pushing in meets the downstream flow. At that stage, fish will push upstream seeking food that is being uncovered by the incoming tide. So for what its worth, I reckon that the late ebb and early flood are the best times to fish an estuary for bass because fish are concentrated in the channels rather than spread out.

 

I been fishing lakes for years now n have learned how to read the water, when a big old carp is likely to feed in a certain spot, due to the conditions , but ,wow, its so so different to reading the sea :wiggle:

When you see bubbling in the sea, its far more likely to be a scuba diver than a fish feeding hard. Apart from that many of the same rules apply. All sea fish will only be anyhwere in the sea if there is reason to be there. Those reasons will either be 1) Feeding 2) Breeding or 3) Surviving (security). Once you get a feel for the changes that are constantly happening you will get more of a feel for when and where you should be fishing. The more often you get out there, the better you will get at working out fish movements. Right now, for example, I am totally on the pulse of the rockling, and have managed to avoid catching all but one so far this year. Oh, and you cant catch whats not there, as we are all experiencing at the moment on this patch.

I think your going to be fine, and will be able to work a lot of it out yourself. And then theres a lot more thats impossible to work out, when fish get caught when they absolutely shouldnt acording to the "rules". The only thing you can be sure of in our most excellent game, is a bit of advice that my dad gave me to stop me keep reeling in when I was a lad. "You dont catch fish on dry land.........."

Incidentally, I am a huge fan of the cashless society. What do you do for a living?

 

fish>.....

 

I reckon your pretty much right in what you say that generally fish do move in with the tide,but when targetting a specific species like bass you have to do a bit of finding out and putting a few wasted hours experimenting.The biggest buzz in the world is when you do well on a gut instinct.Fishyrobs Dad hit the nail on the head i think:thumbs:

 

Thanks again all!
I suppose if we caught every time it would be called catching, not fishing lol, I think not catching is just on the way to catching , If ya get what I mean lol,
rob Im a veg doctor mate, people consult me when they want to start a veggie garden but realise in practice, its harder than it looks, and books ect just dont replace real life experience, or if they just need a push in the right direction, A bit like you really mate I was always gining help n advice to everyone n someone said you should di ot for a living, I get buy just lol, but I love it