BRIGHTON BONANZA
Chris Clark finds some superb plaice fishing.
After what seemed like a never-ending winter and series of storms, along with a lack of traditional winter species, such as flounders and codling, along the South Coast, the angling grapevine burst into life. With reliable reports of plaice being caught at Brighton, I had that irresistible urge to wet a line. Plans were made, and a few days later I was up at 6am scraping the frost off the car windscreen before making an early-morning dash to East Sussex from my home in Hampshire.
Joining me for the trip was Steve Lawrence, from Poole, along with Peter Farrell, from Portsmouth. We met up with England Youth
International Dillon Thompson, who works at Prime Angling at Worthing, and George Cunningham, boss of Tronixpro, to pick up some fresh bait before hitting the beach.
Our target area was midway between the pier and the marina at Brighton, but not too close to the Banjo section, which is always popular. Our plan was to settle on the stretch approximately 300 metres to the west of Banjo, well away from the crowds.
After battling through the morning rushhour traffic, it was after 10am when we arrived. Unfortunately, we did not have time to stop for a traditional breakfast. As a result, while the rest of the crew headed off to start fishing, I fed the greedy parking machine before going to get some bacon butties and coffee for the equally hungry lads.
By the time I stumbled over the shingle, laden with goodies, George was landing the first plaice. Peter followed with a single plaice and then a double shot of averagesized fish for the area. Dillon also got in
on the act, beaching a good flounder, not the main target but it added variety. After suffering from a mean winter with few fish, it was certainly a welcome sight, and nice to get the camera out again and start clicking away.
TACKLE AND BAIT
It was interesting to see the choice of equipment used by the group. Pete and Steve had Anyfish Anywhere Tournament rods and multiplier reels. Dillon was using a Cobra rod and a Tronixpro fixed-spool reel, while George was using a pair of prototype rods, one with a multiplier and one with a fixed spool. I opted for Yuki Orata rods, along with Daiwa Basia fixed-spool reels. All our mainlines were between 12lb and 15lb.
While there was a wide variation in the rods and reels used, in general the terminal tackle and baits were far more uniform. Two- or three-hook clipped down rigs were the choices, with fairly short hooklengths, around 10 inches of either 15lb or 20lb mono. Hooks were either size 2 or 1 Aberdeens – I used the size 1 Kamasan Match.
Bait was simple, half a black lug tipped off with a good chunk of ragworm. One important feature with the rigs that certainly enhances
your catch
rates is positioning a small fluorescent floating bead just above the bait. This acts as an attractor, and also creates movement.
You can pick up the occasional fish at almost any distance, but longer casts do have the edge along this section. It is often better to cut down to two, or even a single hook just to get that little bit of extra range.
Choice of sinker can be important too. Catch rates can be improved with some movement when targeting the Brighton plaice population; using a grip lead that nails the bait firmly to the seabed does not always have a positive outcome. On this occasion, we all settled for either 5oz or 6oz plain or pyramid type lead weights, although I like the new bucket-type leads, especially the white and yellow ones. Being highly visible, they are rarely lost on the beach.
CHANGING CONDITIONS
By the time I got a trace in the water, the flat calm conditions that greeted us on our arrival had changed. A brisk and cold south-westerly had set in, slightly colouring the water, and was far from ideal.
My worries about the changing conditions were soon forgotten because, within five minutes of casting out, I had a small pull-down bite. The culprit was a flounder.
Shortly afterwards, Steve had his first bite, resulting in a small plaice. With everyone having at least one fish to their name, it was time to relax and get on with the task in hand.
George and Peter were doing really well, and I seemed to spend most of my time trudging the shingle between the pair of them, taking a series of pictures. In the numbers game, Peter had the upper hand, but George was snapping at his heels and had beached the longest fish of the session, measuring 40cm.
I did manage to land a few fish, with my best plaice just nudging 37cm. Both Dillon and Steve caught some extra fish to add to their tally. As the tide topped out around 1pm, the action melted away for just over an hour, but the fish came back on the feed with a vengeance once the ebb really started.
With around 20 fish recorded between us, and the mere thought of battling the rushhour traffic, Steve and I threw in the towel around 4pm. As we trudged off the beach, George and Peter were still landing a steady stream of red-spots, not monsters but a good stamp of fish. After the long winter, this outing proved just the tonic we needed.
For those heading to this stretch of coastline during the coming weeks, expect a few bigger fish because these plaice pack on weight now. ■