Latest Fishing Reports: Galloper

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  • 20/03/2023 Fishing Report by Scott Belbin

    20 Mar 2023 by Scott Belbin


    In between the codling and rays there have been one or two bass showing. Some schoolies and some lovely chunky fish. after Andy lost one on our first trip back in the water at the start of February some even better fish made it to the net. Barry has the biggest so far with a nice 6lber but not to be left out his good friend Charlie had a decent bass a couple of trips later. If you know these lads there is always a healthy rivalry between them as well as plenty of banter. I don’t think Charlie was too disappointed that his was a tad smaller as it was still a cracking early season fish.
    Our general trips have continued to produce numbers of codling and thorn-backs with lots of whiting and dogfish keeping us busy as well as a few other bonus species.

    Further afield we are chasing spurdogs, hounds, rays, bass and other species including the occasional codling off there too and with any luck a proper one at that.
    I have individual spaces and possibility of full boat bookings over the coming weeks and months if you want to get out.
    Please be advised that a steady trickle of dates are filling up for 2023 so please get in touch asap if you require a specific date.
    Remember it is often worth giving me a shout if you are cancelled else where and still wish to get out, as we have lots of sheltered fishing available and a big catamaran which makes it even more comfortable.
    Spaces as follows
    26/03-spaces
    29/03-offshore trip 7 spaces @ £100pp
    30/03- offshore trip 8 spaces @ £100pp
    31/03- offshore trip 8 spaces @ £100pp
    01/04- 9 spaces £60pp
    02/04- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490
    09/04-4 spaces @ £60pp
    10/04-01/04- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490
    14/04-offshore trip 6 spaces @ £100pp
    16/04- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490

    Not all dates advertised, other spaces available for full boat bookings upon request
    For regular updates, availability and more information please visit www.essexseafishing.co.uk find us on social media or call Scott on 07956411528

  • 13/03/2023 Fishing Report by Scott Belbin

    13 Mar 2023 by Scott Belbin

    Still plenty of nice codling and rays coming in at the moment along with whiting, dogfish and other species too. The weather has been all over the place of late but those codling seem to be drawing the lads out there despite this.
    The lads from Suffolk police were faced with some unsavoury conditions for their trip last week. Given the option of a very early or very late start the lads opted for the later. I must admit as I drove down to the boat through the rain I was questioning our sanity. However the lads were keen as ever to get out on their first trip of the year. I was also relieved to hear that they had chosen not to have their usual match as they wanted to try for codling and these don’t score very well so it made sense. So armed with over 900 lugworm and a cool box of squid we made our way out into a strong east to south-easterly wind. I wasn’t sure how far we would get as there were sizeable white horses rolling in the entrance to the moorings but the conditions suited Galloper well and it was far more comfortable than expected as we punched down to our chosen mark. The late start meant we didn’t get any baits in the water until 10am so we would have as long with the wind and tide together as I would have liked. Thankfully we dropped straight onto the fish and in the first couple of casts a couple of codling came aboard for Tony and Adam. The obligatory dogfish and whiting soon followed along with more codling and one or two rays. Condition deteriorated as the day progressed with sleet and snow flurries but the lads effort didn’t. by high water we had exceeded my expectations but still hoped for more so had a move over slack tide. to my surprise the next tide fished well too with a couple more codling coming aboard shortly followed by more rays. The lads had endured enough by now so we called it a day at 4pm and headed for home. It may not have been the biggest catch of the week but it was a rewarding one in challenging conditions. I was really pleased to see 12 codling and 8 rays among the dogfish and whiting on a day like that. As many of you know I don’t like to say nice things too often, particularly about serving and former police officers. However full credit to the lads for putting in the effort in those conditions, I think they enjoyed it as much as they endured it. there were times when I looked out at the snow settling one their backs and shoulders. which made me consider turning the wheelhouse heating off in solidarity but I thought better of it as they kept dragging me out to net fish.
    For any cod police or wannabe grettle thunderbirds please scroll on past. Some codling were harmed in the making of this report. The fish that were kept were over 100mm the 35cn minimum landing size for cod. They were caught in the most sustainable way and many were returned. If you want to harass or troll somebody please find one of the many local commercial boats targeting these same fish, keeping them far small and keeping many times more. If you wish to make a real difference then your time would be better spent lobbying for a larger size limit and commercial restrictions. I feel I have to put this as several people seem to feel the need to pick on fellow anglers and charter boats that are far from the real problem with fish stocks and I am fed up with it.
    Further afield we are chasing spurdogs, hounds, rays, bass and other species. There is of course a good chance of seeing a cod off there too and with any luck a proper one at that.

    I have individual spaces and possibility of full boat bookings over the coming weeks and months if you want to get out.
    Please be advised that a steady trickle of dates are filling up for 2023 so please get in touch asap if you require a specific date.
    Remember it is often worth giving me a shout if you are cancelled else where and still wish to get out, as we have lots of sheltered fishing available and a big catamaran which makes it even more comfortable.
    Spaces as follows
    19/03- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490
    01/04- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490
    02/04- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490
    09/04-6 spaces @ £60pp
    10/04-01/04- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490
    14/04-offshore trip 6 spaces @ £100pp
    16/04- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490

    Not all dates advertised, other spaces available for full boat bookings upon request
    For regular updates, availability and more information please visit www.essexseafishing.co.uk find us on social media or call Scott on 07956411528

  • 06/03/2023 Fishing Report by Scott Belbin

    6 Mar 2023 by Scott Belbin

    It is nice to see how the sight of a certain species can cause such a stir. Of course the word on many peoples lips at the moment is cod. To be more accurate they are codling and a very welcome sight too. They have been sorely missed so the current run of fish has got all manor of people dusting off their uptiders and scrabbling to get hold of some lugworm.
    The other day I counted 22 boats fishing 1 square mile of water all for the promise of these fish.
    As I often mention we benefit from lots of sheltered fishing here in the blackwater estuary and with a few codling and rays showing we took full advantage of that last week. Even strong easterly winds wouldn’t deter the lads with promise of a codling or two.
    Numbers of codling have varied from day to day but we have seen numbers that exceeded my expectations several times. Along with the codling there have been plenty of whiting and dogfish and the occasional bass.
    Jon Bish had a nice surprise the other day. in between the rays and a very good day on codling he pulled up an early lobster. Not a small one either and always a novelty to see on any trip. The lads had a great day with plenty of codling coming to the net along with a few rays in between.

    Further afield we are chasing spurdogs, hounds, rays, bass and other species. There is of course a good chance of seeing a cod off there too and with any luck a proper one at that.

    I have individual spaces and possibility of full boat bookings over the coming weeks and months if you want to get out.
    Please be advised that a steady trickle of dates are filling up for 2023 so please get in touch asap if you require a specific date.
    Remember it is often worth giving me a shout if you are cancelled else where and still wish to get out, as we have lots of sheltered fishing available and a big catamaran which makes it even more comfortable.
    Spaces as follows

    12/03- 7 spaces £60pp
    18/03-offshore trip 1 space @ £100pp
    19/03- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490
    01/04- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490
    02/04- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490
    09/04-6 spaces @ £60pp
    10/04-01/04- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490


    Not all dates advertised, other spaces available for full boat bookings upon request
    For regular updates, availability and more information please visit www.essexseafishing.co.uk find us on social media or call Scott on 07956411528

  • 27/02/2023 Fishing Report by Scott Belbin

    27 Feb 2023 by Scott Belbin

    As I am sure you have heard by now there are a few cod showing at the moment. This is of course a very welcome sight after a few lean years. only time will tell if this spring run is a sign of things to come or not. One thing is for certain and that is they are here now and they wont catch themselves. With the wind stuck in the east for a few days we have been able to take full advantage of the shelter offered by the blackwater estuary and surrounding waters with a big comfortable catamaran to fish from. Catches have included the usual dogfish and whiting (although in small numbers) one or two pouting and even a bass. Thorn-backs are in varying numbers from day to day with a good day seeing 10-12 rays and the biggest pushing 12lbs. numbers of codling have been the best for several years and a nice stamp too.
    Our best day so far is 25 codling between 8 rods, I have seen people travel many miles around the country for far less in recent years. of course with the afore mentioned other species making the day up we have enjoyed some great sport often while other boats are stuck in port. Who knows how long this fishing will last so I would suggest getting out there and enjoying it while its there folks. Its hard to beat a good days uptiding for codling on a winters day.
    Further afield we are chasing spurdogs, hounds, rays and other species. There is of course a good chance of seeing a cod off there too and with any luck a proper one at that.

    I have individual spaces and possibility of full boat bookings over the coming weeks and months if you want to get out.
    Please be advised that a steady trickle of dates are filling up for 2023 so please get in touch asap if you require a specific date.
    Remember it is often worth giving me a shout if you are cancelled else where and still wish to get out, as we have lots of sheltered fishing available and a big catamaran which makes it even more comfortable.
    Spaces as follows
    04/03-4 spaces @ £60pp
    05/03- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490
    12/03- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490
    19/03- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490
    25/03- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490
    26/03-offshore trip 2 spaces @ £100pp
    01/04- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490
    02/04- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490

    Not all dates advertised, other spaces available for full boat bookings upon request
    For regular updates, availability and more information please visit www.essexseafishing.co.uk find us on social media or call Scott on 07956411528

  • 20/02/2023 Fishing Report by Scott Belbin

    20 Feb 2023 by Scott Belbin

    There is plenty of life about both inshore as well as offshore. The dogfish are feeding well and there are several whiting about too. I do believe there are probably more whiting around but there is still plenty of feed midwater to distract them. there are one or two codling showing but these are occasional fish so please don’t come down expecting to fill the freezer though. it is always nice to see them and Reg had our first one of the year. the thorn-backs are moving inshore now with some respectable numbers showing if we can beat the netting boats to them. we have also seen several smooth-hounds and even lost our first bass of the year the other day.
    I have individual spaces and possibility of full boat bookings over the coming months if you want to get out.
    Please be advised that a steady trickle of dates are filling up for 2023 so please get in touch asap if you require a specific date.
    Remember it is often worth giving me a shout if you are cancelled else where and still wish to get out, as we have lots of sheltered fishing available and a big catamaran which makes it even more comfortable.
    Spaces as follows

    26/02- 1 space offshore @ £100pp
    04/03-4 spaces @ £60pp
    05/03- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490
    12/03- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490
    19/03- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490
    25/03- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490
    26/03-offshore trip 5 spaces @ £100pp

    Not all dates advertised, other spaces available for full boat bookings upon request
    For regular updates, availability and more information please visit www.essexseafishing.co.uk find us on social media or call Scott on 07956411528

  • 15/02/2023 Fishing Report by Scott Belbin

    15 Feb 2023 by Scott Belbin

    I thought I should get around to writing a round up of last years fishing aboard the Galloper before we get to far into 2023!
    The year started slowly, as seems to be the case nowadays. When we did get out, our inshore trips saw a mixture of flatties, whiting Rays and dogfish at first. Then as the sprats moved off and the water started to warm up more rays moved inshore, the dogfish came on the feed and everything came to life.
    Further offshore our main target are spurdog at the start of the year. Although when fishing is slow inshore it is nice to see anything decent put a bend in the rod. We catch smooth-hounds 12 months of the year off here nowadays and they always put a bend in the rod. Although at times we have to fight our way through the dogfish we can see a nice variety off there to start the year and 2022 was no different. In our first few trips we saw varying numbers of spurdogs and smooth-hounds, thorn-back rays, bass and even a blonde ray for Barry wood of 14.8lbs. of course there were countless dogfish in between along with several whiting and pouting too.
    As spring progressed our inshore trips continued to improve. The numbers of rays picked up although they were well down on previous years. I believe this is undoubtably linked to increased commercial pressure over the last few years which is of real concern to us. thankfully we still found enough to keep us busy though we had to work a bit harder for them. as we would expect there were plenty of whiting and dogfish mixed in with the rays and some of those whiting were an impressive size. It was also nice to see a few little codling showing in places too. These were only small (6-8inches) but perfectly formed and gave us a glimmer of hope that they aren’t totally extinct! Barry woods pulled another rarity out of the bag on a general trip too. We were fishing very close to shore when I hooked a very lively fish which at first I thought to be a bass. Imagine our surprise when a coalfish popped up from just a few feet of murky water!
    Nowadays we may expect to see hounds and bass offshore 12 months of the year but they do leave the inshore waters for a few months. The water temperature fluctuates far more in the shallower coastal waters. That said both arrived early in the year inshore too and numbers increased as we went into April. By the end of the month we had already seen our first double figure hound of the year. May saw the main influx of smooth-hounds move inshore to coincide with the first malt of the crabs. These are great fun to catch, particularly on our shallow water marks where action can be hectic and their fights are explosive. Grayson had what was probably the biggest hound of the year on his first trip for them. it was a fine fish in well in excess of 15lbs which he caught early on in the trip and released before I could weigh it such was his confidence of an even bigger one! The bass numbers picked up at the same time too which meant our general trips saw some nice variety.
    On our offshore trips our thoughts were turning towards early tope but not before one last decent hit of spurs. It turned out to be one of our best hits of spurs of the year. There were a lot of high doubles and several around and over 20lbs on weight. It all happened at once as a pack passed through. we had numerous multiple hook ups and to be honest I couldn’t keep up with the net so we ended up casually hand balling several double figure spurdogs aboard as if they were dogfish!
    We had to drag ourselves away from these fish as it was well past home time by now but we headed back the next day. experience prevented me from telling the lads about the previous days fishing and I was very glad of that as the pack had moved away overnight! We didn’t see one single spur the next day although we did catch other fish and it certainly wasn’t through lack of effort.
    Towards the end of the spurdog season they seem to spread out and move inshore. this is often when I see reports of other boats catching them. we also had a few mixed in with our general trips as well one or two unsuspecting anglers being bitten off by them.
    By mid-summer the general fishing was well under way, there can be some great mixed fishing at this time of year although the thorn-back rays do eventually thin out. The warmer weather brings the stingrays to the Thames estuary and after a couple of heat waves it was no surprise we had some aboard Galloper. Stephen Charles had has second ever sting ray from the same mark as his first came from the year before! These fish are always great to see this area was famed for producing some very big specimens and they love our shallow inshore waters.
    Further offshore our attention had turned to tope fishing by now, they seemed to be on the drag a little compared to recent years but we got off to a nice start with the first decent one being a male of 43lbs. I must admit we missed my favourite set of tides as I was away on holiday but thankfully we found a few when I returned. We had a couple of days where we had over 10 tope to the boat. Our best was 14 with some cracking fish amongst them. we saw several over 40lbs and the biggest going 49.8lb for Rolf Marschalek. Rolf caught the fish on a Tubertini match rod while he was retackling his uptider!
    Tope fishing often produces some big bass as bi-catch and 2022 was no different. There were several fine fish caught and one of the biggest fell to Honey Gage. Honey has a knack of catching decent fish and I think her secret could be her snazzy hat! I am seriously considering investing in one myself!
    Ian Hewett had one or two decent bass too, he certainly put enough time in for the tope last year. We had a really enjoyable day when he hired the boat on his own for a tope trip. I helped him keep 6 rods fishing on a day which started out slowly. Ian’s tackle had a thorough test when he hooked into what turned out to be a tangled mess of rope and metal from some sort of commercial boat. It must have been rolling around on the seabed for ages accumulating more rubbish along the way. This made it pretty heavy and it filled most of a 7stn fish box so is a testament to Ian’s knots and gear in general that it reached the boat. We pulled it out of the bag at the end of the day with a couple of 30’s a couple of 40’s and some dropped fish in the afternoon.
    Back inshore the general fishing was mostly made up of hounds and bass. There were a couple more runs of decent hounds and although none seemed as big as Grayson’s early season fish there were still some big fish amongst them. young Ernie looked very pleased with his first double figure hound. As did john with one of 15.8lbs.
    The heatwaves did seem to slow some of the fishing down a little but the settled weather meant the mackerel shoaled up so we had a few plays with those. The bass also used this settle weather to shoal up the whitebait and so our offshore trips changed focus to bass for the rest of the summer and autumn. A lot of the summer was spent chasing bass with lures when conditions suited and when they didn’t suit lures we caught them on bait in stead.
    One of our first offshore bass trips of the summer was with Jon Bish and the lads. After a prolonged settle spell the bass had shoaled up all over the place as far as the eye could see. We were spoiled for choice on where to fish and they were competing some much for our lures it wasn’t hard work catching them. we caught vast amounts of bass that day and had some great sport on light gear. It was one of those days when there were more bass than we could shake a shiny thing at! In fact we ended up steaming away from them to try for some mackerel as the lads were completely based out!
    We had a lot of very good bass trips throughout the summer and autumn and far too many to mention but I am sure everybody enjoyed them selves. hopefully we get to do it all again this year too. I also enjoyed seeing some slightly different lures and methods used to great effect when the fish weren’t feeding as hard. I look forward to learning more about those methods this year.
    We only managed a couple of days in the land of no fish last year. Either the weather didn’t play ball or I was already booked which prevented us heading off there. When we did go we managed some different species such as pollock, blonde ray, great weaver and black bream to name a few. I always look forwards to these trips and cant wait to try some new things this year if we get the opportunity.
    As we moved into autumn the rays moved back inshore and we even had one or two codling showing. Those fish we saw at 6-8 inches in the spring were now 14-18 inches long and always a welcome sight these days. The smooth-hounds stayed inshore very late in the year and the dabs turned up early! Everything seems different to what we used to expect nowadays.
    10 years ago I would be hoping for the first one or two double figure cod by late October. Instead last year I was catching big numbers of bass until the end of November and have no doubt they were still there until the end of the year.
    I mentioned Jon Bish’s party earlier and how they enjoyed some fantastic bass fishing on lures on their first trip of the summer. We spent the next trip bait fishing as those autumn fish got their heads down and scoffed our worm. We had some cracking chunky autumn fish on our baits. They had another trip after this fishing lures again but this time in the deep water where the lads got amongst more bass using another different method in another area. We even had a nice pollock to boot!
    We had a couple more trips here to finish off the offshore bass fishing for 2022, the last of which was in late November and you can read about that in this months sea angler magazine.
    As the year came to an end there were still a few codling and thorn-backs to be caught inshore as well as the usual whiting and dogfish plus a dab or pouting here and there. Further offshore the hounds were still showing as they did in every month of the year.
    Moving into this year things are already under way. Those codling that we saw in the autumn have been gorging them selves on sprats for the last couple of months which fattens them up for the spring. There are a few thorn-backs showing already and we have started targeting spur dogs on our offshore trips.
    I have individual spaces and possibility of full boat bookings over the coming months if you want to get out.
    Please be advised that a steady trickle of dates are filling up for 2023 so please get in touch asap if you require a specific date.
    It has been a very busy week with some cracking weather, the phone is ringing a bit more with every week that passes so please get in touch if you require specific dates for later in the year. The forecast looks good for a little while yet so don’t miss out. I have a few spaces in the next week aboard Galloper. I will try and find time to give you something more to read next week.
    Remember it is often worth giving me a shout if you are cancelled else where and still wish to get out, as we have lots of sheltered fishing available and a big catamaran which makes it even more comfortable.
    Spaces as follows
    18/02- 1 space £60pp
    19/02- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490
    25/02- 9 spaces @ £60pp or 7 spaces offshore @ £100pp
    26/02- 8 spaces @ £60pp or 6 spaces offshore @ £100pp
    05/03- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490
    12/03- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490

    Not all dates advertised, other spaces available for full boat bookings upon request
    For regular updates, availability and more information please visit www.essexseafishing.co.uk find us on social media or call Scott on 07956411528

  • 08/02/2023 Fishing Report by Scott Belbin

    8 Feb 2023 by Scott Belbin

    It has been a very busy week with some cracking weather and getting the Galloper back in the water. there are early signs of spring everywhere as the daffodils poke their heads up which usually means the spring run of thorn-backs isn't far away. last trip we had a few rays and expect their numbers to increase over the coming weeks as well as hoping for a little showing of codling too.
    the phone is ringing a bit more with every week that passes so please get in touch if you require specific dates for later in the year. The forecast looks good for a little while yet so don’t miss out. I have a few spaces in the next week aboard Galloper. I will try and find time to give you something more to read next week.
    Remember it is often worth giving me a shout if you are cancelled else where and still wish to get out, as we have lots of sheltered fishing available and a big catamaran which makes it even more comfortable.
    Spaces as follows
    12/02 (this Sunday)- offshore trip 1 space @ £100pp
    15/02- offshore trip 2 spaces @ £100pp
    18/02- 8 spaces £60pp
    19/02- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490
    25/02- 9 spaces @ £60pp or 7 spaces offshore @ £100pp
    26/02- 8 spaces @ £60pp or 6 spaces offshore @ £100pp
    05/03- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490

    Not all dates advertised, other spaces available for full boat bookings upon request
    For regular updates, availability and more information please visit www.essexseafishing.co.uk find us on social media or call Scott on 07956411528

  • 01/2023 Fishing Report by Scott Belbin

    Jan 2023 by Scott Belbin

    Just a quick one for those of you who are interested. Please check out this months Sea Angler magazine for (among other things) my article covering our 2021 trip to Plymouth aboard the Galloper. We had a great time with new experiences as well as a new crew member in the form of our then 6 week old Son Stanley Belbin. Of course there are plenty of other great articles and reports in this issue too. We have got this years big adventure planned already and I’ve no doubt there will be others too along the way. Please get in touch if you want to be involved.
    I have individual spaces and possibility of full boat bookings over the coming months if you want to get out.
    Please be advised that a steady trickle of dates are filling up for 2023 so please get in touch asap if you require a specific date.
    Remember it is often worth giving me a shout if you are cancelled else where and still wish to get out, as we have lots of sheltered fishing available and a big catamaran which makes it even more comfortable.
    Spaces as follows
    05/02-individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490
    12/02- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490 possible offshore trip upon request
    18/02- 8 spaces £60pp
    19/02- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490
    25/02- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490 possible offshore trip upon request
    26/02- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490
    05/03- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490

    Not all dates advertised, other spaces available for full boat bookings upon request
    For regular updates, availability and more information please visit www.essexseafishing.co.uk find us on social media or call Scott on 07956411528

  • 01/2023 Fishing Report by Scott Belbin

    Jan 2023 by Scott Belbin

    Last year (2022) we had such a busy summer we struggled to find time to head off to the land of no fish (some of the marks a long way offshore) but we did manage a couple of days when weather, tides and people made it possible to go exploring. We had been busy bass fishing on a lot of the suitable tides and this had been prolific. Even when we did manage to get off to the land of no fish we were distracted by bass. We passed loads working on the steam in and out but chose to ignore them or we wouldn’t have time for everything. On the first day we headed in one direction with a plan for mixed fishing on wrecks, drifting for flatties ect and some bass on the way home. We started on the drift and the lads sent various rigs to the bottom trying to entice a plaice. Most of the lads were new to this so rigs and set ups took a little refining through the day. I got some feathers out to try and add some fresh bait to the table. It soon became clear there was no shortage of bass around as the first fish to come up on feathers and baits were bass. We picked a few mackerel up along with the odd gurnard, launce and horse mackerel. We decided to steam a little further and try some other marks we had drifted towards in the hope of some more mackerel and other species. We had some pouting, whiting and scad before setting another drift up for flatties. The tide was just coming right for the plaice but as we drifted down I could see a mass of birds working. We may not have been here for bass but the lads didn’t need asking twice if they wanted to go and catch some more. I set the boat up for the first drift on a blisteringly hot, flat calm sunny day. we drifted towards the boiling mass of fish and the lads sent their lures towards them. they were all into fish immediately of course and as they played them to the boat the mass of bass followed the exited fish towards us. the water visibility was at least 10ft that day and as we looked beneath the hooked fish the water was thick with countless bass under them. most fish were 4-7lbs but there were several doubles amongst them. it was like gazing down into a koi pond teaming with bass and the shoal was huge, stretching as far as I could see! what was the funniest thing though was the lads reaction. I often say that fishing seems to turn a 60 year old man into an excited schoolboy again but on this occasion some middle aged men were screaming at me like over excited girls. ‘I’ve got one skip’ was the first cry then ‘ I’ve hooked a cracking bass off the surface skip’ which turned into everybody going ‘look at them, there’s bass everywhere! Look at them look at all those bass!’ As if I don’t have eyes myself of course. It was amazing to see and the stuff of a bass anglers dreams. suddenly I found myself needing 6 landing nets all at once. We had a series of drifts through these over the next couple of hours we had several more drifts and lots more bass, a few mackerel and some scad. The bass were finicky at times and it seemed they were switched on to small bats that matched the whitebait they were feeding on. Several of the lads had great success on strings of mini sand eels with a slow pitch jig on the bottom. This would often result in 4 chunky bass over 4-5lbs coming in at a time though! The other lads persevered with surface lures and caught on all manor of lures. Although the fish were still feeding I did remind the lads that we had spent over 2 hours chasing these bass and if they wanted a shot at something else we should probably make a move. Although it was hard to drag ourselves away we did just that and I set up a drift for flatties again. The lads added dogfish to the list of species and shortly after some plaice too along with more gurnards and several pesky lesser weaver fish. as the tide got going we tried a few drifts on another mark on the way home. This produced more bass before we made tracks for the day. the bass had somewhat taken over our trip but they had been great fun, we had seen well in excess of 100 of them through the day and some cracking fish too. Of course the lads only kept their 2 per person and on days like this the bag limit is both a blessing and a curse. Some may say it is pointless catching so many without keeping them but to me that isn’t what angling is about. It’s best to fish for what’s there and the bass were there on that day for sure.
    The next day were headed back offshore to the land of no fish again. This time I wanted to try and avoid the bass so headed so an area 10-15 miles away from the previous day. the weather was spot on again as we steamed out past yet another mass of birds working over bass. We ignored them in order to save time as we had even further to steam today. Plenty of yarns were shared and tea was downed to pass the time as the lads tackled up. I planned to fish an area we have caught several turbot, brill and blonde ray from but try fishing at anchor today. I was hoping this might allow us more time with our baits where the fish are as well as improving the chance of more rays. We had some mackerel left from the day before to start off but Fresh mackerel were plentiful here anyway so I could top up the bait as the lads got fishing. unsurprisingly the first fish to come out on our fresh mackerel baits were some dogfish and whiting. While feathering for mackerel myself and Alex also had horse mackerel, launce and Alex had a greater weaver! This is only the second one I have seen from the Essex coast. Alex’s dad Steve wasn’t left out either as he caught a small blonde ray. There were also a few tub gurnard caught before the tide began to ease.
    We decided to take a run to a wreck over slack tide. we had 3 nice slow drifts of the wreck which produced several species. Near the surface there were still plenty of mackerel, as they neared the wreck there were lots of pouting and a few horse mackerel mixed in. the lads were mostly fishing baited feathers and a couple fished sidewinders. Steve Canham had a little codling while Alex had a pollock, uncle steve had another pollock as well as himself and dad managing to find a black bream each among the barrage of pouting. As the tide seemed to have turned we decided to drift another mark a few times before we had to head home. Aside from a few bites and small fish we didn’t get any turbot or brill which was a shame. All too soon we had to head home, unfortunately that long steam limits our fishing time. There were some bass feeding on the way home but they were a bit out of our way and it had already been a long enough day so we had to ignore them. It hadn’t been an electric day but it had been fun .it’s always nice to see different species, it’s just a shame that there weren’t a few more of them and a bit bigger size.
    We had a few more runs to the land of no fish in 2023 but were mostly distracted by bass each time. They were generally a great stamp and numerous in places. We also had some more scad, pouting, mackerel, gurnard and pollock. The biggest going 5.8lbs.
    I have individual spaces and possibility of full boat bookings over the coming months if you want to get out.
    Please be advised that a steady trickle of dates are filling up for 2023 so please get in touch asap if you require a specific date.
    Remember it is often worth giving me a shout if you are cancelled else where and still wish to get out, as we have lots of sheltered fishing available and a big catamaran which makes it even more comfortable.
    Spaces as follows
    05/02-individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490
    12/02- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490 possible offshore trip upon request
    18/02- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490
    19/02- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490
    25/02- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490 possible offshore trip upon request
    26/02- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490
    05/03- individual spaces £60pp or full boat bookings from £490

    Not all dates advertised, other spaces available for full boat bookings upon request
    For regular updates, availability and more information please visit www.essexseafishing.co.uk find us on social media or call Scott on 07956411528

  • 22/12/2022 Fishing Report by Scott Belbin

    22 Dec 2022 by Scott Belbin

    This week I thought I would focus on the coddling we have seen over the last couple of months on our general trips. since their disappearance 8 years ago we have all-but given up expecting to catch these fish. however this year has seen a slight improvement in their numbers even if the stamp isn’t huge. I have said the last few winters that I would be happy to average one per trip throughout the season. This may seem a low target but even this hasn’t been achievable of late. So I am pleased to have averaged just under 2 per general trip. Not bad considering we spend so much time chasing bass and even when we were on general trips we couldn’t always reach where to codling were due to weather or tides. Obviously these numbers are still woefully low in comparison to years gone by but hopefully it is a sign that all is not lost yet. Of course in between there have been numbers of thorn-backs, smooth-hounds and bass. Let alone huge volumes of whiting and dogfish interspersed with pouting and dabs at times. Keep an eye on the next few months offshore trips when our attention will turn to spur dogs, thorn-backs, smooth-hounds with a chance of bass or even a cod. Please get in touch if you want to have a go at these.
    I have individual spaces and possibility of full boat bookings over the Christmas period if you want to get out.
    Remember it is often worth giving me a shout if you are cancelled else where and still wish to get out, as we have lots of sheltered fishing available and a big catamaran which makes it even more comfortable.
    Spaces as follows
    27/12/22 Whole boat or individual availability for general trips
    28/12/22- 7 spaces @ £60pp
    29/12/22-offshore trip 3 spaces @ £100pp
    31/12/22-possible offshore trip @ £100pp
    01/01/23-possible offshore trip @ £100pp
    02/01/23-possible offshore trip @ £100pp
    Not all dates advertised, other spaces available for full boat bookings upon request
    For regular updates, availability and more information please visit www.essexseafishing.co.uk find us on social media or call Scott on 07956411528

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