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EDP report 25/04/12

Another stream of steady catches on the regions beaches this week, there seem to be a few school bass on most of them along with chances of a better fish. Holt SAC fished the first leg of their summer accumulator at Salthouse; John carter with a bonus bass took the top spot with 3lb 8oz, with Sam Attew an ounce away in second and Ivan Allen in third with 3lb 5oz,  a very close match with 3 ounces separating the top 3 places. The second leg of the summer accumulator was held at Kelling last Sunday, Sheringham ace Tony Thomas was a good 1lb and a half better than second placed Pete Loke on the day. Tony managed 21 fish for 4lb 15ounces, Pete had 9 for 3lb 4oz with Bill Beeton and Mike Watts sharing third spot with 2lb 12oz. Tony’s catch was boosted by the only bass landed in the match, a nice school bass of 36cm. Fish of the day was undoubtedly Pete Loke’s dab, a colossus at 36cm converting to 1lb 3oz, a monster for this species off our coastline.

There have been a few more bass of the eastern beaches, and unfortunately, sorry tales of Cromer Pier bass catches ending up in local eateries. Sadly this goes on most years, it’s a shame when so many recreational anglers are doing what they can to protect our sport. Selling fish without a licence is illegal and contravenes EU regulation, but more than that for me, it’s just really sad to see our beautiful bass the target of “recreational profiteers”. There have been plenty of school bass below Cromer and Trimingham, Mundesley and Bacton have all produced their fair share, with some northerly winds forecast this week there should be a few bass about these beaches all week.

A little quieter on the beaches further south, there are still whiting and flats around Yarmouth and Lowestoft and the former will produce some bass to lures in the river as the spring and summer progress. The same can be said for Southwold and the sole will only be a few weeks away, I’m hoping we have a better season this year than last. Aldeburgh and Orford have produced some small codling, dogfish and occasional school bass. The Ness will soon be full of nesting birds if it isn’t already, time to head north and east over the next week for the best sport.

EDP report 18/04/12

A steady week on the regions beaches though the east and north seem to offer best chances of decent sport. The northerly that had us shivering brought a few codling and bass within casting range from Cley down to Sea Palling, Chris Bulch had a nice codling amongst a few bits at Trimingham, in my opinion, we are just coming into the best times for the beaches in the east, from now through May we should see some good quality bass and the odd codling on some of the prettiest beaches in the region.

The shingle in the north produced its fair share of bass and can usually be relied upon for a few flats too, the smoothounds often turn up here in spring before they head off to the Lincolnshire beaches where they seem to hang about for the summer. Yarmouth beaches will soon have their fare share of hounds and bass too, with some lure sport in the river down to Breyford whilst further southwards will hopefully see a few more sole this year, I don’t recall too many caught last year.

In the old days we may have put our kit away from around now, the cod season would be about over aside from a few springers, but these days some of our best and most consistent sport is to be had through the spring and summer. That sport is now looming, now is the time to get your gear cleaned and tidied, stock up on those bits and bats you might need and get ready for some proper bass!

EDP report 11/04/12

Good tides and halfway decent seas saw some early season bass on the beach between Cromer and Sea Palling. Denver Garry had 5 nice ones at Cromer, most around the 2lb mark but one a decent 3.5lber. There were also bass reported at Trimingham and Mundesley though the weed has also been a nuisance at both venues. Bass and flats reported at Bacton, including a small turbot, we seem to get a few of these turn up in April and May most years, sadly most are small. There are still a few dogfish about and fish baits are well worth a chuck at the minute. There have been a few bass caught on the shingle too but nothing like the numbers that have shown further down the coast, still there’s plenty of dabs and flounders to keep rod tips rattling up there.

Yarmouth’s river and beaches have produced a few flats and whiting along with a smattering of small codling. There have been odd better fish between Corton and Ness point though whiting and small codling are the norm. It’s a similar story from Lowestoft, Dunwich and Southwold, small codling, whiting and dabs figuring in catch reports. A little more variety at Aldeburgh and over on Orford, with the usual small codling and whiting along with dogfish, flats and herring to shrimp lures. The weather seems to be returning to seasonal average from the summer like days of a couple of weeks ago, I think by the new moon tides in a couple of weeks we’ll be seeing plenty more bass figuring in catches and maybe even some better codling as the crabs start to moult in earnest. Decent northerly in the forecast into this weekend which could well see the school bass feeding in east Norfolk, it looks the place to go to try for one of those early season silver bars.

EDP report 04/04/12

How things can change in a week! Last Wednesday we had 20 degrees and sunshine, this week and we’ve had a return to wintry showers and a biting east wind. The weekends northerly wind put a bit of a surf on the east Norfolk beaches and they responded producing a few school bass, flats and dogs despite the small tides. Mundesley and Trimingham were the pick of the east beaches with several reports of school bass, flounders, dogfish and whiting, the better bass will only be a few tides away now and will be in for a feed as soon as the crabs start to moult. The shingle in the north has been generally quieter, there are still dabs and flounders to be caught but I haven’t seen any bass in reports from there yet, it’s only a matter of time before they figure though.

The beaches around Yarmouth have produced flats and whiting with very occasional codling in the usual haunts and it is a similar story around Lowestoft, the features around Corton and North beach still holding a few small codling and whiting. Kessingland and Dunwich have produced some dabs and whiting and that form continues down to Southwold and Aldeburgh. Orford has produced a few dogfish amongst the whiting and codlets. There is some more northerly wind to come into this weekend and with bigger tides and high water around dusk and the ebb into darkness, the eastern beaches from Yarmouth up to Cromer will be worth a go with bass and codling on the cards.