EDP report 26/09/12

The low pressure that’s brought all this rain also brought a bit of a lift in the sea and a few fish seem to have responded to the conditions. Rob Allen had some school bass and his first codling of the season from the shingle and there were similar catches from Cley down to Cromer, including some decent bass showing on the pier. The sandy beaches in the east were not as heavily fished as the shingle but still produced a few school bass and although the whiting have been about all year there seem to be a few more in reports now than a week or so back. Anglers looking for an early codling in the rough conditions have not found too many about though a nice 6lb bass came off Gorleston near the wreck and there have been some codling in the rough stuff, the best I’ve seen a nice early fish around 4lb.

We lose this low pressure towards the weekend which is a shame because the tides are slightly better, though the stir up should still see a few fish on the beach this weekend. Whiting and hopefully a few codling will start to take the place of the school bass in the reports over the next few weeks. I’ll be having a chuck locally over the weekend, to blow away the cobwebs as much as anything, but keep an eye on the south of the patch as that’s where they usually show first.

EDP report 19/09/12

A quiet week on the regions beaches last week, and that form is likely to continue with high pressure settled over us for the week and neap tides into the weekend. One or two small codling have shown in the reports from the south of the region, along with a few dogfish, very early yet though and they are very small at around 40cm. In the east bass are still the target, though to me this year seems poor for those better fish, I can only recall one double figure fish early in the year, we normally see a few of those through the season. There have been a lot of school bass so there are some positives. The north Norfolk shingle can usually be relied upon to produce a few flatfish and there are still bass showing too, but I noticed even the flats seem to be small and not in great numbers yet, though they’ll pick up as autumn progresses to winter.

Holt Sac fished the Cockaday Cup at Salthouse last weekend, a good turnout for the match following reports of some bass showing on the Friday evening, unfortunately somebody forgot to tell the bass to turn up and only twenty sizeable fish were carded. Mike Watts won the day with three fish for 1lb 3oz. Tony Thomas managed four fish for a level pound with Henry Randell taking third with two fish for 13oz. Holt stalwart, Dene Conway, didn’t fish the match he was away in Holland representing the Sea Anglers Match Federation in a match against Holland and Belgium. Dene reports that all involved had a great time with ‘England’ taking the honours with two great results on both match days beating Holland into second place by a huge margin, all despite being a man down due to illness on the second day, well done to all involved.

EDP report 12/09/12

Apologies for the last two delayed reports, I was laid low by technology issues which are all remedied now, just in time for a few nice fish in the report! In the deep south there have been a few codling in recent catch reports, nothing much bigger than 38-40cm and not unusual for this time of the year but a good omen nonetheless. I’ve seen them figure at Thorpeness, Aldeburgh, Southwold and Dunwich so far this year, they’ve been conspicuous by their absence for the last couple of years, maybe we are due a good season? Further north and there are still a few sole in Pakefield bay along with a few smoothound pups and whiting. Yarmouth is similar though I notice not so many bass from the river this year which could be down to the conditions as there have been plenty of school bass elsewhere. East Norfolk has been slow and last weekend’s tropical weather didn’t provide the best conditions for beach fishing. Kayakers managed to get away from the hustle and bustle of the beach and find some mackerel and bass not too far off, with several catches of between 3 and 4 nice fit bass making the paddle worthwhile. Cart Gap, Walcott, Mundesley and Trimingham all produced a few and there were fish off the beach too during darkness.

EDP report 05/09/12

Saturday was the day to be out and about, the northerly we’d seen from Thursday through Friday eased over the weekend and gave some very bassy conditions on the east Norfolk beaches. School bass showed on most beats from Cromer to Sea Palling. There were also school bass and flounders on the shingle in the north of the region. Below Yarmouth and the northerly starts to lose its influence on the beaches, the whiting showed but the sole were noticeably shy of the numbers in the previous couple of weeks, they’ll show again as the weather settles. Thoughts will be turning to codling on the beaches below Yarmouth and there are certainly more whiting about now, Corton down to Ness point will give you the best chances of an early codling.

Below Lowestoft and the sole should still show with the whiting, and again there’s a chance of a codling from Southwold pier, Aldeburgh or Orford. Tides are falling this week and the wind is forecast to swing westwards which should encourage a few more sole to feed, but plans are now focusing on a late bass or an early codling, catching rough seas as they fine down will give the best chances.