28/10/11 Another Fine Bass.....But No Cod!

HW 1250 6.4m  1030-1430hrs  BT36
On the 24th I made another attempt to winkle a bass from some ideal surf at the secret mark but to no avail. In fact, I found it a little uncomfortable standing in the sea for two biteless hours. Simon has fared similarly, although he did spook some bass whilst wading in the shallows on west beach. They're proving difficult this year although a few are being caught locally including a recently reported 'seven' from Felpham .
  On the 27th I had a short pike session behind Dave's and again, with no success at all. I didn't feel too bad however, as fishing the same bank was my old mate Martin Ayres ,one of the first Arun pikers that I'd met in 2005 on the Watersfield stretch, and indeed possibly the only regular piking face I've ever seen on the river.
Martin has 'defected' over to P.A.S waters possibly due to P&B losing the Hardham stretch and with it, 'the jungle'- Martin's favourite beat and the scene of a few of my own successes. It's unlikely to be available in the near future as the farmer is adamant that, following the completion of the reservoir, he doesn't want people on his land.
  It was interesting to compare our results with pike on the river( I would imagine we both put in a similar amount of effort) and to discover that he finds it just a difficult as I do. He'd blanked that morning as well.
  And so to today's little outing. I'd contacted Neil with a question about the likelihood of the conditions being favourable for reef bass due to colour in the water after recent rough weather. Here's his fascinating reply;
  'I reckon the water will be dirty, it pushes the Bass inshore, they feed heavily on ragworm, which are in their spawning cycle now, the ragworm come out of the sand at night in the dirty water, the drift nets < twin sisters>and <voyager> hit them hard but they have to get the fish to market quickly as they are stuffed with ragworm and spoil quickly, the price drops dramatically very quickly as the market gets flooded with fish, I spoke to Paul on voyager   yesterday and he has already started netting with some success , our turn comes as the water clears, and the fish move back to the rock,where they concentrate on spratt, which is why i favour the fladen 60 gm stingers, as they are a good representation. Cod are now showing heavily in the nets, especially around the weather station, but i personally haven't caught any there despite several attempts, ive had about a dozen Cod now to 15 lbs, all on squid baits, ive had them at the fishtail, west ditch, kingmere, Black ledge, and the dutchess, so well spread out,,,, hope to see u out there over the weekend weather permitting, let me know how you get on, all the best.'
   Being in between night shifts and taking advantage of the one day window in the weather, I decided to head straight for #28 and fish squid baits at anchor until about 2-30p.m.The water wasn't actually that coloured but boats on the radio reported a barren Kingmere, so it was the correct decision.
  Bites came from the off with an endless stream of pout and dogs as the massive 6.4 m tide flooded. The boat turned quickly at slack, but the 'nuisance' species seem to shut off as the ebb picked up and I hoped that my squid baits would be left alone for something bigger to find.It didn't take long for a screaming run to materialise on the light outfit(yes i can now hear the Avet's clicker)and up came this cracking bass(yet another 6 1/2 pounder) which shouldn't have really been there..........or should it?
  A few more dogs and pout showed and then the big baits were getting mullered by 'snappers' so, on with a small hook, and up came a nice bream to take home for tomorrow's tea. Eventually the strength of the tide and huge clumps of weed, proved to be too much so it was time to call it. 
A couple of cod did come up to boats in the area-Russ who'd anchored a few yards uptide on #23 got a 15lb fish for his boat partner, Alan(Walrus) on #2 reported a 'Greenback' (cod) and I think two clonkers also came up on #2 also, but I can't confirm it.
  So, I didn't get a cod but know roughly their whereabouts but was i disappointed with the day's fishing?........................ I don't think so.
Back at the marina and mullet are still in evidence, and in numbers. The water is very murky due to both upstream rain(it's running like tea at Arundel)and rough seas, but the temperature hasn't dropped yet this year. In the past we always thought they left the river with the first of the heavy autumn rain and It's been a real rarity to catch a November fish but, how much of that is because we've been unable to see them? I'll keep a close eye out for them in the coming weeks.
   How did the new kit check out? 
I 've used the Avets a few times now and despite it being quite difficult to be objective about something that you just spent a few hundred quid on, I really cannot fault them. Quite simply, they are both superb, and even the clicker on the Sx has improved volume wise, since I removed some of the grease from the mechanism. 
The Kenzaki 12/20 was my light outfit today and whilst it is a very good rod, and I can see why it's so highly regarded, I still think the Sk is a better tool for various reasons. What i will try Is rigging the Daiwa with mono and using it as an uptide outfit as a full-on uptide rod is far too cumbersome in the confines of my small cockpit.