Catch Fish with
Mike Ladle

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SEA FISHING

25 March 2005

A look see at the sea.

I went down to the coast this morning. I was up at four-o-clock to catch the first light and it was just about right by the time I'd driven to the coast and walked to my chosen spot. Despite the recent good weather (it's been lovely in Dorset for weeks) I found that the sea was rough and dirty - a bit of a downer. In fact there was such a big sea running that I had trouble getting along the shore at high water (one big wave had me off my feet on the way back).

For half-an-hour I fished a J7 Rapala (small in case the fish were small) but there was no sign of anything. As the light improved a switched to a Crystal Minnow in order to cast a bit further but still there was no sign of life. Finally I had a go with a Skitterpop but I did not expect anything on this because it's a bit early for surface action. It was interesting that the Rapala was pretty much weed-free but the crystal minnow (fishing a bit deeper) picked up loose bits of weed on every cast.

As it approached high tide a few surfers came down - I expect it was just to their liking. As often happens when there are big waves pounding the beach, the hoppers (= beach fleas) came out of the sand and marched up the shore to avoid being washed into the drink. There were millions of them. I'm sure I've said it before but, in the days when I used to keep bass to eat I never found these things in their stomachs and yet vast numbers of them must finish up in the drink. I'm sure that something must eat them some times.

If you have any comments or questions about fish, methods, tactics or 'what have you.'get in touch with me by sending an E-MAIL to - docladle@hotmail.com

Surf

Hoppers.

Closer view.