With temperatures hitting a sweltering 27oC at the weekend it was always going to be a difficult week for the beach and pier angler and so it proved with the shore angler reporting very little in daylight hours.
The Clacton beaches on the evening tides are now seeing some of our autumn favourites the whiting returning to our beaches this week, although early in the season for them it’s great to get a few bites from these voracious feeders. Local anglers Steve Simpson and Kevin Blears fished the Clacton beaches on an evening tide and reported that the whiting were indeed feeding with school bass being caught from the end of the rocky breakwaters.
Rob Hudson fished the Holland beaches also on an evening tide, and he also caught a few whiting, but very little else.
Clacton Pier is still the place to be with bass being caught on most tides. John Rickwood had some great sport with bass in the 2lb range. If you fancy a try for these the best bait will be ragworm fished straight down, so no casting involved and the ebb tides will produce more fish.
St Osyth beach has also been fairly quiet, but to be honest we are now in the height of summer and it can be hard going, however the odd bass to 4lbs has been caught plus eels and whiting.
My trip this week was down to the Jaywick beaches during a daytime floodtide and going along with the trend I struggled as well, only catching small eels and very small bass.
The Frinton beaches have fared slightly better with soles, bass, and some whiting showing on the evening tides.
Walton Pier continues to see bass being caught to lures on the ebb tides and soles from the club hut area on the evening tides. Those thornback rays are still being caught from the top of the pier although not with the regularity that we have seen at the beginning of the month. The place to be is to fish either side of the pier on the beach; the evening tides are producing small bass, eels and soles, so plenty of bites and sport to be had on light fishing gear.
The Naze beaches from Hipkin’s beach towards Stone Point are now producing some bigger bass, although weed can be a problem, but still worth a session.
The boats have had a steady week with smooth-hounds, bass and thornback rays. The highlight of the week has to be a stingray weighing in at 60lbs for Chris Gillett from the boat Catch Maker out of Titchmarsh Marina Walton and is the heaviest fish reported this year.
Not a brilliant week, but smooth-hounds and bass for the boat angler, and for the shore angler the cooler periods on the evening tides has produced soles, some bass and early whiting.
The high tides for the weekend are Saturday 14.57pm and Sunday 15.35pm
