26th July - Seaford

Aziza and Bass

Regular client Shak had booked this trip as present to his family, as part of the once a year family get-together. Poor Shak had been stressing a bit about it, with family coming in from all over the world. But I had told him not to worry, that it was booked for July. That July is in the middle of the Summer, and the weather was bound to be kind. Well, Day 1 I cancelled, due to the combination of weed and horrible weather. Knowing how much it meant to Shak that the day went well, I must admit I was keen to cancel day 2 as well, but after inspecting a couple of venues with Shak and his Father Anwar first thing in the morning, we agreed to give it a go at Seaford, which actually looked quite promising for a few fish. So, in the early afternoon, we chipped up and gave it our best shot, three generations of Shaks family, fishing five rods between them. Shak's mum Aziza was first away, with a schoolie showing that some fish were prepared to feed.

Shak's Dad, Anwar, with a nice string of mackerel and weed!!

We fished the rods between two methods, Mackerel feathers hoping for mackerel, and simple two hook paternosters hoping for anything else. The bass got confused at times however..........

Family fun at Seaford beach

Anwar with bass on the feathers

I did have a crowd pleaser rod out for the duration, but it seemed there were only small bass and mackerel that were likely to entertain us. THey certainly did that, keeping the day interesting and focused. Aziza found that using her normal handline technique to hook the fish, and the rod to retrieve them worked very well for her. An interesting fusion of two very different techniques, but she certainly used it to good effect on the school bass.

Aziza with another one

Tariq and the last catch of a much loved and travelled rod

Some people like to fish with their own tackle, and this was Shak's brother Tariq. He pulled out a veteran of many fishy battles in Dubai, where he lives, and proceeded to show it works just as well on Sussex beaches, pulling in a string of mackerel. However, the sad thing was that just after the picture above, the rod snapped clean in two, and looked pretty much unrepairable to me. Still, it had died the way every good rod should do, in the thick of the action!!!

With the tide dropping away, we gathered our encampment up, and prepared to set off. All except one. Aziza. Determined to fish until the very last opportunity, she turned and asked "Just one more cast, Robin?" Anwar is a lucky man. His wifes passion for catching fish is the equal of his own. He will never have to make excuses to get out fishing..........!!