southwold pier/river

[shooter tom]

i have been thinking about trying doing some spinning at southwold pier or the river mouth. anyone tried it, if so how did it go.

thanks, tom

[fishbonkers]

Hi Tom,

I assume you are after bass. I gave the river a go many times last year with plugs and spinners, and it was poor (mind you, so was all of the fishing). Talking to people then, I learnt that there were a few bass caught, usually up to 4 lb, but I think we have to set our sights low and be happy with one fish per session of a few hours, because there doesn't seem to be a community of resident fish in the river, thanks to people putting a net across in recent years. My guess is that a few come in on the flood and get out of it fast on the ebb. Quiet, early mornings are always best here - the bass are very shy of boats. Dexter wedge cast about 45 degrees uptide for 2/3 across the river and wound back is a good method, you need to experiment with counting down before you start winding. I still can't fathom out the changes in depths here - there seems to be a bathtub shape to the river bottom, with the odd quite long, deep groove here and there. Also baited spoon method can work around the bridge area. Best to check out the snags at low water. There are mullet in July/Aug but I have never seen one caught here. The concrete 'bride' has a few areas you can fish from, but it is difficult bringing up a lively fish without losing it. Don't fish the springs, the bore is fast and furious as it is - and the water is dirtier the higher the tide is....not good for spinning or plugging. You can wade in the bit behind the Alfred Correy lifeboat museum, but watch it, the water movement can tip you off balance if you're not careful.

I don't know about the pier, there are not many spots you can fish from, and there are too many people around for my liking. But there is a nice sandbank not too far out from the beach between the pier to the harbour entrance. You can see the water breaking all along it. Wading and using a bass bullet along it, at daybreak, could be a good way to fish it.



I hope this helps.

Good hunting.

[shooter tom]

thanks for the reply.

i am planning a fishing trip out sometime next week if your interested. i will take bait and lures. i also have a little 3 man rib with an outboard so if the waves arnt too big we might be able to spin around the pier.

reply back if your interested. tom

[Gremlin]

Small redgill (light coloured) across the river mouth and/or worked upstream.

Go further up and we used to catch bass on roadkill-guts ...
I'm not sure if the abattoir is still there????

[cvt123]

Gremlin (hello again)
When you mean 'further up' - do you mean upstream? I have heard of bass being caught on guts and bacon in the river (never tried). Something to do with the commercial fishing boats and also the bacon from the crabbing lot.

With the red-gill - do you use a float?

[Gremlin]

I don't live in the area any more; but there used to be an abattoir somewhere up near the old railway line.

Anyway, rabbit liver/heart used to be a good bait fished over the top of the tide in the Blyth for bass.

We used to fish small white and natural rubber eels as on the 'flying collar'-type rig. The trick was to 'spin' it near the bottom and slowly -



Good luck!

[cvt123]

nice one - like the rig!!!