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09/2019 Fishing Report by Scott Belbin

Sep 2019 by Scott Belbin

although there are still a few summer fish around most have moved off now and the best of the summer fish have gone. We had a great summer here on the blackwater with good numbers of bass and smooth-hounds. often these fish were close to home which maximised our fishing time and minimised cancellations. With the one bass per angler regulations there were often times when the lads could stop of bass on the way out or way in and concentrate on the hounds and general fishing for the rest of the day. fishing for hounds in shallow water is one of my favourites and many of our anglers look forwards to their arrival each year. We had good numbers of double figure fish through out most of the summer. there were often fish mid doubles but we couldn’t seem to get over 17.2lbs as the big girls always seemed to get away. luckily for us they tend to show for one last set of tides before moving off and we got amongst them.
One of the days Dave had ended up hiring the boat by himself. Dave has just got back into sea angling and is very keen to learn. He has picked up loads over the last few months and with the boat to himself could build his confidence in casting ect. We had to work hard to avoid the weed which come loose from further up river and on the mud flats as it started to die off. We moved a couple of times and found a nice clear mark with a few fish. he lost a nice size bass just short of the net and was re-casting when his other rod nearly left the boat! After a good scrap he soon had a new PB smooth-hound and the biggest of the year on board the ‘Galloper’. It was a fine fish of 22.13lbs which went very well in little more than 4ft of water! We had a few more bass and hounds that day but nothing to match this fish.
The majority of the hounds have moved off now, there are still a few small ones mixed in with our general trips. These are mostly producing thorn-back rays, dogfish and whiting with the odd hound or bass mixed in. further offshore we will still see better numbers of bass and I still have a few spaces on the banks in October. I also have plenty of space up until Christmas and into next year I cant promise any cod but I can promise you will have more chance of catching one if you wet a line than if you stay at home.
For more information, weekly reports and availability please visit www.essexseafishing.co.uk
Find us on facebook or call 07956411528
08/2019 Fishing Report by Scott Belbin

Aug 2019 by Scott Belbin

summer 2019 keeps marching on, as I write it doesn’t look much like summer out side my window but we will be back out fishing again very soon. Our run of good weather may have come to an end but the good fishing has continued. The larger hounds moved further afield towards to end of last month. There is still some good fishing to be had within the sheltered areas but the direction of wind and size of the tide need to be right to make it worth while. We have snuck a few days in when these work in our favour and of course the weather has been pleasant on several days in between. when we have got out we have found some nice mixed fishing. the average size of smooth-hound has been down on the earlier part of the year but there are still good numbers and a few double figure fish showing among them. The thorn-back rays have been showing in numbers too. these are a smaller stamp of fish than we tend to see in the spring or autumn but there are still a few better fish in there and they will be bigger as time goes on. We are still seeing plenty of bass on most trips. The lads have had some lovely chunky fish and sometimes in very shallow water. The other day we were fishing in such shallow clear water I could see the anchor! Its hard to beat catching a 3-4lb bass on light gear in water like this. Watching them dart around all over the place as they have nowhere else to go. The bass should hang around until the end of October in places and I have offered some offshore bass trips up accordingly. Hopefully we are due an Indian summer. The highlight of last month for me was a ‘nearly’ fish. this area isn’t known for its variety of species, I have seen several on the boat over the years (we’re up to 32 on CBUK) so something different is always nice. I got a surprise when we were packing up the other day. I was hauling the anchor and the last few lads were winding in when Dave’s reached the surface and there was a red mullet hanging off of his 4/0 hook! Although these fish show regularly in nets in the autumn around here its not what we were expecting while fishing for hounds. I shut the capstan down and darted for the net but as dave lifted it in it fell off, sat on the surface a few moments then swam off.
Some fish do make it on the boat and if you want to join us please visit
www.essexseafishing.co.uk
follow the essex sea fishing page on facebook
or call scott on 07956411528 for more information
07/2019 Fishing Report by Scott Belbin

Jul 2019 by Scott Belbin

Yet again I have neglected to put a report on here for a while so I thought it was time for a quick update on the fishing here in the blackwater. So far the summer has been kind to us here at mersea island. Although the weather may not have been as settled as last year we have still had loads of nice days and lost very few trips. The smooth-hounds have been in good numbers and size so far this year. Most trips are seeing plenty of hounds with the odd double figure fish thrown in. some trips have seen good numbers of doubles and the biggest that has made it onto the boat so far was 15.10lbs although several others have been close behind and with the numbers of decent fish around there’s plenty of time for the first 20lber to come out.
The bass fishing has been great so far this year, there have been great numbers coming out at times on our general inshore trips with most falling to worm baits or when conditions suit we have been catching several at a time on feathers. We might have a go for them offshore soon and will offer offshore trips for bass until the end of October.
The thorn-backs have thinned out a little now and moved further offshore. We should still see one or two on our general trips and numbers offshore at times but we should see them return in numbers in the late summer early autumn.
There have been a few tope around again this year, they showed early (probably due to the early spring we had) and our first trips saw good numbers of mackerel too. unfortunately the unsettle weather seems to have dispersed the mackerel inshore so we had to source bait from else where on our last trips. We should get another trip or two in before they move off.
We have also seen a few other bits and bobs mixed in such as the odd stingray or gurnard to brighten up our trips. Altogether it seems to be shaping up to be a good summer here in the blackwater.
I have a few dates left over the summer and I am taking bookings for the autumn too. hopefully we will see the summer weather continue long into the autumn and allow us to get offshore and target the bass.
I keep my availability up to date on here along with regular reports on my facebook page and website. For more information please visit www.essexseafishing.co.uk find us on facebook under essex sea fishing, subscribe to our youtube channel or call on 07956411528
05/2019 Fishing Report by Scott Belbin

May 2019 by Scott Belbin

Its been a while since my last report on here so I will try to give an over view of the spring so far from mersea aboard the ‘Galloper’. The early arrival of mild weather meant that the thorn-back rays and dogfish started to move inshore far earlier this year. This was great news for us as we hadn’t seen any codling to speak of so we were greatful of some decent fish to target. The numbers of rays have been steady since then although we have had to work a bit harder at times to find them. This should remind us not to take them for granted as they provide some great sport for us along with a few nice fish for the table too. the rays were joined by the usual dogfish and whiting along with the occasional bass from early in the spring.
We did head offshore when conditions allowed us to, we didnt get off as much as I would have liked to though and cancelled more than went ahead due to strong winds. When we did get offshore there were good numbers of rays, plenty of dogfish and a few spurdogs to be had. We only managed two trips off here while the spurs were about and had a couple of doubles first trip and 11 on the second. The second trip was very busy with bites but we lost at least as many as we landed. We had several multiple hook ups as a pack when through but lost the majority. At one point the lads had 4 fish on and lost all of them under the boat! We couldn’t work out why but the ones we did land had lots of fresh scratch marks on so perhaps they were pre-occupied with mating? Our biggest was just under 15lbs and there were plenty of big females mixed in.
We managed two more days offshore in the beautiful weather at the end of march. This time we planned to mix it up a bit and tried some lure fishing to start each day. we didn’t get our intended quarry but we stumbled across some early bass on one mark and had a dozen the first day. the next day was just as nice so after a couple of hours bait fishing we headed back to find some bass. There we weren’t disappointed and spent over 2 hours bringing bass of all sizes in. there were several in the 3-4lbs range and lots more smaller. The top rods managed 30-50 bass each and we must have had around 150 in total. This is by far the best days bass fishing I have had in march!
This seemed to be a sign of things to come and sure enough over the past few weeks we have seen several bass mixed in with our general trips in shore. Most of these are coming on worm, I like both lug and rag for bass but must admit ragworm can be better for other species. You may even be lucky enough to pick up a bonus stingray. The ragworm along with crab baits will help to pick up smooth-hounds too. this have showed early too this year, we had our first hounds offshore at the start of march and they are in places inshore now. I haven’t seen a double yet this year but it is still early and hopefully the first will come this month.
Prospects look good for the summer as it approaches, with many of the summer species already here we hope to see the arrival of the first tope by the end of this month. i will offer trips for them until july some time and hope that its as good as last year when we had fish up to 55lbs. After that we will concentrate on the smooth-hounds and bass along with offering some offshore bass trips. Some of these trips require certain tides so its best to book as early as you can to avoid disappointment.
I put regular reports on my website and facebook pages along with keeping CBUK as up to date as I can.
For more information please call 07956411528
Or visit www.essexseafishing.co.uk
Or find us on facebook https://www.facebook.com/Essex-Sea-Fishing-614244935320553/
02/2019 Fishing Report by Scott Belbin

Feb 2019 by Scott Belbin

Im sorry for the lack of reports on here lately but to be honest there wasn’t much to shout about around here at the start of the year. After the Christmas period we saw the return of the cold weather and vast amounts of sprats and herring inshore. These combined ruined the inshore fishing for a few weeks. I ventured out a few times with the odd hardy and keen anglers just to see what was about but things were grim in places. We turned our attention to the flatties on a couple of trips and scratched out a few dabs and flounders along with the occasional pin whiting. Thankfully the lads were often happy just to be afloat and still had an enjoyable day. I am pleased to say that with the mild weather over the last couple of weeks and a lot of the sprats having moved out the fishing has greatly improved inshore. The thorn-backs are back on the move and there are some good fish amongst them. We often have some our biggest rays in this early part of the season and so far the biggest has been caught by one of our regulars Martin Ryan, it went 13-14lbs and was returned swiftly (as we do with all of our females). We havnt seen any codling as yet but you will be pleased to know the warmer weather will get the dogfish feeding again. As the bait fish move off we are often left with one or two decent whiting that have fattened up on the sprats. Offshore is much of the same along with a few spurdogs on the right tides.
I have plenty of spaces over the next few weeks including some this weeked with nice tides and a decent forecast. If you wish to join us or for more information please call 07956411528,
visit www.essexseafishing.co.uk
or follow us on facebook for regular write ups and spaces.
12/2018 Fishing Report by Scott Belbin

Dec 2018 by Scott Belbin

The weather has been kind to us over the Christmas break and we have been able to get several trips out. the milder weather over recent weeks means the fish are feeding well and have moved back inshore again so there has been plenty to catch. Trips in the river have seen good numbers of dabs and whiting on the slacker tides with thorn-backs and the odd codling coming out too. A charity competition in the river saw several double figure thorn-backs along with plenty of whiting, dabs and even a codling to win the prize for the biggest cod. Further down we have seen good numbers of most fish. I headed out the day after boxing day with 3 lads aboard to make the most of the weather. we had loads of whiting and dogfish (dogfish are always a sign of higher water temperature) along with 28 thorn-backs, a pouting and a nice plump codling for Andy. Today we even had a stray school bass!
Last year January and February saw our best numbers of codling so lets hope 2019 follows suit.
With 2019 in mind if you wish to book specific trips such as offshore ones for spurdog, tope, bass ect please try and book well in advance as these often require certain tides and weekends are starting to fill up.
I have plenty of space into the start of the year and with plenty of fish around there’s every reason to get afloat so for more information, weekly reports and available dates please visit www.essexseafishing.co.uk
Follow us on facebook and youtube.
Or call scott on 07956411528
12/2018 Fishing Report by Scott Belbin

Dec 2018 by Scott Belbin

as ever it has been a while since my last report on here (although I do weekly reports on my website and facebook page). As im sure you can see from other reports in this area the weather has been a pain for a while now. We have managed to get most trips out but not always to where we want to go. There have been so significant numbers of codling so far for us this season. We have seen one or two on occasions so they are present but not numerous. That doesn’t mean there aren’t fish to be caught though and there is certainly no shortage of whiting around along with numbers of dabs on the right tides. There are a few thorn-back rays here and there as well as the last of the dogfish if you are lucky enough to encounter one. As ever the blackwater estuary has saved a lot of days for us, even if we don’t fish the estuary its self we can often get out on a ‘maybe’ forecast safe in the knowledge we have the blackwater as a back up. There are times when fishing in there is better than further off and at the very least it seems to be wall to wall with whiting right now. I have plenty of room in the run up to Christmas and the new year for individuals and groups. so if you just want to get afloat then we should be able to keep the rod tips rattling and sit in relative comfort even on a breezy day. In the meantime thanks to all of our anglers for their support and please keep an eye on my website www.essexseafishing.co.uk
and
facebookpage www.facebook.com/Essex-Sea-Fishing-614244935320553/
for reports and spaces
or call me on 07956411528
I have attached a picture of one mike’s little codling in case you thought they were just stuff of folk law.
10/2018 Fishing Report by Scott Belbin

Oct 2018 by Scott Belbin

Looking back over a busy summer the weather was pretty kind to us and the fishing was good too aboard the ‘Galloper’. Now as autumn is upon us we see the fishing has changed. The thorn-back rays are showing in good numbers once again and the average stamp is picking up as we would expect it to. The whiting and dogfish have returned in vast numbers in places and keep the rod tips nodding between the better fish. the first few codling have shown on the last set of tides which is a great sign. One of our regulars Steve Canham was pleased to have caught the first one of the season aboard the Galloper hopefully this is a sign of things to come. There are still a few smooth-hounds and baby tope showing further off as well as the odd spurdog pup to keep us guessing.
The ban on retaining bass has been lifted allowing recreational anglers to keep one per angler for day. This is a little too late for our summer anglers but I am trying to get an offshore bass trip together for a couple of weeks time before they move off. There are still several bass showing and some decent fish too. Another one of our regulars Andy Partner beat his personal best the other day with a fine fish of 10.4lbs.
Although I don’t do lots of reports on here I keep my calendar and last minute spaces up to date. I also write weekly reports, available dates have far more information on my website and facebook page www.essexseafishing.co.uk or please call 07956411528 for more information.
08/2018 Fishing Report by Scott Belbin

Aug 2018 by Scott Belbin

The last few months have seen us enjoy some of the best weather imaginable from west mersea and thankfully the fishing has been able to match it on most occasions. My last report on here was late spring so I will bring you briefly up to date from then.
By the time the main bulk of thorn-back rays started to move out at the start of june we already had the summer species around in good numbers to take their place. Smooth-hounds have been fairly consistent throughout the summer with good numbers of the smaller fish at times. This year saw the best season in several years for tope with most boats finding a few decent fish. our biggest went over 55lbs and was caught by billy who made the trip down from north Norfolk several times in search of tope and this was his biggest.
We started off the bass season with some cracking fish on board. the biggest so far fell to chris at 12.4lbs which came just an hour or so after a 10.12lbs bass for steve who was out that day. We have seen several mixed in with our general trips too and as ever the estuary is full of schoolies which are great fun on our 3-4hr trips. Unfortunately having to return all all of the bass has disappointed some of our anglers but they are a pleasure to catch anyway which keeps most people pleased.
There have been several stingrays come out the last few weeks, we were lucky enough to find a small one which matched to small angler who caught it. Charlie was a few days shy of 8 years old when he had his first stingray. These fish are as rare as hens teeth so im sure may a well seasoned angler would be envious of him or any others who managed to boat one this year.
Over the coming weeks the summer species should continue to keep us occupied, September approaches we should see the thorn-back rays picking up in numbers again. these will be mostly small fish at first but the stamp; should increase as the autumn progresses. There’s plenty of time for bass and hounds as yet but it wont be long until we start thinking about cod. After seeing a few more this spring hopes will be high that the blackwater estuary and beyond will be productive again throughout the winter.
I have a few spaces left in august and September, I keep my calendar and last minute bookings up to date on here but for more information, weekly reports and availability please visit www.essexseafishing.co.uk or call 07956411528
05/2018 Fishing Report by Scott Belbin

May 2018 by Scott Belbin

Its been another busy month aboard the ‘Galloper’ the main target for us inshore at this time of year are the thorn-back rays. We have come to expect high numbers of them since the local stocks were saved by strict commercial restrictions on them over 10 years ago and this year hasn’t disappointed us. They come in all sizes, the females are normally the bigger fish with a double figure male a rare sight. These fish taste great and skinning them is easy with a bit of practice (so im told). I try to encourage responsible angling on my boat so all females are returned alive and have been for several years. Along with the rays there have been plenty of other bits and bobs. We had had one or two bigger bass, a few more spurdogs and a spotted ray of 2.10lbs which was a first aboard my boat and quite rare in this area.
Over the coming weeks we will continue to target the thorn-backs and also turn our attention to the smooth-hounds which are showing early considering how late spring started. Im sure we will also head offshore where we can see anything turn up even the elusive dogfish!
Ive got plenty of spaces coming up and you can find a list of available dates on my cbuk page or my website along with regular reports and more information at www.essexseafishing.co.uk or call 07956411528