5 minute read
PEVENSEY BAY
This East Sussex venue, with a shingle bank and shallow sloping sand fl ats, fi shes all year round and is particularly noted for fl atfi sh and bass
GREAT S E A ANGLINGVENUES●GREAT S E A ANGLINGVENUES● Your insight into the best shore and boat fi shing that the UK and Ireland have to off er
Pevensey Bay is located in East Sussex halfway between Eastbourne and Bexhill on Sea. It’s a spacious venue which has good road access and plenty of easy parking. It gets busy during the daytime in the summer months with beach users including swimmers, kayakers and jet skiers, and is also popular with dog walkers. Anglers should exercise caution during the day in the summer months; the best fi shing in summer is after dark.
SPECIES
Spring sees bass, thornback ray, plaice, fl ounder and dabs all being targeted. Summer sees bass, Dover sole, thornback ray, plaice, fl ounder, smoothhound, mackerel and garfi sh. Autumn brings with it whiting, pout, codling, dogfi sh and congers. Winter fi shing tends to focus around fl ounders, dab, whiting, pout, codling and dogfi sh.
Spring thornback
Summer hound fi shing
Night fi shing is best during the summer
A mixed bag of specimens from Pevensey Bay
TACTICS
For bass the best time is low water on a spring tide with a coloured sea. Use a 2/0-4/0 on a fl owing trace or Pennell rig baited with local lug or a lug/squid cocktail. For smoothhounds use a medium/long range on a pulley Pennell or single 2/0-4/0 hook rig, three hours before and two hours after a spring high tide, night-time is best. Baits are peeler or hermit crabs and squid/rag cocktails. ornback rays are caught at medium/long range on a pulley Pennell rig with 2/0-4/0 hooks, two hours before and three hours after high tide, nighttime is best. Bluey, squid and mackerel all work on their day, as does crab. Conger are caught two hours either side of high tide at medium to long distance on a pulley rig or clipped down up-and-over fl owing trace with 3/0 – 5/0 hook and a 40lb bite trace on fi sh and squid baits. Codling are a thing of rare beauty these days but there are still a few caught at this mark. Use clipped down/ loop rigs fi shed at long range baited with black lugworm or lugworm/squid cocktails on 1/0 hooks. Dover sole are caught at medium to long range from low water until two hours after high, (night is best). Try using size 2 or 4 hooks on a two or three hook fl apper or loop rig using small lugworm or ragworm baits.
For plaice fi sh at long range over high water ideally on a spring tide. Its best when the water is clear. Use size 2 hooks on a loop rig baited with local lugworm or ragworm. For fl ounder fi sh close range in the gullies at high tide with a two or three hook fl apper rig or fl owing trace baited with lugworm, ragworm or shellfi sh on size 2 hooks. Dabs are caught at any range two hours either side of high tide on a two or three hook fl apper baited with sticky black lug on size 2-4 hooks. Whiting can be caught at any range at any state of the tide though two hours either side of high water is best. Use two or three hook fl apper rigs with size 2 or 1 hooks baited with lugworm tipped with fi sh or squid. Silver eels are sometimes caught at this venue: they should be returned alive as they are currently protected by Law. ■
NEED TO KNOW
GETTING THERE
Pevensey Bay is on the A 259 east of Eastbourne To access the main beach at Pevensey Bay, there are several places to park in the town. The most central is the Sea Road Car Park BN24 6EJ which is signposted from the town centre and accessed via Sea Road which runs between the Beach Tavern and The Bay Hotel in the centre of the village. Instead of following the road around to the right and go through the town, continue straight on towards the sea to enter the Sea Road Car Park. Alternatively, the North Road car park (directly in front of Anglers Den, BN24 6AY) is a Free car park, and is a two-minute walk to the beach. The beach in Pevensey Bay can also be accessed via a number of roads which lead from Eastbourne Road towards the beach, namely Western Road, Leyland Rd and Val Princeps Rd. It’s a short walk to the town centre from the beach, with cafes pubs and other local amenities close by. Public Toilets are available in the Sea Road Car Park.
TACKLE SHOPS ■ The Anglers Den is a two-minute
