
5 minute read
HERNE BAY
Hounds, bass, and thornbacks aplenty on the north Kent coast
Herne Bay stands on the north coast of Kent looking out over the North Sea and the outer ames Estuary towards Essex. It’s a busy seaside town during the summer and has one of the oldest angling clubs in the country, situated right in the heart of the town centre.
Up close to Red Sands Fort
LAUNCHING

A permit from the council to use the slipways within the district is needed but only costs £50 for an annual pass for an angling boat, which includes your own key to the slipway gates. A double-laned slipway at Neptune car park, right in the centre of the town, makes launching your boat as easy as possible, even without the need for a four-wheel drive vehicle. ere is plenty of parking for trailers right by the slipway and parking is charged at the standard rate. Launching is possible up to three and a half hours either side of high water with an additional 30 minutes if you use the slipway located at the other


Drifting with Sabikis produced these bass






A brace of bass from Middle Sands
NEED TO KNOW
GETTING THERE
Come off the A229 into Herne Bay and follow the signs for the seafront. Neptune car park and slipway are located in the centre of the town by the clock tower.
Watercraft membership can be purchased from Canterbury City Council: www.canterbury.gov.uk
TACKLE AND BAIT: ■ Ron Edwards: 50-52 High Street,
Herne Bay CT6 5LH, Tel: 01227 372517
■ Bay Angling and Aquatics: 82
Mortimer Street, Herne Bay CT6 5PS, Tel: 01227 367526
end of the car park, although the narrow access makes this much less convenient. During peak summer times Foreshore Services staff from the Council are often present to check permits and provide any help or advice. You can also launch from the slipway at Studd Hill (known locally as Hampton) although this is much narrower and really requires a four-wheel drive vehicle to be able to get to the water’s edge.
SPECIES
Winter and spring fi shing consists of whiting, dogfi sh, thornback rays, the occasional bass and the even less occasional codling. Tope were once common but now only appear in early spring for a brief period before moving further off shore. Summer and autumn see bass, smoothhounds and thornbacks forming the backbone of fi shing. Mackerel can be caught but not consistently and only in some years – other years, for whatever reason, they don’t comer inshore and there may be none at all. Spurdogs are now being caught again in deeper water and close to shore there are plenty of grey mullet, particularly as you head east into the more brackish water of the Swale Estuary, which separates Medway from the Isle of Sheppey. e best baits include crab and worm baits for bass, squid for smoothounds and fi sh baits, such as herring (kippers work well!), for thornbacks. Livebaiting a mackerel is good for a specimen bass.

MARKS
Being the outer ames Estuary the ground is very fl at mixed gravel and mud. Even on big spring tides you may only be fi shing in up to 30ft of water and it’s essential to plan your trip as many sandbanks become exposed at low water. ere is also a busy shipping lane in and out of the ports along the ames so fi shing for those not familiar with the area is best kept within the inshore area. fi shing right up close to the Red Sands Fort, one of the sea defenses built in the ames Estuary during the Second World War.
A deeper water channel, the Copperas Channel, runs close to shore between Herne Bay and Reculver. Strong tides often produce good catches of bass and smoothounds as the water races through the channel. Try drifting with lures for the bass which will be waiting in ambush. Further off shore is the Woolpack, an area of deeper water where large bass can be caught. Many anglers fi sh on the Kentish Flats between the end of the old pier and the windfarm. Keep an eye out for birds working the surface. is is often an indication that there’s a ‘blitz’ going on with bass in a feeding frenzy pushing the sprats towards the surface. Carrying a lure rod with you for this reason is a good idea.
Venturing west of the Kentish Flats windfarm is Middle Sands which at low water can be extremely shallow. Here you can fi nd yourself
A hound from the Copperas Channel
TACTICS
Downtiding on the drift often produces good results. e clean ground means tackle losses are minimal and a great deal of ground can be covered. Due to the shallow water and strong tides uptiding is often the most productive method when at anchor. e water is often turbid but can turn gin clear after a few days of calm weather or south westerly breezes. At this point lures, such as sidewinders or weighted soft plastics can often work well, as can fi shing a fl oat. ■














