Steve Chambers headed out into the unknown recently, with the weather being superhot mixed with small tides and clear water he was not expecting much. Little did he know that the nights session was about to become explosive!!

It was one of those decisions that could of either been epic or just an epic fail, the decision I was tussling with was where to fish?  With the weather on the East coast being not much less than a Mediterranean heatwave for the past six weeks or so the water had changed from a chocolatey cauldron of goodness to having a gin clear glassy look, which on the East coast can often spell disaster for the angler unless you’re a bit handy with a lure set up.

With my usual crew of fishing buddies on different projects I had to turn my attentions further afield to select my wingman for the evening,  after a few texts pinged about Marc Eales was the man tasked with this important job! Marc lives in Gorleston and although a very accomplished angler, with no local knowledge he would be no help whatsoever in helping choose a venue!

After much deliberation and a scan through a few local reports I decided on Bawdsey, a rough ground mark which I felt if anywhere was going to hold fish it would be there.
A shingle beach that gives way to a clay-bed bottom full of gullies and crevices with lots of mini sandbanks sandwiched in-between.  Now that this had finally been decided I began to think how I would attack it. Worm baits for the sole, fish baits for the rays and crabs for the chance of a hound? Marc helped me make my mind up by saying he was going to attack the rays and with me already planning a session on the sole later in the week it was going to be a hound raid for me. A trip to my local (tackle shop that is!) was needed so I headed off to see Andy Clarke at Stuarts Guns and Tackle in Melton Woodbridge. This is a cracking shop with many items on the shelf and rods for the beginners right through to the big boy rods available, with a great selection of fresh and frozen bait on hand to take away 99.9% of the time and a real honest and genuine interest from Andy himself to help get you on your way. After a chin wag and a bit of help with his stocktake I gathered what I needed and armed with a ton of frozen peeler crab I loaded the car and set off to meet Marc en route.

On arrival, we were greeted by very little wind and a pretty calm sea that was just about holding on to the last little bit of colour left in it, perfect! I would say that the hardest thing about fishing this beach is actually trying to get down on to it! Unfortunately Bawdsey probably boasts the worst case of coastal erosion anywhere along the Suffolk coast and access is only gained by a rather steep descent down a sandy cliff which is almost vertical in places so please be mindful of this if you ever decide to give it a look.
After a little chuckle to myself watching Marc tackle the cliff I soon set up and sent my first cast out. Pulley pennel rigs were being used as this reduces the risk of losing a fish in the snags because as the fish takes the bait away  it pulls the weight clear of the bottom, meaning you are not trying to pull the fish in with a weight bouncing along the bottom behind it getting snagged. Well that’s the theory anyway!

It was bang on high water and as I was rigging up my second rod, my first rod slammed over and didn’t stop, immediately taking line as it did so! Fish on and it felt good! I’ve had some good scraps in the past but being a relative novice on hound fishing  this was opening my eyes massively, wow these fish can go and this one was pulling me all over the place, 10 yards out and I just had to let this fish do what it wanted. The speed in which it tore up and down the shore line was amazing and at one point I was unsure whether I was even going to beach it. Cue Marc and with a lean into the rod I got it close enough for him to step into the surf and rather expertly claim our first fish of the evening, a stunning starry smooth hound and pb for me. I knew this before I even weighed it and several pics later all 7lb 3oz of her was gently released back into the sea. I was buzzing and I literally just sat back for ten minutes, reflecting on what had just happened and basking in my own glory. Wow! Just wow!

I was soon back on it and i quickly got baited up again and sent both rods out. And it wasn’t long before the ratchet was off again and a large bend was forming in the rod. Lifting into it I could really feel the power in this one but it was all to brief as a minute later it was gone. I was gutted as this felt a lot bigger than the first one if that was even possible to tell, the fishing had certainly started in a frantic manner and for me and it wasn’t going to stop because over the course of the next two hours I was constantly into fish on virtually every cast with the crab bait, landing another four hounds and losing two more with the fish ranging between 5lb and 6lb. This was fantastic fishing on a species that I’ve never really gone after hard and yep, I’m addicted to it now! I feel that I should now give Marc a mention because whilst I’ve been having it off and he has been jumping in the surf every 10 mins for me, he hasn’t seen a bite and its not because he is fishing wrong or poorly, it’s just that the frozen crab is what the fish are on. They are absolutely smashing it and aren’t even looking at anything else and fair play to him he is persevering with his fish baits, trying his hardest to find a ray just pleased that we are finding some fish and always being ready to help me when I hook up again.  It wasn’t long before his services were needed once more, it was just about dark now and we were three hours into the session when the crab rod tore off again, this time almost taking my rod with it! Fish on again, and again this was a good fish, taking line at many times throughout the fight. I knew this was good and so did Marc and I really didn’t want to make any mistakes with this one so care was applied throughout, trying to use the surf to my advantage as much as I could I gently eased her onto the beach and there lay another PB for me, this gorgeous girl going 7lb 6oz and yup I was gloating, I was buzzing, I was doing everything that we all do when we know the plan has come together, and either through our hard work or the mercy of the gods, we were having one of those sessions that is going to live long in the memory.

Fish on!!!!! I hear a shout and turn round to find Marc with a pretty decent bend in his rod, finally he is in but the question remained was it another of these fighting machine hounds or had he hooked what he had been after all night? So my turn to get down to the water and I wont lie, I couldn’t be happier for him to see a beautifully marked, and quite sizeable thornback ray glide up from the bottom and onto the beach. As far as Marc was concerned, this was job done and mission accomplished and he had as much pleasure from that single fish that I had got from the six hounds that I had landed prior to it, a quick weight check put it at a handsome 6lb 8oz.

I was so pleased he had gotten his reward because we were at the point of the session where the water quickly drains and shallows out at around 4hours into the ebb revealing all the clay-beds we had been fishing over and until that point, all he had to show for the session was probably wet feet!
Past history of this venue concludes that at this point the fishing dies off and this was again the case tonight although very shortly after Marcs ray, I did land another hound, again on the crab and again at the 6lb mark.
We did try to find another fish or two with me turning my attentions to big crab baits close in the surf in the hope of a bass in the shallows on top of the clay but it wasn’t to be this time. Cant complain though can I?

Conversation en route back to the cars was very spirited with Marc thanking me for taking him and me thanking him for all his help. We both agreed that had he been fishing crab as well then he would of seen as much action as I did but I really commend him for sticking to his guns and getting his ray. I was so pleased with what the previous five hours fishing had given us that I didn’t even complain once about having to climb back up the cliff!