Every year at Christmas time me and whoever of my mates are free take a road trip to the South coast. We head down to Chesil beach in Dorset as this beach always has the possibility to produce some big fish but it can also chew you up and spit you out the other side and it certainly takes no prisoners. You can come away from a fishing session down here feeling on top of the world but you can also come away with your hopes dashed, this beach isn’t known as the beach of broken dreams for nothing.

The clock struck 00:30 the day after boxing day and after a couple of hours power napping I was up and getting ready for the days fishing that lay ahead of me. After making a brew I was soon outside waiting for my buddy Damo and as planned at 1am we headed off round the corner from mine to pick up Marcus and we were on our way. Just over 4 hours later we pulled into the carpark of at the chosen mark and were met by 3 other members of the gang who had made it there half an hour before us. It didn’t take long for us all to unload our cars and make our way up the shingle bank and take our places. This area we were fishing is one of my fave places to fish as normally we have the beach to ourselves even when the rest of Chesil is rammed, word must have got out about this mark though because that was soon about to change.

With only a slight wind blowing over our shoulders the sea was looking spot on for a fish or 2. My target for the whole session was rays, I love this species and with Chesil being known to produce a few different types I was on all out ray warfare. For bait I had only taken squid and sandeel, I know this is a bit silly but I can be very stubborn and even if I wasn’t getting the sport others were getting from worm baits I was determined to sit it out waiting for that 1 target fish. Setting up the tackle in the dark anticipation was in the air, looking out at the water the mind wanders off to what may be waiting out there, this beach is like an aquarium at times of the year and you never know what could be next to hit your baits.

I cast out both rods and took a seat in my shelter, I was using pulley rigs with single 3/0 hooks to start and these were baited up with nice juicy squid and sandeel wraps. Within minutes of the baits being in the water it was apparent the pouting were out in force with most baits being devoured by these hungry little blighters, these pout weren’t of a great size though with Marcus picking out a much better one from the shoal that was in front of us. As the morning progressed the sun rose high in the sky and the weather was absolutely glorious and after a very cold start to the day this was welcome at the end of December. The only downside to this bright weather was that it slowed the fishing down a bit, the smaller pout went off the feed and the rod tips remained motionless except for the slight rattle every now and then as something small decided to have a go at the baits.

Laying back on the shingle I was soaking up some well needed vitamin D from the sunshine that was beaming down when out of the corner of my eye I saw a rattle on the rod tip, for the next few minutes I watched as the tip twitched and tugged with whatever it was that was out there munched down on the bait. The bite was taking ages to develop but I wasn’t going to hit it just yet, the tip then pulled down and kept going so I lifted into it and I could feel weight. The feeling down the rod soon gave away the identity of the culprit, it was the target species but which type and how big? I soon had a little undulate ray sliding out of the surge and up the bank, target achieved but not of the size I was looking for. With this little cracker slid back I was soon back on the hunt for a beast of a ray and the beach was now rammed, for as far as the eye can see with anglers squeezing in where they could, not my idea of a relaxing day on the beach but it was what it was and we just had to put up with it now.

Next up on the hit list for me was a stunning Black bream that had smashed the squid baits giving me one heck of a bite, for a split second I thought it was going to be the big ray I so wished to catch but as soon as I made contact with the fish I could feel it wasn’t a ray and as the bream slid out of the surf I was still very happy as it was a lovely fish indeed. Both Damo and Marcus were still catching as well with Marcus notching up a new PB coalfish and pollock and Damo with a PB pollock also, as the day progressed the tiredness set in and coupled with the beautiful weather I ended up falling asleep under my tripod for a good hour or so, waking up wondering where on earth I was for a few seconds before standing up and realising I now had a sore back! The hours were ticking by and we were urging night time to arrive with the hopes that more fish would turn up with it, we knew it would become a pout fest but if they’re there then it should attract the big congers and rays too. I had wandered over to Marcus for a chat when my rod banged over as a fish hit the bait, I ran back picked up the rod and waited, eagerly feeling for another a sign a fish had taken the hook, with another bang shaking the rod in my hand I lifted into whatever it was and started winding. Yet again this was no ray but a jumbo pouting weighing in at just under 2lb in weight, this was a lovely chunky fish and even though it wasn’t a monster ray it still put a smile on my face due to it’s specimen size.

As night time arrived we were treated to an outstanding sunset, views like that really warm the soul and make you realise that we go fishing not just to catch but to also take in the beauty that nature itself provides for free. As the night arrived so did the dogs and pout in  numbers, the rod tips were banging away but still nothing big had taken the baits so on one rod I stuck out a lovely juicy fresh pout fillet in the hope of finding a big undie. Nothing much else of any note came during the night, Damo caught a little strap conger and at 11pm we decided to call it a night, with a 4 hour journey ahead of us we knew if we left it any later we would be physically ruined so we packed up and made our way back to the car with all of us agreeing that even though Chesil hadn’t revealed its monsters to us we still had a great time.

On the journey home we stopped off at the services and with some double cheeseburger and chips in the belly talk soon turned to the summer species hunt down on Chesil. This is always a good one that I enjoy, its literally a day and night of chopping and changing tactics to see how many different species we can tally up…… I can’t wait for that but for now its time to hunt flatties on the Suffolk coastline.