After an absolutely beautiful Saturday spend doing all sorts of DIY round the house Sunday morning dawned damp and cold and as I made my way to Fairhaven, Lytham St. Annes for the first sea fishing match of the year the weather got progressively worse. Oh well, a bit of rain wasn’t going to stop me and I was was first there I parked up, donned some waterproofs and watched the birds on the lake for a while.

I was quickly joined by the guys from Blackpool and Layton Angling Society (BLAS) and as the water hit the bottom of the promenade wall eight damp but eager anglers casts their baits into the River Ribble estuary. The bait of choice for this time of year for our target species, Flounder, is Peeler Crab but I couldn’t get hold of any so I was using various combinations of wild Ragworm, Black Lug, Squid and Mackerel on a standard 1 up 1 down rig armed with size 1 fine wire aberdeen hooks.

It wasn’t long until the tell tale thump of the rod tip announced the presence of a fish and I was the first to catch with a plump little Flounder of 31cm.

Throughout the morning everyone managed to catch a few fish although I only had the one. Thankfully after a couple of hours the rain stopped and the weather warmed up a little giving us chance to dry out a bit. Crab was definitely the bait of the day with Shacky catching five or six Flounder for a total match winning length of 177 cm.

It wasn’t fantastic fishing for me but it was fantastic to be out and great that everyone managed to catch and get a few points in the first match of the 2011 / 2012 sea fishing season.

It was also impressive to see the huge barge come out of the river that had been docked up at Preston, it had been delivering a new transformer for United Utilities each of two parts weighing a massive 270 tonnes. I remember wondering why the roads were blocked last week and looking up the story on the internet and seeing the pictures of this beast of a thing being transported it now makes sense. The barge itself was massive – I’ll bet they were glad the sea state was calm.

New weekends match is up at Fleetwood with Flounder being the main target again, I think I’ll put a bit more effort into getting some crab…

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All rods in but will the Flounder show up?

After some truly atrocious weather over the winter that convinced me that winter fishing is for those of a more hardy nature than myself it seems that spring has arrived in full force so I joined the guys from Blackpool and Layton Angling Society (BLAS) for the first sea fishing match of the new season at the sea front next to Fairhaven Lake, Lytham, Lancashire.

Although the bait for choice for Flounder at this time of year is Peeler Crab I couldn’t get hold of any so armed with a score of Black Lugworm and some Squid I met up with the lads at 9 o’clock to be greeted with glorious warm sunshine tempered with a cold westerly breeze.

The tide races in at this venue where the River Ribble estuary is mostly flat and we knew we’d only have 2.5 hours of fishing time before the water vanished and so, as a variety of baits went seaward as the tide hit the wall we waited for that tell tail rattle indicating a fish. We waited, then waited a bit more, until i got bored of waiting, re-baiting and casting so went for a walk down the match length to chat to a few of the guys I hadn’t seen in a while.

Dave with a plump Flounder

Then finally, a shout went up from JP, a double header of plump Flounder, caught on Mussel of all things. Then a few more shouts, Dave with one caught on Crab, Millsy with another on Black Lug and Sparky one on Mackeral. But still, no fish for me and my baits coming back unmolested.

It was one of those matches where it didn’t seem to matter what bait went out – if the fish found it on their way up (or down) the river, they would eat it. Unfortunately for a few of us the fish swimming past our baits were blind with no sense of smell.

Distance didn’t seem to matter either, JP caught close in, Dave caught at distance and all the fish were caught using standard 2 hook rigs, with or without beads or other attractors.

Although I didn’t catch, it’s always good to meet up with the guys from BLAS, who although they are some of the best anglers I know and could easily fish and get in the points of some major matches, always have a laugh. If you’re looking for a sea angling club in Lancashire I can thoroughly recommend getting in touch with them by click here on the Blackpool and Layton Angling Society website.

Next sea fishing match is Fleetwood Channel – didn’t do that well last year but it was still fun so I’ll be there in a couple of weeks.

River Ribble Estuary at Fairhaven, Lytham

Well not exactly a fiesta but the first match of season for Blackpool and Layton Angling Society (BLAS) got off to a cracking start today with light winds and glorious sunshine as the eight of us met up at lunchtime at Fairhaven Lake, Lytham, which sits on the other side of the promenade to the Ribble Estuary into which we would be fishing.

The target species today was Flounder as they moved into the river with the tide to feed on crabs, worms or whatever else these greedy fish can get their mouths round. Usually we’d fish for Flounder with peeler crab but there was non to be had without having to travel for hours so Wendy and I had got hold of some black lug, ragworm and mackerel which we were hoping would be OK for today.

Shackys' Fairhaven Flounder

We waited for the water to hit the bottom of the wall, and the walkers to move off the beach and then all cast in, hopes high for some non-stop Flounder action.

Most of the guys were concerned about lack of crab for bait but it didn’t seem to make much difference for those anglers that had it as the fishing was very slow. Shacky was into a fish about an hour into the match of about a pound in weight but mine and Wendys’ baits were coming back in untouched until about half an hour later when Wendys’ rod showed a very positive bite.

She waited awhile until it showed again then quickly reeled in to find… nothing. We were all a bit shocked that nothing was hooked but I suppose that’s fishing.

A few minutes later I saw a slight knock but thought nothing of it until on reeling in when I managed to land a Flounder as well. Not as big as Shackys’ but still, a fish is a fish when your match fishing.

A Fairhaven Flounder

And then it went quiet, occasionally bites registered but we just couldn’t connect with the fish for some reason as all they seemed to be doing was nibbling at the Mackerel they seemed to prefer today rather than gulping it down like they normally do.

We called it a day at 3 o’clock as the tide was started to ebb and soon there wouldn’t be enough water to fish into. Dave managed to win the match with three fish, Neil with two then Shacky and me with one each. As this match was the RNLI trophy we had a collection for the lads and lasses of the RNLI and raised a bit of cash to help in their funding.

The fishing was not as good as expected but the weather was fantastic and it was great to be out on the first sunday of Britsh Summer Time. The next match is up at Fleetwood in about three weeks, at a venue we’ve not fished before called Fleetwood Channel, so we’re looking forward to that one, hopefully someone will inform the fish.