With the weather being windy of late a small window of opportunity presented itself this morning and not knowing when another might happen along I decided to take it.
It needed an early start so I almost caught the sunrise this morning ,( I still wouldn't have managed a picture like those that come from Slinky Kate though ) ..the plan was to set off on a dying ebb tide and fish a wreck over slack water at around 7am. All went well as far as getting up and to the boat , the rods were set up and off I went .
First I had to catch mackerel for bait , no problem , set the boat up over the wreck , lobbed a string of mini hokkais over theside and caught a couple of dozen in the time it took the boat to drift an 1/8 mile or so , back up the drift and set the cod rig up with nice fresh bloody mackerel .
The drift was quite fast , the tide was still ebbing and the wind was pushing me in the same direction............couldn't get a touch no matter what I tried.
What to do???? The next nearest wreck was another 4 miles away and further out to sea , Mmmm
What the hell , I thought , might as well have a go at it , there were three all close together so off I went to try them........................ nothing!!!
Another wreck showing a couple of miles south ..... off i went again........ nothing again , and again on the next one and the next one DOH!!!
"The ling wreck" I thought.... bound to be a fish or two on there , but it was nearly six more miles away............... I went
By this time I'd lost most of my bigger rigs and a whole lot of lead to various nets and assorted tackle magnets associated with the wrecks I'd been on.
I resorted to a home made 7/0 octopus on a boom and baited with half a side of fresh mackerel , bound to catch a ling with that I thought (probably said it out loud actually , I've noticed i talk quite a lot even on my own)
Down it went , bumped along the whole length of the wreck , dropped off the end into the scour and wham!..... solid resistance , the nice kind that feels like you've hooked a spring
Up it grudgingly came , nodding ,pulling , taking line , once again i was sure it had to be a ling , once again I was wrong and it was a nice big cod 8lb 12oz I didn't care if I caught any more , it was a belter.
A couple of drifts later I had a small ling then hit into another leviathon , surely this one was a double , much stronger than the first one and fighting all the way to the boat , another cod , hooked fair and square in the mouth , yet only about 6lb ( I say only , that's a big cod to me , but I would have bet money it was going to be bigger than the first one)
The wind was getting up , the clouds were leaking a bit and I decided it was best to head nearer home , some time later just as I approached coquet Island the motor spluttered as the last remaining dregs of fuel from this mornings full 26 litres were sucked up from the tank , I stopped the boat and switched to a new tank of fuel and headed behind the island.
I picked up another nice codling of about 4 or 5 lb from a mark that always seems to hold a cod or two and decided to call it a day.
I was home for 12.30 pm , Richy says he'd rather catch one ten pounder than ten 3lbers , I know exactly what he means , but I'm happy as long as I catch a fish..... three gooduns is Valhalla as far s I'm concerned
I've got a pic of them on my camera , a boring one like I usually take , I'm not really into photographs and stuff I just like to be there , do it and remember it in my head , but if I can remember how to do it I'll add it to the post later.
Ray
It needed an early start so I almost caught the sunrise this morning ,( I still wouldn't have managed a picture like those that come from Slinky Kate though ) ..the plan was to set off on a dying ebb tide and fish a wreck over slack water at around 7am. All went well as far as getting up and to the boat , the rods were set up and off I went .
First I had to catch mackerel for bait , no problem , set the boat up over the wreck , lobbed a string of mini hokkais over theside and caught a couple of dozen in the time it took the boat to drift an 1/8 mile or so , back up the drift and set the cod rig up with nice fresh bloody mackerel .
The drift was quite fast , the tide was still ebbing and the wind was pushing me in the same direction............couldn't get a touch no matter what I tried.
What to do???? The next nearest wreck was another 4 miles away and further out to sea , Mmmm
What the hell , I thought , might as well have a go at it , there were three all close together so off I went to try them........................ nothing!!!
Another wreck showing a couple of miles south ..... off i went again........ nothing again , and again on the next one and the next one DOH!!!
"The ling wreck" I thought.... bound to be a fish or two on there , but it was nearly six more miles away............... I went
By this time I'd lost most of my bigger rigs and a whole lot of lead to various nets and assorted tackle magnets associated with the wrecks I'd been on.
I resorted to a home made 7/0 octopus on a boom and baited with half a side of fresh mackerel , bound to catch a ling with that I thought (probably said it out loud actually , I've noticed i talk quite a lot even on my own)
Down it went , bumped along the whole length of the wreck , dropped off the end into the scour and wham!..... solid resistance , the nice kind that feels like you've hooked a spring
Up it grudgingly came , nodding ,pulling , taking line , once again i was sure it had to be a ling , once again I was wrong and it was a nice big cod 8lb 12oz I didn't care if I caught any more , it was a belter.
A couple of drifts later I had a small ling then hit into another leviathon , surely this one was a double , much stronger than the first one and fighting all the way to the boat , another cod , hooked fair and square in the mouth , yet only about 6lb ( I say only , that's a big cod to me , but I would have bet money it was going to be bigger than the first one)
The wind was getting up , the clouds were leaking a bit and I decided it was best to head nearer home , some time later just as I approached coquet Island the motor spluttered as the last remaining dregs of fuel from this mornings full 26 litres were sucked up from the tank , I stopped the boat and switched to a new tank of fuel and headed behind the island.
I picked up another nice codling of about 4 or 5 lb from a mark that always seems to hold a cod or two and decided to call it a day.
I was home for 12.30 pm , Richy says he'd rather catch one ten pounder than ten 3lbers , I know exactly what he means , but I'm happy as long as I catch a fish..... three gooduns is Valhalla as far s I'm concerned
I've got a pic of them on my camera , a boring one like I usually take , I'm not really into photographs and stuff I just like to be there , do it and remember it in my head , but if I can remember how to do it I'll add it to the post later.
Ray
Comment