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Saturday, what a great day...not only do I see the Toon win in London and keep a clean sheet (the stick I usually get from the Chelsea, Charlton, Arsenal, Palace and Smoggies!! supporters I work with!) but I also caught a few cod!!
I needed to be down at Dungeness for a boat trip by 0545 which meant leaving home by 0415. (We launch from the beach and due to tides it was an early start). Still awake at 1am, I thought "sod it" and packed my beach gear as well and headed down for a few hours on the beach before getting on the boat. I was a little stuffed bait wise with only squid and 1 score of frozen yellowtail lug left over from another trip. The fresh bait for the boat trip was arriving with a mate but not until 0530.
I started fishing about 3am- just about high tide, stuffing a whole calamari’s with 3 mushy worms and wrapping the whole thing in elastic. 2nd cast missed a slack liner which is unusual as using 190g gemini black nosed grip lead and a 6'o pennel rig - and anything usually well and truly hooks itself (strong tides require this much lead when fully running, sometimes 210g fixed wires!), next cast caught a plump little 3lb codling, next cast another missed bite then a succession of whiting between 12oz and 1.5lb. 0515 packed up and went to the boat. I'm absolutely sure if I'd had fresh worm I would have had 3 or 4 codling as conditions were perfect.
Launching the boat was a little hairy, pushing off the beach stern first in the dark into a 1m swell might not sound too bad, but try it in a 2 ton 20 footer which tends to roll up the beach if it gets sideways!
I won't say too much about the boat fishing as this is the beach bit, but in 5 hours 3 of us had 41 codling between 2.5 and 8lb (only 5 over 5lb) fishing worm baits uptide and downtide. Good numbers but disappointing size wise. This time of year they usually average 6lb with a few doubles and twenties around (this trip last year I had 5 fish for 82lb - but that was a good day!).
I enjoy reading the reports from my old stomping ground - Whitley bay to Newbiggin, Parents still live in Gosforth but they are down to me this xmas so my fishing in the north East will have to wait a few more months.
Merry Xmas everybody, keep your reports coming in they keep us in exile informed. (where's the rat house and are people really fishing as far up as the tyne bridge!??
I needed to be down at Dungeness for a boat trip by 0545 which meant leaving home by 0415. (We launch from the beach and due to tides it was an early start). Still awake at 1am, I thought "sod it" and packed my beach gear as well and headed down for a few hours on the beach before getting on the boat. I was a little stuffed bait wise with only squid and 1 score of frozen yellowtail lug left over from another trip. The fresh bait for the boat trip was arriving with a mate but not until 0530.
I started fishing about 3am- just about high tide, stuffing a whole calamari’s with 3 mushy worms and wrapping the whole thing in elastic. 2nd cast missed a slack liner which is unusual as using 190g gemini black nosed grip lead and a 6'o pennel rig - and anything usually well and truly hooks itself (strong tides require this much lead when fully running, sometimes 210g fixed wires!), next cast caught a plump little 3lb codling, next cast another missed bite then a succession of whiting between 12oz and 1.5lb. 0515 packed up and went to the boat. I'm absolutely sure if I'd had fresh worm I would have had 3 or 4 codling as conditions were perfect.
Launching the boat was a little hairy, pushing off the beach stern first in the dark into a 1m swell might not sound too bad, but try it in a 2 ton 20 footer which tends to roll up the beach if it gets sideways!
I won't say too much about the boat fishing as this is the beach bit, but in 5 hours 3 of us had 41 codling between 2.5 and 8lb (only 5 over 5lb) fishing worm baits uptide and downtide. Good numbers but disappointing size wise. This time of year they usually average 6lb with a few doubles and twenties around (this trip last year I had 5 fish for 82lb - but that was a good day!).
I enjoy reading the reports from my old stomping ground - Whitley bay to Newbiggin, Parents still live in Gosforth but they are down to me this xmas so my fishing in the north East will have to wait a few more months.
Merry Xmas everybody, keep your reports coming in they keep us in exile informed. (where's the rat house and are people really fishing as far up as the tyne bridge!??
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