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I headed down to the Walkway in South Shields last night for a night session over high water. I doubted there would be any big fish about based on the recent catch reports (and my own blanks
lol) so decided to have a session species hunting using small hooks. My target species was eelpout and I was also hoping for a dab both of which I needed for points. I ended up catching both and a whole lot more .......I arrived about 9.30pm. It was a cold night with a cold breeze coming off the sea and this picked up later on with the water getting quite choppy but I could position myself with my back to it so it was no problem. There were only two lads there fishing along the end but after they had gone it was just me Billy Nomates
I set up two bait rods both with two hook flappers size 1/0 and size 1 casting out into the river at different positions and distances. I also set up my spinning rod with a running ledger using a drilled 1oz ball weight and a size 4 hook fishing very close in - either dropping straight down the wall or using a light underarm flick to put it about ten feet out. So I had all areas covered, if there were fish there I would get them. A selection of baits should ensure I had something they liked too - lug, rag, mackie and raw tiger prawns.
First cast I caught a small codling on prawn so a promising start. Odd rattles here and there and more tommies turning up to keep me interested then I caught my first eelpout of the evening, a tiny one only about four inches long on the spinning rod straight down the side of the wall. A point for the species hunt. Gerrin! Odd fish showed up for the next hour or so then as it got to about an hour before high tide it really kicked off. I started pulling in fish on all three rods. The rod tips were rattling all the time with me pulling in a fish on one rod while another one was knocking. I didn't get a moment to rest as the tips were going constantly for the next couple of hours. It was like one of those plate spinning dudes you used to see on tv all the time, running from pole to pole trying to keep the plates up. It was insane. Cast, fish, rattle, more fish etc etc I ended up catching 23 fish which I think is the most I have ever caught in one session. Fifteen codling, three eelpouts, three coleys and two dabs my other target species. Mission accomplished!
The codling were all undersize (largest 29cm) and were caught mainly on prawn (always a killer bait for the tommies) though some were on lug or rag too. The eelpouts were all on rag and they got larger as time went on starting with a tiny one, then one about six inches then a good one about ten inches. The coleys were all on mackerel and the two dabs were on rag.
I packed in about 2.30am which was an hour and a quarter into the ebb. What a great session! It just goes to show that you don't have to be catching the bigguns to have fun. Scratching around for the small stuff was a blast. Long live tiddler bashing !!!
great report nice pics
NESA Lure Fishing Challenge 2011 Winner
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