Orange Shad
Well-known member
Set away from Blyth in the early hours of Sunday 13th November for a miserable drive in drizzling rain and quite thick fog for the normal 7:30am departure from the Marina at Hartlepool.
The drizzle had abated by the time I arrived, but the fog had lingered, so it was going to be cold but dry, still, can’t have everything.
Off we set with Dave L, Skipper and Owner at the helm, keeping “Famous” at a steady 18/20knts as the sea was still settling down from Friday/Saturday.
Dave put us over a wreck for starters, but at the speed of the drift, it looked like rough ground was going to be the order of the day and so after 4/5 rather swift drifts, we headed for some patch of rough ground.
With quite a big tide, and a lot of swell and sea movement, the trick was trying to keep contact with the seabed and give everyone credit onboard, the smallest leads were 12ozs, certainly helps to keep tangles and frayed tempers to a minimum.
I fished shads all day, going through Blue, Rhubarb & Custard, White, and Red head/White body with the latter taking the majority of my fish which over the day amounted to 8 codling ranging from 4lb to 8lb and a solitary Ling also taken on a shad to 8lb and for my bit towards conservation, a number of 2-3lb fish returned to fight again.
Sorry about the headwear, it was dark when I got up, must have picked up the dear lady's hat
First drift over the ground produced a mixture of some good Ling and Cod all from the back of the boat, best on that particular drift resulted in Ling to 10lb and Codling between 5lb and 7lb, being on the rough ground gave a lengthier time to fish than the wrecks albeit we were still drifting quickly.
Dave took us round again as he had worked his magic once again, finding us good and plentiful fish, another drift and another set of rods immediately into action, Ling again coming out at 12lb+ and the Cod slowly catching up with fish up to 8lb, these drifts continued to produce fish for most of the morning and well into the afternoon and a surprise catch of 2 excellent sized Mackerel, Dave, John and Steve together took a mixed box of Cod to 7lb and Ling to a similar weight.
Iain fishing behind me on the other side of the boat persevered throughout the day trying everything in his tackle box and his patience was rewarded with a cracking 12lb Ling, a 5lb Codling, followed very soon after with another nice Ling of about 8lb.
Around 2pm the sea conditions started to change for the better but the dreaded fog became a lot thicker, and while the radar was being monitored closely throughout the day, it became essential to maintain a permanent watch , as we had already had 3 extremely large vessels pass within ½ a mile which is close in my book .
Fish continued to come onboard into the afternoon and on the final fish count, we had 71 Codling from 4lb to a number of 8lb+ fish and 42 ling ranging from 7lb to 12lb+.
The weather continued to deteriorate and visibility became worse, so in the interests of safety and his passengers, Dave called time and we made the steady trip home, this time with a following sea.
Another excellent day on board “Famous” with yet again everyone taking good fish home, Excellent Boat, Excellent Skipper.
I did mention in my last post (16th October) that the season would continue for a few more weeks, I think the only thing that will stop it going on further will be the weather.
John S
Sunny Blyth
The drizzle had abated by the time I arrived, but the fog had lingered, so it was going to be cold but dry, still, can’t have everything.
Off we set with Dave L, Skipper and Owner at the helm, keeping “Famous” at a steady 18/20knts as the sea was still settling down from Friday/Saturday.
Dave put us over a wreck for starters, but at the speed of the drift, it looked like rough ground was going to be the order of the day and so after 4/5 rather swift drifts, we headed for some patch of rough ground.
With quite a big tide, and a lot of swell and sea movement, the trick was trying to keep contact with the seabed and give everyone credit onboard, the smallest leads were 12ozs, certainly helps to keep tangles and frayed tempers to a minimum.
I fished shads all day, going through Blue, Rhubarb & Custard, White, and Red head/White body with the latter taking the majority of my fish which over the day amounted to 8 codling ranging from 4lb to 8lb and a solitary Ling also taken on a shad to 8lb and for my bit towards conservation, a number of 2-3lb fish returned to fight again.
Sorry about the headwear, it was dark when I got up, must have picked up the dear lady's hat
First drift over the ground produced a mixture of some good Ling and Cod all from the back of the boat, best on that particular drift resulted in Ling to 10lb and Codling between 5lb and 7lb, being on the rough ground gave a lengthier time to fish than the wrecks albeit we were still drifting quickly.
Dave took us round again as he had worked his magic once again, finding us good and plentiful fish, another drift and another set of rods immediately into action, Ling again coming out at 12lb+ and the Cod slowly catching up with fish up to 8lb, these drifts continued to produce fish for most of the morning and well into the afternoon and a surprise catch of 2 excellent sized Mackerel, Dave, John and Steve together took a mixed box of Cod to 7lb and Ling to a similar weight.
Iain fishing behind me on the other side of the boat persevered throughout the day trying everything in his tackle box and his patience was rewarded with a cracking 12lb Ling, a 5lb Codling, followed very soon after with another nice Ling of about 8lb.
Around 2pm the sea conditions started to change for the better but the dreaded fog became a lot thicker, and while the radar was being monitored closely throughout the day, it became essential to maintain a permanent watch , as we had already had 3 extremely large vessels pass within ½ a mile which is close in my book .
Fish continued to come onboard into the afternoon and on the final fish count, we had 71 Codling from 4lb to a number of 8lb+ fish and 42 ling ranging from 7lb to 12lb+.
The weather continued to deteriorate and visibility became worse, so in the interests of safety and his passengers, Dave called time and we made the steady trip home, this time with a following sea.
Another excellent day on board “Famous” with yet again everyone taking good fish home, Excellent Boat, Excellent Skipper.
I did mention in my last post (16th October) that the season would continue for a few more weeks, I think the only thing that will stop it going on further will be the weather.
John S
Sunny Blyth
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it was a horrible drive down the a19
