Winter 2005

Winter Fishing 2005

Well so far prospects for winter fishing are looking good, but have slowed down recently. We arrived back from fishing in Mexico at the end of October/beginning November, and proceeded to start taking out parties for winter fishing - other boats had already been catching the odd good fish but they seem to have disappeared at the moment. We do seem to be finding the 3 to 4 lb Codling but the larger 10lb+ fish currently seem to be in short supply. At the moment people are constantly ringing up to go Cod fishing - the biggest problem we're having is that we lose so many days due to bad weather that there's never enough days to make up for all the days we've lost...if that makes any sense. Mind you I think we're all barking mad! Going out sitting in the freezing cold, in the middle of the Channel to catch a nice Cod, but at the end of the day it's like a drug and once you've caught your first 10lb Cod you then want to catch one at 15lb, then 20lb and it doesn't seem to stop. I have been fishing for Cod ever since the first fishing trip my father ever took me on, fishing off Dungeness Beach over 35 years ago, I'll always remember that day seeing the fish breaking in the surf and without really thinking, running into the surf to grab it not wanting to lose it... From that day on I wanted to catch more.

There's something about sitting there and waiting in suspense...waiting for that good hard knock that you know is a Cod...

Things are starting to look a bit better at the moment, a few more fish are starting to show and on quite a few sessions lately we've also been landing a few Conger Eels along with good-sized whiting and pouting which keep you busy throughout the day.

The weather, as usual, doesn't seem to be able to make up its mind from one week to the next and the forecasts don't get any more accurate which means that unfortunately when deciding the night before whether or not to go fishing the next day, we have to listen to the weatherman and read the met office 24hr forecast. When you actually sit down and look at the number of fishing trips that you have booked in throughout the year, and then look at the number you actually managed to get out on it's very disappointing for us as well as you...the anglers.

Back to bait and tactics: If you intend to come on a Cod trip, then you need to make sure that you bring plenty of squid, crab if you wish, cuttle-fish if you can get hold of it and the same goes for lug worm. This year Lug seems to have been in very short supply and half the time I begrudge paying for the worms as they are so small that you are probably better off putting a decent squid or cuttle-fish bait down. Not long now...soon be back into summer fishing and longer, warmer days and hopefully better fishing!

A few things to look forward to this summer will be the new rods that we've been working on with FOX SEA - they are looking pretty good! They have produced 2 new rods in their bass range - 1 Impressa 8' 4" long called the 'Bass Special' and a slightly more expensive Challenger at 8' 2" long called, the 'Bass Buster'. Both of these rods are absolutely first class and will be a must have for all of you bass fishermen. We spent 3 months designing and developing them in conjunction with Max Cottis of FOX SEA and everyone who has tried out the proto-types on the boat agreed that they were brilliant. Also, we now have a selection of multi-tip rods that we've been testing and they come in 3 classes: Warrior (cheapest) through to the Impressa and the Challenger. In each of these ranges there will be an 8lb, 12lb & 15lb class rod and a 15lb, 20lb and 30lb. As it's winter time, we've been using the 15-30lb class rods and so far have found them to be pretty good. We've been using 1.5lb of lead on these rods on the size 10 Challenger reels and they have handled this in the Channel with no problems at all. The bite detection, as you can imagine, is very good and enables you to pick up every kind of bite. When you have a fish on there is plenty of power in the back-bone of the rod to retrieve it. If you are travelling around, or fish in various locations this is one rod that you'll want to add to your collection. All of these rods will be available to purchase in the Spring. If you wish to try or have a look at one, we will put some pictures on the website shortly or give us a call and arrange to view them on the boat.

How to cook your Cod:

http://www.hookerycookery.com/fish-menu.htm

Proposed Cod Ban news:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/sci/tech/2361763.stm

http://www.guardian.co.uk/fish/story/0,7369,427764,00.html#article_continue

For those interested in some of our Nation's fishing history, take a look at the following links to articles about the Cod Wars:

http://www.britains-smallwars.com/RRGP/CodWar.htm

http://home.freeuk.net/nigelhadley/homepage.htm