Cod Fishing, Dungeness

The Good, The Bad And The........Allright

Dungeness, Romney Marsh, Kent TN29, UK

Beautiful Dungeness

The clocks have gone back, and winter is finally here, the winds have picked up, with strong South Westerly gales and the sea has been turned into mud soup, Cod season is now underway, and just like many others I couldn't help but go a little fishing mad with the lure of a big Cod. This blog is over 3 short, 3 hour sessions, that were all about being flexible, watching the weather and hitting the beach during the calm periods of the storms, and by calm I mean a very modest 20mph wind which makes fishing difficult, but not impossible.  I really wanted to fish Dungeness, it can throw up a real monster at times with some luck. Dungeness had low tides all week in the evenings, so finishing work at 5pm and heading straight to the beach, put me right on my mark to fish over low water and into the start of the flooding tide. The weather was right, the tides were right, what could possibly go wrong?

Big Leads And Bigger Baits

Well my first session could well have been my last ever! if I wasn't so keen on angling. Seriously windy and everything I did resulted in snapped lines, components breaking, getting hooks stuck in my fingers, knocking over my tackle box, rigs getting tangled every cast, it was all thrown at me this night. I nearly gave up when the wind blew a spare rig which resulted in a size 8/0 hook going through my bib and braces, 1 tracksuit bottoms and 2 sets of thermals, to embed itself in my shin, as I walked away from my rod stand to which the rig was attached, it fell over on top of me throwing my 2 rod on the shingle as I screamed obscenities, really I was beat!, with 6 rigs lost or ruined by tangles I called it quits and just for more for the mix, I went on a 100m sprint to attempted to catch my bucket lid which the wind blew down the beach like a bicycle wheel at great speed till it disappeared into the darkness. Round 1 was definitely a win for the Cod, although a dreadful session, I had caught about 20 Whiting, mainly on live bait rigs, and I even managed to hook a Cod of about 3lb, which I lost in the surf, thankfully days like this are rare.

It's A Start

It didn't take long for me to get back out there, a lull in the storm and with a spare Friday night whilst my Mrs was going to her office Xmas party, I set off to Dungeness again, this time for revenge! or at the least to still prove I could fish. What a difference!, the weather forecast was all wrong, it had gone from rain and 50mph gales to not a cloud in the sky, and absolutely no wind in the few hours it took me to drive there, this was a beautiful calm, cold and starry night, the sea was brown and angrily moved about with powerful swells, conditions couldn't be more perfect for Cod or angler. With renew faith and optimism, I set about fishing Size 8/0 single clip down rigs baited with 2 lug tipped with a whole squid head, I wasn't going to play about with big baits and bait elastic, a conscious decision made due to the havoc it caused me the previous session. my plan worked well, I was organised, quick bait ups and a seriously lack of Whiting about, gave me ample time to relax and eagerly watch the rod tips for the tell tale knock of a hungry Cod.

Biggest Of The Trio

It wasn't long, at low water as the tide stopped whilst it turned I had my first Cod bite, I waited a while as the rod tip kept nodding just to make sure the fish had taken the bait, then lifted the rod, nothing!, oh well, but very exciting to see big slow deliberate pull downs on a dead still rod tip, rather than the wavey wobble of the wind and constant rattle bites of Whiting. It was a good start at least, and my optimism wasn't mislead, all in all I had 7 good Cod bites and landed 3 Cod, the first was tiny and must of been just under 1lb Which I released, the second went 2lb 15oz and the third was 1lb 7oz, both keepers for the pot. Although not big fish, this was as good as its ever been for me, I was a happy angler. I believe that I had missed so many bites because of the lack of current which would of forced the fish to grab the baits hard, rather than what I believed they were doing, which was mouthing the bait and dropping it when they felt any resistance, the single hook wouldn't of helped either, all things to consider on my next session. But what a lovely night, and to be fair after staying on a hour longer than I should of, the cold at about 2 degrees which felt more like -2 actually got the better of me, with work early the next day I had to call it a night.

Rigs A Ready

The third and last session was again at Dungeness, but in a third location. and I was to start fishing during the day, weather was breezy, and had warmed up enough for Sarah to come along, It was nice to have the company, and had asked her if she could do some filming and take pictures for this blog, as waiting for a random passing strangers to stop and ask to take pictures seemed a bit odd, but that's my hang up, as everyone at Dungeness seems to be either be a fisherman or photographer, both of which wouldn't mind taking a picture I'm sure. I would be fishing low water, but with the missed bites last time, in the back of my mind, I had made up 3 new rigs, opting for pulley pennels with size 6/0 and 3/0 fished with large Cuttlefish, Lugworm and Squid, I was going for the one big fish. the session started off different, maybe because it was daytime, but no Whiting but I caught 4 Dogfish in a row, all with eyes bigger than their belly's.

Big Old Pout

Still I didn't mind catching the Dogfish, dusk was at low water, and that was when I really expected to catch a Cod or two. I was right!, dead on cue, a few firm tugs of the rod tip resulted in a small Cod of about 1lb 6oz, I released him with great anticipation to catch a bigger one. Unfortunately it didn't happen, the rod was still most the night, I think my camera woman  knew something I didn't, and promptly disappeared to go source her own Cod from a local pub, ready cooked in batter!. Although no more Cod for me, I did catch some rather large Pouting whilst it was dark, And with all my bait used up, I happily packed up to join Sarah in the Pub. I have to say, this year has been a good year for Cod, considering I've only caught one a few years ago. All over the South East people have been catching lots of Codling with the odd big one showing. I wonder if these the same micro Cod that I caught in Hythe during the spring? I'd like to think so, and if these fish manage to dodge the fishing trawlers, we could, fingers crossed, just maybe, be looking at a really good Cod season with these fish between 5lb and 10lb in 3/4 years time.

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