Cod Fishing Aboard Peganina

Big Baits For Bucket Mouths

Peganina launched from Rye Harbour

Peganina, Dungy bound

What can I say.....Its now November and still! there has been hardly been any wind from the South West stirring the south coast sea into a muddy lumpy mass dislodging all manner of sea life which the Cod come in close to shore to feed on, instead we have the opposite, easterly winds clearing the water to the colour of gin, its unseasonably warm still, and mackerel in abundance chasing Whitebait on to the beaches. I've had my winter shore fishing gear ready since September, but I'm still scratching around for bits with the continental rods in summer like conditions. I was growing impatient to say the least, but if the Cod wont come to me, then I was going to have to go them! and I wasn't going to mess about either!

Bait station ready

Some of our best inshore Cod fishing is at Dungeness, And I knew that a few Cod were being caught out in the boats, so with a few days notice I booked my self aboard the chartered fishing boat "Peganina" skippered by Ant Hill. On the day of the trip in stark contrast to the recent summer like conditions, and although the wind was just a puny pathetic cool breeze and still from the wrong direction, alas the air temp had dropped to just above zero degrees Celsius which is half way to Cod season at least. it didn't matter too much, wearing thermals on top of thermals, I hardly felt the cold at all. We left Rye Harbour at 7am, and within a hour arrived at our mark and anchored up, which coincidentaly was just off shore where my favourite shore Cod fishing spot is, if only I could cast 1000 meters, I could reach the fish, but it was nice to know they were very close to the shore, and when conditions turn the Cod wont have far to swim.

First fish and large Whiting

Anyways, I fished 2 rods, 1 uptide rod and 1 downtide rod, both were 60lb flowing 5' long traces with 7/0 and 6/0 pennel, bait was gonna be half a Cuttlefish and Black Lugworm wrap, I cut the Cuttlefish in half and stuffed about 3 worms into the body, and bound together with elastic then threaded the hooks through the bait, normally I like to be a bit more deft, but I was going big for big fish and was not going to be messing around with the small fry, the baits were massive, twice the size of anything I'd ever presented to the sea before, they were like exploding scent and ink bombs hitting the water, I reckon the scent alone from one of these would be picked up by fish in France, now all I had to do was wait. The inevitable rattle rattle on both rod tips gave away the ravenous Whiting pecking away at the baits, but I was confident it would take a good 20mins for a shoal to demolish the baits. after 10mins, my dowtide rod was indicating something a bit better was biting, I suspected a dog fish, but it was a Whiting! but a 2lb 4oz Whiting! dam, biggest I'd seen for a long time, and at least I had dinner sorted with the first cast which cant be bad!

New PB Cod 8lb 8oz

The next few hours saw a succession of small Whiting, normally 2 at a time and Dogfish landed, uptiding was proving a little bit difficult as it was low water on top of a neap tide, so very little water movement, definitely not enough to bow the line, I was practically shore fishing from a boat, with a straight line from my rod tip straight to my lead, which was holding bottom where ever I had cast it, at least I could cast around a bit searching for fish. It worked, dead on low water the uptide rod took a slow deliberate pull down, and again, then a tell tale double knock from a Cod, I picked the rod up, and felt another pulldown to which I replied with a firm and controlled strike putting a big bend into the rod and holding it, knock knock I felt, It was fish on! and a Cod for sure, I gentle teased the fish up to the boat and netted my biggest ever Cod!!! the scales bounced around 8 to 9lb as the boat rode the waves, so I took the weight of the fish to be in the middle at 8lb 8oz, a new PB, I was over the moon, and it was early, I was confident of more!

Another PB Cod, now at 9lb 8oz

After the excitement of the Cod, things seemed to quieten down, even the Whiting rattles got less and less, with only the occasional one suicidally impaling itself on a hook that was bigger than it's head. The tide had turned, well, I presumed it did, and if I'm honest I never even noticed due to lack of tide. Time was cracking on and bites were hard to come by, the down tide rod had been out for at least 30mins, I had been holding the rod most the time, feeling for bites, but I got distracted by a rattle on the other rod and set it down in the railing rest, and just then a big pull down followed by knock knock, I ignored the rod thinking it maybe just the lead bouncing on the sea bed, but again it pulled down and definitely out of time with the waves, I picked the rod back up and on the next pull down I lifted the rod hard to set the hooks, yes! I was in! as I played the fish it seemed very lively, especially compared to the other Cod, I suspected a Bass, but then out of the depths my fish hit the surface showing its self to to being another big Cod, as much as I wanted to make it 10lb, I couldn't the scales readings bounced between 9 and 10lb in the waves, and giving the same law as before, 50/50 put the fish weight at 9lb 8oz, well, another PB and a fine partner to my other catch, a perfect brace!

Bucket Mouth Hovers

I actually didn't catch another fish after that,but I was extremely content with what I'd caught, Time was up and we all reeled in for the last time, hoping that maybe a Cod was attached, but alas, all baits returned half intact and fish less. I wasn't complaining, with a new PB Cod twice over and possibly a new Whiting PB that I need to investigate, I had caught what I'd come for and had 3 keepers for the dinner table, although I only took one Cod home as I gave one to another angler on the boat who didn't catch a cod, just something that had been done for me in the past on previous trips, and seemed only right that we all got a share of the bounty. Well, I can certainly relax a little now over the lack of a Cod season so far, catching Cod from the shore is a very different beast to catching them from a boat, and now I'm going to wait patiently whilst eating my Cod and Chips for that weather to turn, and bring the same Cod I was catching today to within casting distance of the shore, where I will be hopefully ready and waiting for them.

An awesome brace of finest English Channel Cod