Cod Fever

Has everyone gone Cod mad? It certainly seems that way from the reports I am hearing on different forums and facebook. Yesterdays Cod Fishing article received the most hits we have had on the site since it started. In case you missed it here is the link Cod Fishing

I have to admit that once again I have been having a fantastic few days fishing, with a good session on the Codling on Wednesday, just as the conditions turned perfect once more.

A lot of people have sent me messages about what bait and how far and where am I catching the fish. If I haven’t answered your email or facebook message it is because I have been swamped with messages, and I have been pretty busy fishing as well. Myself and Adrian have also been working pretty hard on the new look website that will have a live feed area that will hopefully give you access to live question sessions. In the mean time I will try and put as much information as I can on the site.

How far am I casting?  I am not a big caster, but I can hit about 60 to 70m into a reasonably stiff head wind with a small to medium sized bait. It seems to be far enough. My advice when cod fishing is to hit it as hard as you can. Unfortunately I come across many anglers on the beach that tell me they are hitting a 100m or more with bait, yet seem to be falling 20 or 30m short of my 70m. For some reason when I ask then why they are casting short they take offence. Obviously that was a tongue in cheek statement, but  many anglers do seem to have no idea just how far a 100m is. Get yourself onto a sports field and measure out a 100m then practice casting. If you are hitting that mark then great, if not practice a bit more, or even better get  couple of lessons. It is money well spent, there is no point in wasting £20 on bait if you can’t hit the distance that the fish are at. There are plenty of good casting instructors around, and they only charge between £15 an £20 an hour.

What bait am I using?

For me there is really only one bait for Cod and that is fresh Lug worm. Some anglers prefer Black Lug, other Blow Lug. I prefer Blow Lug, but if I had the choice of both I would load a 5/0 pennel rig with 2 Blow at the top then a nice big fresh Black Lug, then add another couple of Blow Lug to the bottom of the lower pennel hook. Live Peeler works well, bit at a pound a crab, I will stick with Lug if I can get it. If you want your lug to last then wrap it in a squid blanket. The juices ooze out and the tough squid jacket protects it from small fish.

Where is the best place to fish on Chesil?

 A lot of anglers will swear by Abbotsbury, or Cogden, others think the deep water marks around bridging camp produce better fish. Then there are others like me that are lazy and prefer the marks on their doorstep. For me thats the Portland end of Chesil. In reality most marks will produce under your average Autumn and Winter fishing conditions. However when you have a large long rolling swell like we had yesterday, then the deeper marks towards Portland fish far better. Mainly because the surfline run off is closer to the shore, which  allows those that struggle to hit the longer distances a chance to get in amongst the fish.

Will Chesil be fishable this weekend?

Well I am no weather man , but looking at the wind forest I would say the Chesil will be fishable. However it will be dangerous and it will be hard going. keep an eye on your line at all times. If it goes slack you are likely to get your line buried under the shingle and lose all your gear. Landing a fish will also be tough. Make sure you set your drag to allow line to be taken from the spool.

Bass Fishing: I have taken a break away from the Cod for a few days to concentrate on some Bass fishing from the boat. We are now coming into the best time of year for Bass, from both the boat and the shore. Yesterday I went out in search of Bass, in conditions that were far from ideal. Although the wind had died down a lot since Tuesday, we were left with a large swell which pushed up along the east side of Portland creating towering waves. Take a look at the video to give you an idea of the conditions.

 

Being battered around for a couple of hours was worth it when I managed to land this 9lb Bass

 

Sea Conditions:

Water temperature 15.9 °c.

Chesil Beach: Ghoppy with 1m waves with coloured water

Portland: large swell with 1m+ waves and coloured water

Portland Harbour: wavelets with clear water

Weymouth Bay: Calm with slightly coloured water

Chesil Beach forecast: Cod, Whiting, Trigger Fish, Bream, Bass, you name it and there is a good chance f you catching it this weekend.

Portland: With large waves crashing onto the rocks, marks like Portland Bill and Chesil Cove will be almost impossible to fish. However on the East side of the Island marks such as Chine and Church Ope Cove will be fishable. As long as Church Ope does not get too much weed into the bay then there is a good chance of a Bass on a large Mackerel bait. Bull Huss and Conger always like a bit of coloured water. Although Chine is a high and difficult mark to fish, it is possible to catch Cod from there.

 Portland Harbour: A potential mark that offers good protection in these winds. Sandsfoot Castle is likely to produce Bass and Flounder. It is one of the few marks that will be suitable for lure fishing today.

Weymouth Bay: Both the Stone and Pleasure pier will offer reasonable shelter and the chance of picking up a variety of species.

Preston has been hosting the Welsh International team trials over the weekend. The anglers were only allowed to use Ragworm and Mackerel. This didn’t stop them catching Smoothound, Bass, Plaice, Flounder, Whiting, Dabs and Small Eyed Rays. So if you are looking for an alternative venue, I think you may have found one.

Guiding: I still have a few slots left between now and November, so if you are interested in lure or bait fishing over the next two most productive months of the year then drop me an email to [email protected]