Thank Cod For Days Like These!!

OK, so now we are on a roll! Having suffered repeatedly at the hands of the weather when I launched the site, we are now starting to have some luck and a trip in search of Cod on the 31st of May was one of those days you are lucky to get once in five years.

Our trip was planned months in advance for a late spring crack at the wreck cod off Weymouth. As I watched the long range weather forecast from two weeks out I couldn't believe my eyes as the conditions improved day after day. The night before suggested a little rain in the afternoon but otherwise a fine day with south westerly 3-4 winds.

By 5.15am the following morning this had been amended to variable, 2 or less, sea state smooth - Jackpot!

Rolls Royce Of The Sea

Our venue for the day was aboard Pat Carlins' magnificent "Channel Chieftain". Now there are many fine boats and skippers across the country and the size and age of the boat is not necessarily an indication of what the quality of the fishing will be like. But if you like to fish with a top skipper in what is absolute luxury then this is the boat for you. Chanel Chieftain is a 46ft metal construction catamaran with a beam that would allow you to park two large family estate cars side by side horizontally on the deck.

The Big Cat

The boat boasts a central cabin enabling fishing from the full length of the boat, and can easily accommodate a full party of anglers in the wheel house when steaming in bad weather. The large flying bridge is a comfortable spot to get some sun on days like the one we had though!

Channel Chieftain has also been the scene of some notable events for me. A haul of 12 Bass in 2006 with a personal best of 6lbs was my first trip. I also caught my maiden, and to date only, Turbot weighing 10lbs in November 2007, so it was with a high degree of confidence we set out on a warm May Saturday.

A New Method

On this trip we steamed for a little under 2 hours to reach a collection of wrecks some 25 miles SSW of Weymouth. The conditions were as good as the forecast promised with not even a wind pattern disturbing the glassy surface of the sea.

Richard, Pat's hugely experienced and helpful crew, advised us that live sand eels had not been as effective as artificials in the previous week so we hastily set about rigging up with Shads. Now I had assumed that we would fish a standard flying collar rig with a 12 inch boom connected to an 8-10ft trace ending with a 4" Shad, but not this time. Richard advised that we should use a standard sliding leger rig with a 3.5 ft trace. The method we would use was to stop the boat a little distance from the wreck and "hop" the Shads to the side of the wreck, then wind over resuming the hopping motion for a short while off the back of the wreck. The hop is achieved by lowering the shad all the way to the sea bed and then lifting the rod in a fairly slow manner from about 7 o'clock through 90 degrees to about 10 o'clock, with the fish taking on the rise.

Pops ties the "killer" rig!

Instant Success

So, armed with a Calcutta Purple Haze 4" shad on my favourite Fladen solid carbon rod we reach the first wreck. The skipper shouts that we are 10 yards from the wreck and I lowered my rig to the sea bed and started to "hop". One hop, two hops, three.....WHAM! The bite was unmistakable; the rod went solid for a second or two followed by a dogged attritional pull all the way to the surface. The result was a very welcome Cod of around 6 pounds and the day was off and running.

Junior gets in on the act

We spent the next couple of hours drifting this wreck. On the next drift I blanked, but Pops catches as do most of the rest of the boat. After 6 more drifts I have 5 Cod in the boat, Pops has 4 and the rest of the boat are also doing well.

Then sport started to dry up for me. What seemed like 10 different coloured Shads, some cod feathers and various other Christmas tree variants didn't work. Pops caught another couple of nice Cod and one chap had boated some 11 fish with the biggest running easily in to double figures (whilst his father had lost 9 sets of gear!).

Monsters of The Deep

With a good number of fish in the 5 - 7lb range on board, it was decided to move to another nearby wreck to see if we could locate some more double figure fish.

The next wreck did not produce so many fish with both Pops and I adding just one more fish each to our tally. But another good Cod of around 12lbs was caught as well as a good sized Pollack.

Richard caught a Cod which for a few minutes looked like it was going to be a monster. Using a 10lb class rod he bent in to a fish which all of a sudden took off, only to stop and become a dead weight. When it reached the boat the bite marks of a smallish shark could clearly be seen down both flanks.

Then I had the one that got away. Reeling over the wreck I got a take right at the top of my retrieve. It was a classic Pollack take, stripping line from the reel at speed. I managed to get around 60 feet of line back on the reel before the fish turned again and went all the way to the bottom. I then managed to get the fish back over half way before it gave a huge head shake and spat the now tailless shad out and disappeared. It was undoubtedly a double figure fish and in future iterations of the story may even reach 20lbs!!

Competition Hots Up

So with a lurking shark and fewer fish we decided to move to a final wreck on the way back to port. We were warned that this wreck also held a good head of Pouting but had produced Cod in previous days. Well the sport was fast and furious with the very large Pouts difficult to get through. I caught a Cod but Pops matched the feat and stayed in the lead. The next drift I caught another whilst my rival blanked - I was on level terms! Then came the shout from the skipper - "last drift". I raced to the bottom in anticipation of catching the winning fish, a bite! But not a cod, clearly a Pouting. I reeled the fish in at something like Mach 3 with my arm burning so I could get back to the bottom for another shot at the drift. Damn, it has swallowed the shad all the way. I cut the shad off and tossed the Pout in the fish hold for Richards pot baits, leaving the Shad with it and hastily tying another. Straight back down and another bite - aaaaaaghhhhhhh! Another Pout! I turned to look at Pops as he bent his rod into something very solid and very lively. I cannot describe the satisfaction that was apparent in his some what triumphant smile as he reeled in his ninth Cod of the day, and took the honours by one fish. Still, serves him right that he had to do the gutting and filleting I reckon!

Pops The Fishmonger

Another Satisfying Return To Weymouth

So flushed with success and enough Cod to keep us in fish and chips for several months we returned back to port in balmy sunshine on a mirror like sea. This day was one of the best.

One of the nicest parts of fishing a port like Weymouth is that the old harbour is very picturesque with hundreds of leisure boats mixed in with the working fleet. Here are some snaps of Weymouth you might like!

Weymouth Lifeboat

"RNLI Ernest & Mabel"

Sailing Boats In The Harbour

A Perfect Day For Beating Up The Bay!

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