The one that got away
A double-figure cod does a disappearing act
A double-figure cod escapes the hook.
It seems that every angler has a tale to tell about losing a big fish and, as a result, we’ve all enjoyed stories ranging from fact to fantasy.
I love a good fishing yarn, and will nod along knowingly, smiling to myself, as an enthusiastic angler recounts a tale of daring do and downright bad luck.
Of course, among the ‘fantasy island’ fishing stories, there are many that are true, and there are witnesses willing to back up the facts about a lost monster. On a recent trip, I was the witness.
It happened at the Black Post on the River Thames, near Gravesend, Kent. The mark, featured in my Down Your Way article on the Thames Marshes (issue 525), is downriver from the sea school.
The Black Post got its name from what was simply a big post (yes, it was black too!) that stuck out of the river and was about 80 yards from the shore. This post never uncovered at low water but it could always be seen.
I’ve spoken to locals about it, but no one really knew what it was for. Perhaps, many years ago it was part of a jetty, but even with the post long gone, the mark has retained this name.
This part of the river is the deepest part that runs along close to the shore but, unfortunately, it’s very snaggy, and not a place for anglers who get upset about losing gear. The shoreline consists of rocks and shingle that drop away to big ledges and rock reefs. Some of these reefs can be seen at low water, but many remain out of sight and ready and willing to claim more tackle.
Take No Prisoners
Joining me were Sea Angler Team regulars Jason (Big Ja) White and Allan Matthews. The plan was to get to the mark just before low water so we’d be ready for the start of the flooding tide. The beach is shingle and rocks, but the seawall has disappeared in places and the area looks like a war zone. It’s changed over the years since when I was a kid and we used to cycle along from the Ship and Lobster pub (lemonades only for us!).
One thing that hasn’t changed is good run of cod, but some years are better then others. With many venues only producing pin whiting early in the year, Old Father Thames has the ability to come up trumps.
Reels and line must be stepped up from the smaller beach casting reels when fishing this part of the river. As a result we use either the Penn 525 or Penn Fathom with 20lb and 25lb line, simply because the seabed here takes no prisoners. Even with the heavier lines, tackle will be lost; using a weak link to attach the lead weight can help.
I wandered over to Big Ja to take a look at what he was using; he has fished this area for many years and is the one to ask for advice.
He had set up on top of the seawall, even
with the tide being low, to gain height when retrieving. Keeping your line high helps to lift fish from the bottom and, hopefully, away from those snags.
He was testing a new Zziplex rod, due out early in 2016, with a Fathom reel, pulley rig and rotten-bottom attachment to a 6oz breakout sinker. The tide run can be strong, so you need the baited trace to land and hold without it bouncing along in the tide and into a snag.
Over the years we have found the Breakaway Impact Softy sinker to work well on all the river marks. The soft wires that come out the noise of the weight can be bent into U shapes, which seem to pull free from lost line and the clay ledges located close to the riverbank.
I have to admit, we discovered this by accident some years ago when we’d lost our normal sinkers and only had the soft-wire versions left.
Our bait consisted of fresh black lug and common lug, although Big Ja favours peeler crabs. Over the years I’ve noticed that peelers catch cod all through the tide, while the yellowtails do best once the tide starts to run. The reason is the shrimps. The river is full of them, and they are the big attraction for the fish to come downriver to feed.
slack liner
Over slack water, the shrimps strip the lug baits from the hooks in minutes, but it takes longer for them to remove the crabs. Once the tide run increases, the shrimps take cover and both baits produce fish.
During this visit the cod showed about an hour after low water, producing the typical ‘nod-nod’ bites, followed by a slack liner.
Keeping the rod tips high and winding in really fast is the only way to land a fish in this scenario, otherwise the fish will take your gear into the snags.
So far, only codling had been caught, but two hours after low, Big Ja’s rod tip showed another bite from what seemed a good cod. He has caught fish to 13lb, and it looked as if this could be a personal best as it went plodding off towards London.
About 50 yards out the cod got snagged, but by keeping the pressure on, the rotten bottom did its job and the nodding cod was heading towards the shore. But, about 30 yards from the shore, the hook pulled free. Big Ja was gutted. Curses may have been uttered. We saw the water swirl as the cod’s tail turned in the muddy water and the fish headed back out. It was so close to being landed, but fishing this snaggy mark means this could be the price you pay.
We fished to high water and then took the long walk back to the pub where we chatted about another good day on the Thames and the one that got away. The pint (not lemonade this time) was good too. Cheers!