SPRING PROMISE

Time to chase some seasonal codling.

Over the last month or so there has been an influx of codling showing on the Essex coastline that perhaps pointed to the early signs of a good spring run. Having not seen a cod of any kind since I returned from Norway last November, this was the motivation I needed.

After a few phone calls from Matt Clark suggesting that the number of codling was increasing, it was the final nudge I needed, so I loaded my fishing gear into the car to make the 70-mile journey to Matt’s house in Clacton.

I’ve met many good anglers from the Clacton area, who all seem to be able to cast a long way and can catch cod and rays for fun – Matt is no exception. When I arrived at Matt’s, he broke the news that the wind was far too strong to fish the Holland-on-Sea and Clacton beaches, but he had an alternative – the Jaywick area. The wind would almost be behind us.

When we arrived in bitterly-cold weather, there wasn’t a soul on the streets. Out came the thermal kit, but, unfortunately, I had forgotten my thermal boots. Luckily, I had my working boots in the car.

After a short walk on to the seawall, the beach opened up in front of us – lovely sandy beaches with large boulders creating stone groynes to prevent tidal erosion from the North Sea.

TEAMWORK

As we were almost blown along by the wind to our mark, I listened to Matt’s advice about how to fish the venue. Finally, after a small fiddly walk through the boulders, we were out of the wind. A couple of Matt’s friends were already fishing, but were still waiting for their first fish.

I unpacked my new Zziplex Trinity GT and teamed it with a Shimano Bullseye carrying 15lb mainline and a tapered leader. Matt was using a Zziplex M427 teamed with an Abu 6500 and fishing a two-hook clipped flapper rig.

My rig was a single-hook clipped with a size 1/0 Cox & Rawle Uptide hook. Because of the movement in the sea from the tide and strong winds, I chose to try breakout and fixed-grip sinkers. My bait was blow lug, frozen black lug, squid and ragworms supplied by Dean’s Tackle, of Clacton.

Matt used blow lug tipped with frozen black lug. He has a little trick when tipping off using frozen blacks – he folds the worm back on the hook shank and wraps it with a few turns of fine elastic to secure it. We avoided fish baits because we didn’t want rays when we were seeking spring codling.

Due to the limited space between the groynes, we took turns to cast, moving to the left-hand side of the beach and casting up the tide into the wind. As the weights gripped the clay bottom, we sorted the rods out on the tripods to suit their position. Teamwork is imperative when conditions are bad, and helps you enjoy a difficult day on the beach.

First to get an inquiry was one of Matt’s friends but, after a couple of good pulldowns and a slack line bite, he wound furiously to catch the fish up but missed it.

Matt and I always have a bit of an Essex versus Kent battle when we are fishing together. This time, being outnumbered three to one by the Essex lads, I needed to make a good effort to uphold the reputation of my home county, Kent.

I started double-patting (using two traces and baiting one up while fishing the other) and began tipping off blow lug with a ragworm to create a juicy bait. We were avoiding large baits because Matt had said all the codling he’d caught on previous trips had taken smaller baits.

SLACK LINE

We seemed to have a good method working with the casting, and it had not been causing each other too many problems when retrieving.

As ever, we were all having a laugh when I noticed my line blowing slack in the wind. I jumped up, which was hard due to the amount of clothing I was wearing, picked up the rod and wound my fixedspool reel as fast as possible to connect with the weight and trace and, hopefully, the fish. I felt some weight, and kept my fingers crossed that it wasn’t just weed. Reassuringly, I felt the nod from the fish – a good sign that it was a cod.

The fish had swam down the tide, so, after checking the position of the other lines, I walked down the beach adjusting my position to suit the other lads. After a short battle, out of the surf popped a codling, my first of 2018, and of the winter in the UK. To say I was happy was an understatement. Kent 1, Essex 0. To rub salt into Essex wounds, I asked Matt to photograph me with the fish. Once that was done, I slipped the fish back into the sea.

“My bait was blow lug, frozen black lug, squid and ragworms”

By this time the sea was pushing us back into the rocks, so it was time to move out of the cover of the boulders to the open beach.

The wind had increased and we huddled under beach shelters that we’d placed together to form a small encampment. One of Matt’s mates decided the weather wasn’t for him, so he packed up and went home. I considered making a comment about the Essex boys not being able to handle it, but didn’t want to wind them up any more.

It was becoming harder to fish the favoured area because of the wind, rough sea and boulders in front of us, so we started fishing more to the right. I’m glad I always carry a pair of tinted safety specs because the sand spattering my face was unbearable at times. It was not nice, but probably did wonders for my complexion. We fished on and Matt foul-hooked a rockling, which I pointed out didn’t count. I followed that with a flounder; I wanted to say this fish counted in our contest.

CHALLENGING

Light was fading, and the best time – two hours after high tide – was yet to come. On clear days you get some fantastic sunsets here that seem to take your mind off the fact you can’t feel your feet. We struggled on, and Matt’s other friend caught a whiting just before he had to leave for work.

As the wind worsened, we carried on knowing that there was a chance of further fish. An hour after darkness we succumbed to the conditions and returned to the car. It had been great company and fantastic teamwork in challenging conditions. Spring promises to be good around the Clacton area with cod and rays and, I have to give the Essex lads another chance on home turf. ■