cod at the double
anglers buzzing as winter produces plenty of big fish
A 21lb 10oz cod is possibly the biggest UK shore-caught cod of the winter so far.
It was taken by Kane Hyden (above), who fished a mark close to his home in Newport, South Wales. He fished a fresh Devon peeler crab on a size 4/0 hook.
“I’m absolutely buzzing,” he said. “It’s the fish of a lifetime. I still can’t believe it.”
He’s entering his catch in the heaviest cod competition being run by Holton Road Angling in Barry, which was featured in Sea Angler 565.
Kane started the session two hours after low water ready to fish up to high tide in what was a rough sea that pushed them back off the ledges an hour earlier than expected.
“After a couple of hours with no bites, I started to get some knocks from small codling,” said Kane, who then decided to fish only one rod with two peelers cast out as far as he could.
After about 10 minutes he had a slack line bite and hooked a fish that he thought was a conger eel, but hoped was a double-figure cod. Eventually, he got it over the ledges where his pal Andrew Collett managed to grab it in the fast tide.
Also in South Wales, while most people were celebrating the start of a new year, Craig Evans visited a rock mark near Barry in South Wales. Searching for a big cod, his New Year’s Eve efforts paid off when he landed a magnificent 19lb 5oz fish at 2.30am on New Year’s Day.
“I've been chasing codling all around South Wales and landed a few, but wanted to beat my previous personal best of 7lb,” said Craig, who hadn’t previously visited the mark this winter.
His first fish was a whiting, but soon he set up a second rod and cast out half an Ammo squid on a pulley rig. It soon attracted a bite.
“I left it there for an extra couple of minutes then picked up the rod to retrieve the rig. I had a lot of slack line, so I took up the slack and connected with something that felt a lot heavier than the previous whiting. Cod on!” said Craig, who lives in Ferndale, Rhondda.
The fish dived into the kelp beds close to the shoreline and Craig realised it was a decent fish.
“As it surfaced, I couldn’t believe my eyes, I prayed my 30lb Amnesia hooklink didn't give way,” he added.
“I had no more bites after that and, to be honest, it didn't matter. I’d caught a fish if a lifetime from the shore and had a new year to remember. What more could an angler ask for?”
Up in the Shetland Islands, there have been plenty of big shore-caught cod, with the latest falling to Bor Zsoltiak. The Hungarian angler, who lives in Scalloway, caught an 18lb 3oz cod on a mackerel fillet while shore fishing at Hellister.
Meanwhile, at Chesil Beach in Dorset, local angler Ronnie Brown caught a personal best 9lb 11oz cod on black lug on a Pennell pulley rig.