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With conditions on the edge, the cod session proved a short but valuable lesson, and a chance to test out a new kayak
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Alocal charter boat had been out the day before and found cod, which had been feeding in midwater for the last few months on sprats and herring, but now had finally dropped down to the bottom and had been taking bait again. The crew had landed 32 codling to 4lb and lost 10 when they spat the baits on the surface.
Clearly, it was time to fish again. James Leech and Shaun Leaver were available and, of course, I had nothing more pressing to encroach on my time.
The forecast was touch and go, really, a fifty-fifty chance, depending on the wind. The prediction was for fine weather early on, but with increasing wind speeds later.
We couldn’t launch until after the tide started to pick up, so agreed to meet at 11am and fish the two to three hours before slack, a short session because of the big tide running.
I went to the freezer and grabbed some squid and frozen black lugworms. James and Shaun were ready to go when I had arrived. The wind was building and had appeared to have swung around a bit more easterly, which would give us some chop to contend with, but we’d been fine the day before in similar conditions, albeit inside the reefs. Still, needs must!
It looked okay, a few white tops here and there, but the swell didn’t look all that bad. We launched, punched the tide and paddled slightly north. We dropped anchor, letting out plenty of warp to hold us in place. That’s when the sea state became more noticeable.
TOUGH CONDITIONS
It was the first time I’d anchored my Midway kayak in a strong flow and a big sea, so I was interested to see how it handled things. It was fair to say I was being rocked around a bit.
Though I wobbled, it got nowhere near to being unstable, and sat straighter than my usual kayak. Most waves were around 3ft, but the occasional 5ft or six-footer was coming through and burying the bow in between spinning me around.
These were coming from a lot of different angles, too. The bigger ones would pull the warp tight and I’d feel my stern being pulled back and downwards, which is always unnerving, but there was plenty of buoyancy back there, so I was unconcerned.
I wasn’t happy with the conditions, but perhaps it would stabilise once the rods were out. I decided to fish both my spinning reels on 12lb-class rods with a size 4/0 Pennell rig on a zip slider and an 8oz breakout lead. A defrosted black lugworm was threaded up the line between the two hooks and a squid head was placed on each, hooked through the eyes. I cast out and, deciding against fishing a second rod, clung on for dear life.
James was riding things out, although Shaun seemed to have an issue and appeared to be
drifting – his anchor warp had snapped. We were right on the limit and, cod or no cod, we had to retire. I suppose he was 50 yards away when I saw the bite… my single bait had been down for the grand total of six and a half minutes.
I struck, started to retrieve and felt the fish on the end, banging its head in an attempt to shake the hook. Even though the tide was running hard and the sea was lumpy, it felt like a good cod. I wasn’t very confident that I’d land it easily, but seeing the single hook holding in the lip and watching the fish start to spin on the surface, I had to hurry. It wasn’t as big as I’d thought, but at 3lb and 48cm long, it was a decent keeper. I grabbed the hooklength and pulled it aboard, unhooked it and placed it under the cargo net in the tankwell. The photo could wait.
FUN IN THE WAVES
Shaun came alongside and, holding on to him, I shifted the trolley and started to pull in the anchor while he went to see if James needed a hand. I had my feet over the side and my back to the swells, and pulled the anchor line straight into the seat well. The buoy and 1kg Bruce came up and were flung into the footwells.
It was a rough ride back but, conscious of the fish under the net, I waited for a flat bit before paddling in and shooting straight up the beach after Shaun. James followed, jumped out but got tripped by his paddle leash and the kayak rolled over. Off went the best part of a fiver’s worth of fresh lug and Shaun’s favourite knife.
Still, there was other fun to be had. After unloading all the gear, we played in the shore dump, paddling out and riding waves, getting dumped, getting rolled, getting smashed and battered and wet. A marvellous couple of hours, like kids splashing in puddles.
With two of us still getting used to new boats, and one trying them out for the first time, it was worthwhile. I did some rough-water capsize self-rescues too, heeding my own advice to practice skills when the sea’s not fishable. ■