RUBBLE ROUSER
it might look like a demolition site, but Cardiff Foreshore’s hot for cod
It’s a cod season to remember in South Wales.
The wintercod season of 201920 has turned out to be one of the most productive of the new millennium in the Bristol Channel. Throughout the autumn, both boat and shore anglers caught decent numbers of codling, and by December these started to include some very nice doublefigure fish.
Then, a week before Christmas, I had a conversation with Rob Cole, the dynamic driving force behind South Wales Sea Anglers, the Cardiff club that continues to go from strength to strength. He invited me to attend the club’s annual festive competition held at Cardiff Foreshore.
He also confirmed that the current season was shaping up to be a very good one, with anglers fishing at the Foreshore catching plenty of fish.
I am already on record as saying that Cardiff Foreshore is not a venue that will suit everyone. In fact, when talking in terms of aesthetic beauty, the place is a ‘blight upon the coastline’, backed as it is by the industrial sprawl of Cardiff Docks. In front of the seawall that protects the coast hereabouts you are confronted with a tangled mess of broken, slime-covered concrete blocks, complete with plenty of protruding reinforcing steel rods, along with countless old bricks and other assorted junk. There are plenty of opportunities to slip and break an ankle, or worse.
The majority of this debris extends for about 30 yards, before leading on to the vast expanse of inter-tidal mud that typifies the upper reaches of the Bristol Channel. I once described the place as being not too dissimilar to newsreel images of war-torn Beirut, and apparently that name has stuck with many of the locals who fish here.
TOP TACTICS
Cardiff Foreshore may be a mess, but it is prime habitat for marine life, and these rich pickings attract the seasonal shoals of foraging cod. From my previous trips, I know that anglers choose to fish here mainly on neap to mid-range tides (10.5-10.5 metres Cardiff scale) – the strength of the tide on larger springs is simply too much to hold bottom.
Long-range casting is not always necessary, indeed it can be counterproductive as often a 60-70 yard lob is all that’s needed to produce fish. That said, there is no doubt that there are days when those anglers who are able to present their baits at extreme range will pick up more fish – my most recent trip being one of them.
Fishing is usually at its best during the run of the flood and the first couple of hours of the ebb, with a lull in feeding activity over high water slack.
Back in the days when the South Wales cod fishing scene was at its peak, big baits were very much the order of the day, and the same is true today. The water is the colour of a decent cup of tea, meaning the only way any fish is going to locate a bait is from the scent trail emitting from your bait. Throughout my latest visit I quickly noted most of the anglers were using a decent-sized baits including both blow and black lug, ragworms, squid and fresh peeler crabs, invariably fished as a cocktail consisting of two or more ingredients. On the day, crabs were especially productive for codling.
Most of the anglers I spoke to were using a pulley rig with a 5-6oz breakout weight, which is necessary to hold bottom in the strong tide. Many rigs incorporated a Pennell consisting of two size 2/0 hooks in tandem. Apart from codling, there is an excellent chance of catching double-figure conger eels, along with thornback rays, so the ideal hooks for codling should be very sharp and have the necessary strength to successfully land bigger fish in a strong run of tide.
QUICK START
Forty anglers entered the competition, an unpegged event that allowed individuals to choose their own favourite mark from which to fish. Thanks to the club’s positive relationship with both the management and
security staff at Cardiff Docks (see below), the limits extended from Birds on Rover Way to the east of the dock gates, right the way to the end of Longships Road near the entrance to Cardiff Bay.
It was here, at the start of the match, that I found Phil George fishing with a group of friends. When the tip of Phil’s rod nodded in confirmation of a bite and he struck and started to reel in, the widening grin on the man’s face confirmed he had indeed hooked a fish. Barely 20 minutes after the start, Phil was already on the score card with a plump codling. Sadly, not long afterwards he lost what clearly was a bigger fish, when his line snagged about halfway in on his retrieve.
Walking east towards Cods Corner, one of the most popular marks on Cardiff Foreshore, I found Roy Tapper, arriving just in time to witness him land his second codling, one of five he caught to win the event with 206cm. Phil was second with two codling, with Nigel Putbrace in third with five whiting. All in all, a very successful event, further endorsing the excellent reputation of the superbly run club. ■