MY FISHING DIARY
ADVENTURES OF A JUNIOR SHORE ANGLER
New series with junior Harley Thompson.
Eight-year-old Harley Thompson, from Jarrow, Tyne & Wear, reveals how his latest shore trip went…
My first shore trip of 2020 started well when I decided to head for Roker Pier in Sunderland. It offers a wide range of species to target throughout the year that include cod, whiting, coalfish, dabs, flounders and pouting. Other species such as dogfish, thornback rays, haddock and soles also make occasional appearances. I’ve even heard of a 10lb halibut being caught.
Today, though, I decided to target dabs with my dad. I chose Roker Pier because the weather conditions were uncomfortable. A strong south-westerly wind gusting to 35mph at times, with a flat calm sea, meant that we could seek a little shelter around the lighthouse on the roundhead.
I planned to fish into darkness and with the tides being small, I reckoned the dabs would be feeding in force.
My chosen baits were frozen black lugworms, blow lug and mackerel. I know that dabs love these and I was hopeful for a great few hours’ fishing. I baited my twohook flapper rig armed with size 2 hooks and, after a gentle cast, I waited patiently for my first customer to come knocking.
Within minutes my rod started tapping. The dabs had arrived in numbers along with coalfish, codling and flounders. They weren’t big by any means, but provided great sport on my balanced tackle.
When darkness arrived, the fish surprisingly switched off. I thought it was a good time to switch tactics and added a pop-up bead to each hook snood. This proved to be a great decision because I caught double shots of whiting and dabs every cast. The fish really kept me busy for the next couple of hours; even small codling had come on the feed.
I carried on fishing, hoping to catch a bigger codling, until I ran out of bait. Sadly, I didn’t catch anything big, but there’s always next time. I can’t wait for my next session. ■