MY FISHING DIARY
ADVENTURES OF A JUNIOR SHORE ANGLER
Junior rod Harley’s angling exploits.
Eight-year-old Harley Thompson, from Jarrow, Tyne & Wear, reveals how his latest shore trip went…
THE WEATHER and sea conditions were favourable, and it was looking promising for a session on one of my local rock marks. The northerly swells were calming down and there had been plenty of reports of cod being caught during the stir-up. A venue I thought may offer me some success is a mark called The Wherry. It’s a comfortable platform over rough ground and located in the small coastal village of Whitburn, which lies between Sunderland and South Shields. It’s a popular mark that regularly produces decent cod when the conditions are right.
I arrived with my dad three hours before high water and we planned to fish over the top of the tide, before moving to another mark to fish when it began ebbing.
We both used large edible crab and mussel cocktails for bait, and right on high water my rod tip nodded down slowly. I picked it up to feel another strong pull indicating this fish was on.
I played it through the snags and pumped it out of the kelp, while my dad was ready to lift it up the short drop-off for me. As he started lifting my cod, he turned around with a look of frustration on his face. “Sorry, son, it’s thrown the hook – and it looked a good 3lb too,” he said. I was disappointed, but that’s fishing, I suppose.
The light was now fading quickly, so we decided to move, stopping along the way for fish and chips.
We arrived at Bents Cottages, which is about a mile south of The Wherry. The fishing here is from rocks and you need to keep on your toes to follow the tide as it empties and uncovers gullies.
I lobbed my first cast only 40 yards out, and within minutes I had a really good bite, resulting in a sizable codling. I cast my next bait to the same place, tightened the mainline and held my rod, waiting for another bite. Again, I felt a really hard thump on the rod, and after a decent struggle through the snags, I eventually had a cracking codling weighing 3lb 8oz in my hands. I was happy with that, and to top it off, I’d beaten my dad…again!
With the tide now starting to flood, we called it a night and headed for home with huge smiles on our faces. ■