BEST TACKLE AND RIG
Although you’ll be fishing in relatively shallow water (20-50ft), the tidal flow in the Humber can be fierce, so you’ll need to tackle up accordingly, especially if you’re fishing a big tide. As a result, use a decent uptide rod or a 12lb or 20lb-class boat rod to catch these cod. We were fishing a small neap tide and I had no problems holding bottom with a 190g fixed lead weight and large whiting livebait during the strongest part of the tide. It was the perfect time to fish a reel loaded with 30lb braid to reduce the amount of lead weight you need to hold bottom. Braid shows the savage bites from the smallest of codling much better than mono. For the bulk of the fishing in the Humber, it’s not worth using a leader. The addition of a knot between your reel and the fish only serves as a weak point and collection point for the masses of weed that can flood down the river at any time. It is best to keep rigs simple, and a couple have proven themselves for me over the years. The first is a simple running leger – a link swivel that houses the grip lead is threaded on the mainline, followed by a bead, then a swivel with a 3ft-long, 30lb hooklength is added with Pennell-rigged size 5/0 Sakuma Manta hooks. Another tried and tested codling rig is the running paternoster. It’s a little more complicated to tie, but the extra fiddling about really does pay off when you’re catching fish. You need to thread a swivel on the mainline, followed by a bead. Tie a second swivel to the end of the mainline, then tie on a 3ft length of 30lb hooklength material (fluorocarbon is best). Now tie a 2ft length of 40lb mono to the swivel that is sliding up and down your mainline. Add a link swivel to the end of this and clip on your grip lead. Tie on your chosen hook(s) to the end of your hooklength.