SQUARING THE CIRCLE
Cod and sharks put in a welcome appearance for two boats anglers fishing off the coast of South Devon
A boat trip produces cod and blue sharks.
This was supposed to be a shakedown cruise – catch a few mackerel, make a couple of drifts on a favourite wreck until the tide changed, and then an hour’s drift with a little rubby-dubby bag over the side to see if there were any blue sharks... and then head in for a pint and home. Ha ha! Nearly right.
We’d had an electrician in to sort out all the electrickery and remake some of the connections that the salt air gremlins had made less than reliable.
Job done, except for the windscreen wipers. But on such a flat and sunny day off Plymouth they would not have been used anyway. What a glorious day it was, one of those days we dream about during the dank days of winter.
As we stopped the boat over the wreck to see where the wind and tide was going to push us, we spotted a flock of shearwaters. There were several hundred birds wheeling and tracking something just under the surface. It could be tunny, but there had been reports of several minke whales creating a bit of a fuss 20 miles off.
DANCING A JIG
The wind and tide were giving us a drift to the south west, taking the boat around pointing the bow to the north so we had the sunshine in the cockpit. The sounder had shown some fish high over the wreck. Not a lot, but they were probably pollack anyway.
We started the drift. What we wanted to do was to bounce some small jigs along the bottom, down the side of the wreck to see if there were any cod in residence.
I was using a blue and silver 150g Hart Stream lure, a basic fast drop lure which, in 230 feet of water, is what is needed to get down. Having said that, it has an asymmetrical cross section that gives it a ‘lay on its side’ motion to flash and flicker the colours when you work it with the rod.
Often, when fishing with lures like this, a thumb on the spool to lightly restrict the action of the jig is needed to get down to the bottom quickly. This slight restriction on the spool stops the lure laying on its side as it sinks.
Once the lure has tapped the bottom, make three or four quick turns on the reel to pick up any slack line and lift the jig a couple of feet off the seabed. Then, with a jig of this type, work it as if you were using a set of feathers.
Within a couple of seconds that familiar bump, bump, bump on the rod tip told me that a fish had found the jig. First fish of the day was a whiting of nearly 3lb. Over the course of the next hour or so we had half-a-dozen more around that size, mixed in with the cod. We ended up with nine cod, best about 6lb. Nothing fantastic, but happy days!
RUBBY-DUBBY TIME
Slack water brought an end to that joyous fishing, so we mashed some mackerel, mixed in some bran flake and sardine oil, put the mix in a mesh bag over the side of the boat and started a shark drift which would carry us back towards the Eddystone.
As expected, nothing happened and we drifted along in the sunshine with our sandwiches, sticky bun and a cold bottle of beer. All part of the good life!
After the two empty beer bottles were clinking away in the rubbish bag, we pulled our usual trick of cleaning the cod and whiting, then feeding it in on the seaward side of the boat so that it was forced deep down around the bilges, much to the frustration of the flock of noisy seagulls that were expecting to feast on the chopped-up bits and pieces.
Within 10 minutes of the fresh chum hitting the water there was a baby blue shark in the slick, maybe only 30 to 40lb, but there was some action at last. My pal Russ Weston’s rod went first, his rather suggestive, long pink balloon going off with a loud pop as the shark dragged it deep. First shark of the season, and it was a lively one.
But the Snowbee rod and Accurate reel was more than a match for it. After a couple of runs it was alongside the boat with the barbless Mustad 16/0 Circle hook firmly wedged in the side of its jaw.
We do not bring sharks into the boat, preferring to release them in the water at the side of the boat, which is the reason we started using the big circle hooks more than a decade ago. Believe me, releasing the fish at the side of the boat can sometimes get a bit exciting.
TON-UP SHARKS
A few minutes later my rod went off with a zizzzz! After some banter urging me to get on with it, a shark of about 120lb or slightly more came rocketing up from the depths, which promptly stopped the chatter. This was probably the best shark I have had for a few years.
Again, the circle hook was right in the corner of its jaw. With my rope-mounted disgorger, the hook was free in seconds. Always a highfive moment. No sooner had we settled again than RW’s reel went off again. After the third run against a heavily set drag, the perspiration started to appear on his brow... and naturally the banter was going the other way this time. This was a good shark, a good 10 or 15lb heavier than mine. It really was going to be a test of our unhooking skills, because a big fish like this, which will do its best to spin and wrap the leader around itself, stops you from getting a clean shot with the disgorger.
But we unwrapped him and clipped the disgorger on to the wire. One good heave and the hook was out.
The shark lay motionless in the water for a moment, those cold blue eyes looking at us, before it turned and slowly swam down into the dark blue shadows. Yes, gotcha! ■