A DAY TO REMEMBER
Three sessions seeking Yorkshire cod end in style for reader Matt Hope
Three sessions for cod end in style.
A start to the cod season on the Holderness Coast, things slowed down, mainly due to the changeable weather. Fishing had been particularly dire during the previous few weeks with strong southerly winds producing mild December weather but dragging loads of weed on to the beaches, making it almost unfishable at times. Anglers in East Yorkshire were desperate for some settled conditions.
Along with my friend Adam Peacham, I’d been keeping watch on the weather and the long-range forecast suggested there would be a short weather window that promised for some good fishing. A light south-westerly was predicted on the Sunday, a light southeasterly on the Monday and a slight westerly on Tuesday before it would blow up from the north that night, making it unfishable for at least a few days.
We agreed that Tuesday was our best chance of catching a few cod. I had been following social media to see how bad the weed situation was on the build up to our sessions, but there had been very few reports. ere were suggestions that the middle beaches of the Holderness Coast had thrown up a few cod, but it had been a struggle due to the weed. Having had success on the area’s southern marks on small tides in previous years, we decided to try there instead.
Sunday’s tide meant a very early start and, as I was loading the fishing tackle into my truck, a text message came through from a mate who’d just fished the night tide and caught two small codling in six hours. Not great, but there was no weed.
LONE RANGERS
I’d chosen a mark called Turmarr, named after a lane on the northern edge of Easington towards Dimlington, and parked on the main road just before the gas works at the northern end of Easington village. From there, I walked the track down the side of the terminal until I reached the cliff top and rock defences, from where I walked south to locate a fairly easy get-down to the beach.
Arriving on the beach, I saw Adam’s headlight but there was not another angler in sight, which was surprising for a Sunday morning. It proved how bad the fishing and weed had been. Adam, who had arrived an hour or so before me, had lost his first two rigs to snags so had moved further along the beach. ings had changed since I’d last fished here. Now it was very flat with few features, apart from the clays out at range which had claimed Adam’s rigs. From those clays, there was a gentle slope of sand up to the rock defences and cliffs.
My first cast went out just before dawn. I’d put out a big squid bait as far I could on one rod and a worm bait on the second. Once the sea hit the bottom of the slope where it met the flat sand, I thought about refreshing my baits, which had been out for quite some time. As I pondered, my rod tip showed a little nod. Something had shown an interest in my squid bait. is was followed by another nod, a very good pull and a couple of knocks and resulted in my first cod of the day.
at fish was the start of a steady session but it was never hectic. I ended the day with a ray and seven codling, the best being around 5lb, all on the rod with squid fished at range. Adam caught a codling and a few whiting.
HARD GOING
On Monday morning, I was eager to get back out again. I could hear the wind was a little stronger than what had been forecast but couldn’t tell the direction in the dark because it seemed to swirl in all directions.
After parking and walking to the mark, I could hear the sea had lifted and I knew the fishing wasn’t going to be easy. As the daylight arrived, the sea was quite snotty with a southeasterly swell. Adam had taking the spot I’d fished the previous day, so I’d gone into the one he’d fished. e tide was flooding. Soon it was at about the same stage of tide I’d started getting bites on the day before. I’d not had a bite at this point, but just before the high tide I managed to put a few fish on the beach. Conditions worsened as the wind picked up and the rain poured down. Adam decided to call it a day, but I fished on for an hour or so. Eventually the weed made things almost unfishable so I decided to go home too. I’d caught five codling to around 4lb. I couldn’t cast anywhere near the distance I been catching at the previous day due to the strong wind and was surprised the fish had come in on such a shallow flat beach. Again all five cod came to the same rod baited with squid.
DREAM SESSION
Tuesday was the day we had been waiting for. Arriving on the cliff top at first light and looking out to sea, I almost felt sorry for the fish. Conditions were perfect, being flat calm with a light westerly breeze.
My dad Bill had arrived an hour before me and was already set up well out on the flat sand by the time I made my way down on to the beach. He’d snagged up and lost a rig in the clays and then pulled in a line full of weed on the other rod. is didn’t dim my enthusiasm, as it was really early in the tide.
I told him that on the previous two days I hadn’t really started getting into the better fish until the tide hit the slope on the beach and we were backed up against the rocks at the base of the cliffs. By this time the weed would have dropped out a bit. Unlike the previous two days, there were other anglers making the most of these ideal fishing conditions.
Feeling in no great rush to start fishing due to the remaining weed, I took my time to set up and eventually only put out a gentle cast because I didn’t want to drag in a mass of weed. An angler I’d not seen for some time walked down the beach and, during our conversation, I glimpsed a good pull on my rod tip. I rushed off to hit it but missed the fish. e good news was there was little weed on my line.
I baited the rig again and really hit it out, hoping to find the ground where I’d caught the better fish on the previous trips. Everything seemed to fall into place. It got so hectic that I couldn’t fish with two rods. I was trying to keep a spare trace baited between taking photographs. e fish had really come in to feed before the big northerly arrived later that night.
Near the top of tide I hit a good run of fish, the best one registered at 5lb 9oz on my dad’s scales. I think they needed new batteries as I’d have guessed well over 6lb. e action went a little quiet as the tide run dropped off, giving me time to have a cuppa, but as the tide turned a steady run of fish kept coming. ese included cod, whiting and an occasional dogfish, all to squid on Pennell pulley rigs fished at range. at westerly breeze was really helping put out the baits with little effort. A few of the anglers around us were packing up and going home and I was thinking of doing the same when my dad pulled in his best fish of the day. is spurred me on. My next fish was a bass, followed by five more codling. But by this time, I’d had enough. After three early starts and a hectic session, I was shattered. I’d lost count of the fish but must have had around 20 codling to 5lb 9oz. My dad hadn’t been hitting the distance but had a run of fish on the ebb and was hitting a few good whiting among his codling. It was the Holderness Coast at its very best. What a day’s fishing and one I’ll remember for a very long time.