Missing You…27/01/2013

Missing You…27/01/2013 The cod have been hiding lately, at least the eaters have. I’ve not had a single one this year as yet and it’s a missing definite from the species hunt for the year. Mind you, I’ve not been targeting them really as there seemed little point with the boats and other kayaks reporting very poor results of late. However, there appeared to be some movement at last with some pan-sized fillets on some marks and a lot of babies close in. The trouble is, the weather forecast was strong winds and rain… …which is why I was late getting moving, I figured I may as well go on the river and try for a pike or two, if it wasn’t in flood and if they hadn’t been wiped out by the salt surge of last month. With the right gear selected, the right clothing put on I loaded the car and went to start it. Nothing. Fair enough. It wasn’t raining and the wind wasn’t what was forecasted; change of plan. Time for a codlet from the end of the road. First though, with my rear camera pole already attached it was time to work out the siting for my forward one. Ahead of where I’m planning to put the front paddle keep bungee but behind the sail attachments if I fit one. An eighteen inch RAM mount was going on, allowing full movement forward, backwards and to the sides and with the ball riveted and sealed, a quick change of tackle and rigs, a couple of wraps of worm and a bag of squid I was off. Yes, it was windy but the sea was alright, not too lumpy as the sandbanks block most of it around low water which was only a couple of hours away. I was heading a few hundred yards out and expecting whiting, dabs and small cod, the latter being what I most wanted, a tick in the box. The Warbird 220’s were still on my Xtraflexx 10-30g rods, which was silly light but would at least give me some feeling from the tiddlers, I’d just need to take care lobbing the 4oz breakaways out gently, and instead of going too small I fitted a 2/0 pennel to one rod with a 2/0 flapper on the other. I dropped anchor and tipping the worm off with squid I cast and waited. In minutes my pennel rod was bouncing away merrily. I struck, felt the fish on and reeled in. It was off and so was the squid. I tried again. Same again a few minutes later. This went on…small fish and a rod with too much flex meant there wasn’t enough pressure on the hooks. Still, I couldn’t do anything about that now. I carried on. Finally! I whirled the handle like a Dervish, kept the rod tip high and in came the first fish of the day, a baby whiting. It would make a perfect livebait at the right time of year and with the right rig but not today, it got a reprieve and swam away strongly. More missed bites. Almost everything came from the pennel rig, the flapper mainly ignored. In fact it only had two bites all the time I was out…but at least the pennel was doing the job and with the pieces of squid getting smaller and hooked more times my luck had to change surely? And then, another hit! Up it came and as I swung it clear of the water I saw the darker bands on the back and knew that I’d got what I wanted, the perfect size too as I’ve been getting tiny starters this year…a perfect mini-cod! I was happy now, the cold and wet – the drizzle started when I anchored - was no longer of concern. I moved. I don’t normally but I decided that I should have a little play under the pier, which I’ve never fished, just in case there was another species or two lurking in the rough ground below, feeding on the seagull waste. I dropped anchor uptide and slowly let out more and more warp until I was about thirty yards away. This would do. I lobbed the baits out. I had more swell here, beam on, but nothing too bothersome. I had one bite here, quite a good one, but again no result from it. Best I return in summer, it must hold bass then, surely! The groynes do after all. I gave it an hour though and then decided that slack water was imminent and I could expect nothing more. I up-anchored and headed in, catching and surfing every bit of swell I could and finished with a nice ride into the beach. Now, we’ve had some pretty harsh weather of late and the beach, which is a nice bit of sand for people to fill with takeaway cartons in summer has washed away progressively more and more, exposing wood and concrete that’s been hidden for decades between the next groynes to the north. In my bay however the level has dropped massively and the sand has gone leaving only stones. I’m not used to dragging kayaks up high banks but I guess I’d better get used to it.