Mis-cod-ceptions

[phill_itofish]

With the winter season kicking off and a lot of new members on the forum i though I'd start a thread to dispel some of the myths of cod fishing.

1. You need to cast along way to catch fish! Personally i spent weeks practice casting trying tying to cast 100 yards plus's yet most of the fish i catch are no more than 50-70 yards out and my pb cod came just 30 yards off. Learn your mark and dont cast over the fish.

2. Crab is the best bait. Just my opinion here and possibly controversy, but lug and especially yellow tails are far superior in my opinion.

The best advice i could give is to fish when there's a bit movement in the water and look for fish holding features, check the mark out at low tide, if you cant do that some of the online maps can give you a good idea, look for holes where bait will be natural washed into or gaps and gullies in the kelp. Most off all keep safe and be aware of what the sea is doing around you, the conditions can change in minutes and the sea is an unforgiving mistress.

Feel free to add anything you have be told that you've found to be untrue.

 

[magpies]

Good stuff. All my best beach catches have come after I have done a recce at low water, paced out distances and taken pictures. Makes a hell of a difference as far as I can tell, and the confidence of knowing you are casting (for example) into a gulley near rocks is worth fish on its own.

 

[cod magnet]

of an open beach in daylight casting long range will allways pull more fish in , not so important in darkness ,

 

[Juliogeordio]

Mussel is the top banana bait for me usually, out fished crab on more than a few occasions! Yellow tails are great In the winter months aswell....

Use as much advice from other anglers to learn marks as well as what seems to be right for the mark and conditions and you won't go far wrong...

Always fish with some water movement for cod but fish with a buddy and stay safe. No fish is worth a dip in the North Sea!

 

[Juliogeordio]

of an open beach in daylight casting long range will allways pull more fish in , not so important in darkness ,

Depends on water clarity and depth mate.... Murky water and deep beach can mean short casts even during daylight.

 

[big phil 123]

Nothing out fishes crab in certain marks I.e the tyne. Distance is always good to have as you can always drop in short. Most underrated cod bait I think is squid I don't mean a bit for tipping off I mean a full squid. It's all about knowing your marks putting time in on the same mark fishing all weather all size and states off the tide knowledge is better than any bait out there

 

[GEORDIE H]

Well said phil you can buy bait but you can't buy knowledge as most good anglers are middle to old aged time served

 

[big phil 123]

Well said phil you can buy bait but you can't buy knowledge as most good anglers are middle to old aged time served

Agree mate big difference reading about a mark to fishing it

 

[andyco]

Cheers for the post offering advice.

2 things I've learned lately:-


Pulley rigs. It seemed everyone switched to pulley rigs about 4 weeks ago, so I switched from my usual flappers and zip sliders, to pulleys - blanked almost every session for about 3 weeks, so switched back to flappers and started catching again!

Lesson learned - pulleys have their place, but for the marks I fish most (jarrow, market docks, ssp, shields beach, marsden beach) I'll be sticking with flappers or sliders.


Another 'myth' I've found to be untrue is 'big hooks don't catch small fish' - I've had plenty of less than 20cm fish (codling, rockling, whities, flounder) on the 3/0 mantas I've been using. (I've had more small fish than big fish on them!!)

 

[Stewart 1971]

Cheers for the post offering advice.

2 things I've learned lately:-


Pulley rigs. It seemed everyone switched to pulley rigs about 4 weeks ago, so I switched from my usual flappers and zip sliders, to pulleys - blanked every session for about 3 weeks, so switched back to flappers and started catching again!

Lesson learned - pulleys have there place, but for the marks I fish most (jarrow, market docks, ssp, shields beach, marsden beach) I'll be sticking with flappers or sliders.


Another 'myth' I've found to be untrue is 'big hooks don't catch small fish' - I've had plenty of less than 20cm fish (codling, rockling, whities, flounder) on the 3/0 hooks I've been using.

Not a fan of pulley rigs myself, give me a good old fashioned pennel clip down rig (paternoster) any day of the week.

 

[GEORDIE H]

Pully rigs

Pully rigs

Can't be knocking pully rigs myself stew at distance ,short range heavy ground ,clean ground mixed ground 30 + years ive used them with a good catch rate pleasure + match fishing every body to there own mate

 

[topbanana]

Most places I fish you don't need a big chuck, tynemouth, Whitley, cullercoats etc. Most places north of the tyne in the right conditions in winter just need a lob. In the summer I won't be without crab but in the winter, lug be it frozen or fresh, mussel, squid, bluey, razor etc all fish very well. So there's no need to panic if you don't have the almighty peeler crab.

 

[regpude]

good thread

good thread

pleased to say all good answers replied.personaly ive had some good results with frozen crabs in winter. the way i look at it, its like for example t bone steaks to the fish in winter time.as say tomatoes aswell as fresh crab,you get a glut in summer time,come winter time none about,hence the t/b/s theory.if all that makes sense.tight lines.:thumbup::thumbup:

 

[wavy davy]

I think the venue your fishing dictates what bait fishes best, ive fished with crab for hours without success then switched to lug and caught straight away, i personally like using squid stuffed with mussel for cod.

 

[Davyred]

Another myth is Cod don't like surf. I used to fish a beach north of the wear that was fantastic as long as you got over the top of the 3rd breaker. It was like bass fishing, standing in the shallows, the bites and fight were really good.

Same goes really for shallow water. Me and a mate fished Whitely bay beach one night and had fish out of this hole. The bites died off so we plodged though it to the next mark and it never got above our knees.

As for rigs, don't get caught up in current trends. If it works, don't change it. I use the same style rig now as I did 30 odd years ago specifically for this one mark and I wouldn't change it.

One last one...its not the rod and reel that catches the fish, its the bait and the anglers knowledge and ability. You can have all the latest gear you want, but if you don't take time to study your marks, you'll catch nothing.

 

[CosmicCat]

I just seem to need help in it all. as ive still yet to catch a cod.
ive tried pennel rigs, flapper, sliders.
ive tryed crab,blacks,mussle,maki,lug and still not caught a thing some days.
I am making my own rigs so is there set lengths for the rigs.?
any help will result in my second cod being yours

 

[phill_itofish]

I just seem to need help in it all. as ive still yet to catch a cod.
ive tried pennel rigs, flapper, sliders.
ive tryed crab,blacks,mussle,maki,lug and still not caught a thing some days.
I am making my own rigs so is there set lengths for the rigs.?
any help will result in my second cod being yours

Have a look here mate

Rig Section - NESA - North East Sea Angling - Sea Fishing UK

 

[phill_itofish]

I tend to make my pulley rigs even simpler than the one shown there, bait clip at the bottom threaded swivel to connect the main line to, swivel then hook snood. Also put link clips on your hook snoods and tie a few different lengths that way you can change the length of you snood without any fafing about

 

[ambleangler]

Long Range Pennels - Couldnt agree more Stewart, I am not a fan of pulley rigs either !

aa.

 

[CosmicCat]

what is Bottom of the Wherry like to fish as was think of fishing there sunday.
what rigs to us as well as never fished there before