Norman
Well-known member
What with a few holidays spare from work I took most of this week off, not with a means to go fishing but just the thought that "IF" the weather played game then so be it.
Forcasts to be honest are getting better all the time and I find now that XC is almost on the hour for forcasting wind strength and direction , the rest ie how the sea will react is still up to the individual to guess.
So with this in mind and a dropping westerly wind I decided (after fair consultation with the better half
) to have a trip out today.
Purely by chance I was chatting with Keith(B) last night who informed me that due to the sunderland footie match on Tues night he too had taken the wednesday off ..................... yup thats right 1 + 1 always make 2
So, with Keith being given the thumbs up from his better half and after being careful on the celebratory ale on Tuesday night it was an early morning meet up at 5.00am in marina carpark.
To be honest we are now being pushed back on starting times due to the onset of the autumn, I'd have preferred a 4.00am or even 3.30am start to get the best of the 4.30 high tide but unfortunately darkness beats us now until 5.00am.
Off it was then at 5.00am. Bearing in mind over the past five or six weeks we have had "The Best" fishing I`ve known in years, we keep thinking surely, its got to end, this shoal of cod that we keep "bumping into" will eventually either move off into deeper water or disperse into small pockets and fish as usual in other seasons .............. wrong !
.....
Once again we hit the "hot spot" ...... a wreck full of fish in a frenzy feed, just as the sun was rising (YET AGAIN).
They began on pirks, then on muppets then when the sun was up and the frenzy in full swing it was Shad, Shad, Shad, any kind of shad.
we had about 2 hours where most of the time both of us were into fish , and once again some of us into two at a time.
There were no double figure single fish but to be honest I prefer the smaller size (if you can call 6lb smaller?). They were all prime condition fish and I`m sure my family and friends will feast for free for a few weeks on these fellas.
At one point I tested the shads by catching a fish removing the shad and catching on another type then again on another type etc etc. It seemed any type of shad was fishing (although one in my armoury was a touch better than the rest
).
As said, this lasted for a couple of hours then ..... all went quiet ........
It remained this way for an hour or two then slowly bit by bit they returned, this time not taking shads but taking pirks (well done keith - crackin catch on pirks)
We picked away but decided at about 12 ish to call it a day and return, well happy !
to summerize ..... an excellent day once again after finding the local "Shoal" with a noticable difference in what the fish take and when depending on time of day and state of tide, however as this changes every day I'm unsure it's of any use to us
Fantastic day out with yet another Manic days fishing into the frenzy of shad city ... many thanks to my last minute crew of the day Keith .....
And good to meet up with and fish with Richie and his mam on Stingray .....
just a few pics (as always)
sunrise was a drenched golden hue due to little cloud cover ....
First to Keith at about 5.55am, still in the golden sunrise .....
and a similar follow up to myself
and another ......
Shads ! , every one of these caught cod along with a couple of others after taking the picture ...
double .... well double header ....
Homeward bound for an early bath and the rest of the day ahead of us .....
and for the record .............. boxes full of prime eating
Good to know they're still about, you just have to find them ..... roll on Saturday
bring ya shads lads ........
cheers all
norm
Forcasts to be honest are getting better all the time and I find now that XC is almost on the hour for forcasting wind strength and direction , the rest ie how the sea will react is still up to the individual to guess.
So with this in mind and a dropping westerly wind I decided (after fair consultation with the better half
) to have a trip out today.Purely by chance I was chatting with Keith(B) last night who informed me that due to the sunderland footie match on Tues night he too had taken the wednesday off ..................... yup thats right 1 + 1 always make 2
So, with Keith being given the thumbs up from his better half and after being careful on the celebratory ale on Tuesday night it was an early morning meet up at 5.00am in marina carpark.
To be honest we are now being pushed back on starting times due to the onset of the autumn, I'd have preferred a 4.00am or even 3.30am start to get the best of the 4.30 high tide but unfortunately darkness beats us now until 5.00am.
Off it was then at 5.00am. Bearing in mind over the past five or six weeks we have had "The Best" fishing I`ve known in years, we keep thinking surely, its got to end, this shoal of cod that we keep "bumping into" will eventually either move off into deeper water or disperse into small pockets and fish as usual in other seasons .............. wrong !
.....Once again we hit the "hot spot" ...... a wreck full of fish in a frenzy feed, just as the sun was rising (YET AGAIN).
They began on pirks, then on muppets then when the sun was up and the frenzy in full swing it was Shad, Shad, Shad, any kind of shad.
we had about 2 hours where most of the time both of us were into fish , and once again some of us into two at a time.
There were no double figure single fish but to be honest I prefer the smaller size (if you can call 6lb smaller?). They were all prime condition fish and I`m sure my family and friends will feast for free for a few weeks on these fellas.
At one point I tested the shads by catching a fish removing the shad and catching on another type then again on another type etc etc. It seemed any type of shad was fishing (although one in my armoury was a touch better than the rest
).As said, this lasted for a couple of hours then ..... all went quiet ........
It remained this way for an hour or two then slowly bit by bit they returned, this time not taking shads but taking pirks (well done keith - crackin catch on pirks)
We picked away but decided at about 12 ish to call it a day and return, well happy !
to summerize ..... an excellent day once again after finding the local "Shoal" with a noticable difference in what the fish take and when depending on time of day and state of tide, however as this changes every day I'm unsure it's of any use to us
Fantastic day out with yet another Manic days fishing into the frenzy of shad city ... many thanks to my last minute crew of the day Keith .....
And good to meet up with and fish with Richie and his mam on Stingray .....
just a few pics (as always)
sunrise was a drenched golden hue due to little cloud cover ....
First to Keith at about 5.55am, still in the golden sunrise .....
and a similar follow up to myself
and another ......
Shads ! , every one of these caught cod along with a couple of others after taking the picture ...
double .... well double header ....
Homeward bound for an early bath and the rest of the day ahead of us .....
and for the record .............. boxes full of prime eating
Good to know they're still about, you just have to find them ..... roll on Saturday
bring ya shads lads ........
cheers all
norm
