Norman
Well-known member
What with the Cabin Boy off camping and the second mate trying to catch up on lost car production I drafted in a work colleague to help out today.
(on the subject of Nissan catch up Steve, are the TWO carrier ships parked at Albert Edward awaiting completion of cars to load
. I see a lot of overtime on the horizon .......)
So, I organised a meeting up with my standin crew "John" at 4.15am this morning with a view to catching the last of the ebb tide (until low at 7.30am) then after awaiting the lul over low we'd pick it up agin (hopefully) on the flood.
As expected there was a fair westerly blowing (as has been commented elswhere in catch reports) which was not too bad travelling east with it behind us but could be felt as soon as you stopped and faced it.
We Stopped off at the usual spots just outside the piers but with so much wind blowing down the tyne valley it was difficult to hold bottom, hence ... no catch.
In the hope that the wind was being funneled by land shape we headed offshore a little, about 5 miles, where we hoped the wind would have evened out a little ...... no such luck it was still brazen .....
Although I favour shads this season and am trying them in each and every way I did still bring along rag and squid as I believe shads are a more daylight type of lure, with this in mind all the fishing to this point had been with baited lures ..... and all to no avail.
I was beginning to get that sinking feeling .... when you bring a friend out for the very first time and it all goes twits up .........
ok times getting desperate and now only an hour or so from low tide with the sun trying its best but failing to get above the clouds and the west wind caning us it was time to at least try a shad.
Sidewinder Minnow for me and a sidewinder green for John ...........
I struck first within seconds but lost it on the retrieve then John shouted "I'm In" and up to the surface came a nice clean wreck cod that weighed in (weighed not guessed) at a comfortable 8lbs.
That was it for the next couple of hours, a cod a drift (on only one wreck I might add, we tried others but kept coming back to "the one").
This continued till we'd filled a box with a dozen or so good fish then ...... it all went quiet again ....... (quiet that is except for the wind which was growing and ripping through us like a knife).
eventually decided enough was enough at about 10.30 ish and thought that any longer would have just dillouted the catch rate ....
So, we headed home with our boxful (a dozen or so) cod, happy in the knowledge that once again ... Shads were tops .......
Must say today that the fish were the best by far this season in quality, all good clean fish with fins all in order and no lumps or bumps ...... looking forward to my fish and chips tonight
Many Thanks to John, my crew of the day especially since the big sea was met on his first trip aboard Slinky and didnt distract from his fun ... and well done on the 8lbder :thumbup:
just a few pics of the day .......
kind of a sunrise (with an empty Nissan carrier)
John with the first of the day on a green sidewinder shad ....
one for me, just to show I still can
Not the most pleasant sea in a run from wreck to wreck ...
and another from crewman John ...
and another from me ........... we could go on ......
In summary ... the spoils , nice fresh big clean fillets of cod .... yummy !
Many Thanks for reading
cheers
norm
(on the subject of Nissan catch up Steve, are the TWO carrier ships parked at Albert Edward awaiting completion of cars to load
. I see a lot of overtime on the horizon .......)So, I organised a meeting up with my standin crew "John" at 4.15am this morning with a view to catching the last of the ebb tide (until low at 7.30am) then after awaiting the lul over low we'd pick it up agin (hopefully) on the flood.
As expected there was a fair westerly blowing (as has been commented elswhere in catch reports) which was not too bad travelling east with it behind us but could be felt as soon as you stopped and faced it.
We Stopped off at the usual spots just outside the piers but with so much wind blowing down the tyne valley it was difficult to hold bottom, hence ... no catch.
In the hope that the wind was being funneled by land shape we headed offshore a little, about 5 miles, where we hoped the wind would have evened out a little ...... no such luck it was still brazen .....
Although I favour shads this season and am trying them in each and every way I did still bring along rag and squid as I believe shads are a more daylight type of lure, with this in mind all the fishing to this point had been with baited lures ..... and all to no avail.
I was beginning to get that sinking feeling .... when you bring a friend out for the very first time and it all goes twits up .........
ok times getting desperate and now only an hour or so from low tide with the sun trying its best but failing to get above the clouds and the west wind caning us it was time to at least try a shad.
Sidewinder Minnow for me and a sidewinder green for John ...........
I struck first within seconds but lost it on the retrieve then John shouted "I'm In" and up to the surface came a nice clean wreck cod that weighed in (weighed not guessed) at a comfortable 8lbs.
That was it for the next couple of hours, a cod a drift (on only one wreck I might add, we tried others but kept coming back to "the one").
This continued till we'd filled a box with a dozen or so good fish then ...... it all went quiet again ....... (quiet that is except for the wind which was growing and ripping through us like a knife).
eventually decided enough was enough at about 10.30 ish and thought that any longer would have just dillouted the catch rate ....
So, we headed home with our boxful (a dozen or so) cod, happy in the knowledge that once again ... Shads were tops .......
Must say today that the fish were the best by far this season in quality, all good clean fish with fins all in order and no lumps or bumps ...... looking forward to my fish and chips tonight
Many Thanks to John, my crew of the day especially since the big sea was met on his first trip aboard Slinky and didnt distract from his fun ... and well done on the 8lbder :thumbup:
just a few pics of the day .......
kind of a sunrise (with an empty Nissan carrier)
John with the first of the day on a green sidewinder shad ....
one for me, just to show I still can
Not the most pleasant sea in a run from wreck to wreck ...
and another from crewman John ...
and another from me ...........
we could go on ......
In summary ... the spoils , nice fresh big clean fillets of cod .... yummy !
Many Thanks for reading
cheers
norm
. I'd heard the rumour being whispered around RQ but thought better of taking heed of this foolish boat talk. Didn't know he was in the Boy Scouts.
