Bob F Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 Whilst crusing out to the cod marks off the IOW on Sunday I had the recorder running on the sounder. When I got home I looked at the recordings and I was surprized to see that the only place I recorded any fish was the area where Adam picked up his cod. The plot showed a small shoal of fish (herring?) surrounded by 3 or 4 individual larger targets (cod??) at about 70ft. And beneath this shoal just off the bottom are two largish targets. It's easy to imagine a shoal of herring in mid water being hasseled by a bunch of cod, and a couple of individuals sweeping the bottom picking up the pieces. If this is a accurate interpretation of the data, it begs that question, should we be trying an alternative method for cod? I understand the reason why everyone uses a large bunch of squid hard to the bottom to attract the cod by scent because of the cloudy waters, but maybe we are missing cod that are hunting herring shoals off the bottom?? Modern shads work as much by vibration as they do by sight, so maybe a fast retrieve with a shad from the bottom to mid water and back down again whilst on the drift could be a successful method. The vibration will overcome the visual impairment. I'd really like to give it a try next time I'm out, if I can find a buddy that's willing to forgo a day at anchor feeding LSD with Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam F Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 Bob, Sounds good in theory - and worth a go - you never know. My take on it would be - the water is awefully coloured esp. S of the Needles at this time of year, visability is down to about a foot or so. People have tried fishing with herring and sprat for the cod without much succes, although your method is slightly different. For the amount of cod down their ( I suspect relativly few) and the fact you are hunting them not drawing them in - the drift method would be more hit and miss. Whereas the scent trail draws in fish and is a constant - it is just a matter of time to when Mr Cod comes along! Thats my sceptical view anyway! On the plus side trying new methods is always worth a try, and when they come off itsa great feeling! Finally - the mark you pinged wasnt where the cod came from - we moved on the flood! Good luck. Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverick Martin Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 Bob Would agree with Adam. We appear to be looking for a needle in a haystack and trying to find it may be nigh on impossible so get the needle to find you!!! There have been a few more cod reported in the last week or so. With water temeratures remaining high late in the year but now cooling nicely it may be signaling a late start.... I did say maybe Martin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 i know this might sound silly but my mate fishes alot round west and fishes one rod hard on the bottom and with his other rod trots a very big homemade pirk back in the tide hopping it 5 to 10 ft each time covering alot of ground and alternates sides as he does it, and he couldnt see how this works but he had 2 fish on his last trip of 10 and 15lb round by dancing ledge right in close, so it must work i am very tempted to try it next time sam ps have spoken to him today at schl and what his pirk is is a normal pirk with the hooks covered in blue and red fluff off of normal feathers. hope this is of some interest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomBettle Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 The cod methods in the north east and also the Varne Bank etc along with our own Summer cod methods all follow this tack and work tremendously well, however it does tend to be a Summer technique. I don't know why we don't try it in the Winter, but would assume that it is to do with water clarity, food, temperature and relative activity from the fish. I do remember catching a lot of Codling and medium sized fish in the Bristol Channel. About mid December the sprat shoals used to come in and the fish would move up in the water column for a period of time making them very hard to catch on the bottom. Maybe we experience similar problems here with the Cod chasing the baitfsh... maybe lures will work... Someone brave enough to stop catching doggies for a day please give it a go an let us know! Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
great white Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 I Bet you could not make it work in the Bristol Channel Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swainiac Posted December 14, 2005 Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 Both theories should be bang on. It follows that an enticing scent trail from an oversize bait hard on the sea bed, is hard to beat, but also think of the amount of water covered by a moving bait through different sections of the water. Very similar to my winter Piking Tactics.......the moving bait through the water can bring fish in.........and indeed take them, but you are also increasing the chnaces of a roving hunting fish picking up the scent trail when he misses the moving bait. Ive taken many good fish in huge Irish loughs on a static dead bait, after missing takes on a moving bait higher in the water above the static.......may be coincidence, but may be more than chance. Food for thought. After missing my trip yesterday due to bad weather...alledgedly, as it lookd fine here in southampton, I'm up for crewing Bob. Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomBettle Posted December 14, 2005 Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 I Bet you could not make it work in the Bristol Channel Tom Hi Charlie We most certainly never caught them on lures in the Bristol Channel, but the point I made was that as soon as the Sprats arrived the fish moved up in the water and we really struggled to hook them on the bottom. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newboy Posted December 14, 2005 Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 We were fishing on board Lady Godiva from Weymouth yesterday. Apparently a few cod and pollocks have been caught off the bottom using pirks and lures. Adam, when you gut the cod you caught, what was in its stomach? Sprats/herrings? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan Posted December 14, 2005 Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 great discussion thread! my preference for bait/rig is a small live pout every time - best of both worlds! OK you have to catch the pout but that can be fun too! I have also rigged standard cod traces with both large sonic/vibro spoons and small bar pirks in line about a foot ahead of the bait. The former add quite significanlty to the drag on the retrieve in tide. I haven't used tehm enough to be able to assess any benefits but will certainly be using them when the tides running. Finally glad to hear that there are cod 'round West' - never seem to target them there in winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
great white Posted December 14, 2005 Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 Hi Tom It was just a tongue in cheek one about the channel I come from Weston Super Mare and we don't bother pirking You are right about the sprats, when the bay fills with them the Cod are very hard to get, when you get one its stuffed with sprat. but even using sprat straight from a netter on his way in the cod ignore them as hook bait. perhaps a 4" vibro shad fished through the sprats woiuld work, even in that coffee coloured water Charlie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Posted December 14, 2005 Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 duncan he said you could have caugt it off the rocks he was that close in sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted December 14, 2005 Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 Bob, I'm always up for a bit of experimenting Paul J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam F Posted December 14, 2005 Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 I have just remembered a little experiment I tried last year. On every cod trip last winter (about 10) I fished one rod with flouro muppets and blooby beads, the other rod was just a straight pair of 8/0 pennels - no attractors. Ok, this was only one season, a relitively small number of trips and a total of 6 cod caught - BUT.....all came to the plain rod - the attractor rod didnt even have a touch from mr cod - draw whatever conclusion you wish. Kam - the cod I have caught over the past three years have mainly had eithe sprats, crab or pout inside them. This year it has been either pout or crab, the one from Sunday was stuffed with shellfish and crab. I also think that the cod we are fishing for (off Poole and the IOW) are a different 'class' of fish than the ones from other parts of the UK. I have always understood that basically you get the shoal fish - smaller in size and hunt in packs - like the fish we get on the ripps and wrecks offshore etc. The second type of fish are more solitary and are scavengers - they do not move in large shoals often on their own, dont haunt features, just roam and are more into picking up easy meals than chasing shoals of bait fish around. This theory was explained to me my more than one local skipper and its a theory I suscribe to, and also the main reason I think we stick to mutiple squid baits. Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duncan Posted December 14, 2005 Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 Adam, I haven't seen what they are feeding on this year ( ) but in previous years both cod and whiting were feeding on small sand crabs about the size of a 20p piece and sometimes small 'smelt' about 1-2 inches long - based on what we had to clean up after boating one. Actually put one of the crabs back down on a small hook and got a whiting straight away once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Posted December 14, 2005 Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 i tried them muppets on a trip fishing last year and thats what caught my 4lb 5oz whiting it was a last minute thing because i was still in a bad mood about daniels fish lol sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob F Posted December 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2005 Rich, Paul, if you're up for a bit of experimenting we'll give it a go. I'll let you know when I'm going out again. Some time over Xmas hopefully. BF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob F Posted December 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2005 I was talking to a guy at my golf club today and got onto the subject of fishing. He's a competition angler (mostly freshwater) and an avid Cod fan. He said it's fairly well known in the Bristol Channel area that when there are shoals of sprats or herring around, the Cod fishing is very poor because everyone is fishing on the bottom, but the cod are higher in the water gorging on the sprat shoals. Fishing with Shads has not been a successful technique in the Bristol Channel area, but live or dead baits do occassionlly pick up a cod. He recons that Shads, dead or live baits should work better in the IOW area because of the clearer water, IF you can find the sprat shoals. I've gotta give it a go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaptin kod Posted December 22, 2005 Report Share Posted December 22, 2005 I fish the Bristol Channel as often as possible and at the moment the Cod fishing is dire, sprat shoals are in abundance and you can see the larger fish high in the water in a feeding frenzy on the sounder, odd fish are being caught, desperatly waiting for them to bugger off to bring the fishing back to a decent level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob F Posted December 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2005 Nice to have that confirmed KK. I wonder if the same thing is happening in Poole Bay? Does anyone know if the trawlers are catchin cod in the Bay? BF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seamouse Posted December 23, 2005 Report Share Posted December 23, 2005 Nice to have that confirmed KK. I wonder if the same thing is happening in Poole Bay? Interesting point, my crewman pointed out a couple of shoals of 'something' about 30ft up from a 140ft bottom on Tuesday. I put them down as scad but maybe there are a few sprat around up east? The cod that John had didn't have any sprat in it, just two large pout Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob F Posted December 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2005 Yep, 20-30ft off the bottom is where we were seeing the shoals of something. BF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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