We had a small trip to try out an inshore mark for winter cod. Not at all a long session as we had to wait for the very gentle flood to get going for any real fishing.
Light tackle was the order of the day, with 6lb & 12lb ugly stiks set for cod and conger respectfully and a formula bass special set up for whiting.
We tried a rough ground mark during slack and early flood with conger and bass in mind, but still fishing a full cod setup. Although a few pulls were forthcoming from conger I suspect, he managed, on three occasions, to remove the fillets from mackerel flappers without getting hooked.
After a move to the favoured mark we started with a whiting and the odd doggie with a short lull before Jim's rod gave a subtle but altogether more positive knock.........Cod on. Serious head shakes and nods followed but after 2 or 3 minutes and only 30 feet gained she dropped off rats.
Jim seemed to concentrate more on his whiting after that.
About mid session my 6lb setup had a pluck that made me sit up, and yep cod on
6lb tackle in action
Up she comes
Result - 7lb 7oz...........(note to self, 'order a bag of Maris Piper)
Jim continued with the whiting to total about 12 to 1.5 lbs. not big but enough numbers on this tide to show promise. I only had the one, probably the greediest fish on the planet.......coming to the boat attached to half a cuttlefish and the bait elastic and nowhere near the hooks.
Last fish of the day fell again for my light cod rig and scaled 6lb 13oz.
Slow and steady start to the winter fishing but has promise for only 3.5 hours of proper fishing during that tide.
Job done.