Theres a recurring pattern of hiatus’s on this blog which I really need to get a grip of. I don’t get out fishing nearly as much as I’d like to these days, twice in the last 4 months is dismal even by my usual standards. Not for a lack of motivation, I just haven’t had the time, though I have rather ambitiously decided that my resolution for 2025 is to get out more so you never know!
At the time of writing it’s the first week of 2025. The winter Cod fishing season started several months ago and although local reports have been somewhat mixed, it offers little consolation to me as I STILL hadn’t actually ventured out to the rock edges for the first session of the season yet. Every time the conditions were favourable I always had something else to do. This last weekend however I decided it was finally time to do something about it.
Steve was up visiting family so we met down at the mark and were quickly set up and sending baits out into the blackness over high tide. Temperatures had dropped numbingly low post new year and the forecast was for thick snow from midnight, so the plan was to grab a few hours of the ebb before Steve had to make the 3-4 hour drive home to Matlock.
Baits were a combination of cart, mackerel, squid and blacks, with Steve adding some variety in the shape of hermit crab. The first hour past with little excitement, but in my experience a couple of hours into the ebb has always been the sweet spot for the mark and, encouragingly predictable, Steve was into the first fish, a lovely 4lb12oz codling which judging by the size of its gut had been filling up well during the extended onshore.
Steve had one more cast before he decided to call it an evening, prior to which I managed to winkle out a fish for him to witness as proof I didn’t blank – albeit at only 42cm it wasn’t much of a consolation prize! I managed another out of a similar stamp before the cold and solitude won out and I decided to leave shortly after.
So a brief but moderately successful few hours out. Now I must set about publishing the backlog of reports from the last 6 months or so (it’s not that impressive…)
It was still an enjoyable evening!