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Deal (Royal Cinque Ports Golf Links) Wed.18th Nov.98
Drove down to Deal via Dover with Nigel around 4pm... picked up the 3 score of lug each that I'd ordered from Bills Bait and Tackle, for the pair of us along with a box of squid.... was going to order Bait for the following Sunday, only to be told that they had already stopped taking orders!! .. the low water coincided with the hours of darkness, thus cutting the number of worms being harvested, and was compounded with the demands of the increased numbers of "Cod" anglers.... story was the same in many other tackle shops in the SE......
Got to the golf course for 4.30pm just around dusk ...... high water was around 11.30pm, so we planned to fish the tide up, and accept that we would have to leave during potentially most productive part i.e. before HT .... forecast was for a W wind of force 3, and light scattered showers.....
Set-up around 5pm ....I used a 2/0, 4/0 pennell on one rod, and a 2/0 flowing wishbone on the other. mainly baited with 2 lug per hook... Nigel alternated between a 2/0, 4/0 pennel, and a 2 hook 1/0 clip-up rig, both of which I had made-up for him.... We mainly baited with 2 lug per hook... although in the second half Nigel was tipping with squid , and me only occasionally....
There was one other chap fishing when we arrived, but was very soon gone
... the reason became obvious ..... the shelving shingle gave way to flat
sand as the tide went out... only about 2ft of water for miles ..ooops
We still kicked the bait out .. always a chance of a flattie ... would be
great for Bass or Sole.... but not for Cod or Whiting!!!
It was starting to feel like one of those nights ..... Nigel had a gas lamp
... the mantle had gone .. changed it, only for the gas delivery to stop
working!!!!!!
Went to put my FX3 headlamp on ..... and I've forgotten to repack my wooly
hat to keep the cold plastic off my forehead and prevent the headache that
would otherwise develop, and then at 5.30pm, Nigel had a lovely series of
bites, only to fail to connect!!!!!
I was starting to think that maybe we really should have gone to the Rotunda
at Folkestone .. at least there would be a decent depth of water to fish
in!!!!
Well nothing happened for the next hour and a half, really just waiting for the water to rise... had to restrain both Nigel and myself from just going straight to the Pub which was all but a stones throw away .........
7.00pm: tide started to noticeably advance.... and Nigel had a fish .. all 10" of 4 bearded Rockling ...... I'm now starting to think that I'm about to be humiliated by a novice with the only fish of the night ....
7.40pm: ..... my God... it's a bite on the wishbone .... I just stared at
the rod tip in disbelief for what seemed an age, although I'm sure it was
only seconds in reality..... start to bring it in, and I can feel a fish
.. soon we have a nice whiting of 15" and weighing in at 1lb.. things are
starting to look better.....
8.00pm: another bite on the wishbone ... 9" whiting this time... straight back to the sea...
8.10pm: .. pennell bangs.. have what I think is another nice whiting of around a 1lb .. lost it just as I was landing it in the surf :-(
8.25pm: .. get a series of super bites on the wishbone .. call Nigel over, so he can see what a bite looks like .... get the rod, reel in .... "that's a bite" .... ooops .... "oh no it's not .... it's a crab...!!!!!!!" Egg on ones face or what :-)
9.25pm: have a 12" whiting on the pennel tipped with squid.....
9.30pm: Nigel manages an 8.5" whiting on a pennel.....
9.35pm: I have a double shot of whiting on the wishbone... both 11"....
By this time things are starting to get worse weather-wise .... drizzle and sleet set-in .. must be mad .. not even a sniff of a codling, let alone a cod .. the West wind had resulted in a flat sea .. could have been a mirror....
10.00pm Nigel has a 6" pout on the pennell ..... no sooner has he clipped on the 2 hook rig and cast out, than he has a bite..... it's a double shot.... 10" pouting, and a 10" whiting.....
10.10pm... I've got an 8" pouting dangling from my pennell (oh 'er Mrs...)...
Number of other anglers have started to arrive to fish the prime time of the tide ... we on the other hand have just about used our bait, and the drizzle is now turning rapidly to rain....
10.17pm: Nigel lost a small pout as he pulled it through the surf....
10.30pm: pull a 13" whiting out on the wishbone .......
10.40pm: Call a halt .... rain and the prospect of an early start at work
the next morning ..... the reality was that with the rain and spray on the
motorways, we didn't get back to sunny Surbiton until 1.30am!!!!
Oh well always next time for that double figure cod!!!! ;-) ....
| Received the following from Mark Stinton, via the IAC mailing list ..
made me feel better about the trip with Nigel....
From : mark.stinton@virgin.net Results of the last match which was fished at cheques saturday eve (14th Nov), Pete won this match with 10lb 7oz (22 fish) only one small codling was caught ,weights made up of whiting ,pouting ,dabs .biggest flat was a 1lb 6oz sole . Only lug and squid allowed for baits . |
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