Dover Breakwater 10th Jan.1999

Drove down on my own, and found it was snowing ...... forecast was for force 4/5 NE winds with showers..... collected my lug and rag from Clive in Bills Bait and Tackle, and made my way to the dumphead, where there were a few people already waiting..... got out on the first boat, and already decided that if I could, I'd make a dash down the length of the Breakwater for the knuckle.... with the tide being an hour later than the day before, I knew the chances of catching a reasonable codling was slim at best.... and so after a very brisk walk, out of breath, and overtaking a few on the way, I managed to get myself to peg 1..... have to say it was the first time ever that I'd bothered fishing the knuckle ... tends to get a little cramped when you consider the very strong tidal run at 90 degrees to you...

Set up one rod on the outside .. with 4/0 wishbone with 3 to 5 worms on each hook ... decided big hooks and baits would be the order of the day, and was remindful of the fish I lost the day before, which I'm sure was due in part to the fact that I'd been using 2/0's.... this would be a play day, and I was quite content to miss the small whiting / pout/ and dabs that I may have otherwise caught...

Set up a second rod on the inside with a wishbone and 2/0's for whiting and maybe codling .. along with a third rod down the wall for a coalfish may be.....

Well the fishing was very different than the previous day .. felt a bit of a fool, telling people there were loads of whiting on the inside on saturday ..... none today!!!! ... few pouting and whiting about, but most were catching dabs on the outside, dab after dab..... plus a few 8 to 10" school bass here and there....

Started fishing around 9am .... 9.20am.... managed to hook a small 8" pout on a 4/0 hook!!!!!!!

9.40am managed to get snagged ... lost the shock-leader and trace....

10.36am.... another 8" pout.....

11.15am ... manage to hull up an 8" bass and a rather large stone.....

1.45pm... on my n'th cup of coffee, and feeling a little out of the dab catching that was going on all around me .... Tommy came over and we talked about how different it was fishing in only 24 hours..... suddenly my rod starts to nod ..

Tom " you've got I bite"

Me "looks like a bite"

Tom "looks that way... and the right sort at that.."

Me "I'd better do something about that then..."

a few minutes later, and with the help of Tom with the drop-net, I've got myself a 24" codling and weighing in at 4.5lb .... big bait, big hook policy paid off ... indeed it was the one and only sizable codling caught all day by any of the other 15 odd anglers present...

2.08pm .... 13" whiting on the outside..... the whiting were now being caught all along The Wall....

2.50pm ... another 13" whiting on the outside ....

3.15pm.... double shot of an 11" whiting and a 9" pouting ....

3.30pm .. packed up to catch the boat, and the long drive home .... but I was one happy chappy.....

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