Dover Breakwater 1st Feb.1998

Drove down to Dover with Paul....... collected our bait from Bills Bait and Tackle....... 4 score of prime juicy yellowtail for me (these were good worms with body lengths around 6 to 9 inches... looked like the strong winds and big tides had allowed Clive to get out to the deep yellow beds.....), and four score of common lug for Paul (which I should add, Paul was most impressed with as well...). plus a few odds and sods..... and again nipped down the road and grabbed a couple of score of rag each from Channel Angling....along with a few more bits and bobs......

When we got to the Quay, we were greeted by a large number of Anglers already waiting for passage across to the Wall..... and it wasn't even 8am!!!!!

Turned out that a large number were here for a Private Club comp., and had booked pegs 1 to 30......... This suited us fine, for although I would have personally liked to fish around peg 20, it ment that they would be self contained.... they would also have to deal with the increasing problem of tackle snags around the knuckle region.... this is probably the HOT SPOT on the Wall, and is now beginning to suffer..... what is needed, is a good storm to shift them from the outside (although hopefully not strong enough to cause any structural damage to the Wall itself)..... regrettably the tackle snags on the inside are less prone to such removal..... afterall that's why the Breakwater is there......!!!!!! As if to confirm my suspicions about the thinning numbers of Codling, and the problems of the Knuckle.. a party of anglers who had hired out the Breakwater all night returned.... and with tales of woe..... very few fish, and much lost tackle... the tide had been very strong... 7m, and their leads would not hold bottom on the outside, and they drifted into snags on the inside as well.....

Started fishing around 9am, pegs 54 to 60, with the same rig set-ups as the day before..... Paul also fished the inside and outside using 2/0 wishbones on long flowing traces... the wind was again from the East, but it was a lot less... force 3 or so for most of the day...... High Water was due at 2pm.....

9.50am: Things have been very slow...... suddenly both Paul and myself get bites.... mine from the inside which resulted in a small pout of 9", and Paul with a very respectable codling of 18" and weighing in at 2lb, from the outside......

10.10am: The rod tip on the inside dips sharply, followed by a four pull rattle..... up comes one 18" codling, again at just over 2lb.....

10.20am: Paul has a Rockling of 9.3/4" from the inside......

10.30am: Paul's in again, this time with another codling... all 18" of it.....

11.15am: I land a 17.1/2" codling from the inside...... this time on the Christmas tree, having got Paul and myself another cup of coffee from Tom the DSAA steward....... if you want to know about the Breakwater and how to fish it, this is the man to ask... a wealth of knowledge, and a very Charismatic individual to boot.....

11.25am: Paul lands a 15" codling from the outside.... this proves to be Paul's last fish of the day...... :-(

11.45am: Get a really good bite from the outside..... probably snatched at it too soon... anyway, no connection... when will I learn to sit on my hands and wait??!!!!

1.15pm: 18" Codling from the outside.......

2.15pm: 15" Codling from the inside......

2.25pm: my last fish of the day, although I had a few missed bites after this... :-( ..... 16" codling from the outside.......

Talking to others, the high pegs had fished better than the low pegs, with a few fish again in the 3 to 4 lb range being landed..... most people had 0 to 5 codling to show for their efforts..... a few flounder were landed from the inside down by the Tuck-shop, although Tom said he'd not personally had a bite all day.... few dads caught around the 180 peg mark......

Looks like February blues are here...... on the other hand it may just be the very high tides combined with the strong easterly winds..... we shall see.......

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