Dover Breakwater 27th Dec.1997

Drove down to Hythe with Karen to collect bait from Mick's Tackle, and arranged to meet both Paul and Ant, at the Quay in Dover........ Things were not great on the bait front...... being the weekend straight after Christmas, Mick was having difficulty meeting demand..... could only give us 10 score of yellow and black out of the 12 that we wanted, but we were warned, that worse would follow the next day, with the Cod Championships being run from Micks....

Mick arrived around 7.40am, and with a couple of Chaps in front of us, the mad dash to Dover was on once again....... we made it, and found the other 2........

Went across on the boat, and set up around the 40's...... Along with the 10 score that I'ed picked-up, along with 2 score of rag, and a box of squid, Ant had managed to get hold of another 4 score of yellow tails (from the tackle shop under the Archs in Folkestone), some squid / clam, and Paul had picked-up 4 score of blow lug from Bills..... we were set, and looked like we should be OK for the next day........

Wind was light (force 3 or so), and High tide was around 9am... so we'd be fishing the falling tide......

By the time we got our act together, we managed to start fishing around 9.15am or so....... fished both the inside and out, and the main rig that we all used, were flowing wishbones, to a greater extent with 4/0 to 6/0 hooks......... we wanted the big ones..... unfortunatly they didn't want us........ :-(

9.25am: Karen hits into the first fish of the day.... 13" Codling from the outside.....

9.30am: Paul has a double shot with a 16" codling and a 12" pout, from the outside....

9.35am: Karen takes a 10" Pout......

9.40am: I manage to pull in a 16.1/2" codling of 1.1/2lb from the inside......

9.45am: Ant, pulls in a double shot...... 10" pout, along with a dogfish of 24"....

9.47am: Karen gets a pout of 8"...........

9.55am..... my line drops slack on the outside, go to reel in and there is no resistance... lines been cut!!!!!!.... as it was away from the others, suspision falls upon the rod rigs.... sure enough, with an inspection, comes the revelation of a slit inner top ring...... gosh I'm pleased..NOT!!!!!!!! :-(

10.05am: Land a 12" codling from the inside.......

10.13am: Paul has a 9" whiting, followed rapidly by Karen with a 16" codling of 1.1/4lb.....

10.40am: Paul takes a 9" pout, followed rapidly by a double shot of codling.. 16" and 17'....

10.50am: Karen lands a 17.1/2lb codling of 1.3/4lb, and I pull up second prize, with an 11" pout!!!!......

11.10am: Ant lands another 24" dogfish of 1.3/4lb......... they do so love that lug/squid combo.......

11.15am: Paul has a 10" dab, and then an 11" pout from the inside.....

11.35am: The outside, gives me a 14" codling......

11.50am: I take a nice whiting of 15" from the inner wall......

11.55am: I then have a 10" pout from the outside... along with Karen who does the same........

12.00pm: Paul gives a shout, he can feel a fish, and he's having trouble getting it in.... run to his side, and watch and wait........ Paul being a very nice man, pulls up my lost rig (see 9.55am), and to add insult to injury, there is a 17" codling of 1.3/4lb on my old trace, and not on his hooks......... felt it only fair to let him have the fish!!!!!!!!! :-)

12.10pm: Ant, has a 10" pout, followed 5 mins, later by Karen with a 12" codling, and then Ant again... with another 10" pout....

12.30pm: Ant lands a 17" codling of 1.3/4lb.......

12.35pm: I got rather exited on the inside...... could feel something heavy on my line..... felt like 4 or 5lb in weight..... pulled to the surface a lovely lobster, but just as I started to lift, it shifted position, and was lost :-(

12.50pm: Karen lands a 16" codling......

12.55pm: my turn with 16" codling of 1.1/2lb......

1.05pm: Paul has an 11" pout.....

1.10pm: Karen has a small 10" codling.....

1.18pm: Paul with an 11" whiting.....

1.30pm: I have a good solid thump on my outside rod... land a pout..... 16" and comes in at 1.1/4lb....... at the same time Ant lands a 13" pout as well......

1.45pm: Karen has a double shot with a 24" dogfish and a 12" pout......

1.55pm: the outside produces a 15" codling for me.......

2.00pm: Paul has a double shot of 12" pout.........

2.05pm: I land a 14" codling from the inside this time....

2.10pm: Paul has a nice 17" codling of 1.3/4lb, followed by a 10" pout....

2.30pm: Karen gets a 10" pout, and Paul's in again, this time with a 13" codling......

2.32pm: Ant, has a double, with an 11" pout, but also an 18" codling of 2lb....

2.35pm: manage a double shot myself, with a 12" pout, and a smaller codling at 14"...

2.45pm: Karen lands an 18" codling, but is slightly disappointed that it only manages 1.3/4lb.....

2.53pm: Ant, brings in a 13" codling, but it's foul hooked in the belly region..... this is followed very shortly, by a 9" pout.....

3.00pm.... all action..... Karen lands a 10" pout, at the same time that Paul lands a codling of 14", and I land a 17" codling from the inside.....

3.12pm: Ant, has a 13" codling........

3.15pm: Karen has a double shot of codling, one at 16", the other 14".......

3.20pm: I have my last fish.... 17" codling, coming in at 1.3/4lb......

3.25pm: Ant asks for the landing net........ lands the largest fish of the day..... 3.1/4lb of codling..... goes to throw it back, 'cos he feels he's already got enough, and a chap walking by on his way to catch the boat, pleads with Ant to hand the fish over.... Ant, looked a bit perplexed and obliged.... what can you say!!!!......

3.30pm: Ant brings in the other rod, so we can pack-up and catch the boat back..... he manages to bring in a double shot of 11" pout.......

From the chat we had on the way back, we felt that the outside had fished much better than the inside, and that for the first time, the tipping with squid, as opposed to not, was paying dividends.......

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