Last Cast Success

Yesterday was the tail end of the most recent autumn storm. High winds, cold Northerly air, heavy driven showers and mountainous seas, it was the kind of weather you wouldn't put a dog out into so we wrapped up warm and went fishing.
It took a while for the high tide to recede to allow us on to the rocks below the cliffs and a while longer to find an area free of the weed that at low tide was piled high on the rocks.
My last cast resulted in a codling of between 3 or 4lb caught on squid, frozen black lugworm and a small block of cart.

Hummersea

I headed to Hummersea, just South of Skinningrove, with my oppo Martin on Tuesday night armed with my Anyfish Anywhere 6 and bait rod and new Penn Battle reel looking for some cod. Its not the easiest venue to get to but its well worth the effort if you can make it.
After a long walk through the darkness and over the rocks we arrived at our chosen mark. I had a coddling on my first cast and lost a better one on the second and then that was it. I can only put the result down to my poor skills as Martin went on the bag around half a dozen up to around 4lb.

Spiderwire Braid

With all my new gear I thought I better finish off the set up with some decent braid. For rough ground and the cliffs I opted for Spiderwire in 60lb, at 0.25mm diameter it should cast far better than the work horse braid I'm currently using at 0.40mm.
The only drawback with the thinner braid is that I had to add a shock leader to protect my index finger and this runs the risk of another knot to fail and weed catching on the leader knot. However a length of 70lb nylon may give me a little more confidence when casting.

Following Advice

Following fierce storms last week I was given sound advice to save my bait for better conditions and put a dint in the sofa. Our stretch of the North East coast needs a moderate swell to bring the cod in close to the beach in any numbers and encourage them to feed. The strong winds were coming of the land and flattening the seas close to the coast.
So with the good advice ringing in my ears I packed my gear and headed for the cliffs, needless to say I should have stayed at home and put a dint in the sofa.

Kettleness

My first trip of the year ended up being at the base of Kettleness cliffs in search of cod. Martin managed 5 coddling on peeler crab while I managed 2 on squid and crab cocktail. In the autumn in this part of the world fresh peeler crab rules the bait roost.