Change of Plan

I usually fish on a Tuesday but given that the sea is flat calm but looking better tomorrow I thought I'd postpone my trip for 24hrs.

Cod Season

After a decent start to the season I ended up at Skinningrove under the towering cliffs in search of cod. I'd been fishing for about an hour when Rob turned up and convinced me to follow him around the rocks to a spot know to be quite reliable. Its a walk of about 3/4 of a mile but with the tide still quite high but ebbing its a scramble over broken ground and fallen rocks. The irony is that at low tide the walk is over flat slate and makes for an easy return.
Casting around 80 to 90 yds lands you in a deeper area where I presented a squid, cart wing and mussel cocktail on a pulley rig. I managed 3 coddling between 2 and 4lb. It was a good session at least I had the satisfaction of knowing I'd had success during the long haul back up to the car.

Bass PB

I was out chasing the bass with lures again last Tuesday, the final day of a few days of hot weather was breaking as I got to the base of the North Yorkshire cliffs. I had a few casts with some metal lures in spots close to where I scored my sea trout and then headed out around the rock edges. I swapped to a shallow diving plug to try and avoid the kelp and only succeeded in losing the plug. As darkness wasn't far away so out of the box came a white soft plastic weedless and weightless paddle tail lure. I wanted something I could work very slowly over the weed without it sinking and snagging up.
My plan paid off as I worked the kelp beds and 4 bass to 4lb slid on to the rocks and I was over the moon. All the takes came in a space of around an hour and a half up to dusk.

A Big Cold Blank

I was hoping for a bass on my local beach but the title says it all...

Another First

I was back on the river again last night armed with my two lure rods. I managed a small chub on my light lure set armed with my new Rapala BX Brat plug. I alternated between the light set up and heavier pike gear all the way up to the top of the stretch without any luck. Even the top peg where Jay caught his pike a few weeks ago gave me no joy.
Dropping back downstream I was retrieving my lure when a pike lunged and missed the lure, I quickly recast and the fish had a second go and nailed the lure.
After a brief fight a small jack slid in to the net, at about 4lb its not even close to being the biggest pike of my life but it was my first pike on a lure and my first off the Tees.

Fin Nor LT 40 Spinning Reel

I decided this spring to try a bit of saltwater lure fishing, I already had a pike lure rod so just needed a reel to go with it. Dan, in the local tackle shop, recommended the Fin Nor reel and I already know good anglers who use the brand for winter cod fishing so decided to give it a go.
The reel has an aluminium body and spool, a smooth carbon washer clutch and brass main gear. Being a saltwater spinning reel there is no reverse gear which as a freshwater angler takes some getting used to.
I loaded the shallow spool with 20lb braid and took it out for a ... well a spin! The reel was smooth and lightweight and did the job without any dramas. Good reels aren't cheap but if they do the job I can't begrudge the price at under £100.

Another First

I headed down to a local reef last night to try my hand to saltwater lure fishing for the first time, I wasn't overly confident but it was nice to be out on a beautiful evening. My lack of confidence seem to be justified as time ticked on and the sun sank towards the horizon and to add to my woes I seemed to be losing a couple of lures.
I worked my way around the rock edges trying different modern lures but nothing seemed to be interested. Finally I found a wide gully between 2 rocky outcrops and selected a blue and silver Abu Toby and immediately started picking up some small Coalfish, known locally as Billet. Finally my rod hooped over and a decent SeaTrout led me on a bit of a scrap. After a quick photo the fish was measured at 52cm and released.
All in all it was a great night and I can't wait to get back out there.