Cod fishing sport hits top form

The cod fishing season has arrived and a number of the nation’s best marks have finally hit top form.

Fish to over 30lb have been caught at various areas, with marks in the South East corner of England currently topping the bill, with impressive shore and boat catches being taken.

Venues that have been almost devoid of the species in recent years have also made a major revival, with the Bristol Channel amongst the fisheries in this category.

“The cod have finally arrived and this could be one of the best years for the species in a long time. Double figure fish are common, cod over 20lb are a possibility and even a 30lb plus beast could be taken from various spots across the country,” explained an insider.

For more details on the latest catches and best marks, pick up next week’s edition of the Angling Times, on the shelves from Tuesday December 20.


Cod PB smashed in fine style!

“When it first came up I thought I had caught a baby dolphin!”

Those are the words of delighted sea angler Kevin Bailey-Green after he had landed this fat 22lb 8oz cod while fishing from his own boat at a mark in the eastern Solent.

Kevin, who lives at Cowplain in Hampshire, tempted his new personal best with a squid hookbait presented on a pennel rig, and beat it using 30lb braided mainline and a 50lb leader.

“The weather was calm and sunny, and I hooked the fish right at the bottom of the tide. I’ve only ever caught four cod before, and this is by far the biggest – my previous best was 14lb 8oz,” he said.


Cockatil bait works wonders for Dave

A fishing trip out of Folkestone, Kent proved fruitful for Ashford boat angler Dave Wilson, 48, who is seen here holding a 19lb 2oz cod that he caught from a private veesel.

A big bait approach worked for Dave, who put his faith in a cocktail made from four lugworms and a large squid.

He said: “ I still can’t get over the fact that I caught a fish that big. It made my day when it was officially weighed two hours after capture.”

 


Big cod heads list of bumper catches

Boat anglers are enjoying a bonanza due to the fact that the summer fish haven’t quit the coast because of the warm weather, and the winter species have moved in boosting everyone’s fishing prospects.

Mark Davey from Milton Keynes proves the point with this 23lb cod, caught from the Weymouth-based Duchess II on a squid mackerel cocktail fished on a Pennell rig.

The boat's skipper Jeff Clarke revealed that over the same weekend his crews also landed big numbers of black bream and pollack to 16lb.

 


Huge cod, followed by a big bass!

Here’s concrete proof that the big cod have returned to the south coast of Ireland.

Arnaud Briere, a visitor from The Liberty Peche Club in France, is holding aloft a 24lb 6oz beauty caught on a soft lure while fishing from one of the Bellavista, self-drive boats at Cobh, County Cork.

Just to top things off, Arnaud later added a stunning double-figure bass weighing 10lb 8oz bass on the same trip!

For all the latest saltwater tips and tactics, get the new Sea Angler magazine - on sale now! 

 


Big cod falls to leadhead lure

Working a leadhead lure in 240ft of water is hard work, but Paignton SAC member Tim Bird made light of it when he hit this superbly-marked 28lb cod.

The Devon angler caught the imperssive fish from a wreck while fishing with Kevin Tate, skipper of the Anne Clare out of the south Devon port Torquay.

For all the latest tips, tactics and catch reports, get your copy of Sea Angler magazine - on sale now!


Cod to over 20lb taken from inshore marks

You don't need to motor miles offshore to distant wrecks to catch big cod, as Sholto Heaton proved when he tempted this sensational 21lb specimen from a small broken wreck lying in Falmouth Bay off the Cornish coast.

Sholto worked an artificial lure close to the wreckage to get the all-important bite while fishing with his friend Dave Taylor aboard his mate's private boat.

The pals toom plenty of other fish during their action-packed session, including more cod, along with numbers of pollack and ling.


Trawlermen fined heavily

Two trawlermen have been ordered to pay almost £4,000 in fines and costs after they admitted flouting fishing regulations.

Officers from HMS Tyne boarded a trawler called Trustful in the North Sea on November 5 last year and carried out checks on the vessel.

It was found the amount of cod in the catch was more than permitted, and that the fishing net was undersized.

After both pleaded guilty to two offences at North Tyneside Magistrates’ Court, skipper Peter Richards, from Blyth was given a £100 fine, £15 surcharge and ordered to pay £1,682 costs, while Allan Cowie, the owner of the boat who was not on board at the time, was given a £100 fine, £15 surcharge and ordered to pay £1,682 costs.

 


Kayak anglers get amongst the cod

A cracking cod weighing 8lb 7oz was the pick of a host of impressive fish caught last weekend at an increasingly-popular kayak fishing competition off the Yorkshire coast.

Mathew Garbutt, from Skelton, walked away with the top prize of £300 for winning the 'heaviest fish' competition in the Yorkshire Open kayak fishing competition, which was attended by a record 51 competitors from as far afield as the south coast of England.

The event, which is now in its third year, was organised by the Scarborough Angling Festival and took place in Runswick Bay.

A raft of other cod were caught during the contest, as well as decent ling, pollock an flatfish.


New cod record for Silver Spray

A long-range trip to Alderney in the Channel Islands resulted in a new boat cod record for the Poole-based vessel Silver Spray.

The 32lb fish, which was caught by Mark Edwards, was taken on the return trip back across the English Channel when the boat, which was being skippered by Andy Cumming, stopped to raid one of the deepwater wrecks en route.


'Explosion' of cod greeted with mixed response

An explosion of cod in Ireland has been met with mixed response with ‘rod and line’ anglers celebrating but the commercial boys left with frustration due to quota limits.

The huge numbers of fish in the Celtic Sea has astonished both fishermen and marine scientists but bumper catches are now benefiting only French and British trawler operators.

Such has been the inexplicable recovery in cod numbers off the Wexford, Waterford and Cork coasts that even day-trip anglers are now enjoying big hits of cod.

However, the recovery in numbers of one of the most valuable fish available to Irish fishermen has proved hugely frustrating for operators.

While French and British boats are savouring their best catches in 25 years, Irish fishermen have no option but to dump valuable catches once tight quota limits are exceeded.
In one incident, Irish boats were forced to dump six tonnes of cod amid fears of crippling fines if they attempted to land the catch.