Home | Blogs and Opinion | Mike's Diary Archive 2005 | Sea sickness and early cod bait tactics
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Sea sickness and early cod bait tactics

Mike Thrussell 11 October, 2005 05:35:00

SICK OF IT ALL
The most frequent question and e-mail I get is asking how to combat seasickness. We've covered this a little before, but if it helps you enjoy your fishing more then it's worth another look, especially as the rough seas of winter are just around the corner.

The most important thing is to eat sensibly. No drinking binges with the lads the night before, and no Chinese takeaways, curries, fish and chips or burgers. If you're prone to seasickness don't eat a fried breakfast come morning, or even milk and cereal. Restrict yourself to dryish toast and weak tea or coffee.

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Help with sea sickness
Take a bottle of plain water and a couple of packets of Arrowroot biscuits aboard. Keep eating one of these every 15 minutes or so and it helps a heck of a lot. A few sandwiches are fine should you get really hungry as the day progresses, but easy on the butter or margarine and go for a sensible filling like salad and dry meat like turkey or chicken without the skin. Soups cause some people problems too and are best avoided until you realise your strengths and weaknesses. A little and often is the best bet.

Dress warmly, but with an open neck shirt to allow you to get some air. Being too hot is worse than being cold.

Have plenty of tackle prepared. Sitting down and making tackle on a pitching boat is the worst thing you can do. Stay on deck and avoid the cabin area or the smell of diesel fumes. Focusing on a nearby island, lighthouse or the coastline helps a lot of people too as the brain orientates on the static target and improves your inner balance ignoring the effect of the pitching boat and sea.

Out of all the tablets and potions available the one with the most consistent results seems to be Stugeron from the chemist. Follow the application on the packet to the letter for the best immunity. It doesn't work for everyone, so experiment. Some people get psychological relief from stick on tabs to body pressure points. A mate of mine tried these and still chucked up before switching to the Arrowroot biscuits, which are his lifesaver.

If it all goes pear shaped and you're sick, you might get a few jibes from your fellow crew, but real mates will be genuinely concerned for you. If you're going to be sick, don't fight it. But as soon as you are force yourself to eat those biscuits and you should perk up.

TIPS AND TRICKS
With the whiting season in full swing most of the fish tend to be small and are concentrated over high water close to shore. To miss the smaller nuisance fish, try fishing low water sessions at long range. Getting out in to deeper more static water can often produce better than average sized fish at this time, especially if there has been rough weather that pushes the smaller fish further offshore.

Avoid worm baits and fish squid tipped with mackerel. You'll also pick up the odd late bonus rays too.

EARLY COD BAIT TACTICS

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Crab for early cod
Don't be in too much of a hurry to switch over to pure lug baits for these early season cod. The October codling and cod are still working over the rougher ground patches and will be finding plenty of late peeler crabs just below the low water mark. Gut a shore caught cod at this time and you're bound to find crab in the stomach. Last season my mates and I found crab an advantage right through November in to December due to the mild weather, which is unusual in our area.

To maximise your chances continue to tip off with chunks of fresh peeler crab below a good helping of lug, at least while ever you can get a supply of fresh crab. When the crab supplies from the bait shops stop, then it will be another fortnight before the cod also find peeling crab hard to find beyond low water and they switch to worm. This lug/crab combination works well having the smell of the lug blood to pull the fish in, but the scent of the more wholesome and familiar crab that the cod love so much.

You don't need much crab to make a difference either. A dog crab about 2-inches across the back cut in to four separate pieces is ideal, one piece being enough for each lug bait, but keep the old crab on the hook and add the fresh below it to maximise scent. Use the crab claws and legs as well if you need to bulk up more wrapping the legs up the length of the lug. A lot of anglers can't be bothered to spend time preparing baits like this, but it makes a massive difference to your baited ratio and is time well spent.

Normally, when early November comes, the cod won't care and will hit lug and even ragworm on it's own, maybe with a little squid or mussel to liven it up. But post Christmas, out off shore the crabs start peeling early and this is when a supply of frozen crab comes in to it's own again for cod.