A 20lb plus cod, golden backed, startling white belly, with a shovel sized tail freshly boated over a deep water wreck is one of the most satisfying sights a boat angler can enjoy.

This feature is the first of two looking at all aspects of wreck cod fishing. First, we'll deal with how cod feed and work around wrecks, the tides and weather patterns that affect them, then look at tackle. Next update we'll add the second feature with the emphasis on lures and the techniques required to fish them effectively, with rigs and tips to get you that coveted 20lber.

SEASON

Cod are present in varying numbers over wrecks throughout the whole year. But there are local peak periods when better numbers of fish congregate and improve your chances.

Off Yorkshire and the Northeast coast, the catches are summer based, mainly because of the winter weather in the North Sea restricting long range trips. Some experimental trips from the Essex Coast have yielded cod over 20lbs from wrecks beyond the 30-mile line during mid summer. The wrecks off Kent, Sussex and those off the Isle of Wight are good summer time venues through until October. The fish, many over 30lbs, move inshore then, but are back on the wrecks in the post Christmas period until March for spawning.

The wrecks off Devon and Cornwall hold massive cod. Individual fish show during the summer with some consistency, but the big cod are more frequent from January to early April, again when spawning. Boats inside the Bristol Channel tend to ignore the numerous wrecks because of the high quality of their inshore fishing, but with the wrecks being relatively close to shore there are bound to be big cod on these throughout the summer and winter periods.

West Wales wrecking is remains in it's infancy, but already summer cod to nearly 20lbs have been taken, but severe winter weather rarely will allow access to wrecks to establish for sure that the cod are there in numbers after the festive season. Undoubtedly, they are! Scottish waters fall into the same band, but are further hampered by the lack of persistent angling due mainly to bad weather.

TIDES
Governed by the tide runs over the wrecks, most areas are fished when the tide cycle is at it's smallest during neap tides. Some wrecks can be successfully fished during mid range tides, but few areas experience fishable conditions on spring tides. Bear this in mind when booking trips with cod in mind.

WHAT COD FEED ON
A 15lb cod will swallow a 3lb pouting whole. Both pouting and whiting are abundant either tight in to, or within close range of the wreck. These are the main food source for wreck cod. Being opportunists, they will also take codling and flatfish such as dabs, but their food has to be fairly slow swimmers. Maneuverable fish like pollack and coalies are infrequent finds in big cods stomachs. Squid, launce eels and the like do not feature with any consistency, either!

HOW WRECK COD FEED
Cod resident around a wreck like to use the wreckage as a tide break to limit wasted effort on their part when hunting food. For example, if a wreck lays north to south and is in line with the tide run, then they will always be found on the downtide side and very close in to what's left of the hull. The tide scoops out gutters along the edge of the hull that the cod swim in just out of the main run of tide.

What also occurs is a downward flowing eddy or bubble of calmer water that exists downtide of the structure. This is caused by the tide flowing up and over the wreck. This eddy can occur just a few yards past the wreck, or be up to a hundred metres away depending on the force of the tidal run. This is why you get two or three anglers all into good cod at the same time towards the end of a drift with none showing before.

Cod only really leave the shadow of the wreck so to speak, when the tide run slackens towards high and low water. At this time they wander around any scattered wreckage aiming to pick off the hordes of pouting and any stray whiting that tend to linger near the supposed security of broken bits of metal. Cod only rarely rise in the water to the same levels as the deepest pollack. This is when numbers of herring are present during daylight hours when some upward swimming is undertaken to intercept the descending herring.

Wrecks lying broadside on to the tide are less common than those facing the tide direction, but these can give excellent fishing with an obviously bigger target area for both boat and fish to work in.

What tends to happen with these is that there is a build up of sand and debris both sides of the wreck caused by deposited sand and sediment that falls through the calm eddy just described. But once you're away from the wreck the scouring action begins again and the seabed is often rutted, ridged and badly scarred, but with angled banks leading back towards the wreck.

During tide flow periods the cod will be feeding in amongst the wreck itself where there is some shelter, but at slack water, they move onto the banks and rutted ground. A logical answer why you often pick cod up in the initial and latter stages of a drift over a broadside wreck, but only right over the wreck when the tide is flowing.

A further habit of cod is a fascination with wrecks that have split into two or three large pieces that lay close together in a misplaced pattern. It's probably to do with the tide flows being broken up over and around such obstructions that increase the food fish stocks looking for safety, but the big cod go hand in hand with such ground.

TACKLE

Pirks ideal for catching wreck cod

The sheer potential size of the fish and the fast running tides, even on neaps dictate that nothing less than 30lb class be used and this is too light for many areas. Generally a 50lb class rod will be needed.

This should be stiff in action for all lure work. A soft tipped, or soft actioned rod cushions the movement of the lures at depth and lacks the backbone to hit cod hard and force them away from the snag ridden wreckage.

A roller tip ring is useful, but not essential, though there is no need to go for a full roller tip rod. The rod length should be shorter than normal at about 6' because the fish are fought straight underneath you and do not run, but give solid resistance, them trying to pull downwards and you upwards.

A few pirk and lure specialists have started to build their own rods specifically for getting the most action from the lures they fish. Their logic is that the more movement the rod tip has, the better. On the other hand though, you need to expend minimum physical energy to continually and effectively work the rod.

They choose standard 6oz beachcaster blanks, ones with a 4' but and 7'8" tip being ideal. They chop 3' off the lower butt and about a foot off the tip. Ringed with a roller tip and strong reel seat, this extra long rod does increase leverage against the angler when a big fish is hooked, but definitely improves the ratio of bites to a pirk or lure which moves higher in the water for each upward stroke of the rod than a lure worked with a shorter 7' or less rod.

Reels need to be big for strength, rather than for line capacity. The Penn range of Senators, either the standard retrieve of fast retrieve models in size 4/0 or 6/0 are universally popular. Rightly so, too, with strong gears, reliable clutches and burst proof spools they will handle the biggest cod that swim. Daiwa's Sealine range is also good.

Most anglers use cheap mono to fill their reels, but this suffers from massive stretch which again dulls the movement of the pirk. It also has a high diameter which catches the tide.

Wire line is popular, but expensive to lose over wrecks and dangerous when trying to break free from a snag. Use gloves and a baseball bat with the line wrapped around when pulling free from snags. You'll need to add a short 30-ft (10-metre) long mono buffer of 50lb line to the end of the wire to avoid the hooks pulling free from a hooked fish due to increased rod and line pressure. The wire will not stretch and applies direct pressure to the hook hold.

Worth considering, though again expensive, are the braided lines. These are very fine in diameter catching little tide and are immensely strong. They do not stretch and you'll feel every little tap on the rod tip as a fish attacks the lure or bait, but this lack of line stretch can again cause the hooks to tear free from the fish as direct force is applied direct to the hook hold. As when using wire line, you'll need a short mono line buffer between the braid and the trace about 30-ft (10-metres)long.

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