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Print versionCod fishing tactics part 2
It has to be said when it comes to shore codding that "The deeper the water, the better chance you have of catching cod". Good advice for those anglers about to tackle their first winter after our most sought after species, for it's from the steep to beaches that the bulk of the shore cod are caught.
But it's not quite that easy for the steep to beaches do not bare their soul with the ebb tide. Only a rising bank of shingle is left with no hint of the seabed secrets beyond. Here's how to unlock those secrets and take home some cod!
READING THE BEACH
Being successful on deeper beaches is all about finding the tide runs, or, the exact parts of the beach where the main tide flow hits and is deflected.
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The tide flow will be clearly seen by day in calm seas as a rippled or confused line of water running across the beach. Do this on a big spring tide and pin point the area closest to this demarcation line and make a mental note of the place using a shore feature as a marker. You'll almost always find that the place where a tide is deflected onto and hits a shingle bank, that the shingle boulders themselves are bigger here than at either side away from the main point of impact. It's the tide's scouring action that causes this.
Another way to find the tide impact points is to walk the high tide line and note areas where heavier accumulations of seaweed and general flotsam and jetsam have washed ashore. Such concentrations are only deposited by specific and permanent tidal currents and not scattered evenly as normal on a beach with a simple in and out tide.
When it comes to actual seabed feature, then life gets difficult. Any deeper gutters and trenches, uneven ground, shingle and sand banks will all interest cod, but you get back to the tide run again because all these features are created by tide scouring action. This last sentence explains fully the need to be able to read where the tide works best.
You'll be lucky to find rougher ground like rock and kelp beds, mainly because the deeper water is less disturbed during storms and sediment gets a chance to settle quickly and accumulate. However, locate such a piece of ground and you'll do well.
WEATHER
Even in deep water this plays an important role. Calm seas are not good for codding. The times to fish are during onshore blows with a wind strength over force 3. This puts a good lump on most beaches and this steep to type tends to start to show that classic one big roller that you can see building 50yds from shore before crashing on the shingle.
Better still are the winds to force 5 and 6. These rip up a two or three big rollers that create an undertow which scours out the base of the shingle bank and immediate seabed beyond disturbing shellfish and worms which encourages the cod much closer in.
Most anglers believe that the best catches occur immediately after a gale when the sea is pounding onto the shingle and ripping it free, the water darkly coloured and full of weed. You'll catch well at this time, but in reality the best of the fishing is already past. If you can cope with gales force winds into your face, then the peak of the gale is when the biggest numbers of fish are inshore.
It stands to reason that when the seas are at their worst is when the most food is being washed out. The cod are keen to feed then, but the angler is the weak link often preferring the sanctuary of the living room.
It's up to you to decide between the ease of daylight fishing and the more adventurous night time forays. What you need to bear in mind is that 80% of all the shore cod taken are hooked during the dark hours. Even moonlight nights are less good than cloudy ones.
TIDES
Deeper water does not eliminate the tide factor. The peak fishing tides are the three rising tides before the highest of the cycle and the following three decreasing tides. Cod may be caught either side of these, but numbers will fall and predictability becomes very difficult.
BAIT
Most important for you is a source of good lugworm. Digging your own is an advantage. If not, then find a reliable digger and stick with him through thick and thin. When the cod are in, then lug are not nicknamed "Black gold" for nothing.
Blow lug has the edge for smell being full of juice, but use enough worms to make a bait between 6" and 9" long. Black lug are good when freshly dug with guts intact, but once gutted and dried by being wrapped in newspaper they start to lose their effectiveness. Still catch of course, but they lack the smell. Overcome this by mixing blow and black to make a large, smelly bait when possible.
Peeler can be good close to rocky ground during autumn and spring, mussel is much underrated and scores even over clean sand. Put three or four mussels onto a hook and then bind then into a sausage shape with bait elastic. Rag can be good in some areas, but never really competes with lug. Squid strip can be used to tip off a bait, but whole squid are not a great bait for shore cod.
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Considering that you'll be fishing in the dark and probably into a strong wind, then stick to what you know best. This is not the time to try out a highly tuned 6500 multiplier when you're used to fishing with a fixed spool.
Rods should be able to handle 6ozs of lead with a stiffish action in the mid and butt sections to give the strength to bring fish back against the tide, but with a slightly forgiving tip that, in combination with the reels drag, helps to cushion the hook hold on fish being dragged back seawards with the undertow.
Go for the biggest fixed spool reel capacity you can and load the reel right to the lip. Line about 15lb breaking strain gives the best compromise between casting distance and strength. Go heavier and the larger diameter drags more on the spool lip as line is removed from the spool during the cast and friction is greater both through the rings and through the air reducing casting distance. Multiplier users should also choose 15lb line for average conditions.
Fishing during gales needs a different set up. Load the fixed spool with 20lb and multiplier men will need to go for a larger reel like the ABU 7000 and similar reels loaded with 25lb line. Some anglers choose to do away with a shock leader in gales and fish 30lb line straight through to stop floating weed accumulating on the leader knot, but this is not such a problem if you're casting far enough out in the first place.
Multipliers handle 25lb line better than fixed spools and are capable of casting over 100yds with the right techniques into the teeth of a gale. Fixed spools are safer to cast in difficult conditions, but fail to reach the same distances in this actual beach situation.
A word on shock leaders. Choose between 50 and 60lb mono. Length needs to be about 22' for a 13' rod and no longer. Don't be tempted by leaders over 30' to give you strong line from reel to fish when the cod is in the breakers. If weed does lodge on the knot, then the fish is still too far away to be safe from the undertow, also long leaders can struggle to pass through he rod rings during casting, the knot catches and a snap off will occur on both types of reels.
Always use a release wire lead on these beaches. It helps you hook fish and keeps you anchored in one place avoiding frequent tangles with the inevitable anglers fishing either side of you.
RIGS
You need only one for all conditions. Use 60lb line for the rig body which need to be no more than 30". Tie in a Mustad oval split ring at the base. Slide on a bait clip with a telephone wire stop above it. The hook length should be positioned about 20" above the split ring. Use whichever hook length securing system you prefer, but you'll find it hard to beat two trace crimps either side of small 2mm round beads and a size 8 Mustad rolling swivel for strength. Finish the rig with a strong Mustad rolling swivel size 4 at the top of the rig to take the casting strain or an oval split ring.
Hook length breaking strain should be 25 to 30lbs for clean beaches, maybe 35lbs if there is a chance of bigger fish over rougher ground.
The best hooking arrangement is the two hook pennel rig. Mustad Vikings are the best pennel hooks. Choose the no 79510 with a turned down eye for the top hook and straight eyed 79515 for lower. Here's how to tie a quick pennel rig.
Tie a 5" loop in the end of the hook trace using two overhand knots. Slide on a 4mm bead by passing the loop end through the bead followed by the down eyed viking. Halfway down the loop tie in another two overhand knots, then add the lower hook by passing the loops end through the eye of the hook, down over the hook point and underneath the bend, then back up the shank and pull tight. The upper hook is now free to move.
When baiting up, slide the worms right up over the middle knot to the bead. When complete simply turn the upper hook backwards and pass the point down through the very top of the bait and pull it straight for perfect presentation with no chance of the second hook being masked by the bait.
If you must use a single hook, then go for a Mustad Aberdeen 3261BLN or equivalent for worm baits a 4/0 to 6/0 Viking or equivalent for mussel and crab.
TECHNIQUE
When possible, fish two rods. Cast one to fish close to the base of the shingle where the junction of sand is. This will often be less than 30yds out, but cod can and will patrol here thanks to the depth available. The second rod needs to be cast as far as possible towards and into those tide runs and currents we talked about.
Once the lead is locked in the seabed, set the rod tip at a 15 degree angle with the tip slightly bent to the line. The tips should have reflective tape on their first three feet for easy viewing in the lamps light.
When weed is in the surf and the wind is strong, two rods are a pain. Fish just one, but use a rod rest with telescopic legs that give an opened rod rest height for fishing of over 6'. Raising the butt cups as high on the rear leg as possible gets the rod tip a good 15' plus off the ground, set the tip at 15 degrees to a tight line and your line will be out beyond the weed band and will suffer less from surf action.
HITTING COD BITES
The rod tip will dip down once, then spring back straight. This is the classic cod bite. Most cod hook themselves against a wired lead, but pick up the rod, wind down until you feel the weight of the fish and pull back into it.
Stay close to your rod as bigger double figure fish will hit the rod so hard on that first pull down that the rod and rest may be dragged over. Tying the rest down with a cord is a good form of prevention.
THE FIGHT
Cod fight by resistance during the initial fight acting more as a dead weight with head shakes. When they feel the water shallowing and the surf above their heads is the time they wake up and then charge off running parallel with the beach. Allow them line when they want it and they quickly tire.
BEACHING COD
Never drag a fish back or try to hold it against the undertow. This is the best way to tear the hook free and lose the fish. If you hold the fish out beyond the breakers you can feel it's weight lessen as the approaching and building surf picks it up and carries it inwards. Use this period to regain line. The final beaching is the same way. Use a surf table to wash the fish ashore, then run down and hand gill it as the waves recede. Consider your own assured safety before doing this.
TOP VENUES
Most famous has to be Dungeness in Kent where big catches of cod made the headlines in the late 60's and 70's, Chesil Beach in Dorset another in the right season, with some the beaches south of Withernsea along the Holderness coast not far behind. Other deep water venues exist along the east coast at Landguard, Felixstowe, and Orfordness.
To help you locate your own beaches any beach that strips less than 50yds on the ebb tide with a high water depth of over 12ft can loosely be classed as being in the steep to category.
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