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My fishing buddy Stuey(doolittle here), was coming over from the west to have another crack at Torness and hopefully bag up on cod. He suggested that an overnighter might fit the bill and the Mrs and the weather both played ball.
We arrived at around 6.30pm with the sight of sunshine and flat calm seas and no wind. I am starting to think Stuey brings his own weather as this was the conditions that we enjoyed the last time we fished together.
The plan was simple. Get out and bag up on Cod and see what we feel like around midnight. If we had enough Cod and energy we might go for a Conger bash.
We paddled out in beautiful conditions and were greated with a decent size sea trout or salmon jumping 2 foot in the air to our right. We had a few flicks with the spinning rods but no joy.
As soon as we hit the rocky ground and about 50 foot of water we decided to have our first drop. It should be called lucky first drop as for the fourth outing on the spin I had a fish. A decent Codling big enough for the pan came on board .
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For once the first drop was the signal for some great fishing.The next hour and a half was almost a Cod a drop. Most were undersize of borderline and got returned except one which had swallowed the bait right down.
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I kept 4 decent cod and the first couple of hours had been what I had hoped. Around 20 fish every one a Cod.
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The fishing slowed a wee bit after that for me but was still decent. At this point Stuey started his fimilar catch up. I tend to fish better early on and must lose concentration as a session wears on. Stuey seems to be the opposite working out the conditions and then hitting on a winning formula.
I noted about 4 fish appear in mid water on the fishfinder. I duly pulled the bait up and was hit hard. I assumed Pollock as the fight was really good but to my surprise it was really nice 4 pound Cod.
The scenery was really nice with the sun setting. It was easy to forget the landmarks that surrounded us were wind turbines, cement factory and a nuclear power staion.
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After a slow hour we decided to head over to the mark that is usually most productive for me. It was a 1.75mile paddle and it had started to get pretty dark. I had to turn the fishfinder brightness down and turn to the black display as the bright light was making me queasy.
The night fishing from a Yak was a first for both of us. It was pretty disconcerning at first not being able to really see where you are going. I was a bit worried about pot bouys but we made good time and both enjoyed the paddle.
More decent fishing at the new mark but most of it from Stuey. He was doing well and had a couple of keepers and a few wee ling. There was next to no drift at this point and it was taking around 10 mins to cover around 200 feet.
I got another couple of keepers to finish my tally with 8 Cod. I recon I caught 30 fish everyone a Cod. Stuey had not faired as well with the Cod with 3 but had got 3 species.
The time was now gone midnight and we were over a mile from base. We were both tired and I was starting to feel the cold. We decided to head back, gut our catch and get some kip in the cars. By the time I gutted my fish and had a bite to eat it must have been around 1.30am. The comfortable driving seat of the car was not a very good bed and I was lucky to get the odd 5 or 10 mins through the next few hours.
We got up with the light around 5am and paddled out again. I was really tired and there was a bit of a swell all be it gentle. The sun rise was very nice and brightened my mood.
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We paddled out to the same mark as we left of the night before. There was a fair drift of about 1-1.5 mph and the snags were a pain but at least the drift was taking us back to base over some decent ground. Stuey was in catch up mood and was easily getting the better of me at this point. A golden 15 mins spell for me got me back in contention. A double shot of 3 pounders( my first Cod double shot on a Yak) followed by one around 5 pound and topped off with a 4 pounder.
We had a quick chat and decided to head in when we got to the mouth of the harbour. I got a really bad snag which I was determined to beat. No luck there as the snag knackered my Penn 535 and took my rig. In the meantime Stuey headed for the dollies to try for a few Pollock.
We paddled in tired but happy.
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I had probably caught around 40 fish and believe it or not only had one species - Cod. I was taking home 13 for the pot. Stuey had 13 Cod too but I think I probably won the weigh in. He did however hammer me in the species count with 6 all together. Cod, Wrasse, Ling, Pollock, Coley and Poting. Whilst gutting our catch we saw why there are so many Cod and fish in general at Torness. The Cod had prawns, butterfish, loads of crab and one even had room for a Lobster around 6 inches in its gut.
We met another Yakker on a Hobie jsut about to launch. He was using Paddle power and I must admit I really like the idea of it.
It was really hard going lugging all the stuff to the car but we got there. The conclusin based on our night was that the state of tide is far more important than the cover of darkness at this venue. I might have to confirm this with another few trips however. Our goodbyes said we went our seperate ways, both happy with a great session. I didn't grudge Stuey his 3 hour drive home.
We arrived at around 6.30pm with the sight of sunshine and flat calm seas and no wind. I am starting to think Stuey brings his own weather as this was the conditions that we enjoyed the last time we fished together.
The plan was simple. Get out and bag up on Cod and see what we feel like around midnight. If we had enough Cod and energy we might go for a Conger bash.
We paddled out in beautiful conditions and were greated with a decent size sea trout or salmon jumping 2 foot in the air to our right. We had a few flicks with the spinning rods but no joy.
As soon as we hit the rocky ground and about 50 foot of water we decided to have our first drop. It should be called lucky first drop as for the fourth outing on the spin I had a fish. A decent Codling big enough for the pan came on board .
For once the first drop was the signal for some great fishing.The next hour and a half was almost a Cod a drop. Most were undersize of borderline and got returned except one which had swallowed the bait right down.
I kept 4 decent cod and the first couple of hours had been what I had hoped. Around 20 fish every one a Cod.
The fishing slowed a wee bit after that for me but was still decent. At this point Stuey started his fimilar catch up. I tend to fish better early on and must lose concentration as a session wears on. Stuey seems to be the opposite working out the conditions and then hitting on a winning formula.
I noted about 4 fish appear in mid water on the fishfinder. I duly pulled the bait up and was hit hard. I assumed Pollock as the fight was really good but to my surprise it was really nice 4 pound Cod.
The scenery was really nice with the sun setting. It was easy to forget the landmarks that surrounded us were wind turbines, cement factory and a nuclear power staion.
After a slow hour we decided to head over to the mark that is usually most productive for me. It was a 1.75mile paddle and it had started to get pretty dark. I had to turn the fishfinder brightness down and turn to the black display as the bright light was making me queasy.
The night fishing from a Yak was a first for both of us. It was pretty disconcerning at first not being able to really see where you are going. I was a bit worried about pot bouys but we made good time and both enjoyed the paddle.
More decent fishing at the new mark but most of it from Stuey. He was doing well and had a couple of keepers and a few wee ling. There was next to no drift at this point and it was taking around 10 mins to cover around 200 feet.
I got another couple of keepers to finish my tally with 8 Cod. I recon I caught 30 fish everyone a Cod. Stuey had not faired as well with the Cod with 3 but had got 3 species.
The time was now gone midnight and we were over a mile from base. We were both tired and I was starting to feel the cold. We decided to head back, gut our catch and get some kip in the cars. By the time I gutted my fish and had a bite to eat it must have been around 1.30am. The comfortable driving seat of the car was not a very good bed and I was lucky to get the odd 5 or 10 mins through the next few hours.
We got up with the light around 5am and paddled out again. I was really tired and there was a bit of a swell all be it gentle. The sun rise was very nice and brightened my mood.
We paddled out to the same mark as we left of the night before. There was a fair drift of about 1-1.5 mph and the snags were a pain but at least the drift was taking us back to base over some decent ground. Stuey was in catch up mood and was easily getting the better of me at this point. A golden 15 mins spell for me got me back in contention. A double shot of 3 pounders( my first Cod double shot on a Yak) followed by one around 5 pound and topped off with a 4 pounder.
We had a quick chat and decided to head in when we got to the mouth of the harbour. I got a really bad snag which I was determined to beat. No luck there as the snag knackered my Penn 535 and took my rig. In the meantime Stuey headed for the dollies to try for a few Pollock.
We paddled in tired but happy.
I had probably caught around 40 fish and believe it or not only had one species - Cod. I was taking home 13 for the pot. Stuey had 13 Cod too but I think I probably won the weigh in. He did however hammer me in the species count with 6 all together. Cod, Wrasse, Ling, Pollock, Coley and Poting. Whilst gutting our catch we saw why there are so many Cod and fish in general at Torness. The Cod had prawns, butterfish, loads of crab and one even had room for a Lobster around 6 inches in its gut.
We met another Yakker on a Hobie jsut about to launch. He was using Paddle power and I must admit I really like the idea of it.
It was really hard going lugging all the stuff to the car but we got there. The conclusin based on our night was that the state of tide is far more important than the cover of darkness at this venue. I might have to confirm this with another few trips however. Our goodbyes said we went our seperate ways, both happy with a great session. I didn't grudge Stuey his 3 hour drive home.
