Whitby Report

[Ben]

just back from my holiday up north at whitby
managed to get out 3 times in the hunt of cod
my 1st session was to a place called sands end which is a sandy beech with a sand bar about 50yrds out(no need to cast beyond it) this is a very popular place to fish because you can fish out the back of your car
it was very cold with quite a thick snow cover but the wind had dropped down and swung round so it was coming off the land, there had also been reports of good bags of coddling off here so i was quite excited, for bait i had 2 wraps of gullyworm, some huge muscles, a box of squid and some rag worm
because it was a clean mark i opted for a 2 hook pompy rig with 30lb flourocarbon trace's and 3/0 hooks
hw was at 4, i got there at around 3(bit late but the pubs up there are very nice )
i was soon into the fish and started pulling in flounders the size of my hand and small coalfish every cast, moved upto 5/0 hooks and was still getting them so just accepted the fact that i wasnt gonna get my cod today and enjoyed the little fish, biggest coalfish was about 3/4lb
things died off after slack water so i went home to celebrate new year
the next day i had no other choice but to fish in walking distance of our house which ment off robin hoods bay sea wall, wasnt soo excited about this because there had been reports of lots of weed and few fish off here but i thought i may as well give it a bash
because there is some snags and weed is expected, and a big wall to heave any fish up i went for a 5/0 pennel pully rig with 70lb trace with the same bait as befor, after past experience and the word on the street muscle was going to be best here tipped with squid
i got there and my worst thoughts had come true, weed was a real problem and there were huge waves crashing over the wall (aint good on a 40ft high wall ) but i stuck it out and was rewarded with afew small coalfish taken on whole squid stuffed with muscles and lug (1st of january so 1 1/2 points please )

i came home a little bit disheartened by the amount of weed and lack of fish but afew pints of directors soon put that right
now monday was going to be my last chance to get what i really wanted which was a cod, i had to decide to fish a clean mark or a rock mark where a cod will be more likely, i went for the cheap option and fished sands end again, chances should be better tonight because the wind was into my face (apparently better here)
so off i went with the remainer of my bait for 1 last final attempt at getting a cod
it was very busy there(i guess because of the conditions) and i strugled to find space and ended up right on the end, which wasnt good because there is a large pile of rocks here at the base of the wall, and the wall was lower, so i ended up getting very wet and risking lots of snaggs on the way up
this wasnt helped by the people i was fishing next to who had taken a dislikeing to the fact i was fishing there
the fish were here again but still nothing big, small flounders and coalfish

another 1 1/2points please
the people next to me had taken it apon the selves to cast over me every cast and still blame me(people who have fished with me wouldnt beleave it but i was casting straight and it wasnt my fault) this cost me several sets of gear to the rocks at the base of the wall
after acouple of hours i was soaked through and had had enough so gave the bait away and had 1 final chuck
just as i was about to wind in i had the clasic cod bite, THUMP, THUMP SLACK!! wound like hell and caught up with the fish which felt the weight of a fairly resnable fish just befor it spat the hook well gutted, i can only asume it was a codling but the person 3 down had just wound in a nice 2lb codling
o well, it happens, there is always next time
enjoyed my 3days fishing and cant wait till next time, when i will once again try and catch a cod
(hope this all makes sense)

[Fishing Forum Admin]

Bloody good read ben and nice to see you got some fish

[pingu]

well done ben

[creedy]

well done mate a least u got a few fish, i fished one of the uk biggest cod spots in absolutly fowl weather which is ideal for cod and not one came up, next day flat calm i had two, it never goes as planned

[Ben]

at least it has kept me motivated for next time, gonna try getting up there feb half term, if not its gonna be easter

[fishypaul]

well done ben and happy new year mate

[gullyworm]

Well done ben,3 points eh I best pull my finger out

[John Marshall]

Nice report Ben, well done on the fish

[Ben]

thanks all

[Norfolkboy]

Well done Ben