Cardiff Weds 04.06.08 & Thu 05.06.08

KKYum · #1 06-06-2008, 09:47 PM

Took the old man out fishing on Weds evening for the first time. Had a go around Flatholm but the currents were all over the place so we came in closer and settled near Penarth. High tide was at 2000ish and we anchored in our final spot around 1830. Quite soon a seal appeared near us and remained swimming around the boat for as long as we were there. No one else was fishing in the area so he stayed with us. Not the best of news I thought.

Anyway, we had spent quite a lot of time fannying around really, and not too much fishing so imagine how pleased I was when the gentlest of bites turned into a really good scrap. "If I didn't know better I'd call this for a cod," I told my Dad, who earlier I'd informed to his dismay that we don't get cod down here this time of year. Well, after five minutes or so of strong head nods the fish appeared....16lb of prime cod. Fantastic! My personal best after six years of trying in the estuary. It took rag and squid. Hopefully I will attach a pic to this message.

Dad then hooked something big but he lost it ten metres from the boat. It bit through a 50lb trace so I suppose it was a conger. Then, just before we were about to leave he gets a bite and the next thing we know the line is pouring off his reel...we both got excited until about 100m from the boat the bloody seal pops up with a Dad's small conger in its gob. We managed to break the line at the trace. Hmmph!

Well, I had cod fever so I went out again last night - the weather was completely different with a strong westerly that made everything really snotty. Caught a few doggies and came in bruised.

Off to north Norway on Fri 13th June so hope that my personal best is going to be short lived....

PS Saw the seal again on Thurs and he was swimming around just fine so we didn't hurt it.