Cork Cod Sessions - November 2010

[RockHunter]

People: Me

Duration: Various

Tide: Various

Weather: Mostly cold, clear, dry,

Bait: Crab

Rigs: 4/0 and 6/0 pennel pulleys

Results:
13th November: 15 codling (up to 3 lb)
14th November: 10 codling
20th November: 16 codling (up to 3.5 lb)
21st November: 11 codling (up to 4.5 lb), 1 flounder
27th November: 13 codling (up to 4.5 lb), 1 coalfish




Report: Here is a report summarizing my fishing over the last three weekends. I decided to focus on cod fishing as the conditions over those weekends were calm and cold, conditions more suited to cod fishing in estuaries than beach fishing.

13th November: I arrived at a mark that fishes best on the last couple of hours of the ebb. There were a few anglers already there, but at that stage I don’t think anybody had caught much. I set up two rods, with 6/0 and 4/0 pennel pulleys baited with fresh peeler. Shortly after casting out the first rod I had a bite and reeled in codling of about 2 lb with its tail almost severed. It was a fresh wound as it was still bleeding. It also had marks on its flanks that looked like it had been caught in a net. I had another slightly larger codling shortly afterwards on the other rod. Following that I had a fish on almost every cast until close to low tide. Some were small but several were 2 lb plus. For about half an hour over low tide it was quite but the bites resumed as the tide began to rise and I had a few more decent size codling. The largest was about 3 lb.

14th November: I returned to the same mark planning to fish the same stage of the tide. The conditions were similar but the fishing was much slower. The best codling was taken on the first cast, probably just under 2 lb. Fish after that were small, and were slow to bite. Nobody else was having much luck either.

20th November: I headed to a mark that fishes best in the three hours leading up to high tide. First cast I had a good size codling of 3.5 lb. Bites were fairly persistent after that and I had a fish on almost every cast. About seven of the fish were above 2.5 lb and several were in the 2.75 - 3.25 lb range.

21st November: I went back to the same mark, but arrived at an earlier stage of the tide. Again I had a good fish on the first cast, closely followed by another good codling both close to 3 lb. There was more debris and weed floating up stream compared to the previous day including a waterlogged tree trunk that snagged my line. As I tried to free the line the gears started slipping on the reel, and I couldn’t retrieve. I continued fishing with a single rod and had a few more good fish. Over high tide I had the best fish of the day, a 4.5 lb codling, measuring 56 cm, shortly followed by a 3.5 lb fish Once the tide began to drop the bites dried up so I packed up.

27th November: I decided to fish a mark that can fish well early on the rising tide. I was unable to obtain any fresh peeler but had about eight in the freezer. I also had a box of squid. There was already an angler there when I arrived, although he said nothing was biting so far. I set up two rods, one with a 6/0 pennel pulley baited with a full squid, the other with a 4/0 pennel pulley with the frozen crab. Initially it was bitterly cold due to the northeast wind so I wasn’t sure how long I would stick it out. Shortly after setting up I had a small codling on the crab, followed quickly by another small one and then a good size coalfish. A little later I had a decent size codling of about 2 lb. About 20 minutes later I had a better fish probably about 3 lb. The other angler left so I moved to where he had been fishing. Although he had only one or two small codling I have found that mark to be very productive in the past. I also switched the second rod to crab too as there was not a bite on the squid despite been tipped with crab claw. The wind had died down and while it was still very cold it was comfortable enough fishing.

As soon as I moved I had a good size codling, followed by a few small ones. Then there was a strong knock on one of the rods and I could feel a strong fish on the end. It was pulling hard and I reckoned it had to be a big fish. It was a 4.5 lb codling, I had two more good size codling in quick succession after this. I then used the last crab, had one more small codling and on the last cast had a bigger one of about 2 lb.

So I was very happy with that session, I hadn’t expected much with the limited amount of frozen crab. It was only on the way back to the car that I realized how cold it was, there was a thick layer of frost on the vegetation and my car windscreens were heavily iced over. The roads on the way home had also got quite slippery.

I picked up some fresh peelers the following afternoon but there was a strong northeasterly blowing and felt too damn cold to be out so I decided to save them for later in the week.

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Last edited by RockHunter on Mon Nov 29, 2010 5:29 pm, edited 3 times in total.

More photos

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Some more photos

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well done frank some fine fish was thinking of heading out later definatley will now ,

Excellent fishing Frank, what else can I say. To catch 65 cod over 5 days is a fantastic result It's great to see they are still about in such good numbers and decent sizes too. Well worth the trip out each time.
Great report and pictures.

great fishing well done in cod we trust

Exelent fishing,as always,Frank.Looks like i'm off for the rest of the week due to the weather,so might to put few hours to cach some of that cod

well done what great fishing, i thaught it was christmas when i landed a 2.5 pound codling off arklow but seriously nice fishing buddy

frank your on fire man that is great fishing well done

OH MY GOOD COD!! (sorry could'nt resist that frank ) plenty of beer batter in your house then
outstanding fishing man!. good to see you got some before the commercials scoop the lot man

nice fishing .well done Frank

Thats some fishing Frank, i wish some of them cod would head up north here.

some cracking sessions

thats what i call fishing... well done rockhunter.

Captain birdseye eat your heart out

is it cod for xmas dinner so then frank .well done

Well done Frank. You sure do know that are well

Great fishing. Good to see some good cod back around the coast.

well done frank super fishing

fantastic fishing frank 65 codling thats some
fishing big well done