Random Harvest - Needles Codding

I had a trip out with Rob today aboard Random Harvest. Former owner of Shogun, Rob is now waiting on the build and delivery of a new vessel that will open up a lot more angling opportunity and potential. Rob is planning on expanding into previously untapped and varying areas of the sport and is certainly a skipper to keep an eye on!

On to the fishing: - It was forecast to blow a force 4 South Easterly for the best part of the day today and I had persuaded my Dad and Brother to come along. We stood around at Yarmouth Quay looking into the water as we waited for Rob to come over from Lymington. My brother noticed a couple of large mullet running up and down below our feet, so a sandwich was sacrificed to see if they were interested. Almost as soon as the first bits of crust slapped the water the mullet started gulping and slurping at the bread on the surface. We watched in amazement as two 5-6lb fish started to hoover it all up like vacuum cleaners. There were 'No Fishing' signs everywhere but the angler in me just couldn't resist dropping down a hand-line with a bit of crust on the end! I had come prepared for boat fishing though so very crudely had to make do with a spool of 30lb amnesia and a 1'o hook (the smallest I had)! I hooked on a bit of crust and lowered it down.....the bait was instantly sucked off the hook. This happened five or six times before they decided enough was enough.....they're not stupid!
With the mullet forgotten we stepped aboard Random Harvest, said our hello's and were soon steaming round the light. There was a large ground swell running so we knew we would be in for a bumpy day!
Big squid and cuttle baits were the order of the day and still without a cod to my name this year I needed to find my mojo! Lines down and within 10 minutes I was bent into my first suspect cod.......felt heavy, nodded and definitely wasn't an eel. Only one other thing it could be then......yep, you guessed it!

Thornback returned and I was straight back down to make the most of the last bit of ebbing tide we had left. Another good bite that was given plenty of time to develop resulted in another healthy bend in the rod. This time though I knew it was an eel and sure enough a small one between 15 and 20lb was pumped up to the surface. T-barred off at the side in disgust and a new trace later it was now pretty much slack tide with the boat sitting awkwardly in the wind.

Some people opted to have a go at the slack tide whiting with varying degrees of success and others (including myself) stuck it out for a cod. Barry, who was fishing up near the front of the boat was first rewarded for his efforts. A suspect conger that turned into a cod at the surface - estimated at a low double.

With the tide now beginning to flood and the wind holding us back, we sat almost sideways on for the next hour or two but the fish were still playing ball. A few eels were starting to show themselves now and it wasn't long before I found myself attached to another one. This one gave quite a good account of itself before coming to the boat and found his way in for a picture or two. Bringing congers into a 16ft angling boat for some happy snaps is usually more hassle than it's worth but as we now had some deck space to play with it seemed like the perfect opportunity.....!

John was next to find the target species and casually walked down from the wheelhouse to his rod that was already bent over and bucking around in the rod rest at the back of the boat! A better one this time going 17lb 8oz.

I proceeded to drop the next two decent fish....could have been cod...could have been eels - I try not to dwell on it! My Dad had a good fight with an eel before dropping another good fish himself shortly afterwards. Chris though was the next man to pull a cod out of the bag after literally dropping a bait on its head! A smaller fish but a very welcome cod all the same!

Time was getting on now and I was doing everything I could to find a cod. At last though I bent into a decent nodding weight which was gently eased up to the surface......I nearly fell to my knees in disappointment when another ray came up :-/

A couple of dogs later and before we knew it, the day had drawn to a close. An enjoyable day on the Random Harvest with a few fish thrown in too. Lets see if I can get any closer to that cod tomorrow.....just maybe a small weather window in the morning.....don't hold your breath!