If you’ve not seen the catch report you can read it HERE

I suspected another decent catch might be on the cards so I rang my mate FishyRob at short notice the evening before to see if he could crew because I knew an extra pair of hands would be essential if the fishing was going to be anywhere near as good as the previous trip!

We had a crew of 9 anglers, 4 of whom were new to wreck fishing plus Rob and myself and there was certainly a buzz of hopeful anticipation aboard as we departed on a two and a half steam out of Brighton to the wrecks, giving us 4 hours of fishing time to try and land some Cod and Pollack before the same long steam back!

Upon arrival I lined up the first drift and the fishfinder lit up like I’ve never witnessed before, so it was hardly a surprise when within seconds I heard 7 shouts of “fish on!” from the crew – keeping Rob and myself busy with the landing nets!

Looking Fishy on the Sounder!

This kind of frantic action continued for the next few drifts, with loads of double figure Cod landed but as the tide picked up the bites stopped and so after 3 fishless drifts (despite the sounder still showing stacks of fish) I instructed the crew to wind up as a move to a nearby wreck was in order.

Upon arrival at the next wreck the action started immediately and again the sounder was telling me the wreck was alive with fish, the trouble was these were smaller Cod and Pollack in the sub 8lb class. A slight reposition of the boat to drift over a different section of the wreck soon sorted this out and for the rest of the day it was non-stop action with mostly double figure Cod!

From one of the more hectic drifts!

At 1400 it was time to turn for home after four hours of non-stop action with a very happy and tired crew grinning like Cheshire cats. Everyone aboard (myself included) were fully aware we had been involved in a truly exceptional Red Letter Day – the like of which I’ve never seen before. You’d have to go back to the seventies to recall fishing like this, which is before my time before anyone pipes up with a wise crack! It wasn’t just the quantity of fish, it was the quality too – prime winter Cod at their top weights (as they were full of Roe) plus a good number of Pollack too.

The statistics speak for themselves:

• 60 Cod and 11 Pollack landed (we didn’t count the Pout)
• Conservative total catch weight well in excess of 700lb
• 8 Cod over 20lb
• Best of the day 24.5lb for Mikal (who was sick most of the day)
• Best Individual catch Mark Wilson – over 160lb of Cod!
• Close behind was my mate Nick Coster with 10 Cod totaling 125lb!

A few more pics from the day:

Best of the day went 24.5lb

A couple from this drift

Mid -Double For Shaun Johnson

18lb for Lee Johnson

Another mid-double figure Cod

A brace of 20lb’ers for Mark Wilson

22lb for Nick Coster (one of his 10 Cod)

Some of the best from the day and a happy Crew!

So a record day aboard Grey Viking, the likes of which are sadly very rare in this day and age! If you want to read more FishyRob and Nick Seaw both wrote catch reports on WSF (World Sea Fishing Forum) which you can read HERE and HERE

Thanks to Rob and the crew for being part of such an amazing day!

If you want to book a wreck fishing trip as a group charter or on an individual basis call me on 07850 171722 and I’ll get you out fishing!

The distances involved to my chosen area meant we had 5 hours of steaming and 4 hours of fishing, with a 45 minute slack in the middle, so it was a small fishing window. But the crew of 8 (including 5 newcomers to wreck fishing) were up for it, so we went for it!

Well, we ended up with 27 Cod including a 30lb 3oz monster, a 25lb, 22lb, 19lb and loads in the 15lb to 18lb bracket. Alongside this we had a few smaller Cod plus 3 smallish Pollack giving a haul of 30 fish and a catch weight in excess of 450lb !

Seven of the eight anglers aboard recorded a personal best as follows:

• 30lb 4oz Cod – Warren Slatter
• 25lb Cod – Dan Dice
• 22lb Cod – Clive Marshall
• 19lb Cod – Gary Tidd
• 18lb Cod – Dan Batchelor
• 18lb Cod Ben Waddington
• 15lb Cod – Gazza Tidd

Here are some pictures from today:

30lb 4oz Cod for Warren Slatter

25lb Cod For Dan Dice

Was all action today

One of the few smaller ones

A couple from this drift

A mid double for Gary Tidd

3 of the Cod from this drift

Fish boxes filling nicely and its only Midday – been fishing for 2 hours!

22lb Cod and another personal best for experienced regular Clive Marshall (Clive bagged up today again)

Another for Dan Dice, who had a few today too!

Another PB at 19lb 1oz for Gary Tidd

Some of today’s catch and a very happy crew!

So phew, a fantastic day to start off the wreck fishing season for Grey Viking in 2011 with a fantastic crew – enjoyed your company guys !

Expectations were mixed as on one hand the quantities of Cod caught in recent weeks has been down, but the size of fish has increased compared to the last couple of years across the Brighton charter fleet, with most of the Cod landed being double figures with a fair few 20lb plus specimens reported.

Anyway, on an easing flood tide, as the Whiting and Dogfish attacked our baits, 13 years old Callum landed the first notable fish of the day – a very respectable 2.5lb Whiting, well done Callum:

Not much happened over slack water but as the ebb got away Andrezj had a decent bite and, after a bit of a tangle, landed a pristine winter cod weighing a couple of ounces over 20lb:

The Whiting and Dogfish kept coming until Darius hooked what was obviously a Cod, which went 12lb:

Things went quiet again for a while until just before home time when, out of the blue, 14 year old Tyler Hallett’s rod arched over with a stormer of a bite. I knew instantly it was a decent Cod, and guided Tyler as he expertly played the fish to the surface. It’s not often a Cod strips line off the drag in relatively shallow water, and there were suggestions of conger amongst the crew as the fight played on – but I knew it was a Cod and kept quiet as Tyler continued to play the fish with natural skill and ability.

Eventually the fish surfaced and I admit I was quietly gobsmacked as I netted this obviously monster Cod. Once aboard the scales were dancing about the mid 30lb bracket, so we arranged for Dave Grinham from the Tackle Box to meet us back on the pontoon for a verified weighing…. this Cod went  34lb exactly!!!! Wow, way to go Tyler, your first EVER Cod, using a hire rod too,  and easily a new boat record for Cod on Grey Viking – wow what a day !!!

Anyway, here are some pictures of the monster Cod:

14 year old Tyler Hallet with 34lb of Brighton Cod

Measuring 45 inches long with a 32 inch girth – wow!!

Skipper is just as delighted too!

Thanks to all the crew for a truly memorable and fun day with an incredible fish of a lifetime for young Tyler and further thanks to Dave at the Tackle Box for coming down to authenticate the Cod on calibrated scales!

The Cod were a decent size too with the vast majority going to double figures and plenty of mid to upper double fish caught too. We had 2 at 19.5lb and things look good for the inshore winter season when these fish are full of roe and pack on the pounds! Here are a few pics, there are more on our Facebook Page if you want to have a look:

19.5lb Cod

Firstly,

80lb Conger

On another note, a few of you who have fished with me before have asked where Mick is. She stopped helping out on the boat at the end of July and we separated as a couple at the end of September. It was a pleasure to introduce Mick to the world of boating and fishing and I’m she’ll use the skills I taught her to good effect on her next project.

Glancing out onto the deck it was clear everyone was happily chatting and all set to have a really fun day out.  A few minutes later I noticed that one of the crew (Martin) was taking the opportunity to lie back on the engine box and grab 40 winks whilst soaking up the sunshine.  This was my chance to score the first point and so I quickly grabbed my favourite lipstick and applied a nice thick layer of red with a hint of cherry!  I have never seen a bloke get up so fast in all my life.  Was this the fear of drawing unwanted attention from the rest of the crew or had I simply chosen the wrong colour?

Ok enough of all that time to get on with some serious fishing.  Well that was the intention.  We started with a variety of different lures being used and the first of the day went to Nigel who landed a codling of around 2lb this was quickly unhooked and returned leaving Martin to step up in front of the camera first with a Bream which he caught on a sidewinder.

Martin I could have got away with saying that was a monster Bream but holding it up in front of that toned 6 pack sort of gives the game away.

That was about it for the action for almost 2 hours.  We hit slack water and changed to our lures to baited hooks in the hope of catching either a nice Ling or a Conger but today we were out of luck and so with a move onto another wreck and the tide starting to run again it was back to the sidewinders and shads and back on the hunt for some nice Cod and Pollack.  We had to wait yet another hour or so before we were to see the first good Cod played in but much fun was had filling “The Body Mike’s” bucket with Pouting.  I have no idea what he had planned for dinner but he certainly wanted plenty to take home with him.  It was Sean who was fishing away quietly in the corner and I am sure trying to stay out of trouble was rewarded with the first big bite of the day.  He netted this lovely summer cod which weighed in at 11lb.

Nice Cod

With the very next drift we saw 4 lovely Cod played in.  Nigel and Darrell netting the first two on the back of the boat.

Sean with another doubler.

Followed by “The Body Mike” who landed his first ever Cod. (well that’s what he told us)  Not wanting to get his hands dirty holding the fish for a photo Martin kindly stepped up to the camera so the fish was recorded forever on film.

With another 20 minutes of quiet time we had another brew, devoured the chocolate biscuits and even had time to check out those special little thing that anglers like to carry in their tackle box.

Martins good luck teddys from his children

Back to the fishing!!!

It was time for some nice Pollack and as Nigel was reeling in this lovely fish Neil was taking his time with the biggest Pollack of the day.

A really nice fish that was made to look tiny when Neil’s weighed in at just a little over 15lb.

Cracking fish Neil – Well Done!

With that lovely big Pollack it was time for more cod and lots more banter.  Were we all mad today or can we blame a little of it on the sun?    ermmmmmmmmm No I think its safe to say there was a boat full of mad people.  Sean came good with the first good sized Cod of the day and was also about the play in the last good sized Cod too.

The biggest Cod today at 14lb

Brian didn’t manage to get himself a cod today but after just winning the battle with anorexia he was cool with that and really enjoyed the day out.

It was soon time to head back so we used the time well to gut and fillet the fish.

Another great one guys – can’t wait to do it all again soon.

Bob who is a regular with us saw the biggest fish of the day with this Cod.

Bob also came second in the battle for the most fish caught today – sorry Bob but I beat you again.

First time catches of Cod for these two cheeky chaps.

The day ended with a really good catch and some lovely cod for everyone and another great day out at sea.

Michael also landed this nice Pollack.

The unusual catch of the day was this lovely squid which came up on a sidewinder.

With the tide as good as slack the crew decided to do a variety of different things.  Some of them got the feathers out for Mackerel and then used them for bait others put on sidewinders and one or two put Cuttlefish bait down.

After 10 minutes of drifting and not really moving anywhere at all nothing had happened so we moved about 20m or so to the other side of the wreck where we could sit above what looked like the best place to get a catch.

I was standing talking to Nick and Ian and after being asked whom I thought would be the first person on the boat to get a positive bite and having just answered that I thought it would be Ian the first bang went Ian’s rod.  He was fishing with a baited hook (cuttlefish) and he was onto a good fish.

Whilst Ian was playing in his fish down went Nick’s rod who again was fishing with a Cuttlefish bait.

I was ready with the net for Ian’s and up came a Ling, which weighed in at 11lb.

Nick was still playing in his fish and Ian was already saying that whatever it was he had caught you could just bet it was going to be bigger than his.

And it was!

Only by 1lb though as Nick had netted the second Ling of 12lb.

The fishing was rather slow today and it was a good half an hour before the next good bite.  Collin was the next one to get a good bite and he brought the first Cod of the day to the net.

Meanwhile Nick and Ian were still having a good old banter about it being typical that Nick had got the bigger of the two Ling.

Nick took the competition between the two of the up another level when he next landed a Pollack.  It was only around 6lb but it had put him further into the lead.

With the fishing slow but steady I looked over to see Angelo who appeared to be stuck in the wreck.  When I asked if he was stuck he said yes so over I went to get him out.  I took his rod and it did indeed feel like he was stuck but I was able to reel in line and being able to see a number of other lines crossing and the reel being hard to reel I took it that we must have a good old tangle going on.  I lifted the rod and wound in several times before I felt a bit of a kick on the end of it.  Realising that he was into a good fish I handed back the rod so he could finish playing it in.  He was delighted with a 12lb Cod.

Ok back to the Nick and Ian show!

Ian’s turn to take the lead on combined weight caught today.  He netted a very nice 8lb Cod.

Would Nick be able to rise to the challenge and retake the lead?

Well if any of you know Nick then you will know that he is just a jammy git and it wasn’t long before he was playing in yet another fish.  This time a Cod and although it only weighed in at 7lb it was enough to give him 1^st place in this little battle between the two of them.

Today we didn’t see lots and lots of big fish but those that were caught brought a lot of pleasure to the anglers.  For Nick it was his first Ling and for Angelo it was his first Cod.  Everyone caught fish today but not everyone got a big one, although Nick and Ian did very well.

Another great day out and enjoyed by all and the weather turned out nice with the ride home being a lot smoother.

With music and champange flowing the day was a lot of fun.  There was certainly more celebrating than fishing going on but the birthday boy who lost a couple of nice bass early on in the morning finally got one in the net later in the day.

Happy Birthday!

The following day we were fishing with a stag party and and we between them they landed some smashing Cod of up to 14lb but the hightlight was to come on our short evening trip when we were joined by little Zac.  Zac had told his mum that he really wanted to catch a fish and take it home and eat it, so mum brought him along on a lovely sunny evening and we headed out for a short Mackerel fishing trip. Despite being only 4 he soon got to grips with the fishing rod and was fishing for Mackerel like a professional.

Full of excitement and Zac very quickly caught his first fish.

4 year old Zac with his first fish!

It was non-stop fun throughout the entire trip with Zac filling a bucket with Mackerel and even managing to catch a couple of Gurnards which he released back to the sea.

The time flew by and it was very quickly time to head back home.  There was just enough time to show Zac and his mum how to gut and fillet the fish ready for supper and give the boat a good hose down.

Well done Zac – you were a superstar!

The wreck fishing trips have seen great this week too.  The summer cod are in prime condition and we have seen the bites and catches becoming more consistent.  I have certainly been kept busy gilling, weighing, tagging and gutting fish this week.

Yesterday saw another good day out on the wrecks.  The cod caught today we mostly under 10lb.  Perfect for the table!  Tony played in the biggest cod of the day which weighed in a just over 10lb.

Also caught today was this small John Dory.  It was for many of the crew on board as it was for me too the first time they had ever seen one.

Beautiful little fish.

Like I said its been a busy week but one which we have really enjoyed.  The next few days sees us out on the wrecks fishing for more of those lovely prime summer cod.