5th November - Dengemarsh revisited

3lb13oz codling

Met up with Steve, and after having a reasonably succesful pumping session, we decided to burn some diesel and head into Kentish lands in pursuit of the whiskered ones. Big tides, and a recent big SW blow, made Dengemarsh the target, as it is a venue I have in mind for some client trip this year. Deep water close, in, and excellent tide flow, and very few snags make it a first class client venue, with an excellent chance this year of some very big fish.

On arrival, the few people already there had already caught fish, with one guy having a brace, including one of 8.5lb. Things were looking good, and I was a little shaky setting up the rod with the pure excitement of it all. And about an hour before high tide, the excitement was rewarded with a classic slack liner, and the 3lb 13oz fish pictured above brought to the shingle. Re-Casting, I got another slack liner straight away, but failed to connect.

Steve, with 4lb 14oz coddie

We then had to wait until about half an hour down the tide when Steve got a breakout. Winding down, it was the biggest fish of the night for us that came to the shingle, 4lb 14oz of prime Kentish codling.

3lb 8oz codling for me

Half an hour after Steves fish, my tip sprang back as a 3lb 8oz fish took a liking to my freshout Sussex blacks and whole squid tip. And that was the last of the coddie action. We stayed fishing for another couple of hours, but we had to make the journey back to Sussex in the end as I had Client commitments at 06:00. A very satisfying session, that gave a hint of what is to come. On opening the cod, one disturbing sign was the presence of sprat, the cod anglers worse enemy. Wont be long at all before huge balls of these tasty little silver fish become the main purpose in a cods life, and all other offerings are ignored as the cod move up to mid water to enjoy the feast.