There are still cod to be caught around the coasts of southern England and Wales despite their huge decline in numbers over recent years. Dave Lewis explains how using the detective skills of a good private investigator is the best method of locating your subject –aplump winter codling!
Adictionary defines the word season in several ways, one being, ‘a fixed time of the year when a particular sporting activity is pursued’. As I write this article it’s mid-October and I am mindful of the fact that it wasn’t that many years ago that right now would be prime ‘cod season’ for shore anglers fishing at the eastern end of the Bristol Channel – and many other areas of the coastline around the UK. The current weather conditions would have been ideal to target cod, too. Adecent set of tides, a settled spell of weather with light winds, and this morning I woke up to find we had the first frost of the year. Sadly, were I to venture to one of my once favourite venues in the area, I’d be nowhere near confident of my chances of catching a cod. However, there are still fish to be caught if you do your research and plan. The skills needed to be successful are akin to those of a good private detective if you are to first locate, and then ‘apprehend’ a cod!
STARTING YOUR INVESTIGATION
It’s not just here in south-east Wales that we have seen cod numbers crash. All around the coast of the British Isles areas that once provided consistent winter sport for shore anglers are now, at best, a shadow of their former selves. Overfishing, climate change, water quality, lack of feed, take your pick: there are plenty of reasons given as to why the numbers of cod have been affected so badly. Regardless which are right, the end result for shore anglers is the same.
Thankfully it’s not all doom and gloom. In most of those areas where cod once provided the backbone of a shore anglers sport throughout the autumn and winter, from time-to-time fish do turn up. Occasionally these ‘runs’ consist of good numbers of codling, along with a few bigger ones. Find yourself in just the right place at just the right time, and even today you can catch reasonable numbers of cod from the shore.
GATHERING THE EVIDENCE
Up-to-the-minute information is key to success when targeting cod today, just as it always has been. Often the fish arrive in one particular area and stay for just a few tides before moving on, meaning that you need to fish these windows of opportunity as and when they present themself.
Social media is the primary source of catch information for most shore anglers, but reports on Facebook and other online forums need to be taken with a pinch of salt. Certainly, social media will give you an indication that fish are being caught, but you need to be aware that many catch reports are multi-shared, during which
