BOAT ANGLER
Sam Cox, son of legendary Essex charter skipper, Bob Cox, explains the basic principles of boat casting –amethod that is as effective today as it was when it was invented in the 1970s
It was the late Ian Gillespie who coined the term ‘uptiding’ when he likened it to up-stream chub fishing. Ian (co-inventor of the original Breakaway lead and designer of the Spearpoint hook) was an early convert to uptiding after experiencing amazing results using the, then, new method. After a few years of comments like, “If you want to fish there why not move the boat there?”, the results started to speak for themselves. Well known anglers of the time, like Geoffrey Bucknell and Clive Gammon, came to Bradwell on Sea in Essex to sample what boat casting had to offer.
The basics of uptiding are fairly simple: a grip weight is cast up and across the tide. Line is then let from the reel until the weight is felt to have hit the seabed. More line is then paid out; the tide then picks this extra line up and carries it forming a bow from the rod tip to the weight. This bow in the line is what causes the grip lead to dig into the bottom. The force of the tide on the bow in the line pulls the rod tip down. When a fish picks up the bait it will normally move away down tide, as it travels the grip led is pulled from the seabed releasing the pressure on the rod tip. The angler sees the rod tip spring back and start to nod as the fish moves off. At this point the rod should be picked up and the angler should wind very fast to take up the slack line. No strike is needed as the hook has been driven home by the fish pulling up against both the grip lead and the force of the bow in the line. After taking up the slack in the line the weight of the fish will be felt. At this point the angler should lift into the fish and the fight is on.
WHY IS IT EFFECTIVE?
There are several reasons why boat casting works so well. One reason is the noise a boat generates at anchor; when a boat is at anchor she lays down tide of the anchor and chain. As the tide flows over the anchor rope (known as the warp) noise resonates through the rope to the boat where the hull of the boat amplifies the noise. My dad explains this process like a string being plucked on a guitar: the string being the anchor rope and the guitar body being the boat hull. This, coupled by the noise made by 6-12 anglers, has a dramatic effect on the movement of fish in relatively shallow water. Good charter skippers are not just boat drivers, they choose the mark to be fished carefully based on their experience. Whether it is an area of rough ground or the edge of a sand bank, the skipper will place his boat in ambush of the fish making their way past with th
