A cracker of a day, nothing big but...

Malc · May 8, 2024

After the blank on Sunday I was focused and ready to go. Ling being caught, water clear-ish and hopeful as weather forecast was good.

Nasty chop and a good breeze greeted us outside the piers but first drop over hard ground and two of us are in, both small keeper codling that were returned, mine after a quick picture for the species competition. Yes, it took until the 5th month of the year to catch a Cod UP HERE!!! Anyhoo I kept on with a flying collar rig as I needed a pollock and coalie too but just codling. Change to baited yellow/green muppets for a while just interested the small bait thieves. I noticed gulls wheeling and gannets diving in a couple of places, a certain sign of sandeel at this time of year, and eventually changed to a shrimp rig with a small 32gm on the point and had to cast downwind to get it down deep enough and eventually got a double hook up of lesser sandeel and a few casts later a very spirited coalie.

Eventually we got to that point, *last hour so what do we do?*

I suggest that we try inshore over sand for flats, my friends had hit dabs but I hadn't had any flatfish at all. Fully blinged up and a half shrimp on the 1/0 hook we started the drift and I soon had a rattle, probably a dab but even leaving the line slack rather than dragging didn't get it to swallow the hook. Bait gone, rebait and back down, repeat, repeat and then I added a mackerel sliver and eventually I pulled gently and got the nod! Dab in the bag!