Fill That Freezer

Sea fishing locally this summer has been poor, so we've been hoping we'd get a run of codling this autumn. Unfortunately, they appear to be as rare as rocking horse shite. What to do ?

However, over the past week or two there have been a reasonable number of rays being caught off the piers. Normally when this is the case our ( not so ) secret roker spot is loaded with them.

That being the case, me and Norfolk Bob arranged for a shortish afternoon session. Conditions were perfect, a coloured sea and a northerly wind, which at this mark results in a calm sea.

NB arrived early and by the time I turned up he was on ray number four.

My first two casts resulted in fish, certainly a good start. Things eased up, but throughout the afternoon waves of fish came through, mostly in the 4-8lb range.

I then hooked something that felt bigger and called NB. We expected to see a double figure ray, but instead were greeted with the sight of a double shot of five pounders. Oh well, can't complain.

Just before high tide the rod tip sprang back and I pulled into what I hoped this time really was a bigger fish. It did what ray do, plodded around a bit and in a short a while a real clonker hit the shingle. 12lb 4oz. Happy days.

I ended up with 16 and NB 17, so a cracking afternoon. We both took only three fish home, not because of conservation concerns, but for the fact that it's difficult to carry any more back a mile across the shingle. Unless you have a wheel barrow.......