Saved by the podleys.

While Scott was away the other weekend indulging in his monster Skate hunting I had the time to hit the coast. I also wanted to try a new rod, a 2.7m 7- 28g Shimano Yasei Red Dropshot. So with that in mind I headed to our local bass mark to see how it would work my beloved lure, the Slug-Go!

The conditions were really poor when I arrived, with a strong gusting wind which kept changing direction and the sea really dirty with visibility being only a foot or so. Never the less I fished for about an hour and a half trying to get a feel for the rod. My initial impressions are good and I could feel the contours of the sea bed when bouncing the lure across it. I could also tell the difference between weed and rock which is essential for the way I work my lures. With no fish about though I decided to move on down the coast to try St Abbs in the hope of a pollock to test the rod!

Again when I arrived the conditions were poor with the sea really murky, something which is unusual for St Abbs as it is normally crystal clear. It wasn't looking good at all but I pressed on and went with my LRF tackle to fish the flattie and coalfish hotspots. I must have ambled about for a couple of hours with no action before I decided to start working the bigger rod and Slug gos. I was fishing the channels and rocks behind the harbour and over a couple of hours went through a multitude of lures which resulted in a total blank!

I was worn down by the grating cold wind and feeling thoroughly disconsolate so I started making my way back to the car, resigned to a blank. On the way I thought I would have a couple of "last casts" at the harbour mouth. I rigged my LRF rod with a simple dropshot rig, a #8 offset worm hook tied via a palomar knot to an 8lb flourocarbon leader with a 5g weight clipped on a foot from the hook. I rigged a 1.5" section of Gulp! sandworm and cast across the mouth. As soon as the lure dropped through the water column a fish was on it and I felt the unmistakable fight of a coalfish (or podley as they are sometimes known locally). The fish was landed to a beaming smile from me and even though it was only 24cm it still put up a good fight!

Almost every coalfish was 24cm, this one just made 25cm!

Great fun on light tackle!

Sunshine and coalfish, perfect!

The fishing then went crazy and it became a fish a chuck and I thoroughly enjoyed a mad half hour! My enjoyment was briefly dulled by having to explain to some foreign fisherman that they were not supposed to take the little coalies, explaining to them that the legal limit is 35cm. They complied with my shouted request and sure enough some decent sized coalfish turned up which were over the limit so fair enough to take. I would hate to think how many of the tiny ones they would have taken if I hadn't been there. After I had caught my 30th fish I realised the time and had to dash back to the car but I was grinning from ear to ear and I didn't mind leaving. All in all it had turned into a fish filled session but I really thought I was going to blank, luckily for me those "podleys" turned up and it quickly transformed into a bit of a red letter day!

Tight Lines, Schogsky.