We’ve been pretty sick of this constant strong winds we’ve had up here in the north east for the past week or so, we haven’t been able to get out on the kayaks for a while and we are starting to suffer from withdrawal symptoms! So when myself and my mate Ben noticed there was a small gap in the wind we jumped at the chance to get out on the kayaks, unfortunately this gap in the wind happened to be first thing in the morning! So it was going to be a sunrise start and finish early so I was back in time for work.

I met Ben at the slipway at 4.30am just in time for the sunrise, it’s not very often I’m up at that sort of time but it’s always nice to see the sun rise.

Sunrise at Runswick Bay

It wasn’t long before we were on the water hopeful we’d find a few fish, unfortunately the recent rough sea had left some colour in the water so jigging wasn’t going to work today. We decided it would be worth tying up to a lobster pot buoy and bait fishing for Cod but there was half a dozen pot boats all hauling their pots so that plan went out the window straight away! Plan B would be to go bait fishing in the bay in hope of a few flatfish, Whiting, etc.

Paddling out to the Cod grounds

Fishing wasn’t exactly hectic, we had tried a few areas during the first few hours but with no luck. We made a move a lot closer in where we found a few Whiting but that was it, no flatfish and just a handful of Whiting to show for our efforts and that early start! Oh well, can’t win them all I guess but at least we finally got out on the kayaks. Think I’ll stick with the lunchtime starts from now on

One of the few Whiting caught

Continued high winds were making the sea unfishable from the kayak and with a need to get out fishing I decided I’d try something different and have a few hours ‘flattie bashin’ in Whitby Harbour. It’s not something I normally do but it was a nice day even though very windy I was happy to get the chance to wet a line for a few hours, Phillipa came along but she would rather walk around the Whitby shops than float about in the harbour. After 25mins I was ready to go, Phillipa set off for an afternoon window shopping and I paddled off for 4hours fishing.

Paddling down Whitby harbour

There is a large section of sand on the east side of the harbour which is known for producing flatfish so I headed straight over there. Bait today would be stripes of Mackerel and Squid fished on a two hook flattie rig, one rod would be setup on ledger and the second I would try float fishing. Well for the first few hours the only things that showed interest in my bait were hordes of crabs, seemed like every 5mins or so I was reeling in another bl##dy crab!

The crab fishing was becoming tiresome so a move was made a little further up the harbour, picked a spot and dropped anchor. Cast out both rods and within in minutes the float was sailing away under the surface, struck and fish was on! A nice little Flounder came to the surface, it’s the first time I’ve caught a Flounder so I was rather pleased with myself

I continued fishing for another hour but nothing else appeared so decided to head back to the slipway, fortunately Phillipa arrived at the same time. We both had a nice day doing what we enjoy so smiles all round

A nice little Flounder from Whitby harbour

Flattie on the float

With my mate Ben landing a nice near 13lb Cod a while back the pressure was on to try and land a double as well (can’t let him have all the fun!), so another Cod fishing session was planned and away we went. A light breeze and clear sea meant conditions were looking good so out we paddled for 1.75miles to our favourite cod grounds. We made a few drifts but nothing much was showing so decided to move a little further out to the slightly deeper water, this proved to be a good decision as I managed a fish on each short drift with the average fish being around 5lb. I landed quite a few fish with the smaller Cod going back to fight another day, fishing had slowed down a little until I hooked into something bigger.

Soon as the fish was hooked it went mental! for the first minute or so (it felt like an hour!!) I couldn’t do a thing with it, if I got 2ft of line back it would just strip another 8ft off! It felt like a very good fish and was expecting a high double or a big ling only to find it to be maybe 10-11lb. Don’t get me wrong I was very pleased with a potential double figure Cod but after that fight I kind of expected something bigger A quick weigh on the beach and it just touched double figures at 10lb 1oz, my third double so I’m very happy with that

Taming the beast!

Met Ben at the slipway at 6pm ready for a few hours kayak fishing for Cod, loaded up the kayaks with the fishing and safety gear and was just about ready to go. I still had to sort out my lobster pots so Ben went off fishing whilst waiting for me to bait up and set the pots. It only took me about 30mins to sort out the pots but that was enough time for Ben to land what was a new pb Cod, I received a shout on the VHF radio asking if I had brought some scales as he had landed ‘a pig!’. As Ben was 1/2 a mile away we decided to meet up at a beach halfway to weigh the fish before it lost any weight (apparently they loose quite a bit of weight if left for a few hours).

Arrived at the beach with a smug looking Ben waiting for me holding a nice fish that looked a good low double, zeroed the scales and ready to go. The fish took the scales round to 12lb 14oz, a new pb for Ben so he was very happy Unfortunately the little tinker beat my pb Cod by 6oz! It was definately his round at the pub afterwards!!

We both managed a few more Codling to 4lb before heading in as the wind had picked up to an uncomfortable level, a new pb isn’t bad for a few hours work though.

A lovely coloured 12lb 14oz Cod