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  • 16/02/2013 Fishing Report by Scott Belbin on Lady Grace (Brightlingsea, Essex)

    16 Feb 2013 by Scott Belbin

    Report on-board Lady Grace

    Today I was out on a fishing trip with Robbie who usually goes with Scott but as he was bringing his step son Michael they thought they would come out on Lady Grace for a few hours instead along with mum, Claire, who also goes with Scott too. As we headed out we couldnt have asked for a calmer day, it was like a sheet of glass. The sun struggled but failed to break through the clouds all day but neither the less it was a lovely mild day for fishing. While we were steaming out Robbie warned me he was trying out a 'special rig' which involved threading a slice of cork above the hook to work along the same principal as a pop-up like they use in carp fishing. Robbie said he was trying this rig out on my boat because he knew Scott would just laugh at him, especially if he didn't catch anything. Claire, Michael and I didn't seem convinced with his 'special rig' and had a little chuckle to ourselves on the way out. We headed out for the start of the flood and dropped anchor at our fishing spot. Now usually I would only be fishing out a mile or two in the River so it would only take about 20-30 minutes steaming before we anchored up but today we went further, we travelled for an hour before anchoring up. The reason for this is because there are alot of reports from the fishermen of the River being plagued with herring which is not something we caTotch on rod and line but because they are so thick under the water we struggle to fish for the codling. The herring will swim into your line and this will imitate bites so you are forever reeling in to check your bait which doesn't give the codling a chance to get on the hook. So I anchored further afield to avoid the herring. As we cast out waiting patiently seals popped their heads up around us on the boat. Not a good sign because if you do get a codling on then these seals will munch your catch up before you have time to reel it in, leaving you with just a codling head as your trophy. The seals seemed to be enjoying themselves, laying on their backs floating along the surface of the water, just chilling out. I left Robbie to his own devices with his special rig and concentrated on baiting and casting Claire and Michael's rods. Claire caught the first fish, a small whiting but the first couple of hours there seemed to be a tremendous amount of tide boaring past us, carrying nice clumps of weed which worked their way down our lines for us to build us muscles up on as we reeled in. As the tide eased back it was time for us to head home but since the fishing was much more comfortable we had a group vote and stayed out another hour. While I held my rod in my hand watching Michael's rod eagerly hoping to catch him a codling I felt a nod nod on my rod, finally, I leapt up with excitment and Mr cod nod nodded all the way in. I got Michael to reel in and I put fresh bait on his hook and cast him back out and did the same with Claire and not long after Michael was into a codling. His face was bright red from the struggle it was putting up but he was certainly enjoying himself. We got Michael's codling aboard and cast out hoping for a couple more but not long after we had to go in as time had flown past us and it was the end of our trip. There seemed to be a few funnels in the clouds form then disappear throughout the day and there seemed to be one following as we motored in, this one didn't disappear, it looked quite a powerful formation and you could see the swirling in the clouds above the funnel, but the funnel wasn't extending long enough for me to have any cause for concern but it was fasnating for Michael to see it form. As we headed home we discussed how sucessful Robbie's special rig had been. The scores on the doors were; Michael and I with 1 codling each, Claire with a whiting and Robbie nil. I think you can guess our conclusion on that rig.

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