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PENN SEA LEAGUE

PENN SEA LEAGUE

Dave Barham reveals a new charter boat operation fi shing the Humber Estuary out of Grimsby, where cod abound…

There aren’t many places in the UK where you’re pretty much guaranteed to catch cod and codling these days. e Bristol Channel can be hit and miss, but this year there have been quite a few quality cod caught there. However, for consistent numbers of codling and cod up to double fi gures, the River Humber has proven itself to be the single best place to go in recent years. I’ve been lucky enough to fi sh out of Grimsby for the past three consecutive years on numerous occasions, and I’m yet to blank there.

NEW (OLD) BOAT

I received a phone call from my good friend, Roger Cooling, back in October informing me that he’d ‘bought another boat’. It soon transpired that he’d actually bought a fullyoperational charter boat and his intentions were to work her in the Humber throughout the winter months, with the odd few trips throughout the summer – he’s a commercial cocker fi sherman by trade and has spent most of his life working on, and owning, various boats. A few years ago, he completed his commercial skipper’s ticket, so he’s more than qualifi ed to operate a charter boat.

It transpires that Roger had, in fact, bought Pete Churchill’s charter boat ‘Moonshine’. When I discovered what he’d bought I had some wonderful fl ashbacks from a trip when I had the best tope fi shing of my life, with Pete, some 20 years ago!

“I know that boat, mate,” I said to Roger.

“She’s a great platform, and Pete’s looked after her well.” I continued.

Pete Churchill has been running ‘Moonshine’ from Southsea for over 30 years, but he decided

It was rather pleasant as we headed into The Wash. We encountered some wind and waves off Donna Nook!

to sell her so he can retire. e truth is, he’s bought another boat just for himself and his friends to play about in, but, in his own words “If I kept her, I’d just keep running trips and I’d never retire.”

ARRIVAL DAY

Roger organised for Moonshine to be brought by road to our local marina at Fosdyke, where she sat for a week so that he could install his electronics and get her recoded. She was already coded, it was simply a case of switching the coding over to the new owner, but that requires a new inspection, just to make sure everything is in order.

As you’re all probably aware, the weather throughout the end of January and most of February was basically just one big howling gale – just typical! We did manage a brief few hours out in the Wash to give the boat a good run so Roger could get used to how she handles, but his plans to take her to Grimsby and get cracking with the cod season were completely scuppered.

We both kept a very close eye on the weather systems, as we usually do – it’s an addiction. en, just as the 40-50mph winds were set to continue for yet another week solid, we spotted the eye of the storm! at was our cue to make the six and a half hour trip from Fosdyke to Grimsby.

We left Fosdyke with hardly a ripple in the river, and when we got into e Wash there was very little to talk about in the way of waves and swell. We headed northwards, past Skegness, without a care. It was only once we were opposite Donna Nook that we encountered a moderate swell and increasing winds. e boat took it all in her stride though, she’s a 29ft Starfi sh, built for comfort, and in a coincidental twist of fate was actually built in Grimsby. She even has a sister ship somewhere up here.

As we entered the Humber, we’d reached the relative shelter and decided to chuck a couple of rods out for an hour while we waited for the lock gates to open so we could head to the berth. It was slack tide, so we weren’t really expecting anything, but I managed to catch a small codling, about 2lb, so the deck was well and truly christened.

PERFECT TIMING

Another few days passed with a constant south westerly blowing 35mph plus. We were itching to get out for a proper fi shing session to locate a few cod before Roger’s fi rst charter trips. As luck would have it there was another break in the weather. It was one day of glorious sunshine and little to no wind, before the dreaded gales returned for another two weeks. e morning of the trip dawned cold and breathless; we couldn’t believe our luck if we’re honest. We were expecting a bit of chop and swell from the relentless winds previous, but there was nothing; it was almost the perfect day afl oat.

We’d been out for a curry the night before to celebrate actually getting the boat to Grimsby. It wasn’t a late one because we knew we’d be up and away for 5am the following morning. So, when Roger got home he took a 5kg block of squid out from the freezer and put it in the back of his car. We arrived at the marina for 6.30am, and the fi rst job was to grab a bucket of sea water to dump the squid into. It’s had been minus three degrees outside all night, so leaving the frozen squid in the car probably wasn’t the best idea – it was still rock solid.

Ten minutes later and the block seemed to be growing rather than melting, so it was time for desperate measures – on went the kettle!

Now I don’t normally advise pouring boiling hot water over your bait, but on this occasion we had no choice. You see, the beauty of fi shing out of Grimsby is that as soon as you have left the confi nes of the marina you can be anchored up and fi shing within 15 minutes! Nearly all the decent cod marks that we have accrued over the past three years of fi shing the Humber, from Roger’s old boat ‘RYN’, are within 20 minutes or so of the marina! Just another reason why fi shing the area has such appeal.

Two bites at the same time!

This one weighed over 5lb!

Another around the 4lb mark for Roger.

COD ON!

We had no choice but to break out the kettle!

We knew we were going to struggle today, because it was the smallest tide of the month, which generally signals hard fishing anywhere in the country. However, as is often the case when fishing, you can sit there with motionless rod tips for ages but as soon as a sausage sarnie appears, off goes the rod. We’d been anchored up for about half an hour, waiting for the tide to start running, and I’d taken one bite out of my sarnie when my right-hand rod gave the tell-tale nod - I was into the first fish of the day, a plump 4-pounder. is was followed up swiftly by Roger with a 5lb beauty, and then another of a similar size. I managed a further three codling before the tide died away yet again, and that’s when the whiting came on the feed. We actually bumped off four or five decent codling during this time too, which was really frustrating – they just spat the hooks near the boat. at’s another problem when there’s very little tide, there’s no pressure to keep the fish on the end of your line. We didn’t really mind, we’d had a great six hours fishing with six decent codling in the boat on a day when we thought we’d really struggle to get a bite.

I can’t wait for the next set of big tides, providing this damned wind goes away – then we’ll see just what the Humber is all about. In recent years we’ve been coming back with 30 to 40 fish on the bigger tides, and I’ve even managed a few decent bass – the biggest was bang on 9lb, which was of course returned. n

A plump 5-pounder SIMPLE TACTICS

There’s no need for fancy rigs and baits when fishing the Humber. In fact over the years we have discovered that plain old squid and either a running leger or fixed rid tied with 3ft of 40lb mono and size 5/0 Pennell hooks is all you really need. Roger can supply bait on request, and he also has hire rods with leads and rigs available too. Drop down your rig and wait for the rod tip to rattle! INFO & PRICES If you fancy a day out, give Roger a shout. It’s £300 for the boat for the day and it’s licensed for six plus crew. I have a couple of trips booked for me and my mates, but we’ve decided to go with just four of us at £75 a head to have the extra room to fish two rods each (plus a couple of livebait rods out the back). As you can see, Roger has a shiny new kettle which is on constantly throughout the day serving up hot tea and coffee. He also supplies sausage sarnies – which are guaranteed to get you a bite! Find him on Facebook at: Bowline Charters – Grimsby, and send him a message, or give him a call on: 07399 522783.

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