As the water temperature drops towards the end September and into October, the Cod start to migrate inshore to feed and eventually spawn before moving off to alternative feeding grounds in early spring.
The rough ground marks along the North Yorkshire Coastline, all draw and hold Big Cod in the Winter months.
Thier are two Techniques we use when bait fishing at anchor in the winter.
these are uptiding and downtiding. on this page we will try to explain the techniques we use.
both techniques require the use of bait.
Ultimately, Squid, Lug, Crab Cart, peeler crab, Razor and mussel seam to be the best baits to use other baits can work on thier day.
also some anglers prefer big baits some prefer a couple of smaller baits. this is all down to preference and confidence.
Winter Inshore Fishing
Uptiding
This is where the baits are cast uptide of the boat towards the anchor. the idea is to anchor the bait in this position by using a fixed lead. we advise anglers use a light rod with either a small casting muiltiplier or large fixed spool reel.
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we advise rigs are kept simple, with either a single hook flowing trace, a pully rig, or a self hooking trace. These can be made into a pennel rig if need to help secure the bait.
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the sinkers we use are grip leads around 5oz to 8oz depending on the tideand can be a breakaway type or a fixed wire type.
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The baited trace is casted lightly uptide and once the lead has settled on the bottom, the line is let off the reel to create a bow of line between the rod tip and the rig.
the tide will then set the grip lead into the sea bed, then all you have to do is wait for the bite.
bites can be quite erratic of most of the time they just leave a slacker line. this is beacuse the fish swims with the tide then picks the bait up and swims away with it downtide.
at this point the angler has to wind the slack in and when the fish can be felt just carry on winding normally. some angler prefere to strike the fish at this point but i feel this is unnessery as the fish is normally deeply hooked at this point.
Downtiding
Another pomeathod of fishing at anchor is down tiding. this technique is much simpler and bigger baits can be used. light tackle can also be used but a casting muiltiplier is not needed, so you can also use lever drag reels with this meathod.
The rigs we prefere anglers to use are simple, either a flowing trace which can be made into a pennel rig if needed, or a two hook flapper can be effective.
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sinkers have to maintain contact with the seabad with out paying excessive line out, plain bombs, aquapedos or bell weights work well for this as they have a streamlined shape that offers little resistance. we recommend anglers to bring a selection of different size weights varying from 6oz upto 16oz.
We do carry weights onboard if you run out. the amount of weight angler have on also depends on thier position on the boat, the angler at the stern of the boat will need a lighter lead than the persons fishing the bow of the boat. also line thickness changes this so it may take a few moments to sort this out but if done correctly this eliminates tangles.
For downtiding all the angler has to do is lower the tackle and bait to the bottom and just let the tackle lay there untill a bite is felt. once a bite is felt all you have to do is strike the fish and slowly reel in.
Ideal Rigs for Winter Fishing, Uptiding and Downtiding
