Souter wins EFSA Scotland Cod Festival for second year running

Steve Souter romped to a second consecutive victory in the two-day EFSA Scotland Cod Festival fished out of Arbroath. The Edinburgh angler finished 15 percentage points clear of his nearest rival Peter Redshaw from Thurso.

Fish were hard to find as strong winds meant rough seas and coloured water conditions, which only worsened on the second day. Steve boated 16 cod on day one from ‘Marie Dawn’ to finish overall day winner, and 12 cod from ‘Girl Catherine’ on day two to seal an impressive win in Scotland’s premier boat event.

The Edinburgh partnership of Steve Souter and Billy Murray won the pairs event, while Stirling’s Niall Bell took the longest cod trophy with a fish of 66cm.

EFSA Scotland Cod Festival 2008

Overall Results: top 3

1/ Steve Souter 195.10 points
2/ Peter Redshaw 180.61
3/ Gus Mackenzie 167.21

Pairs

1/ Steve Souter & Billy Murray 359.54 points
2/ Gus Mackenzie & Peter Redshaw 347.82

Longest fish

Niall Bell – 66cm cod

Well done Steve,
I was up in Newcastle this weekend and thought how uncomfortable it must have been offside. Had a walk along the bank top but couldn’t see any boats out from the Tyne.

Worth the trip then Stevie?

Well done stevie that grin on your face says it all mate

Aye, well done Stevie. The lad dun brill… One Hundred an EIGHTYYYYYY… OOPS….sorry, wrong sport!!!!

THAT is one MF lure there !!!!! 

Here, d’you get to keep the trophy if you do it three years running???

Well done Steve you look well chuffed fella

So i guess the bait digging did’nt kill any of your enthusiasim.Well done Stevie boy
                                                                    Bri

It’s a fix I tell ya a fix…............

Anyone know what rigs he was using.  I have a club match there next week and would like a little help.

Thanks

wel done steve

Welsh Wizard - 23 June 2008 06:25 PM

Anyone know what rigs he was using.  I have a club match there next week and would like a little help.

Thanks

Nothing special mate. Two hook rigs as that was the rule for the event. I fished two rigs… 

1 up / 1 down rig: 3-ft bottom trailer from a French boom to a small silver blade and 4 yellow beads behind a 4/0 Kamasan B950U hook. And 18-in above that, a short 6-in snood with a couple of orange beads. I would use this rig if there is a moderate drift.

2 down rig: I used the two down when there was more drift and better coverage of the ground. The rig is 4-ft long overall, finishing in the same blade/beads arrangement as the previous rig but there is a short 6-in dropper snood with just a couple of beads tied in about 10-in from the boom. I use the same 4/0 hooks all through the rigs, and choose them because they are slightly smaller than alternative 4/0s, they are very sharp and hold a good point in rough ground, and because they will bend in a snag rather than snap.

Bait was a mixture of rag/mussel and lug/mussel. The above event was a ‘cod only’ event with a fairly large size limit. There were lots of undersize codling taken, and I caught loads of non-counting wrasse and ling on the same gear/baits.

Hope this helps

S

Steve - 24 June 2008 10:37 PM

Welsh Wizard - 23 June 2008 06:25 PM

Anyone know what rigs he was using.  I have a club match there next week and would like a little help.

Thanks

Nothing special mate. Two hook rigs as that was the rule for the event. I fished two rigs… 

1 up / 1 down rig: 3-ft bottom trailer from a French boom to a small silver blade and 4 yellow beads behind a 4/0 Kamasan B950U hook. And 18-in above that, a short 6-in snood with a couple of orange beads. I would use this rig if there is a moderate drift.

2 down rig: I used the two down when there was more drift and better coverage of the ground. The rig is 4-ft long overall, finishing in the same blade/beads arrangement as the previous rig but there is a short 6-in dropper snood with just a couple of beads tied in about 10-in from the boom. I use the same 4/0 hooks all through the rigs, and choose them because they are slightly smaller than alternative 4/0s, they are very sharp and hold a good point in rough ground, and because they will bend in a snag rather than snap.

Bait was a mixture of rag/mussel and lug/mussel. The above event was a ‘cod only’ event with a fairly large size limit. There were lots of undersize codling taken, and I caught loads of non-counting wrasse and ling on the same gear/baits.

Hope this helps

S

Thanks very much for this help.  We are fishing to a 3hk rule, so I will just ad a hook.

This help is much appreciated.
Mark

No worries Mark. I hope you do well.

S

Was this a bait only event Steve or were you allowed to use lures as well ?, what sort of distance from the shore and depth of water were you fishing, and would you say your methods/bait are transferable onto other grounds in differing areas of the country.

Sorry about all the questions, Im just a nosey git.

No mention of those deadly white Rag either ?

Only mussel, lug and normal red rag allowed in that event. Lures are allowed but they are not as effective out of Arbroath as they are elsewhere… unless they are baited. It is basically inshore rough ground fishing on the drift. Similar tactics have won me the last big NFSA two-day boat event out of Hartlepool and other events out of Whitby etc.

Good fishing Steve   go for the third time

cheers   Miel   EFSA BELGIUM   http://www.zeewolven.net