I managed to sneak away for a few hours this morning and try for a Codling or two for the freezer from Berwick.  A huge tide with a fresh breeze off the land made the drift a bit unmanageable at times. Even with the drogue in I was clocking 1.2 knts at times. We managed to boat a few small Codlings, most of which were around the 2lb mark and went back to fight another day.  The tide eventually eased so I decided to dig out the Pollock gear and trawl a reef that frequently produces a decent fish.  First bit of excitement was a snag that broke clear, I decided to bring the Firetail to the surface to check for damage.  Within 10’ of the top the lure stopped and a crashing dive took everything 40’ back down to the bottom, good job I had the drag set..

A short battle ensued and after another 3 or 4 crashing dives I had this beast on the surface…..

It certainly gave me a run for my money and I had it’s weight guestimated at around 15lb.

It was spewing blood from it’s gill covers so rather than throw it back to the seals I chapped it on the head and took it ashore for an exact weigh in.  I was a tad disappointed when it only made 12lb 8oz on the scales, that was three hours later though so it might have lost a little bit. None the less it was a nice fish and gave me the two biggest fillets I have ever seen.

Neil.

Cracking fish Neil I bet that went like a rocket. Good job with the photos as usual. I really want to get out again so give me a shout next time you are off somewhere suitable. Could you point me in the direction of a drogue shop as I really need that and a couple of anchor trolleys to go further off shore. I ended up on land today up at Pettycur and Burntisland. Couple of decent wrasse and the smallest Codling I have seen so far.

Hi Simon,

Better on the shore than not fishing at all…. !

Drogues are a bit of a minefield. There’s a few kayak specific ones on the market but most are rubbish. H20 Kayaks do a Crack of Dawn Drogue but it’s too small to be of any use.It will turn your bow to the wind but won’t really slow your drift speed very well ...

http://www.h2okayaks.com/unitrader/shop/product/Kayak-Drift-Chute-24-Inch-/121

I use a Wychwood para drogue, it’s a bit like putting an anchor down, it completely kills your wind drift and catches the tide to take you in the right direction.  I was using mine on Sunday and I could hardly believe the track on my plotter.  There was between 8 to 12 mph of Westerly blowing off the land which was screwing up the drift,. At this point my drift, with the strength of the Ebb, was a NE track and my line was streaming out in the water like I was flying a kite . I stuck the drogue in and killed all the East in my drift, leaving me on a Northerly track , slightly slower than the speed of the tide. Great for covering the ground and the obvious benifit is you don’t need a pound of lead to hold the bottom. 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Wychwood-International-Para-Drogue_W0QQitemZ250500355660QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_SportingGoods_FishingAcces_RL?hash=item3a52fc164c&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Neil.

nice wee fish there for the east coast…...

could with more of them…

Neil - 22 September 2009 10:41 PM

Drogues are a bit of a minefield.

Bloody dangerous too around pot buoys in the hands of the “not so bright” 

The Wychwood drogues are far more effective than the H2O ones. The H2O have a hole in the top and don’t slow the drift at all. They are meant to be used on a towed kayak to stop it overtaking the towing kayak in surf, I believe.

yup nice fishy ,neil

cracking fish well done sounds like a canny day out.