Kayak Fishing - Catching Cornish Cod - A Change from Pollack

When I think of inshore shallow water fishing in Cornwall for members of the Cod family in water up to about 60 feet, I tend to think of Pollack with the occasional bonus catch of Cod.  A few years ago, Cornwall saw an influx of Cod well within a mile from shore.  That influx was so great, the commercial fleet had their quota increased because they were catching so many Cod and due to quota restrictions, were having to dump them overboard.

From my experience, the past year has once again seen that influx and although I love to fish for Pollack, catching Cod in numbers makes a pleasant change.

I set out at dawn to drift fish with lures over a rough ground mark in the hope of picking up some of those Cod and below is a video of the trip.

Preparing Sea Bass Lures (Replacing Trebles with Plugging Singles on Plugs and Making up Soft Plastics)

Sea Bass are a great fish to fish for and it will soon be the time of year for me to target them with lures in a variety of different ways. My lures have been idle since December last year sitting in the garage with hooks rusted and in need of replacing. Last year I experimented with replacing the trebles on plugs with Decoy plugging single hooks and I intend to continue with the single hooks this season. In addition to replacing the hooks on my plugs, I need to make up some soft plastics weedless and non-weedless.

Below is a video going through choosing the correct size of plugging singles depending on the size of plug and making up the soft plastics, which include the Fish Arrow J 5" SW, Slug-Go's, Savage Sandeels, and Savage Sandeel Slugs. The plugs used are the Tackle House Feed Shallow 128 and 105, the IMA Komono SF 125, and the IMA Salt Skimmer.

Kayak Fishing - Fishing a New Mark - Navigating using GPS

A GPS with marine navigation charts are great assets when navigating to fishing marks or choosing new marks to fish.  In addition, they are a great safety asset to have on board.

The video below is about navigating to a new fishing mark using a handheld Garmin GPS Map78 with Garmin Blue Charts g2, and Garmin HomePort software to set a waypoint to the mark thus finding it with ease.  Once at the rough ground mark known as Lath Rock, the fishing is drift fishing and vertical jigging using lures such as Sidewinder Weedless Minnows, Savage Sandeel Slugs, and Slug-Go’s rigged as a drop shot rig for decent sized inshore reef Pollack.

Kayak Fishing - How to Keep Your Catch Fresh

For me, part of the enjoyment of kayak fishing and sea fishing in general is a meal from something you have sourced yourself and the freshest fish you can get.  Keeping your catch fresh on a kayak poses a few more problems than if fishing from a boat.  However, there are several ways to achieve this.  One is to keep the fish on ice inside or on the kayak and the other is to keep the fish in the water.

Below is a video going through ways I have found since taking up kayak fishing of doing just that, keeping the catch fresh.

Kayak Fishing - Jigging for Winter Mackerel

The great fighting Mackerel are generally considered by the rod and line angler to be a spring, summer, and autumn fish however; in Cornwall, they can be caught in the winter. The average size of the winter Mackerel tend to be bigger than in the summer and are great eating full of tasty omega 3 fatty acids.

  Below is video about targeting winter Mackerel by vertical jigging in deep water.

Collecting Razorfish - How to Find the Burrows

Razorfish are great bait for Bass, Gilthead Bream, and Cod and in addition, they are good eating particularly if like me, you like eating shellfish.  I collect my own Razorfish and if you have never tried it before, it is a lot of fun.

The top of Razorfish burrows show in different ways and knowing how to recognise a burrow is one of the secrets of how to be successful at collecting them. The video below goes through the different ways the burrows display along with tips on the types of beaches to try and the best tides.

Kayak Fishing - How to Read a Fish Finder

A fish finder on a kayak greatly enhances your fishing experience and is a great asset. When you are new to fish finders, understanding what is on the screen can be confusing and it takes a while to learn how to use it effectively. 

The video below goes through how I use my Garmin Echo 550c coloured fish finder to identify structure and fish. There are recommendations on settings such as fish symbols and dual beam split frequency. There is a section on interpreting colour as hard returns, medium returns, and weak returns. In addition, sections looking at recognising structure such as rock, wreck, and weed, identifying shoals of fish and individual fish along with using the finder for vertical jigging with lures.

Multi Species Fishing - Cod, Whiting, Bull Huss, Dogfish, Gurnard, Scad, Squid

The autumn can be a great time for fishing in Cornwall with an amalgamation of several species of fish that overlap on their various migratory paths. Most times when I go out on the kayak, I have a one-target species in mind and gear up for that species however, at this time of a year with so many different species available; I occasionally have a multi species trip. I set up four rods, two for bait fishing, and two for lure fishing. 

Below is a video of one of those trips.