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North West Otterspool round 3

FishAmaniac

FishAmaniac

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Hi guys,
I've just returned from another session at otterspool. Our attempts at Mersey cod continue...
I was joined again this week by Tommy and Steve. Steve was still to open his cod account for this year...
We arrived just before low to an empty prom. Not what I was expecting to see considering it was Saturday, decent weather, building tides and a recent YouTube video which showed a few fish coming out.
Anyway, this suited us, we headed to our intended spots and set about getting some baits in the water.
We did get some bites early on, but nowhere near as many as the previous week. About 30 minutes before low I got my first and only proper bite of the session, rod tip thudding away and my gear being dragged along. I picked up the rod and leaned into the bite, nothing there... Bugger. Couldn't work out how, but it is what it is.
About an hour after low Steve was the next with a bite. A short while later and he's landed his first cod of the season. 2.5lb and he's well chuffed.
Not long after, possibly the next cast and he's into another. This one looked better, putting a reassuring bend into his rod. We have now acquired a drop net, so I climbed over the railing to retrieve the fish. A very nice cod which went 7lb1oz on the scales. Another fantastic fish which we managed to safely return using the net.
About 2 hours later Steve had another smaller cod. We didn't weigh this one, but it was about 1.5lb. Tommy and myself couldn't buy a cod, it was Steve's session today. We were all well chuffed with the end result, although I would have liked to have got one for myself...
Anyway here's some pics...
IMG_20231111_141421.jpg
IMG_20231111_144830.jpg
IMG_20231111_183146.jpgIMG_20231111_183207.jpgIMG_20231112_002751.jpgIMG_20231111_183307.jpg
 
Nice one! Glad to hear about the net. Do you find it quite workable there as didn’t you say there were boulders in front?
I assume it was okay as you got Steve’s fish in?
Did you attach weights to the net or does it manage?
 
Mr Fish said:
Nice one! Glad to hear about the net. Do you find it quite workable there as didn’t you say there were boulders in front?
I assume it was okay as you got Steve’s fish in?
Did you attach weights to the net or does it manage?
Click to expand...
It was okay. There was some water in front of us at the time. The worst part is climbing over the railing there. As you can see in one of the photos, there's not a lot of room to stand. 1 mistake and you're in big trouble. There's nowhere to climb out either even if you survived the fall...
It was just a cheap net we bought. Still waiting for the TronixPro ones to come back in stock. Apparently due towards the end of the year.
We did attach a weight to it. It did the job. But I'm not sure you'd manage on your own...
 
Nice report & photos FishA! Looks like your mate Steve had a good session. 🎣🎣👍👍.

What have you got your Rods resting in on the railings? Could do with something like that for a couple of marks here.
 
Trampster said:
Nice report & photos FishA! Looks like your mate Steve had a good session. 🎣🎣👍👍.

What have you got your Rods resting in on the railings? Could do with something like that for a couple of marks here.
Click to expand...
They are wire twist ties. The ones in the photo were from Lidl a couple of months back. You can also get similar ones from TronixPro that have thick wire and foam.
Poundland used to do them years ago, I bought plenty back then. The ones available these days are a bit more expensive.IMG_20231112_105458.jpg
 
FishAmaniac said:
They are wire twist ties. The ones in the photo were from Lidl a couple of months back. You can also get similar ones from TronixPro that have thick wire and foam.
Poundland used to do them years ago, I bought plenty back then. The ones available these days are a bit more expensive.View attachment 53803
Click to expand...

Thanks for that. I seem to remember seeing some in Aldi or Lidl - wish I'd bought some.
 
They work well on railings. You can also wrap them around your rod to stop it being pulled over if you need to leave them unattended.
They have loads of other uses too. You can fashion an extra rod holder to your tripod with them, attach your shelter to the railings, use them to hold a torch pointed at your rods plus loads of uses at home.
 
FishAmaniac said:
They work well on railings. You can also wrap them around your rod to stop it being pulled over if you need to leave them unattended.
They have loads of other uses too. You can fashion an extra rod holder to your tripod with them, attach your shelter to the railings, use them to hold a torch pointed at your rods plus loads of uses at home.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the link. I'll have a look and probably order some. 👍👍
 
FishAmaniac said:
It was okay. There was some water in front of us at the time. The worst part is climbing over the railing there. As you can see in one of the photos, there's not a lot of room to stand. 1 mistake and you're in big trouble. There's nowhere to climb out either even if you survived the fall...
It was just a cheap net we bought. Still waiting for the TronixPro ones to come back in stock. Apparently due towards the end of the year.
We did attach a weight to it. It did the job. But I'm not sure you'd manage on your own...
Click to expand...
Yep realistically it needs two. I tried mine when wrassing from high up and it was useful to lower the fish back but discovered I just couldn’t use it to land them on my own.
 
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