wejigged.Slowjiggingsoundslikea
tranquil,meditativetechniquethat
is languidandpeaceinducing.Don’t
believeit.Slowjiggingis fastand
furiousandmakesthemusclesin
yourarmsache— muscles you never
evenknewexisted.
Apartfromanythingelse,some
oftheslowjigsweused— which
costthesameasa flighttoMonaco
— weighed200goralmost8oz.Half
a poundofergonomicallyshaped
steel,nomatterhowspaceageits
design, still weighs half a pound. Havingtalkedtolocalcommercial
fishermen,webothattached“flyers”
toourmainlines,a fewfeetaboveour
jigs.Theseflyersarelikedropperson
a flyline;smallerluresthatfishare
temptedtoattackafterspotting the
bigger,flashiermainlure.
Thesecanbemadefroma large
mackerelfeather,a rubbermuppet
or,inourcase,rubberluminescent
wormsthatI dugoutofthebottomof
my tackle box. The smaller, cheaper,Sea fishing
58 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE
slowjigstobuya year’ssupplyof
handlebars.Wewouldn’tbeproper
anglersif wedidn’tfallpreytoa little
bitofoptimistictackle-shopblarney.
SoPaulandI setforthtothe
ChannelwrecksofLymeBaywith
theusualcodgear,rubberfishshad
lures,bigbaitsofsquidandcuttle
fishandournewslowjigacquisitions,
alldiscoveredonYouTube.
Deeperwrecks
I researchedwrecks,too.Wewould
trya selectionofdeeperwrecks,most
likelytoholdcodearlyintheseason.
WreckssuchastheSSBroomhill,sunk
byenemyactionin1917;L S T- 5 0 7,a
USlandingcrafttorpedoedin1944;
HMSBoadicea, a destroyer,alsosunk
bya GermanU-boatin1944;andthe
Avalanche,a sailingshipthatsank
in1877,allofwhichlieina tightbunch
15 milesfrommyhome port of West
BayinDorset.
Wepassedovera coupleofvery
usefulwrecksat thenine-milerange,
theMoidartandtheAilsaCraig, both
famousforholdingbassandpollack—
todaywasa tripdedicatedtocod.
Westrappedonourbrandnew
slowjigsand,aswedriftedonthe
floodtide150ftabovetheBroomhill
wreck, we jigged and we jigged and
lessexoticflyersturnedouttobe
moreeffectivethanthesexyslowjigs.
Paulhookeda fewlargepoutand
acoupleofdecentpollackonhis
worm,whilemybriefinterludeusing
thesmallestbrightwhiteandblueRed
Gilllures— abouta 20thofthesizeof
thesuper-sexyslowjigs— accounted
forthebiggestpollackoftheday.Bass,
pollackandpoutallfelltoourlures,
butcodremainedelusive.
Bymidday,afterfivehoursof
solidjiggingdriftingoverat leastsix
normallycod-friendlywrecks,we
decidedtodropanchorandstick
somebigoldbaitsontheseabed,
upstreamofa wreck.Wewouldletthe
codcometous,ratherthanburning
dieseltryingtofindthem. Couchpotatoes
Anchordown,kettleon.Welowered
largehooks,largeweights;a trio
ofsquidonPaul’sterminalrigand
theheadofa largecuttlefishon
mine.Wecontinuedtojigwith
mackerelfeathersandfishwitha
rubberlure.Wewere tired, jiggered,
butdetermined.
Codarelazy,greedy,couch
potatoesthatwilleatanything,dead
oralive— aslongastheydon’thave
togetoffthecouchtoreachit.A cod’s
couchis thefewfeetofseajustabove
theseabed.Anyfurtherandthey’re
notinterested,sowhenwedrifted
wephysicallybumpedtheleadalong
theseabed.A bigbait,ledgeredon
theseabedneara sunkenwreckthat
providescrustaceans,wormsand
deadthingsfora cod to hoover up
isa fairtactic.
Wefishedfromslackwaterto
thefirstrushofthefloodtide.Our
excitement was bruised but notquashedentirely.Inallthebest
fishingstoriestheforlornprotagonist
reachesa lowpoint,thencomesback
fightinginthefaceofadversity to
achievea happyending.
Theendingtothiscodtripwasme
swearinginnouncertaintermsnever
towatchYouTubeagainaslongasI
live,losingmymostexpensiveslowjig
toa rustyancientunderseawreckand
Paulfryinguphisthawed-out squid
bait for his tea.“ThemakersfailedtoinformthewrecksinLymeBaythatkeeperhooks aren’tsupposed to snag on them”Nickhoistsa pollackoverthe
side—a welcomecatchbut
not the cod he was after