THE ULTIMATE ANGLING BUCKET LIST

own boat over there to fish the rough ground maybe ten or twelve miles offshore, where we took some
quite memorable cod catches.
On one particular occasion we needed a few extra pirks, so we called in at one of the towns tackle shops.
But all they had in were straight pieces of lead filled chrome tube with a wire loop set half way up the
side, to which was tied maybe three inches of heavy monofilament covered in coloured plastic sleeving,
tipped off with a bare single 6/0 hook.
Unsure what to do, but low on pirks, we bought a few anyway, which at various times we tried both as
they were, and with a small muppet on the hook.
On other occasions we even baited them and caught lots of fish on all three options. So much so that
we started making our own, only later discovering that they were an updated variation on the traditional
commercial lead cod ripper which had a long circular lead body of suitable weight with two small holes
through it close to the bottom at right angles to each other.
Bright green or orange corlene is threaded through these holes and knots are tied close to the lead to
lock the corlene in position. Shiny tinned 10/0 hooks are then tied to the four corlene ends, allowing
them to dangle as a group a couple of inches below the rippers body. These are then jigged like pirks.
Some say they represent small darting
sandeels which the cod grab at. Others
say they simply foul hook the fish,
hence the name 'ripper'. When you're
commercial fishing, it doesn't matter
either way.
What I would add here is that I once
accompanied Preston Sea Anglers on a
trip to Hartlepool for a magazine
article, and they had a box full of these
cod rippers.
Fearing lots of foul hooked fish, I
thought I wouldn't get the feature. But
Cod ripper
I need not have worried. That day we
had several hundred pounds of cod,
many in double figures, pretty much all of which were legitimately hooked in and around the mouth.
Currently (2015) the North Sea is once again full of cod. Not the monsters of years gone by, but plenty
of doubles, and some better fish mixed in amongst them, all the way from the Humber up into Scottish
waters. In fact, one of my best east coast trips of recent times was out from Amble fishing the reefs
close in around Coquet Island.
Over on the western side of the country from the Solway south through Wales, codling have also been
showing everywhere, with lots of small fish winter and summer inshore over the reefs, and plenty of
better fish out in the deeper water over the wrecks which I visited recently for a Sea Angler feature
looking at the fishing in and out of the Mersey over the summer months aboard Kev McKies boat
'Brigand'.
In fact, one afternoon in January 2014, one of the gill netters working out of Fleetwood hauled his net
within casting range of Andy Bradbury's charter boat 'Blue Mink' and filled up several boxes with big
cod to just short of thirty pounds.
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