Tackle

At the type of depths we fish at braid is a must as it will allow anglers to know they are in contact with the sea bed and in the 'killing zone'. A 30lb class rod will do nicely to cushion the lunges of a fighting fish. Anglers turning up with reels loaded with mono will never know where their end gear is and tangle other braid anglers up and become very unpopular - be warned!

Shad fishing seems to have become the standard form of catching cod in Hatlepool in recent years and has replaced pirking or jigging to a large extent. Both methods are similar in as much as they rely on the water being clear and the fish able to see these lures to work. Both methods work well all season long on the wrecks we fish because the waters well offshore are unaffected by rain water washing into the rivers or by a 'rough up' and are always clear. The alternative is bait fishing, which can be very effective when drift fishing wrecks. For this reason I always use tubi booms. The boom means the hook doesn't tangle the mainline when lowering my gear to the seabed and I can change quickly from shads to bait in seconds by snapping on a new trace. My favourite shad colour is pink or orange though blue ones can be very effective when the mackeral show from May onwards.