Bag A Big Cod

Top specimen angler Craig Gosling’s tips and tricks for catching large fish with whiting live baits

ANGLERS DREAM OF CATCHING A cod weighing into double figures from the shore. For many, one huge fish can be the pinnacle of their angling career and something they struggle to repeat. Yet there are some who notch up a list of big cod. One such angler is 42-year-old Craig Gosling.

The builder from Brighton has gained a reputation for beaching double-figure bass, including seven during 2017, which were featured in Sea Angler 549. But it’s not the only string to his bow. He also targets large cod with live whiting. His best cod from the shore is 21lb.

“I get around six to 10 double-figure cod in a season, with plenty under that, which go back,” said Craig.

We asked him how he does it…

Q: How did you get into cod angling?

CRAIG GOSLING: Being a child of the 1970s and 1980s, I was lucky enough to accompany my dad and friends on the way to the Dungeness in a smoke-filled Ford Cortina. Dungeness was the big draw for cod anglers and the discussion was always about how many cod they would catch, and how many over 10lb.

Q: Did they have a secret?

GC: There were two things my dad relied on more than anything else – yellowtail lugworms and a big sea. By that, I mean he wouldn’t set foot on the beach without a mountain of fresh worms. It meant either hours of digging or meeting up at a car park on arrival to hand over a fistful of pound notes.

Q: Yes, but the good times didn’t last forever. How has it changed for you?

CG: As we moved forward to the present day, it seemed the cod just got harder to find and smaller in average size, if you were lucky enough to find them at all.

Recent years has seen a resurgence of fish, particularly along the Sussex beaches, especially if you are prepared to diversify.