The arrival of October signals the long awaited opening of the Northern cliff marks at the Bempton cliffs area. The agreement between the RSPB and the local clubs ensures as little disturbance to the nesting birds and means anglers and birds can exist in a degree of harmony.
Now what follows will be old hat to the hardened rock/cliff anglers of the region but to those of you that haven't sampled the unique form of fishing that is practised in the area this is a little insight to an evening up on 'Bemmo'.
The wind was next to nowt and so my original plans of an early trip to Old Hall in the Humber were quickly revised and Bemmo was the choice of destination.I knew I would have to be up there early to secure a spot as it was Filey Club midweek match night and at this time of year the cliffs are always a popular choice.
I rang 'Budgie' at North Bay Angling in Brid and secured a fewpackets of 'slaps'......now Budgie always has top quality bait and so when I asked him if the bait was good he assured me that the slaps were still firming up.
Bait collected I was soon up at the Bird Sanctuary and the short walk from the car park was made with a real spring in my step hopeful of a fish or two.
From the car park I take the path at the back of the sanctuary shop and then where the path forks head north,the cliff tops are only a couple of hundred yards walk.
There are numerous cliff top perches and all are very close to the 300ft+ drop so this is no place for the angler with vertigo !
I won't name all the perches because I don't know the names of them all but one the first big well known spots is 'Big Railings'.....not somewhere to fish during the day as it is one of the viewing galleries used by the bird watchers.
Looking South from 'Big Railings'.
To give you a landmark to aim for ,head for the path in front of the radar station,a timely reminder of troubled times in the not too distance past when there was an early warning station for the threats during the Cold War. Not a lot remains now but for a few concrete buildings in the field behind the cliff tops.
I soon arrived at the spot I had decided to try first known as 'Lob hole' which has a nice flat round platform and a good clean straight pull up from it.The ground under is the usual very heavy and kelp fringed ground that hold the codlings we all chase !
The bonus of these spots over the Southern marks is that the ground never completely uncovers even on the biggest of springs so no dragging fish over rocks.
Now something that always annoys me is the amount of litter,the platform was littered with fresh cling film wraps from cart baits,newspaper and discarded line!.....I f we are going to keep fishing these spots we all need to learn to take the rubbish home with us....nowI know there were club anglers up there last night...and they should know better !I picked the rubbish up but it really is a shame that we have to clear up after others.
The tripod was placed near the edge to act more as a winching aid than a rod rest and the rig quickly baited up. This was when I got the nasty surprise when I unwrapped the first packet of slaps and nearly passed out at the stink of rotten worm ! Budgie had let me down or so I thought ....but a bait was made up of crab and stinking worm and was sent out as far as I could chuck 7oz 's with the Alvey. Rod choice was the AFAW Big Beach which I am really enjoying using with braid. The Alvey being filled with 50lb Power Pro. Rig wise just my usual pulley rig with a 5/o Sakuma Manta and a small circle pennel hook.
It wasn't long before the rod tip was nodding and I lifted into the first fish.Not a monster ut a just in size codling....or 'mop' as we call em.
So hopes now high I readied another bait this time though time for a little experimenting.
I know that some have tried sliding rigs before and it is something I ve been toying with and so I whipped a huge bait onto a single 6/0 hook ,the rig being a 60lb snood about 18" long with a shock bead and a 2oz drilled bullet on it and an oval split ring at the other end.
I then blasted out a plain lead with a full pendulum and the lead with out rig or bait went a good deal further than the last cast.
Once settled I then clipped the oval ring onto the line and held the rod high and off went the huge bait on its 'zip wire' style route down the line.
This is the bait which comprised of a big chunk of frozen oyster,cart,crab,razor and worm....about 5-6oz worth of bait !
I could feel the bait slide and hit the bottom as the braid gives such good feedback.
It wasn't long before the rod tip started nodding but knowing the bait was so big I waited and waited .After a good 5 minutes the rod just pulled down fiercely and so I lifted into the fish which gave a good pull back.
I knew that it was going to be a better fish than the last one and so got sat down astride the tripod with the butt jammed in my midrift and the middle of the rod supported on the tripod.
You can feel the fish get to the bottom of the cliff and suddenly get very heavy as the airborn part begins. This was were the Alvey came into its own.....a pure cranking machine.....superb bit of kit !
The fish came slowly thudding and kicking up the cliff and came up without any dramas only getting fast uponce but a slight drop andit was moving again. Soon fish number two was up on top a better fish that went 4lb 14oz and proved that the sliding rig and huge baits worked !
In this shot I am holding the end where the lead was and you can just make out the sliding oval ring...fortune favours the brave eh ?
As dusk arrived the sky was spectacular as they often are up there , a fantastic place to be at this time of year.
Baits again were cast out this time I prepared a normal rig with cart,worm and razor on the pulley rig and once that was out I again clipped on the sliding rig and sent that down as well !
Again I didn't have to wait long for the rod tip to start nodding but again I decided to wait. I could see that the anglers fishing the match on the next perch were looking across at me in the 'codling crouch' and going by the lack of activity there they weren't having the same luck !
The rod lurched over again and so I lifted up nto the fish,not striking as with the braid it just isn't needed and in doing so I could feel the thump of a codling.
I got sat down again and the winching began again.The rod was well bent over again and it felt like a decent fish again. As the leader came through the rings and i lifted the rod I heard a shout from the lads nearby..." No way !"as I swungin a double shot of codlings...lol...amop of about a pound and a half and a nice 3lb'er.....so now I was convinced that in conditions like tonight,sea not heavy but coloured the sliding rig would work ! I wouldn' use it in heavy sea as I reckon the slider would wash back up the line and tangle in the swells.
Double Bemmo shot.
As top of tide approached I thought it might go quiet but I managed one more mop and lost one on the way up......so was more than happy with what I had caught, as I would have been made up with just one fish but five was a real bonus.
As the tide ebbed I was full of confidence but sadly the fish had other ideas and had moved off.......with all the club lads up there I didn't have the option of moving to find them so decided that it was time to go home have a beer and sort my catch out.
A nice start to the Bemmo tops season which for me is at its best October to mid November.
A very different and unique form of our sport,if you are thinking of having a go make sure you go with someone who knows the area and also that you use gear up to the job.
Oh and Budgies stinking worm did the business after all.
Cheers Jellyworm.
