Night & Day

Couple of sessions to report on from last night and today.

Went over to Mevagissey, to meet up with Ben for a spot of LRF in the Harbour. I have never been to Mevagissey, and it looked promising. Tide was not on our side, as we started fishing at around low, with small tides. There was enough water to fish the area near the Harbour entrance, but it was dry at the town end. Another big factor against us was the howling wind, made it tricky to find spots to fish from, we were limited in where we could try.

On Ben's recommendation, I started out on some steps, casting parallel to a large sea wall. Straight away I was into the fish, small Pollack. They seemed to be taking the lure almost at the bottom of the steps, as the lure was drawn out of the water. I had four from this spot, before I switched places with Ben, and he landed some more little ones. The lure of choice once more was the Ecogear Aqua Straw Tail Grub, with a little extra weight to combat the windy conditions;

After an hour or so of slow fishing, Luke turned up. Quick discussion on where to fish, and we were heading off to Fowey. Luke kindly filled us in on a little local information, and after a tour of the twisty narrow streets, we fished from a small slip and harbour wall. We all had fish, Luke and I close range with Pollack against the wall. Ben had the fish of the night, with a decent size Herring at distance in the main channel. Biggest one I have seen for sure;

Was more of an exploratory session, and it's easy to see that Fowey has enormous potential, cheers to Ben and Luke.

Today HRF - Small swell and cross offshore winds, sun out, so went to try the Wrasse at my rough ground deep water West Cornwall spot. Fished for a good hour without any action, moved from rocky outcrop to another. Wind was stronger than anticipated, could only fish off one side of the outcrops.

Few nibbles here and there, but no connections with the 4" Senko's and similar stick baits. Switched to a smaller 3" Ecogear Aqua Milfle, rigged weedless. Jigging vertically in a deep gulley, letting the surges of tide do the work, finally connected and landed my only fish of the session. Small Wrasse - Did not weigh or measure, looked to me like it was maybe getting close to spawning, with a bulging lower belly area?? Maybe, maybe not, but it was unhooked, quick photo and back in the water just in case, no faffing about.

My first non-LRF fish of February, been a very unproductive month for me in the daylight sessions. Here's to a better month in March! 

Penzance LRF 22-02-2011

Went for a session in the Harbour, Penzance last night. Light to no wind, but a constant thick drizzle coming down, full wet weather gear required. I wanted to try a few different approaches, and arrived at bang on high tide.

First up, seeing what I could learn from using a blade style lure, in this case the Ecogear ZX30 in Dark Knight colour. Started out casting from a low height, and working a lift and retrieve pattern, Has a couple of follows to the surface, but no take. Moved up off the steps to the Harbour wall, and cast short, and worked the lure off the bottom, almost vertically, lifting up quickly making the blade 'buzz', and following the rod tip down in a controlled drop. This brought the takes, and landed a couple of Pollack.

Also tried out a small Ecogear floating crank bait, casting out and a steady retrieve with jerks and twitches to get the lure down in the water, allowing it to rise up. No takes, lots of vibration and depth right to the rod tip. Think I need to use it in some daylight to understand the lure better.

Moved onto the trusty 2" Straw Tail Grub. Rigged it split shot, carolina and on a jig head, Chartreuse and White Glow versions. Found definite patterns between the two species I was catching. The Herrings were all taking on a slow retrieve, mid to shallow. Pretty aggressive takes for a fish of its size. The Pollacks all came from OTD, either cast out, working it off the bottom, or jigged vertically from the Harbour wall, in the lower column of water.

I also tried fishing with a fine wire size 10 barbless Carp hook. The takes were good, but even with pressure on the fish, as it got to the surface, the hook was shaken, or it shook the hook as lifted from the water. Out of about 8 or so Herring and Pollack, think I only landed one fish cleanly. I put this largely down to my inexperience in using a barbless hook, something I might see if I can improve upon in future sessions.

A lot of fish were taken over the 2 hours I fished, lost count, maybe 20+ As the rain eased, took a couple of pics for the report, nothing 'special' taken over the whole session, but was a good chance to try a few new things out.

Nories Seabass Program

Looking to the future, the lighter side of lure fishing is something that really interests and excites me. This has led me to thinking about the lighter side of Bass fishing, and the smaller plugs increasingly coming to the market. Decided to get a rod designed for the job, and I now have my three horse stable in the Nories flavour.

Nories 72LLS 7'2 5-12g

And a few of the plugs I will be using with it, alongside the soft plastics and small metal lures.

Ecogear MW70S (Sinking 70mm 9.0g)

Ecogear MW105F2 (Floating 105mm 9.0g)

Dice Seiraminnow 80S (slow sinking 84mm 7.6g) Lovely plug, hollow mouth and gill slits for water exit.

The rod and lures came from Ben @ http://www.artoffishing.co.uk/ Going down to the Estuary tonight, to try it out, and hopefully find a few Bass and Pollack.

Plymouth LRF Meet 17-02-2011

Few interesting fish caught last night, think the caught species list ran to 6 from memory, with Flounder, Scorpion Fish, Blenny, Whiting, Smelt and of course Pollack. No wind made the fishing conditions good, but a big spring high tide and very bright full moon may have contributed to a slow start.

I did not get into my first fish for an hour and a half, trying various lures and retrieves. Matt had had a couple but the action was very slow. Ben turned up and was straight into the fish, followed shortly by the best fish of the night in my opinion, a nice flounder. Lots of taps on a 2" lure but no takes let us know the Smelt were about. I decided to go with a 1.3" Micro Worm, with a size 10 hook, and proceeded to take six Smelt on the trot.

On the closed size of the Harbour, some nice fish came from a small area, Matt had a nice sized Scorpion fish, that tried to eat his thumb as he posed for the pics. My most 'interesting' fish, the general consensus on the species was a Common Blenny, with a count of ten fish and three species to finish the night to my name.

Little Bit More...

I wanted some decent foot wear, for the dry rock hopping days when waders and boots were not required, and for the nights spent in the Harbours LRF. Millets in town had a sale on, so picked these extremely comfortable boots up. I also picked up a pair of lined walking trousers, with lots of useful pockets, so hopefully will be able to step away from the wearing of two pairs of trousers on those cold nights fishing!

Had a delivery from Mick @ http://www.mrfishjersey.com This included the 0.2PE Varivas line I was waiting for to load up the new Certate with. Now spooled up, looking forward to squeezing some light game action in soon. I also got some more of the size 8 Owner Float Rigger hooks, as I have been finding them very useful of late, especially in the rigging of the 2" Ecogear Straw Tail Grubs. The other hooks I got were some size 1 wide gap Nogales Monster Class. These are strong looking hooks, and will be doing battele with the Wrasse and Bass HRF. Reins Rockvib 2" in a new colour to me, black! Having used a gold and clear silver version successfully, have big hopes for these.

Couple of other bits include another Zebco lead ball dispenser pack, another must have for me when rigging the lightweight lures, with a selection of ball leads from 0.5g - 5g. I also had a 300m spool of Ultima Power Steel 5lb, which got used as backing for the Varivas braid.

Shiny New Gear!

Sarnia Lures - Rock Bait 5's (Andy's Marquis home mades)

Really looking forward to trying these home mades out, they are great quality, and a big thanks to Andy. They have been taking Wrasse and Bass in Guernsey  recently.

Ecogear Aqua Milfle 3" Natural Pearl

These are in addition to the 2 colours I already use successfully.

Prime Area Bag 

Nice small bag that holds everything you need for LRF. Came from Ben: http://www.artoffishing.co.uk/

Daiwa Certate 2506

 

Having used my other Certate, had to get another. I will keep one for HRF & Plugging, and the other will be for LRF. This model Certate balances really well on both my LRF & HRF rods. I got my Certate from Ben: http://www.artoffishing.co.uk/ I am awaiting some Varivas 0.2PE line from Mr. Fish, ready for the light game. 

Looking forward to using the new kit, but unfortunately I have injured my ankle surfing, so a few days rest is needed!

Penzance LRF 09/02/2011

The wind was strong, but the rain had eased, so put in a quick session down at the Albert Pier, Penzance. I was using a yellow 2" Ecogear Aqua Straw Tail Grub, with a size 8 hook, and to combat the wind, a 2g ball lead.

The gusting wind meant I had to shelter at the bottom of some steps, tight to the Harbour wall. Saw a couple of small fish cruising the surface in the light, disappearing into the shaddows. Casting short to avoid the wind kiting the line, slow retieve, bumping the bottom, soon had a fish on, a small Pollack. Next cast, with the lure left alone, deadstick after the drop, tap tap and another fish landed.

Decided to try the opposite side of the Harbour, so took a walk round, scouting for potential spots. Again, the wind was strong on this more exposed side, tried to fish with it gusting behind me, and managed another small Pollack. With the conditions far from easy, decided to call it a night.

Some Gear & Lures I Use

The wind and rain is howling outside, so thought I would catalog a few of the bits of kit and soft plastic lures I use. Haven't included everything, just an overview.

Snowbee XS Pro Wading Boots - This is my first pair of dedicated wading boots. I got them direct from Snowbee, Plymouth. Sized one size bigger than my usual shoe size, the fit is good with a neoprene stocking foot with a thick pair of socks underneath. Very comfortable, offer good angle support when climbing down the hills and across rocks. Rubber sole with studs, good allround grip for getting to and from your fishing spots. Seem to be lasting ok, I always flush mine out well with fresh water after each use. http://www.snowbee.co.uk/

Snowbee Prestige Waist Wader - My first pair of breatheable stocking foot waders. Previously I had been using PVC boot foot Guy Cotten chest waders. Altough good performing, the PVC waders were not practical for long rambles along the coast. Very hot and sweaty! These Snowbee breatheable waist waders are very comfortable. Good range of movement from the lower cut, and long walks are more bareable with less of a rise in body temp. I don't often wade very deep, more crossing gullies and taking a wave front on. Therefore it seemed to make sense to go for the waist wader. http://www.snowbee.co.uk/

Helly Hansen Voss Jacket - This lightweight waterproof jacket comes from Helly Hansen's work wear range. Very reasonable price, less than £30 delivered. Comes in a range of six colours, I went for a higher vis orange, in case I needed to be spotted if ever in trouble. Drawstring hood and waist, with poppers on the cuff. Great value for money http://www.hellyhansen-workwear.com/

Simms Headwater Tech Pack - This pack allows me to comfortably carry all the gear I need for a days fishing. The front chest pack is good for holding your tools, spare spools, jig heads etc... with a stiff 'tray' opening at the front to make rigging easy. The back section, whilst not that big, allows a couple of bigger lure boxes, with my digi scales, camera, water bottle etc... I fix my fish ruler using the clip as seen. Great quality pack, and does everything I need it to. I got my pack from http://www.sportfish.co.uk/

Berkley Tec Digital Scales - Good for weighing my bigger fish, quick and easy to use. Weigh in lb / Kg and store functions etc... I got mine from Veals http://www.veals.co.uk/

Snowbee Hard Rod Tubes - With the purchase of my Nories LRF and HRF rods, I wanted some good protection for when in transport. These Snowbee tubes come in various lengths and diameters. Nice quality, and do the job well. I got mine from Sportfish http://www.sportfish.co.uk/

Petzl Head Lamp - Cheap head lamp with good build. Useful for the night LRF when you want to keep your hands free. Has 2 levels of light, and easy click on off action.

Flurocarbon - This is my current selection. Not had a chance to use the Seaguar yet, but have read good reports about it. The 4lb Airflo has performed well with the LRF gear, and the Ultima has coped well with the rocks when on the HRF gear. I got the Ultima Fluro from http://www.artoffishing.co.uk/ and the other two from http://www.sportfish.co.uk/

Megabass Xlayer - As much as I try and use other soft plastics, there is no doubting that the Xlayers simply work. I have them in the Watermelon, Shrimp & Minnow and of course Ayu. I prefer to rig them weedless, flat side down. Pricey but effective lures.

Senko Worms - I love these. Simple and effective. Come in various lengths (I prefer the 4") and almost any colour you want. Lots of rigging options, jig head, Texas, Carolina, Wacky etc... They have proved effective for me when targeting the Wrasse. Very good value for money.

Ecogear - These two little LRF lures are yet to be tested. I am thinking they will get their first outing closer to summer. The detail and quality is superb, as with all the Ecogear I have seen so far. Speak to Ben @ The Art Of Fishing for all your Ecogear needs http://www.artoffishing.co.uk/

Selection of soft plastics from my collection. Some cracking SP's from the likes of Reins, Molix, Lunker City as well as the vast range available from AGM Discount Fishing. The Reins lures have been particularly successful for me, both in HRF and LRF. Mr.Fish has a huge range http://www.mrfishjersey.com/ and if you want a great selection of jig heads and SP's at bargain prices http://www.agmdiscountfishing.co.uk