Report covering 3 sessions from this week, at three different areas;
14-05-2011 First up a quick after work session at home, on my doorstep in Bigbury Bay. The strong Westerly winds were making things difficult, managed to find a slightly sheltered spot, deep rocky water with thick kelp.
Tackle of choice was a Nories Slow Retrieve (0.9-5g) with a '10 Certate 2506 and Varivas 0.3PE braid, 4lb Fluoro leader. Mixture of LRF metals and softs used. Not much action going on, but was my first time trying this particular spot from shore, have tried a couple of times from Kayak close in before. Only managed 3 small Pollack and a micro Wrasse!
16-05-2011 Second session was the same place I fished last week with Ben, East side of the Lizard, Cornwall, near the Helford. This time I arrived at a spring low tide, possibly too low to fish successfully. The rocky, weedy outcrops were high and dry, and the water sat over the low tide estuary bed, with no real cover for the fish. Again, wind was an annoying factor, but no swell.
Walked from the estuary out to a headland point, all along the low tide rocks, which are usually covered, when I have fished there before. By the time I reached the point, tide had been flooding for an hour, and the fish started to turn on, as the rock and weed became covered. Tackle today was a Nories Seabass Game (5-12g) with a '10 Certate 2506 with 0.8PE line. Texas rigged soft plastics from Nories and the Ecogear 4" Paramax. Most the fish were on the small side, one coming in around 42cm mark, 9 Wrasse in total;
17-05-2011 Today went out for two hours to a South Coast mark in West Cornwall I often fish. Headed to a rocky headland in the opposite direction to which I usually fish. Arriving at low tide meant I could access large rock formations that are covered withing a couple of hours of the tide pushing from low. Some deep gullies, with thick kelp and boot lace weed.
Today was the first time I targeted the Wrasse with my light LRF line. Combined with my Nories Slow Retrive (0.9-5g) and '10 Certate 2506, I was using the Varivas Super Trout Edition 0.3PE braid (5lb) with a 6lb fluoro leader. The lure of choice was a 3" Slug-Go Texas rigged (2g weight) with a selection of size 4 and size 2 hooks used. A healthy blob of Mega Strike fish formula was also smeared onto the lure.
The fishing was done at very close range, mostly vertical jigging and deadstick. Simply allowing the lure to sink down between the kelp heads, pretty much beneath the rocks I stood on. Just short flipped casts. Here is the type of gulley the fish were taken from;
4 fish taken, the biggest fish of the day came in at 45cm and 3lb 2oz, which is the biggest I have taken on the LRF rod, and certainly the biggest fish I have taken on the Varivas 0.3PE line;
Fishing vertically above the fish, ensured that a good fight on the light tackle had me at an advantage, as the fish could not take the line horizontally over and into structure. The light gear worked well in this instance, even in the heavy kelp cover.
The scoop net I recently bought is proving invaluable, especially with the lighter lines used. Continuing success with the Mega Strike fish formula, used it in all 3 sessions. Seems to ensure that each take from a fish ends up in a hook up, as if missed the first knock, pausing sees them coming back for another go. Bit of a long post, so thanks for reading.
