I wanted to push the Major Craft Volkey Bait Finesse Series rod further, with the hope of finding some bigger Pollack and Wrasse. I paired the rod up with a Daiwa Ryoga 1016HL, spooled up with Sunline Siglon Mono 8lb straight through. Not a finesse reel by any standards, but it sits well on the rod, and casts well enough with the lures I would be using.
I started out fishing with the superb Ecogear 3" BugAnts in some bright pinks and oranges, to get the Pollacks attention. These were rigged weedless Texas style with 5g sinkers, on a size 2 hook. Bouncing them along the bottom, and swimming them deep, as the small swell washed amongst the rocks, the hits began to happen, and fish were landed. There were some bigger fish in amongst the small ones, giving a good bend to the rod.
Switching things up, I went with a DUO Bay Ruf SV80 vib lure. Buzzing it through the water column brough some more small fish in, and also a bigger example as seen below. The Pollack were hitting the lure hard, some breaching the surface to try and grab th lure as I brought it out to re-cast.
As the tide ebbed, I was able to access the rock from where I like to hunt the Wrasse. Switching back to the Ecogear soft plastics, the lure bringing most fish in was an Ecogear Straight 3.24" rigged jika style on a 3.5g sinker. As the high tide prevented my accessing the really productive ground, the fish landed were all little nippers! Walking back to the car, the light fading, the view out over the bay was a awesome.
