First & Last

Fished a short and sweet fresh water session today. Small morning weather window saw me shoot off with the Major Craft Bait Finesse rod, paired with a Shimano Calcutta 51DC loaded with some 10.3lb Sunline Siglon fluoro mainline.

Rigged up a 4" shad on a jig head, cast out into the deep water, waited till I felt bottom contact, then a slow retrieve, with the occasional pause. As the lure came into the Shallows, a take on the first cast resulted in a Pike on the bank.

Unfortunately, it was the case today, where the first cast resulted in the last fish of the session. I walked a short distance to where I have found fish to hold before, but nothing at home, with a variety of lures cast out into the water. As the forecast had predicted, the wind came up with some heavy rain, so called it a day. As I approached my car, I decided on one last cast, feeling ever hopeful. However I failed to spot my lure clipped a tree branch whilst powering out a cast, resulting in the worst backlash I have had to date. Nothing left but to try and sort it out back at home!

Major Craft Volkey BFS Christened

Wednesday seems to be the day I take myself off for a little fresh water action. Whilst the majority of the country is covered in snow with minus temperatures, West Cornwall is enjoying some sunny and relatively mild weather. This suits me as far as staying comfortable whilst out and about fishing!

Having christened the Major Craft Volkey Big Lake Special last week on the Pike, today I set up the Major Craft Bait Finesse rod (more details HERE), with the thoughts of targeting Perch. Paired it up with a Shimano Calcutta 51DC spooled with Sunline Momentum 4x4 PE#1.0 / 16lb. This 8 strand line has really been impressive during it's use over the last year or so. One thing that always suprises me is just how strong it is, a very tough braid, and it has served me well on both fixed spool and baitcast reels. A selection of Ecogear soft lures and jig heads completed the kit list, and I was ready to go!

Today was to be a short session, making the most of the late morning conditions. Working one side of the reservoir, divided my time between a few locations that have shown fish in the previous few weeks.  With a mix of straight retrieves, and bottom twitching, after a tentative knock, a fish on. Brought into the net at the bankside, a healthy Perch in great condition.

The lure combo that tempted this Perch, was an Ecogear 4" Power Shad, mounted on an Ecogear 3D jighead, with an Ecogear Blade Spin mounted on the underside of the jig head.

Things went quiet afer the one Perch, and after a few more knocks, and a follow from a small Pike, it was time to head home, short and sweet. Target fish achieved, and the first bend in the Volkey Bait Finesse rod. Looking forward to getting a few more sessions under my belt with this rod, I have a feeling it will quickly become a favorite set up to use.

Major Craft Volkey Vs The Pike

I have been super-keen to get out with at least one of the new Major Craft rods this week, so today I headed off locally to see if I could find some Pike. A cold, early start, with light rain and grey skies. Opting for the heavier approach, the set up I went with was the Major Craft Volkey Big Lake Custom (7' long, rated 3/8 - 1&1/2oz) with a Daiwa Ryoga 1016HL loaded with 25lb Sunline Castaway 1.5PE / 25lb.

Working a deep section, just tripped the lure along the bottom, like a baitfish feeding. Slow with pauses, a good take and hook up saw the first fish to put a bend in the rod. Once netted and onto the grassy bank, could see that this Pike was a new personal best for myself. A quick photo, and released nice and healthy back to the deeps. 

As the day started to brighten up, and the light winds swirled, I began to walk around the reservoir I was on. Moving in towards the shallow and weed lined water, switched lures to a unweighted weedless rigged softie. I had a couple of follows, followed by a good take at the line of weed, which I saw myself, but the hook up was not to be. I have found this to happen a few times now when using weedless rigged large softs with Pike, whether it is bad angling, or mismatched tackle, definitely something I need to work on.

As the day went on, made my way back to where I had my first fish, to see if any other were at home. Just when I was looking to call it a day, a strong take, and then the fish came alive, the new rod had a proper bend in it, and the drag on the Ryoga started to sing, something I don't hear very often! Four really powerful runs from this fish, definitely the best fight I have had from a Pike, and on the heaviest gear I have used for them. Up on the bank, yet again, my PB had improved (starting to think I need to take my scales with me now!).

Really pleased with how the session turned out, and a very promising start for the new Major Craft Volkey Big Lake rod. Next up will be the Volkey Bait Finesse, or maybe the KG Evolution Hirasuzuki, as I had a nice delivery come this week, with a particularly tidy reel which will be perfect for the 11'er - More on that to come soon!

Lets Get This New Year Rolling

2013 is here, time to get the first fish of the year under my belt. Planned earlier this week to fish the coast, but the gap in the weather seemed to get smaller and smaller the closer we got to Friday, so played it safe and decided to hit the fresh stuff up for some Pike hunting instead. Fishing a West Cornwall Reservoir, the water clarity was looking good, and the surface was just being rippled by a building wind.

With the reservoir providing a bit more room to swing a lure, I was using the Daiwa morethan Branzino Urban Side Custom 8'7 5-24g rod, paired with a 2500 size Daiwa Certate, loaded with 0.8PE / 12lb Sunline Castaway. My wire trace was 10lb Drennen Super Soft, crimped direct to lure. A selection of heavy jig heads and and Ecogear soft lures completed the tackle list.

The lures rigged on a heavy jig head, meant I was able to bounce along the bottom on a slow retrieve, like a small bait fish feeding off the reservoir bed. The water was deep in the section I was fishing, but the set up still allowed good feel at distance. It was not long till the first Pike of the day was guided into my landing net and on the bank. Over a couple of hours, managed to land four Pike in total, which were all progressively bigger. The last fish of the day was a PB for me, but as I do not carry a measure or scales anymore, can't confirm a weight or size.

Pike #1

 Pike #2

Pike #3

Pike #4

The lure doing the catching today was the Ecogear 4.5" BTS shad in a couple of different colour patterns, rigged on 10 & 12g jig heads. The lure looks great in the water, especially being tripped along the bottom, activating the paddle tail.

So a great start to the new year, some decent action and an unofficial PB. This year I am looking forward to getting out onto the fresh water locations more and more. Next target is the first salty beast of the year, and hopefully sometime soon!

Deps Bumble Shads!

Since I first heard about the Deps Bumble shad, I really wanted to get hold of some. The problem was, at around 26g before you add a hook or jig head, in the past, I have not owned a rod capable of casting them! Well, this is hopefully soon to change, with a 3/8 - 1&1/2oz rod (roughly 10-42g) on it's way.

Eagerly anticipating it's arrival, got straight onto getting my hands on some 6" Deps Bumble shads. I went for a pack (5 lures) of Kohokushaddo and a pack of Black Sumokupeppa. These colour patterns should be a good start, and I am gonna be throwing these in both the fresh and salt waters I fish. Probably looking to use them weightless for the Pike, and maybe try out a few weighted jig heads, to get them down in the deep waters off the West Cornwall coast.

Whilst on the big Deps lures, also picked up some of the 6.5" Deathadder sticks, in the Dead Shad pattern. These come in packs of six, and are physically a big stick/worm bait. Weighty enough to be used on their own with a single hook, I have also used them in the past with a nail shot, to get an interesting fall, depending on where you choose to stick it.

If you are interested in checking these out yourself, now is a good time, as Ben & Jo at the Art of Fishing have a Christmas sale on at the moment, and these Deps lures are amongst many of the great bits and bobs on sale, from small lures to high end rods http://www.artoffishing.co.uk/

As I like to fish with mouthful size lures for the Wrasse, in the 2-3" range, the quest for small, strong weedless hooks in ever ongoing. I have picked up some new ones, and have high hopes, from just handling them out of the packet. They feel strong in the hand, and have a good shape for weedless applicatiion, with the hook point 'skinned' in the top of the lure. Looking forward to trying them out soon. You can check them out at http://www.mrfishjersey.com

Ultralight Pike & Perch Hunt

The weather this week down West has been interesting to say the least. Gales earlier in the week, horrendous rain storms and gales today, a slight weather window yesterday presented the only sane opportunity to get out fishing. With sunny spells and light winds, the coast was still being battered by by swell, so a long overdue fresh water mission was planned.

Still being new to this game, decided to visit a Cornish reservoir, in search of Pike & Perch. The reservoir I decided on was new territory to me, but with a few wise words from friends, I headed out, with ultralight gear. Rod of choice was the Nories Slow Retrieve SR74F (0.9-5g) paired with a 2506 size Daiwa Certate, spooled with Sunline Small Game 0.4PE 8lb braid. As Pike were a possibility, a 30cm wire trace was needed. I have found the Drennan Soft Strand 10lb wire, with a rig made up with crimps, a good trace that does not affect the use of small 2' soft lures on ultralight jig heads.

Conditions were good on the reservoir, with a light wind, but superb water clarity. It's a reservoir that you can follow the footpath all the way around, so pick a direction, and head off, taking care not to disturb the resident carp fanatics!

Shortly into the session, a hopeful short flip in between some trees, saw the line scream off the drag in a short burst. Playing the fish, it turned, and surfaced, with the toothy face of a Pike looking back at me. I had to get myself into a position to land the fish, as there were partially submerged logs to navigate, and the fish was landed, up onto the bank for a quick photo, unhooked and safely returned. This was my biggest Pike to date, but not hard to beat my previous, as this fish took my tally up to number three!

From then on the bites dried up. It was not till I had made my way round to the other side of the reservoir that I had my second Pike landed of the day. This one was much smaller, but gave a good surface action show, as it thrashed and turned. The lure which I caught both fish on, was an Ecogear Grass Minnow in size 'L'. I had it rigged on a 3.5g jig head for the deeper areas, and switched to a 2.5g in the shallower parts of the reservoir.

As I neared the end of the looped path bath towards the car, the tree line thickened, with some opportunity to switch up to a 2' Ecogear Para Max on a 1.8g jig head, for a bit of jigging amongst the submerged structure for Perch. Was not long until a flash came out from under cover, and grabbed the lure, leading to my only Perch of the day, in super-micro size! That signaled the end of my session, but a good first scouting of this particular spot, and I think I will definitely be putting in some more time here over the Winter months, try and improve upon my freshwater tactics and techniques.

The Pike Hunt Continues

Fished a North Cornwall reservoir, with the hope of finding some Pike. Mild weather for February, with the waters surrounded in mist, bit of a breeze blowing. Scaling up slightly from my previous two excursions at this venue, fished with a Nories RockFish Bottom Light 7-15g 6'10 rod, with a Daiwa Certate loaded with Sunline Momentum 4x4 1.0PE (16lb). A selection of mid sized plugs, and today I took along a few softies with various jig heads.

Met up with Sean, just as I had begun fishing, and we both worked down one side of the reservoir. Sean had a couple of Perch bumping his lure beneath his feet, too small to get the hook up on his lure. We switched pegs, and I had a take from a Pike, as I jigged vertically in front of me. Was cool to see the Pike flash out and grab the lure. Quickly landed, the fish was small, probably the smallest Pike I have seen! Unhooked it an quickly returned without a pic. As we moved from spot to spot, we saw plenty of Pike holding up in the shallows, between the reed beds, but no interest in the lures.

I moved on to target the stream that flows off the weir pool at the dam. For this I used various ultra light plugs from DUO, working them in and out of the shallow flowing waters, letting them pause in the deeper pools, where the small Brown Trout and Perch were holding. Had a nice handful of fish on these excellent little plugs, the two lures working best were the DUO Spearhead Ryuki 45S and the DUO Tertra Works Bivi.

Back on the Pike hunt, down the opposite side of the reservoir, caught up with Sean, just as he was bringing in a Pike, so I was able to get a couple of pics. Shortly after he had another take, from a much larger fish, putting a good bend into his rod, but unfortunately the hook lost it's hold, and the fish was off. After that, it was time to head back to the cars, and the hunt will continue another day.

Freshwater Fun & Games

Recently made a return to a North Cornish Reservoir, with Matt to hit up the fresh water species, and with the hope of improving on my Pike PB, which sits at a lowly couple of pounds for now. Conditions on arrival could not have been better, still and clear, the waters looked great. It was only till I stepped out of the car, the severity of the cold chill hit!

I was using a selection of small lures from DUO, and Matt had his trusty baitcaster set up, with soft lures and spinner baits. We had to pause early doors, to continually clear the ice from the tip rings, as the cold had them freezing up, a new experience for me! We worked one side of the reservoir, slowly being warmed by the rising sun, we could see signs of fish, but none landed for the first half of the session.

A bite to eat, and we headed off to the other side of the water, stopping off at the weir pool, to hunt for some Perch. Whilst Matt worked the pool, I turned my attention to the stream running of it. Using a DUO tide Tetra Works Toto, I cast into the flow of the stream, letting it run, before retrieving. Was not long till I had a fiesty Brown Trout landed, and returned swiftly.  Further down the flow, working a small pool off the main current, I had the interest of a small Perch, landed and returned. The little DUO lure also accounted for another Trout, great fun in the fast flow of the stream. In my absence, Matt also had a Perch and Trout.

As we headed off to fish the other side of the Reservoir, we were joined by Ben from the Art of Fishing. He had a bag full of secret squirrel lures he was testing, and chose a peg to cast from he had won a match fishing contest from previously. First cast and a knock, second cast and a fish on! A small Jack landed. He then went on to catch another Pike, smaller still, Matt and I feeling a little hard done by! Good fun session, the bigger fish eluding us, but there is always next time!

First Foray Into Freshwater

I have never fished a fresh water venue before, so I jumped at the chance to meet up with Matt N at a Cornish Reservoir, and spend a day hunting for new species. Getting my one-day license online the night before, paying the day visitors pass for the Reservoir, selection of small plugs and light fishing kit in hand (Nories RockFish Bottom UL 1.8g-7g rod, Daiwa Certate 2506 loaded with Sunline Small Game 0.4PE / 8lb), it was off to check the water conditions and cast a few lures.

The wind was blowing, a lot harder than predicted, but I was assured the water clarity was good, so confidence was high. Few words of wisdom from Matt on where to search out the fish, and it was game on, walking the path, fanning out the casts at each peg. We had it covered with me using various small plugs, and Matt fishing spinner baits and soft lures.

It was a while till we found the first fish of the day, casting short near the bank, I had a take. Excited to see what my first fresh water catch would be, as it came to the surface, a small Jack of around 2lb, and Matt netted it, for the unhooking and photo. Thee lure it hit was an Ecogear 70S;

 We fished on, both sides of the Reservoir, trying different things, but no more fish. So Matt grabbed his light gear, and we fished for Perch in a weir pool, lots of knocks, but difficult to keep a fish on. Managed to land just one small Perch myself, really stoked to catch such a cool looking fish.

 A small run off stream nearby had Matt’s interest, and he floated a small plug downstream, and on his first retrieval, was hit by a Brown Trout. He went onto repeat this twice more further down, with the fish  bigger each time.

 Heading home in the car, reflecting on the session, was happy to have caught my first fresh water fish, extremely happy that it was a Pike and Perch, the fish I really wanted to target. Big thanks to Matt  for the heads up on the day, and looking forward to bigger and better fish in the future.