Equipment Update 13-09-2011

Sunline Castaway 0.8PE

1 3/4" 3/16oz micro plugs

Ecogear Shirasu Fine Jig Heads

  

Ecogear Aqua Straight 2"

  

Lunker City 2.5" Fin-S

  

 

Single Bass Saves My Sanity 13-09-2011

With the super-strong winds across the country, and down here in West Cornwall, decided my best chance of a session was to head out to the East side of the Lizard. Decided to try out my 'rockfish' rod with some plugs, not done it before. So geared up with the Nories Rockfish Bottom Light 6'10 7-15g rod, with a '10 Certate 2506 loaded with a fresh spool of Sunline Castaway 0.8PE

Started out near Coverack (not fished there before), heading away from the small harbour to the shelter of a headland point. Started working a Patchinko 100, amongst the rocks in generally calm water. Just meters round the corner of the headland, strong wind and waves crashed in. Then the fun started....

Wind knot number 1, thankfully I was able to work some magic and unpick it. Next cast, adolescent seagull likes the look of the lure, dive bombs it resulting in a seagull hooked. Finally brought it in, one treble in the web of it's foot, one in the roof of it's mouth. Then I find I left my forceps in my LRF kit bag. So with a firm grip of the gulls neck, manage to get both sets of hooks out, leaving the gull to fly off.

Next few casts, wind knot number 2! This one needed to be cut out, so back onto the rocks, scissors out, only to fumble them down a deep crevice in the rocks, lost for good. Proceed to tie a double up braid knot to a new leader, and having to bite through the braid, rasping it off on my teeth! One very messy looking leader knot! Repeat twice more, with a total of 4 wind knots, 3 badly bitten knots, and feeling very peed off, I decided to give up on that mark. Tide was dropping, and did not show much promise! Saw this ship skeleton on the way back to the car;

Mark number 2, again not fished there, was Porthoustock. Strange place, with the active quarry right next to the beach. Decided to try out the LRF gear, but not even a sniff. Was convinced it would be the go, but the wind was managing to wrap around, and making contact tricky. Might explore it more when the winds drop.

Final mark was a familiar one to me, near the mouth of the Helford. Have fished here a few times, but usually for Wrasse. Back on with the Patchinko, and casting from a rock over the clear water, sandy bottom with a few submerged rocks. Soon saw the lure disappear at distance, and it was fish on! Brought it in close, and the welcome sight of Bass was thrashing about under foot. Not a monster, but has been a while since I landed one;

Fished on for a while, and all the time decent fish were cruising by, some in shoals. A few Bass, but mainly Mullet, heading up the Helford. Couldn't get any more interest, even with the lures passing by the nose of the fish, so called it a day, happy to have avoided a day out with a blank! Took the fish from the rocks in this picture;

On reflection, the good bits: My braid scissors are 99p stainless nail scissors from Morissons, so picked up a couple more pairs, so I can carry a spare. The reel spool was overfilled by 10m or so according to spec, so brought the wind knots on my self, and with some line stripped off, the final session was hassell free! The Rockfish rod was ok with the plugs, but think I will keep it so soft plastic duties in the future. Will see what tomorrows session brings, hopefully a bit less wind! 

Recently Acquired Gear

Over the last month or so, I have gathered some more gear, some of it new, some to replace lures that have been lost and damaged etc... First up, I needed to replace my very tired Snowbee XS Pro wading boots. Considering these were new back in January 2011, I probably got around 8 months of use from them, till the studs have pushed through inside the soles, and the external materials have worn far beyond what is acceptable!

So the new boots are the Patagonia River Walkers, combined with some Simms Hard Bite Vibram studs. Really impressed with the way they look, and my initial thoughts on the quality are pleasing. The soles look very grippy as standard, and the with the studs fitted, should make them into a rock hopping dream!

Have added some small lightweight lures, that can be used with the Nories Slow Retrieve 0.9-5g rod;

Ecogear SX40LC (40mm 2.5g)

Ecogear SX40LC (40mm 2.5g)

Ecogear MW72F (72mm 4.7g)

Ecogear MW72F (72mm 4.7g)

Yo Zuri Arms Minnow Micro (55mm 4g)

Have also 'beefed up' the LRF spool I use on the Daiwa ';10 Certate 2506. I have gone for the Sunline Small Game 0.4PE, along with the Sunline Siglon FC 8lb to help out with the Wrasse, as I have found myself using the light gear a lot when conditions allow, for chasing the Rockfish;

Some new lures acquired over the last few weeks, some new, some second hand;

Xorus Patchinko 100 Sun Sprat

Tackle House Feed Shallow 128 Wakasagi

Daiwa Shore Line Shiner R50+SSR FG Anchovy

Megabass Vision OneTen

Megabass Lates

Duo Tide Minnow 140 Slim

Light Action Wrasse 23-08-2011

Has been a while since I put up a catch report, combination of busy work schedule, and enjoying the summer days with the family, means I have not been going out for regular sessions. Over the last few weeks, have stole an hour here and there, whilst out sunbathing at the coves and beaches, see what turns up, mainly Pollack and Wrasse on the LRF kit.

Today I went out for a half day dedicated session, down in West Cornwall. Calm conditions meant I took the opportunity to head out with my favorite set up, the Nories Slow Retrive 0.9-5g paired with a Daiwa '10 Certate 2506 loaded with new Sunline Small Game 0.4PE braid. I have come to love this combo, if there is a chance I can use it, I will.

Started out with a few of the small plugs I have recently aquired, and took several Pollack, and also a Wrasse with a very slow retrieve through a gully;

Switched over to the softs, and tried some clean boulder ground, directly under the rock ledge I was on. Went with the trusty Power Isome cut down on a small jig head. Could see several small fish, having a look at what was going on, before a small Wrasse decided he wqanted to play. Have to admit, not used the Power Isome much myself, but will be giving it more outings soon;

As the coastline opened up a bit more, went over to my tried and tested lures for light action Wrasse, Slug-Go 3" and Jackson Delicious Shiner softies, Texas rigged with 2-3g sinkers, on small weedless hook. Went on to take 6 more Wrasse to this method, mostly slow twitch and deadstick, close range;

The last 3 fish were the biggest of the day, but there was nothing of any real note. Did seem the fish were less in number than a couple of months back, fished over high tide, but it was a small neap. No sign of a Bass or Mackerel, but I was in an area of heavy commercial action and numerous charter boats coming and going. 

Light Plug Action 02-08-2011

Fished a deep water, gin clear mark over a mix of sand, kelp and rock, just East of Salcombe. Fished from one hour after low, on the push, in amongst the gullies. Tackle was the Nories Seabass Program 5-12g rod, with a Daiwa '10 Certate 2506 loaded with YGK 0.8 braid. Various light plugs and a few soft plastics were thrown into the sea.

Started out with the SP's, working the lure off the bottom, amongst the thick kelp, twitch and deadstick. Had a very subtle take, and swiftly landed a Wrasse, followed soon after with a Pollack on the drop;

Switched over to the small plugs, and began to start taking Pollack in large numbers, mostly on every cast. The little OSP Asura working well. Switched up to a bigger lure, and went with the Duo Tide Minnow 90S, and worked it at distance. Again, as it approached the rock shelf in front of me, more and more Pollack. Then on a long cast, couple of turns of the handle and fish on. Much more spirited fight, and as it came close, could see it was a nice Bass. As it ran in the gulley, it was flanked at all times by two other Bass, till landed. Got the measure out, and it went to 52cm to the top of the tail;

Moving on, and finished the session by working the Duo Tide Minnow 125SLD at distance, and had the shakey takes from a couple Mackerel, constantly thrashing till I shook them off the hook;

HRF Bass & Wrasse 01-08-2011

Went out for a quick couple of hours this afternoon. Unfortunately my girlfriends daughter has chickenpox, so they were stuck indoors, but I needed to get out for a bit. Decided to try an area I have not fished before. Have walked there plenty of times, the highest point is just shy of 400 feet, with a very sharp decent to the rocks where I wanted to fish. Fishing an hour before low, and one hour into the flood, was hoping I would be able to get a bit of exploration in before the tide cut me off.

Was greeted with clear, kelp filled rocky waters. Calm conditions, started out with a Feed Shallow. Was not long till I hooked into a fish, decent size Pollack. Unfortunately, when landed, one of the trebles had literally pulled one of it's eyes out of the socket, so put the chap out of his misery, and gave it to the seagulls who were annoyed at my presence in this pretty unaccessible area.

Put off by the damage cause to the Pollack by treble hooks, switched over to HRF tactics with the SP's. Rigged up a Nories Power Balance 4" on a size 1 weedless hook, with a 4g weight. Second cast, I was hit hard, the line screamed off the reel, before it snapped off after around five seconds. Reeling in the slack line, could see that the 16lb fluro leader had snapped half way down it's length, with no signs of abrasion! So quickly rigged up again, and worked the lure deadstick amongst the thick kelp. Subtle take of the lure, and fish on. Landed a nice condition Bass;

Fished on with the SP's, switching to a Nories Ladyfish 3.5", and had some good fun with the Wrasse, four taken in total;

As the tide pushed, kept the session short, and made the epic climb back up the cliff. There was no path to follow, and with it being new grounds, was a little worried about being able to get back to the top ok, as there was heavy gorse in patches, cutting off the way here and there. Once at the top, decided it would be worth checking this area out again, as I only fished a small part of this stretch of coast, and it produced pretty well. Pictured below is the gulley where I took all the fish from today;

LRF 'Bait' 29-07-2011

This was not a proper session, just fun and games with some interesting results. Was doing the family thing, crabbing down at a Quay on the Estuary with my girlfriend and her daughter. I decided to take the LRF rod, see if I could get anything casting out into the main channel. Meanwhile, the girls were doing well with the smoky bacon filled bags on the crabbing lines. Lots of crabs coming out of the weed, rocks and gaps in the wall. I took a break from my unsuccessful fishing, to join in. As I looked down into the deep clear water, could see lots of small fish also fighting for the bacon, thrashing at the perforated bags the bait was in.

So I rigged up with a size 16 barbless hook, with a couple of shot approx 4" up from the hook, and pushed a tiny piece of bacon onto the hook. First fish, just left it on the bottom, slightly away from the crab bait, and allowed the little guy to hook himself (super-small Scorpion fish). The next two, I let it fall, and jigged it above the bait bag, where the fish came up and snapped at the tiny baited hook. Couple of Goby type things, a lot bigger than the Scorpion fish.

Got me thinking tho, about how they 'attacked' the baited hook when in motion. I only played around for 15mins or so, as there was a picnic to enjoy, but would have liked to slip on a small lure, and see if it produced results. Then I started thinking about how this perforated bag of smokey bacon, was basically a form of 'chumming' for the fish, where upon bringing them out form their hidey holes, I was able to catch them. So I guess this could be used to increase the catch rate, bring them out to a spot with a chum bag, and then see what you could catch with a small lure. Then there is the question, even if taken on a lure, would this still be lure fishing if attracting the fish with a bait? Anyway, might experiment with it in the future, and I am sure there is already a named 'style' for this type of fishing. Some pics;