Friday 13th - Lucky For Some

For the last 6 weeks or so, work has been full on and hectic. This has left little opportunity to get fishing, and the reason why my catch reports dropped off! Decided that I would set aside a day to get out for a good session, and it just so happened to be today, Friday 13th......

Conditions in West Cornwall were good, early morning sun, little to no swell, and very good water clarity. Plan was to fish a deep water rock mark over the pushing tide, spend a good few hours out on the coast. I was fishing with my new light game rod, the Daiko Spear 60th Anniversary Blue Label 8'3 and 2-14g. Lures were mainly small to micro hard plastics, with a handfull of LRF softies thrown in the bag as well.

First fish caught on the new rod was a Pollack. It smashed a DUO Tetra Works Bivi micro vib lure on the drop, close in to the rocky ledge I was fishing from.

I wanted to get down in amongst the weed and rocks, so switched over to the softies, and Texas rigged an Ecogear 2" BugAnt. Keeping contact with the bottom, and long pauses between twitches, felt the familiar knock of a Wrasse, and fish landed. The 2" BugAnts were roducing fish well, with more Wrasse and Pollack to follow.

Moving from the rocky ledges to the gullies round the point, decided to work an Ecogear VX45 & VX50 metal vib, searching the deep water. Had a couple more Pollack take on the drop.

Swithed back to the DUO lures, and hooked into 3 more Pollack. This time they were taken on the DUO Ruf Bay SV-70 vib and the DUO Tetra Works Yurameki. The SV-70 vib is a truly great lure, one I will be using a lot in the coming months. Casts extrememly well for its size, and works great then retrieved sink and draw, making it buzz, or on a slow straight retrieve.

Second time testing the new rod, but the first session with some fish on. So far feels good, the Pollack and Wrasse today were putting a nice bend in it, and the casting ability with small lures is great. The bottom reading sensitivity gives huge amounts of feedback, and sublte takes on the drop are transmitted well. Looking forward to getting out with it again soon.

You have probably seen by now, that DUO have a Facebook page, but if not, then check it out HERE. Something you might nt know, is DUO also joined Twitter this week, so if you want to follow them, and get all the latest updates and news, check them out HERE.

Sunline Small Game Fluoro

I have been using Sunline Small Game Fluoro 3lb for light game duties for a while now. Spooled onto a 2506 Daiwa Certate, the full 150m fits nicely. I have tested it in the Harbour environment, close range vertical fishing, with drop shot rigs, and light jig heads. Small species plucking at a lure register well on the line, with good sensitivity. The line cuts nicely through the water, and I prefer to use it over light braid in windy conditions. Fishing in the winter months with cold hands, one great advantage with using fluoro straight through, is that you do not need to tie a leader length. It also allows you to cut and re-tie your rigs easily and readily, without having to consider loosing leader length. On the 2506 size spool, the line does not retain much memory in the form of coils, it is well behaved, even with ultra light jig heads in the region of 0.5-1g.

Along with the shelter of the Harbor fishing, I have also had some great sessions using the 3lb Sunline Small Game Fluoro out on the deep water rock marks of West Cornwall. Here my target species have been Pollack and Wrasse. Using slightly heavier small game tackle than the in the Harbour's, I have taken Wrasse to around 3lb in weight. In this instance, matching the line to a rod that will protect it is key, and also the use of a landing net is essential for landing the fish. The Pollack have been falling to small casting jigs and metal vib lures. Casting with the Small Game Fluoro is great, due to it's low diameter. Allowing the jigs and vibs to sink though the water column, picking up hits from the Pollack on the drop. There is a little more stretch evident using fluoro straight through over braid, but this also helps cushion the dives and runs from the fighting Pollack and Wrasse. In this rough environment, the light 3lb fluoro has proved to be pretty tough, with good abraision resistance, and great knotting strength, whether tied direct or using a small metal clip.

As much as I love using fluoro as a mainline, I do not see it as a replacement to braid for light game duties, Side by side, the two lines compliment each other, both having their advantages and disadvantages. On some occasions, I will fish with 2 set ups, one with braid and one with fluoro. Or if carrying two rods is not an option, just take along a spare spool loaded with either the braid or fluoro, allowing you to chop and change when conditions dictate. I like the 3lb breaking strain, as it is fine and sensitive enough for the mini species in the Harbour, as well as being tough enough to take on the rough weedy grounds below deep water rock marks I fish a lot. The Sunline Small Game Fluoro gives you the confidence to fish areas where a bonus larger fish may take the lure.

Daiko Spear SRS832L 60th Anniversary Blue Label Rod

With my fondness for fishing with light tackle, recently picked this rod up with the intention of using it for small plugs and vib metals. A little longer than my other light game rods, 8'3 in length, with a casting range of 2-14g. This is the tubular tip version, but there is also an 8'3 solid tip model available as well.

The rod is a Daiko Spear SRS832L 60th Anniversary Blue Label. The look and finish of the rod is superb. The tackle tart inside me loves the fact the deep transluscent blue finish, with the weave shining through in the light, matches the colour of the Daiwa Certate reels I use. The guides are the now familiar Fuji K type titaniums.

I have only had a quick test session with it, when I took the above pics. Casting a 7g surface plug, distance was not a problem, and working it back, great action can easily be achieved. The rod also performed great with a 3g jig head and 2" soft lure, but the hard lures are where I will be using this rod most. With work being super-busy over the last few weeks, have not had the opportunity to get out fishing,  but hopefully in the coming weeks, I will be putting this rod through it's paces, and will be able to provide some good feedback on it.

If you want to know some more about this rod, and also the solid tip version that is also available, drop me a message to gunningpk@hotmail.com and I will put you onto the chap who has brought a few of these rods into the UK from Japan.

DUO Lures April Contest

With the start of April, the guys at DUO are launching their latest competition. This month, all you have to do is email a photo of your best catch to date, using a DUO lure. Once again, in order to enter, you need to be a fan of DUO on Facebook Once you have chosen your best photo, of a cacth using a DUO lure, the address to send it to is duocontest@gmail.com

The closing date for entry is 28th April 2012. If you want to know what the prize for this months competition is, then check out the pic below! To see the original contest page on the DUO site, take a look HERE

New Ecogear Lures & Others

The Art of Fishing have some really great new paddle tail soft lures in. I managed to grab a couple out of the box last time I was in there, before they made it to the shelf. The lure I am talking about is the RT 4" & 5". In the hand, it is a nice thick bodied, dense lure, with a belly slit to allow for great weedless hooking. I only picked up 2 of the colour variations, but there are more available. Really looking forward to getting them wet soon, the Bass are gonna love em! Also picked up a few other bits and bobs whilst there.

Ecogear RT 4"

Ecogear RT 5"

Sawamura One Up Shad 4"

Sawamura One Up Shad 4"

Ecogear VX50 10.6 & Smith Wavy 65S

Evergreen Little Max 3.5g

 
Evergreen Little Max Rockfish Tune 3.5g

The Smith lure came from a forum member, and the Evergreen Vib's came from a group buy organised on the forum. Just a reminder, that this weekend The Art Of Fishing are having an open day to celebrate the new shop in Plymouth. If you get the chance, pop along, and check out many of the new  products that AOF have managed to get their hands on.

Second DUO Contest For March 2012

DUO have their second contest for March underway at the moment. In this contest, you have to email a question to be answered by Mr. Adachi, the general manager, and chief designer at DUO. This is your chance to talk to a lure designer, and finally ask the questions about all the tiny little details that have been bugging you forever.

Send any questions you might have for Mr. Adachi to duocontest@gmail.com The deadline is 30th March 2012. As before, in order to enter, you have to be a fan of DUO on Facebook

There will be 3 prize winners, and the prize you can win is below. To see the original contest post by DUO, take a look HERE

Nories Jig Head Snapper Rod & Ecogear Soft Lures

Recently I acquired a new rod for the collection, in the form of the magnificent Nories Jig Head Snapper. This rod is 7'10 in length, with a solid, very fine tip. Slightly longer handle than my other Nories RockFish rods, and this one is fitted with the Fuji K guides, with white whipping to the end eyes. This rod is able to read small LRF style lures, with weights down around the 1-2g range, as well as handling rigged lures to around 15g or so. A very sensitive tip, combined with some real backbone lower down, should prove a useful tool for fishing the soft plastics.

To go with this rod, I have also picked up some new softies and hardware. Particularly looking forward to trying out the screw in blades, to give the added flash and attraction to the lures. I have seen them in action, and they looked great. The BTS shads are new to me, and I have a feeling they will prove very useful for the Bass over the coming weeks, will be trotting them down my local estuary here in Devon and into the depths of the West Cornwall rock marks. The jig heads I have chosen to match up with the lures are a little more expensive than your average plain lead ball jig head, but these simply ooze quality, from the detail in the faces to the strong sharp hooks. The retaining sleeve on the hook shank looks like it will hold the lure on nice and snug. Finally picked up a very neat little lure box, to store up to 14 of my small plugs, up to 100mm, which is a size of lure I have found I am using more and more recently.

Ecogear BTS 4.5"

Ecogear BTS 3.75"

Ecogear Power Shad 4"

  

Ecogear Para Max 5"

  

Ecogear Screw in blades

   Ecogear Iwashi Head 1/0 5.3g/7.0g/11g & Ecogear Skip In The Shade 3/0 7g

Meiho Reversible 100mm Box

  

If you want to find out more about the rod, or like the look of the lures and hardware, then take a look at The Art Of Fishing site, and give Ben a shout. It's exciting times for Ben & Joe @ Art Of Fishing, as they are going to be opening up a new AOF shop in Plymouth later this month, take a look HERE for more details of the opening day.