Wrasse Vert Style Afloat

Tuesday this week I had high hopes of fishing glory. I was joining a friend aboard his boat, for a day of fishing out of Dartmouth. The tide was good, the sea was flat calm, and the sun was shining with no wind. I had borrowed a couple of rods from Andrew Younger of Finesse Fishing for the day. These were the Tenryu Bulldog Evo 7.0  and a Tenryu Horizon HSL66B-ML. The Bulldog I paired up with a Shimano Stella SW5000 reel, loaded with Sunline Momentum 4x4 PE#2 / 30lb, and the Horizon was kitted with a Daiwa Ryoga 1016HL loaded with Sunline Superbraid PE#2 / 20lb.

To cut a long story short, 7 hours of fishing, resulted in one small Pollack landed between us. The fish simply were not there. We tried different locations, switched between styles, but apart from one Bass that shook the hook before coming to the boat, no sign of fishy life! I did however get a pretty good tan out on the water all day! The Tenryu Horizon is a really interesting rod. It looks a bit like a bait finesse rod, but I was happily jigging 100g with it. It says the max is 150g on the blank, but not sure I would go that heavy with it. If I was out on a boat a lot more often, it's definitely a rod I would like to own.

So Wednesday night, I wanted to feed my hunger for a fish this week. Headed out in the bay on a paddle ski, again to perfect evening conditions. I wanted to fish a mark usually only accessible at low tide. With the big spring, the only signs of land were a couple of rocky pinnacles breaking the surface. Fishing with the Bulldog Evo, this time paired with the Van Staal VSB150 loaded with Sunline Superbraid PE#3 / 30lb, rigged up some soft plastic lures on 1oz Jika rigs.

As I drifted off the rocky shelf into deeper water, the bites started to happen, with the familiar tap, tap, tap of the Wrasse. The Bulldog is a real took for the job vertical fishing, a nice bend, but lots of power, able to easily bully the Wrasse from the rocky depths. No big fish came to the ski, but good sport none the less. Best results came fishing the Ecogear Power Dart Minnow on a 2/0 weedless hook. 

DUO Lures Summer 2013 Update

With the slow start to the Bass season, starting to warm up in some areas, and fish starting to show in more regular numbers, it was a welcome sight to see a fresh load of DUO lures land on my doorstep. These lures are a thing of beauty, great colour patterns, and a design that you can put great confidence in, with a proven track record.

Tide Minnow 150 Surf 150mm / 29g / S11

Press Bait Kamuy Heavy Weight 110mm / 28g / S11

 

Tide Vib Slim 140 140mm / 32g / S11 RS Sardine

Realis Pencil 110 110mm / 20.5g / P08 Neo Pearl

Realis Jerk Bait 120SP 120mm / 18g / R50 Ayu

Beach Walker Axion 95S 95mm / 30g / D11

Press Bait Fusion Slim 110mm / 36g / D25

Beach Walker 120MD 120mm / 20g / H93 Clear Mullet

Tide Vib Score 78mm / 28g

Press Bait Kamuy 95 95mm / 25g / H1002 (trout)

Realis Jerk Bait 120SP 120mm / 18g

Realis Jerk Bait 120SP 120mm / 18g / P22 Sexy Shad

Press Bait Kamuy 110mm / 25g / S38

Tide Minnow Slim 200 200mm / 27g / H11 Sardine

Tide Vib Slim 140 140mm / 32g / K02 Crash Rainbow

Press Bait Kamuy 95 95mm / 25g / A32 (red/gold)

MOAB 120F 120mm / 13g / S22 Red Face. Red Belly

Beach Walker Axion 95S 95mm / 30g / H119

If you want to find out more, take a look at the DUO website, in a handy English language version;

http://duo-inc.co.jp/en/

DUO also have a number of other media pages to check out, with more pics, info and videos;

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/DUOJPN

YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/DUOJPN

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DUOJPN

NOTE: All the lures above have been kitted out with my choice of hooks. The lures available in shops may come with a different hook option.

Fishing Afloat This Week

The East winds have been blowing this week, which has meant flat calm seas on parts of the coast. The water has slowly started to warm up, and it seemed a good opportunity to get out there and do some fishing afloat in the evenings.

Met up with a mate, and we took to the sea in his small boat, with the hope of finding a few fish, and to check out the conditions and signs at this time of the season. I decided to fish with a baitcastwer set up, my Major Craft Volkey Big Lake Custom rod, paired with a Daiwa Ryoga 1016HL reel, spooled with Sunline Super Braid PE#2.0 / 20lb.

The wind was making our drifts a bit too quick, and we had to keep repositioning the boat, making the fishing a little tricky at times. The water was flat calm tho, and the recent algae bloom was not too much of a problem where we were. One downside was we simply did not see the promising signs of fish breaking the surface, baitfish scattering etc. It took a while, but finally, after clipping on a DUO Tide Minnow SLD125, I had a hook up just as the lure hit the water. Only a small Bass, but a very welcome one.

We fished on, changing spots untill dusk, and decided to call it a day, with just one other Bass following the lure to the boat. Earlier in the week, I had ventured out on a fishing ski, for a paddle around the bay. It had been a while since I last fished from a very small craft, and forgot how awkward the simple things can be when space and balance is limited. Didn't find any Bass that evening, but the Mackerel and Wrasse were about. It was a good chance to try out the Van Staal VSB150B reel I recently picked up, a real workhorse, and not a problem using it in the wet conditions when fishing afloat on a small craft.

Sunline Super Braid & Siglon V Mono Spooled Up

This week I have spooled up with a couple of new variants of lines I already operate with. Sunline Super Braid PE#2.5 30lb and the Sunline Siglon V Mono 4kg / 8lb. I also use both these lines on my Daiwa Ryoga 1016HL baitcaster, with the Super Braid in 20lb, and the Siglon V in 14lb.

The 30lb Super Braid has been spooled on my Van Staal VS150B. This is the first time I have loaded a line onto this reel. It does have a bit of an ugly shape to the line lay, which can be corrected by some hand winding of the backing onto the spool first. With a monster capacity, there is a lot of backing to put on! First attempt is by no means perfect, hopefully I will even it out better in future spooling. This line is going to get a good workout, with deep wading, submerged reel, in amongst the surf. I went with the Super Braid as I wanted something tough, reliable and up to the job.

The 8lb Siglon Mono has been loaded onto the factory spool of my Daiwa Ryoga 1016HL. I wanted a lighter version to compliment the 14lb I have, for presentation of smaller lures and weights. The 14lb has already proved itself to be very capable of fighting the Wrasse in amongst the rough stuff, so I am confident this 8lb mono will be more than up to the job. With the line coming in 300m spools, you can load up a couple of reels with this mono, depending on your reel size.

DUO Designed by Ultimate Organizer

Over the winter months, I managed to get my fingers on a few more lures from the DUO range. With the decision to fish 2013 with heavier, bigger tackle, it made sense to get some of the heavy hitters from DUO. With the Bass starting to show here and there, and the imminent arrival of consistent numbers, here is a look at what will be hanging out of of the mouth of those silver predators in the coming months.

DUO Tide Minnow Surf 150 (29g)

DUO Tide Minnow Surf 135 (24g)

DUO Tide Vib Slim 140 (32g) / DUO Tide Minow Slim 200 (27g)

DUO Tide Minnow Terrif RS 125 / DUO Tide Minnow Slim 140 (18g)

DUO Press Bait 115 HD (36g) / DUO Tide Minnow SSR 140

DUO Rough Trail 130S (29g)

DUO Larus Minnow 95 (34g) / DUO Tide Minnow Slim 105 Heretic (15g)

 DUO Tide Minnow 75 CD (11g)

My DUO army for 2013

Be sure to check out the various online media sites for DUO, as they add more and more content each month, giving you the chance to see the full range, and how the lures work in action;

• DUO website
• DUO Facebook page
• DUO Twitter
• DUO Youtube channel

Major Craft Volkey Vs Wrasse

Weather this week has been amazing, with brilliant sunshine, and little to no wind. The sea, whilst still cold, has been very flat and crystal clear. A short after work session was on the cards, fishing locally in South West Devon, with the tide pushing from low.

It was a good chance to get some more time on the water with the Major Craft Volkey Big Lake Custom Series VKC-70/BL 7' / 3/8 - 1.5oz. Paired with a Daiwa Ryoga 1016HL, freshly loaded with a spool of Sunline Siglon V Mono 14lb. 

Target species was Wrasse, fishing amongst the deep kelp strewn gullies, left by the receded tide. Kept it simple with a 7g Texas rig and a size 1 wide gape weedless hook. No need for a leader with the mono, quick and easy. I fished the whole session with just one type of lure, the Ecogear Minnow M. I had good success with it towards the end of last year, and Luke at cornwalllurefishing has been really smashing the Wrasse with it lately. Conditions were pretty much perfect at the waters edge, oily calm water, blue skies and evening sun. 

The action came fast, with 11 Wrasse being landed, and a couple lost. The 7g rig plus lure would be at the suggested lower end of the rods capability, but I found casting and working the lure slow close to and along the seas bed to be very good. The rod tip is more sensitive than maybe the rating suggests, and easily transfered small bites into big hook ups. 

It has been a while since I had fish landed in numbers, hopefully the hard winter weather is now behind us, looking forward to a great season. A good first outing the with Sunline Siglon V Mono, cast well, and no problems with the Wrasse dragging it in and over the rough stuff, will get some more time with it in the coming weeks. The rod proved a great tool, breaking the fish out from the deep kelp cover, whilst still enjoying the fight. Should prove a good tool when hunting for those monster Wrasse.