Night Lure Test Pollack 24-03-2010

Wanted to try out the Jackson Deliciouse Shiner 3" 'Magic Goby' I picked up from Ben's @ The Art Of Fishing recently.

Decided to head down the Estuary for a quick one hour night session, one hour before high tide. Texas rigged the lure with a size 4 weedless hook and 3g sinker. I was using my Nories Seabass Program 5-12g rod, with a Certate 2506, 0.8PE line.

Casting off the small Quay side, had a small knock, before casting out again and connecting with a fish.

Moved to a partially submerged rock in the darkness, and cast into the flow, working the lure back into the slack water. A bite, which I struck into quick, leading to a bigger fish on, which put up much more fight than the first.

So a quick test session, and the lure worked well. I was secretly hoping to have found a Bass, but happy enough with the Pollack, as it's been a while since I have been out on the night mission.

Some HRF Soft Plastics

Thought I would post some of the new soft plastics I have aquired recently for the HRF sessions.

First up, the Nories Ladyfish 3.5" I have had fantastic success on the Wrasse with this lure in recent sessions in the Glass Ayu colour, so bought a couple of more colours to try out. This lure is pretty tough, caught several Wrasse on the same lure, and if you want to, will cast very well at distance.

Glass Ayu

Light Green Pumpkin

Shrimp

Nories 4" Power Balance Watermelon Candy. Similar to the Ladyfish, but with a more angular underside and a slot in it's back for weedless presentation. As with the Ladyfish, comes in a bag heavily scented.

Ecogear 4" Bug Ants. Have not tried a creature style lure before, but with the success others are having, sure it will be a good catcher. Heavily scented in an oily pouch.

Ecogear Power Shad 4" Urume. Detailed lure, with small side fins, and a paddle tail to add a little more action. Scented but not as oily as the others.

 Jackson Delicious Shiner 3" Magic Goby. Small lure, similar in size to the Megabass Xlayer Tiny. Scented and salty.

Decoy Rock Fish Limited Worm 13 hook. Three different sizes, great for presenting a lure weedless. I rig most my lures with this style hook, have found them to give a great hook up rate, even when skinned in the top of the lure.

 

If you want to get your hands on any of the above, it's worth  speaking to Ben at The Art Of Fishing, or check out his website http://www.artoffishing.co.uk/

Daylight LRF - Mission Wrasse 17-03-2011

Morning conditions were perfect, minimal swell and very light winds. Decided it would be a good opportunity to try for some Wrasse with the LRF gear. Headed to the same spot I have had good success from recently, South Coast down in West Cornwall. Arrived at the stretch of coast I was gonna be fishing, wind had picked up slightly, but not a problem. Was fishing from low tide on the push.

LRF equipment - Nories Slow Retrieve 0.9-5g rod, with a Certate 2506. I played on the side of caution, following yesterdays PB Wrasse, and opted for a spool of 0.8PE with a 6lb Fluoro leader. Texas rigged a Reins Rockvibe 2" Gold Legend on a size 6 weedless hook, with a 3g sinker.

Fished the same methods as I did with the HRF, just scaled down. The small lure looked lost in the deep clear water, darting in and out of the thick kelp and boulders. A fish took the lure, I applied pressure and then the fun began! Line being taken, the rod had the biggest bend in it to date. The fish slowed up, and I began to gain, with strong runs in between. Managed to get it up away from the bottom, and the job of landing became easier. First Wrasse caught by me LRF, and a good size to start with, 39cm and 2lb 10oz.

Before I fished on, checked the leader, and it was heavily abraded, so tied an new one up. Carried on, very excited to have managed what I set out to do. Lost a few lures in the snags. Rigged up with a 3" SlugGo with a size 1 Texposer, 2g sinker. This lure took a couple of smaller fish in succession, and then another which I lost at the surface (bad angling, let of pressure as I was positioning myself to land the fish). 

Few more knocks, but found the SlugGo with the hook I was using a little harder to hook up with. Change of rig back to the 2" Rockvibe, this time a black one. Was not long till a solid connection, and the fun began again. Good fight on the light gear, before landing another Wrasse, this one was 38cm 2lb 5oz (you can just see the black Rockvibe poking out his mouth).

All in, my first Wrasse mission on the LRF gear was a success, and my first step into daylight LRF. Amazing how a tiny lure presented well in a big environment works so well. Really happy with how the rod performed, great confidence it can handle some bigger fish in the right conditions. Will definitely give it another go. 

HRF Personal Best 16-03-2011

Fished an hour after low on the flood, at the now usual stretch of South Coast, West Cornwall. Coming off a neap tide, with minimal wind swell, but a gusty North Easterly wind. Brilliant sunshine, fishing in a T-shirt, the water crystal clear. With the calmer conditions, was able to explore a stretch where the deep water is interspersed with large granite boulder gullies.

Started out slow, and then I lost two lures in consecutive casts, slowing me up further. Decided to move onto the next gully where the conditions were less snaggy. Hooked into and landed the first Wrasse of the day, sub 2lb at a guess so decided not to bother faffing about with measurements and weighing. Soon after, another similar size Wrasse landed.

Moved on to an area where the water was thick with kelp. Close in, good take followed by a nice fight, line taken and gained, and a decent bend in the Nories Rockfish Bottom Light rod (7-15g). Could feel this was a significantly bigger fish, and I upon landing it, was evident this would be the biggest fish I have caught to date, Wrasse or Bass! Weighed and measured, the figures came in at 47cm and 4lb 6oz. It was a real faff trying to measure this fish, uneven granite with a slippery ruler and an angry fat Wrasse do not mix! The photos are not the best either, but time was ticking with the Wrasse out of the water. Found a nice rock pool being fed by the surging tide, and spent a few minutes reviving the fish, before he was happy enough to swim off. 

Here is a pic of where I caught the above Wrasse, I was fishing from the flattish platform rock left of centre.

Moved on a couple of times more, and took a couple more Wrasse, again sub 2lb so no measurements. The second gave a really good account of itself for it's size.

Decided to call it a day, and retired the Nories Ladyfish 3.5" Glass Ayu lure, a little worse for wear, chewed up and scarred from the days action. All the fish were taken on this lure, seems to be a great soft plastic for the Wrasse. I had it rigged with a size 1 weedless hook, skinned, with a 9g sinker.

So another good session, the warming weather seems to have kicked the Wrasse into action, with multiple catches now per session opposed to the odd single fish here and there. The 4lb 6oz in my new personal best, by 1lb 3oz. 

Good Wrasse HRF Session 14-03-2011

Headed out to a mark local to me down in West Cornwall. Decided to fish an area further along the coast path, which had not produced before on two previous attempts, but the weather conditions suited it and it's a spot that should hold Wrasse. Typical deep clear water, granite towers and gullies with steep drop off and kelp. With increasing Easterly winds, the small bay I was in with high cliffs offered some protection.

I was using a heavier sinker on the Texas rig than normal, 9g with a size 1 hook, the lure of choice was the Nories Lady Fish 3.5" Glass Ayu, rigged weedless and skinned. The heavier weight combated the gusting wind well, allow good feel, as the lure was very slowly twitched and bounced along the rocky bottom. I was fishing at a height of around 15' above the water, as there was a shallow submerged shelf in front of me before the drop off into deep dark water.

Was not long till I felt the rapid tapping of something going for my lure. Took a couple more casts till I got the hook up. Jumping down the rocks, steering the fish to a suitable landing spot, first fish of the day, a Wrasse. The same lure and rock spot accounted for four more fish of varying sizes and colours. I did catch a sixth fish 30m along, but the majority all came from pretty much the same spot, just below a deep drop off. Measured and weighed four of the fish, two of them were small so quick photo and returned.

Wrasse 39cm 2lb 7oz

Wrasse 36cm 2lb 0oz

Wrasse 35cm 1lb 120z

 

Wrasse 33cm 1lb 70z

Small Wrasse

 

Small Wrasse

As mentioned above, all caught on the same lure, using a Nories Rockfish Bottom Light rod (7-15g) with 0.8PE line, on a Certate 2506. Good to get a session in where more than one fish was caught. This was my first outing this week, and already twice the number of fish caught over last week.

Last Session Of The Week 11-03-2011

Final session today for this week - Different conditions to my previous trips. Light onshore winds finally returned, with a choppy 3' swell running on the South Coast at my mark. Fished an hour after high on the drop. Went to a location where I have had good numbers of Bass in the summer, hoping to find some early ones.

I also wanted to try out a selection of small plugs I have recently aquired. Spent the first hour casting and retrieving, changing lures, seeing how they behaved in the clear deep water. Two that particularly got me excited were the Nories Laydown Minnow Mid SW92 92mm 11.8g Suspend Silent and the Nories Zag Stick SW85 85mm 11.8g Slow Sinking Silent. The Laydown Minnow swims well, and when paused, it really does suspend in the water column, even in the swell and currents. The Zag Stick sinks on a lovely slow glide, and when retrieved or jerked, swims back in a wide 'S'

With no fish showing, no takes sign on the plugs, decided to finish off the session fishing with the SP's. Rigged up a Nories Fat Flat 4" with a Texas 5g sinker with size 1 weedless hook. Third cast into the rogh stuff, and a good take leading to a fish on, short fight, and another Wrasse landed.

Weighed in at 1lb 15.5oz. Did measure it, but the photo was too bleached to read the numbers! It was caught on a Nories SeaBass Program 72LLS Tide Controller rod, rated 5-12g, 0.8PE YGK line on a Certate 2506 reel. This rods fishes small plugs and SP's really well, and the Wrasse put a nice little bend into the rod. The lure did not fare so well in the encounter, hook pulled through the side, guess it shows that the lures are of a nice funtional softness.

Three daylight sessions, three different marks in both Devon and Cornwall, with three Wrasse to show for it this week. No monsters, but at least it's getting a bit more consistent.

HRF Wrasse West Cornwall 08-03-2011

Headed to an area that has thrown up the occasional Wrasse for me over Winter. Needs calm conditions, and with the swell minimal, and a cross offshore wind, conditions were promising. Fishing an hour before low on a big tide, allowed me to rock hop and explore more of this coastal stretch, accessing some rocky pinacles, and being able to see the underwater geography in the clear deep water.

After an hour or so of moving about, short sessions at each spot, found myself at a familiar gulley, that produces a fish every session, providing the conditions are right. This gulley is deep, really deep, even on a low tide. Maybe 15+ feet, only about 10m across at the wide point, and as it narrows towards the cliff, spilling into it is a fresh water stream, from hills above. Could this be the reason that the Wrasse seem to hang around in this particular gulley, does the stream provide nutrients for the prey the Wrasse feed on??

After only a couple of casts, the tell tale sign of a Wrasse, tapping on the lure. Hooked into it, and brought it up in the water column with relative ease, not much fight in it at all - Is this partly to do with the colder water at this time of year as we leave winter behind, the fish are less active? Fish measured 40cm and weighed in at 2lb 8oz

It was taken on the Nories Rockfish Bottom Light 7-15g rod, 0.8PE YGK braid, 2506 Certate and the lure was one of my new Nories Lady Fish 3.5" Glass Ayu, rigged Texas with a size 1 weedless hook, free moving 3g bullet weight. Nice to catch on a new lure the first time out. 

Bass Hunting Gear

Called by on Ben at The Art OF Fishing, and picked up some gear in preparation of the warming waters and sunny days.

OSP Asura 92.5mm 8.5g Suspend

OSP Asura 92.5mm 8.5g Suspend

Nories Zag Stick SW85 85mm 11.8g Slow Sinking Silent

Nories Laydown Minnow Mid SW92 92mm 11.8g Suspend Silent

 

Jackson Artist SL130 130mm 10.5g

Ecogear ZX40 40mm 6.4g

 

Nories Fat Flat 4"

Nories Lady Fish 3.5"

 

Ecogear Paramax 4"

Ecogear Grassminnow L

 

Deps Tackle Box 3010NDM 

Deps Tackle Box 318SD

 

Jig Power Lure Box - Medium

Decoy Worm 13 Salt

 

Estuary Night Light Game 06-03-2011

Had to think how to define this report. Reason being, with the categories in our sport, I was wondering where this report fits. I know it's important not to pigeon hole styles and techniques, and cross over happens and is useful, be it equipment or methods. I fished the local estuary, from the rocky shoreline, using a 3" lure, weighted with 3g, on a 0.8PE line, 2506 Certate reel, with a rod rated 5-12g (Nories SeaBass Program' 72LLS Tide Controller). It's not a heavy set up, yet it's not what I consider a true light set up, maybe somewhere inbetween. What do you guys think?

Anyway, the report. Fished either side of high. Big tides meant very little slack water, and lots of current and flow with the water being crystal clear. A new moon meant conditions were very dark, very quiet, a good chance to really tune into the the fishing, feel everything, and cast and retrieve without being able to see.

First fish came as the tide had turned, and started to flow out. I was using an Ecogear Aqua Milfle, rigged on a size 1 wide gape weedless hook, rigged Texas style with a 3g non toxic bullet sinker. Casting out into the flow, letting the current do the work, bumping the bottom with small lifts. This estuary is a mix of shail and rocky/weedy patches, so lots of contact feel.

Two of the fish were taken close in, on the drop with smooth lifts. The other one came on the drop, from the cast, lure did not hit the bottom. The lure caught in both orange and pearl colours. All three Pollack were around the same size, and actually put up a bit of a fight, swimming with the current. Nice to get some bigger fish after the small ones I have been having at night in the Harbours.

These were the first 'real' fish on this new rod, and it will be used primarily as my Bass rod. The few session I have used it feel promising, and I am looking forward to getting into some decent sized fish with it.