This will be my 100th post since beginning this Blog, so thankyou to all those that visit for taking the time to read of my adventures in angling!
Had a nice little LRF session the other night on which I was accompanied by my ten year old son. Now it's not very often I can take the kids Saltwater fishing due to the nature of what I do most of the time, but this time we were fishing a spot that is plenty safe enough for them to fish and enjoy themselves. It's a fairly new venue and one we have fished only once or twice before, with little success, but this was the first time we had fished it after dark, and what a difference! The place was alive with fish that night, Bass, Scad, and Pollock were all caught in fair numbers and between three of us, ( the third being my mate ), we had over twenty fish in a couple of hours fishing. I showed my youngster the ropes and left him more or less to his own devices and he manged four fish off his own back, one Scad and three Pollock, making mr very proud! Sadly I had forgotten the camera so there are no piccies, ( idiot!), but we had a great time thanks to the obliging fish. Whether this venue will prove to be a consistent one is yet to be seen, but no doubt we shall be visiting it again sometime over the next few weeks and months.
Tuesday, 27 September 2011
Sunday, 25 September 2011
Back at last and into the LRF!
Wow! thats probably the longest break I have had this year in the Salt, what atrocious weather we've been experiencing in britain! I have been fishing but in freshwater with my children, as you can see over on the other Blog. Finally though we managed to find some windows in the weather and have been making hay and doing some LRF sessions, and we're seriously getting into this side of things now! The little species hunt competition between my friends and I has been hotting up a bit and it's a close run thing at the moment! Loads of Wrasse have been coming ashore along with Bass, Pollock, mackerel, Scad, Bream, Gobies, Scorpions, Blennies...and several more, in fact the more we practice the techniques of OTD, swinging, twitching, dead stick, the more we are realising which methods will produce what species and are able to taget them specifically. Of course the more we practice the better we get at them as well. Whats more apparent is that seemingly there may be no fish on a given mark, yet if you fish the correct techniques and baits, magically the fish will suddenly appear!
With the onset of autumn I had envisaged an early switch to Coarse fishing, but it looks like that has changed a bit, with the results we have been getting in the last few sessions in the salt. Make hay while the sun shines, or while the fish are there is the order of the day! I do love the Saltwater fishing now since adopting LRF and HRF, it's hard not to when you are catching fish session after session while the bait anglers are struggling even though the fish are there. Patterning is key, and giving the fish what they want in the way they want makes the difference to catching and blanking. There's still a lot of learning to do, and still a fair bit of fishing left this year so I'll keep fishing and reporting as long as possible from the Salt until such times as a full switch to coarse fishing for a while is necessary.
With the onset of autumn I had envisaged an early switch to Coarse fishing, but it looks like that has changed a bit, with the results we have been getting in the last few sessions in the salt. Make hay while the sun shines, or while the fish are there is the order of the day! I do love the Saltwater fishing now since adopting LRF and HRF, it's hard not to when you are catching fish session after session while the bait anglers are struggling even though the fish are there. Patterning is key, and giving the fish what they want in the way they want makes the difference to catching and blanking. There's still a lot of learning to do, and still a fair bit of fishing left this year so I'll keep fishing and reporting as long as possible from the Salt until such times as a full switch to coarse fishing for a while is necessary.
Thursday, 18 August 2011
Big Pig!
We've been waiting for another opportunity to venture out on the Kayaks my friends and I, and yesterday morning we took a chance on the weather and got afloat again. We were a duo for this trip, myself and Mr B, and the target was Wrasse, hopefully as big as possible !
Upon arrival conditions didn't look too bad in the bay we were launching from, but once afloat and reaching the boundaries of the bay we were met with some swell. It didn't seem too bad so we made our way towards the area we intended to fish. As the tide pushed in, it brought with it some larger swells, sometimes probably topping four foot, which made the fishing quite difficult, but despite this we carried on. Persistance paid off and eventually I managed to land a small Pollock, not the target species but a result never the less, next I hooked a small Wrasse, of which bites from these were plentiful but with only the one hook up, so they were playing hardball and using the conditions to spite us eh? Again perserverance rewarded me with a better and harder fighting fish. At first I thought I had a good wrasse but it turned out to be Bass of around 2lbs. All the fish falling to a gold legend Rockvibe fished on a Carolina rig.
My companion and I had all the while been targeting different areas to one another, with Mr B focusing on some deeper water. I had just taken a break to re tackle after a loss and turned around to see My friend well and truly bent into a serious fish. His HPR was doing battle with an unseen monster so I turned my boat around and began to paddle over to him to lend a hand. Now let me tell you, this fish was doing some seious crash diving in it's attempts to reach sanctuary back on the bottom, some 30ft below! Just before I reached him, which took a few minutes, I watched him net a good fish, not sure if it was a Pollock or a Wrasse, I called and asked what it was? "A Wrasse" he stated with a big grin on his face!
I pulled alongside and stared unbelievingly at the net, and laying in the bottom was a very big Pig!
The fish was accurately weighed and after the net was deducted weighed in at 4lb 6oz and was an absolute beast of a fish! Now Mr B is six foot two, ( and eyes of blue! ) with hands like clubs, but this fish still looks big in the pictures despite the ample frame of my friend, so you can see it is a genuinely big fish...It doesn't look like it but we were riding some good swells while trying to get the pictures of this magnificent creature, so getting reasonable photo's was a result in itself here.
Well done to my good friend and well deserved, ( even if it was caught on a metal ;) ! ) and it also means we have actually managed to pin down an area where we might get some more fish of this stamp or bigger, it comes as no surprise though really as we thought this spot had all the hallmarks of a big Pig producing area. All thats left is to work on achieving the target of presenting the lures effectively to them and catching them consistently if possible...
Not long after this conditions became too much and so it was time to call it a day, just riding the swell to dismount on the shore was a trick in itself but we manged it with no mis haps thankfully!
Upon arrival conditions didn't look too bad in the bay we were launching from, but once afloat and reaching the boundaries of the bay we were met with some swell. It didn't seem too bad so we made our way towards the area we intended to fish. As the tide pushed in, it brought with it some larger swells, sometimes probably topping four foot, which made the fishing quite difficult, but despite this we carried on. Persistance paid off and eventually I managed to land a small Pollock, not the target species but a result never the less, next I hooked a small Wrasse, of which bites from these were plentiful but with only the one hook up, so they were playing hardball and using the conditions to spite us eh? Again perserverance rewarded me with a better and harder fighting fish. At first I thought I had a good wrasse but it turned out to be Bass of around 2lbs. All the fish falling to a gold legend Rockvibe fished on a Carolina rig.
My companion and I had all the while been targeting different areas to one another, with Mr B focusing on some deeper water. I had just taken a break to re tackle after a loss and turned around to see My friend well and truly bent into a serious fish. His HPR was doing battle with an unseen monster so I turned my boat around and began to paddle over to him to lend a hand. Now let me tell you, this fish was doing some seious crash diving in it's attempts to reach sanctuary back on the bottom, some 30ft below! Just before I reached him, which took a few minutes, I watched him net a good fish, not sure if it was a Pollock or a Wrasse, I called and asked what it was? "A Wrasse" he stated with a big grin on his face!
I pulled alongside and stared unbelievingly at the net, and laying in the bottom was a very big Pig!
The fish was accurately weighed and after the net was deducted weighed in at 4lb 6oz and was an absolute beast of a fish! Now Mr B is six foot two, ( and eyes of blue! ) with hands like clubs, but this fish still looks big in the pictures despite the ample frame of my friend, so you can see it is a genuinely big fish...It doesn't look like it but we were riding some good swells while trying to get the pictures of this magnificent creature, so getting reasonable photo's was a result in itself here.
Well done to my good friend and well deserved, ( even if it was caught on a metal ;) ! ) and it also means we have actually managed to pin down an area where we might get some more fish of this stamp or bigger, it comes as no surprise though really as we thought this spot had all the hallmarks of a big Pig producing area. All thats left is to work on achieving the target of presenting the lures effectively to them and catching them consistently if possible...
Not long after this conditions became too much and so it was time to call it a day, just riding the swell to dismount on the shore was a trick in itself but we manged it with no mis haps thankfully!
4lb 6oz, A genuine big Rockfish
Sunday, 14 August 2011
Sakura Stingray SGS 702 M
I've been meaning to review this rod for a while now, I took a punt in buying it when I first started fishing with the soft plastics at the beginning of the year, and Im pleased to say it is serving me very well.
At seven feet in length and built on a nice slim dark blue and grey blank, when coupled with a 2500 or 3000 sized reel it feels light and well balanced in the hand. The balance point when set up with a reel is just in the centre of the front screw down winch grip. The taper on the 5-21 gram rated blank is super fast and initially the rod feels very stiff and capable of working hard lures effectively. Despite the stiff feel, the tip bends very nicely and progressively through to the middle of the rod where the super stiff butt takes over and gives the rod some real power for dealing with bigger fish. Feedback when working both hard and soft lures is good, the tip, although stiff, is sensitive and when fishing for Bass there are no issues with feeling exactly what is going on at the other end as the the fish bites the lure, I can most of the time, tell exactly when to strike. The rod works very well with soft plastics fished Texas and Carolina styles and plenty of feedback can be felt when making bottom contact. I must admit to having some issues when fishing for Wrasse in the beginning, I just did not seem to be able to read the Wrasse bites and failed miserably to hook up. Of course at first I thought perhaps the rod wasn't right for the job and that the tip may be too stiff, but eventually and predictably it turned out to be my lack of experience in fishing for the species that was the problem, and I have now taken a good few Wrasse on this rod and in fact I would say it is ideal as it has plenty of stopping power for when they are diving hard towards any structure. You cannot use too soft a rod for these fish and truthfully I would not want to go any lighter than this rod for fish of even half a pound as they would easily get the upper hand on any lesser tool!
So onto the build and finish of the Stingray.
Understated it is not! it has quite a 'blingey' finish compared to some other models on the market but it is quite tasteful and I like it, I've always had a thing for slightly overstated rods and I like contrasting whippings like the gold and silver ones that are featured throughout on the Stingray. The EVA handle is of the Fuji IPS type but used in reverse here with a matching winch down reel fixing finished with an aluminium ( i think ) collar as is the EVA butt.
Rings are Fuji SIC single leg throughout and each ring whipping is finished in black thread with the silver and gold tipping. There is also a nice ( and blingey!) woven carbon effect feature on the butt section next to the reel seat, this contrasts nicely with the metallic blue finish on this section of the rod, the tip section being in plain un-ground grey carbon.
Thats it really, there's not much more to say about the rod except that as a tool to do a job it does it well, and at a reasonable price too. I am extremely pleased with mine and have caught many many fish on it this year so far and I have no designs on changing it at the moment. I am not known for my ability to look after my equipment and so far it's standing up well to the abuse I give it, having had a few knocks in my clumsy hands! To summarise I would say this is a great HRF rod, especially for the newcomer, it's well finished, durable and does the job perfectly well.
At seven feet in length and built on a nice slim dark blue and grey blank, when coupled with a 2500 or 3000 sized reel it feels light and well balanced in the hand. The balance point when set up with a reel is just in the centre of the front screw down winch grip. The taper on the 5-21 gram rated blank is super fast and initially the rod feels very stiff and capable of working hard lures effectively. Despite the stiff feel, the tip bends very nicely and progressively through to the middle of the rod where the super stiff butt takes over and gives the rod some real power for dealing with bigger fish. Feedback when working both hard and soft lures is good, the tip, although stiff, is sensitive and when fishing for Bass there are no issues with feeling exactly what is going on at the other end as the the fish bites the lure, I can most of the time, tell exactly when to strike. The rod works very well with soft plastics fished Texas and Carolina styles and plenty of feedback can be felt when making bottom contact. I must admit to having some issues when fishing for Wrasse in the beginning, I just did not seem to be able to read the Wrasse bites and failed miserably to hook up. Of course at first I thought perhaps the rod wasn't right for the job and that the tip may be too stiff, but eventually and predictably it turned out to be my lack of experience in fishing for the species that was the problem, and I have now taken a good few Wrasse on this rod and in fact I would say it is ideal as it has plenty of stopping power for when they are diving hard towards any structure. You cannot use too soft a rod for these fish and truthfully I would not want to go any lighter than this rod for fish of even half a pound as they would easily get the upper hand on any lesser tool!
So onto the build and finish of the Stingray.
Understated it is not! it has quite a 'blingey' finish compared to some other models on the market but it is quite tasteful and I like it, I've always had a thing for slightly overstated rods and I like contrasting whippings like the gold and silver ones that are featured throughout on the Stingray. The EVA handle is of the Fuji IPS type but used in reverse here with a matching winch down reel fixing finished with an aluminium ( i think ) collar as is the EVA butt.
Rings are Fuji SIC single leg throughout and each ring whipping is finished in black thread with the silver and gold tipping. There is also a nice ( and blingey!) woven carbon effect feature on the butt section next to the reel seat, this contrasts nicely with the metallic blue finish on this section of the rod, the tip section being in plain un-ground grey carbon.
Thats it really, there's not much more to say about the rod except that as a tool to do a job it does it well, and at a reasonable price too. I am extremely pleased with mine and have caught many many fish on it this year so far and I have no designs on changing it at the moment. I am not known for my ability to look after my equipment and so far it's standing up well to the abuse I give it, having had a few knocks in my clumsy hands! To summarise I would say this is a great HRF rod, especially for the newcomer, it's well finished, durable and does the job perfectly well.
Sunday, 7 August 2011
Uncharted Territory.
August..., this time last year things were looking a bit gloomy on the coast, we were still Fly fishing then, but the fish and the weather were just not playing ball, and so we went and did some Coarse fishing instead to fill the time until we could get back out in the salt again.
The trouble was that the freshwater fishing became rather absorbing and we kind of forgot about the Bass and the Saltwater fishing. I did have one or two more goes in mid October with a couple of pleasing results on the Fly, but that was it for the year. This year, we are endeavouring to pursue the Saltwater fishing for as long as possible. Things are tough at the moment, We are still catching Bass on the soft plastics, but the catches are dwindling numbers wise as well as in size. This may be for many reasons, one of which is the heavy netting that the Island has suffered this year, there seems to be nets everywhere, and many Anglers have commented on local forums on this. The other reason may well be that we are just targeting the wrong marks at the moment. We have of course been spoilt by the soft plastics, they have been so effective as to be unreal at times, and naturally when this happens you begin to take it for granted that it will always be like that on every session. Of course without trying to sound conceited, we have to fish them in the correct way on any given venue depending on what is demanded from it, and we have to find the venues and the fish in the first place, so there is still a lot of hard work before we can reap the rewards. When all that comes together it can be almost spectacular, not to mention addictive. The Wrasse have been an added bonus, the fact that they will aggressively hit and take lures, far more so than passively fishing bait for them is not only a tremendous eye opener but it adds another dimension to the lure fishing. Then there is a whole world of mini species to go at, from Scorpions to small wrasse and Pollock, Bream and Garfish, Mackerel...so much fun to be had. The fishing really has been non stop this year, but at some point it must come to an end, either of it's own natural accord or when I decide that it's time. My mind is beginning to drift, as it so often does..! I still look forward to doing some Coarse fishing during the Autumn and Winter, and having pushed the boundaries of the sea fishing so hard this year in all honesty I am almost ready for a change...but not quite yet.
There are still a good few weeks left yet to finish off the year in the salt, the rest of this month and probably all of next. As I said this period will be new and uncharted territory, and talk is of another run of good Bass during this period, but we shall wait and see what happens....
Until then, thanks for reading.
The trouble was that the freshwater fishing became rather absorbing and we kind of forgot about the Bass and the Saltwater fishing. I did have one or two more goes in mid October with a couple of pleasing results on the Fly, but that was it for the year. This year, we are endeavouring to pursue the Saltwater fishing for as long as possible. Things are tough at the moment, We are still catching Bass on the soft plastics, but the catches are dwindling numbers wise as well as in size. This may be for many reasons, one of which is the heavy netting that the Island has suffered this year, there seems to be nets everywhere, and many Anglers have commented on local forums on this. The other reason may well be that we are just targeting the wrong marks at the moment. We have of course been spoilt by the soft plastics, they have been so effective as to be unreal at times, and naturally when this happens you begin to take it for granted that it will always be like that on every session. Of course without trying to sound conceited, we have to fish them in the correct way on any given venue depending on what is demanded from it, and we have to find the venues and the fish in the first place, so there is still a lot of hard work before we can reap the rewards. When all that comes together it can be almost spectacular, not to mention addictive. The Wrasse have been an added bonus, the fact that they will aggressively hit and take lures, far more so than passively fishing bait for them is not only a tremendous eye opener but it adds another dimension to the lure fishing. Then there is a whole world of mini species to go at, from Scorpions to small wrasse and Pollock, Bream and Garfish, Mackerel...so much fun to be had. The fishing really has been non stop this year, but at some point it must come to an end, either of it's own natural accord or when I decide that it's time. My mind is beginning to drift, as it so often does..! I still look forward to doing some Coarse fishing during the Autumn and Winter, and having pushed the boundaries of the sea fishing so hard this year in all honesty I am almost ready for a change...but not quite yet.
There are still a good few weeks left yet to finish off the year in the salt, the rest of this month and probably all of next. As I said this period will be new and uncharted territory, and talk is of another run of good Bass during this period, but we shall wait and see what happens....
Until then, thanks for reading.
Saturday, 30 July 2011
Time to Teach!
It's the summer holidays and the kids have broken up from school....what a nightmare! Lucky old Teachers eh? Now it's my turn to become a Teacher, because my kids want to go fishing and good old Dad has been promising them that he will take them during the holidays, so it's time to make good on my promise and do just that. The trouble is that a lot of what I do in my 'normal' fishing these days really is just not suitable for me to include them in at the moment. Often I am either climbing down cliffs, deep wading, or out in the Kayak in pursuit of my quarry, not really the sort of thing that young children want to be doing! I'm sure they would love it really but obviously their safety as well as enjoyment is of paramount importance, and for that reason I will be changing tack a little and I am going to take them Coarse fishing instead. A lot safer, a lot more comfortable and a darn site easier for them to learn the ropes and enjoy what they are doing, and of course a change for me is as good as a rest! I'm looking forward to it, I love the Coarse fishing but prefer to pursue it in the winter months when things are looking rather more bleak out on the coast, and turning out to fish on a cold dark winters night isn't so appealing as it is during the lovely long, light, warm days of summer. Call me a coward, put me in the MEOW (making excuses or whining) club, but honestly and truthfully I want to still enjoy my fishing so the arrangement suits me just fine. I will still be challenging myself by setting myself some targets for the winter, just the same as I do in the summer. This year I really want to concentrate on the Rivers, for Chub and Roach, but more on that later ad nearer the time. At the moment it's all about the kids and securing their future as Anglers, not that I would force them to follow after me, but one of my boys is already a reasonably accomplished angler and keen as mustard and the other is also looking like joining his brother, their two sisters are also happy to go fishing whenever Dad can take them as well so it all works out nicely and it's their choice. My job is to make sure they enjoy the experience, and naturally myself and their Mum are proud to see them doing well and enjoying themselves, what more could you ask?
So expect a little bit of a mixed Blog for a while, because I will still be doing my own stuff on the coast in between when I can, but obviously not quite as much, and I hope those who read or follow my witterings enjoy reading the Coarse stuff as much as the Saltwater.In the meantime here's a pic of a Bass I took the other night, along with a Wrasse and Mackerel and a lost Bass as well, Hrf certainly served up some variety that evening and it goes to show that not just Wrasse are on the menu...
Wednesday, 27 July 2011
'Quick' Kayak session
Another quick session, this time on the Kayak at a venue I have been keen to fish for a while to explore the Wrasse potential. Initial results were very promising with plenty of bites despite a difficult drift, resulting in 3 Wrasse boated along with a School Bass all in about an hour and a half. Lots of ground to go at and I would be staggered if there were'nt some biggies lurking down in the depths...
Also first time I have caught on paddle tails, Reins Rockvibes seem to work well here.
Also first time I have caught on paddle tails, Reins Rockvibes seem to work well here.
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