After
acquiring a little green rod from my brothers bedroom at an early age, I recall
nicking a slice of bread and a chunk of cheese from my mum and going to the
stream at the end of my road and catching my first chub. The feel of the rod
bending and line stripping from the reel was unlike anything I had ever
experienced. I think I knew there and then this was going to be a regular
feature in my Life. Of course there was no way that I could predict where I
would be in 30 years time and if you had told me then I just wouldn't have
believed it anyway… Stalking chub, rudd, roach and barbel on the Thames cuts was the beginning of my journey, now at the age of 35 I live in Dorset and fish mainly in salt water I moved to Poole in 2009 after a fairly crazy 10 years in London working full time as a chef and fishing Canvey Island and the Thames estuary on my nights off. This had its ups and downs but working alongside some great people I got to learn so much about food and of course the vast array of seafood that our shores and seas have on offer. Inevitably I got to learn how destructive our need for these resources had become and what an impact this had had on our seas in the last century. I have spent the last 6 years growing most of my own food and of course adding the odd fishy to the plate. I can no longer be involved with the catering industry as I can see what an impact this has had on our environment. Anyway fishing.. Concentrate James, vent frustrations later!!!
After moving to Poole alongside renovating my first home I set about exploring my local fishing ground walking the beaches on low spring tides looking for features and possible bait collecting areas. By the end of last year I was getting involved in some dream sessions one of which I landed and returned between 30 and 40 bass up to 4lb in about 7 hours all caught on lug worm dug earlier that day… I can remember the lack of sleep that night, it had been frantic fishing a deserted beach in a strong SW gale something I was fairly new to but experiencing what could be caught after a good blow I was keen to try fishing during one. It was such a buzz with rain and sand pouring down the beach and some big waves for my shallow local bay not to mention I was on my own on a 4-mile stretch of sand. As amazing as my night had been my sea fishing practice was under constant tweaking and the use of my bass rods and multipliers was about to change radically. I’m not saying a 5lb bass is a crap fight on an average beach caster set-up but once properly hooked on 15lb line and a 2/0 hook the chances of any angler landing the fish is fairly high. Coming from a course fishing background I wanted to go lighter, try giving the fish the advantage and get better scraps thus improving my skills and fulfilling my need for change. It had also come to my attention the major advances that had been seen in the lure-fishing world over the past few years. I was hearing of great mixed catches from certain devotees. This appealed to me mainly due to the light gear that was in use but also the opening up of more daytime action as my average bait session usually began after dark finishing off in the early hours of the morning. It seemed most modern lure fishing was also a much more active pursuit covering lots of ground instead of sitting in a beach shelter all night in the same spot.
I
knew very little about lures apart from a quick flirt with piking as a
youngster and the obvious mackerel bashing that took place most of the year
along the infamous Chesil beach. With the wealth of knowledge online nowadays
it was easy to start reading up on the subject and start planning my lighter
approach. 8 months down the line and how things have changed for me. No more
heavy luggage, no more bait digging and lots more fish of variety along marks
that would have been inaccessible fishing bait tactics.
Part
of my reason for compiling this blog (besides how much I love reading others)
is because I now realise how daunting it can be taking this step especially
with no prior experience. With such a vast array of rods classes, line weights
and lures of various styles, colours and sizes it can be confusing to say the
least and potentially a waste of your hard earned money if you start out with
the wrong equipment.
Obviously
I aim to document my sessions for personal reasons but also so friends and
family can see what I'm doing on my days out and hopefully they can begin to
understand why they see so little of me nowadays. I also hope this can become a
handy resource for anyone embarking on a similar passage into modern lure
fishing. I'm not saying I'm an expert, far from, but as my confidence grows it
would be a bonus to help others avoid some common mistakes made by myself and
other novices in this field. So without further ado, my blog
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