Right, this is probably going to be a bit all over the place
for a while. I've got a lot to get off my chest so for the moment I'm planning
to just waffle and get the organisation part done at a later date. Sounds about
right for me, organisation was never a strong point... Anyway..
As I mentioned before it was earlier on this summer that I
decided to give SW lure fishing a bash. Away went the bass rods and multipliers
and off I went with an old spinning rod, reel and an Ecogear Pocket-in lure kit
I had acquired online. The set-up was a bit 'Blue Peter' to say the least but I
wanted to make sure this style of fishing was up my street before I jumped in
feet first and traded all my bait gear in for a
proper lure set-up. I headed off to a local mark with my good friend and
fishing buddy Stuart Nazer. I met Stu when I first arrived in Poole and being
equally as nuts for fishing as myself we had ended up being full time fishing
companions and he was fully on board to get out and try something new. We both fished 2gram jig heads with 1.5”
grass minnows and within minutes a tiny Pollock had rushed out from beneath my
feet and snatched my lure resulting in a big grin and an even bigger one when
Stu did the same thing minutes later.. We fished for a couple of hours
repeating the process as we moved from mark to mark managing to catch endless little
Pollock and wrasse. My last chuck into the dark before we got back to the car
produced my first little bass on LRF softies... Bonus.... and mission accomplished!!
It was an awesome introduction night that won’t be
forgotten, the next step was to get tackled up properly and do it again.
By the following week
my head was bursting with information about LRF, HRF and soft plastic lures. I
really should have waited a bit longer but after selling a couple of
beach-casters I purchased a Sakura Shinjin 702l 2-7g rod and a Sakura Alpax
2000 reel from Basslures.co.uk.
I wanted
to start as light as possible and an LRF (Light Rock Fishing) set-up looked at
the time the way to go. Not ideal for landing big fish as I was due to find out,
but it was right for the small range of light plastics I had begun with. I also bought another little box of lures
from Delalande which had been recommended to me as the next step up from the
1-2” lures I already had. Great little kits offering you a range of styles and
colours giving you a chance to find your favourites before you go and buy them separately.
So all good, with just the braid to sort a friend at my
local tackle shop had offered me an old spool of 6lb to get me started. Along with
some 4lb mono for leaders I was set to see how far I could push things before
it all got a little too silly...
As is with fishing I pretty much never shut up about it and
the general feedback from anyone I knew in the area varied from good luck to
you’re totally bonkers... Not to mention the funny looks I was getting from the
other bait fishermen rocking up to my usual marks with a little rucksack and a
7’ stick that would probably blow away if I wasn't holding on to it!!
One of the first sessions where I got to test the Sakura we
were lucky enough to be able to target some mackerel that were going nuts at
close range. A few chucks with one of the new Delanlande lures and I was into
my first LRF Mackie.. Oh my god, all hell was breaking loose with my little rod
bending and pumping as the fish went berserk trying to shake the hook... After controlling my fits of laughter dinner
was on the beach and we continued following the fish landing a few more mackerel
and a small bonus bass for me. Awesome sport on light-tackle... Its what I’d
wanted to achieve and things seemed to be progressing nicely.. Cue the first time
I realised I was going to need a different rod.. Seeing what hell the Mackie and
bass had created I was still keen to push things but by now pretty dubious as
to how things would fare...
Sometime the next week I was walking along the beach with my
rod when I spotted some large swirls at the end of a slipway on the incoming
tide. Lots of bait fish were trapped and something big was feeding on them, I
managed a few chucks quite close to them and they didn't seem too bothered and
then bang, fish on... Totally not ready
for it my drag was set a bit tight and after a leap from the water it shot off
at pace snapping my 6lb braid and almost the rod.. Either mullet or bass it was a jaw-dropping
moment, no smiles this time just shame and embarrassment.. I had to face the
facts that I’d got the wrong rod..
The next couple of weeks saw some similar events whilst rock
fishing on the Purbeck's I was managing to handle pollock up to about 3lb but lost
2 decent bass that rose up to snatch my lure then zip off down the ledge
snapping my braid or leader. My set-up just lacked the balls that I needed in
that sort of situation. Stu on the other hand, still with his older heavier rod
was landing the fish he was hooking. With a new set-up in his mind too and after
watching me bumbling around in all sorts of trouble with my rod it was easy for
him to make his mind up on his. He got
himself an 8’6 Lucky Craft ESG 3-27g and I pumped for a still shorter 8’ Major
Craft Crostage 5-28g.. A few more tweaks
saw our collection of Soft plastics take a little boost and we both changed up to
heavier PE braids. Some 10lb Yamatoyo SW PE for me and 12lb Sunline Super PE
for Stu. I think this was the point where everything clicked together, we both
saw our catch rates improve and finally the tackle was meeting our demands. The
PE braids were super fine and smooth enabling you to feel the slightest knock
on-the-drop and our rods had enough backbone to fight a decent bass
if we managed to locate some.
Unfortunately not having planned to record our successes, we did a lot more fishing than photography but here's some photos of when we did have a phone or camera handy... It's definitely in the ruccie for next time!!
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