Looking back its hard to be too
critical of my past years performance, but like any enthusiastic angler the
mind never stops working. Whatever level you're at, there's always room for
some improvement, for new skills to be added and for accomplished ones to be honed.
It’s been almost 2 years now
since I departed from the world of live bait and since my first catch on an
artificial, my love for catching fish on lures grows ever
stronger.
In retrospect, if there’s one thing I could have worked
harder at last year, it would have been to add a few more bass to the score
sheet. I suppose starting the year with the objective of nailing some big
wrasse got in the way to an extent, but there was probably the odd morning
where I could have sacrificed those extra couple of hours in bed, got myself up
and nailed me a bar of silver or two as well. Even as I contemplate my plans
for the coming year, I find myself once again obsessing about a 5lb+ Ballan,
and whilst I was more than satisfied with my fish in the 3-4lb mark last year,
I fully acknowledge that much of my time will again be spent wading through the
kelp and looking to make contact with what I hope will be that fish of a
lifetime.
Besides the lack of achievement on the bass front there were
some rewards that I shouldn't forget too quickly. Some personal bests were a
highlight making for some unforgettable days fishing. A Ballan wrasse close to
4lb, a mackerel of almost 40cm and a few mullet up to the 5lb mark.
There has
also been the rebirth of my freshwater fishing, awakening the memories of
where it all began as a child. Re-approaching the traditional methods I once
employed with my new found skills has also lead to a PB pike, once again on an
unforgettable day and putting my 2-7g rod to its ultimate test so far.
So anyway, yet another year vanishes into memories and plans
for the future are well under way. As my experience builds I am planning to put
some work into my tackle page here on the blog. I will add some diagrams and
explanations about rigging methods, rods, reels, braid, lures, terminal tackle,
luggage and accessories. Where tackle has been tested over a sufficient period
of time I will also add some reviews from myself and Stuart reflecting on our
own personal experiences with those items.
As for my tackle selection this year, much will remain the
same but after lightening the lure collection via an eBay auction or two, a
much more slender selection will hopefully cover me over most situations. My bass and wrasse lures, most of which are
proven catchers remain mostly in packets accompanied by a box of jig-heads, hooks
and a few metals. I also have a few general purpose boxes of 3”, 2” and 1”
lures which will be used for salt and freshwater alike along with a few packets
of larger paddle-tails and creatures namely for Mr pike. I'm hoping my trimmed down
kit will make lure selection easier on the day and will aid me when swapping
kit-bag contents in between fresh and saltwater sessions, not to mention
lightening the load and giving me more room for essentials like food and water.
Anyway, enough ranting on about me and my OCD, what about
some fishing?! So far I've only managed one session this year. That saw
me taking advantage of a long awaited window amidst the rather dank and windy
conditions that have so far dominated this year. With choppy seas and rivers
still seriously flooded it was off to the lake for a couple of hours to take advantage
of what had turned out to be a pretty nice, sunny afternoon. After a trek around some of my usual spots I
was happy when I quickly connected with this small but energetic pikelet.
First fish of the year caught on a 3” slit shad, one of my
latest additions towards the end of 2013. Awesome little lures with a great
action and at a decent price, I'm thinking the wrasse and bass are bound to like
these too.
They seem pretty durable so will be my replacement for the more
expensive One Up Shads which as much as I love just don’t last long enough
when you add forests of kelp and a few feisty wrasse to the equation. Hopefully
a scenario I will be testing out in the near future.
Anyway, that’s all for now.. Wishing you a happy new year and some great fishing for you all!! Thanks for reading as always..
