On my last day off I fancied a wee roadtrip with my girl and decided to drive down to Lochaline as the weather was nice.
Its been a while since I was there last and to be honest I kinda hoped for some similar action with coalies to last time... Thus I picked up a couple LRF rods and my hardcase full of mini-topwater lures and off we went...
Since the weather was decent I was also thinking to get some good footage of them as I didn't film them last time I was there.. If that didn't work I had a plan B of targeting wrasse on the deep pier and finally put to use some of the gear a Japanese friend send me back in Spring...
On arrival conditions looked perfect although the wind was stronger than expected. Straight away I started casting some metals about but it soon became apparent that the fish weren't there..
I persisted but to no avail.. A bit disappointed decided to stop for a break and a picnic and then went to the other pier for Plan B...
I prepped the two rods and put on the little sinkers my friend sent me. They are used in a system similar to gliding kabura where the weight is movable and the hook/lure has more freedom to move and its mainly used for bream fishing (Kurodai-chinu). I rigged one with a 2" gulp Sandworm on a #6 inline (plugging single) chinu hook and the other with a 2" Jackall Peke Ring just to see if the fish showed a preference. Glad they didn't and we soon started getting lots of bites from the wrasse near the legs of the pier. I got the first one up while Claire was struggling with her timing on the strike. A few more fish followed to me and noticing that they liked a longer pause I told her to cut down on the jiggling...😁
Soon after she hooked up to a little female cuckoo wrasse.. I left my rod down to get pics/unhook etc and when I went back to pick up my rod I realised I had a small fish on.. I brought it up and was pleasantly surprised to see a Leopard Spotted goby with my Peke Ring in its mouth! A first time capture for me...
We kept at it but after missing a strong bite and getting a couple more small cuckoos we decided to call it a day and head home..
It was unfortunate that the vast shoals of coalies weren't there as last time but it was still an enjoyable little session.
Regarding the presentation, the weight is not lead or tungsten and sinks slower but it allows more movement and better feel to the lure. Also I had only one snag while fishing amidst thick structure and I'm sure this is due to the sinker having a slower sink-rate. I could have used smaller hooks to fish more effectively for the little fish but I was hoping on getting a better wrasse out.
Really gutted for not encountering the coalies again though and Im not sure why they werent about. Not that many of them up here as well right now and it might be a seasonal thing.. Some other time hopefully...
Anyway I'm sure ill get to use them again soon as I got holidays coming up and going to Ireland at the end of the month!
Tight Lines!
Gear used
Rod: MajorCraft Crostage CRK-T782AJI
Reel: Shimano Stradic 1000Fc
Mainline: Unitika Night Game PE 0.3
Leader: Toray Excellent fluorocarbon 6.8lbs
Lures: Berkley 2" Sandworm, Jackall Peke Ring
Its been a while since I was there last and to be honest I kinda hoped for some similar action with coalies to last time... Thus I picked up a couple LRF rods and my hardcase full of mini-topwater lures and off we went...
Since the weather was decent I was also thinking to get some good footage of them as I didn't film them last time I was there.. If that didn't work I had a plan B of targeting wrasse on the deep pier and finally put to use some of the gear a Japanese friend send me back in Spring...
On arrival conditions looked perfect although the wind was stronger than expected. Straight away I started casting some metals about but it soon became apparent that the fish weren't there..
I persisted but to no avail.. A bit disappointed decided to stop for a break and a picnic and then went to the other pier for Plan B...
I prepped the two rods and put on the little sinkers my friend sent me. They are used in a system similar to gliding kabura where the weight is movable and the hook/lure has more freedom to move and its mainly used for bream fishing (Kurodai-chinu). I rigged one with a 2" gulp Sandworm on a #6 inline (plugging single) chinu hook and the other with a 2" Jackall Peke Ring just to see if the fish showed a preference. Glad they didn't and we soon started getting lots of bites from the wrasse near the legs of the pier. I got the first one up while Claire was struggling with her timing on the strike. A few more fish followed to me and noticing that they liked a longer pause I told her to cut down on the jiggling...😁
Soon after she hooked up to a little female cuckoo wrasse.. I left my rod down to get pics/unhook etc and when I went back to pick up my rod I realised I had a small fish on.. I brought it up and was pleasantly surprised to see a Leopard Spotted goby with my Peke Ring in its mouth! A first time capture for me...
We kept at it but after missing a strong bite and getting a couple more small cuckoos we decided to call it a day and head home..
It was unfortunate that the vast shoals of coalies weren't there as last time but it was still an enjoyable little session.
 |
| A few around this size.. pure fun! |
 |
| A very effective presentation. |
 |
| Oh hello! |
 |
| Glad she didn't blank! |
 |
| They go so well on the LRF gear! |
 |
| Another predator! |
 |
| Fishing duo... |
 |
| The gift pack! |
Really gutted for not encountering the coalies again though and Im not sure why they werent about. Not that many of them up here as well right now and it might be a seasonal thing.. Some other time hopefully...
Anyway I'm sure ill get to use them again soon as I got holidays coming up and going to Ireland at the end of the month!
Tight Lines!
Gear used
Rod: MajorCraft Crostage CRK-T782AJI
Reel: Shimano Stradic 1000Fc
Mainline: Unitika Night Game PE 0.3
Leader: Toray Excellent fluorocarbon 6.8lbs
Lures: Berkley 2" Sandworm, Jackall Peke Ring
Just read your article. Good one. I liked it. Keep going. you are a best writer your site is very useful and informative thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteMy blog: best saltwater spinning reel