If only I had more time...

Well the weather has been ok for the past week, but due to work, I had only enough time for very short sessions... Apart from that though, I saw action every time and really enjoyed the fishing.
On the first day I went to a hard to reach spot that seemed 'alive ' with wrasse as I could see them moving around at low tide. The access to the water was difficult as I could barely reach with my landing net but it was worth a shot.. Although I could see plenty of wrasse, they didn't show much interest in my offerings and I had to work hard to get one to bite.. I finally got a pounder on a 4.5" Big Bite Shaking Squirel on a Jobee weedless jighead that came relatively easy.

The next day I visited my usual mark near home that never fails to give some fish and managed to get a good fish of 1.7kg. I was fishing with a mate from work who was curious about my catches and the gear used and wanted to tag along. I got the fish on a very slow retrieve, using a carolina rig with a 3" Keitech live Impact. The fish took the bait shortly after the drop and put up a very good fight, albeit after halfway in the retrieve!  My mate got one wrasse follow his Berkley Gulp Sandeel all the way to his feet! The fish bit the lure but somehow didn't get hooked... I couldn't believe my eyes both because of the wrasse's aggression and that it didn't got caught.

Today we visited a new mark on the north side of the island where my mate told me there are strong currents and a deep rocky bottom. He had got good results fishing with bait but never got a wrasse there.. We arrived at the mark and it was truly as described... A wild place, with waves and foaming water, strong winds and rocks everywhere.. I decided to use a heavier sinker on my line but stick with the Carolina rig as its a fine searcher method... The lure used was a 3" Keitech Swing Impact that is becoming my go-to lure on new areas. I started fishing the more sheltered side of the mark but got no bites there, while I could see a reef  about 20m away on the rough side. The wind was making the cast very difficult (a downside of using braid) but I managed one right on the edge of the reef and after a couple turns of the handle felt a good fish on. After a hard fight where the fish got me snagged twice, I managed to land her. She was smaller than I thought about 3lbs but a really beautiful fish.

The fish have been really up for it lately and I have been trying other methods as well, but to be honest the carolina and texas rigs rule! I will hopefully have some nice weather on my day off so that I can do some proper sessions...

Thanks for reading and tight lines!


Gear used.
Rod: Shimano Exage BX STC Mini Tele Spin, 3-14g 2.40m
Reel: Mitchell Mag Pro 1000
Mainline: Spiderwire ultracast invisibraid, 0.10mm,
Leader: 2m Trilene fluorocarbon, 15lb connected by Peixet knot.
Rig: various
lure: various

Wrasse on fast retrieves.

Today was a beautiful day without strong winds, perfect for wrasse fishing but unfortunately I was working... I managed to get a break around 14:00 and I was off, heading for a new mark that I had scouted before and seemed feasibly accessible! After a tricky descent, I was left looking in awe the view in front of me.. Sheer drop offs, deep gullies and plenty of rocks.. The kind of place that you know there will be fish under your feet! And thus I flicked a texas rigged 3" Keitech Swing Impact with a 7g bullet weight, literally under my feet... As soon as the lure touched bottom  I got the first taps and tried to set the hook but missed.. I let the lure touch bottom again and after feeling another tap, I started a moderate retrieve (as if the lure was trying to flee) and got a solid hook up and a powerful run from a decent fish. After some determined lunges and runs I managed to net a nice wrasse that got the hook wedged so hard, I had to use the pliers to take it out..

The first spot

At my feet!

 

After that fish I kept working the same spot but got no more interest, so I moved to the other side of the headland where there was lots of huge boulders and again very deep water. I changed lure to a Megabass Dot Worm and started bumping the bottom. I got no bites and then tried a faster steady retrieve near the bottom, that resulted in a violent take and the second wrasse of the day, after a very energetic fight again (cant get enough of this!)..

 

 

For the second time the spot dried up after the fish, and I moved towards the end of the headland. I changed lure to a 3" Ecogear Paramax and started working it near the bottom with twitches and jerks. As this wasn't proving successful, I tried a faster steady retrieve again and after a few turns of the handle got straight into a fish. Another strong fight but with the same ending nonetheless resulting in a very happy angler! This must be the perfect break from work!

 

To sum up, today the fish were very aggressive something that is definitely caused by the sunny weather and the tide stage (1 hour either side of high tide) but maybe also because of the fish being in spawning mode and very territorial. This can be assumed as every fish caught came from a specific area and there were no more fish coming from the same spot. Moreover, the fish showed a preference for straight and relatively fast retrieves in contrast to the twitched/jerked, bottom bouncing presentations. The lure colour/type seemed insignificant as long as they were around 3" to 4" and retrieved in the way described.

As you can see from the photo, the way up was interesting..

Thanks for reading and tight lines!

 

Gear used:

Rod: Shimano Exage BX STC Mini Tele Spin, 3-14g 2.40m
Reel: Mitchell Mag Pro 1000
Mainline: Spiderwire ultracast invisibraid, 0.10mm,
Leader: 2m Trilene fluorocarbon, 15lb connected by Peixet knot.
Rig: Texas, 7g bullet, hook size 2 Nogales Monster Series Ultra wide gape
lure: Keitech Swing Impact, baby ayu, 3", Megabass Dot Worm, Golden shad, 4", Ecogear Paramax, pearl, 3".



 

 

Another one bites the dust...

I visited again today the yesterday's mark as we had some sunshine in the morning and it was nearing high tide. Expecting similar results, I stuck with the same setup and presentation with the only changes being a heavier weight at 7gr and a 3" Keitech Swing Impact at the business end. The reasons being that the current was a bit stronger today and the fish teared up the Reins Curly curly badly yesterday..
After a while without any bites I persisted and after some lure changes reverted back to the Swing Impact. The weather was cloudy at times but finally it opened up and soon I felt a sharp tap on my line. I thought it was the weight banging on the rocks but just to be sure, I twitched the rod and tightened the line, same tap and now I was getting suspicious.. I let the lure static and after a small twitch I felt a proper bite and weight. Fish on!
A good fight ensued and ended with me slipping the net under a nice wrasse. I got the fish on a shallow rockpool lined with seaweed and after a couple photos released her..

I continued fishing after that and I had again the same taps but the fish only bit the tail of the lure
off without hooking. I put on a new lure and had some tentative bites but by now the sun was gone and the fish seemed less willing to commit. Thus I called it a day and went back to the warmth of my house!
Today the fish were harder to catch and showed the taping behaviour that's been noted by other anglers over the Internet, I think the sun really gets them in an aggressive mood and today the lack of it at times seemed to have affected them.
I cant complain though as I managed to winkle one out!

Tight lines!

Gear used:
Rod: Shimano Exage BX STC Mini Tele Spin, 3-14g 2.40m
Reel: Mitchell Mag Pro 1000
Mainline: Spiderwire ultracast invisibraid, 0.10mm
Rig: carolina, 7g bullet,6mm orange bead, 35cm Trilene  Fluorocarbon, 15lbs
lure: Keitech Swing Impact, baby ayu, 3"