More boat fishing and flatties on LRF.

Had another trip out on the inflatable, with my fiance this time and we managed to find some good fish yet unfortunately in an area full of seals. Again most fish were shallow (10-20m) and very aggressive, hitting on straight retrieve near the surface. Had a couple boils on a topwater but the most effective lures were 20-30g inchiku like the Duel Salty bait and Hayabusa Kick tail. She also managed a codling on handlined feathers.

Lovely pollock on a lovely day!

Claire's codling..

Hanging by a thread...

Nice bend...

Bingo!

Here's the video.

The good weather has continued and I had a go at LRFing for some flatties down the harbour. They were very keen on the isome baited cheburashkas and I enjoyed their spirited fights on 3lbs fluorocarbon straight through.

Full of character!

Average size.

Unusual colouration on the underside.

There are a couple more nice days on the forecast and I'm planning to go out again before the usual order resumes. This has been a very enjoyable week for sure!

Tight Lines!

Gear used on the boat.
Rod: Tailwalk Saltyshape Dash Power Rock S90H,
Reel: Shimano Stradic Ci4 2500f
Mainline: PE1
Leader: Daiwa Tournament FC fluorocarbon 20lbs
Lures: 20- 30g inchiku jigs

LRF setup
Rod: MajorCraft Solpara SPS-S792M
Reel: Shimano Stradic 1000Fc
Mainline: Toray BAWO superhard upgrade Fluorocarbon 3.9lbs
Lures: mainly Isome on 3g cheburashka and #8 hooks.

Light Shore Jigging setup completed...

Ive recently got a Light shore Jigging rod (Major Craft Solpara SPS-1002LSJ) in order to help me target the bigger fish from the rougher marks here. The plan was to use it with my trusty Abu Garcia Soron 40 Stx but in truth the reel is showing its years of hard use (and abuse!) lately even though its been serviced fully (not a very good idea in the end). Thus I was on the lookout for a powerful reel in a similar size and weight to the Soron. I could well get something larger but I'm intending to get a new 10-30g rod soon and would like to use the reel on both rods. After a bit of searching around I decided to settle on a new Shimano SW Biomaster 4000XG from Japan that cost much less than even the cheapest price from European e-shops. I received the reel on Wednesday and spooled it straight away with the YGK G-Soul X3 PE1.5. This may not be the best braid around but I couldn't pass on its price (around 9 euros), besides I also have a dedicated jigging braid to fall back to (YGK G-Soul Super Jigman X4) if things don't workout.

New shiny toy!

More recently I have bought some Hayabusa Kick tail inchiku jigs as they are of a similar style to the Duel Salty Bait and could be very useful for sorting out the pickier fish especially in the deeper marks.

On Thursday I decided to try out the new setup and visited one of my favourite Northern marks after a slow session in a kelpy bay. The day was rainy but with little wind and a neap tide. The latter made fishing on this mark much easier as there was less current and the fish seemed to be liking it! As soon as the Kick tail hit water I was getting bites even before touching bottom. Moreover the fish seemed to be everywhere (!) with some surface activity and I was also getting bites even at distance over relatively clean ground and not just at the usual holding spots (reef, rock base etc). The Kick tail has got a little muppet at the back that has that sway side to side but instead of an offset hook, it has a double assist hook. I had some missed strikes due to the hooks being a bit small in my opinion but then again I didn't snag it!
It didn't take me long to start hooking up though and I had two decent fish over 5lbs that gave a very good scrap! On the second one I thought I had a seal/tuna again...! After catching a good few fish on the inchikus, I switched to softplastics and then hardbaits and had success with them all but not as much as the inchiku.
 The reel performed very well with effortless winding of the fish from the depths and no trouble with wind-knots etc while the casts were superb. I hope it will continue to do so for a while!
Unfortunately something went wrong with my action cam on the day and Ive got no video from the session, hopefully this wont happen again...

Xrap opens the day...

A nice coalie on the softplastic.

A hungry one hit the DUO...

First decent fish of the day on the Kick Tail.

The Zonk 120 sw...

The little Volkien inchiku.

The second good fish of the day on a softie..

It was interesting to note that the fish were so active at this deeper, 'reefier' mark yet not so much at the shallower 'kelpy' bay I fished earlier that day. Admittedly I was a bit late reaching the first mark and fished some of the incoming tide (soon after the low tide point) instead of my preferred outgoing tide. But nevertheless I don't think it was a coincidence. The weather was textbook pollock-weather (westerly breeze, overcast, wet) and only the tide being a small one seems to be the most significant  factor for the fish feeding activity. I theorise that in shallower waters fish like larger volumes of water pushing in and out the bays, bringing more food, while in the deeper reefs this current can get too much and turn the fish off... More on this soon..
All in all it was a great day out and I really enjoyed my new toys! Definitely onwards and upwards as they say...

Tight lines.
Gear used.
Rod: MajorCraft Solpara SPS-1002LSJ, 3.05m. max 50g
Reel: Shimano SW Biomaster 4000XG
Mainline: YGK G-Soul X3 PE1.5
Leader: Duel Hardcore Powerleader fluorocarbon 20lbs.
Lures: Hayabusa Kick tail 20g and 30g, Volkien Soul Mini battle inchiku, Rapala Xrap, Megabass Zonk 120 SW, Duo Realis Jerkbait 120sp, and slug type soft plastics on darting jigheads.

First fish for 2015!

Today I made my first outing for 2015 and as I wanted guaranteed results I visited Loch Fyne again and expected to have a similar session like last time..
The conditions were almost identical  although the waters were very high and slightly stained after the rains.
I was going to begin with small inchiku jigs (14g) working them on the bottom after filling their muppet with scent. This worked very quickly and I got the first codling of 2015 up. So far everything seemed similar to last time and I had high hopes for the outcome of the session...

The weather has been unreal!

Filling the muppet with scent...

First fish of 2015!

Alas, for the next couple hours I was getting very few tentative bites and only a couple tiny pollock and poor cod to show for my efforts... Moreover due to the strong current and the high water taking my line through rocks and kelp deep down. I lost numerous lures (all my inchikus) and practically emptied my reel of braid!
Disappointed, I walked to the car and picked up my UL dropshot gear with 6lbs fluoro mainline. This setup doesn't cast far really but I hoped that the abrasion resistance of fluorocarbon would help and plus I had no other choice!
I tied a new long dropshot rig with a #8 slim offset hook and a 8g metal pilker for weight. I used various lures, from worms and prawns to paddletails with the latter being more successful at the better fish..
The fish finally started to show towards late afternoon and a couple codling entertained me on the ul gear. Because of the lack in casting distance I wasn't able to target the deeper areas and thus decided to call it a day before 4 o'clock. I new more fish were hanging deep as a fellow angler with much heavier gear and metal jigs, managed some coalies and pollock although he struggled as well..

Even poor cod were few and far between...

Nano pollock..

Better codling showed in late afternoon.

On the prawn..

Good fun on the Ul gear..

This was by far the worst session I ever had in this mark and I believe the most serious reasons for this are the possible emptying of the adjacent fish farm cages (no fish-no feeding-no leftovers) and the stained/high waters due to the heavy rains.. Still it was another spectacular sunny day and getting those few first fish for the year a good start to my 2015 fishing. Moreover its another example of how differently fish can behave in otherwise similar days, with the exception of a couple small factors. Learning every day as they say...

Tight lines and best wishes for a good fishing year in 2015!

Gear used.
Rod:  MC KG Evolution, KGS-832ST 2.53m, 3-15g. Awa Shima Qlite spin, 1-5g, 2.40m
Reel: Shimano Stradic ci4 2500f, Tica Libra 2500SA
Mainline: Sunline Tenya PE 0.7, Sunline FC guide special fluorocarbon, 6lbs
leader: P-line Halo fluorocarbon, 10lbs
lures: 14g inchikus, various worms, prawns, padletails on dropshot.

Madai and 'slow' jigs in rock fishing.

I have been using these jigs for a while now and with excellent results. Below I will give some tips on their use and also a video of how I work them.
There have been more than three years since I first fished in saltwater in the UK and I remember among the first lures that I used were of course metal jigs. In amongst them were some japanese madai jigs that I had also bought as they were all the rage at the time in Greece. I had good results on them with pollock especially on Cumbria's St Bee's head. The years passed and I had almost forgotten about these lures as the more 'normal' jigs were perfectly adequate and more generalised in their targets. Moreover I almost abandoned the heavier gear in favour of LRF/HRF.
It wasn't until I started using smaller bottom/slow jigs in lrf that I thought of giving them a go where distance was needed. I also bough some more of them, intended for use on the lighter gear. Most of them where the easily sourced Duel Salty baits that became a favourite of mine. This jig has an offset hook and a small muppet that I though of replacing it with some Berkley Gulp sandeels that I had knocking about imitating the Americans as they do in bucktailing and jigging.
Now the lure had added scent from the gulp and I also noticed it gave the sandeel a nice wiggle on the retrieve. The fish really showed preference to this presentation and I could even adjust it according to species. For example using  gulp prawns and jerky slow retrieves with long pauses for wrasse, or slim type soft plastics and gulp for more streamlined 'flowing' presentations targeting pollock on steady retrieve.
They are good to be used as they are but I believe the addition of scent/feel with the softplastics/gulp markedly improves their effectiveness. For those jigs that have muppets on (like inchikus, engetsu etc) I fill the muppet with some scent like pro-cure and it works really well on codling especially.
I work them with three types of retrieve as shown in the video and I usually mix n match to see whats best for the day.

Where short bites expected...

Ling are not that uncommon now!

Engulfed!

Codling on the luminous salty bait and gulp, very effective
in deep waters and low light conditions..

A different rigging...

loud colours are good, especially in deeper water.

LRF style...

Adding scent in the muppet is very effective.

Senkos add more weight...

...and do work!

I got reminded today of their effectiveness while fishing in Loch Fyne. There were strong easterly winds and a bright sunny day which put off the fish from feeding and although I tried everything the bites were just not coming.. Caught a few tiddlers early on with the Salty bait, but even that was proving hard to tempt the fish. It was clear that the fish wanted scented lures instead of the usual soft plastics and so I persisted with the Salty/gulp combo hoping that the wind will die down later on and fish would come to the feed.More over codling are tightly shoaled now and if I found the shoal it could be easier to get them due to competition. Another bonus of jigging (even slow type) is that you can cover water fast. Thus I fished all around the harbour with minimal bites until I reached the outside of the wall in the western side that was the most protected area from the wind. The sun was going down and finally the first bites started coming. I then proceeded in catching a fish a cast until sundown! Codling of around the pound mark were attacking my jig and finally provided some fun in a very slow day.

Nice codling from today.

The weather is really going into winter mode now and the fish respond accordingly.I don't seem to get wrasse now and the pollock have quietened down but the codling more than make up for them as they are the mainstay of my fishing now. I'm interested to see how the fishing changes and unfolds for the remainder of my season here.

Tight lines!

Salty Bait does it again.

Lately I have been experimenting with kabura and inchiku type metal jigs for my pollock fishing on the medium gear. Since the fish have started to show up again in numbers and are quite aggressive and competitive, I was thinking that something different may grab their attention.
Moreover besides the visual attraction I wanted to add something for flavour/scent as well, and thus I added some Berkley gulp as trailers to the jig.
The jig used is the Duel Salty Bait 10g, that comes with an offset hook and a rigged muppet. The lure has been successful as it is on pollock, but I wanted to see if Gulp would bring better results.
The first test was on my previous trip to Easdale, where the deep waters, snaggy bottom and strong wind didn't allow me to work my usual metal jigs and softplastics effectively. The Salty Bait on the other hand, casts well, is easy to work and with the addition of the Gulp very effective, as I caught a couple good pollock that almost engulfed the lure!
I added Berkley Gulp Minnows or Sandeels as their slim profile wouldn't affect negatively the jig's action. In truth they enhanced the action and it looks somehow like they're rigged on the cheburashka with an enticing wiggle in straight retrieve. The two ways I worked them are either a straight retrieve with some pauses here and there, or worked on the bottom with a series of abrupt pulls (not jerks!) where the rod is loaded and brings the lure up, and then let it reach bottom again before repeating.
Today I visited Loch Linnhe and I only used this presentation to see if it would work on calmer, clearer water. The casts are really good with this lure and I was able to cover a lot of water quickly and find the fish, that were typically holding near the bottom of the point at the entrance to a deep basin.
They would hit the lures on both types of retrieve, usually after a pause or acceleration and what impressed me was their confidence on the take and usually solid hook-up. Moreover codling seem to like them as well and I would like to try them somewhere that there are larger cod as I think that it can give good results. Below some pics of today's fish and lure used.

Todays presentation.

This one was kept for tea as it engulfed it!

Plumb codling.

Deep hooking...

Even little ones go for it.

Biggest of the day.

I was using my KG Evolution rod today and with its solid tip, I felt every touch and movement on the lure, thus I think its ideal for the method. The fish were mostly coming from distance but as the evening went on they started to move closer to the rocks. I had very good fun catching a good number of them and also losing some that caught me unprepared... More tests will follow but I think its a method/presentation that its worth a look and can turn up unexpected results. I am surprised that shore jigging has caught on so fast in Greece and the Med, while here where the waters and species are very conducive for it, it hasn't. I might look more seriously into it at some later point as I really believe it can throw up some monsters!

Tight lines!

Gear used.
Rod: Majorcraft KG Evolution,KGS-832ST 2.53m, 3-15g
Reel: Shimano Stradic ci4 2500f
Mainline: Daiwa Tournament 8 Accudepth braid 10lbs
leader: YGK Nitlon DFC fluorocarbon, 8lbs.
lures: Duel Salty Bait 10g with Berkley gulp trailer.