A whiff of Summer and time for Light Game!

The temperature has been slowly but steadily rising lately and yesterday I got the chance for an afternoon session on the rocks. Felt like a good opportunity to try out my new Light Game travel rod, the MajorCraft Crostage CRX-784LG. I have been looking for ages into something that could cover a larger variety and weights of light lures than the usual 7ft 0.5-5gr LRF rods as from my experience when holiday fishing you need to be more flexible.
Was on the rocks by about 16:00 and had another hour till high tide. The place was alive with birdlife and I was sure I'd find plenty of coalies to have fun with.
As I was expecting fish to be slightly deeper still, I put on a 13gr Breaden Metalmaru, a prawn imitating lure that casts well and works well with slow retrieve and light jerks. Also, it has a nice fall due to the little spinner at the tail.
Within the first couple casts, I got hit OTD near the bottom! The fish felt heavy and it clearly wasn't the intended target. I seemed to have located a group of medium-sized pollack that would intercept my metal lures (lost the metalmaru on the third fish 😭).  For some reason, fish tend to hit better OTD early on in the season and I find that the fall rate is a very important factor...

A handy little lure for finicky fish.

Seeing that there were larger fish in the area I took out the heavier gear and put on a 30g pink slow jig. I thought that it was still a small profile yet it was a slimmer model and sunk faster than the usual wide slow jigs. I suppose that the faster slow rate along with the pink colour might have put off the fish as I didn't get a single bite after 20mins of covering the same area!
I decided to switch to a more natural coloured (blue) jig, yet heavier (50g) but with a slower fall due to the wide shape. Also, this jig had more action during the retrieve. I was thinking that the most important factor was the slow fall and natural look of the lure and after a few casts over already-covered ground, I got a hit and soon after landed a decent fish.

It's a jungle down there...

After another one on the heavier gear, I decided to switch back to the light rod as its just so much more fun and I was sure that the coalies wouldn't be too far..
After a few more pollock landed and lost I started to get hits up in the water column and towards the end of the retrieve... Finally, the coalies were in and I managed to get a few nice ones!

Note the light lip hook..

Decent sized pollock..

And decent sized coalies...

The rod was made for fish like this one!

Cant wait for surface action!

What surprised me was that most of the fish were neatly hooked on the lips and at times only from one hook of the treble... Most missed hits didn't follow up and also a few fish got unhooked during the fight... Also, plenty of fish still with lice and worms on them...This leads me to believe that the fish though relatively well grouped, weren't actually feeding very aggressively and the 'attractiveness' of the light presentation was what made them commit. Reckon a few more weeks and they will be in proper form!
I have to say that I was very impressed with the rod... Its medium actioned and bends nicely into those better fish while still having a very sensitive tip that lets you know what a 4g blade is doing 20m down. It was more comfortable with metals up to 13g and even though its rated to 15g, its a much slimmer rod and definitely Light Game oriented than for example my KGS-832st.
Can't wait to get it for some adventures back home and elsewhere!
Ill be uploading a video of the day soon where the rod's action can be clearly seen.

Tight Lines!

Gear used
Rod: MajorCraft Crostage travel CRX-784LG
Reel: Shimano Stradic 1000Fc
Mainline: Duel Hardcore x4 PE0.6
Leader: Toray Excellent fluorocarbon 6.8lbs
Lures: Breaden Metalmaru 13g and various metals under 10g.

Expedition Chile! Part 1.

Its been almost a week now that I've returned from my holidays in Chile, reluctantly so I must add...
The opportunity was given to me, as a close friend of mine lives in the capital Santiago and invited me and my brother there.
We were to have our base in Santiago but obviously with them being in summer now and us haven't experienced summer at all the past year, it was imperative that we would visit the coast! Moreover a trip to the South had to be made as well since it would have been a mistake not to get at least a glimpse of Patagonia and water systems very similar to the ones I fish here in the West coast of Scotland...
Therefore we decided to head to Valparaiso and Vina del Mar on the central coast of Chile as it is where most of the tourists go for their summer holidays!
Now on the fishing prospects of the trip, in reality Chile seemed like a blank chart! Nowhere could I find serious info about fish species and angling in general. This is because there hasn't been enough research done on the fish species there (especially in the south), the information being mostly in Spanish and lastly the little coverage angling gets over there (with the exception of the alien salmons and trouts in the South). Now it did cross my mind to wet a line for the salmonids when in the South but to be honest my attention was firmly set once again on the rocks...
Seeing a documentary about sea otters in Patagonia a couple months ago, only seemed to ignite my interest of what rockfish could be found there and all along the coast we were meant to visit. The only species I was able to find easy information on, is the robalo (Eleginops maclovinus) a sort of bass/corvina-looking fish though not related at all to them and being the only member of its genus and the only member of the family Eleginopsidae (!). Thus I was hoping to at least get one of them!
To cut a long story short, I fished very little while in the Valparaiso area. This was because of two main reasons: Firstly, the Pacific swell that rendered most of the beaches in the area dangerous to swim (red flag) for the duration of our stay, and secondly, the realisation of the inadequacy of my light gear for these waters! In any case, I tried a few casts here and there in sheltered marks but only had some success in Valparaiso harbour, by catching a few wrassy/blenny looking fish, that unknowingly at the time, were going to be the mainstay of my catches in all my sessions!
Unfortunately most of the harbours/marinas were working areas and I had limited access to them and that was a real pity as I'm sure they would hold plenty of fish...

Part of Valparaiso harbour.

My first Chilean fish!

Parts of the coast in Valparaiso.

The beach in Laguna Verde. Red flag - no swimming!

Outside Valparaiso harbour. Again not alowed to reach the lighthouse..

Seeing that my 'fishing expedition' wasn't off to a great start, I focused even more on looking for good marks in the South. We had booked a room in Puerto Montt and one area in particular, towards the Southeast stood out. Now Puerto Montt is situated at the northern end of the Reloncavi Sound, thus well protected from the Pacific swells, and the area that got my attention was the coastline near La Arena. It is there that the Reloncavi fjord meets the Sound and from the look of it a typical fish-holding mark, very similar to marks I have here! Moreover the South is very tidal and thus even more similar to here...
On the first day at Puerto Montt, I explained to my brother that we were here for business (meaning fishing) and he should quit his moaning and get on with it! We rented a car (a must in my opinion) and soon headed off to La Arena. On close inspection, the point was looking very fishy, with deep waters close in and rough/rocky ground, but the main problem was that the rocky shore was just too abrupt and the point too heavily forested to allow for easy (or even moderate) access. Not being in a mood for mountaineering, and not having a machete with me (!) we decided to have a couple empanadas (loco queso) which surprisingly doesn't translate as crazy cheese but instead means abalone and cheese! After our snack we headed a couple miles back the road we came from and I picked a precipitous, rocky spot to start fishing. I decided to take only my Spro Mobile Stick with me, just so I could 'scratch' around for what was there. I put on a 7g metal and started casting around. It didn't take long and soon after getting unstuck from a snag, I got a hit, and the fish cut me off straight away! This was repeated a few more times and I had to raise my leaders length and diameter (2m of 10lbs) while only having 0.4 PE mainline... I persisted with metals and soon got a fish on that stuck this time. It fought with short but explosive runs towards the bottom and soon after a dark shape came to the surface thrashing violently. I pulled the fish up by the leader and was looking at it like it was alien.. Something between a wrasse and a blenny, with teeth and soft, leathery skin (though with rough scales if stroking towards the head). Almost impossible to handle/hold with bare hands as well. It was clearly a larger specimen of the little fish I caught in Valparaiso harbour and the place proved to be full of them! After a bit of research I found the fish's name being rollizo (Pinguipes chilensis) or Chilean sandperch in English. I kept fishing for a couple more hours, trying many different lures and presentations, but they seemed to be unfussy fish with a very healthy aggressive instinct. A true rockfish! Below some pics and the video of my first serious rock fishing session.

The rocky point at La Arena.

Too dificult to climb.

The mark I fished! Hairy descent...

My first good rollizo!

Plain coloured curly tails proved extremely successful.

Thick rubbery lips, teeth and an attitude to match its appearance..

 

So my first day on the South seemed to live up to expectations although it was clear that I would have to find a thicker mainline and this proved much harder than anticipated...

To be continued...

Gear used.
Rod: Spro Mobile Stick 80UL
Reel: Shimano Stradic 1000FC
Mainline: YGK G Soul X3 braid 0.4PE
leader: Toray premium fluorocarbon, 6lbs then switched to Pline Halo 10lbs.
lure: Various

Its just silly fishing now!

Well the title says it all really.. The fishing has really picked up now and there is no need to venture further than my local marks. With the one in Loch Linnhe in particular, providing some fast and furious action. I fished this mark for three consecutive days (at different spots) and the amount and variety of fish has been staggering.
On the first day I focused on fishing with heavy cheburashka (12g) and medium paddletails (grass minnow M, 2.75"Swimfish) on the medium rock fishing gear. I caught plenty of plumb codling around 35cm, a ballan wrasse, a couple cuckoo wrasse (didn't take a pic of the male coz I thought the camera was on!) and some pollock. Most fish came from distance and it was the first time I caught a male cuckoo at this mark, I think there might be something with this as I encountered it in the North East as well, where the males staged further away (deeper)  than females...

Decent codling.

Wrasse become bolder as well.

On the next day the weather was nice and sunny and I decided to get the Solpara and target codling and wrasse on the lrf softies. I caught a wrasse first cast but I was then getting takes OTD from active fish that made me change lure to metals. I then proceeded in catching fish after fish continuously and cursing for leaving the camera in the car! They were really in suicidal mode and I must have caught over 20 fish in less than an hour! I finished the session after foolishly loosing a much better fish by being hasty and not giving it more line. It grazed the line on some rocks...
I 've noticed that whenever I'm having a hectic session with fish a plenty, I become a bit careless and less cautious fighting the fish and this has cost me sometimes...

They love metals..

It was a mental metal session!

Today I went again for some metal action with the rod better suited to the task (Crostage) but typically the fish shied away from the metal jigs... I caught a few and even some tiny gurnards, but they were definitely in a more subdued mood. I knew they were there though and decided to fish slim softies on 8g cheburashka and a #4 offset hook. This was much more productive and I managed some more pollock and codling. The wind was getting very strong now and I switched spot so that I would have the wind on my back. I changed lure again to something that I thought would be even more enticing. A 4" Lunker City hydrotail worm that has been very effective for me in the past for finicky fish. From the first cast the water turned alive again and I started getting bites. Curlytails/twisters can be worked extremely slowly and still provide the fish with plenty of action (tail) to home in on. I was working the lure slowly, almost dragging bottom and sometimes hopping it and in quick succession from a relatively small area managed to catch a couple codling, a ballan wrasse, a female cuckoo wrasse and even lost another ballan close in!

Even these little buggers like them..

I love pollock..

Codling seem to like blades even more than pollock!

Beautiful ballan wrasse.

Cuckoo..

I also went to Loch Awe for a couple hours targeting the pike, but other then a tiny jack I got nothing. I decided not to persevere as the sea is so much more productive at the minute and I'm having a blast! There have been significant changes though as the bulk of the mackerel are gone now but the summer species are feeding hard.
Next week I'm expecting some madai jigs to arrive along with more Gulp softies and if they arrive before my days off and weather allowing, I will try and make a last fishing trip for this season.. I want to target the area starting from the Morvern coast, then Loch Aline and finish in the Ardnamurchan peninsula! Sounds like a lot and probably is, but even if I don't fish everywhere I'm sure I'll find some good fish...
Here's a little vid as well!

Tight lines!

Gear used.
Rod: Various
Reel: Various
Mainline: Siderwire invisibraid 0.10mm, Duel Hardcore x4 0.6 PE
Rig: cheburashka, metals

lure: Grass minnows, Lunker city Swimfish, Lunker City Hydrotail worms, various metals 5g-7g.

New place new beginning.

On Friday, me and my brother set off for the long trip to the west coast of Scotland where our new job and home is going to be for the coming summer season.
We are living near Oban and naturally I had made my research for the best looking marks in freshwater and saltwater beforehand.
The area is breathtakingly beautiful but the Scottish weather... Well, its just the way it is!
So today I got the opportunity to check out some marks on two sea lochs near me.
I first visited loch Creran and fished under the bridge with heavier gear. I was mostly aiming to check the actions of lures as well as the depth and current flows and not really expecting any fish so early in the season. And not surprisingly I didn't catch anything but saw a pretty otter swimming around. . I always feel fuller when I'm fishing in areas where I get to have wildlife encounters, as they are truly wild and unaltered by human intervention.

Spring not here yet...

After an hour or so, I got in the car and drove to loch Etive.  I went to a promising looking natural harbour where I wanted to do some lrf just to see whats there.. The water was calm as there was no wind but some rain drops started falling.
I tied a #12 split shotter hook and pinched a single ssg shot 5inches from it. The lure was a small Berkley gulp earthworm. After a couple casts I got a slight rattle but reacted too fast, I recast and after waiting (substantially) for the rig to touch bottom I felt a couple bites and set the hook to a fish. I had the drag set  a little loose as I was aiming for mini species and the fish pleasantly took some line before I brought it up.  It was a small codling, my first of its species and also first fish in Scotland!
I was quite excited and kept fishing. . I got another similar take but this time the fish was larger and made a good run. Unfortunately the small hook pulled out..
I persisted and had a couple more bites but the rain got heavier and I decided to go home.

My first ever.

Not great results but I got a new species and my first fish in Scotland! I think this can only be a good sign of things to come..
More reports to come soon from freshwater as well since we are near the opening of the new season, I am really excited and looking forward to some new fishing adventures!

Thanks for reading.

Gear used.
Rod: Awa Shima Qlite spin, 1-5g, 2.40m
Reel: Mitchell Mag Pro1000
Mainline: Sunline Siglon Fluorocarbon, 4lbs
Rig: mini carolina
lure: Berkley gulp worm