With wrasse and codling in mind...

As the title says the last few sessions saw me trying to focus on these two species. Wrasse because I haven't really targeted them this year and codling because it soon will be time for them to shoal up and provide excellent sport..
For the wrasse I tried at Loch Fyne while for the codling I was planning on an East coast trip (needing to take advantage of having the car before my brother returned from his holidays back home).
The good weather has unbelievably lasted till now (though don't think for too much longer) and I was sure I could get some ballans. I started not at my usual harbour mark but on a rocky outcrop a few miles further down the road, that is a known dive site and lots of wrasse are seen there. On arrival I realised that I was a too early as the tide was coming up and cut off access to the point and after casting on the sides I managed a couple wrasse and pollock. Although I was sure that most of the fish would be at the point (as the divers reported most of the sightings there) I decided not to stick around for the tide to recede and just go to my usual haunts..
I was fishing my LRF setup with the MC Solpara as I love using this rod and barely used it this summer.. I started casting around my favourite rocky point and chatting to some anglers that were pulling in pollock after pollock (small and average ones mostly) on float fished baits and surfcasting gear (!) when I got a good bite and a strong first run! After this the fish quietened down and I could feel some good weight on the end of the line... Bringing it to the surface I saw what must have been the best wrasse of the year flapping on the surface! This usually means that the fish is beaten, but nobody told that fish and it made another powerful run through some rocks and got stuck... My leader parted soon after...  Thinking that this is part of the deal with wrasse and lrf gear I stuck on but no more wrasse came from the point. I then moved to the inside of the harbour where there are lots of boulders but the water was very cloudy there and no fish could be found. Moving to the next point I started picking up some chunky codling and pollock before finishing with a small ballan. I decided to head home soon after as I was tired and was planning to return the next day anyway.

A very dark ballan.

Nice pollock on the Solpara.

Codling time coming!

Pretty ballan.

The next day the weather got noticeably chillier but still sunny and after a lot of casting around with small creatures on jika rig I failed to get any wrasse on that presentation. I got plenty of poor cod from the deep though and then reverted to the cheburashka. I was fishing 4g-6g cheburashka and small paddletails, though on the finesse setup this time, and after putting on a peculiar 2" softie (Bait breath O-Go Kyu that I had in my bag for years but never really tried them alot) I got the only ballan of the day.
I then switched to heavier cheburashka and 2.5" AGM Paddler grub paddletails, targeting the codling. I started getting some but I had lots of snags and cut lines, as my mainline has weakened especially after my Skye trip. Seeing that the codling weren't that big I just started tying straight on the braid without a leader. Unsurprisingly this didn't affect the codling one bit...

Poor cod on jika.

Quirky 2" Bait Breath O-Go Kyu does the job..

Not leader shy..

The next day I headed off for the East coast at the same mark at Fast castle as the week before. The intense westerlies had died down a bit and that mark seemed the best choice. Moreover I was in an exploratory mood and wanted to walk around to find some more areas to fish.. Needless to say that after wasting 1.5 hours hiking up and down the cliffs and sweating like a pig, I didn't manage to find a suitable spot and instead of settling on the known rock, I decided to drive to St Abbs head thinking I would have more options there.
On arriving I realised that St Abbs is more exposed to the wind and the eastern side of it was showing frothy signs of the swell. I decided to give it a go and started getting among some jumbo mackerel on the metals. It was good fun but I didn't come here for them and soon started working the bottom with soft plastics. The sea was too rough for my liking and after some casts I was ready to head back at Fast castle, when I got a good bite on the bottom... I recasted and a pollock was on my lure OTD. I then got a nice coalie and realised that although the sea was rough these fish were feeding... I changed spot to where I had been before with my mate Scott and started working my lures again near the bottom hoping that a cod would take it...
 Alas this mark was infested with the fat mackerel that were hitting the lures hard and getting caught at every cast! I changed lure colour from silvery/white ones to bright orange and pink in order to dissuade the mackerel but also to be more visible in the cloudy water. This seemed to do the business and although I still got mackerel, they would loose interest if the lure was left static or worked very slowly near the bottom whereas before they would still take it...
The first pollock didn't take long to show and I was impressed by the size of its belly! The next few fish were similarly in good condition and fat bellies, showing that they were feeding well in this rough water. I believe that this is because the baitfish were concentrated tighter and the predators took advantage of the relatively low water visibility to attack them. I was then even more surprised when after I struck at a repeated take and feeling good resistance on the other end, I got a lovely ballan on the rocks! This reminded me of my days on Sark where when the water was rough (not too rough though) the wrasse fishing would show less numbers but bigger fish.
After this fish I persevered while getting drenched by a few big waves until I retreated further back in the bay. Last time I had some good pollock from this exact area and after a few cast I had a good fish but it didn't feel like a pollock... The fish wasn't really making runs and instead zig zaging on the way back. This made me believe that I finally had a good cod although there were no head thumps...Bringing the fish closer I could see it was a good pollock but in the last minute it crash dived and cut me on the rock in front of my feet. Because of the large waves I was fishing from further back on the rocks and the line got cut on the lip of the ledge.
A few casts later I had another take and a similar slow fight and yet another pollock. Again the waves made the landing difficult and the line parted after a wave came crushing and then pulling the fish away while I was holding the leader... I did touch the leader though so it still counts! I think its time to invest in a good ISO net with their long telescopic handles... I haven't used a net in my fishing for a year!
I'm not so sure as to why the pollock behaved like this but possibly the water clarity had something to do with it, or their full bellies!
The sun was gone by that point and it was soon time for the drive back as I had to pickup my brother from the airport.

A long way down...

...and a long way up!

looks fine settled form a distance..

Chunky mackerel!

Chunky pollock...

500g of mackerel!

Not expecting one of them...

Lots of white water..

Even the little ones were chunky!

Well I really enjoyed my few day's fishing and certainly made most of the car but I'm now back to being carless! The cod are still in my mind though and I hope Ill be able to somehow arrange a trip for them on the East coast.

Tight lines!

Gear used.
Rod:  MC KG Evolution, KGS-832ST 2.53m, 3-15g. MC solpara SPS-S792M, 7'9", 0.5-5g
Reel: Shimano Stradic ci4 2500f, Shimano Biomaster 1000fb
Mainline: Duel Hardcore X4 PE 0.8, Mebarin braid 0.4 PE
Leader: P Line Halo fluorocarbon, 10lbs, Toray premium fluorocarbon, 6lb
Lures: various

When weather's crap.. LRF!

Well as the title says, the weather has been absolutely dreadful for the past week and it was raining for the past three days non stop! I was feeling like a bird in a cage and although I attempted a couple 'serious' sessions, I was turned back wet and without much to show for my efforts.. I was in need of a mood-fix and could think of nothing better than a couple LRF sessions mainly in Fort William car park pier, that is quickly becoming my go-to mark for the little predators.
With the rain easing up for the couple past days, though not stopping, I picked my Majorcraft Solpara LRF rod along with my newly repaired Mitchell Mag Pro and drove to my mark. The Pier is very easily accessible and a convenient spot for fishing, but the major factor is the good number of small codling and coalies that provide good, and most importantly, reliable action.
The rigs and techniques werent fancy, just 2-3g jigheads and 5g carolina rigs will cover most situations, along with some mini hardbaits for more variety.
There is usually current running up or down the pier according to the tide, and this draws fish near the corners of the pier where the water is constricted and food is funnelled through. This is particularly evident with coalfish as they will be shoaled tight around these areas and will hit everything that passes. The current pushes dead kelp, scum etc near the walls and the coalies are attracted as they find food amongst all this 'cloud' of dirt. When I could get past the coalfish and especially near the walls I got a couple of sea scorpions that really intrigue me as a species with their interesting looks.

Plenty of these...

..And these

Voracious appetites!

Prawn imitation hard lures work too..

Thank god for coalies!

Fish were shoaled tight near the corners of the pier...

...where the surface scum was collecting,

Little poor cod too.

All the codling seemed quite plumb and some had pieces of ragworms in their mouth.

Targeting the surface scum.

Night game coalie.

I have also fished the pier during nighttime as there are plenty of lights and the fish hunt very close in. All in all I had some good fun and I'm thinking of putting some more night sessions in order to target some larger codling. Thankfully the weather got nicer today and I had a better fishing day but Ill post it separately..

From a different session in Etive but still striking looks!

Thanks for reading!

Gear used.
Rod: Major Craft Solpara SPS-S792M (7'9", 0.5g-5g)
Reel: Mitchell Mag Pro1000
Mainline: Sunline Siglon fluorocarbon, 3lbs
Rig:carolina, jighead
lure: slim lures, prawn imitations, glow is good as well.

Freshwater fun!

Whenever I go back home in the warmer seasons, one fishing opportunity I never miss, is to head to the dams of the Nestos river to target mainly perch. These dams haven't got a great variety of fish and a distinct lack of the main large European freshwater predators. Although this doesn't sound promising to the lure-angler, in fact it has lead to good numbers of quite large perch thriving in the artificial lakes and becoming the apex predator there. More over there are many (also predatory) chub along with the introduced pumpkinseed and occasionally rainbow trout.
Usually September-October is considered the best time of the year to target the perch and after organising the details, I loaded the car and set off. I was planning to fish two spots of the lake that have served me well in the past with good catches. On reaching the larger Thisavros dam I was slightly worried about the low water levels as from previous knowledge, this means that my first mark probably wouldn't produce... Despite this, i decided to head down for a couple casts and see whats there.
 I was fishing right under the main bridge of the dam and after some casts it was obvious that there were no fish as expected. Changing tactics, I rigged a small silver spoon and started retrieving near the surface hoping that a chub might go for my lure.. i got the first small one from a very shallow area and released it straight away. Moving further, I was walking along the bank that now stands much higher than the waters edge and I saw a nice chub wandering near the shore without noticing me.. I made a cast a few meters towards its direction and saw the fish change course and attack the lure! After a short fight I got the fish up, and released it after the photo. Soon after I decided to move to my second mark as the sun was going down and I didn't have much time left.

Under the bridge...

..and looking to the right.

First one.

Second chub.

The second spot is a mini-dam of a small river, connected to the main dam by massive underwater pipes. The main factor for perch fishing in this lake is the existence of rocks and boulders, that the perch seem to prefer over other habitats. The small dam is made completely out of big boulders, thus creating a good place for the perch.
I started fishing with dropshotted small minnow imitations and after a few small perch I felt the slight 'touch' that bigger fish tend to do, and connected to a better fish. After a lively fight I hand-landed it and released it back straight after the photo as these fish need to be put back fast in order to get to the bottom (sensitive to pressure changes).
Although I persisted with the dropshot and jigging shads, i only managed some smaller ones and headed back to the car as it was already dark.

The small dam.

What I wanted..

it coughed up this!

After a rather comfortable sleep in the car, I woke up early and headed down the dam as sunrise and early morning is the best time for big perch. I decided to start with a small shad on a jighead, in order to cover the area more a\efficiently and was planning to use the dropshot once i found the fish. I got a bite on the second cast and after a very good fight I landed a beautiful plumb perch that filled my with anticipation for what was coming next.. Disappointingly it wasn't meant to be and I could only get smaller perch and even they were few and far between. I even swapped my lead for a pilker but could not find any bigger specimens.

The only decent fish of the morning.

This usually works...

The sun was already high on the sky and was getting very hot, so I decided to fish on the opposite side of the dam and experiment with different lures and presentations for the small fish. I got my new LRF rod (my friend stepped on my previous one in Mytilini!) the Majorcraft Solpara SPS-S792M (7'9", 0.5g-5g). and my old Tica Libra 2500 reel that was filled with 3.9lbs Toray  Bawo Upgrade fluorocarbon. I started by using some small cicada lures (metal vibration) that i had previously used in the sea but with limited success. Whilst retrieving I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of bites I was getting and then fish.. Both perch and chub seemed to go mad about them while ignoring the small spinners that is the main lure used here for them. I then tried some spinner-tails that were clearly more effective on perch. The fish were attacking the fry that was shoaling up on the bay formed by the dam and near the rocks. Thus i decided to use small straight soft lures as in saltwater LRF to mimic them. Although perch love straight soft plastic lures, i had never before caught any chub on them but today the seemed to tear them up with fish coming in a steady stream. They were not of a great size but superb fun on the LRF gear.

Power Isome is good in freshwater too..

  As I was fishing, I heard a splash a couple meters away and saw an otter looking at me and clearly surprised as much as me by this encounter! After the otter the fish moved further away from the shore and as it was already very hot, i decided to head back home. Although I didn't manage to get more of the bigger specimens, I'm planning to visit the dam soon and hopefully I'll have better luck next time. I thoroughly enjoyed the fishing and got very positive feedback from the new rod even though it was purchased in haste.


Thanks for reading!

Gear used.
Rod: Major Craft KG Evolution KGS-832ST 2.53m, 3-15g and  Major craft Solpara SPS-S792M (7'9", 0.5g-5g)
Reel: Shimano Stradic Ci4 2500f and Tica Libra 2500fd
Mainline: Spiderwire Ultracast Fluorobraid 10lbs, YGK nitlon DFC fluoro leader 10lb and Toray Bawo Upgrade Fluorocarbon, 3.9lbs
rigs: mainly dropshot and jigheads for the softplastics.
Lures: various