Early morning surprise!

Today I was starting work at 12:00 and so I decided to visit my mark in Loch Linnhe for an early morning session.
At the mark, I started with my go-to presentation these days, the Duel Salty bait rigged with a slim soft plastic. Today I chose a Keitech sexy Impact instead of the usual Gulp as I'm running low on them and also I wanted to see if there would be a significant difference.
I started casting around and working the jig near the bottom at the beginning of the retrieve while ending with a steady wind close in. I got a small pollock and some bites from smaller fish.
I then made a cast parallel to the rocks and let the lure sink in a semi-controlled line. After touching bottom, I gave it a twitch and felt a take. I struck and I had a fish on! It fought unusually, with rapid head-shakes and on bringing it up I saw it was a small ling! My second one from this mark and curiously, took the lure shortly after touching bottom as the previous one...
After the ling, I continued fishing but it was high tide and things slowed down. I decided to move to the rocky point on the other side and try for the pollock there.
On the point and first cast I lose my lure! Moreover, I had forgotten most of my jigheads and jigs in the car and as the time was running I decided to fish with what I had in my bag...
 I found a 10cm Savagear slug on a 10g jighead and started casting and working the lure back. I got a few pollock and a codling but nothing spectacular before wrapping up.

A true predator!

The usual suspects..

Obviously, some more Salty Baits and lures are on their long journey from Japan now and cant wait to get my hands on them! Until then I'll be using the usual stuff...

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 Keitech Sexy Impact trailer.

Match the hatch...

The past few nights and especially on Tuesday (full moon), there has been increased feeding activity during night time at the harbour. I have fished every night and tried to suss out a pattern and/or a successful presentation.
At first I tried the usual metals and spinners and only managed to catch some mackerel just before dark. Then I tried small paddletail shads and grubs that got me a few fish and some bumps but not much else. I then tried what I had in mind, meaning a slim, straight softbait, to imitate the sandeels that have lately made an appearance in the shallows. The results were instant.. Pollock were hitting like there was no tomorrow! I managed to catch on the first night, approximately 20 of them in the span of a couple hours fishing. Not really large but fish of 1-2lbs gave a good account of themselves as I was using 3lbs flouro straight through.
The other nights were not so impressive but fish still showed a clear preference of straight slim softbaits mounted on a 5g Sakura fishhead jighead. The retrieve was slow-medium with jerks and twitches as well as pauses. Fish would mostly hit near the surface, but when it got windy, at midwater and bottom as well.
The most effective lures were the: 10cm Savagear sandeel slug and the 4.5" Big Bite Shaking squirrel although I'm sure that anything slim and about 10cm in length would 've done the job..

Its really satisfying to manage and get it right as it doesn't happen very often! I'm still surprised by the increased aggression of the fish during the full moon as although conditions were pretty similar on the following nights and fish were still there, they didn't commit as much.
Anyway I'll be soon trying to target some better fish if they are there with bigger lures and heavier gear.

Thanks for reading.

Gear used.
Rod: Major Craft KG Evolution KGS-832ST 2.53m, 3-15g
Reel: Mitchell Mag Pro 1000
Mainline: YGK Nitlon DFC fluorocarbon 3lbs,
 Spiderwire invisibraid 0.10mm with YGK nitlon DFC fluoro leader 10lbs
Rig: Sakura fishhead jigheads, 5g
Lures: 4.5" Big Bite Shaking Squirrels, Savagear sandeel slugs
 

Finally some silver!

The past couple of weeks I have been playing around with different techniques and presentations in order to manage and target the main predators of the island with one gear/presentation. I ended up with using soft jerkbaits and slug-type lures on weighted offset hooks as the most effective way of doing this. It is also quite reasonable as my main target species (wrasse, bass, pollock) all prey on slim species like sandeels that have finally found their way in numbers near the coast.
 I have had very good results on wrasse with some very enjoyable sessions and even got the odd follow from bass, that convinced me that soft jerkbaits are the way to go.

I used slim softbaits from various manufacturers, but the most effective have been the: Big Bite Shaking squirrels, Hogy Sandeels, Savagear sandeel slugs, Lunker City Ribsters and Dichoso Umiushi worms. The hooks I use are weighted Camo Offset hooks, Big Bite weighted EWG hooks and AGM wide gape jigheads.

Today having the whole day to my self I visited a mark that holds big fish and can be fished throughout most states of the tide. I arrived a bit late with the tide ebbing fast but thought it worthwhile to stay on. I fished trying to cover as much area possible but had no bites for about an hour. After changing many lures, I put on a Lunker city Ribster on a 5g Camo weighted offset hook and started working a kelp-ridden area next  to a big boulder. Midway on the retrieve I felt a light tap and immediately stopped the retrieve waiting for the usual following taps as the wrasse bites the lure. Only this time there were no following taps just some gentle nips. Unable to wait any longer, I decided to set the hook and I felt some good weight on the line straight on. The fish took some line but then came close very easily something rare for wrasse as they dive and thrash all over the place... Getting it closer it became obvious that it wasn't a wrasse but instead I had a nice bass on my line! As soon as the fish saw me it started thrashing violently but I managed to get it swiftly on the rocks. My first bass on Sark was lying in front of me, a nice and healthy fish of about 3-4 lbs that went straight back after a couple of photos. After this fish I persisted with the soft slims and got a few nice wrasse. There were no small fish around surprisingly, with all the fish being of decent size. Moreover I had never before caught wrasse so close to the ebb and at such shallow water. The last fish was caught no further than 5m away from me and at about 1m depth...

 

 

I think that better results will come if I stick with this approach as it will allow me to target more efficiently and effectively the main predators here without the need for different gear and further purchases! Although simple looking and not fancy or high tech, these lures used in the right way can be extremely effective.

Tight lines and thanks for reading!


Gear used.
Rod: Major Craft KG Evolution KGS-832ST 2.53m, 3-15g
Reel: Mitchell Mag Pro 1000
Mainline: Spiderwire invisibraid 0.10mm, YGK nitlon DFC fluoro leader 10lbs
Rig: weighted offset hooks and wide gape jigheads, sizes 2/0-4/0, weight 3.5-5g
Lures: 4.5" Big Bite Shaking Squirrels, 4.5" Hogy Sandeels, 10cm Savagear Sandeel slugs, 5" Dichoso Umiushi worms, 4.5" Lunker City Ribsters.  

Quick post.

I have recently tried the Savage gear sandeel slugs and got some nice fish. The lures look really nice in the water and attract fish even static on the bottom. I prefer to hook them on weighted extra wide gape hooks (ewg) rather than weighted swimbait hooks as they destroy them.

 

 

A really good product with the only negative being that wrasse rip them quite easily..

Tight lines