Make hay while the sun shines.

Seeing that the weather was behaving itself this weekend I decided on visiting Loch Fyne two days in a row! On Saturday I went alone as I wanted to fish into the night and see if I could tempt something different or a better codling. The only thing that bothers me with night game away from well-lit areas, is that the number of bites drops dramatically and although you might get some better fish, they are usually not so much better as to justify standing out in the cold for hours on end!
Anyway, the day started typically with coalies and pollock on metals. I was fishing with the heavy gear as I'm trying a new braid and some heavier jigs, to see if I could get better results with the added distance and by using bigger lures. It didn't seem to make much of a difference on the day though and I ended up catching the usual fish. I also got some nice footage on my action cam and will be putting a video up soon... It wasn't until the later part of the day that I decided to switch things up a bit and took out the LRF gear. I wanted to try some mini hair/feather jigs with adding various trailers. Moreover these jigs are luminous and I was hoping they would get noticed  with the sunlight quickly fading..
I was working them in slow straight retrieve sometimes letting them drift with the current and also with a couple jerks here and there. Also another way I fished them was by counting them down on a free line and a few meters before touching bottom I would close the bail and let the lure fall in an arc towards me. This tactic works especially well with metal lures and bottom feeding fish, as they get plenty of time to observe the lure falling and move to intercept it. Overall despite their simplicity, these lures proved effective and quite versatile after catching some pollock, coalies, codling and in the end a big fat mama sea scorpion!

Can take a variety of trailers..

 Luminous heads very effective at night.

 

 

 

 

The usual suspects..

Coalies like a bit of fluff!

With a slim glow trailer..

Cheburashka with glow lures works too..

A fat mama and my pb short spined sea scorpion.

Its just a mouth and fins!

Today I went back up the loch with my friend Adam as he was keen on some light game fun. I didn't take any pics though as we only caught coalies and a few pollock but I got some footage with the action camera.
Overall the fishing these past two days has slowed down a bit and for the first time since December I saw other anglers as well in the mark I fish. The drawback of the warmer weather!
I have also had a quick UL dropshot session in the canal and the jacks seem to have woken up as well.. I think I'll do another canal session tomorrow as I don't believe my poor car can take another long drive.

Scrappy jack!

Fun guaranteed with them about..

Thanks for reading and tight lines!

Gear used.
Various.

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.

A quick outing before the hailstorm...

The weather has been atrocious since last week and although I made a trip to the canal at the same place, I only managed one perch as the water was really high and almost muddy.
Today the rain seemed to subside and there were some sunny spells with an intense chilly wind. It wasn't exactly ideal but I was sure there would be some pike feeding.
I got the UL gear as I wouldn't mind any perch coming as well and headed down the canal.
I used my K2K wire dropshot rig and a 7.5cm Lunker City Ribster mounted on the #4 VMC Spinshot hook. I got to the large basin first and started casting. The water was very clear something I found surprising after all this rain.
There wasn't much going so I moved towards the little bridge were I usually get a jack or two.. And so it was after a couple casts I hooked the little jack and brought him up.

Usual suspect at his regular jaunt!

A swift release followed and I was back fishing. There was another angler across the bank and not wanting to interfere in his swim, I crossed the bridge and went to the moored boats and barges near the next bridge. I made a few casts next to the canal wall and got the first feisty little perch..

I moved further and again cast next to the wall, another little perch obliged, albeit more plumb this time.

Next to the wall.

The wind was getting stronger and the sun was going down, so I decided wasn't gonna be there for much longer. I got snagged though and had to change rig to one with an offset VMC Spinshot hook which I don't really like using for pike, but I stuck at it and another cast near the opposite bank got a sharp bite and after a solid strike I had serious resistance.. I made a couple more strikes just in case and after a good fight I managed to slip the net under the best fish of the day. A beautiful jack of about 6lbs.

Beautiful fish.

After releasing the fish, hail started dropping and I decided to make my way to the car. As soon as I got in the car the hail developed to a hailstorm and I was glad I called it a day when I did!
Now the fishing has been getting better and more consistent lately despite the bad weather and I am sure that now is the best time to pursue the big perch and pike in the canal.. I am not gonna be doing that though because I'm going on holidays to the Philippines tomorrow until the beginning of March and I will probably be targeting tropical species in warm seas under the sun! It will be a completely new experience for me and even though I haven't heard the best about the fishing there, I am pretty sure that LRF will open some doors...

Tight lines and hope to post some tropical fish soon!

Gear used.

Rod: Awa Shima Qlite spin, 1-5g, 2.40m
Reel: Mitchell Mag Pro1000
Mainline: Sunline Siglon Fluorocarbon, 4lbs
Rig: dropshot
lure: 7.5cm Lunker City Ribster