Isle of Sark...

I have recently moved to the island of Sark in the Channel Islands for work during the summer months and although I've had some blanked sessions, I'm pretty sure that the fish will come very soon... As you can see from the pics, the place screams of fish!
This winter was the worst for decades here with heavy snowfall and cold, something that must have affected the fish. The sun has started to get brighter though and I will have to wait and keep fishing...

 

New mainline tested...

Lately the weather has not been the best, with rain, occasional snow and even sun at times in the same day! Also considering that fish are on spawning mode, the fishing was bound to suffer with a couple blanks and a session saved by little perch. There are signs that spring is close though, as fish activity has increased and some fry has been seen in shallow areas. The perch have done a disappearing act on most spots and even pike are harder to locate/tempt.
I have decided to spool some new fluorocarbon line on my Mitchel Mag Pro 1000, after a year of using my favourite Toray Bawo Superhard Upgrade, due to the continuous cutting and tying new dropshot rigs. I think I was left with like 25m on the reel before reaching the backing! Wanting to try something new I settled for the YGK Nitlon DFC fluorocarbon at 3lbs. Spooling was easy as the line comes in a special compartment that you can easily hold between the toes and the line spool revolves inside it. As soon as I finished getting it on the reel I noticed the expected loose coils that fluorocarbon makes as it has less memory and is so limp. I tried the line the next day and was quite impressed with its behaviour. It casts and ties well (improved clinch knot, trilene and palomar) and is typically low -stretch. One important characteristic that I haven’t seen in other fluorocarbons and surprised me, is that this line is not as sinking as the others. This can be positive or negative according to the technique and presentation, but for dropshot I would tend to class it as a negative. As when fishing I had line sitting on the surface and in tough days or long distance casts this could lead to missed bites. On that day I got two bites and landed the two fish so I'll need further sessions to form a better opinion.

I'm really looking forward to some stable weather and also to some sea fishing since I'm moving to the Channel Islands very soon.
Thanks for reading and tight lines.

Gear used:
Rod: Awa Shima Qlite spin, 1-5g, 2.40m
Reel: Mitchell Mag Pro 1000
Mainline: Toray BAWO Superhard Upgrade Fluorocarbon, 3.9lbs
Rig: dropshot
lure: various

A nice mixed bag.

Today I just wanted perch no matter what.. ! So I visited the Galgate marina where I had nice perch previously and the place seemed just right to throw a better one as well.. Arriving around 14:00 the weather was mild and overcast, and the water stained with about a foot of visibility.
I could already see the signs of spring as there was lots of bubbles and silverfish around, and knew that predators wouldn't be far behind.. Wanting to test again if the perch would react negatively to the light Knot2Kinky dropshot rig  (they do somewhat on less turbid parts of the canal) I tied it on with an 8cm DAM Power Devil Stick and started casting near the moored barges on the other side.. I was getting some tentative bites but fish didn't follow through.. After I had covered a wide area and thinking that the presentation may be too "loud", I tried my go-to lure, a 2.25" LFT live baby shad on a conventional dropshot rig with 2 SSG shots and after a nice cast between some boats, I got a sharp tug and the line came back loose...Damn pike! Straight away I reverted to the previous rig and put on the LFT shad.. I recasted at the same spot and got hit straight away. After a spirited fight I landed a pretty jack that I believe it could be the same fish!

greedy jack!

After the jack I got no more bites and decided to move back towards my starting point in order to see if it was the presentation or just the lure that put the fish off. I casted near some piling and got some perch-like bites and after setting the hook I got my first perch of the day.. A few more followed and I even managed to catch (and miss) a couple at my feet. Which is why I always work my lures until they get out of water.

I managed to snag my last K2K rig and tied another conventional rig, again using the LFT baby shad.. It was almost sunset and a nice cast shaw the lure land just next to a barge and within a few retrieves of the handle I was onto something better that fought hard near the bottom. It was a nice plumb perch that was promptly landed and even though I had no scales, in comparison with my shoe (size10.5)! she must have been pushing 700gr.. A very nice end to my fishing session...

Thanks for reading and tight lines!

Gear used:
Rod: Awa Shima Qlite spin, 1-5g, 2.40m
Reel: Mitchell Mag Pro 1000
Mainline: Toray BAWO Superhard Upgrade Fluorocarbon, 3.9lbs
Rig: various dropshot
Lure: 2.25" LFT Live Baby shad (pink)

A pleasant surprise...

Today the weather was somewhat milder and overcast, and I really wanted to fish Glasson Dock again... So we set off at around 14:00 and were on the spot soon after. There was a chilly wind but conditions seemed promising. I started with my UL Knot2Kinky Dropshot rig and a 3.5" LFT Live Magic shad in golden Shiner colour while I made an LRF style dropshot rig for my girlfriend with a 1.5" Big Bite Panfish minnow in pearl/chartreuse and a single SSG shot at the end. We got fishing and being impressed by the depth of the place, expected bites to come fast.. But they didn't...!
After a while we moved to a place where the canal enters the dock and found an angler there, he told me that he had a couple fish around 5lbs but the weed was a real problem and affected the presentation.. Fishing around there, we soon had the same problem and thus kept moving to find a clear patch. All this time we didn't get a single hit and it seemed unusual as the place was screaming fish. Deciding to change my presentation, first to a weedless dropshot and then to just simple dropshot tied to the mainline with a 2.25" LFT live baby shad (as I was thinking that the fish might prefer a scaled down/finer presentation and wanting to locate where/if there were any perch around) we kept moving towards a bridge and trying next to some moored barges.. Suddenly I felt a sharp tug on the line, then some weight and lifting the rod another tug and the line went light.. Pike... I reverted back to the 3.5" swimbait on the Knot2kinky rig, but nothing happened.
Reaching the bridge I was mostly trying out some retrieves than actually fishing and had almost forgotten about my girl until I heard her shout, and turning my head I saw her holding her rod bent in half! For a second we both thought it was a snag, until it started moving.. It was a nice fish that was taking line against the drag at an alarming rate, while I was trying to explain to her that reeling in continuously wont do any good! I quickly got the rod at my hands,
(I wanted that fish!) and tried to play it softly on the UL gear.. After a few runs it surfaced and it was a nice jack but I was almost sure that we would loose it any moment since my girl was just using 3lbs fluorocarbon and no trace.. I tried to get it in the net as fast as possible but the fish had other ideas and kept diving.. Three dives later I got it in the net and banked a lovely jack-pike that was definitely worth all the effort!



The hook at the lips!

A lucky angler!

Although it would seem very surprising for a fish of this size to be caught on a 1.5" lure, I have come to the conclusion that especially at this time of the year and at pressured waters, pike of good size can be taken (or even show preference) to smaller lures and finesse presentations. And it really is great fun fighting these fish on the UL gear! It should be noted though that if there are a lot of jacks the trace is indispensable, and even more so on lures with trebles.

Thanks for reading and tight lines!

Equipment used.

A)

Rod: Awa Shima Qlite spin, 1-5g, 2.40m
Reel: Mitchell Mag Pro 1000
Mainline: Toray BAWO Superhard Upgrade Fluorocarbon, 3.9lbs
Rig: various
Lure: various

B)
Rod: Daiwa Procyon, 6.6",1/32-1/8oz
Reel: Shimano Nexave 1000fd
Mainline: Berkley Nanofil 0.06mm and Sunline Siglon Fluorocarbon 3lbs leader
Rig: dropshot with one SSG
Hook: Size 6 Owner Mosquito
Lure: Big Bite Panfish minnow,1.5" Pearl/chartreuse.