Since the last couple of sessions were the fish showed a preference for smaller baits, I was really fired up on further testing and refining my approach. Today I got the opportunity for another evening session and as soon as I finished work I picked up my gear and was off for the harbour.
I was planning to fish mainly with small metals and maybe some soft plastics to determine their effectiveness. The tide was coming in and there was a slight chop on the sea. Perfect conditions!
I arrived at the harbour to find two friends already there. They had been fishing with large shads and feathers and hadn't done much yet. I clipped a 5g hexagonal mini pirk from Jaxon on my line and started casting near the mouth of the harbour. I was working the lure near the bottom and after giving some rapid jerks I would let the lure fall towards the bottom again on a slack line.The results came soon with small pollock attacking my lure one after the other and giving good fights on my gear.. After a long cast were I allowed the lure to stand for a bit on the bottom, I got an unusual tug on the line but no fish.. I let the lure fall again and felt another tug, I set the hook and felt dead weight on the line.. On the retrieve I was getting some movement and pulls and I was puzzled with what was going on. The mystery was solved when a nice squid came to the surface with the pirk on its tentacles! I dully landed it while my friends were left with their mouths open..
After the squid I managed a nice mackerel and more pollock until I lost the pirk on a snag.. In order to lessen the chance of snagging, I clipped another pirk on but without the treble hooks. Instead I passed a small assist hook on a short thread from the snap as is the norm on shore jigging. I started fishing and was soon back on the fish. I got another mackerel and more pollock and noticed no difference on the hook up rate.. After a while and when the sun was almost gone, I got a good hit but the fish didn't stick. I kept retrieving and got a proper hit again but this time I could feel a good fish. It gave a very good fight with the drag screeching and the fish staying low..
As I was getting it closer to the harbour wall everything went solid.. I gave some free line to the fish and as soon as it started moving I closed the bail arm and managed to raise it to the surface.. It was a nice pollock (thought it bigger) of about 2 pounds and the biggest one so far in the Island for me.
Later on as it was getting darker I managed to get another pollock on the softies this time. The lure being a 2'' Fish arrow J flash shad.
A very good outing and I thoroughly enjoyed it! This island is really a special place for fishing as there is potential here for great catches as well as a nice variety of fish for the keen lure angler.
Tight lines!
Gear used.
Rod: Golden Mean Symphonia, 0.6-8g, 8'6''
Reel: Mitchell Mag Pro 1000
Mainline: YGK Nitlon DFC fluorocarbon, 3lbs
lure: mini pirks and ice jigs 5-7g, 2'' Fish arrow J shad on Fish arrow wheel jighead.
I was planning to fish mainly with small metals and maybe some soft plastics to determine their effectiveness. The tide was coming in and there was a slight chop on the sea. Perfect conditions!
I arrived at the harbour to find two friends already there. They had been fishing with large shads and feathers and hadn't done much yet. I clipped a 5g hexagonal mini pirk from Jaxon on my line and started casting near the mouth of the harbour. I was working the lure near the bottom and after giving some rapid jerks I would let the lure fall towards the bottom again on a slack line.The results came soon with small pollock attacking my lure one after the other and giving good fights on my gear.. After a long cast were I allowed the lure to stand for a bit on the bottom, I got an unusual tug on the line but no fish.. I let the lure fall again and felt another tug, I set the hook and felt dead weight on the line.. On the retrieve I was getting some movement and pulls and I was puzzled with what was going on. The mystery was solved when a nice squid came to the surface with the pirk on its tentacles! I dully landed it while my friends were left with their mouths open..
After the squid I managed a nice mackerel and more pollock until I lost the pirk on a snag.. In order to lessen the chance of snagging, I clipped another pirk on but without the treble hooks. Instead I passed a small assist hook on a short thread from the snap as is the norm on shore jigging. I started fishing and was soon back on the fish. I got another mackerel and more pollock and noticed no difference on the hook up rate.. After a while and when the sun was almost gone, I got a good hit but the fish didn't stick. I kept retrieving and got a proper hit again but this time I could feel a good fish. It gave a very good fight with the drag screeching and the fish staying low..
As I was getting it closer to the harbour wall everything went solid.. I gave some free line to the fish and as soon as it started moving I closed the bail arm and managed to raise it to the surface.. It was a nice pollock (thought it bigger) of about 2 pounds and the biggest one so far in the Island for me.
Later on as it was getting darker I managed to get another pollock on the softies this time. The lure being a 2'' Fish arrow J flash shad.
A very good outing and I thoroughly enjoyed it! This island is really a special place for fishing as there is potential here for great catches as well as a nice variety of fish for the keen lure angler.
Tight lines!
Gear used.
Rod: Golden Mean Symphonia, 0.6-8g, 8'6''
Reel: Mitchell Mag Pro 1000
Mainline: YGK Nitlon DFC fluorocarbon, 3lbs
lure: mini pirks and ice jigs 5-7g, 2'' Fish arrow J shad on Fish arrow wheel jighead.
Is timing/tide an important factor in shore jigging?
ReplyDeleteor any time of the day?
All these factors are important but their importance varies from location to location. It takes time to get to know whats more productive in every location but i find the most important thing is the presence of current and secondly baitfish...
DeleteTight lines!