With all this Coronavirus talk and measures picking up momentum, I had a couple sessions while the weather was nice as I knew it will be a while till I'm out again next.
The fishing has been so so as the pollock are spawning and are fussy. Moreover, they are not found in all of their usual marks.
Its also, still too early for the Summer species so most sessions tend to involve a lot of moving around and changing presentations.
I tend to find most fish a little deeper this time of year and in more exposed areas with plenty of bait around.
Presentations that can draw more positive bites are fishing lipless crankbaits, blades and lately the chatterbait-cheburashka(!). I find that fish like 'annoying' lures this time of year as they don't feed properly, hence natural presentations tend to get mostly finicky bites.
On the other hand, the crankbaits and blades need just a ''bump'' and the trebles provide far easier hookups.
The chatterbait-cheburashkas are simple cheburashka rigs that I've added chatterbait blades. My idea was that the combination of a natural-feeling soft plastic combined with the flash, vibration and noise of the blade (along with the intense action they give to the sp) would make the fish more aggressive towards them.
On the water, they worked as I thought they would and I had good results with pollock, coalfish and even codling going for them! The latter appeared recently in an inshore mark and provided me with great fun. They would hit the lure when bumping bottom as usual, but also even 5-6m above it! I'm not sure what they were keying on but they were mixed in with pollock and coalfish and I found tiny sandeels in some of them.
Not a bad size to them..
Of course they would hit them!
Fussy eaters.
Lovely markings.
Below I have some pics to show how I add the blades to the cheburashka. I buy the blades in bulk from Aliexpress. There are tons of options but I prefer medium-sized blades in a roughly diamond shape.
Done!
A very interesting rig...
I think I'll try and stay at home for the duration of the lockdown but with the beautiful days we've been having lately, it's really hard! Moreover, I really want to go for some trout fishing as well, but we'll see how everything goes.
Since the arrival of my son, fishing time has been obviously non-existent, but as I've got an understanding wife, I was allowed to get out of the house for a few hours. Weather is still crap but we did get a couple slightly settled days that were doable on the SIB.
On the day, typically conditions were rougher than forecasted but I launched nonetheless. I was really looking forward to trying out a new underwater camera I got recently (Olymbros underwater camera). I've always been fascinated watching the fish react to lures etc and it was only a matter of time till I got a camera for me.
I fished mainly with a Duo Tide Vibe Slim 140 while the swell was up, as I find that slim heavy lipless crankbaits (and metal vibration lures at some places) can be very effective this time of year.
Got a few chunky pollock on the Vibe and when the swell died down and hit the low water mark, this bite slowed down and fish started preferring soft plastics instead.
Chunky Prespawn fish.
They smash the Vibes.
By now the current and swell had died down and it was time to try with the camera.
Its a floater(!) so I had to put a 30-40g weight to get it down. I tried a few lures just to see the different reactions from the fish and I have to say that the footage offers a lot of food for thought...
Then yesterday I wanted something more of a challenge and decided to hike to a mark I've wanted to try out for years! There was a storm coming but the spot would offer shelter.
It took about half an hour's hike to the mark and it did look fishy. The only problem was how precipitous it was and fish extraction would be problematic.
I started fishing with metals but didn't get a whiff on them so I switched to cheburashka rigged chartreuse paddle tails that got hit very quickly. The fish were keeping low and the bites were hesitant but I hooked up into 2 fish that, unfortunately, lost on the way up to the ledge I was on.
I decided to look around and find a more suitable spot that would allow me to land fish and as the tide ebbed more, I was able to walk on the rocks under the ledge I was at.
I only had limited time left but finally managed to winkle out one in the end. Blank avoided so it was time to head home.
The weather is meant to be better this week so I'm hoping to get out more and get some more footage on the underwater camera. There's a couple new spots Id like to try and fish from the SIB as well.
I also look forward to the opening of the trout season as well and I'll definitely have a few trips for them as well soon.
