We had a week of great weather last week but as I was very busy at work, I only got time for a last minute session on Saturday. There was a wee swell running and a slight chop at times but good enough for a session this time of year. Got the boat loaded and headed down the slip. No particular plan on the day but I was hoping that the coalies would've stuck around so that I could have a go with the topwater again. Madness to be talking about topwaters this time of year but a man can hope...
I narrowly missed the best tide state for the first mark but decided to stick around as it was the most sheltered spot in the area. Surely some coalies would still be around... As in last time, I moved slowly just with the trolling motor and started with soft plastics. Not much was happening and it seemed that I missed the pollock breakfast time. I did get a few sharp bites though meaning the coalies were around. On went the Autowalker 83s though this time I clipped the snap at the middle of the lure (where the hook is on the larger model). I saw this trick from seabass angler George Boukis and really liked the very lazy s action on very slow retrieve of the Autowalker 83s. The downsides to using it this way are the reduced casting distance and the need for flat calm conditions. I started casting around and after getting the speed right, it wasn't long till I started getting some hits. Most of the fish were coalies as expected but I'm sure I had a couple pollock going for it as well in their usual airborne way... After a few missed hits I soon had the first fish coming up and it was such great fun on my light eging (squid fishing rod). It's a Savage Gear Salt Egi 8'2 6-12g that I got mainly for sea trout and other light game with hard baits.
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| Warrior coalfish OTT |
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| Plenty of decent Pollock |
After a few fish I'd clip the lure from the front again just to see if I'd get the same reaction from the fish. It was evident that they really wanted the slower, more pronounced action though as I only got a fraction of the strikes this way. March is probably the last month I'd expect to get action on topwaters anyway and it felt slower than last time, with the fish being far more finicky. Nevertheless, they still came up as long as the lure was worked slower whilst keeping a good action.
I fished this spot until the bite died and then hit the deeper marks. Soft plastics did the damage there and had a steady stream of pollock and a few coalies before moving again to a more exposed spot. Here the fish weren't really up for it but a change in colour (from chartreuse to pink) unlocked them and I had a couple more fish to finish off the day.
It's been a weird winter to say the least. Quite frustrating that it's been consistently bad weather to get out but quite productive when I did manage to go. I really hope I get a couple chances to target the big females before they spawn although time is running out...
Tight lines!