Trying out a new rod from Aliexpress...

A few weeks back, the unthinkable happened and I lost my Tailwalk Power Rock rod and Stradic FK combo... That combo had worked really well from the rocks for me and even better off the SIB. Thus I needed to find something similar to replace it. I really couldn't justify the cost of it though and started looking for cheaper options...
For some reason, it appears that the market has geared more towards £200+ rods and I couldn't see many options of comparable rods for less than £100.
Now its no secret I use a lot of gear from Aliexpress and after trial and error, I think I've found out which companies tend to produce ok stuff and which ones crap... Thus I thought I might try and find a rod there.
Moreover, I started looking around in Youtube as well, especially in Russian channels as they tend to use a lot of this gear.
Somehow I ended up watching a video with a rod called Ruffy (!) by the company JOHNCOO. Its action and specs seemed close to what I wanted and after a quick search, I found it on sale in Aliexpress for around £40 delivered!
I pulled the trigger and a few days ago, I got it in my hands. First impressions were very good. Fuji guides, robust reel-seat and pokey/firm action. I went for the S862MH model (2.6m, 15-55g) that's more akin to the Power Rock I had.
Yesterday, I got the chance to try it out on the rocks in a short session. I used 20g+ darting jigheads and 16cm soft jerkbaits along with 28g cheburashka and 11cm paddletails.
The rod had no problem jerking the softpastic in 15-20m depth and I could feel quite easily any taps and touches. Did pretty well on dragging the paddletail on the bottom as well.
I got no monsters on the day but the fish were thick with big bellies and I even managed to lift a couple sizeable ones without the net...

Getting ready to spawn.

I'll let the video below show the rod better.

I know its entirely possible that this rod might break on the next outing, but I reckon even if it only lasts me one season, I'd still be very happy considering how little I've spent for it. I'm not in any way sponsored by JOHNCOO or anyone but feel like I had to talk about this rod as I was so pleasantly surprised by it. I'm very keen to see if it's anywhere near as dependable and impervious to some 'heavy handling', as the Tailwalk was. Only time will tell...

Tight Lines

Gear Used.

Rod: Johncoo Ruffy S862MH
Reel: Shimano Biomaster SW 4000XG
Mainline: PE1.5
Leader: Daiwa Tournament FC fluorocarbon 25lbs
Lures: 16cm soft jerkbait on 20g+ darting jighead, 11cm paddletail on 28g cheburashka.

A wee LRF flounder session.

Yesterday I had the afternoon off and I had a double plan in my mind... I was gonna hit some harbours and jetties with the LRF to see if the mini-species started to show and later on would target Neist with the new rod to give it a workout and see how it behaves.
Thus I drove down to an often overlooked little harbour that is en route to one of my pollock marks, but this time I got the Crostage out and had a few casts.
Started with a 4g cheburashka, #8 hook and a 2" Berkley Sandworm as its a very effective search-bait. It was almost high tide and there was a brisk wind to my face but not too strong so as to affect my fishing.. The bottom was mostly sand with patches of weed and the water clear although with some drifting weed. I worked the lure near the bottom mostly and got a small pollock within the first few casts.. I then started to cast around the patches of weed and work the lure to the base of the harbour-wall, got a positive take and struck. The fish was holding down but soon enough I got it up and it was a lovely little flounder! Its been a long while since I caught one as I don't really target sandy areas that much, but very welcome.
It appeared that it had some company and I kept getting more of them with the sizes getting better. All the bites were pretty hard to miss and positive, with the fish getting well hooked. Kinda reminiscent of perch.. Since there were a few about I changed lure to a Jackall Peke Ring on a 1.8g Decoy Rocket head as I wanted to see if they'd take a 'normal' sofplastic and I have to say it appeared equally effective. I got a decent one after a while that headed straight for the base of the rockwall and managed to cut me off (!) as I was standing further back... Even flounders crash-dive up here! 😲

Oh hello!

Camo...

Flounders are cool..

The lure of choice..

After spending about 30-40mins there, the bite started to slow down and I thought it best to move. I drove to a different harbour then but it seemed to be devoid of life thus I decided it was time for Neist Point and the new rod's test!
Once at Neist I hastily walked to my spot and set up. Tried a couple presentations but as the current was very strong a 25g cheburashka gave the solution, rigged with a 5" Jerkshad.
I paired the rod with the Shimano Stradic FK C3000 and it felt like a good much. Instantly I could feel more bumps and the bottom much more 'defined' than with my other rods. Despite its length it feels shorter and after a while I hooked into a nice pollock that pulled some drag and got the rod in a good shape! It subdued the fish in good time and the butt seems to hold a lot of power. In all very happy with my purchase!

Christened!

Looking forward to some guiding sessions this weekend and using the rod more. In addition Ill be trying to find more areas that might hold flounders up here and generally start using the LRF gear more as its sheer fun of course!

Tight Lines!

Gear used.

Rod: MajorCraft Crostage CRK-T782AJI, APIA Foojin'R Best Bower 96MLX
Reel: Shimano Stradic 1000Fc Shimano Stradic FK C3000
Mainline: Unitika Night Game PE 0.3, Unitika Shore Game X8 PE 1.2
Leader: Toray Excellent fluorocarbon 6.8lbs, Duel Hardcore Powerleader fluorocarbon 16lbs
Lures: Berkley 2" Sandworm, Jackall Peke Ring, Berkley Jerkshad

Postspawn guided trip!

Its been a while since my last trip and that is mostly due to being too busy at work and with other commitments. Moreover I'm waiting for my new rod to arrive and I just don't feel like going fishing till I get it!
Nevertheless today I had planned a guiding trip for a fellow angler and we met up on Neist Point in the morning. Bruce is getting back into saltwater fishing after a while and was really keen to get some rod bending action! Sometime back he asked me to recommend him a reel and some lures and was now ready for a first taste of Skye rock fishing.
We were greeted by a millpond sea and sunny skies in the morning. After a quick coffee/chat and leader tying we picked our gear and headed down to the mark. Seeing as we have neap tides at the moment and the conditions were calm, I decided to start off at a more exposed point.
I rigged Bruce up with a 20g cheburashka and natural colour 3" paddletail and told him how to work the lure and where to cast. After a while he started getting the hang of it and the nibbles started coming. It took more than usual to get the first fish as we lost a couple in the kelp but soon enough the first pollock of the session was on the rocks! A hard fighting 3 pounder...
We persevered but possibly due to the conditions the fish were staying further out than usual and were more picky. A change to metals shook things up a bit and we soon had a steady stream of fish coming. Also got a couple nice coalies that just cant keep away from metals!

A good coalie on the metal.

A decent first pollock.

After a while and with the bites drying up whilst nearing the high tide point, we decided to move to my favourite spot. We kept using metals and more fish started coming! By this point Bruce was doing great and I was surprised to see a man his age doing so well on the rocks, but all this rock hopping and fish pulling got to his shoulder and he decided to take a break. As I wasn't fishing by this point I decided to have a few casts with the Major Craft KGS-902L and my new Stradic FK C3000 spooled with Unitika Shore Game PE X8 1.2. I had a ribster already rigged on a 16g cheburashka and made a good cast near the rocks across the gully. After touchdown I started a leisurely retrieve and got a gentle tap after a pause. I set the hook into something heavy but other than a few clicks of drag it didn't do much! I was even more surprised after I saw the size of fish coming up and I quickly got down to the rocks and landed it. I have added blue tape on most of my rods marking the 80cm mark thus indicating a usually double figure fish and at a quick glance this fish was approx 75 cm thus around 8lbs. I quickly plunged her back into the water and with a couple swipes of the tail she was gone like nothing happened! We had a laugh about the non-existent fight with Bruce but I find this to be not uncommon especially at this time of year with the fish in postspawn etc. Needless to say we caught fish of half the size later on that fought much harder than that one...

Nice fish, crap fight!

 The weather was turning by mid afternoon and the conditions became more conducive for pollock fishing, with a slight chop on the sea and cloud cover. Bruce was back on again and this time he hit a good patch with good numbers of fish in a short time. He was fishing with a ''money minnow'' style swimbait that is very soft and has an oversized paddletail and pollock absolutely loved it. They even hit it while static..
It was interesting to note increased seabird activity with some gannets diving close in and even guillemots swimming after baitfish and occasionally following our lures!

Happy angler!

Rod bendage!

Many of this size...

A few better ones in the mix.

A nice one.

We tried a couple more spots before the day was gone and got some fish from them but it was getting colder now and considering the long walk up (with some fish for Bruce) we decided to call it a day. It felt good to be guiding someone onto fish again and it was for the most part a cracking day in good company. If only for Bruce's hurt shoulder it would be a perfect session. It was a pleasure to fish with Bruce and had a good craic. Glad to see him with a good dinner sorted!
For next week I got some more outings planned but I cant wait to get my hands on the new rod. Will post pics and first impressions as soon as I get it!

Tight Lines!

Gear used.
Rod: MajorCraft KGEvolution Basic KGS-902L.
Reel: Shimano Stradic FK C3000
Mainline: Unitika Shore Game X8 PE 1.2
Leader: Duel Hardcore Powerleader fluorocarbon 16lbs
Lures:  4"-5" paddletails on 16g-20g cheburashka, oversized paddle swimbaits on 16g jighead and Texas rig, 20g-30g metals