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.
