Since I haven't got a car yet again I have been sitting home doing nothing and this really drives me mad! Thankfully my mate Ronnie wanted to have a go blade-baiting for the pollock up in Etive and so yesterday he picked me up with his friend John and we headed north. The day was beautiful with perfect weather and incoming tide at my mark so I was very positive that we would get among the fish..
We put on various blades on our lrf combos and started casting and working the lures near the bottom. I was expecting bites from the start but I was wrong and it proved a very slow start to the day... After about an hour or so without bites, I started getting some and after a few missed strikes (zx are tricky on hooksets) I finally landed a small pollock. I kept casting and got a couple more fish (a pollock and a codling) in quick succession although I lost a couple more who shed the hooks. The guys didn't stick with the blades but they did manage a few fish on jigs. Overall though it was very slow. I decided to have a few last casts and change presentation to a simple 4" hydrotail worm on a 3g jighead worked slowly near the bottom and this gave me a pollock from a spot we had previously worked with blades and metals showing that the fish were in a more passive mood. Thus we decided to head to Loch Fyne as we knew that the action would be much better there. On arrival the mark was looking perfect and as expected we got fish from the first casts on our metal jigs. I was using my MC Crostage CRK-T787AJI tubular tip rod as its perfect for working blades and jigs along with my little Shimano Stradic and 0.4PE line with 6lbs fluoro leader. Knowing that I will encounter reasonably good fish, I thought of trying something that is mainly done in baitfishing when faced with toothy predators. This was to double up the line by making a long loop. Thus I made a rapala knot that created a loop about half the length of the leader and in the end I tied my snap by a palomar knot. This way I was hoping to have a better chance of landing the bigger fish as I could use a tighter drag setting and have better abrasion resistance in the critical last meters of the leader. Moreover this allows to get some of the leader back in case of a snag instead of just using heavier line for leader that usually gets cut on the leader knot or on the braid as the leader is stronger. I also find it more practical than tying a second thicker leader on the existing one... The session continued by pulling out fish after fish, the vast majority of them being small pollock along with a few codling and poor cod.We kept at this pace until sundown really enjoying ourselves with the non-stop action even though no large fish were caught.
The doubled up leader.
They preferred flash today..
ZX 35 does the damage..
A nice 'agro' looking codling on the blade.
Fish wanted finesse in the end..
Metals rule in Fyne!
Double hook-up with Ronnie. Had quite a few of those throughout the day...
Tried some little creatures too...
...and cheburashka of course.
Nice codling towards the end of the day..
In the end of the day and even though I pulled numerous fish out of the kelp and rocks, the doubled up leader seemed to have worked. It was frayed but held up much better than normal. Certainly I will try it again next time..
From what we observed it seems that fish definitely need a few more days or a couple weeks of good weather to show up in numbers in Etive. There were definitely more of them than last time but it still doesn't feel as good as it should be.. Loch Fyne was teeming with fish but you have to go through thousands of the little ones to get some better fish.
All in all a most welcome session and I thank my friends Ronnie and John for it. Hope to find a new car soon though before I go mad!
Tight Lines!
Gear used.
Rod: Majorcraft Crostage CRK-T782AJI
Reel: Shimano Stradic 1000 fc
Mainline: YGK G-soul x3 PE 0.4
Leader: Sunline FC guide special fluorocarbon, 6lbs doubled up.
Lure: ZX35, metal jigs, hydrotail worms/paddletails on cheburashka.
Well the title says it all really.. The fishing has really picked up now and there is no need to venture further than my local marks. With the one in Loch Linnhe in particular, providing some fast and furious action. I fished this mark for three consecutive days (at different spots) and the amount and variety of fish has been staggering.
On the first day I focused on fishing with heavy cheburashka (12g) and medium paddletails (grass minnow M, 2.75"Swimfish) on the medium rock fishing gear. I caught plenty of plumb codling around 35cm, a ballan wrasse, a couple cuckoo wrasse (didn't take a pic of the male coz I thought the camera was on!) and some pollock. Most fish came from distance and it was the first time I caught a male cuckoo at this mark, I think there might be something with this as I encountered it in the North East as well, where the males staged further away (deeper) than females...
Decent codling.
Wrasse become bolder as well.
On the next day the weather was nice and sunny and I decided to get the Solpara and target codling and wrasse on the lrf softies. I caught a wrasse first cast but I was then getting takes OTD from active fish that made me change lure to metals. I then proceeded in catching fish after fish continuously and cursing for leaving the camera in the car! They were really in suicidal mode and I must have caught over 20 fish in less than an hour! I finished the session after foolishly loosing a much better fish by being hasty and not giving it more line. It grazed the line on some rocks...
I 've noticed that whenever I'm having a hectic session with fish a plenty, I become a bit careless and less cautious fighting the fish and this has cost me sometimes...
They love metals..
It was a mental metal session!
Today I went again for some metal action with the rod better suited to the task (Crostage) but typically the fish shied away from the metal jigs... I caught a few and even some tiny gurnards, but they were definitely in a more subdued mood. I knew they were there though and decided to fish slim softies on 8g cheburashka and a #4 offset hook. This was much more productive and I managed some more pollock and codling. The wind was getting very strong now and I switched spot so that I would have the wind on my back. I changed lure again to something that I thought would be even more enticing. A 4" Lunker City hydrotail worm that has been very effective for me in the past for finicky fish. From the first cast the water turned alive again and I started getting bites. Curlytails/twisters can be worked extremely slowly and still provide the fish with plenty of action (tail) to home in on. I was working the lure slowly, almost dragging bottom and sometimes hopping it and in quick succession from a relatively small area managed to catch a couple codling, a ballan wrasse, a female cuckoo wrasse and even lost another ballan close in!
Even these little buggers like them..
I love pollock..
Codling seem to like blades even more than pollock!
Beautiful ballan wrasse.
Cuckoo..
I also went to Loch Awe for a couple hours targeting the pike, but other then a tiny jack I got nothing. I decided not to persevere as the sea is so much more productive at the minute and I'm having a blast! There have been significant changes though as the bulk of the mackerel are gone now but the summer species are feeding hard.
Next week I'm expecting some madai jigs to arrive along with more Gulp softies and if they arrive before my days off and weather allowing, I will try and make a last fishing trip for this season.. I want to target the area starting from the Morvern coast, then Loch Aline and finish in the Ardnamurchan peninsula! Sounds like a lot and probably is, but even if I don't fish everywhere I'm sure I'll find some good fish...
Here's a little vid as well!
Tight lines!
Gear used.
Rod: Various
Reel: Various
Mainline: Siderwire invisibraid 0.10mm, Duel Hardcore x4 0.6 PE
Rig: cheburashka, metals
lure: Grass minnows, Lunker city Swimfish, Lunker City Hydrotail worms, various metals 5g-7g.
In the end of the day and even though I pulled numerous fish out of the kelp and rocks, the doubled up leader seemed to have worked. It was frayed but held up much better than normal. Certainly I will try it again next time..
