Madai and 'slow' jigs in rock fishing.

I have been using these jigs for a while now and with excellent results. Below I will give some tips on their use and also a video of how I work them.
There have been more than three years since I first fished in saltwater in the UK and I remember among the first lures that I used were of course metal jigs. In amongst them were some japanese madai jigs that I had also bought as they were all the rage at the time in Greece. I had good results on them with pollock especially on Cumbria's St Bee's head. The years passed and I had almost forgotten about these lures as the more 'normal' jigs were perfectly adequate and more generalised in their targets. Moreover I almost abandoned the heavier gear in favour of LRF/HRF.
It wasn't until I started using smaller bottom/slow jigs in lrf that I thought of giving them a go where distance was needed. I also bough some more of them, intended for use on the lighter gear. Most of them where the easily sourced Duel Salty baits that became a favourite of mine. This jig has an offset hook and a small muppet that I though of replacing it with some Berkley Gulp sandeels that I had knocking about imitating the Americans as they do in bucktailing and jigging.
Now the lure had added scent from the gulp and I also noticed it gave the sandeel a nice wiggle on the retrieve. The fish really showed preference to this presentation and I could even adjust it according to species. For example using  gulp prawns and jerky slow retrieves with long pauses for wrasse, or slim type soft plastics and gulp for more streamlined 'flowing' presentations targeting pollock on steady retrieve.
They are good to be used as they are but I believe the addition of scent/feel with the softplastics/gulp markedly improves their effectiveness. For those jigs that have muppets on (like inchikus, engetsu etc) I fill the muppet with some scent like pro-cure and it works really well on codling especially.
I work them with three types of retrieve as shown in the video and I usually mix n match to see whats best for the day.

Where short bites expected...

Ling are not that uncommon now!

Engulfed!

Codling on the luminous salty bait and gulp, very effective
in deep waters and low light conditions..

A different rigging...

loud colours are good, especially in deeper water.

LRF style...

Adding scent in the muppet is very effective.

Senkos add more weight...

...and do work!

I got reminded today of their effectiveness while fishing in Loch Fyne. There were strong easterly winds and a bright sunny day which put off the fish from feeding and although I tried everything the bites were just not coming.. Caught a few tiddlers early on with the Salty bait, but even that was proving hard to tempt the fish. It was clear that the fish wanted scented lures instead of the usual soft plastics and so I persisted with the Salty/gulp combo hoping that the wind will die down later on and fish would come to the feed.More over codling are tightly shoaled now and if I found the shoal it could be easier to get them due to competition. Another bonus of jigging (even slow type) is that you can cover water fast. Thus I fished all around the harbour with minimal bites until I reached the outside of the wall in the western side that was the most protected area from the wind. The sun was going down and finally the first bites started coming. I then proceeded in catching a fish a cast until sundown! Codling of around the pound mark were attacking my jig and finally provided some fun in a very slow day.

Nice codling from today.

The weather is really going into winter mode now and the fish respond accordingly.I don't seem to get wrasse now and the pollock have quietened down but the codling more than make up for them as they are the mainstay of my fishing now. I'm interested to see how the fishing changes and unfolds for the remainder of my season here.

Tight lines!

Days off recap.

For my days off this week, I was hoping that the weather would behave so that I could visit Lochaline and the Ardnamurchan peninsula, but this wasn't to be as the forecast was gale-force winds and  rain for the most part. Instead on Monday, when the weather was at its worst, I went to my local mark in loch Linnhe with my heavier gear. I knew the fish would be feeding down deep and wouldn't be affected by the storm that had pretty much passed by then. I used heavier (20g-30g) Salty baits and had good results with nice codling and pollock along with another ling. The heavier rod now feels so unnatural to my hands and mind you this was my 'light' gear many years ago. This rod is a Tica Seha graphite, 2.70m 1/4-1/2oz so not really that heavy, but because of its very fast blank it feels much stronger and in truth it can even cast 30g metal jigs with ease. I want to try using the heavier jigs on this rod and see if I get the results I want (mainly in the colder months for cod etc) before spending money for a proper shore jigging rod. I do believe that this technique should get more coverage here in the UK and especially the 'slow jigging' variant, as so far its been very productive on the light scale. I wouldn't go all out on the heavy rods rated up to 140g but the light-moderate ones seem to be perfect for here.

Added a hook in the tail for finicky bites.
The loose line doesn't affect the movement.

Nice codling

No need for trailer hooks when they're hungry. They aim for the head!

That's why I add the trailer hook...

Pollock as well..

And Ling!

After the storm..

Yesterday the weather was much better so I decided to visit Loch Etive in the deep basin there, that I haven't fished for some time. This mark has always given me surprises and this time was no exception. I was fishing with cheburashka and grass minnows along the rocks and I got my first pouting after a few casts! Yet another new species from here.. Its a pretty fish and gave a decent little scrap, so I dont get the negative image it has with bait anglers...
I then proceeded in catching a gurnard, a pollock, a codling and a couple poor cod before getting back in the car to drive down to loch Fyne.  There, I used heavy cheburashkas (8-12g) and a variety of paddletails and ripple/curly tail worms around 3" to good effect on the codling and pollock. I caught no monsters but made a nice little video.

My first pouting!

Cool fish..

Gurnard..

I will soon write a post regarding my Madai/slow jigs fishing but I need to make a few more outings before. Hopefully the weather will behave...

Thanks for reading!

Gear used.
Rod: Tica Seha graphite, 2.70m, 1/4-1/2oz for the Light shore jigging, Various
Reel: Abu Garcia Soron stx 40. Various
Mainline: Fins windtamer 10lbs, Various
Rig/lure: Salty baits 20-30g tipped with gulp, cheburashka.

Four days of fishing! Part 1, Fishing the Northeast.

I have been given four days off from work this week and I thought it would be my best chance for a good fishing trip  before the season ends. I had two places in mind, either going south and fishing at the Mull of Kintyre or going to the North East and fishing around Wick, Dunnet Head and Thurso. From a look in Google Earth I was immediately drawn to the rugged coastline of the North East and the many points and cliffs there. I chose to go there in the end and on Saturday morning I made the long drive to the town of Wick. My first stop was at the Old Castle where the water is very deep and there is access to the rocky fingers below the castle.
I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of 'life' in the water as I could see loads of fry and coalies moving about. I decided to use my favourite presentation at the moment that does a good job as a 'searcher bait' and thus a Shimano madai jig rigged with some Berkly gulp was cast in the depths. I got some sharp bites but I reacted too fast and missed them, but I was sure they were form wrasse.
I re casted and this time worked the lure slower with twitches near the bottom and soon I had a bite and a fish on! It was fighting well but it wasn't something big, so I hurriedly retrieved line wanting to get my first Northeastern fish in my hands.. I could see colour after a bit, and a lot of it! It was a male cuckoo wrasse and my first one (male)! I got another one after some missed takes and then a female. I noticed that the males where hanging deeper than the female and this maybe a reason why Ive only caught females at my mark back home....

That's Fishy!

Very interesting rock formations.

Stunning colours.

Had to put him back fast...

And another one..

There she is...

A good sign?

Surprisingly I got no codling or pollock and I worked pretty hard for them covering a lot of water and making many casts. I was sure the presentation was good and it seemed that the fish just  weren't there... After  a while a seal popped up and then another one! I moved to a different area but there were even more seals there! I think they may have affected the fishing as I caught nothing around them and so I decided to change location.
I moved to the harbour and  decided to fish the outer breakwater. It is a very fishy looking harbour, with three separate harbours (inner, river, outer) and it would be my main venue.
I kept the madai jig, only I now tipped it with a Keitech sexy impact for a faster retrieve and started casting and working it near the lighthouse. I soon got a nice codling but then lost the jig to a snag! I changed presentation to a 12g cheburashka (was getting very windy) with a #2 offset hook rigged with an Ecogear grass minnow M. I move towards the inner harbour entrance and after a couple casts, I started getting subtle bites and hooking into codling. They were shoaled up near the entrance of the inner harbour and were attacking the Grass minnow every time! I managed about a dozen or more of them until night fall and then they stopped feeding. They were all about the pound mark and really good fun!

Wick Harbour.

Codling on the jig.

They were tightly shoaled and hungry..

Feeding on baby flatfish!

I spend the night in the car and woke up early to target the river part of the harbour. I was hoping to encounter some new species on this trip and I wanted to fish in different areas and not just the rocks! I was thinking that I might get some flatfish and so I got the Solpara and the lrf lures and started working my way from near the bridge towards the mouth of the harbour. I was using mainly Ecogear aqua Katsu mebaru and Berkley fish fry's and suffice to say the place was stuffed with small fish! I was getting hit as soon as the lure touched bottom and among the usual codling and coalies I started getting a stream of whiting and some small flounders as well... Job done and I now had two new species at this trip!

My first whiting!

My first flounder!

They are akin to poor cod in their behaviour, hunting in shoals.

Plenty of teeth on them...

Coalie country up here...

After the morning harbour session, I moved to a rocky outcrop on the northern side of the town but other than a couple coalies, nothing showed so I was back on the road heading to John o Groats and then Dunnet Head. I fished for a bit at John o Groats harbour where I witnessed the most ravenous coalies ever,  that would even hit lures on the surface and even higher when I was lifting them up!
At Dunnet Head I fished at a small slipway where some rock pinnacles created interesting structure in a relatively deep bay. I used my heavier gear to cast larger madai jigs and shads and I finally found some pollock! They hit the jig hard and got hooked straight away!

John o Groats pier.

Rocks from Dunnet head..

Good looking ground.

Flashy but effective..

I finally found them!

I then drove up to Thurso with the intention of fishing Scrabster harbour and indeed the harbour looked very inviting but unfortunately I was running late as I didn't want to be driving in the night or stay there so I decided with a heavy heart to leave this for another time and head home.
It was an interesting trip and a needed change of scenery. The Northeast seems more productive than anticipated and I'm sure with more effort much better fish would be found. Its very interesting to see such differences in both the landscape, marks and fish and although I was hoping for some larger fish I enjoyed the trip and the variety.. Some notes from my trip:

• The numbers of coalies are  unbelievable!
• So much life in and out of the water.. Seals, birds, fry everywhere!
• Proper rough ground..
• Where are the pollock?!
• A lot of  commercial fishing activity..

On the next part I'll describe the fishing at my usual marks...

Tight lines!

Gear used.

Rod: Various
Reel: Various
Mainline: Various
Rig: cheburashka, jighead,
lure:Various Ecogear Aqua, Berkley Gulp, Madai jigs, Grass minnows.