Blade bait pattern starts with a bang!

As I mentioned previously, I had done a session in Etive with blade baits for pollock before my Cyprus trip. The fish weren't there in numbers yet and I was hoping they would start shoaling up by the time of my return.
Thus a few days ago I decided on another trip up Loch Etive, only this time I would spend the night up there, so that I would fish the morning too. Once more though my plans went out of the window and on the way up I broke down with the car's engine seizing up and had to call my brother to pick me up from Inveraray... Undeterred (its become almost normal for me now!) I got my brother's car and headed to the loch. It was a bit late in the day now and the weather was an unreal mix of sun, clouds, showers, wind and a rainbow! I fished until dark with a variety of lures and picked a few small fish. I also had two good bites on the blades but no hook ups and I was even more determined now to fish again at first light.

Notice the recent snow on the mountains!

Thus after fishing into the night without success, I went in the car to sleep. I noticed that the weather changed considerably getting more favourable (it was more pleasant during the night than it was throughout the day) and had high hopes for the morning.
I got up in daybreak and set up on the rocks again. I clipped my trusted Ecogear zx35 blade and after only a couple casts, the following ensued...

As I mention in the video the drag setting proved critical as it was loose enough to allow the fish to take me in the snags without the line abrading too much yet tight enough to tire the fish out in a reasonable amount of time. Unfortunately I didn't stick with the original setting and lost the second fish. Fighting pollock on LRF gear is completely different to fighting them on the usual heavy spinning gear most anglers use for them. And the notion of locking down the drag proves catastrophic!
The fish was a male full of 'love juices' and hopefully the first of many to come this season. An excellent start to the pattern! Bellow some more pics of the fish and the lures I will be using for them...
Now I only need to find yet another car! lol

Cant fit him in the pic...

A superb fighter!

A variety of offerings...

Thanks for reading and 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
Lure: ZX35

Blades, metal vibration, cicadas etc...

Call them what you like but for a while now I was wondering if these lures have a place in my tackle box. When I first saw them I was quite keen in getting some of them as they look cool and I was sure they would give me loads of fish easily... After getting my hands on them, I tried them in freshwater and the salt but the results were not the ones I was expecting.
I thought that with their vibration and flash, fish would go mad for them and I used to rig them from the hole towards the back to produce the maximum vibration! This seemed to produce the opposite effect and fish wouldn't touch them! I then started researching even more on how they are fished and also gave them some more water time by trying many different retrieves and in various situations/conditions. I started getting some fish on them and in freshwater this seemed a bit easier as perch and even chub would go for them, especially in areas where fish had wisened up to the traditional spinners and spoons. Albeit no big fish among them.
In the salt I got some fish when the conditions were rough and especially at lighted harbour entrances at night. Even then though, they never became a mainstay in my lurebox instead becoming the lure you would put when playing around.. This was to change after I decided to use some from the Ecogear range in a situation where I though they might do well.
I was fishing my usual mark in Loch Etive at the mouth of a basin and the tide was coming in. There was also quite a strong wind and the water slightly stained. I had good results with the soft plastics retrieved with the current but I thought of using something that would imitate a crustacean dragged by the current and trying to flee in short jerks on  the bottom as they move.
I rigged a ZX35 and what followed was a revelation! Fish were hitting it like mad and not just the little ones.. I caught some nice pollock that had engulfed them.. On that day the fish seemed to just suck them in from the bottom like they were a natural food source and not an artificial and this lead me into thinking that I may have stumbled on a pattern here. Indeed many sessions followed and with always some fish caught, good fish at that with pollock around the 2kg mark that fought like demons on the LRF gear. So much so that I had to beef up the braid and trace to get them in safely while sacrificing casting distance. I also managed to video some of these sessions with my new Sony Action camera and I will be posting more videos soon. The quality and layout is not very good but I'm looking for some software to help me improve.
Some notes/points from the sessions are:

• Current and slightly stained water very important.
• 'Crustacean' profiles/presentations more effective than 'fishy/flashy' ones.
• Fish come pretty fast.
• On Ecogear ZX and assist rigged blades waiting on the strike a bit works better.
• Short jerks and pause to touch bottom very important.
• Rigging near the front better for less vibration/flash, too much scares the fish!
• Smaller lighter lures of up to 4g more successful than heavier ones.
• Added appendages/modifications to look more like prawns can work.
• Stiffer Aji style rods better for working them along with braid over fluoro.
• On currents, although the direction of retrieve should be more natural with the flow, the position of the fish is more important and they will take it even when retrieved against the flow.

Here are some pics of fish and also a few clips of recent sessions.

A good fish.

Engulfed!

Coalies like them..

Decent fish..

Codling like them too!

Some cheap ones.

modified...

further modified!

In all blade baits make for some very fast and fun fishing and under certain conditions and fish they can be deadly. Although they are harder to make them work than other lures, they certainly earned their place in my tackle box! The best model has by far been the Ecogear ZX range but their high price has put me off from buying them for a third time! So I purchase some cheaper ones mainly from Poland and after changing the hooks and 'modifying' them, some of them have proven to be very effective..

Tight lines!

Gear used.
Rod: Various but stiffer ones better
Reel: various
Mainline: Braid better.
lure: Ecogear ZX 30 and 35, Spinmad Cma and Uklejka, Jaxon switch blade

Freshwater fun!

Whenever I go back home in the warmer seasons, one fishing opportunity I never miss, is to head to the dams of the Nestos river to target mainly perch. These dams haven't got a great variety of fish and a distinct lack of the main large European freshwater predators. Although this doesn't sound promising to the lure-angler, in fact it has lead to good numbers of quite large perch thriving in the artificial lakes and becoming the apex predator there. More over there are many (also predatory) chub along with the introduced pumpkinseed and occasionally rainbow trout.
Usually September-October is considered the best time of the year to target the perch and after organising the details, I loaded the car and set off. I was planning to fish two spots of the lake that have served me well in the past with good catches. On reaching the larger Thisavros dam I was slightly worried about the low water levels as from previous knowledge, this means that my first mark probably wouldn't produce... Despite this, i decided to head down for a couple casts and see whats there.
 I was fishing right under the main bridge of the dam and after some casts it was obvious that there were no fish as expected. Changing tactics, I rigged a small silver spoon and started retrieving near the surface hoping that a chub might go for my lure.. i got the first small one from a very shallow area and released it straight away. Moving further, I was walking along the bank that now stands much higher than the waters edge and I saw a nice chub wandering near the shore without noticing me.. I made a cast a few meters towards its direction and saw the fish change course and attack the lure! After a short fight I got the fish up, and released it after the photo. Soon after I decided to move to my second mark as the sun was going down and I didn't have much time left.

Under the bridge...

..and looking to the right.

First one.

Second chub.

The second spot is a mini-dam of a small river, connected to the main dam by massive underwater pipes. The main factor for perch fishing in this lake is the existence of rocks and boulders, that the perch seem to prefer over other habitats. The small dam is made completely out of big boulders, thus creating a good place for the perch.
I started fishing with dropshotted small minnow imitations and after a few small perch I felt the slight 'touch' that bigger fish tend to do, and connected to a better fish. After a lively fight I hand-landed it and released it back straight after the photo as these fish need to be put back fast in order to get to the bottom (sensitive to pressure changes).
Although I persisted with the dropshot and jigging shads, i only managed some smaller ones and headed back to the car as it was already dark.

The small dam.

What I wanted..

it coughed up this!

After a rather comfortable sleep in the car, I woke up early and headed down the dam as sunrise and early morning is the best time for big perch. I decided to start with a small shad on a jighead, in order to cover the area more a\efficiently and was planning to use the dropshot once i found the fish. I got a bite on the second cast and after a very good fight I landed a beautiful plumb perch that filled my with anticipation for what was coming next.. Disappointingly it wasn't meant to be and I could only get smaller perch and even they were few and far between. I even swapped my lead for a pilker but could not find any bigger specimens.

The only decent fish of the morning.

This usually works...

The sun was already high on the sky and was getting very hot, so I decided to fish on the opposite side of the dam and experiment with different lures and presentations for the small fish. I got my new LRF rod (my friend stepped on my previous one in Mytilini!) the Majorcraft Solpara SPS-S792M (7'9", 0.5g-5g). and my old Tica Libra 2500 reel that was filled with 3.9lbs Toray  Bawo Upgrade fluorocarbon. I started by using some small cicada lures (metal vibration) that i had previously used in the sea but with limited success. Whilst retrieving I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of bites I was getting and then fish.. Both perch and chub seemed to go mad about them while ignoring the small spinners that is the main lure used here for them. I then tried some spinner-tails that were clearly more effective on perch. The fish were attacking the fry that was shoaling up on the bay formed by the dam and near the rocks. Thus i decided to use small straight soft lures as in saltwater LRF to mimic them. Although perch love straight soft plastic lures, i had never before caught any chub on them but today the seemed to tear them up with fish coming in a steady stream. They were not of a great size but superb fun on the LRF gear.

Power Isome is good in freshwater too..

  As I was fishing, I heard a splash a couple meters away and saw an otter looking at me and clearly surprised as much as me by this encounter! After the otter the fish moved further away from the shore and as it was already very hot, i decided to head back home. Although I didn't manage to get more of the bigger specimens, I'm planning to visit the dam soon and hopefully I'll have better luck next time. I thoroughly enjoyed the fishing and got very positive feedback from the new rod even though it was purchased in haste.


Thanks for reading!

Gear used.
Rod: Major Craft KG Evolution KGS-832ST 2.53m, 3-15g and  Major craft Solpara SPS-S792M (7'9", 0.5g-5g)
Reel: Shimano Stradic Ci4 2500f and Tica Libra 2500fd
Mainline: Spiderwire Ultracast Fluorobraid 10lbs, YGK nitlon DFC fluoro leader 10lb and Toray Bawo Upgrade Fluorocarbon, 3.9lbs
rigs: mainly dropshot and jigheads for the softplastics.
Lures: various