Wrasse on hard lures.

Yesterday I managed to get the night off from work and decided to visit the mark near my house since I haven't fished there for a while. Moreover I wanted to try some new things , namely to fish for wrasse with hard lures and also figure out the areas pollock prefer here.
I started fishing around 19:00 and the tide was coming in.
Firstly, I started fishing the Jika rig to see if the fish are there.. After catching the first one I changed presentation by tying a small vibration lure from Jackall. I was trying to mimic a fleeing crustacean by letting the lure static for long periods and just giving it short sharp flicks to  make it vibrate and letting it sink again. The bites came faster than I expected and after setting the hook, I had my
first wrasse on a hard lure!

The first one on a hard lure!

 I managed to get more fish on the same lure, with the biggest being about 1.5kg. They seemed to hit the lure soon after the first couple twitches at the bottom. The lure seemed to work better from a near vertical or high position as I had more control and could make it vibrate with shorter twitches. Although not nearly as snag proof as a texas rig, I managed to cover the area fast and didn't have any missed bites..

 

 

As the light was fading fast and the bites dried up, I decided to move to the inner area of the peninsula I was on. That area hasn't provided me with any fish so far but seems fishy and there was some prey fish activity.. I switched lure to a small ice-pilker with a single assist hook and started casting and jigging it about. At one point I let the lure fall next to the rock-face I was standing and when it touched bottom, I gave it a couple jerks.. I got a proper bite and the fish crash-dived straight to the bottom taking drag and chaffing the line on the rocks. The line held and I managed to get the fish up. I was expecting a pollock but actually it was a feisty little wrasse!

I kept working the area and did manage to catch some pollock in the end, but not the ones I was after, with a shoal of mini pollock attacking the pilker every time!

 

A very interesting session that got me thinking about my approach and presentations. I will need to get some more fish on other types of hard baits as well, but it seems that this species is a true bottom predator and full of surprises..


Tight lines all!


Gear used.
Rod: Golden Mean Symphonia, 0.6-8g, 8'6''
Reel: Mitchell Mag Pro 1000
Mainline: YGK Nitlon DFC fluorocarbon, 3lbs
lure: mainly Jackall TN50 Salt and Jaxon 7g Ice pilker.

Ultralight shore jigging.

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.