Today was my day off and the weather was very agreeable, so without second thought I grabbed the gear and headed out with my brother. We walked towards Little Sark, at the south part of the island to do some exploring/fishing there. On reaching an area I already noted at google earth, I was really getting a good feeling as it seemed it could hold fish. There was a relatively deep and broad gully with some large boulders and plenty of kelp. A true wrasse-mark. The tide was coming in and there was a light breeze. I started by using the wacky rig as I wanted to test it on wrasse for a while and this place/conditions seemed ideal to do this.
I rigged a 4'' Keitech Live Impact on a 3.5g Molix Racing Guard jighead and casted in the middle of the gully. As soon as the lure touched bottom, the bites came and after waiting for a couple seconds so that the fish takes the lure better, I struck and following a short tussle, the first wrasse of the day was in the net. It was only a small one but very welcome.
Following this fish I recast and after some jiggling on the bottom the same thing happened, only this time the take was much more violent and after a hard run, I felt the line go limp as the fish managed to cut it on the rocks.
Big wrasse on LRF gear can mean some lost fish... I retied the same jighead (on doubled line) and kept fishing. I had fish biting everywhere and they were coming thick and fast, providing me with serious adrenaline doses! They weren't monsters, mostly 1-2lbs but on a 0.6-8g rod they gave good fights and even snagged me a couple times. Again I was just waiting and letting them on a loose line until they made a move, this worked most times.
After having a few fish on the Live Impact I decided to change lure to something cheaper as they were on a feeding mood and tearing the soft plastics apart! I put on a 7cm Berkley Gulp Bibi worm, straight hooked on the jighead and worked it slowly with a few twitches and stops. The fish didn't seem to mind and kept coming to be netted by my brother..
Working my way along the rocks, I reached the head of the gully, where the water was much deeper.
The wind had also picked up and waves were crushing but it seemed fishable. I scrambled on a boulder and dropped the lure straight down. It took a while to reach bottom, and after some twitches, I felt some bites and then solid resistance with the drag screaming, but again the fish managed to bust me up. I pulled a little one later from that spot and then moved to the adjacent bay.
The water there was much more turbulent but I still managed a nice fish on a texas rigged Reins Curly Curly.
Overall, this has been the most successful day of fishing Ive had on the island so far. Most of the fish weren't big but since I was fishing with my LRF gear, I couldn't expect much.. A 3lbs line is not enough for the bigger fish in this environment. Moreover I was very impressed at the hook up ratio and general effectiveness of the wacky rig, as I only lost a couple fish (due to striking too early).
I hope I will get some more sessions like this one on my days off...
Thanks for reading and tight lines!
Gear used.
Rod: Golden Mean Symphonia, 0.6-8g, 8'6''
Reel: Mitchell Mag Pro 1000
Mainline: YGK Nitlon DFC fluorocarbon, 3lbs
Rig: mostly wacky with a 3.5g Molix racing guard jighead
lure: 4'' Keitech Live impact, 7cm Berkley Gulp Bibi worm, 4'' Reins Curly Curly.
I rigged a 4'' Keitech Live Impact on a 3.5g Molix Racing Guard jighead and casted in the middle of the gully. As soon as the lure touched bottom, the bites came and after waiting for a couple seconds so that the fish takes the lure better, I struck and following a short tussle, the first wrasse of the day was in the net. It was only a small one but very welcome.
Following this fish I recast and after some jiggling on the bottom the same thing happened, only this time the take was much more violent and after a hard run, I felt the line go limp as the fish managed to cut it on the rocks.
Big wrasse on LRF gear can mean some lost fish... I retied the same jighead (on doubled line) and kept fishing. I had fish biting everywhere and they were coming thick and fast, providing me with serious adrenaline doses! They weren't monsters, mostly 1-2lbs but on a 0.6-8g rod they gave good fights and even snagged me a couple times. Again I was just waiting and letting them on a loose line until they made a move, this worked most times.
 |
| The mark. |
After having a few fish on the Live Impact I decided to change lure to something cheaper as they were on a feeding mood and tearing the soft plastics apart! I put on a 7cm Berkley Gulp Bibi worm, straight hooked on the jighead and worked it slowly with a few twitches and stops. The fish didn't seem to mind and kept coming to be netted by my brother..
Working my way along the rocks, I reached the head of the gully, where the water was much deeper.
The wind had also picked up and waves were crushing but it seemed fishable. I scrambled on a boulder and dropped the lure straight down. It took a while to reach bottom, and after some twitches, I felt some bites and then solid resistance with the drag screaming, but again the fish managed to bust me up. I pulled a little one later from that spot and then moved to the adjacent bay.
The water there was much more turbulent but I still managed a nice fish on a texas rigged Reins Curly Curly.
Overall, this has been the most successful day of fishing Ive had on the island so far. Most of the fish weren't big but since I was fishing with my LRF gear, I couldn't expect much.. A 3lbs line is not enough for the bigger fish in this environment. Moreover I was very impressed at the hook up ratio and general effectiveness of the wacky rig, as I only lost a couple fish (due to striking too early).
I hope I will get some more sessions like this one on my days off...
Thanks for reading and tight lines!
Gear used.
Rod: Golden Mean Symphonia, 0.6-8g, 8'6''
Reel: Mitchell Mag Pro 1000
Mainline: YGK Nitlon DFC fluorocarbon, 3lbs
Rig: mostly wacky with a 3.5g Molix racing guard jighead
lure: 4'' Keitech Live impact, 7cm Berkley Gulp Bibi worm, 4'' Reins Curly Curly.
