Fresh marks and more wrasse.

Even though I have been on the island for a good few months now, what amazes me is that there are still marks that I haven't tried out and have a lot of potential as well. Thus on my day off yesterday I visited a mark on the west point of the Island. There is a narrow channel formed as a small island lies a stones throw from Sark. The waters are quite deep and the currents are more similar to a river than the sea. As expected reaching the mark takes a bit of walking and rock-climbing but its definitely worth it as it turns out.
On reaching the mark I opted to fish right at the corner of the rock wall overlooking the channel. I started with a texas rigged Reins Rockvibe shad on a N2 Maruto Worm19 hooks and a 7g bullet weight. It was hard holding bottom in the current but instead of adding weight to the rig, I preferred to let it drift and cover more area. There was a crevice where the water seemed to circulate and I expected most fish to hide there waiting for food to come to them. As my lure drifted in the crevice I got a bite and a wrasse. I managed a few more there but decided to move as the fish were mainly small.

The narrow channel.

I moved to a nearby gully that seemed very promising and got plenty of wrasse in quick succession.

After the gully 'dried up' I moved to a more open spot with vertical rock walls and caves. I changed to a carolina rig and tried many lures with the most effective being the Rockvibe shad, Bubbling shad and the Curly Curly. The fish got better here averaging a couple pounds.

Late in the afternoon I decided to go to the southern marks of the island as the wind was coming from the north and I would get easier fishing. As I managed to drop my fluorocarbon leader spool, I had to fish with the LRF fluoro mainline. This was kind of risky as I haven't got my new net yet (broke the previous one!) but with a bit of finesse there were no major problems.
The wrasse tend to move very close to the shore-rocks at this time with most fish coming from short casts. I started getting a steady stream of wrasse on the sp's and was really impressed with the Maruto worm19 hooks as they hooked the fish perfectly every time. They are of the extra wide gap style and I think that it suits wrasse better.
I then changed to hard baits for a bit of variety and put on a Daiwa DC shad, this lure dives deep and being a suspender (slow floater actually) gives enough time for the wrasse to attack it. I was casting the lure parallel to the rocks and with the rod tip down I was retrieving fast to get  the lure at the base of the rocks. As soon as the lure hit structure I would let it float a bit and then give it a sharp twitch. I could see it coming closer and letting it static I saw some movement behind it. It was a large wrasse that after observing the lure for a millisecond, pounced on it! It run straight for the deep peeling drag and the all went solid. The fish snagged me up and even though I gave it time it wouldn't move, so in the end I had to pull for the snap. I felt terrible leaving the fish with the lure in its mouth but hopefully it will manage to get rid of it as the barbs were crushed.

After the lost fish I called it a day and went home knackered of a full days fishing. I think I get more tired fishing on my days off than at work!

Thanks for reading and tight lines!



Gear used.
Rod: Major Craft KG Evolution KGS-832ST 2.53m, 3-15g
Reel: Mitchell Mag Pro 1000
Mainline: Spiderwire invisibraid 0.10mm, Trilene fluorocarbon leader 10lbs and YGK Nitlon DFC fluorocarbon 3lbs
Rig: mainly Carolina and Texas with a 7g bullet weight and Matzuo or Maruto worm19 offset hooks sizes 1-3/0
Lure: various


 

Jika rig and new arrivals...

The past couple weeks I had almost zero time for fishing and that wasn't agreeing with me.. So as soon as I got my day off yesterday, I was out fishing... There were strong south westerly winds that ruled out fishing at my usual marks, thus I visited the same area as last time even though I was dreading the descent that followed... Reaching the large rock-ledge, I started getting ready and prepared a jika rig with an offset hook and 5gr sinker on a size 1 Owner split ring. This presentation is meant to allow the lure to move relatively free and close to the bottom. It is not as snagless as a pegged texas rig but the movement the lure gets is very appealing..
 First cast near the rock wall and got a good bite. I set the hook and after a spirited fight got a wrasse on the surface. I got the net in my hand but by then the fish managed to shed the hook..! I recast again in the same area and felt a tap while the lure was sinking . I set the hook again and the fish started an unstoppable run and cut the line in the end! By this point I was getting really pissed off with this but I persisted and finally managed to get one, albeit smaller than the lost fish..

Jika rig.

The weather was getting worst and I decided to move to another mark. I went to the northeast side of the island and thus had the wind on my back. The waters are not so deep here but there is plenty of vegetation and reefs. I settled on a small gully and I could see a reef about 20m in front of me. I cast there, let the lure sink, and after a few twitches got the firs bite. I strike but missed the fish.. I continued the retrieve and let the lure settle in a clear patch. I got bit again and after feeling weight I stroked hard and had a big fish on the end of my line. The fish made some powerful runs but slowly I managed to bring it closer by applying steady pressure. When it came closer I could see its bulk and knew that it was another trophy! It was moving left and right but I managed to slip the net under it and land it. It was a beautiful wrasse of 2.4kg and I was really gutted I didn't weigh my previous big wrasse as that one was even bigger!

After the big fish I decided to take a break as I had some plans for pollock fishing in the evening.
Around 19:00 and with the tide coming in I went down the harbour as I had heard that pollock started to show along with mackerel and didn't want to miss out. I got the heavier gear with me as I was planning to fish mostly with pirks and shads. Arriving at the harbour I saw some locals fishing with floats and feathers, and they were absolutely smashing them! Some friends were also fishing with sandeel imitations but had only managed one pollock. I decided to throw a 25g Solvkroken Jensen pirken and soon I got the first little pollock of the season.. After that the fish went quiet for us, while the float boys were getting all the attention, landing some nice pollock and mackerel! I was puzzled by the fish preferring to be caught on such crude gear but it also gave me food for thought about my presentation. They seemed to prefer sandeels fished static under the float, thus I changed lure to a 3'' Big Hammer swimbait in a silvery green colour and fished it slow on the bottom with occasional twitches. This paid off with two more pollock before I called it a day.

After that session I still had thoughts on improving my presentation. I was thinking that I would have more chances to catch these fish with the LRF gear as they preferred smaller baits (common in spring time as the fry is still too small). Thus I went straight to the harbour this morning to test my theory and I got a pollock and a mackerel in a quick session before work. Both fish were caught on a 5g mini pirk with a silver and green colour...

All in all I'm glad the pollock and mackerel are finally here, as they offer something different from the usual bottom wrasse fishing and plenty of fun too! Nothing wrong with wrasse (I love them) but after two consecutive months catching nothing but them I d like some variety!
Im now thinking about different presentations for specialising on these two species, maybe involving floats or bombardas but will need a lot of testing and more gear purchases (!) but I'm sure that this summer will be very productive.

Thanks for reading and tight lines!

Gear used.
Rod: Golden Mean Symphonia, 0.6-8g, 8'6'', Shimano Beastmaster bx stc, 2.40-2.70m, 14-40g
Reel: Mitchell Mag Pro 1000, Abu Garcia Soron Stx 40
Mainline: YGK Nitlon DFC fluorocarbon, 3lbs, Berkley Nanofil, 0.10mm
Rig: Jika, 5gweight, Owner N1 Rig n Hook offset, Owner N1 split ring
lure: Reins 4'' rockvibe shad, Reins 3'' bubbling shad, Jensen pirken pirk, Big Hammer 3'' swimbait, Jaxon 5g Ice mini pirk.