Salty Bait does it again.

Lately I have been experimenting with kabura and inchiku type metal jigs for my pollock fishing on the medium gear. Since the fish have started to show up again in numbers and are quite aggressive and competitive, I was thinking that something different may grab their attention.
Moreover besides the visual attraction I wanted to add something for flavour/scent as well, and thus I added some Berkley gulp as trailers to the jig.
The jig used is the Duel Salty Bait 10g, that comes with an offset hook and a rigged muppet. The lure has been successful as it is on pollock, but I wanted to see if Gulp would bring better results.
The first test was on my previous trip to Easdale, where the deep waters, snaggy bottom and strong wind didn't allow me to work my usual metal jigs and softplastics effectively. The Salty Bait on the other hand, casts well, is easy to work and with the addition of the Gulp very effective, as I caught a couple good pollock that almost engulfed the lure!
I added Berkley Gulp Minnows or Sandeels as their slim profile wouldn't affect negatively the jig's action. In truth they enhanced the action and it looks somehow like they're rigged on the cheburashka with an enticing wiggle in straight retrieve. The two ways I worked them are either a straight retrieve with some pauses here and there, or worked on the bottom with a series of abrupt pulls (not jerks!) where the rod is loaded and brings the lure up, and then let it reach bottom again before repeating.
Today I visited Loch Linnhe and I only used this presentation to see if it would work on calmer, clearer water. The casts are really good with this lure and I was able to cover a lot of water quickly and find the fish, that were typically holding near the bottom of the point at the entrance to a deep basin.
They would hit the lures on both types of retrieve, usually after a pause or acceleration and what impressed me was their confidence on the take and usually solid hook-up. Moreover codling seem to like them as well and I would like to try them somewhere that there are larger cod as I think that it can give good results. Below some pics of today's fish and lure used.

Todays presentation.

This one was kept for tea as it engulfed it!

Plumb codling.

Deep hooking...

Even little ones go for it.

Biggest of the day.

I was using my KG Evolution rod today and with its solid tip, I felt every touch and movement on the lure, thus I think its ideal for the method. The fish were mostly coming from distance but as the evening went on they started to move closer to the rocks. I had very good fun catching a good number of them and also losing some that caught me unprepared... More tests will follow but I think its a method/presentation that its worth a look and can turn up unexpected results. I am surprised that shore jigging has caught on so fast in Greece and the Med, while here where the waters and species are very conducive for it, it hasn't. I might look more seriously into it at some later point as I really believe it can throw up some monsters!

Tight lines!

Gear used.
Rod: Majorcraft KG Evolution,KGS-832ST 2.53m, 3-15g
Reel: Shimano Stradic ci4 2500f
Mainline: Daiwa Tournament 8 Accudepth braid 10lbs
leader: YGK Nitlon DFC fluorocarbon, 8lbs.
lures: Duel Salty Bait 10g with Berkley gulp trailer.

A pinch of salt...

I had the chance to fish the  beautiful yet treacherous cliffs at St Bees during the summer and although the climbing up and down was always tiring and at times dangerous, the results were for the most part good.
I first went to St Bees in pursuit of wrasse and pollock, as I had never caught these species and was really interested in them. Surprisingly the soft plastics were not as successful as I expected.. The fish were usually more than 20m away and I had much more success utilising mini-pirks/jigs and ultra light shore jigging techniques!
The first fish I caught was neither pollock nor wrasse though.. It was of course the aggressive mackerel.

I had some action-packed sessions fishing for this fish as it gives an awesome fight, I admit its not the hardest fishing in the world but the sheer fun cannot be surpassed.. The only problem with this species though is its sensitivity to handling, thus its fishing needs restraint.. The pollock were plentifull as well, though in small sizes but gave a good acount of themselves on the LRF gear..

When the fish were further away than the reach of the lrf gear, I used a heavier setup and had very good results on pollock using small kabura jigs like the Duel Salty Bait. The mainlines I used was Berkley nanofil 0.12 and spiderwire invisibraid 0.06 with fluorocarbon leaders of 15lb and 4lb respectively.

Thanks for reading and tight lines!
Dimitrios