Wednesday 21 November 2012

Our adventure...2012, in a nutshell!



Right, this is probably going to be a bit all over the place for a while. I've got a lot to get off my chest so for the moment I'm planning to just waffle and get the organisation part done at a later date. Sounds about right for me, organisation was never a strong point... Anyway..

As I mentioned before it was earlier on this summer that I decided to give SW lure fishing a bash. Away went the bass rods and multipliers and off I went with an old spinning rod, reel and an Ecogear Pocket-in lure kit I had acquired online. The set-up was a bit 'Blue Peter' to say the least but I wanted to make sure this style of fishing was up my street before I jumped in feet first and traded all my bait gear in for a  proper lure set-up. I headed off to a local mark with my good friend and fishing buddy Stuart Nazer. I met Stu when I first arrived in Poole and being equally as nuts for fishing as myself we had ended up being full time fishing companions and he was fully on board to get out and try something new.  We both fished 2gram jig heads with 1.5” grass minnows and within minutes a tiny Pollock had rushed out from beneath my feet and snatched my lure resulting in a big grin and an even bigger one when Stu did the same thing minutes later.. We fished for a couple of hours repeating the process as we moved from mark to mark managing to catch endless little Pollock and wrasse. My last chuck into the dark before we got back to the car produced my first little bass on LRF softies... Bonus....  and mission accomplished!!




It was an awesome introduction night that won’t be forgotten, the next step was to get tackled up properly and do it again.

By the following week my head was bursting with information about LRF, HRF and soft plastic lures. I really should have waited a bit longer but after selling a couple of beach-casters I purchased a Sakura Shinjin 702l 2-7g rod and a Sakura Alpax 2000 reel from Basslures.co.uk. 
I wanted to start as light as possible and an LRF (Light Rock Fishing) set-up looked at the time the way to go. Not ideal for landing big fish as I was due to find out, but it was right for the small range of light plastics I had begun with.  I also bought another little box of lures from Delalande which had been recommended to me as the next step up from the 1-2” lures I already had. Great little kits offering you a range of styles and colours giving you a chance to find your favourites before you go and buy them separately.

So all good, with just the braid to sort a friend at my local tackle shop had offered me an old spool of 6lb to get me started. Along with some 4lb mono for leaders I was set to see how far I could push things before it all got a little too silly...

As is with fishing I pretty much never shut up about it and the general feedback from anyone I knew in the area varied from good luck to you’re totally bonkers... Not to mention the funny looks I was getting from the other bait fishermen rocking up to my usual marks with a little rucksack and a 7’ stick that would probably blow away if I wasn't holding on to it!!

One of the first sessions where I got to test the Sakura we were lucky enough to be able to target some mackerel that were going nuts at close range. A few chucks with one of the new Delanlande lures and I was into my first LRF Mackie.. Oh my god, all hell was breaking loose with my little rod bending and pumping as the fish went berserk trying to shake the hook...  After controlling my fits of laughter dinner was on the beach and we continued following the fish landing a few more mackerel and a small bonus bass for me. Awesome sport on light-tackle... Its what I’d wanted to achieve and things seemed to be progressing nicely.. Cue the first time I realised I was going to need a different rod.. Seeing what hell the Mackie and bass had created I was still keen to push things but by now pretty dubious as to how things would fare...


Sometime the next week I was walking along the beach with my rod when I spotted some large swirls at the end of a slipway on the incoming tide. Lots of bait fish were trapped and something big was feeding on them, I managed a few chucks quite close to them and they didn't seem too bothered and then bang, fish on...  Totally not ready for it my drag was set a bit tight and after a leap from the water it shot off at pace snapping my 6lb braid and almost the rod..  Either mullet or bass it was a jaw-dropping moment, no smiles this time just shame and embarrassment.. I had to face the facts that I’d got the wrong rod..

The next couple of weeks saw some similar events whilst rock fishing on the Purbeck's  I was managing to handle pollock up to about 3lb but lost 2 decent bass that rose up to snatch my lure then zip off down the ledge snapping my braid or leader. My set-up just lacked the balls that I needed in that sort of situation. Stu on the other hand, still with his older heavier rod was landing the fish he was hooking. With a new set-up in his mind too and after watching me bumbling around in all sorts of trouble with my rod it was easy for him to make his mind up on his.  He got himself an 8’6 Lucky Craft ESG 3-27g and I pumped for a still shorter 8’ Major Craft Crostage 5-28g..  A few more tweaks saw our collection of Soft plastics take a little boost and we both changed up to heavier PE braids. Some 10lb Yamatoyo SW PE for me and 12lb Sunline Super PE for Stu. I think this was the point where everything clicked together, we both saw our catch rates improve and finally the tackle was meeting our demands. The PE braids were super fine and smooth enabling you to feel the slightest knock on-the-drop and our rods had enough backbone to fight a decent bass if we managed to locate some. 

Unfortunately not having planned to record our successes, we did a lot more fishing than photography but here's some photos of when we did have a phone or camera handy... It's definitely in the ruccie for next time!!  















Tuesday 20 November 2012

Lightweight lure fishing from a novice perspective



After acquiring a little green rod from my brothers bedroom at an early age, I recall nicking a slice of bread and a chunk of cheese from my mum and going to the stream at the end of my road and catching my first chub. The feel of the rod bending and line stripping from the reel was unlike anything I had ever experienced. I think I knew there and then this was going to be a regular feature in my Life. Of course there was no way that I could predict where I would be in 30 years time and if you had told me then I just wouldn't have believed it anyway…
Stalking chub, rudd, roach and barbel on the Thames cuts was the beginning of my journey, now at the age of 35 I live in Dorset and fish mainly in salt water  I moved to Poole in 2009 after a fairly crazy 10 years in London working full time as a chef and fishing Canvey Island and the Thames estuary on my nights off. This had its ups and downs but working alongside some great people I got to learn so much about food and of course the vast array of seafood that our shores and seas have on offer. Inevitably I got to learn how destructive our need for these resources had become and what an impact this had had on our seas in the last century. I have spent the last 6 years growing most of my own food and of course adding the odd fishy to the plate. I can no longer be involved with the catering industry as I can see what an impact this has had on our environment. Anyway fishing.. Concentrate James, vent frustrations later!!!

After moving to Poole alongside renovating my first home I set about exploring my local fishing ground walking the beaches on low spring tides looking for features and possible bait collecting areas. By the end of last year I was getting involved in some dream sessions one of which I landed and returned between 30 and 40 bass up to 4lb in about 7 hours all caught on lug worm dug earlier that day…  I can remember the lack of sleep that night, it had been frantic fishing a deserted beach in a strong SW gale something I was fairly new to but experiencing what could be caught after a good blow I was keen to try fishing during one. It was such a buzz with rain and sand pouring down the beach and some big waves for my shallow local bay not to mention I was on my own on a 4-mile stretch of sand. As amazing as my night had been my sea fishing practice was under constant tweaking and the use of my bass rods and multipliers was about to change radically. I’m not saying a 5lb bass is a crap fight on an average beach caster set-up but once properly hooked on 15lb line and a 2/0 hook the chances of any angler landing the fish is fairly high. Coming from a course fishing background I wanted to go lighter, try giving the fish the advantage and get better scraps thus improving my skills and fulfilling my need for change. It had also come to my attention the major advances that had been seen in the lure-fishing world over the past few years. I was hearing of great mixed catches from certain devotees. This appealed to me mainly due to the light gear that was in use but also the opening up of more daytime action as my average bait session usually began after dark finishing off in the early hours of the morning. It seemed most modern lure fishing was also a much more active pursuit covering lots of ground instead of sitting in a beach shelter all night in the same spot.
I knew very little about lures apart from a quick flirt with piking as a youngster and the obvious mackerel bashing that took place most of the year along the infamous Chesil beach. With the wealth of knowledge online nowadays it was easy to start reading up on the subject and start planning my lighter approach. 8 months down the line and how things have changed for me. No more heavy luggage, no more bait digging and lots more fish of variety along marks that would have been inaccessible fishing bait tactics.

Part of my reason for compiling this blog (besides how much I love reading others) is because I now realise how daunting it can be taking this step especially with no prior experience. With such a vast array of rods classes, line weights and lures of various styles, colours and sizes it can be confusing to say the least and potentially a waste of your hard earned money if you start out with the wrong equipment.
Obviously I aim to document my sessions for personal reasons but also so friends and family can see what I'm doing on my days out and hopefully they can begin to understand why they see so little of me nowadays. I also hope this can become a handy resource for anyone embarking on a similar passage into modern lure fishing. I'm not saying I'm an expert, far from, but as my confidence grows it would be a bonus to help others avoid some common mistakes made by myself and other novices in this field. So without further ado, my blog