Well it actually started for me about 12 months or so ago when I started to visit a local spot in Plymouth with some of the guys from work. Mount Batten .. easy access to deep water and a real draw for the local anglers both young and old.
As many new anglers, with very little idea about fishing, I took onboard any advice and information I could lay my hands on. I also started, as many do, a bait angler. Having married up a Shakespeare Salt Bass rod and the SALT XT spinning reel. Now whats important to note here is the ratings of the rod. 11'6" and casting range of 57 - 113g. This will become a pertinent point when I come to my current gear.
I thoroughly enjoyed the start of my fishing journey. Using Mackeral strip bait to catch Mackeral and Pollack in the main on floats. Many good sunny sessions were had and I could have quite happily stayed in this area of fishing until I found a particular item whilst browsing my local sea fishing tackle shop ... Berkley soft plastic baits!!
Whilst we continued with the float fishing at our local marks I started to experiment with the Berkley Bass paddletails. Im not sure why or what drew me to this "Lure" style of fishing but I was soon looking at the alternatives to bait and these little babies were the start. I soon got frustrated with plastics as a) I wasnt catching and b) I didnt have a clue what I should be doing. This was all about to change.
My work at that time allowed me to be in among the local guys while they fished and I was able to drop by and see what people were up to. Enter my first experience of LRF <light rock fishing>. One evening I was amazed to see a local light lure angling enthusiast, Mark POWER, fishing stupidly small lures with 1-2g jig heads. It gave me the buzz that I have had ever since and here started my journey into Rockfishing! The following night Mark introduced me to fellow LRF and angler all rounder, Mike SULLIVAN, who put me onto some very good resources. Both spent some time with me talking about rods and reels, lures and braid <what the hell was braid>. My head swam with so much information and this is where we start this blog. The place I started my Rockfish journey!!!
