Went off to a local mark to meet up with Mike Sullivan of RockFish Revolution and Andy YOUNGER of Finesse Fishing. Two top geezers and both very experienced anglers in their own right. So I packed the gear and before leaving get a text from MIke "Bring your metals. I think theres Bass". Now I have fished with Mike many times and learnt to trust his instincts so luckily I had the metals packed as I was going to test the Fish League Tiebo as on ongoing test I have posted about here before on metal lures. Also met up with Luke RICHARDS who I haven't met before and who became a star of the evening a little later on during the session.
Arrived at the mark and Mike is already at it. So I attached my Rarenium 3000 to the MC Zaltz ZAT 7'3" and attach a clip. On goes the Tiebo and I launch the lure out to a patch of water where there has been some swirls. First cast, first retrieve sink and draw...Bam!! Ouch the drag is screaming and not stopping, Mike looks over grins "Thats gotta be a Bass" Now remember folks this is a rod rated from 0.5g to 5g. The line is a 6lb flouro leader attached to a 4g lure... what could possibly go wrong??!!
Five minutes later and Im still trying to stop this fish running. The Zaltz is bent near double and I have to release the pressure a lot and the fish keeps running. I finally get it close to where we are fishing and my god its a beauty. Now where we were fishing is a little bit off the water level (uhoh) and we dont think we have a net as I never take one LRF soooo what to do. Mike has a brainwave and suddenly legs it off to his car and returns net in hand ... thank you MIke :) So we land the fish finally, by committee, and its a cracker. 4lb 8 of silver!! Thats a new Bass PB for me and a first on the Zaltz. This has given me a huge confidence boost in the capabilities of this rod. Also a big shout out to Luke RICHARDS who did an epic spiderman impression with a net to get the ball rolling with landing this fish :)
Photos completed the Bass goes back in the water and Im back casting. Mike is updating the catch on his phone and before he can finish the entry .... whizzzz!! my drag is off again. I can do nothing but hang on and laugh... well it was probably more an excited giggle if Im honest. This fish is fiesty but it doesnt feel as big, Soon I land, well the commitee lands, another fine silver just shy of two pound. I had another Bass to finish the run around the pound and half mark.
Shortly after the insane Bass run Andy turns up and so we regale him of our adventures so far. He has no time to get geared up before he is required for a very urgent assignment!! Whilst casting out my braid has caught on the last guide eye of my rod. The lure has flick out and buried two of the three trebles into my left forearm :( Yup that aint coming out easy!! One treble is stuck deep. One treble has gone in and the end has come back out again so I am well and truly hooked. Andy performs open air surgery then and there. Armed with a questionable pair of forceps he manages to remove one hook but we had no choice but to yank the second out under tension. Andy many thanks to you as those buggers werent moving and if you ever fancy changing job to a doctor... umm actually dont :)
Now free of my lure I change tactics and swap out the Tiebo for new jig I wanted to try, the Illex Gambit Straight 0.9g jig and attach an Ecogear Power Shirasu plastic to the lure. This is a superb combination and looks amazing in the water. The jig has a great action on the lure and really made it dance. After a long quiet spell the lure gets hit very rapid. It a light take and on the retrieve I find my first lure caught smelt. Cracking looking little fish and a new species for me this year so really pleased.
So all in all a great night and some strange goings on with the fish tonight...Oh before I forget the other incident :) So we had a mad Bass run on light gear, we had surgery in the open air due to lures catching their anglers and..... well there's a seagull incident!!
Andy had a good evening. Two flounder on lures which is a cracking session (and Im very jealous as I would love a flattie on light gear) however on switching to a small surface lure he also had the catch of the night. Whilst casting with the Illex Gambit I heard a shout and turning to face Andy and Mike I hear Andy shouting "No dont you dare.. argh!!" Whilst fishing the surface lure a Gull had spotted the tasty plastic morsal and dive bombed it taking it cleanly. Next we had a frantic 5 minutes retrieving said gull to the shore and then removed before mentioned lure before gull was safely returned to the skies. See not only do we catch and release fish but now Andy does the same with birds. A shining example of how it should be done. Nice work Mr YOUNGER :)
So to the testing bit. The Fish League Tiebo was a star. Casts well for a 4g lure and moved very well in the water. Although it has a treble hook there was no issues with snagging in the weed and the fish... well the loved the little pink lure a lot. Hook ups were solid and consistent. Hook strength was amazing (4lb 8 remember!!) and this is now fast becoming my go to metal lure. Considering there were aother metals in the water at the same time this lure must have something as it pulled fish ever cast when the water was busy.
In addition to the Tiebo I also tested the Illex Gambit Jig head. I love em!! Great little jigs. You slid you chosen lure onto the straight barb and it holds the lure on tight. The hook was strong and fine. Hook up was fantastic and there were no missed knocks. The best part is the action the jig gives to the lure. With a wedge shaped nose this lure darts about quickly and enticingly. One word of warning. Ecogear lures were great on the jig except the ecogearaqua strawtail grubs. Im not sure if its the new material used in the ecogearaqua range but the lure would not stay on the jig barb during a cast. So beware if you dont like losing lures avoid using the ecogearaqua. Im going to do some testing on other ecogearaqua lures and will update you with a result. Ecogear lures though are an amazing match for this jig and the Power Shirasu lure looked amazing.
So there we go a night ill remember. We caught Bass on light gear, we had two flounder on light gear, we had a new species, we caught anglers on 4g jigs and we caught gulls on surface lures. All in all a top night on the LRF.
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