So I have cleared through a lot of my gear and settled on the task this year to really get to grips with my Wrasse fishing. Staying with my Century HPR 7'3" ST for the mainstay of my fishing and going back to my Shimano Rarenium 3000 reel. I have so missed this reel and I have to say the Caldia 3000 from Diawa was a great reel, but I seriously missed my Shimano!! I have filled the lure boxes to the brim with all sorts of wrasse candy and hope to start back in earnest next week.
Its not to say that I wont chase a few Bass if they present themselves but its going to be a rock pig year... I can't wait!
And yes I have been away for a long time... lazy you say? Well not really. Whilst others have been out on the freshwater while we wait patiently for a break in the weather I have be homing my photography skills in a small underground silo of secrecy so this season I can bring you some new fishing photography and film. Yes my new found passion for the DSLR has not only taken me into the world of stills but also film.
I have spent the last month finishing a film with some very talented people in Falmouth. I await the final cut with excitement and a small amount of trepidation. I hoping my acting it up to the job but they seemed very happy with it... more on that when I can release some stills for you to laugh... I mean look at :)
So how is this going to change my fishing...simples! I have decided to fish just for Wrasse but I will still be out with my LRF comrades to film and photograph the Plymouth LRF scene and try bring you some new ideas to this blog.
I will be editor, sound tech, director and cinematographer all rolled into one and hope to bring you some seriously good films and stills... with some not so serious films and stills :) I have to play with my visual fx somewhere right?
I will also be making films of our Rock Pig adventures similar to what we started on Rockfish Revolution last year. With the team expanding and hopefully with a bit of new branding we will produce some quality productions to a screen near you soon.
So the year is set and before me. I know its going to be a cracker so stay tuned for some crazy, informative and slightly original updates over the coming season.
Till then, as always... tight lines y'all
Saturday, 11 May 2013
Wednesday, 6 February 2013
Where's Wally!!.......
Firstly, Im back!!
Seems to have been an age since I last posted but have been bogged down with work, other projects and home life.
Not that its been a chore! I have had some great fishing time over the past 4 to 5 months and also met some new exciting people both in fishing and doing other projects, I know that's twice I have eluded to that now!! All will become clear when I can tell you more. Lets say I have made a huge detour into another exciting world whilst I have been pursuing my fishing. It never amazes me the opportunities that present themselves to us in our lives. Anyway enough of that for now.
Ill be back writing again now and updating you on my antics. I have chosen to move away form the LRF scene and concentrate more on my Wrasse fishing, so expect a lot more on the tactics used there.
I'm also writing for a team of local anglers now and you can find us at www.rockfishingrevolution.co.uk . One of the "other" projects I have been working on. Do check out the pages there for some further updates on my antics with the revolution boys. I will be writing on both blogs now as this will be more a personal blog compared to the resource feel to our revolution website.
In closing. I'm looking forward to updating you into some new ideas as I continue on my path. And Ill leave you with some films I've put together for revolution. I will start to put them up here so you all can get a little first glance before they go onto our youtube channel. Loving the film and editing. May give you a clue to some other things I'm up to at the moment and Ill be sure to share when its time :)
Till then Tight Lines and enjoy the films..
Rockfish Revolution Issue 1
Rockfish Revolution Issue 2
Monday, 17 September 2012
Catch Report 17/09/12.. More species and a disaster!!
Headed out to a new mark with Mike Sullivan from The Rockfishing Revolution today with expectations of a full on session! I wasn't dissappointed.
Getting home from work at 0730 and it wasnt long before Mike was at the door to get on the road. We hit the mark an hour before low tide and intended to fish the flood. On arriving my eyes just lit up. This was screaming HRF fishing!! The structure and cover here was shouting Wrasse and Bass. And we were here for the Wrasse! Swell was non existent and the weather seemed to be holding up so it was a session with much promise.
To start off I adopted LRF mode and while Mike went off to get his new baitcaster setup working some likely gullies, more on that later, I had a hunt around the deeper rock pools for some small species. Lure Heaven's Species Hunt has a lot of local anglers doing some very strange things to get a few more species on the tally. Its now got me rock pooling ;)
After a few pools I saw some gobies hiding in the flora of a pool so dropped in some red Power isome on a size 14 hook and waited for the show to start. It wasnt long before two gobies were fighting over the Isome and it was soon converted into a landed fish. This fella didnt even manage to register on my rule.
So the species hunt was off to a good start again. But it was time to stop playing in the rock pools and get to some serious Wrasse hunting. Decided to give the new mark a good testing and go with the bigger lures. Started with a Tikki Stick in Mulberry Swirl. Rigged on a size 1 RockFish hook with a 10g cone and 2 jingle bells. The weight was up as the swell was starting to build on the flood and needed that extra to get the lure down through the water column.
After a few knocks but nothing committing decided to turn to a new favourite in the form of a 5 inch Paramax from Ecogear. This lure took a bashing. Bite after bite was coming thick and fast but nothing converting into hook ups. This was probably due to the hook being too small and I should have upgraded to a 1/0 or 2/0 for this lure. However on a steady retrieve with sink and draw action the lure was hit hard with a small tail nip and a solid thump. The fish ran straight under a ledge and would not budge. Trying to reposition to no avail it was time to resort to straight out and out bullying to get the fish out. However on this occasion the war was lost. Resigning to the fact that the bigger lures really weren't working I swapped over to a daiwa Tournament D'tail. This lure has performed well for me and straight away, after relocating to a nice sized pool of calmer water, the lure was getting hit hard. Wrasse like but not as frantic and I soon pulled a Giant Goby out from under a shelf. This is my first lure caught Giant Goby so very pleased with this catch. I went to add him to my species hunt and placed the laminate next to the fish on my tape. Reaching for my camera disaster struck. As I looked down to my belt to retrieve the trusty camera a gust of wind blew through the gully I was in lifting the card up off the rock and into the pool behind me :( No problem Ill just scoop it out. Ah this card sinks!! Unfortunately I wasn't prepared to drop 12ft into the pool to retrieve said laminate from the sea floor, so if anyone sees Davy Jones using my card please feel free to nobble him :) Frustrating to have a good catch like the giant goby and now no card. Still photographed and returned and hopefully the guys at Lure Heaven will still let me count it.
Agonising over whether to try retrieve my card or not I had to move on and hit a new gully to tally a Wrasse to the trip. A likely mark was soon found and on the second cast a famililar feel of Wrasse taps were felt followed but the bend in my HPR. Although the Wrasse tried to run I had the drag screwed down tight and soon landed a beautiful fish, Again photographed minus my scuba diving laminate but Ballan Wrasse was soon added to the species list.
Pleased to fianlly hit into the Wrasse as Mike had landed 4 by this point on his Slicer and Baitcaster :) Just shy of the 2 lb mark and measured at 35.5cm not a monster by any stretch but a welcome addition to the species hunt.
The weather finally decided to beat us to it and end the session as the swell was more in keeping with a bit of Bass angling and the weather decided to turn to rain whilst the wind picked up. I was pleased to see how well the baitcasting setup was working for Mike and we discussed its benefits for use in HRF. Could it go further... it can and I have decided I will look at some Baitcast Finesse over the coming year. Not fully up to speed with it at this time so will update more once I have decided on a setup and fished it. We also discussed another project Im currently working on. More on this when its fit to be revealed ;) Finally decided to finish with the braid for my HRF fishing for the meantime and experiment using a decent Flourocarbon throughout. The Sunline range will be my first port of call to see what they can offer by way of a good 12lb FC for HRF tactics.
Lots to consider and think over. Was brilliant to get back out with Mike once more. We always have an idea storming session each time we do finally manage to arrange a session out on the rocks. It usually ends up costing a bit more money too ;) Lots to look to the future and contnue to develop my sport.
On a last note I should hopefully receive a GOPRO HERO2 HD camera for use on my trips in the next couple of days. This will enable me to show you the mayhem both above and below the surface of the water so I look forward to adding some vids of RockFish Rookie antics very soon.
Till then Tight Lines!!
Getting home from work at 0730 and it wasnt long before Mike was at the door to get on the road. We hit the mark an hour before low tide and intended to fish the flood. On arriving my eyes just lit up. This was screaming HRF fishing!! The structure and cover here was shouting Wrasse and Bass. And we were here for the Wrasse! Swell was non existent and the weather seemed to be holding up so it was a session with much promise.
To start off I adopted LRF mode and while Mike went off to get his new baitcaster setup working some likely gullies, more on that later, I had a hunt around the deeper rock pools for some small species. Lure Heaven's Species Hunt has a lot of local anglers doing some very strange things to get a few more species on the tally. Its now got me rock pooling ;)
After a few pools I saw some gobies hiding in the flora of a pool so dropped in some red Power isome on a size 14 hook and waited for the show to start. It wasnt long before two gobies were fighting over the Isome and it was soon converted into a landed fish. This fella didnt even manage to register on my rule.
 |
| LRF Black Goby at 6cm |
After a few knocks but nothing committing decided to turn to a new favourite in the form of a 5 inch Paramax from Ecogear. This lure took a bashing. Bite after bite was coming thick and fast but nothing converting into hook ups. This was probably due to the hook being too small and I should have upgraded to a 1/0 or 2/0 for this lure. However on a steady retrieve with sink and draw action the lure was hit hard with a small tail nip and a solid thump. The fish ran straight under a ledge and would not budge. Trying to reposition to no avail it was time to resort to straight out and out bullying to get the fish out. However on this occasion the war was lost. Resigning to the fact that the bigger lures really weren't working I swapped over to a daiwa Tournament D'tail. This lure has performed well for me and straight away, after relocating to a nice sized pool of calmer water, the lure was getting hit hard. Wrasse like but not as frantic and I soon pulled a Giant Goby out from under a shelf. This is my first lure caught Giant Goby so very pleased with this catch. I went to add him to my species hunt and placed the laminate next to the fish on my tape. Reaching for my camera disaster struck. As I looked down to my belt to retrieve the trusty camera a gust of wind blew through the gully I was in lifting the card up off the rock and into the pool behind me :( No problem Ill just scoop it out. Ah this card sinks!! Unfortunately I wasn't prepared to drop 12ft into the pool to retrieve said laminate from the sea floor, so if anyone sees Davy Jones using my card please feel free to nobble him :) Frustrating to have a good catch like the giant goby and now no card. Still photographed and returned and hopefully the guys at Lure Heaven will still let me count it.
 |
| HRF Giant Goby at 18cm |
 |
| HRF Ballan Wrasse at 35.5 cm |
The weather finally decided to beat us to it and end the session as the swell was more in keeping with a bit of Bass angling and the weather decided to turn to rain whilst the wind picked up. I was pleased to see how well the baitcasting setup was working for Mike and we discussed its benefits for use in HRF. Could it go further... it can and I have decided I will look at some Baitcast Finesse over the coming year. Not fully up to speed with it at this time so will update more once I have decided on a setup and fished it. We also discussed another project Im currently working on. More on this when its fit to be revealed ;) Finally decided to finish with the braid for my HRF fishing for the meantime and experiment using a decent Flourocarbon throughout. The Sunline range will be my first port of call to see what they can offer by way of a good 12lb FC for HRF tactics.
Lots to consider and think over. Was brilliant to get back out with Mike once more. We always have an idea storming session each time we do finally manage to arrange a session out on the rocks. It usually ends up costing a bit more money too ;) Lots to look to the future and contnue to develop my sport.
On a last note I should hopefully receive a GOPRO HERO2 HD camera for use on my trips in the next couple of days. This will enable me to show you the mayhem both above and below the surface of the water so I look forward to adding some vids of RockFish Rookie antics very soon.
Till then Tight Lines!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)