POLLACKING- LIKE WAITING FOR A BUS????

Managed to get out for a session the other day targeting pollack from the rocks. This year, as I and many others have found, has been such a nightmare but with the spring tides and perfect conditions I thought it had to be worth giving it a go. I had brought with me two rods so that I could try two different methods, for fishing casting jigs up to 60g I had the Graphiteleader Remoto EX9'6'' and for fishing my usual soft plastics I had the new Century Vectura Ti 11'. 

I arrived just as it was low water, to enable me to set up both rods and have everything to hand as usually the pollack come past this area in tight groups meaning the fishing prime time is a short window.

After an hour and with the tide now pulling hard,  I had a hit on the drop with the speed jig getting nailed by a small pollack of about 3lbs. Next cast and again on the drop the jig was hit by a much better fish. With steady pumping the pollack then made several dives and felt a decent weight when it somehow bumped off!! Gutted I checked the assist hook, nowt wrong with that just bad luck/angling on my behalf I guess!!!! I was really getting to grips with the Graphiteleader Remoto, it has a shorter stem/handle than I am used to, but then again it has this for a reason. It has been designed as a jigging rod and the shorter the better for imparting action to the jig. Rated to cast 25-75g a 60g williamson speed jig was being fired out well over 100 yards easily with a simple overhead thump, snap over the bail arm by hand and crank up the slack braid then starting imparting some life into the jig, simple! Interestingly both the pollack I had hit the lure as it was dropping. A couple of casts after the lost pollack, again the jig was hit on the drop, this pollack made a couple of dives before I had it beneath my feet. This was another good fish and with the help of a wave I managed to slide the pollack into my landing net.

Tipping the scales to 8.8lb it was a cracking pollack and proves that shore jigging is an awesome way of catching big pollack.

I decided to have a few casts with the Century Vectura Ti rigged up with the fantastic Fiish Black Minnow 140 and with a 30g shore head. A slightly longer drop and taking things nice and slow the soft plastic was flying out! I was initially rather hesitant about using the rod from this spot due to its extra length but that was to prove unfounded!! It was clearly the prime time for pollack as I soon felt the Fiish black Minnow getting heavier then bang the rod slammed over. This was another good pollack but it strangely was heading towards me!! Reeling like a crazy loon the pollack woke up under my feet and attempted several crash dives but with the drag done up tight the rod absorbed all the dives nicely and soon I was slipping the net under a stonking fish.

At 9.6lbs it was a cracking fish that after a few photos again went away strongly. I tried for several hours after the pollack flourish but not even a sniff, again proving that the window for the action is really small. Had I missed it by getting down later I would not have caught and been left scratching my head. Pollack fishing this season has been like waiting for a bus, I've waited a long time then two come along at once!!!!!

Christ that really is corny, I am off to find some more cheesey lines for next time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Catching up with old friends on Gugh.

Sorry its been such a ridiculously long time since I posted anything, it has been the worst year for fishing that I have ever witnessed here in the Isles of Scilly. If if wasnt a gale blowing then we had the dreaded may bloom and algae the like I have never seen before!!!! I wrote this a couple of weeks a go but was just waiting for a couple of photos from Simon so that I could finish it off. Not the best post thats for sure but at least Iam trying!!!

Sunday saw myself and Neil heading up to St Agnes to meet up with Jim and Simon from the Irreverent Angler. They have been camping and fishing their socks off for the last few days and with the weather being like summer (dare I say it) we were optimistic to say the least. We had drawn up a plan to fish the tiny island of Gugh, only accessible by a sand bar that covers at high water. Looking at google earth it looked incredible!!!!

Boulders, gulleys, headlands out into the tide, shallow weedy bays all looked like perfect wrasse and pollack haunts and with the likelihood of very little previous lure fishing action!! I remember fishing some of the marks around the southern tip at Hoe point 12 years ago with Henry Gilbey and his mate Kevin where we had several pollack but hadnt been out there since. It was Neils first time to Gugh in his eleven years of living on the islands.

We started at the southern tip, casting various soft plastics but apart from a couple of wrasse for myself it was pretty quiet, although it was the ebb tide so not exactly unexpected. 

We did see several shoals of mullet cruising past, moving very quickly with some of them being 6-7lb fish!! The water is definitely starting to show signs of warming up as I lost count of the jellyfish I saw which bodes well. 

We moved from rock to rock catching the odd wrasse and Jim had four 3lb pollack in four casts when Neil decided to change tactics and rig up a larger homemade paddletail with a 40g jig head and blasted it between two pinnacles in the hope of finding a pollack. Third cast and his rod slammed over, he was clearly into a much bigger fish. Judging by his language it was a seriously powerful fish that he was fighting when disaster struck! The huge pollack dived and got tangled on a trailing lobster pot rope and was snagged!!!! He tried everything from giving it slack to eventually pulling for a break. Gutted doesnt even come close!!!!!!! As to how big it actually was we will never know, but I am sure Neil will be reliving that fight in his dreams many many times!!!!!!

It was approaching low water now and the tide had eased so we moved again to target the wrasse with the slack water. We found a lovely looking bay, really shallow but it screamed wrasse! After several small pollack to 3lbs on the drop we managed to find the wrasse with all four of us hooking up at the same time, awesome fishing and a great laugh. They werent the biggest wrasse with the biggest going 4lbs to myself.

 

Even the pollack were getting bigger with both Jim and Neil landing them to 4 lbs.

We lost count of the numbers of wrasse and pollack we had out of the bay but it was decided that we would head back out to the ledges where Neil lost the big pollack as soon as the tide started to flood.

Neil was soon into the pollack again with several small fish caught to a couple of pounds before he shouted for me to stop taking photos and get the net! 

  

A cracking pollack that put up a spirited scrap but nothing like the one that got away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It seemed that as quick as the pollack had appeared they disappeared. Another lesson learnt for this new mark, its only a really short window for the pollack as they move through with the tide!!! 

It was back to target the wrasse from the shallow marks and as with the pollack they were strangely hard to locate! Maybe with such a huge spring tide they were holed up and not feeding as we thought they would?

We all agreed it was time to move to the Turks Head Pub for a much deserved pint! It had been a good day, great to catch up with Jim and Simon and have a laugh catching silly numbers of fish. Sadly the real monsters had evaded us this time but theres always the next time. I think that we will be back out on Gugh again soon!!!!