[Keith White]

seriously, if it could go wrong for Callum.....

It did.

fair play to him cause he had to ride out the whole trip. It did knacker things up and much time was spent on running repairs but, in the end, VS's win out.

Read the report/article here...

http://www.jerseybassguides.com/bassfish/blog1.php/2010/07/10/if-i-see-another-fish

It doesn't tell you that his wetsuit makes him cold, he drowned his light, I had a sandeel smack me across the nose....

Serious.

So many fish it was like standing in an aquarium. And Callum had no reel. And we missed over 60% of the fishing and still hooked up.

 

[Dave Irving]

Poor old Wabbit,
Would be up there as my personal nightmare, surrounded by fishing bass, minus a reel. Sucks!!
As you have said, for some forms of bass fishing A VS pretty much is the only way to go.

Looks like some cracking Pout- Must be awesome fun on light gear, after all if you can feel them on a 14' beachcaster, they must go really well on the light stuff.

I think we have all been there Keith, Making do, rather than taking the time to do something right. But why is it always then that you hook a really good fish???

 

[Keith White]

Poor old Wabbit,
Would be up there as my personal nightmare, surrounded by fishing bass, minus a reel. Sucks!!
As you have said, for some forms of bass fishing A VS pretty much is the only way to go.

Looks like some cracking Pout- Must be awesome fun on light gear, after all if you can feel them on a 14' beachcaster, they must go really well on the light stuff.

I think we have all been there Keith, Making do, rather than taking the time to do something right. But why is it always then that you hook a really good fish???

Thanks for the reply Dave.

Yes, Pouting, on matched gear actually do pull. I'm certain Neil will pitch in to this thread and tell you himself now he's no longer an LRF Googan.

I think, we'd messed about so much last night that, I just wanted to fish.

However, I switched to a splitshot rigged xlayer, got it balanced and I said to Callum.
This is running through lovely....

Bang, fish on.
We carry a small string usually with split shot hanging from it to make the fast adjustments needed to match the forever changing flows.
Again, last night, my shot stayed in the bag. Result, a shorter optimum window for perfect presentation ( if that indeed exists ).

I was just so gutted for the Wabbit because he puts in some serious effort.
One of the fish I lost was BIG, no doubt about it, 7 plus easy, if not more.

Ah well, there will be more. And....The best part is...
The best is yet to come.

Late August, Sept and Oct are usually awesome.

 

[Simon L]

Late August, Sept and Oct are usually awesome.

No no . . . 'early' August

 

[Mark Sleep]

Nice one Keith and Callum.

I took my mate out last night (the guy that breaks everything I lend him) in the E/SE deep wading the ebb. He had 5 and I managed 21, all of mine on very small surface slider/WTD style lures. There were fish EVERYWHERE! They were not big, biggest maybe 2.5, but my mate now knows how WTD, slide it long, pop etc, as well as seeing a few fish being caught. And he didnt break the gear I gave him. Have you known there to be this many fish around before?

 

[Dave Watson]

good report and session

Neil must be well happy he is hitting the fish - roll on August me thinks!

 

[NeilMacfarlane]

Another myth busted ?

Pouting....in the summer ? in daylight? on a piece of plastc ? Are you having a laugh ?

Afer a few weeks reading about lrf and taking lots of advice, it was just fantastic to get out there and start to learn the basics - line control, reading the feel of the lure, some otd and switching to a carolina over the course of the session. I know it sounds odd but just being out there and just getting started was just brilliant. I am not a skilled fisherman and this is so, so differnet from anything I've tried before, Very, very light gear...got totally "lost" in the sensory overload. So much so that when I got home, I just could not get to sleep !

Hearing the reel screetch was the first big surprise. Whatever it was, I was assured that I would not have been able to stop it !. The first bites followed and I gradually learned how to hook up and bring the fish in. Great, great fun and I could not believe what a fight these pouts put up. I even took on a bet from Keith that I could catch 3 pout before I swapped to carolina so confidence started to flow....

I am absolutely converted and I cant wait to get the next sessions in. I'm off island right now and cant wait to get back and get out there.

Cant finish without saying thanks to Keith and Callum too for advice and banter. I am still coming to terms with how friendly everyone is, and how willing to share tips and share knowledge.

Tight lines this weekend everyone !

Googan no more...

 

[Keith White]

No no . . . 'early' August

Rubbish tides too Simon. You've got it all against you m8.

Nice one Keith and Callum.

I took my mate out last night (the guy that breaks everything I lend him) in the E/SE deep wading the ebb. He had 5 and I managed 21, all of mine on very small surface slider/WTD style lures. There were fish EVERYWHERE! They were not big, biggest maybe 2.5, but my mate now knows how WTD, slide it long, pop etc, as well as seeing a few fish being caught. And he didnt break the gear I gave him. Have you known there to be this many fish around before?

Good fishing m8.

good report and session

Neil must be well happy he is hitting the fish - roll on August me thinks!

Yes, getting things planned for some sessions Dave. I reckon you'll pick up a good few fish late season.

Pouting....in the summer ? in daylight? on a piece of plastc ? Are you having a laugh ?

Afer a few weeks reading about lrf and taking lots of advice, it was just fantastic to get out there and start to learn the basics - line control, reading the feel of the lure, some otd and switching to a carolina over the course of the session. I know it sounds odd but just being out there and just getting started was just brilliant. I am not a skilled fisherman and this is so, so differnet from anything I've tried before, Very, very light gear...got totally "lost" in the sensory overload. So much so that when I got home, I just could not get to sleep !

Hearing the reel screetch was the first big surprise. Whatever it was, I was assured that I would not have been able to stop it !. The first bites followed and I gradually learned how to hook up and bring the fish in. Great, great fun and I could not believe what a fight these pouts put up. I even took on a bet from Keith that I could catch 3 pout before I swapped to carolina so confidence started to flow....

I am absolutely converted and I cant wait to get the next sessions in. I'm off island right now and cant wait to get back and get out there.

Cant finish without saying thanks to Keith and Callum too for advice and banter. I am still coming to terms with how friendly everyone is, and how willing to share tips and share knowledge.

Tight lines this weekend everyone !

Googan no more...

Good post Neil. Hopefully it will inspire others to try this stuff.

 

[Bagpuss]

Good tip about the cocktail stick Keith.
Do I assume that you are using a bog standard 5/0 (or similar) hook there as opposed to one of the worm hooks????
Can you remove the cocktail stick to cut the lure off the line??
Does the cocktail stick not damage the knot??

 

[Keith White]

using the stick means the choice of hooks available becomes much larger.

I've never had a knot fail because of the stick. It is just pushed in..'just tight'. Water and swelling does the rest.
Easily removed with fingernails or teeth.

Shank length determines the pitch angle of the hook point. The longer the shank, the further back it will reach but...
The more the hook will pull 'along' the length of the lure during a take.

Gape too is important. Wider the gape, steeper the hook pitch angle and the more the point will clear the lure on a take.
However:

you will get a keel effect too with shorter shanked, wider gaped hooks.
If you want a tumbling effect, too much keel forces the lure to lie on it's side after bottom contact.
Little keel, like with an 'offset hook' will encourage lures to tumble.

 

[Bagpuss]

Thanks. As ever another thought provoking article.

 

[Alex Jordan]

Echoing the same comments above - great blog post! few questions to fire at you;
Are you using a longer leader generally for the split shot method? give a bit more length to space out the split shot?

I guess the cocktail stick goes through the eye of the aberdeen style hook - I am presuming that the smaller hooks don't take a cocktail stick as they have a smaller eye?

 

[Bagpuss]

I guess the cocktail stick goes through the eye of the aberdeen style hook - I am presuming that the smaller hooks don't take a cocktail stick as they have a smaller eye?

I guess Alex that a cocktail stick could be paired down a little with a fishing knife to fit every hook & occasion.

 

[Stephen Olsen]

Great report Keith,pitty about the break down with Callums reel but thats how it goes.I'm sure you will make up for it.Must of been funny with the sand eel slap though.lol, great stuff

 

[Retired]

Can you explain the problem with the offset hook Keith?

 

[Keith White]

Can you explain the problem with the offset hook Keith?

bumping loads of fish off fishing drifted lures.
maybe over half hookups are lost.

Straight shanked, nowhere near that amount.

I fished last night, had 7 Bass to 4 1/2lb on drifted Senko's.
I bumped 1 off but with offset it's often many more.

 

[Retired]

Wonder why that is Keith? I can't see why that should happen?

 

[Keith White]

Wonder why that is Keith? I can't see why that should happen?

It was driving me mad Paul. I bumped 2 really good fish out with Callum Fri night on offset too.
I think it is the way we are fishing opposed to there being a fault in the design of the hook.

It's fast water, shallow, we are mending braid, you don't get that signature 'tap'. Instead, it tumbles or drifts.
You just 'feel' the difference. Sometimes I think Bass might have the lure in their mouths for an age until the current tightens the line and then they bolt as the hook *****s them.

Again, soft lures show the best results on offset hooks and to be fair, IF you use a BIG hook with a wide gape, issues are lessened. But, a big hook sinks your lure too fast in places.

Straight shanks allow the lure to move up around the bend, or, in the case of a Senko, as it moves, it sometimes tears away.

I really don't think we have the answers and straight shanked, drifted lures and the resulting takes mean...
Bumped off and lost fish.

We'll get there.

I'd just like to add that...
From the shore, recently, offset hooks with senko's and xlayers worked much better because I used a better rod for the method.
I think the rod makes a huge difference in the way the hook sets, or doesn't.

 

[Retired]

What was the better rod?

I noticed the bass were hyperactive yesterday, not in their usual ambush points but instead up in the water on the hunt. Lots of fishing banging the lure before taking too. Might be the lure but I fancy it was their mood?

 

[Keith White]

What was the better rod?

I noticed the bass were hyperactive yesterday, not in their usual ambush points but instead up in the water on the hunt. Lots of fishing banging the lure before taking too. Might be the lure but I fancy it was their mood?

Since using the MegaBass SS I've lost hardly a fish and I reckon, felt more.
As a Bass rod for what we are doing, apart from the handle, it's brilliant.

With the MB SS you can tighten to a prospective take in stages. If weight is felt you just keep following through.
Some rods 'bump' fish at this stage as they don't have the taper.

My Injection is pretty good too btw but still not close to the MB for weightless SP work.
Of course, these are but my opinions. Others will differ. It is strange though that SP work really does demand the best from tackle whereas plugging is much more 'forgiving'.

Anyway...

I was supposed to be diving in a comp today but forecast swell and the fact i'm dog tired meant giving it a miss.
I'm looking outside now thinking that was a mistake. overcast and looking good.