News Just In, Takayoshi Orimoto Is Coming To Town.

Well the post title says it all, one of the best Japanese lure anglers is coming down to join us this Tuesday in Weymouth, details are a little unclear at the moment whether he will be able to join us for the LRF meet but I’m sure he will be making an appearance at Chesil Bait n Tackle in the afternoon. Fingers crossed the weather gods play ball as the reports are looking like it could be a wash out in the evening, a far contrast to the beautiful sun that we are having this weekend.

 

 

Takayoshi is the product development manager for Marukyu, one of the leading tackle and bait suppliers of the world, type Takayoshi Orimoto into YouTube and you will see that Orimoto has had a huge influence on the world Lure market, pioneering all manors of lure fishing, especially EGI (SQUID) and Rock Fish. I haven’t had a chance to meet Takayoshi yet, but from what I have been told by the guys at Marukyu he`s a character you won’t forget after you meet him. To have the opportunity to meet Takayoshi is something that doesn’t come along very often so keep your eye on the Ecogear FaceBook page or look me as ‘’Will Harding’’ I will keep everyone informed as I get more details from the Marukyu team.

 

So what have I been up to the past week or two, well my man flu has cleared and I’m back on form again, the few sessions I had while I was ill that I mentioned in the last blog post about flounder and bass got me thinking. Have I been missing a trick? I know LRF and HRF is all about rock fishing, rocks equal structure equals fish we all know this, but those few short sessions really were an eye opener to me and left me thinking that if I can just stroll up to any old beach, cast out a well presented isome worm and find bass and flounder, well anything is possible right? Yes there was a little water craft involved in that I was fishing the high water on a slightly SW wind, but I know from experience that bass are never that easy.  So I went back the following evening to try my luck, conditions were as good as before but this time no bass or flounder, just a lot of casting and a few shy nibbles, it was only when darkness had set in that my Yamaga Blank fully bent into a fish at distance. Strangest fight I have had this year the fish stuck to the bottom all the way to the shore.

 

Bingo! Another first on lure for me. Tub Gurnard!!

Check out how camouflage this guy is to the pebbles, stunning creature.

 

I’m always asking myself what is the key to some of the fish I catch, sometimes it’s just sheer luck, sometimes experience leads me to the fish, having the right tackle for the situation is a great start. so for now until I can regularly predict these catches like flounder an gurnard, I’m going to put my hand on my heart an say it’s a mixture of luck, quality tackle with a small amount of experience, if it wasn’t for the correct line, rod and reel then I wouldn’t have the balanced out fit to fish 3.5g of weight at distance on a sandy beach, yes the lure is important but if I can’t control that lure and feel the bite then I am going to miss a lot of fish. The Yamaga Blank rod is near to perfect for what I am asking of it being 8ft long and rated 1-11g it has ample amounts of power but with a lower rating that allows me to feel every bite and every ridge of the sea bed.

 

Using a PE Line like the .4 Sunline Small Game PE makes for incredible casting distances, zero stretch in the line makes sure every bite and vibration is transmitted back to the angler, its bright pink colour can be seen at night and makes tying leaders knots a breeze. These PE lines are costly but the advantages you gain from them are incredible. Just like cleaning your reels down after a day’s fishing I like to wash out my braids also, this may sounds over the top to some readers, but have you ever seen all the oil and diesel that floats on the surface in the harbours, yes I try to avoid these patches of pollution but sometimes you can’t avoid it. I’m no scientist but I’m sure it can’t be doing any good to my mainline! As with anything, take care of it, and it will take care of you.

 

The Shimano Stradic CI4 2500F, I like this reel so much that I now have two of them, I have never felt a reel so smooth and solid for its price, confidence is everything with reels and like any other reel from the Shimano range, I have confidence in the Stradic, line lay was impeccable with no need to add washers on the spool shaft. The weight of the reel is 200g.. there are lighter reels out there like the Quantum EX0, but at 200g it`s not heavy at all compared to some in the price range.

 

 

 

Also a key aspect to every reel I buy is the bail arm, what I look for is a solid made bail arm where braided lines can not trap or damage, back in the early days I had so many problems with braid and reels and this simple aspect made all the difference.

 

 

I had a urge to go after something a little more fierce earlier in the week, it had to be bass and bass only, conditions seemed almost perfect for the mark I was thinking of,  when I arrived I could see baitfish being smashed on the surface everywhere, I went through nearly all my soft plastics till I found a white paddle tail from JacksLRF, I used the same pattern of lure in all different colours but it was only white with the yellow tail that the bass would strike out at, I believe that there must have been so many baitfish I had to use a lure that would stand out. I had three bass and one mackerel, one of the bass being nearly 3LB which bent the rod double and gave me a run like I have never had from a bass before... incredible! The Yamaga Blank rod was bent double.

 

 

Hope you enjoyed the read guys, here`s a picture of Rob Mears’ biggest catch from the harbour on the last LRF meet... I will say no more...

 

Tight Lines!