Release The Kraken!

Why ho why do we get such a buzz out of fishing for these messy dudes, there's no frantic take, no frantic adrenalin fuelled fight, for some I know its how good they taste (not for me) maybe its the mythological element that makes this species somewhat a novelty, I don't know.. but I'm well and truly hooked on catching anything that has tentacles and squirts ink everywhere. 

A lot of people here in the UK have no idea how popular EGI fishing is abroad in places like Japan and Australia, the techniques those guys have developed are insane. just like LRF/HRF and a lot of the modern Bass techniques we have adopted from the US its fair to say we have a lot to learn, and this is side of angling I love.. Learning. 

Is it as simple as cast out a lure and retrieve or drop a lure off the side of the boat and jig it? some would argue that it is and that we lure fishermen like to over complicate things, yet those that argue the point praps don't realise that we are only trying to explore new methods and to become more efficient at our sport. check out the above video, these guys are pros and from the little research I have done are only scratching the surface of the knowledge they hold, the key element in this video that I learnt was how they retrieve the lure.. does it work here and did it make my catch rate increase.. you bet your ass it did!

Since I posted a bunch of pictures on the social media site Facebook I've had a whole bunch of messages asking what why how and when.. and I shall be honest, I'm no expert and I'm not going to pretend I am, to many people out there pretending these days, Egi fishing abroad is an art, and we should respect that, what little knowledge I've learnt and gained is freely available to anyone on line, a few hours research on water craft, lures and retrievals and your adding strings to your bow before you even hit the water. 

So to help those that have messaged me and to help point them in the right direction, here is my top five UK Egi tips.

1) Find Crystal clear, calm waters that have been settled for a few days, Squid will populate shallow waters, but find areas like piers where there is 3 meters or more and your in the ball park, some of the Squid we have been catching have been from Chesil Beach.. so don't rule out your local beaches, just make sure the waters are calm and clear.

2) Habitat.. Squid don't like harsh conditions, they aren't built like a bass or wrasse who have a body and scales like body armour. squid like to stalk and ambush their prey, holding up in sea-grass and kelp beds normally found in the lower shore line,( REF; Natural History Museum) 

 It also will pay to mention now that squid hunt in numbers.. where there is one there is normally a dozen. if your fishing with a mate and you hook one, bring it to the surface gently and get your friend to drop a lure underneath it, more often than not the Kraken has a mate swimming underneath waiting to take a lure. 

3) Light.. unlike when bass fishing at night when there is a no light such as head lamps rule, Squid are attracted to light.. find bright street lights that cast light on the water or create your own light reef with a Tilley lamp lowered down to the water on a rope.. the best time to fish for squid is late evening and through the hours of darkness, and early morning. I haven't mastered the day light hours like those abroad.. again the challenges and learning continue. Also for those who aren't after Squid, Light reefing can draw in many other species such as monster Pollock.. 

4) Lures, if your starting out, there isn't a lot of point in spending a wedge on squid jigs, Tronixpro lures are cheap at £2.50 from Chesil Bait n Tackle, cast like bullets and catch like crazy and glow in the dark (very important!). The small group of us that have been targeting them have all found the 70mm 9.6g to be outstanding, genuinely awesome value for money.

Those who fish hard for Bass and even Wrasse know that spending a little more and getting something that has been developed for purpose can be the key to a catch, such as bass lures which are designed to swim at a depth with a designed action with magnetic casting aid built inside.. all that development costs money as well as most of those lures have been imported and carry a haulage cost.. they aren't always cheap. BUT if you warrant the money they are worth it. just like the Tebco lures and FishLeague Dartmax the latter being hard to get your hands on.. they cast like missiles and do what they say on the tin. I'm still learning about the sink rates etc (hang time) so I'm not going to discuss it here in till I can shed more accurate light on the subject.

Also, anyone who can point me in the right direction for squid hooks for my old bassing plugs I would be hugely grateful, I have a shed load that just don't get used much these days. 

5) Catch and Release, This is Lolly's tip after catching her First Squid with me last night.

When returning them.. make sure you return them cone point first, so that the tentacles are facing you when returning the squid to the depths, reason being when you have taken them out and took a couple photos, the hood of the squid fills with air and  acts like arm bands leaving the squid bobbing on the surface awaiting a cruel death by the seagulls. not funny. we had to scoop this squid out with the landing net and re-release it, again lesson learned. 

Right that's the squid covered, what else have we been up to the past few weeks, a few months back I did a talk on lures for the Wool angling club, lets admit it, most if not all of us are jealous of the grounds those guys have on their door steps, the Purbeck's.. Kimmerridge, swanage, Lulworth! that's where the book was written back in the days when I wasn't even born, yet so very few actually target these grounds using lures these days. so decided it was time to hammer Kimmeridge using the LRF gear, and I have to admit its been wrasse central!! 

On one session both me and Rob decided to use nothing but the Ghost Shrimp from JacksLRF, which proved a smart move, as soon as we got down the steps and started casting around the first ledge we started hitting fish. game on!

I'd like to invite a new contender to the Rockfishing scene here in Dorset, Mr Andrew Mytton.. Hailing from a Course Fishing background where Pike, Zander and perch have been his Lure fishing targets, I've got to say that he has taking to salt water lure angling like a duck to water. After a few sessions showing him a few marks etc he's been none stop bashing out the fish.

Powers of the Ghost Shrimp! 

We took a trip over to Kimmeridge, where for the first time I've got to say it.. I had my ass handed to me on plate, LRF tackle just didn't man up to some of the fish that were taking our lures at range, it wasn't the light rods etc, but the smaller gauge hooks we were using, kept bending out and losing fish.. some might say loosen that drag off etc, but when wrasse fishing.. you cant give them a inch or they bust you up.. next time I hit those ledges.. things will be different, I just received an order from AGM Products that was some perfect hooks for the job. 

I even managed to hand line myself a new species while at kimmeridge , while unhooking a Corkwing iI could see in the shallows some fish lined up and what looked like Tompot Blennys, but I knew there wasn't a chance they would be swimming in the open, so grabbing a spool of 4LB leader and loading up a size 18 hook with some isome I managed hook this bad ass little monster.. a Shanny!!

I've been searching for a Shanny for well over a year now, I wouldn't say its a hard species to find by any counts, but has managed to stay off my radar for a long time. 

A few nights back I met up with Mark Talmage a local angler who just wanted to have a crack at some fish on LRF, we up at Portland Bill car park and hit the rocks, fishing started slow while mark got used to the light gear, we soon realised he was fishing to heavy at 3.5g and dropped the cone weight to 2g, instantly the results were noticeable, Mark wasn't snagging as much and the Pollock started coming in, he also managed to nail this stunning wrasse on Berkley Gulp sandworms.

Well, hope you enjoyed the read guys, Fishing is insane at the moment along the Dorset coast, and keeping up with the happenings is a nightmare, my current hard drive count on fishy photos is up to 1800, not of different fish, but just fishing photos and goings on, some of it will most likely never see the light of day, some of the places we fish no photo could do justice, its up to us anglers to get out find and see these places for ourselves.  

The Adventures Of Portland Bill...

Firstly before I write this blog post, I want to say how sad I am to have lost a friend and fellow fishermen, not to mention incredible musician and person, Lolly and I only new you for a short time, in which we shared a few drinks and got to see you play a few of your favourite songs at the Wellington, the song you played touched us both... we will never know what was wrong but only wish we were there for you, god bless you, your family and girlfriend... your going to be missed Rob.

Thank you Mr Weather man for some amazing weather that we have been having these past few weeks, its been a good few years since Britain can say we had a decent summer, to top it off having a new job and change in career is making this summer one for me to remember, on that note.. for those interested the job is going amazing, its been years since I can say I'm looking forward to starting work on a Monday morning, its amazing what positive change can do for someone, I've also had some great evenings fishing with some old and new friends over the past few weeks, most of my time has been spent over at Portland Bill due to its easy access and I can use what little time I have efficiently.. oh and the fishing has been amazing!!

For all those who have a special place in their hearts for Portland Bill and fishing, you have to watch this.. I love the fact even back in the days when this was made people were bleeting on about new and old tackle.. I fall on both sides of the fence where modern tackle is concerned.. a self confessed tackle tart with contemporary antique taste. 

How good is that! 

I've had many sessions at the Bill over the past few weeks and its been fantastic, watching shoals of Pollock and Mackerel smashing bait fish on the surface within a couple feet of your feet is a sight not many get to see, Lolly didn't believe me when I said the Pollock had been launching themselves out of the water and hitting lures just as your lifting the lure out of the water, until she got in on the action... fish on for Lolly!

Most of the fish we hit this evening were using the Ghost Minnows and Ghost shrimps from Jacks LRF, genuinely these lures may not last a dozen fish, but they find bites fast and are super soft allowing you to hook up with most if not all positive bites. 

Strange as it may sound to some, we found using darker nearly jet black lures found us bigger fish.. nothing new to the experienced lure anglers out there, but for anyone picking up the sport, don't shy away from the darker lures, these Ghost Minnows in the purple shades were devastating!

Its strange how sometimes you can be fishing for hours and not get a bite, then out of  nowhere all hell can break lose and fish start going nuts! this was the case one evening when a nice chap called Andy came along and joined me on my fishing perch, I'm sure his wife was happy with what he brought home for tea as he had a right mixed bag of fish.. you could tell Andy was a die hard fishermen by the state of his rod, absolutely hammered and still going strong, gotta love a Tenryu. 

How greedy is this mackerel...!

I decided to treat myself to a St. Croix from the Dorset Fishing Rods camp, I shall say no more in this blog post until I've hit up some more fish on the rod, so far though; I cant find the words to describe how good the rod is, genuinely I feel like I'm fishing with something I want to call Excalibur, these rods, these blanks the workmanship is seriously something special. 

I also had the pleasure in being joined by a family friend; Kev Collins and his son Tarron. Now these guys weren't looking for monster fish, they just wanted good old fashion fishing fun. They left it up to me to decide on what to do and where to go, after my recent luck across the rocks of Portland there was only one thing for it; Portland Bill the one place that keeps on giving, easy access and plenty of average size fish.

It didn't take Kev long to tune in to using lighter gear, which is a massive change considering he's only used to using beach casters, as soon as he hooked this wrasse you could see the lure faith creeping in, I was so chuffed that it was his first fish on lure with this balanced tackle, the smiles in the above picture says it all.. I have to say this is most likely the best photo I have ever taken, (personal opinion). there's something about it that sums up fishing in my eyes. 

I'm really hoping I passed enough knowledge on to both Kev and Tarron and they take up the Rock fishing lure fun that's sweeping the UK now, this short session really opened my eyes on where I want my fishing journey to go, passing what little I knowledge on to the future anglers young and old is something I never really appreciated until seeing these guys having such a great time.. there's lots of ideas in the pipe line at the moment, and fingers crossed these pipe dreams become a reality.

Carp-e Diem

The past month has seen me make some big life changes, one of the biggest being a change of job and a change of career, I've worked in the same company now for ten years as a CNC lathe  programmer setter and operator, for any man or women ten years is along time to stand at the same machines doing the same thing day in day out, I needed change big time. and the change came when I got the phone call for an inspection roll at one of the most advance aerospace companies in the south west, to say I was over the moon was an understatement, not only is this a new job and change of scenery this is a completely new roll all together, new challenges and a whole new roll to learn and sink my teeth into, Just like when I first read about LRF, HRF and plugging, making that first step is the biggest challenge and finding faith in your choices is the first reward, I've been working at the new company now for two weeks and already have that feeling of when I first caught that first bass, the moment you realise that all the research and blanks suddenly starts paying off. 

I owe a massive thank you to the those that have helped me over the past couple weeks get to grips with everything from software to equipment.. whether you guys ever read this or not, I'm truly thankful and one day I hope I can repay the favour. 

So hows the fishing been for me these past few weeks, the sessions I've managed to get out for have all be productive now the summer species have really kicked in to gear, I haven't managed to get up early like i used to to chase some of the bigger specimens, but it hasn't stopped me catching, Me and Lolly were joined by Andrew Mytton for a afternoon LRF session over Portland Bill and we had some great fun testing out some Berkley Gulp sandworms, strait from the word go.. Andrew was slamming fish on the Major Craft KG lights rod. 

Like me Andrew likes to mix it up and see what works best, we used all sorts of rigs from jig-heads to texsas rigging, we even had ragworm at hand, like always the ragworm found small fish strait away, but we lost tackle due not being able to effectively rig it weedless, soon as we used the Gulp sandworms we could fish effectively around the boulders and kelp without fear of snagging, thus finding some the bigger fish.. 

By the end of the evening I was surprised that Andy hadn't hooked a Pollock, right now over at Portland Bill the Pollock are crawling up the rocks, catching them on light gear like we were is awesome fun, I'm sure Andy would advise anyone to have a crack at it, I took Andy to a favourite rock perch of mine in search of that Pollock, determination was on our side, I'm sure it was one those moments when he said "right this is it, last cast" and sure enough, fish on!

Both me and Lolly have noticed a huge increase in the amount of anglers now fishing some of are favourite marks, now I don't believe this is because I have advertised them because some places I fish that I've been shown I wouldn't dare take a picture at, but its the shear growth in the sport, I remember only a few years back I wouldn't meet another guy with a lure rod in his hand, everyone used to fish bait and carry broom sticks around with them, so me and lolly brought a boat, not exactly a big boat but a half decent dingy with a outboard.. I've managed a couple trips out on it so far and already caught a new PB Mackerel, I swear when I hooked this fish I thought it was a bass on speed or something, it ripped the Sunline Rockfish PE off the spool like it was going out of fashion, if only every mackerel were this big in our waters.

(please excuse the picture quality, I'm not going to take £xxx DSLR out to sea with me on a dingy)

Also been catching plenty of Pollock out of Portland harbour, next investment for the dingy will be a fish finder, not necessarily to find fish but to find structure, when your out on the water looking down in to the depths you have no idea what's down there, if there's anything I've learnt over the years is that structure equals fish.

Me and Lolly also managed a quick trip to the lakes for a bit of LRF sporting fun, now we could have taken the easy route and used a pinch of bread on a size 14 hook, but that would just be to easy, we like challenges and when looking through the endless baits and artificials available to us at Revels fishery tackle shop we came across these little dynamite balls!

As you are already probably gathering, my faith in the Berkley Gulp range is growing by the day, not only does this stuff stay on the hook (hair rigged) it doesn't dissolve within five minutes. I managed to stalk the margins for over and hour in search of the bigger fish and still the bollie was as good as new, even after hooking this chunk.

This fish gave me an absolute blast of a fight on the Blue Current 80, this rod goes everywhere with me now, coupled with the shimmano 2500 C14 and Sunline Rockfish PE its an amazing set up, it would pay to say now that a lot of fisheries don't allow the use of braided mainlines, but after talking to the powers that be at the lake, we agreed that using 3ft or more 10LB mono or flouro leader would avoid any fin damage to fish. yes there are a lot of opinions on this subject, but fish safety comes first.

Today I was lucky enough to bump into a really nice chap called Graham Rainbow over at Portland bill, from what I gather he had been trying for a bass with not a lot of luck for a few hours, I decided to pitch a cast just in front of him, it wasn't long and the Blue Current 80 was bending into a small critter of a wrasse.

The fish wasn't of great size, but the chap soon came running over the rocks to investigate what I was doing differently, after a five minute chat and a quick demo about lures and weedless presentation the chap was hooked on the idea of nailing wrasse, I gave him a couple of old Ecogear jigheads I had in my bag along with some new lures I've been trying out for JacksLRF and left him to it, I didn't want to be one of those guys that come along and ruin some guys peaceful mornings fishing by blabbering on about fishing.

I soon saw him waving out to me from his rock and it was like magic to me, this guy had never before caught a wrasse let alone heard about catching them on soft plastics.. and this was his prize, again not a big fish.. but a wrasse all the same, and it was one of those stunning green ones that always look amazing for photos.

I hope he remembers the name of this blog so he gets to see the write up and pictures, I'm sure he's now got the soft plastic bug that's gripping the sea fishing scene here in the UK 

It wasn't long before the weather started to turn, the waves started building and the fish pushed off out of my casting range, my last fish of the day was this small ballan on one of the lures I'm testing out, doesn't seem to matter what colour I use at the moment the wrasse are loving them!

Hope you enjoyed the read and lets hope I can catch something a bit bigger for the next write up. 

Time for sun cream...

The sun is shining, the sky is blue, the UK is about to have its first proper heatwave of the year, which might make day time fishing a little tougher from my experiences, but get your back side out of bed early enough or fish on through the evenings and results can prove to be outstanding, if you are fishing day light hours, make sure you are prepared, take that extra bottle of water, double check you have sun cream, sun glasses  and make sure someone knows where you are going and when you will be back, one trip in a remote location could spell disaster.. I  have had fishing sessions cut short before because I completely under estimated my water consumption while climbing up and down cliffs like the east side of Portland, when the rocks heat up and the sun hits its highest point, temperatures can sore, also add the fact that the water is reflecting a percentage of the sunlight your effectively getting a double dose.. so look after yourselves! 

So, what's been happening over the past weeks, fishing has picked up ten fold, and I'm hearing reports coming in now of some decent bass catches from all the local Dorset marks, I've said this before and I will happily say it again, around Weymouth and Portland I cant think of anywhere you couldn't cast and have chance of catching that silver bass, don't spend hours trolling the net in search of misleading answers that could be years out of date, get out there and find those fish! 

One of the biggest achievements for myself this month was to receive my certificate to be a level 1 Angling Coach, which with the help of that shark fanatic dude Mr Paul Burridge who encouraged me to do this course, I found simple enough and highly enjoyed the course, I learnt a huge amount, not necessarily fishing related, but coaching skills and people skills, anyone who has fished with me on a long term basis knows all to well that my patience can run thin at times, the course ironed out those creases an taught me coaching skills that aid me to work with individuals, small groups and cater for all situations including health and safety and risk assessments, trust me.. doing a mock up risk assessment to take an individual to a lake fishing for carp can be an eye opener, taking every risk in to considerations, from health of the individual, weather conditions, and terrain hazards such as slippery river banks, tackle being used such as sharp knifes or scissors, makes you think we live in a mine field!

I also met some really decent guys on the course, from novices to pros, salt and fresh water.. this course isn't just for the experienced anglers, but for those who want to help promote and support angling in the way it should be.. coaching, supporting and getting everyone involved from the youths to the elderly is what its all about.. I've seen many side of the angling industry good and bad that has left me bewildered at times, taking part in this course refuelled my enthusiasm and gave me faith that some anglers are not in it just for profile, but for the passion of angling. 

The course was held at Longham Lakes just outside Pool, the training facilities at the modern built cabin were fantastic and the grounds were stunning, check out the ramp and platform for wheelchair access on the lake. I wish I lived closer because seeing the pictures on the walls of the cabin of the fish caught there makes me want to dust off my course fishing gear and chase down some of those monster carp. 

I have been thinking a lot over the winter on where LRF  (light rock fishing) can be used more as a educational method, I know this all sounds strange, but hopefully it will make sense in the end.. I've been fishing LRF now for a good few years, and the knowledge gained not just as a fishing practice but the knowledge gained about species and habitats,  as a bass angler myself I know that sometimes the fish will not feed unless conditions are right, on top of that your lure or bait must be or represent what the bass are feeding upon to achieve the highest chance of catching your target fish. So using LRF and UL (ultra light) tactics to find out exactly what is there can provide you with knowledge that you might have just cast to one side.. I've lost count of how many times I've caught species from locations that for one I wouldn't  have put money on being there.. also we all know time of day effects what species are active, I know that searching for active Pollock at mid day around Portland bill can prove tough, BUT, try for those Corkwings and small Ballan wrasse and its easily fish a cast.. so why not use them as bait or match your lure as these are the prominent species active at thus given time of day, food for thought. 

With this theory in mind I have been keeping a small record of what I catch and where, already I've noticed patterns in bait fish behaviour like these sandsmelt that I caught on the outer wall of the stone pier.. again fish a cast, yet if I fished the opposite side it was micro Pollock and pout, yet at night these species seem to swap sides and the sand smelt spread out and became less abundant. working back into the harbour species such as seascorpions and blennys become more abundant alongside all the common gobys.. all bottom dwelling fish, I hope it all makes sense what I'm typing and that LRF as much as its a HUGE amount of fun to fish this style, it actuality will provide you with a equally huge amount of knowledge.

I've also managed a few very productive sessions with the delightful Lolly and good friend Mr Turner, after showing Lolly how to tie up and use the drop shot rig she ended up showing us lads how its done by pulling in a 17 fish form corkwings to pollock, most of the fish were caught using ragworm I believe, when she found that hole full of fish there was no stopping her!

It wasn't long and we got to hear her drag singing and her Major Craft Solpara bent double on this critter, before we started fishing I knew she wasn't happy and felt under gunned  using LRF gear off Portland as that's all we had in the car, with Lollys skilful playing skills and a high end decent Japanses rod, tackling this fish was no hassle what so ever, and I'm confident she could have beaten one twice the size.

I've been using the Burkley's Sandworms a lot this past week, and I've got to say that I'm well impressed, both on the mini species and the larger species, being a lot more tougher than the isome it lends its self a lot more to being used on Texas rigging with EWG hooks, there is no need to use a assist spring that I have pictured and mentioned in previous posts... 

Hope you enjoyed the read guys,  just like to thank Paul B again for encouraging me on the Coaching Course,  mate.. your an absolute star! and I cant wait for when you complete your level 2 and we can kick a lot of our ideas into touch..