T Minus 7 Days and Counting.

Just a Quick post, and reminder for the Open day At Chesil Bait an Tackle next weekend, I’ll try not to repeat everything I wrote in the last blog post, But its game on next Sunday! There’s going to be a lot going on at the shop,There is rumour of a raffle for everyone who comes to the shop,A few new Lures that will be hitting the shelves, Danny Parkins an Jim O`Donnel will be giving first hand demonstrations an advice using the casting pool, an dont forget the burgers on the barby!You will find everything here that is all things Lure fishing from major brands like Megabass, Major Craft, Seaspin, Sunline, IMA, Ecogear, Tackle House, Century, Raptor Lures, Shimano, Molix.. the list is endless! 

The shop will be opening up at 10:00AM an shutting things down at 3:00pm, So far the traffic around Weymouth has got a little bit busier, but the Olympics will be coming to an end this week an traffic is expected to die down a little, so please don’t be put off by the traffic, it isn’t half as bad as a normal summer without the Olympics.

You will be able to find the shop at 77 Portland road on the left as your heading to Portland, Parking can be found in an around the local roads within a short walking distance. If you fancy an hours trip down the harbour on the day to try out LRF I’ll be happy to drive anyone down an give them a short lesson, 100% guarantee we will catch a mini-beast, if not.. As Matt Hayes always says “I’ll eat my hat”

The last few weeks I’ve yet again been blown away, not just at the amount of interest in LRF fishing, but the fact that when you think you got your local waters figured out.. Someone comes along an throws a curve ball at you, just like this chap, Mr John Stainer.

　
Now, I used to do a little bait fishing both sea an fresh water, so talking rigs an bait isn’t hugely unfamiliar to me, I spent a good few years sat on the pebbles of the mighty Chesil beach hauling out the many Bream, Pout an Dog fish with the occasional bonus fish showing up like a trigger fish, but when a guy like John contacts you asking if you would like to fish, an he says he’s taking some left over peeler crab from the match the day before, I though what the hell.. Fishing is fishing an I’m guaranteed to learn something, that’s what fishing is all about right?

An ho.. How i did I learn my lesson!

John took me to a mark that I would normally walk on by, searching out deeper waters, searching out structure an weed beds the usual fish holding grounds that a lure fishermen might look for. But nope I got to this mark an realised I was completely under gunned with my plugging gear, John threaded the line up his rod, tied on his rig, baited up an pendulum cast his peeler out to sea. 30 Seconds! An I swear on all my rods, his bait was in the water 30 seconds on his first cast before it slammed over with this stunning looking Bass. Check out the shades of golden sands in this fish… pure predator perfection.

So leaving that session with my tail between my legs an a little red faced, Im not afraid to admit it, because it doesn’t happen very often, I decided on a quick LRF session with my old mate Rob. Within my first few casts with the Major Craft Zalts I had my line pulled sharply along the harbour wall, I didn’t know what I had caught till I went to handle the fish an got a sharp prick in the palm of my hand. I was amazed to see its my new PB smallest Bass, now most people wouldn’t get a kick out of that.. But I challenge anyone to go out an catch one smaller with rod an line!

As the night drew on, with plenty of small Gobies an Pollock along the harbour walls, I hear Rob shout my name out an say “will!, think I need a hand, I’ve got a little problem” . I walked over to see his brand new Major Craft Zalts bent double with his 2.5LB fluorocarbon flying off the spool. This couldn’t have been the worse place to catch a bonus fish either. This was a 16inch gap that runs along the jetty platform an harbour wall, an the fish had just ran out under his feet in to the harbour. After a good few minutes of constant clutch adjustments an being incredibly careful, this shiny bass of around 2LB came to the surface.

The Gap of DOOM!

I think both of us were shocked, but this was a gentle reminder that big fish take small lures, an with a little skill anything can be landed. This fish was caught on a size 18 hook an pink Power Isome weighted with a single AAA split shot, the fish took the hook as rob was lowering the lure down the harbour wall, while searching out the mini-beasts.

A few days later, me an my photographer mate Rob Mears went on a short LRF session to celebrate some recent news I had (more on that in the next post, fingers crossed). We decided to try the other side of the harbour to what we would normally, here the water is very shallow an has very little current, we were getting very mixed results from the start only finding the odd few gobies here an there, until rob pulls out the bonus fish of the night, his very first flounder an it was caught on lure as well.. Just check out his smile in this photo.. that’s the addiction of LRF taking hold right there.

Had a cracking few hours fishing with James Fulton Standley yesterday down the harbour, town was packed with holiday makers, but that’s the beauty of LRF, find a quiet corner an drop that lure in, 99% of the time it will result in a fish on the line. pretty sure he had a good time, an I think we are going to go out next week an nail him his first bass!!!

Hope you enjoyed the read everyone, im off now with rob to get a load of photos done of my Tenryu Injection that I got back form Richard at Dorset Fishing Rods today.. All im going to say is that it looks insane! Balances perfect for HRF an the build quality is second to none! Well happy. More to follow next time!

Tight lines.

Hot off the Press! HRF an BASS pros are coming to town, An the building Weymouth LRF scene.

First up is the great news that on the 19^th of this month Chesil Bait n Tackle are holding an open day, an have managed to get the legends that are Danny Parkins an Jim O`Donnel to come along. This is an opportunity not to miss.

These guys know their fish an know their lures better than most in both sea an fresh water, an had countless articles in Sea Angler Magazine. the guys will be happy to answer any questions on rigging, techniques an tackle. There will be a casting pool out the back of the shop for demonstrations, the shop will be opening at 10:00am an closing at 3:00pm. So please take advantage whether you are a novice lure angler or an seasoned pro.. There will be something here for everyone.

For all of those that don’t know the area, parking can normally be found around the local roads around the shop an is never more than a short walk away, traffic around the area has been deafly quiet with the local Olympics scaring most of the holiday makers an locals out of town.

So bang the address into your TomTom an I shall see there!
Chesil Bait 'n' Tackle
77 Portland Road
Weymouth
Dorset
DT4 9BE

So what have I been up to the past few weeks, incredibly busy with the amount of interest in LRF fishing in Weymouth, its incredible that once you show someone how easy an how fun this way of fishing is, you can see the smile get bigger an the LRF addiction takes hold, its when you see species after species come to the net, an the concept that anything can be caught on lure if you adapt your approach, we are only bound by the ropes of our imagination. Some species take time others become regulars that you would never have thought would take a lure.

Over the past month I have been working hard to meet as many people as I can even if its just for an hour to get them on the right track, showing them how to use an handle the LRF gear they have brought, or dropping one of my spare rods in their hands. So far each person I’ve met has walked away smiling having had a great time. Best bit about it for me is that I enjoy the company an get a kick out of watching others catch plenty of fish, its brilliant! So this blog post is going out to those who have made the last month as great as it has been for me, thank you.

I mentioned last time about a huge scorpion fish I caught, seriously I wish I had weighed that fish because it was monster, as much as these pictures do the fish some justice, but you had to be there to see it in the landing let! Here’s a few pictures courtesy of Robert J Mears photography.

It wasn’t long behind the scorpion fish when Rob Mears came up trumps with this stunning looking Tompot Blennie.

Here’s Shaun Carrington with one of his first gobies, soon as I met this guy down the harbour his enthusiasm was inspiring, talking to him last night he’s now looking to set up a LRF Weymouth FaceBook page. Brilliant! (sorry for the poor quality in the photo mate, my phone was playing up)

I had an amazing LRF session with Billy Short who runs the local Juniors angling club, now this guy knows his local waters better than anyone I’ve ever met in Weymouth. Mention his name an everyone knows this guy for his angling skills. A short walk round the harbour fishing a few corners an fish holding structures I soon realised we are like two neighbours of different generations talking the same talk, as much as he learnt the art of LRF I couldn’t get over how much I learnt about the harbour let alone talking other marks along the Dorset coast, thank you Bill! (note to self, next time I meet Bill, take note pad!)

I think the final species count was 9 in four hours, with nearly 40 fish between us, 3 species of Wrasse, Pollack, Mackerel, Pout, an 3 species of Gobies. We struggled like hell for that last species to make it 10 species but time ran out an we had to make a move.

Now its not very often you meet someone who you just click with, an from the off you know you can have a good laugh an good fish with, Mr Craig Allington picked up LRF in a matter of seconds an was smashing the fish out left right an centre, tuning into the split shot rig, tuning into the principles of structure holds fish, be it steps in the harbour wall, or an old pipe formation in the sea bed. I think we hit 6 species in matter of 45 minutes but the prize fish was his first lure caught flounder… I don’t think he realised at the time that in our local waters this species can be a tough one to find within a 25ft cast from shore. Big well done mate!

Just a reminder about the flounder, unless you are targeting the larger fish, keep lures small, the above picture just highlights the mouth size of these species.. Craig was using a size 18 hook an single AAA split shot to find these fish.

Keep it small, catch more fish.

I Made a trip to the Art Of Fishing yesterday as I had a day off work an fancied a jolly, I Have been searching for a new LRF rod for a while now, I am fully in love with my Major Craft Zalts but the need for a slightly heavier rod for searching out deeper waters that are out of the reach of the Zalts was becoming a must. Ben Field contacted me to let me know about the new range of Tict an Yamaga Blank rods that were coming close to what I was looking for. Now I’m not one for just reading reviews, or going on someone else’s word, so I jumped in the car an made the epic trip to Plymouth to check out these two rods, meeting Matt Newcombe I realised he knew exactly what I was looking fo,r an putting both rods in my hands I could tell strait away the Tict was a stunning well balanced rod but just a little over powered for what I was looking for, my heart was tearing me in two for these rods, an if I could have afforded both I would of walked away with both.. But the Yamaga blank had that little extra flex in the tip section that was the final decision making factor.. I shall tell more about the rod after I’ve caught a few more fish..

Here’s the christening fish from last night.. Hope you enjoyed the read an mass amount of photos..

If anyone wants me to meet them for a few hours to show them LRF, please look me up on FaceBook as Will Harding or email me at
nextgenerationangling@gmail.com

Until the next time

Tight lines!

LRF Mission Flounder, Mission succeeded!

Well I’ve just got in from a harbour scratching LRF session with my mate Rob, I didn’t manage to take any pictures because he had all the fancy pants equipment, but I’m awaiting some photos of a goliath scorpion fish.. Seriously the thing was huge compared to any I’ve caught in the past!

After the last blog post I have had a vendetta out for catching flounder, after many online discussion, watching You Tube Videos, talking to the local old boys an reading many books about flounder an their habits I had built up enough of a clue to go out an target them with some confidence an knowledge. Like I said in the last blog post I hooked up an lost a dinner plate a few weeks back, as much as I was gutted I had a huge spur of confidence, trying to find free time an dealing with man flu (yet again!) I managed a few sessions with mixed results from the same location I lost the first flounder…

First up I’m struggling to avoid the school bass on LRF, sounds strange that I’m trying to avoid them. but when you start understanding where food will hold up in quiet corners, its only a matter of time be for a bass comes along an raid the area, right now fishing anywhere over sunset on a quiet evening around Weymouth an Portland you could easily find the bass.

At last my first LRF flounder comes to the net, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! This little fella came to a the deadly Power isome, I still cant get over how good this stuff is, its accounting now for dozens of species big an small. This rig was a simple split shot rig with a size 14 hook an AAA split shot.

The key difference was in the retrieve, cast out, let it sink, then a high lift of the rod tip, let it sink an wait, repeat this right back to your feet. From what I gather the flounder cant see your lure if its only bopping inches above the sea bed, yes will eventually catch one as you pass the lure over its nose, but flounder are always looking up an side ways an will rise very high up in the water column to take a bait. To try this theory out I went back to the same spot an used a small 1inch white reins paddle tail mounted on a 2g size 8 jig head with an extra split shot a couple inches up the line. It wasn’t long before I felt that same nibble on the rod tip like the flounder that I lost before. For a fish that can grow to a good size, they have very small mouths an you can almost feel them turning the lure in their mouths, again like I learnt from a you tube video of some guys over in the states I waited 5 seconds or more before gently setting the hook.. BOOM! the reel spun up as the fish darted off, at first I thought I had been fooled by a mackerel but sure enough this new PB flounder came in, lucky I had a friend of mine Sean at hand to jump down an grab the fish. Mate.. Big thank you because I would have been stuffed trying to get that fish up the wall on my own.

Here’s a picture of Sean with his first LRF lure caught Goby. Well done mate!

An here’s another first, Laurens first scorpion fish, there’s something special about catching these little mini beast an always brings me a smile as it was only last year I was asking people for advice on how to catch these fish, like flounder this fish used to me target species an took me an age to eventually catch on lure.

For some, owning an running a tackle shop could been seen as a dream come true, but after spending hours chatting to guys at Chesil Bait an Tackle it doesn’t take long to see that Mike is itching to get out there an cast some of those incredible lures he has hanging from the walls, I know from reading face book that he had been pushing hard in the small windows of time he has had to nail his first bass from the shore, it’s a tough duck to break at first for anyone even with the best bass anglers at your side. I got the call mid afternoon from mike saying he finally has an hours free for a bit of fishing so I took him to a well known mark that so many of us have caught our first bass from, an again Mission Accomplished! I know he wishes it was bigger, but hey don’t we all…(no pun intended) welcome to the bass game Mike may it be the first of many!!

hope you enjoyed the read, next report will be about that goliath scorpian fish i caught today.. first time ive had to use a landing net for a scorpian fish!

Night Bass, an LRF rule the roost.

Well I have no idea where to begin this blog post, the past few weeks have been hectic with fish being caught everywhere on every method around Dorset, but of course for me its all lures lures lures, I’ve nailed some handsome bass by night when the weather allows you to SAFELY get out there an fish the rocks, plenty of mini species are coming to LRF now to the extent I’m struggling to keep a tab on all the species an locations, I managed to hook an lose my first flat fish yesterday.. Gutted! But like with all lessons learned it’s a confidents game, an now I have a huge ambition to chase down all fish that are flat an willing to hit my lure.

So first up I managed a quick evening session with Adrian Crawford who came down from London in search of a few fish, I managed to get the word to him about a local mark was about to come alive with a pushing east wind an new moon, apparently I was 24 hours out because he managed a record load of bass off the surface the night before I fished this mark. Typical hey? But pressing on I managed to nail this beauty right from a tight shallow corner. Yes its dark, yes its raining, yes I’m soaked through due to taking a slip an ending up on my back side in the drink. But catching a shining bass like this is always a good way to warm your spirit up. I think Adrian will be back for the full moon tonight, wish the weather was better for you this time mate.. But it isn’t looking like it.

I also had a chance to borrow one of Richards fine pieces of workmanships from Dorset Fishing Rods, OMG I didn’t want to hand this rod back to the guys at Chesil Bait n Tackle, where the rod now stands proudly on the top shelf, out of my short ass reach! Those pacific bay eyes are insane an should be bound to every lure rod out there.

The perfect length of 7ft 6inches is perfect for my casting style. If you have fished with me, you will know exactly what I mean. With a casting weight of 8-30g this rod would lend its self perfect for the crash diving wrasse, but when you start punching lures like the revered zonk or a Duo 125 SLD you start to feel the breeding in this rod, its fast its powerful an can cope with the dirtiest of weather conditions, the rod has a much stiffer mid section which helps to load an punch heavier lures under the wind while maintaining accuracy. At first when I got my hands on this rod I thought that its way to stiff for me, I’m not going to have much lure control an feel. But sure enough a few turns of the handle an the buzzing of the Zonk were there it wasn’t long an I was getting hit by Pollock left right an centre at range with a fast retrieve.

I wouldn’t have been happy to hand this rod back with out saying I had had a bass of over 2lb on it, yes we can chase our tails endlessly searching for BIG bass, but in this day an age a 2LB bass is the average size I would expect to catch on a short fishing session. So out I went for an evening crawl with my mate rob an girlfriend lauren, we started off at the bill in search of the wrasse, but my heart was set on a bass an it wasn’t long before we had all come to the conclusion to jump ship an head to one of our top marks when conditions are right, this mark can throw up some good size bass, an it wasn’t long till I heard the words FISH ON! Now rob doesn’t fish a great deal due to a busy life style like most, but his dedication to lure fishing is second to none, when I did the short hop an walk over to his mark I could see the smile on his face, this is his New PB easily hitting the 3LB mark. Well done budy!!

Just before I heard robs call I could see an hear a lot of splashing right behind me in amongst some weeds an rocks, I knew it was bass, but really that close? In that shallow water? I mean this must have been 8 inches deep. I tried everything from surface lures, slugos, xlayers, small paddle tails, hard minnows an flutter baits but not a sniff… it was only on the return journey to the car that I told the guys that there was a fish down there an low an behold as we showed up you could still hear this fish smashing fish on the surface, right I said I’m having that fish its been teasing me all night, I waited for a splash an cast my lure around 7ft behind it, waited an gently shook the rod tip, bare in mind I only had a floating Rainbow Pearl Gateride clipped up, so this lure was being used very differently to what I would normally. BANG! Fish on! This fish was only around 2.5LB but what ever the hell it had been eating it gave me a run that anglers dream of, the DFR rod handled the fight perfectly with a smooth crisp bend through the upper mid section, this rod wouldn’t feel out of place in the hands of someone who owns an 7.3 injection or the 7.6 HPR, but is perfect for someone looking for a rod in the similar class but with extra power an aggression.

Lure fishing at night only under head torch is something special that so many people just haven’t grasped yet, as Adrian said the week before.. There’s something primitive an strangely spiritual about it. Personally I couldn’t agree with him more.

To round up this blog post, I managed another mini species last night thanks to LRF, I’ve caught a Tompot Blenny years ago on bait but to catch one on lure just shows how LRF just keeps on giving. This fish came in amongst the best part of 20 gobys in a 2 hour session, so was a welcome sight to see. Also here’s a lovely picture of Jessy my work colleague having ago at LRF using burakuri methods.

PS, who ever these morons are fishing the fleet at the end of camp road from a boat, yes I saw you casting rods an so did a few others that weekend! next time I’m calling the harbour master, it says plain as day in a number of places that the Fleet can NOT be fished from any floating vessel.. We are lucky to have the bass fishing that we do around Dorset don’t go an ruin it for the next generation!