Sea Angling for Spearos

[atomichaggis]

I'd add the same for shimano multipliers... take em to dealers for a service.

[stuckinsurrey]

Hi Guys

Had a weekend just gone in West Cork, Ireland with some friends. Managed to convince them that a walk along the rocky headland (by Dursey Island) was just what they needed. Took a travel spinning rod with me and had a great time catching loads of pollock of the rocks. Was using the storm wide eye sandeel looky likey. Just a 2oz lead and reeling in just above the kelp. Great sport even if the rod was a little actionless, would have probably been better if i had taken the braid spool for the reel.

Think I managed to convert one of the lads to fishing - he caught the biggest of the day - which we had on the bbq in the evening! Great sport and considering going back in the car so i can take many more rods for a bit of variety (oh will definately take the spearing gear next time as well), hundreds of mullet everywhere!

[Magpie]

Jonny, fixed spools can be complicated, but they also cannot. In general the cheaper model it is the easier it is to take apart (and more importantly get back together again).

I've stripped hundreds of reels over the years, and have only struggled once. I've got a posh Team Daiwa FS that came for a swim with me down Rocquaine once. No drama thought I, I'll strip it down, dry out and re grease....

Well the stripping down and oiling went ok...but on reassembly I just couldn't get all the bits back in, there was just no room, despite carefully noting what order each bit came out in and where it came from. Fortunately Daiwa reassembled the bag of bits I sent them and I got her back in tip top order (for no charge, top marks Daiwa!).

But that said I can't see yours being that bad and I'm happy to have a go at them if you want, showing you how to as you will need to regularly if being used from the kayak. Have you removed the rear drag knob? I'd guess that's what's stopping the side plate coming off (be careful when you do as you may get a series of washers come out with it and its important to put them back in the same order).

PS. "Match" spools are usually much shallower than a normal spool and don't hold anywhere near as much line. They're designed to be filled by 100m of 3-4lbsish line for freshwater fishing.

[Jonny250]

Cheers Magpie, that all makes sense. I have managed to get the front off after removing the spool, pin and then the part with the bale arm attached, to give me access to the front bearings. i couldnt get the drag dial off the back which is why the side doesnt come off... and like you say, it's going to be a regular issue - so why no info on any of the kayak fishing sites??
I'd like to take you up on that offer of a demo, maybe after the next trip?

Hey stuckinsurrey, sounds like you had a good trip AND caught fish, result!

[Magpie]

No info because every reel will be different to some extent and no one would want to be respoonsible for someone moaning that they can't get their reel back together having followed the instructions probably.

Truth is, no matter how well you look after it, if you want a reel that will withstand a regular salt bath you've got to pay for it.

[foxfish]

I found out what my long lasting, abuse resisting reel is - its a Daiwa Emblem Pro 5500 st46381 from Fosters of Birmingham

[Mr. X]

Good tale StuckInSurrey - but who are the dodgy looking guys in hoodies?

2oz leads, sounds a lot to me for a spinning rod - I don't think I have cast more than 1.5oz/45g even though my rod is rated for 60g/2oz. Were you using a telescopic spinning rod, or something more substantial? What sort of hook do you use with the storm sandeels - 0/3-ish O'Shaunessy/Aberdeen? They look more realistic than most of the lures & gels I come across. I've resisted buying them as I have plenty of other lures to try out now - it's got to the point that I get "heat" whenever one of those tell-tale little lure packages appears in the post now.

Originally Posted by foxfish

I found out what my long lasting, abuse resisting reel is - its a Daiwa Emblem Pro 5500 st46381 from Fosters of Birmingham

That looks like a pretty substantial (large & strong) reel. Not cheap though. That boat multiplier looked pretty fancy (tough but pricey) too. I'm guessing you and OMD might have different approaches to angling gear.

[stuckinsurrey]

Its a 7 or 8 piece put together rod, comes apart and fits in a tube about 18" long. Fits in suitcase easily so can go everywhere we go! Its rated to 60g and took the weight no problem. Was pretty windy so was handly to have a heavier lead. Hook was a 2/0 uptide hook (just some I had in my box), fairly wide gap but strong. They do look good in the water as do the shads that storm sell (the ones with weights in), these also work for pike on the Thames....

A couple of times you could feel the pollock hit the eel behind the hook so just kept winding and waited for them to hit it again before they took it right in. Great fun!

Foxy - I have a couple of the Daiwa Emblem reels that I used to use for carping - good reels and will cast for miles!

[Mr. X]

Originally Posted by stuckinsurrey

...
A couple of times you could feel the pollock hit the eel behind the hook so just kept winding and waited for them to hit it again before they took it right in. Great fun!...

Interesting. I think that must be a common problem as I have a seen couple of interesting solutions to that recently. In the Mythical Mullet video ML spins for mullet in Christchurch Harbour using a homemade spinner baited with a rag worm but he clips it short, just beyond the hook, so fish don't just nibble at the end.

The other solution I noticed on a lure video at the MonsterTackle website, the eel lure in question is fitted with an extra hook near the tail (obvious really!).
Storm Swim N' Eel £9.49 - Storm Soft Plastics - MonsterTackle.co.uk

This Storm Swim N' Eel looks pretty interesting but a bit pricey (although there are 2 per pkt), so I made my own version, using a rubber eel, a Lidl's coffin weight (at last a use!) which I hammered to resemble the Storm eel's "swimming head" & painted it black. Haven't tried it yet, was planning to try it with a rod from the yak in the Summer. Mine only has the single eel hook currently though. Pennel rig?

YouTube - Storm Swimmin Eel

[portinfer]

Anyone tried these : Lucky Craft Real California (Lucky Craft real california)...

Despite being on the vaguely expensive side I am guessing that they would work well having seen firsthand teh devastation that a little more wiggle can cause (LC live plug).

Or is it better to whittle your own ?
Ed

[Mr. X]

I haven't tried any Lucky Craft lures. They look very good, some look amazing (see some of the collectors' items on eBay). Expensive though. I thought they were from Japan (& pos. China?) rather than California though(?). I see Mike Ladle tried one (Sammy?), earlier this year I think. I think he took a while to get used to it but eventually caught, even when others weren't -- it's probably more ML than the lure though. I wonder if being in the right place at the right time might be far more important than any lure characteristic - it might explain the huge variety of lures & baits that are available that can catch fish.

I've got a couple of top water walking the dog type lures that look a lot like the lucky craft models but were considerably cheaper.

BTW thinking of Jony's earlier mention of tail feathers, over the winter I added muppet lures to the tail treble hooks of a few of my lures, in the hope that it might add a little more life/movement. I picked matching colours. Wondering if anyone else has tried this, with or without success?

[ADM]

Had a trip last night with a chap who wanted to relax a bit while on holiday. So took him on a hike down a cliff path.

Having not been able to get any decent size live eels it was dead eel on the float and the plugs on t'other rod for a shiny.

Blimey it was windy... no way was that a 4/5, no doubt they changed the forecast for me while I wasn't looking.

Had a baby pollack on the float which didn't do much, returned alive.

I had a follow on the dead eel on retrieving so we changed the direction of lure casting and swapped lures to my all time favourite and after a few casts I heard that sound behind me of a hooked fish making a run for it.

And it certainly did have a run on it, he had hooked it right on the end of the retrieve and the unseen fish took exception to that and took off with his "prize".

After some coaxing while I assembled the net the fish was ready to come in and seeing the shiny in the surf and wind blown messy water was a lovely site.

After a few moments and some shouted instructions from me to hold the rod high etc etc, I had him in the net.

One happy chappy with his first bass and biggest ever fish. The scales jumped from 2-15 to 3-0 before deciding on 3-0.

Fished some more into darkness hopng for his big brother but alas no. Sorted his fish out at the mark, de-scaled and filleted down. He tried some sashimi (sp?) and told me it was rather tasty, I politely declined for something more cooked.

Here he is with my not so great cutting out...

Seems this research thing over winter has started to pay off. Just not for me personally...

[Mr. X]

Big fish, small boat:

YouTube - Tonno Fratelli Fillini Big Tuna 275 Kg

[Jonny250]

Well done ADM, happy client = :-) result.
Mr X that's an awesome vid, nothing unsafe there! good for them but why not tow the fish back??

[portinfer]

Think Mart needs to fit a fishting chair in Yobo and head down the south coast in late Autumn for the tuna run