Sea Angling for Spearos

[Mr. X]

That's a most welcome insight Fro. I've got a couple of packets of gels similar to ones you describe but have only tried them a couple of times - when I thought weed was likely to take the lure. I must admit I didn't have much confidence in them for some reason (silly really, the size/shape/texture is far more realistic than hard lures) but your success with them has changed my perspective.

If we have kids fishing with us, I sometimes give them the gel shads (the ones I have are a mixture of patterns & colours) because they seem to work quite well with the smaller spinning rods & less hooks to impale people on. As you point out, they are also cheap to buy - and being cheap, we've never lost one!

I bought some gel sandeels last year. I've used them a couple of times & my FIL has used them too. They cost a little bit more but look remarkably like the sandeels I see bass chase. [You can use these with a small spinning rod but the are really a bit too big and heavy and work better with 10ft 60g rated rod than a 6.5ft 3/8oz rated rod.]

Read an article a while back about lure fishing for pike. The author, like you, though the big wood/plastic plugs are overrated and expensive - although his preferred pike lures were traditional tobies and spinners (I too had good luck with Mepps style spinners in the past). Years ago, my older brother took a huge jointed Abu plug and used it in the local canal (famous for its tiny fish) with his huge 14ft coarse tod - just to give it a try. To our surprise, he hooked a massive pike (he reckoned double figure) which promptly snapped his light coarse line. So I guess plugs can work to.

 

[ADM]

With lure fishing I believe it's all a matter of confidence in what you are doing and the lure you are using.

Just happens I have caught more and bigger on lures which cost more than £10 thus giving me more confidence and you then work the lure better. Maria AngelKiss, Chase BW and the Megabass Zonk are my recent top acheivers with the cheapo Storm Jointed Thunderstick the historic best but for some reason not working so well in recent years. Time to get it out again methinks.

I'll try a pearl 4" sidewinder at the weekend on the mark I will be fishing. The bass are feeding on small smelt or some description which are nearly completely translucent and the bass want nothing but them (i've tried nearly the whole lure box...). Not been able to imitate them just yet but will keep trying.

 

[Fro-in-shorts]

ADM, you do have a point, I have had large fish on multi jointed rapalas and chug buggs, but for the most part the places I tend to fish, especially as im prone to some serious hiking and exploring result in the ratio of fish caught to rapala esque lures lost being unfavourable. I will admit I think that rapalas and their like can be worked better and if you were fishing a snag free area where getting hung up or loosing tackle every other cast wasnt an option I would fish with them every time. However 90% of the time Im fishing over weed beds, shallow, rough, or snaggy bouldery bottoms, and using weighted single hook shads means that my lure spends the greatest amount of time potentially working in the water giving it a higher chance of a strike than a rapala which may be snagged or have been lost and therefore im wasting time retying. In fact one of the biggest differences is confidence, you can pretty much cast them onto dry rock or weed and know your going to get the lure back, I've hooked fish in some hideously snaggy unfavourable positions.

On another note, if the fish arent showing at the moment head for the surf. Im not saying give up angling and become a die hard surfer, I mean find a surf beach (with a little rough ground), put on a pair of waders or a wetsuit, wade upto your nads and flick a few lures out, all that wave action brings fish in to feed, plus they dont get spooked by lures landing or you as the seas so noisy and its murky so they come in closer.

happy hunting and stay safe surf casting works great, but be careful.

 

[ADM]

I've had quite a few fish in the surf on lures. I will always remember one session down Vazon when it was seriously pounding in.

I had 4 fish in an hour. All over 4lb and the best 7-6-0. Sadly I doubt I will ever repeat it the way things now are but it won't stop me having a go!! In fact I was thinking of heading that way tonight but with bait rather than lures. Who knows. Might try a bit of both. One rod at a time of course. You can't fish 2 rods for bass...

I'd prefer to try the lures again actually before I give up and go big bait.

Shallow divers and homemade bucktails and maybe a go with a surface lure or a sidewinder!!

 

[Fro-in-shorts]

yeh im quite prone to flicking a few out into the surf when im too tired to padle anymore, or when im waiting for the tide to come up so the reef will work. Nothing tops off a good surf session like a bass or 2.

 

[Mr. X]

...The bass are feeding on small smelt or some description which are nearly completely translucent and the bass want nothing but them (i've tried nearly the whole lure box...). Not been able to imitate them just yet but will keep trying.

I bought a transparent Maria Angel Kiss lure a couple of years ago after seeing bass hanging around transparent bait fish in S. Devon. It hasn't seen much use though -- it's pretty big and I save it for v. water clear days (i.e. diving days :head). I wonder if something like that might work for you? I guess the gel sandeels are probably even closer in appearance.

I'm surprised Eddystone/Delta hasn't come out with a clear synthetic eel ... yet! Of course there is an instrinsic problem with using a clear lure when the main attraction is appearance - you'd have to make sure you put some good action/vibe into reeling it back it.

 

[robdigital]

hello mr x, just been reading this thread i actually own the 3 piece mike ladle rod its the best lure rod i have owned perfect for spinning/plugging - personally i have never properly hooked a fish on a plug although i have foul hooked mullet before!! They must catch fish though? I prefer at the moment the 4 inch sidewinder eels that are pre weighted especially in the pearl colour really good catches of pollack and bass from the shore they dont cast that far but fish with the hook up on top of the lure which keeps losses to a minimum they are great over shallow/snaggy ground - give them a try

 

[ADM]

I bought a transparent Maria Angel Kiss lure a couple of years ago after seeing bass hanging around transparent bait fish in S. Devon. It hasn't seen much use though -- it's pretty big and I save it for v. water clear days (i.e. diving days :head). I wonder if something like that might work for you? I guess the gel sandeels are probably even closer in appearance.

I'm surprised Eddystone/Delta hasn't come out with a clear synthetic eel ... yet! Of course there is an instrinsic problem with using a clear lure when the main attraction is appearance - you'd have to make sure you put some good action/vibe into reeling it back it.

I think I have that same Angel Kiss. think it says EXS on the top? Looks superb in the water and is what was attracting bass the other day but they wouldn't hit it. just playing.

You mention appearance above... That is not the main issue with bass fishing with lures IMO. I know a lot of people do not agree but I think that the "noise" and vibration from a lure is much more instrumental in attracting the bass. I have done quite a bit of night plugging lately and there's no way the fish can see the lure yet they are still hitting it (all pollack unfortunately) really hard. So how are they finding it? Got to be the old laterel line???

I've been working lures differently lately, focussing on making the lure "work" hard and then giving time for the fish to home in on the vibrations it has felt. I have had a bass like that. See up there somewhere ^^^. but mostly pollack, and I mean loads of pollack, been having up to 16 in a 2 hour session. Bit of a pain in the behind tbh!!

Spoke to one of our top lads today and the concensus is that there's not much bass about more than us not finding them. People have been doing the hours and not finding many fish. I think it will improve.

 

[ADM]

Went out for a billy bass last night and after standing waist deep in the sea for 2 hours with no interest at all I decided to have a go with the plugs.

Strangely, and for the first time this year, I didn't catch a pollack!! Yay!!

Had a fish on briefly which I am certain was a bass. Caught enough pollack lately to know that fish was too strong and "fighty" to be a pollack, alas I didn't get to see it.

A while later I had another take, much like the 6lb fish I had on the lures in april, line just tightened like weed getting caught but then it started to pull back!! Took a bit of line but was deep dogged hanging on. Actually gave the shukan a bit of a test as it was hanging hard and deep not really running to let the reel work.

Weighed in a 3-10-8 last night...

































Shame it was a squid really!! Monster of the deep!! Easily a PB squid and on the light gear as well.

Nipper posing for the camera again...

 

[Fro-in-shorts]

wow, thats amazing, its huge! never seen one that big down the beach before. Are squid a late autumn visitor exclusively?

 

[ADM]

They've been here for about a month I guess and will soon be time for them to leave.

If you're rod angling go for somewhere with a light on the water as it attracts the small pollack and such. It does get a bit busy at places like havelet and the castle breakwater but sometimes you get it quiet.

Pop to quayside and get some jigs (90p each if you have their discount card) they were the only place that had them last week but it may have changed. Best rigged in a string of 2 or 3 IMO. Attach them further up the trace about 6 inches apart with a loop tied in the line and cut so you can tie them on.

 

[robdigital]

that is cool! are you going to eat it? i have caught a cuttlefish on rod and line before close inshore on a small boat - bloody ink everywhere from memory, also foul hooked a small lobster at night wondered what the hell it was flapping away on the beach!

 

[ADM]

I had a smaller one as well which my Dad will be eating later. Prepared it all at his house this morning. The bigger one is destined for bait with the nipper who's on half term this week. Some call it madness to ignore free food, but personal taste says I can catch much nicer free food with that free bait!!

 

[Old Man Dave]

wow, thats amazing, its huge! never seen one that big down the beach before. Are squid a late autumn visitor exclusively?

There's quite a bit on the spearing forums about squid. Quite a bit on the Guernsey thread and quite a bit written by me. This is largely due to starting night diving/spearing about 3 years ago.

I had caught a few squid myself on rods and handlines over the years and knew about them being caught down the breakwater etc. However I had never seen one diving in the daytime.

On only my second night dive I saw a huge squid which I was almost able to touch. What a fantastic sight. Amazing red and blue shimmering colours. Since then I have seen many more and as a result I researched and found out some more about them.

These squid (Loligo Forbesi) only live one year being born in January time they migrate up the English Channel and back again before breeding and dying. They migrate through our waters during the latter part of the year when they are also getting to their maximum size.

I generally don't shoot them as I prefer other "game".

Dave.

PS ther's a lot of info in the Hall of Fame on this and other species. Click on the link below.

 

[Mr. X]

Glad to hear you like the Mike Ladle rod Rob. His new Popper rod also caught my attention. I found my Shakespeare Royalty rod (10-60g/10ft carbon & cheap) is a little too floppy around the tip for my tastes. My local store suggested (an even cheaper) Shakespeare rod when my father-in-law's telescopic Protenzia rod broke for the last time -- it has a stiffer tip and that seems to work better with the sea rigs we use (large lures & light bait rigs 10g-60g - 0.5-2oz).

... I prefer at the moment the 4 inch sidewinder eels that are pre weighted especially in the pearl colour really good catches of pollack and bass from the shore they dont cast that far but fish with the hook up on top of the lure which keeps losses to a minimum they are great over shallow/snaggy ground - give them a try

I got a packet of 3x of the 6" /25g Sidewinder Sandeels last Christmas, in white/pearl (great minds?). I've only used them a couple of times (without success but that's not uncommon). We tried a kids light 6'6" Shimano spinning rod - it worked and cast as far as with a longer rod - but was really too heavy & too long for the rod (perhaps the 4" model would be better for that rod). I gave another to my father-in-law, which he uses sometimes. As well as not snagging weed, they don't snag clothes and skin as much as regular plugs either -- quite hassle free.

Nice squid ADM

 

[robdigital]

do you think the 6" ones are a bit big for shore work? the 4" lures catch big and small fish maybe try the smaller ones for a bit more action hopefully! Must say i have been really converted to fishing light balanced tackle its so much more fun even the small fish can put up a bit of a scrap and when you get a bass of a couple of pound its real fun!! I cant remember what the rating is on the ladle rod? but its quite poky, and the cork handle is real nice. I used to use a shimano travel rod but found it to stiff for light lures - its now been passed on to my dad.

 

[Mr. X]

You, gonna dig this: the Patriot Bait Boat: TFG Patriot Bait Boat - Bait Boats - Fishtec (Watch the video)

do you think the 6" ones are a bit big for shore work? the 4" lures catch big and small fish maybe try the smaller ones for a bit more action hopefully! Must say i have been really converted to fishing light balanced tackle its so much more fun even the small fish can put up a bit of a scrap and when you get a bass of a couple of pound its real fun!! I cant remember what the rating is on the ladle rod? but its quite poky, and the cork handle is real nice. I used to use a shimano travel rod but found it to stiff for light lures - its now been passed on to my dad.

Poky - is that stiff? Surprised to hear that the Shimano travel rod is stiff - perhaps all those joints? Perhaps that would make it a good popper rod?

Re. 4" v. 6" - I've no idea, but you might well be right. That was certainly how I used to look at it. But then I read an article Mike Ladle publish, which was mainly a letter from a chap in Cornwall that had been having great success with large lures. OMD also posted a picture one February of a decent bass he'd caught with a rather large popper (Grauvell?). I also met a boat fisherman with a huge lure, probably a foot of more long (never seen anything like that size in any shop, webstore or catalog). I asked what he was after & if he ever caught anything with it and he laughed knowingly and said, "Yes, bass. Quite a few." Bass will take lures almost as big as themselves. Apparently, you'll often catch small bass on very large lures [see Mike's article, mentioned above, for several examples] -- all bass have pretty big mouths but maybe its a matter of youthful exuberance/ambition over experience? I figure any decent size bass could comfortably handle a 6" sandeel (but I could be wrong). Mike Ladle though seems to have great success at home and abroad with very ordinary looking/size lures in the 11cm-14cm range (i.e. 4" -5.5").

Probably the main factor for me though is that, sometimes, I just like using big lures *, although I most often use a small (11cm?) Angel Kiss mackeral (Mike Ladles favourite lure a couple of years back). When nothing's biting, I often put on a larger lure in order to cover a bit more ground or reach a further location, or just for change - for me and the fish. Most of my larger lures are surface lures such as poppers & walk-the-dog types - Cotton Corduras, Heddon Saltwater Spooks, etc. and variants on that theme (Huricanes, etc.).

*I had several big lures sitting in my lure box unused for several years and decided it might be fun to give them a try.


Some interesting lure rods: Spin Rods - Fishtec
Interesting Okuma reel, too small for spinning? (30/40? = Shimano 3000/4000? = Leeda 30/40?): Okuma Electra 30+40 Reel - Reels - Fishtec

 

[robdigital]

yeah i have read his book and know big/small lures will catch, but i have never caught anything on a plug!! I guess its a confidence thing sticking to what i know works for me - i wont deny collecting over the years a box full of plugs/poppers though! yeah poky i mean stiff.

 

[ADM]

Half term Hols and day one finds me and the boy in Herm (small island east of Guernsey). We went with the plugging gear and a bit of squid as backup.

In a word. The fishing was PANTS!!

Could have done with a gun though... I assume there's no shooting there as the birds were very brave. Could have had a Pheasant with bare hands if I could run a tad faster!!

Some of these little guys as well. Can't recall what they are though.

It was pretty deserted... Only 6 people on the milk boat.

The two guys in the pic are on hols for a week from the UK and were looking a tad worn already. 2 days solid plugging for one beak.

The by had a good go with the lures though. Casting felt distinctly scary with a set of trebles on a lure swinging about in all directions, I took shelter on the ground next to him.

Finally a fish. Took a small squid strip on the sand at Belvoir. Was hoping for a proper bream but alas nope.

Not sure on size, 3.5lb maybe, not his best and he's caught rockies before so wasn't really all that interested, he did smile for the camera though.

We fished 6 marks with child freindly access. Found 6 other anglers and we caught the most at 2 rockies.

I had one pluck on a Zonk Gateride at Alderney Point but could have been a beak. Nothing else and no follows I could see. Ended up at Rosaire waiting for the boat and not anything there either. Tide was really moving some as well!!

And that's that. Bit of poor fishing. Not sure going to the south coast marks would have helped tbh.

Still 4 days to go so we'll try Guernsey the rest of the week. has to be soemthing out there somewhere...

 

[foxfish]

Andy, Herm was once a playground for the Guernsey Governor & almost three hundred years ago was stocked with an amazing array of Game.
Pheasant, Partridge, Rabbit, Deer & Swan were all hunted by our local Gentry.
The Pheasant & Partridge are still shot by private guest in the winter.