Sea Angling for Spearos

roflGreat stories. I'm sure you're right Miles about the confidence thing, I've heard similar comments from others. It's an interesting idea. I think I have a fairly good idea of what I want in a lure now -- just need to find one & hope the fish agree!

Flyflicker, I don't yet have a "best bass catcher" but will let you know if & when I do. I like my old 11cm Eddystone eel...it works, it looks quite similar to the bait fish I see about (& I recently read somewhere that several world/national records were caught on them!). I'm enjoying the chug bug at the moment, although no bites yet; it casts really far, looks like a distressed fish (to me), doesn't get tangled in the weed much (which is handy), it seems about the right size & colour. It was used, free and I repaired it, so I don't have to worry about scratching it or loosing it (I have another the same but needing a little more work). My only concern was that it is much broader than the bait fish I see about -- but as you are catching bass on one, obviously it's not a problem.

I recently got an old American Rebel "jointed minnow" that I plan to try when I get some less weedy conditions. It's similar to a Rapala J-13 but it is shiney silver (like many fish) with a blue top and the joint is further back. I believe it swims shallower too (6"-10" according to this page I just found) - which suits me as the chug bug covers the surface and my Rapala lures dive a little deeper. I've got a Yozuri Crystal Minnow which covers similar territory, has a great reputation & looks great BUT - as you may have discerned - I don't have much confidence in it; the hooks seem way too big (& have started sticking into the lure) & its shape, colour, etc. don't look realistic to me. (Alternatively, maybe I should learn from Miles' post & try sticking a 1oz weight on the chug bug -- it might be the Universal lure I have been looking for!).

Pav, I completely forgot about scent. Although, the thought of using sardine or mackeral oil on the lure has occurred to me, it never really seemed practical. Living away from the sea, getting & keeping bait is problematic. When I catch mackeral I keep them for eating! I do keep a few mackeral heads & guts in the freezer from time to time thinking I will use it but never have so far. Maybe I should try digging up or buying a few worms/crabs. Unfortunately I don't really have the time/opportunity to do a lot of fishing - there are so many different techniques, types, etc. Lure fishing appeals to me on a lot of levels and seemed like it would be the most likely to fit in with my other activities & responsibilities. I particularly like Mike Ladle's approach, it's like he's got so much experience now that he has distilled it down to its essence. I notice in recent pictures that he used the same gear for bass in the UK as he uses in Tobago for bone fish and Tarpon - same reel, same rod, same line - & often the same lure.

Re. Shark/Tuna magnet, low fequency:hmm...maybe they'd like Nu-Metal or funk?!

Line re-visited

Was hoping to hit the coast again today - the forecast is great, sunny (actually I prefer it a little cooler) with just 2 mph winds but will instead be looking after a sick family member. Fishing/spearing-wise, things just haven't come together for me this year - yet!

I was just re-reading some of the earlier posts on the thread. It was probably too much information to take in & filter, first time round. For example, I should have paid more attention to Magpie's first post on line -- it makes perfect sense to me now.

Monofilament
I started off using 10lb monofilament line (perhaps inspired by an old ML article or my old coarse fishing experiences). A succession of rapidly lost lures & spinners (fortunately cheap Lidl's items) had me thinking fast about avoiding weed snags & stronger line. I had some 12+lb line that came with me 10lb, I was surprised to find that helped improve recovery from weed snags considerably. I believe ML uses 16lb mono for leaders now & this is what Foxfish recommended earlier on, so I bought a spool of 15lb mono yesterday (the closest available nearby) - but just for leaders (read on).

My son still uses the 10lb line on his Shimano rod and it has been trouble free. I still occasionally use the 12+lb line, it has worked well, although mainly for leaders now and, as I said, I'm changing to 15lb mono for that.

Braid
Next I moved to Dynabraid, a little lighter than I wanted (it was cheap old stock from eBay) but at 20lb it seemed more than adequate for my needs. To be honest, it has been a bit of a nightmare (as Miles predicted). It was quite a bit thicker than the claimed nominal diameter would have you think; having a relatively low capacity reel, I had unnecessarily backed it up with electricians tape. It is very soft, more like cotton than mono, and I got a few major twists and tangles. A combination of tangles & badly snagged Toby lures led to me loosing half a spool on my first day fishing with it (an expensive lesson). Also, the lure sometimes caught in the braid - not often but this could be a major pain. Last week, I lost most of the other half in two nasty tangles.

I might have spooled the braid onto the reel wrong incorrectly - I see the Shimano video stresses that reels should be loaded only from the bottom of a tensioned spool. I know from rope-handling days, that some ropes have a very distinct direction of coil and will figure-8 and twist horribly if coiled the wrong way.

I got a couple of hot tips from Mike Ladle to help me with the braid though. The first was to use a mono leader of about 3 feet (Foxfish also recommended this). While you loose the benefit of the fine diameter at the hook end, the stiffness & transparency of the mono more than compensate. That fixed the lure snagging problem. I used much more than 3ft at first, to compensate for all that lost braid, but the carefully tied & trimmed Allbright knot occassionally snagged while casting (as ML predicted). So I am back to the 3ft mono leader now.

Whiplash
Having lost so much Dynabraid from my main spool (I still have it on my second spool), I re-spooled last night. I backed up the bare spool with a fairly short amount (maybe 30-60 feet?) of the new 15lb mono, to help get a grip of the spool and act as an end marker. My new main-line is Whiplash braid of a similar rating (16+lb, again cheap old stock of ebay). Whiplash is the green braid you can see on ML reel on his website, although he uses 30lb (& Magpie 40lb). It is much finer (lower diameter) than Dynabraid. I have finished it up with a 3ft 15lb leader and an "American" swivel clip that is small enough to pass through the rings of my rod. I keep the line thread in the rod now, to speed set up. I had originally used a clip - very convenient - but recently got into the habit of tying a loop with a Rapala or Trilene knot. However, I came a cropper recently, when I found myself trying to tie a Rapala knot in the dark at 4am (the full moon obscured by cloud & drizzle) with my Omer dive torch's switch spring loaded to off! As I am still learning about my lures, the convenience of a clip, for now, is compelling.

Tying the Whiplash to the 15lb mono backing & leader, the Whiplash is finer than the mono. I formed the main U of the Allbright with the mono - that works great (I tried the reverse for one of the knots and the braid was immediately damaged and frayed). Apparently Whiplash isn't the easiest braid too handle (now I find out!) but it seems better to me than Dynabraid so far (tighter, stiffer). Firewire might have been a better choice (per earlier threads).

The other braid tip from ML, which I haven't had opportunity to try in earnest yet, is to close the bail arm manually (which I often do anyway) and then grab the first handful of line and pull it out side ways to make sure it isn't tangled. This, I suspect will be the key to sorting out the tangles.

Future?
I still feel more comfortable with mono (after reading an interview with one of the top US bass pros. where he said he never used braid, I don't feel too bad about that). However, I'm percevering with the braid though, I can see the potential.

If the Whiplash works out, I will probably be ready for some fresh (non-eBay) Whiplash braid next, 30-40lb, to make the most of its benefits and increase abrasion resistance. If it doesn't work out, then I might try 20lb Firewire (most braids are not as thin as Whiplash) or go to 16lb mono. The products (both mono & braid) are improving all the time, diameters are getting smaller/ strengths higher.

spicer said:

rofl ... I have never experienced sea angling for spearo's. How do you do it a good old large spoon with some trebles and aim for the snorkel? Do they put up a good fight and how do you disarm them from those mamba thingy's? I bet you have to peel the neoprene off before you cook them and they must taste awefull!:naughty
Just wondering?rofl

Click to expand...

Taste a bit fishy I expect . I've caught myself a few times with treble hooks - owch! I would expect they put up a pretty good fight with all that lead, speargun, knife, iki-spikes, etc.:martial I would think Jetski is probably as effective method as any...

Got down to the coast early Sunday (3.45am) but judging by ML's last article, I was probably about 30-45 minutes too late for these long mid-Summer days! Met a warden as I walked down (hint).

My trusty old Petzl Zoom head-torch was decidedly less trusty than it used to be but it made initial set up & walk-in a breeze. I also wore my wellies, which helped; although they gripped well on dry rock, they acted like oiled kippers when any dampness was present!

I had a pretty good time casting around. I used a Rebel jointed-minnow (I have several, this one is a silver & blue one, about J-11/12-ish) for an hour an half until I lost it in weed. It stays about and inch or two under the surface the whole time -- very odd but useful. The tide was going out -- far from ideal from a fish/plugging perspective I gather -- but it did allow me to recover my Rebel lure later on; thought it was buried in weed but eventually found it sitting on top, the shiney silver making it easy to see.

The Whiplash braid worked well. I did have one tangle late in the morning, which I had to cut out but not as bad as previous ones (possibly due to loss of concentration ... feeling a little tired, forgot the coffee). I was surprised to see the 16lb braid break, when I lost the lure, rather than the 15lb mono or the knots - the braid is very thin, perhaps abraison weakened it.

I tried a couple of surface lures (jerkbait/poppers) from the US, a new one (Green/Silver/clear Kinami KB Jay Walker, act. from Taiwan) and vintage one (blue/silver, MirrOlure 97MR CHBL surface walker, act. from Costa Rica via Florida). Both cast like rockets, although the newer one looked more fish-like to me. Ended up fishing with the chug bug again though.

Grabbed a coffee when the cafe' opened; re-vitalised I spent the rest of the day spearfishing at another spot. Excellent day. Worn out by the end of it, with drive back, family duties, unpacking, cleaning fish & washing down gear. Felt great though.

Thought an image of the above lures might be more interesting. Also shown, my 2 fancy new Japanese made lures from Veals (my quota for the year), as used by Mike Ladle (he seems to use Maria lures most of the time now, usually the same one - the current Veals Bass catalogue has a couple of interesting articles by him).

Poppers/surface lures to the left; sub-surface lures to the rights.

Left bottom 2 - newKinami KB Jay Walker & vintage MirrOlure Surface Walker, as described above. Next two, new and untested; the top one is my fancy new Daiwa TD Pencil. At the top, a vintage American Cotton Cordell, pretty hefty -- might try that behind the yak.

Right, top 2 are vintage American Rebel jointed minnows (11 & 13cm) in blue/silver. Then regular Conrad J/13-ish (got something similar around 11cm - favouring 11/12cm rather than 13/14cm at the moment - hoping it might have wider appeal). Bottom right, fancy new Maria Chase BW. The Rebels & Maria are very shallow divers.