Pigs and PB's

Got out again this weekend and with the forecast to die for we were raring to go and get down on the rocks, so we headed down to a old faithful mark that Me and Jimbo used to fish allot and we were greeted with literally seas flat as a pancake and little to no wind with gorgeous wall to wall blue skys Me and Andy had that fishy feeling!!

We literally got bites in the first gulley and that wrasse fishing buzz was soon in the air things looked like it was going to be a cracking day! the first gulley didn't produce just lots of taps, so we clambered over the hole and within mins I was into the first tiddler of the day, it took a Poor Boys beaver tail literally crawled along the botton of a clear pebbly hole surrounded with vertical rock faces covered in weed, literally had to just haul this fish before it binned me in the rough! well I opened the days account (secret Andy vs Danny comp) and I was a happy bunny! we carried on rock hopping and crawling around the bay casting into every fishy looking hole and gulley. One thing I noticed was now the season is finally rolling the amount of life in the water!! plenty of sand eel and sprats and tons of mullet, such a pleasant sight after such a crap 8-9months with the skys beaming and the waters gin clear with all these wonderful creatures swimming around I only had one thing on my mind and that was to get Andy a good fish as he's been trying sooo hard to finally crack his awful bad luck, he finally broke the spell the other weekend with his first proper wrasse on the lure so it was game on!

I was nailing a few fish here and there but was missing soooooo many fish! this fish above was a nice break in the bad lusk after losing three good fish in the brief madness of there brutal scrap. Im not sure exactly what was going on but I just couldn't get fish to stick.... various lures and changes of hook size the little shits just wouldn't nail the lure! we fished some gulleys and pits we haven't fished properly since last season and again its a bite a chuck I managed one more tiddler from here then Andy snipers one out at long range, it looked big his HPR was looped over and drag was screaming, should of got a snap of Andys panicky face :-) this fish was certainly bigger than his previous effort so I scrambled down the with the net and by this time the wrasse was coming up the ledge.

as I netted this beauty I couldn't be happier, Ansy was proper chuffed I could tell it was a easy 3lb so after a quick scramble to a rock pool for a rest we got the scales and camera ready. Coming in at 3lb 4oz and couldn't help but be super stoked for any its been a tough few sessions and with him also struggling to connect with the fish today it certainly was a pleasant sight :-) this beautiful fish just doesn't get the justice the camera gave it, it was utterely amazing..... the blues and greens and a choccy brown base layer. These fish never fail to amaze me with there awesome colours every single one a different colour which makes them even more special! not to mention that brutal power! now im not one for jealousy but fcuk me he was now beating me in the biggest fish contest and im not having the apprentice do me over like this.... its just not on but well done all the same Greeno for you new PB Ballan :-)

There was a nice shallow bay normally plagued out with snitcher ballans and tint Pollack but I know a few times last season I hit fish here that handed me my ass so me not being the reserved type I chucked out a Hawg senko out at range and I kid you not the bites were instant, I missed a good fish straight away which ruined my lure so after a quick change of senko and out again! this time a proper smash and I lifted in to this awesome bright orange kelpy and it pulled like hell back to the rocks but I wasn't having any of that!!! so it wasn't long before I had it coming into the net. few quick snaps and it was off for another angler to hopefully catch when its a bit bigger ;-) shame it wasn't as big as Andys but I didn't care with the final score being 10 wrasse I had a blast of a day with good company! the sun beamed all day it was like a summers day, shame about the awful winds which were a pain in the ass but all in all a cracking session! well until next time, tight lines its a bank hols this weekend and the Lure Forum meet in south devon so good luck if your out on that session may see you out :-)

Rock Donkeys Kicking Off!!!

Well me and Andy headed out the other weekend down to some ground iv eyed up for a while! conditions seems mint bit of low mist then a very bright day forecast with light winds and rising tides most of the morning everything pointed in the right direction!!! After the last few hopeless attemps with horrendous winds and rain then the big drop in temps!!! we even had a session where my braid froze while in salt water..... after being picked up we headed down to the rocks and I said to Andy I felt a bit fishy and had a good feeling! we set the rods up at the car armed with my Tenryu and Andy with the Century it was a long walk up and down hills and then a scramble down one of the steepest marks iv fished and it looked amazing!!! gin clear water gorgeous blues and all the reefs and gulleys clearly on show.

It wasn't long before the action started! ( first cast actually ) bite after bite the fish were hammering out senkos and after about the 5th cast I nailed this little beauty, was your typical wrasse bite tap tap smash!!! and she belted off straight to cover so I put the danny brakes on and got her to the rocks for a quick photo. by this time it was pretty much a bite a chuck and no matter what you had on fish were hitting hard or following the lures up! the most popular lures being the Hawg senkos in melon and Christmas tree colours it wasn't long for the lures to start showing the tell tell signs of wrasse!!! with ripped lures and the classic teeth marks, one happy Danny indeed!

This chunk late 2lber was a awesome fight really bending my gear and almost getting me snagged up I was very much in my element! iv missed these Ballans they literally sum up my whole angling life and this session was the proof I needed to see the season has finally kicked off with both of us getting constant bites and hitting fish! My mission for today as the Wrasse were obviously onnit was to make sure Andy nails his first lure caught Ballan and I wouldn't be happy till that happened! we left the first gulleys and headed over to a big shallow reef which looked awesome with the wind blowing over us it was flat as a pancake this looked awesome no more than 10ft deep, rough as a badgers ass rock and kelp perfect for some big pigs! it wasn't long before I got smashed to pieces I literally lifted into the bite and it just turned and fcuked off to france! there was nothing stopping this fish, I palmed the spool and it still pulled into a snag where it snapped me up! I was gutted!!! Andy was perched on a good little outcrop and it wasn't long before I could hear that sound of joy when a fish is on!!!

I was made up with this little rascal!!! and after god knows how many very unlucky sessions Andy had broken that awful luck..... with him using one of my (for sale 2quid each) Xlayers which he didn't have and boom it was like a light switch on off to on, gone with the tap tap nibble nibble and boom they just nailed this lure on the spot! this soon turned into a hour of sheer madness with countless fish bumped and hooked the we were on double figures now and the fish were getting bigger, well for me anyway ;-) we walked around to a deep pit where there was a large sloping rock face covered in week and barnicles it just screamed wrasse! I flicked my Xlayer into a small crack/gulley and soon as the lure hit the bottom I was smashed!

The camera doesn't do this wrasse justice, the electric green/blues in this fishes freckles, I love these awesome little males they and soooo bright and ballsy you would happily buy these for a marine tank! these things are addictive and with the tide just slacking off at the top of the tide just when I would be expecting the biggys to be lurking around as the start there ebb feed (my fav time for wrasse) still armed with the emerald Xlayers I cast to a 6-7ft ledge next to a deep sandy clean gully and slowly crept the lure down the ledge face and about two foot from the rocks over clean sand I was abused by a bigger fish but didn't hook up! very next cast I crawled the lure to the same spot and this time fish on!!!

these beautiful chap proper done the dirty on me slamming me into the rocks and through the weed but with my Injection looped around and a bit of Parkins persuasion I managed to turn it from the rough and high enough in the water so I could chill a bit! after a few quick snaps and a breather in the net we weighed it and slipped him back for another day :-) buzzing now I was loving getting back on the pigs, Andy was whipping the water to a froth and getting some awesome hits I even caught a few takes out the corner of my eye! these fish are the absolute bomb to lure fishing in my eyes! fight harder than anything else your catch in the uk and the techniques like Texas and Carolina are very enjoyable ways to fish, and lets not forget these fish are stunning colours what more do you want form a days lure fishing! obviously the terrain we fish isn't for everyone and id advise caution when fishing anywhere like this these aren't beginner's marks and experience of rock hopping is needed as well as knowledge of tides and weather. anyway until next time tight lines, will be out again soon on the Rock Donkeys