Meiho F-1 Block Form Case

I am always on the lookout for items that make my lure fishing easier and I have been looking for a simple solution for carrying my rigged lrf lures. I have seen some nice looking kit from Japan, but much of it is quite pricey, especially by the time it gets here.

I was looking through the Meiho catalogue, as they are renowned for supplying some of the best boxes available in the angling industry and I came across the Meiho F-1 Block form box.

I saw that the Art of fishing sell them, but were out of stock. I therefore contacted Mick at Mr Fish Jersey and though Mick did not have any in stock, said he would get some in.

Always true to his word and I received one the following week, here it is;

It really does make life easier and is just so simple. No more rooting through my bag, packets and jig head box before changing lures. It also fits perfectly into my hPa Sooper Trooper, but would also fit in any decent sized pocket.

I have just ordered another for my metal jigs too. I just love simple things that make my life easier.

There you have it, the Meiho Block Form Case F-1. Available from Mr Fish Jersey and The Art of Fishing.

Session of 6

I have been looking forward to these two weeks off work for sometime and had been hoping for some good fishing. However today (Monday) is probably the only chance I will get this week, I therefore  went to the Peninsula for a species hunt.

Again it was not an easy day, there as quite a wind blowing and the sea was choppy. I must admit to craving those sticky days with calmer seas.

I took my Son Daran with me today, so spent quite a while sorting out tangles and re-tying leaders.

From the off set things were looking quite good, my son winkled out a small Pollock straight away and though it was his first rockfish he refused to have his Photo taken, as he was embarrassed by the size.
Here's a photo of him fishing;

I then set up my Blue Current with an ima Trilobite at the business end and was soon into a Ballan Wrasse. It really did fight very well and it was a moment of pure joy as I hauled him back from the kelp bed below. The fish took a fair bit of line and it was the best fight I have had yet on the new setup.

Daran kindly offered to take a photo.

I really thought more would follow, but I wasn't getting any more action. I switched to a split shot rig with a size 14 hook and joined my Son for a spot of rock pool fishing. Daran was finding it very frustrating as the Blennies kept Biting but would not hook up. I tried telling him to be a little more patient but he gave up for a while.

I had a few Blennies and a Leopard Spotted Goby.

 We decided to move and fish a gully, both of us opting for the ima Trilobite on a decoy head in the hope of Wrasse. For some reason there was not the quantities of Wrasse biting I am used to and we kept getting snagged on weed. After a fair few snap offs Daran decided to give it a rest and had a bite to eat as he watched Spiderman on his phone. I would have rather he kept fishing, but in all fairness it was a slow session, hopefully it hasn't put him off for good.

I switched to a Power Isome on my decoy head and managed a Sea Scorpion, probably my favourite rockfish species.

Check out the colour of his underside, quite stunning!

From almost the same spot, then came a Corkwing Wrasse. Species number 5.

As the tide rose I had some more Ballan action, again on the watermelon ima Trilobite;

The last move of the session proved to be tough for a time, I lost a good Wrasse due to a severed leader and had a lot of missed bites. The severed leader incident, meant A fish got away with a 3" Senko still attached to its mouth and though it doesn't happen often, this troubles me quite a bit.

Staying with the texas rig though, I rigged up a 6" Red Gulp! Sandworm and was soon into fish again.

I ended up with a few Pollock to finish a six species session. 

Hopefully by next week the wind will have died and we shall have some calmer weather. I would like to take the lad out again and have promised to take him somewhere a little easier. Although I felt for him and wished he had have persisted, he still seemed to enjoy the day out, so not at all bad really.

Personally I learnt a lot today and the lessons have got me thinking about how to improve as an angler and guide to my Son. Though as I'm sure you know, its not about the knowledge, its about the practice! We'll see how that goes.

Tight lines all!

Sun and Schoolies

Today was a beautiful days fishing in the sun.

I went to a fairly regular mark for my Bass fishing and arrived on the rising tide. The water was calm and serene, really clear and perfect for a bit of top water fun.

I set up my Megabass rod and clipped on a Patchinko 100 in 500G. I love this little lure, its just so neat and casts a mile.

Working the lure I was getting a few rises and eventually I had a short take, I say short because the fish threw the hooks. I was not happy with myself.

Things went a little pear shaped for a while, due to some people I have had a bit of a run in with before. A Small boat with maybe six people in, decided to fish right in my swim and were free-lining shrimp on fly gear. I was not best pleased and when I saw they had a hook up, I cast over their lines and landed their fish for them. They still didn't get the hint, so I made life a little difficult for them until they left.

I just do not understand why they just couldn't have fished the many other marks available in the area and shown me some courtesy, some people are just unbelievable.

Anyway, having my space back again I felt content and I was able to land a few Schoolies.

I lost a few too, three throwing the hooks and two took a run into weed, they snagged me and slipped the hooks in the process.

I also caught another that didn't make the photo shoot, I slipped on a rock and released the fish prematurely. 

An enjoyable session though and so exhilarating taking fish off the top. It doesn't get much better than taking them off the top as far as lure fishing goes.

During the session I also foul hooked this very small Garfish.

Shame to foul hook a fish, but it happens every so often. A stunning looking predator though and is the reason I thought I'd include it. Many times I've had large Gar on, yet lost them at my feet and I feel I have a score to settle with them soon.

This evening I also went out, this time taking the LRF gear, I only had a load more Weever. I suppose its still good to catch, but they are putting my local beach species hunt on hold for a bit I think and I shall concentrate on other areas. 

I finished a cracking day with a beautiful Sunset; 

And so ends my report of a memorable day.

Tight lines 'til next time.

Corking Corkwing!

Since I received my new Yamaga Blanks Blue Current 74, I have been itching to give it a whirl. Firstly however, I needed a new reel to go with it and of course some braid. I teamed the rod with a Shimano Biomaster 1000FB, loaded with YGK G-Soul 0.6 PE.

So with the rest of the setup arriving, I decided on a trip to the North of the Lleyn Peninsula.

Upon arrival there was quite a south westerly wind blowing and the tide rising. The wind is less than ideal when fishing light, but it's not impossible.

I started fishing with the faithful ima Trilobite rigged on a Decoy head, flipping into a known gully. I jigged lightly and  it was but a few minutes until I got a positive take, a short scrap and Pollock landed.

The rod, feeling so light and delicate is anything but in action and bends so nicely into a fish, though it has more than enough power to handle fish like this.

I thought I would get plenty of fish today but it was quite a hard going day to say the least. Ordinarily I would have caught a lot of fish from this gully alone, yet I had no more action there.

I saw a friend and his mate across the way and went to say hello and fished near them for a while. It became a really hard time as these guys were fishing HRF and were pulling out Wrasse after Wrasse, yet I could not get any action regardless of what tactics I employed.

I did manage the odd Pollock on 3" Senko's and Jackall Mebaru Bushi's and the guys were in amazement at how much the Blue Current bent. I think they were also a little amazed that I managed to get the fish in on gear so light. I am so impressed with how wieldy the rod is, it flips very easily and casts very well indeed.

Amidst their Wrasse action, I did manage a small Ballan myself on you guessed it, an ima Trilobite.

As the tide receded I fished some small gullies and channels. Getting some good bites, a good take and my first ever Corkwing Wrasse, I was absolutely delighted.

A really beautiful fish with stunning coloration and quite a good one I am told. He also took the ima Trilobite.

Moving around a little I scored a few more Pollock before switching to a 0.5g head with a size 12 hook and a piece of Gulp Sandworm. Hunting the mini species, I scored some micro Pollock and some more Corkwing before wrapping up my session.

What started off as a hard going session, really wasn't fruitless and, in fact, was quite enjoyable! It was so nice to use the new rod and so far I am impressed. The tip is really sensitive and it was easy to detect the tiniest of bites. The rod really does cast well, both in terms of accuracy and distance and on hookup, the rod just bends so nicely into a fish. There is plenty of power to take control and bring the fish in and  I would expect it to be more than capable of landing the odd bonus fish.

I am also very impressed with the reel and though not quite as smooth as the Rarenium, it has a very sturdy feel and really good drag. I am now very much looking forward to the chance to get out again and hopefully add to my slowly progressing species tally.

I think next time though, I may take a heavier setup also and hopefully get into some of those bigger Wrasse I so crave.

Until then though, tight lines.

Improvement and upgrade.

I'm loving my afterwork lrf sessions at the moment, its a nice way of shaking the dust off at the end of the day.

Wednesday was a mixed bag all the same and a little frustrating. I lost two Bass and one of them was a belter. She hit hard and went like a train, but when I tried to turn her, the hook on my Cultiva Mebaru shot bent right out. Easily would have been a personal best for me and lost it partly because of a naff jig head, I wouldn't recommend those to anyone.

After tying on an ima Turtlehead and a Gulp fish fry I hooked a second Bass of about 40cm. I played it to the shallows and when I grabbed the leader, the hook popped out of the Bass's mouth and off he swam. I was a little peeved and even more so as the action had gone dead, I must have spooked them.

I did however get some more Weever and another Turbot which was an improver for me, he gave a good account of himself to. I did not consider the Turbot as a consolation prize, but a brilliant predator in its own right, I was quite chuffed and somewhat balanced the scales on loosing the Bass.

These short sessions are really helping me with my watercraft and teaching me to think outside the box at times too, all good stuff!

Today was quite exciting too, as I took ownership of a new rod. A replacement and upgrade for my broken Major Craft  Solpara. It looks and feels lovely, so light in the hand and I cannot wait to take her on her maiden voyage.

Here she is, a Yamaga  Blanks Blue Current 74 purchased from The Art of Fishing;

Very much looking forward to using it and all being well I shall report on how I get on with it soon.

Till then, tight lines!

Stingers at Sundown.

I am currently exploring my local beach with the light tackle and as I mentioned before it is maybe not the ideal or classic lrf terrain. I am wanting to explore and find out exactly what species lurk here that will take a lure. So far I have had Bass and Weever, so yesterday after work I went out in search of another that I had also caught last year; a Turbot.

Well I got to the shore as the tide was still quite low. I worked the various sandy gullies with 3g jig heads and Gulp lures, I soon started getting bites and caught a succession of Lesser Weevers.

Not really what I had hoped for, but the rod I was using (Daiwa Infeet 83T) does cast better with a 2.5g+  jig head and means it is harder to work higher in the water, in order to escape them. However I feel it is better to catch what's there than not catch at all and it is good practice and fun.
A few more casts and slow retrieves and I did indeed get my target species, albeit a tiny one with a touch of attitude.

It never ceases to amaze me how aggressive these fellas can be, last year I caught one not much bigger than this on an 18cm lure! I would very much like to catch a decent sized one though.
Anyway thats 3 species this year off a shallow sandy beach and brings my total tally to 8 I think, which is way behind some of my friends but theres time yet.

The rest of the evening saw in a lot of other Weevers, which I must admit become a bit of a pest after a while and I could not believe I caught so many without being stung. Have I jinxed myself now? Good job I am not superstitious.

After a gorgeous sunset I caught a few more and decided to call it a night as I had work in the morning and didn't fancy unhooking more of these in the dark. They look nice and still here but they are quite wriggly when trying to unhook and had a few near misses.

Lets hope I can find some more species along my local beach before the year is out, but never let anyone tell you you cannot catch on such a beach with lrf gear. At the end of the day unless you get out and try, you will never know what's out there will you?

Till next time, tight lines!