A second recce.

Last Sunday I had a little afternoon recce on my local mark to see if there are still any fish about. Last year the fishing was pretty dead by this time and that certainly was the case Sunday.
Today I decided to try a mark up on the peninsula, I was thinking I might be able to snag another species before the year is done. I was also wondering whether to leave out the gulp and just use regular and unscented lures, to sort of prove to myself that I can catch without it.

Well upon arriving, It was clear I was going to be putting myself at a considerable disadvantage by not using scented lures. Due to the amount of rainfall this year, there had been a small landslide and the tide was washing mud into the water clouding it up. Even away from the mud, the water was still fairly cloudy for some reason.
It was a really nice day though, the sun was shining and the water was fairly calm.

I tried some Ecogear Straw tails, some Jackall lures and some ima Trilobites, but I was not getting any bites. I caved in and put on a gulp sand worm. Even then the bites were not exactly thick and fast as I would expect in summer months and it was maybe half an hour before I got my first fish. No messing either, it just took and ran, giving me a nice scrap for a short time.

Well I was quite pleased with that and although I reverted back to using the gulp, at the end of the day I go fishing to catch fish and not to prove anything.

Moving to a different spot I downscaled my hook size and jig weight due to the dropping tide picking up a few small Ballans.

Nice markings on this little fella.

Reminds me of strawberries and cream. 

There were a few rock pools near by and I couldn't resist a dangle, I have said before that Goby fishing is not my thing and its really not, I do however find it irresistible not to just see whats there. I didn't spend long at it and didn't get any Gobies, I did get a Blenny or two though.

I quite like blennies, at least they'll bite you and as hard as they possibly can too!

These areas are stuffed with fish during summer months!

Twitching my lures around the boulders and along gullies I picked up the odd small Ballan and caught a Corking too. I was surprised to not catch a Scorpion fish, they are usually more than willing to take an isome or sandworm lure. Likewise, I was also quite surprised not to have had any Pollock, they are usually the first fish I catch on these marks.

It was near time to leave for home and before I did, I had some fun fishing on the drop with 0.5g jig heads for Pollock. When I say Pollock, they were in fact "micro Pollock"!

Not exactly hard fighting at this size.

It was only a few hours fishing and I really didn't want to come away, but then I hardly ever do. You have to be grateful for every opportunity out though and it was an enjoyable session.

I am starting to review the year in my mind now and am looking at things differently. I am trying to understand where I have been going wrong in some circumstances, trying to figure out what I need to do, to improve and progress. Well I will maybe share on that in another post at another time.

Thanks for reading and tight lines.