Light Wrassing

Sorry for the lack of reports of late, I've had a hectic time lately and I am in the process of moving house.

I did manage to redeem a day yesterday and had a cracking time on the Llyn peninsula targeting rockies.

I figured it would be a good chance to try out some HTO lures I have just acquired and boy did they exceed expectations. I was mainly using the HTO Mini Sticks and Mini Shads, they looked perfect for T-rigging, so I used a #4 or #6 weedless hook and 2g cone weights, a pretty perfect combo in my opinion.

The first Gully I arrived at, I caught two Wrasse on the first two drops and working along the coastline I had some pretty consistent action.

These lures look really good underwater and have a really nice shimmer to them when falling through the water column, they certainly triggers some very positive takes. I did get busted up twice by a couple of decent fish, thats was a shame but par for the course at times.

The Scorpion fish seemed to like them also. They are not the easiest species to catch on a weedless hook either and for one I changed to an Aquavave Straight rigged on a 1.5g Aquawave Lockhead.

All in all a very enjoyable session and hugely needed, hopefully I'll find time to get some more action soon.

Tight lines

LRF Casting with Yoji Sato

Recently my friend Yoji made some casting videos to help those with their lrf game and he has given me permission to use them on my blog, I hope you find them useful. I will also include Yoji's own words as he does such a fine job explaining.

"When casting with light lures and lines on LRF rods you dont need to push the rod out with brute force. the best way to cast is using the flex of the rod. having a quick take back or back cast is the key to attain maximum distance and accuracy. watch how where i stop the rod and where i release the line. the easiest way to become accurate is to start straight ahead bring the rod up straight and back down straight. there is no need to "push" the rod down or to really pull the rod back behind you in exaggerated fashion. just using the rods flex will get you enough distance.

DO NOT use a lure over the listed lure weight with this type of cast. in fact i would stay away from using heavy lures in this fashion for any fast tapered rod. for most LRF applications this way of casting is perfect.

In video 1 you can see the standard overhead cast. watch how much i load the rod. this is with a 2g craw style lure. this is actually pretty heavy for most applications for me with LRF."

"In video 2 you can see the same with a different background."



"In video 3 you can see the same concept applied to side handed casts. side handed casts are used when you want to approach a overhanging structure or when there is high wind to keep the lure low and fast to not allow the wind to take too much line or alter the course of the lure. 
during side casts notice that I tilt the reel to the side too. this is to maintain that straight back and forth motion. "




Pretty useful videos I think you'd agree. I rarely actually cast one handed but the same principles apply.

Many thanks to Yaminomusuko Dakara AKA Yoji for both making and allowing me to feature these on the blog.

Tight lines

Criccieth Tackle Box

Plugging shops is not something I do a great deal of and to be fair in my local vicinity there isn't many shops if any that really cater for my preferred styles of angling. There are a few that cater for more traditional forms of sea angling as well as those that cater for Coarse and Game anglers, but not really lure.

Well a short while ago I heard of a shop starting up in a town just north of me in Criccieth. 

I have been conversing with the owner Russell Roster via Facebook for sometime, really just chatting about fishing, but I was of course excited to learn of a shop predominantly selling lure and fly gear near me.

I finally got up to see Russell a couple of weeks back and visited the store. The shop is well located on the high street and is a stones throw away from the bays and breakwater. 

Now I have to say, that well, its not your typical tackle shop!

Upon entering I noticed a few large vivariums and one aquarium, on the plus side, I really like beasties and I was immediately stimulated. Russell showed me his Turtles, Bearded Dragons, Frogs and the stuff they feed on like Locusts and Cockroaches, all pretty unusual, but pretty cool too!

Russell is an immediately personal guy and clearly passionate about his fly fishing, lure game, as well as his reptiles too! I have to say he doesn't make a bad coffee either. 

Although Russell is just starting out, he has put a lot of effort in to providing a fairly decent starting range and he seems to have a clear idea about what he wants from the shop and the way he wants it to go.

The walls of the shop are lined with lures and flies to suit every pocket and set conditions you might find yourself facing, when on the water.

There's nice a display of Delelande lures for a start;

I must admit I don't use the Delelande stuff as much as I perhaps could. I have used their Buster Shads, GT Shads and the Monture Picol'eau's with some success in the past, but haven't given them much water time since. However, the firm have made some nice additions to their range in recent years and I may try some more of their stuff soon.

One thing I am incredibly pleased about is that Russell is Europes first stockist of Fishin' Magician Skid Stik lures. They are a cracking lure at such an affordable price, they honestly represent really good value for money.

There really is plenty of stuff to keep you looking though and the walls are well stocked with other well know brands as well as maybe less known brands like Yokozuna.

I know next to nothing about fly gear, yet I was rather interested in some of the fly displays. There are flies I believe to cover both fresh and saltwater game, these being the choice for Bass and Pollock;

I'd quite like to give some of those a go behind a bombarda or attached to a weedless sinker, like those  available from Ocean Ruler.

With the limited amount of space available, Russell has done a pretty good job of merchandising the stock and even has a reasonable range of rods, including the now very popular HTO range.

Obviously I cannot feature everything Russell sells in this blog post and neither do I want to, but rest assured there is more than enough to get people started young or old, as well as keeping the seasoned angler happy. It isn't all lure gear either; there is a small range of the more traditional type of gear available including Mackerel feathers/ Hokkai, sinkers, rigs and other angling accessories.

If you are around the area or heading up to the Llyn peninsula from Porthmadog say, then I would encourage you to pop in and say hello, have a chat with Russ and take a browse. I'll certainly be up a bit more and shall have the odd lrf session on the breakwater when tide and weather allows. I'll maybe leave my card at home next time though hey :)

Seriously though, its good to see a shop like this here and I wish Russell all the best with his new venture.

Tight lines.