First go on the lures

I’ve gone out of my comfort zone a bit.

Saltwater lure fishing has never really been my thing. I know lads who look forward to the warmer weather and the chance to get their spinning gear out to target Pollock and Bass but I’ve just always preferred bait fishing.

Then out of the blue, a divine power decided to intervene and bless/curse me with an overwhelming desire to try and get a Bass on a lure, something I’ve never done before. I’ve heard it’s a challenge and since I’m a glutton for punishment I’ve decided it’s my goal for the year (or until I get bored).

So I’ve clubbed together a ‘passable’ Bass setup – an Essox spinning rod designed for Pike fishing in freshwater and a 2500 size diawa crossfire that I use mostly for Mulleting or spinning for Trout. Really I could do with a bigger reel but it’ll do for now.

I got myself a handful of lures online – a surface lure, a shallow diving lure (both cheaper copies) as well as a couple of Savage Gear Sandeel Pencil’s.

So with the Mrs hosting a party for her mates, I pounced on the excuse to get out of the way on Saturday evening once I’d put my son to bed.

Arriving around 7:30pm I was greeted by a flat calm sea which wasn’t unexpected. The purpose of the session was more to scout out likely areas without much hope or intent of catching fish. Having done all of my Bass fishing with bait in the surf, I wasn’t really sure what to expect but I deliberately hunted out some of the roughest, jungliest ground I knew of to get started.

As the tide was an hour before bottom, spots were limited due to the forests of kelp and bladderwrack glistening on the surface in the last minutes of sunlight. I had to do quite a bit of mooching but found a couple of shallow bays and gullies that I imagine will hold fish at one stage or another. I’d tied on a white surface lure (a cheap copy of a patchinko) more for the purpose of stretching the new braid out a bit without being at risk of loosing the lure should I get any early wind knots.

Fishing these spots proved fruitless (not much surprise) so i continued up the coast a fair bit to the main skeers I had been planning to concentrate on, noting any likely looking spots for future reference. I could see a good amount of bird activity working the area further north of the skeer. Way out of casting range, but with a little more depth here I was a little more optimistic that there’d be something willing to have a go.

I’d switched patterns to one of the sandeel pencil lures and was quite surprised at how shallow these sinking lures can actually fish even with a slow retrieve, ideal for this kind of ground.

Although I hadn’t had any takes my confidence was given a boost when I saw a fish jump close in in the gulley to my left. I didn’t make out what it was but a fish is a fish so I kept working round the skeer over the course of the next hour. Eventually I got to the north side where the birds were feeding before. By now the tide has turned and there was a good bit of current coming round and into the shallow bay inland so I had a fair few casts here watching the world go by.

Just as the last of the light was fading I was completely taken by surprise when something slammed the pencil half way back and a healthy bend in the rod signalled I’d actually hooked something!

What a great fight on the light spinning outfit as well. It took line a couple of times with some decent dives, taking me back to my youth and my Pike fishing days. But what was it…

Turns out it wasn’t the Bass I was after, but a cracking Coalfish – certainly the biggest I’ve had in the U.K. I was actually a little disappointed it only came out at 2lb 10oz on the scales as I’d have swore it would have gone over 3lb. Maybe I didn’t zero them properly 😉

After a few photos he was sent back, probably the most welcome Coalfish I’ve caught in my life (and I’ve caught bloody plenty!) I have had them close to double figures in Iceland before but this was a new U.K. PB so for a first outing with the lures I’d call that a success!

There were no other fish as darkness settled in and with the flood well underway now I decided to call it a night around 10pm. But that’s got me hooked – I don’t know why I haven’t taken this seriously before! I’ll be keeping an eye on the conditions and will be venturing out again soon I think.

P.S. I tried to get some nicer photos but my camera stand packed up!