Bait for Wrasse from Boats

Our league is starting again soon and I had great success, and increased by scoring last season by usung rag to catch Ballan Wrasse when others were concentrating on Pollock (which don't score as high in our league).

I was delighted to be scoring well, but I was paying a small fortune getting rag sent up from Belfast.

I've read that small hard back crab are equally good, or even better, and have also read on other threads here that limpets are very good.

Can anyone give their experiences on this as I need any advantage I can muster.

Thanks.

Hi Arthur,
I have used hardbacks twice and found them brilliant for wrasse.
I was fishing at lions head a few years ago and only had rag with me. the rag came in this wonderful plastic container - only problem is the flat bottom of it and the not so flat rocks - into the drink it went.
Tide was rising and I could only get two limpets off the rocks below.
I stuck one on the rig and fired it out. With the other, I stuck it on a float rig in the hope of a pollock or wrasse. I didnt set the depth correctly, so my last limpet was just sitting on top of the kelp. when I reeled in I had two green hardbacks about 1".New Bait! I made up another float trace and worked one of the crabs onto the hook. Within minutes a lovely 2 lb wrasse. I got about 4 lovely wrasse on the hardbacks. I caught absolutely nothing on the rag and limpets out far.
Reading Bob Moss's book, he suggests leaving all the legs on, and just nicking the hook through, to keep the crab alive. Knowing Bob's simple methods I am sure this is a killer bait!!!

Cheers
JK

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I am hoping to target Wrasse this summer and so I am very interested in the hardback and limpet baits. All the more so because they are free, plentiful and easy to harvest . When you use a float rig is the hardback just dangling in mid-water, which seems a bit unnatural, or do you measure the hooklength to have it lying on the bottom?

Last edited by Read on Thu Apr 01, 2004 3:32 pm, edited 2 times in total.

I've observed wrasse while snorkling and they swim about a foot of the ground in gullies. Plum your float to about there and the wrasse don't seem to mind about it being unnatural.

I've said this one before but wrasse will go for sweet corn. We laughed at this the first time we saw one of my friends uncles using this until the wrasse we caught started spewing up the sweet corn they'd sucked off his hook. Just get a can of sweet corn and wash in fresh water.

Donagh

How do you measure the water depth? How do manage in water deeper than 2-3m, above which the hooklength becomes unmanageable?

Slightly off the subject but I believe sweetcorn has been banned in Course matches. Is this true?

Depth was purely guesswork but I used about half an ounce of lead about three foot up from the hook. The length of the trace was about 4 metres- just over the length of the rod. Because I was not casting, literally just dropping it in front of me, the trace length didnt matter. You could use stop knots up the line though.
JK

Pumbing is used widely by coarse anglers. A lead large enough to sink your float is attached to your hook. If the float sinks the lines to short and if the float goes on it's side it's to long.

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I am going to try rig a bouncy ball as a float by drilling a hole through it, passing a length of stainless steel rod through it and making a loop at the end. This will double as float and weight. The hardbacks will sink naturally so I shouldn't require a sinker. I am not sure how well it will work but God loves a tryer!!!

By the way I am in a run of bouncy balls at the moment because I have just started cutting the grass and cleaning the gutters. If you think of it they are pefectly designed for kids to loose :lol:. I also tested them and yes they float :idea: .

Thanks for the advice lads.

Last edited by Read on Thu Apr 01, 2004 4:30 pm, edited 3 times in total.

I good way to catch the big wrasse is to fish paternoster stlye. When fishing like this use a weight just heavy enough to hold bottom and let the tide swing it in under you and into the holes where the wrasse lie. You will lose gear but its worth it when your catching fish. Hardback is the best bait for the big fish but float fishing with mussell around kelp will also get you fish. Try and get your hands on the video " Rock fishing with Alan Yates" . Its old now but you might find one somewhere. In it he is fishing for wrasse in Clare and gives tips on rigs and bait. Lion's head is a great place for Wrasse and I also know someone that caught a goldshinny Wrasse from here.