Whiterock 22.7.10
Fri Jul 23, 2010 3:01 pm
People: Myself
Duration:8.30 - 10.00
Tide: Rising to full
Weather: Beautiful
Bait:Spinners and lures
Rigs:As above
Results:One small pollock and other smaller pollock
Report:
It was a gorgeous evening so I headed off down the steps to Whiterock with my new Sonik spinning rod in hand. I had the waders with me because I wanted to see about getting over to the rough stuff on the far left. On the walk down I was asked whether I was going "scuba diving or wha?"
When I got down to the beach there was another angler up on the Rock plugging away already. I set up and waded out and spent the next hour and a half having a great time trying a few different lures. I lost a few in the weed but the conditions were perfect and I was hoping that one of those culchie Bass had decided to take a trip up to Dublin. I picked up a tiny pollock which was roughly the same size as the wedge I had on the line. This was followed by a bigger Pollock of about 30cm. As it began to get dark I had a big bite on one of those small expensive Japanese maria jobbies. Whatever it was it fought like hell for about twenty seconds. I was trying to manoeuvre the line around a bank of rock and weed but as luck would have it the line got stuck and as quickly it snapped off. I hope the fish got away because I'd love to catch up with him again. I was thinking of wading out to the bank to have a look but it would have been deeper than my chest waders would allow. I might try that at low tide.
There were a few jumping fish over towards the rock face on the far left and I thought they might be sea trout but would I be right in saying that they would be more likely to be closer to a river mouth at this time of year?
All in all a gorgeous night to be out and I'm looking forward to doing it again.
One question, I had ten lb braid on the reel. As it was light and the bail arm on the reel has a mind of it's own I had had a couple of crack offs. So I tied on a 16lb mono shock leader. This sorted out the crack offs but the braid started gathering in the knot. which caused more trouble. Any suggestions?
Duration:8.30 - 10.00
Tide: Rising to full
Weather: Beautiful
Bait:Spinners and lures
Rigs:As above
Results:One small pollock and other smaller pollock
Report:
It was a gorgeous evening so I headed off down the steps to Whiterock with my new Sonik spinning rod in hand. I had the waders with me because I wanted to see about getting over to the rough stuff on the far left. On the walk down I was asked whether I was going "scuba diving or wha?"
When I got down to the beach there was another angler up on the Rock plugging away already. I set up and waded out and spent the next hour and a half having a great time trying a few different lures. I lost a few in the weed but the conditions were perfect and I was hoping that one of those culchie Bass had decided to take a trip up to Dublin. I picked up a tiny pollock which was roughly the same size as the wedge I had on the line. This was followed by a bigger Pollock of about 30cm. As it began to get dark I had a big bite on one of those small expensive Japanese maria jobbies. Whatever it was it fought like hell for about twenty seconds. I was trying to manoeuvre the line around a bank of rock and weed but as luck would have it the line got stuck and as quickly it snapped off. I hope the fish got away because I'd love to catch up with him again. I was thinking of wading out to the bank to have a look but it would have been deeper than my chest waders would allow. I might try that at low tide.
There were a few jumping fish over towards the rock face on the far left and I thought they might be sea trout but would I be right in saying that they would be more likely to be closer to a river mouth at this time of year?
All in all a gorgeous night to be out and I'm looking forward to doing it again.
One question, I had ten lb braid on the reel. As it was light and the bail arm on the reel has a mind of it's own I had had a couple of crack offs. So I tied on a 16lb mono shock leader. This sorted out the crack offs but the braid started gathering in the knot. which caused more trouble. Any suggestions?
Re: Whiterock 22.7.10
Fri Jul 23, 2010 11:24 pm
Those culchie bass would do well to turn up for those of us outside the Pale 
Good on the pollack mate, though the jumping fish are enough to drive any angler insane 
Good on the pollack mate, though the jumping fish are enough to drive any angler insane
Re: Whiterock 22.7.10
Sat Jul 24, 2010 5:07 pm
Good stuff Stephen and hopefully it won't be long before the bass arrive. That whole area seems to be full of small pollock at the moment, I've been having lots of fun catching them on tiny soft plastics and very light gear but I still haven't been able to find any decent sized pollock or even mackerel yet never mind bass. While I've been out fishing around there though I've noticed small pollock, launce and mackerel splashing around on the surface and even jumping clear of the water at times, so perhaps that's what you might have seen?
As for the braid problems, well I suspect it could be down to a number of reasons, namely the reel, its line lay and the bail arm unexpectedly closing, the knot between the mono and the braid catching catching and lifting the braid on the cast, the spool could be a little over filled, if you are not closing the bail arm manually and checking the line after every cast, etc etc. I would say though that 10lb braid could perhaps be a little on the light side for what you are doing. I mean I've started to sometimes use 10lb 0.08mm braid for fishing tiny soft plastics but for my bass set-up I still prefer 20lb power pro even though it feels like a tow rope in comparison. Hope you manage to suss out what is causing the problem with the braid because you really shouldn't be cracking off that frequently.
As for the braid problems, well I suspect it could be down to a number of reasons, namely the reel, its line lay and the bail arm unexpectedly closing, the knot between the mono and the braid catching catching and lifting the braid on the cast, the spool could be a little over filled, if you are not closing the bail arm manually and checking the line after every cast, etc etc. I would say though that 10lb braid could perhaps be a little on the light side for what you are doing. I mean I've started to sometimes use 10lb 0.08mm braid for fishing tiny soft plastics but for my bass set-up I still prefer 20lb power pro even though it feels like a tow rope in comparison. Hope you manage to suss out what is causing the problem with the braid because you really shouldn't be cracking off that frequently.
Re: Whiterock 22.7.10
Sat Jul 24, 2010 5:57 pm
Dave wrote:Hope you manage to suss out what is causing the problem with the braid because you really shouldn't be cracking off that frequently.
Hi Dave,
I think it's a combination of too much weight in the lure, the light line and the bail arm closing mid cast. It's upsetting to see a new kilty or Jensen sailing off, never to return. I was out for a short time this morning and I took a bit of the line off the reel and lowered the weight of the lures that I was using a bit. I got rid of the shock leader and the problem seems to be solved. I think I was asking the light tackle to do a bit too much.