Blackhead lighthouse friday september 10th

People:me

Duration:530-1030pm

Tide:lw 630

Weather: quite nice actually

Bait:mackerel, rubber lures

Rigs:see below

Results:pollock, colefish, three bearded rockling




Report: so a few weeks ago i queued for 2 hours to get into the Lidls warehouse clearence sale, came out with a new net, waders and 2 boxes of rubber lures. i have bought these lures before and never used them finally throwing them away when they got all dirty and stuck to the bottom of my tackle box. gave these ones their own seperate box to keep them "nice" and went and bought a 7 feet mitchel spinning rod with a casting of of 8-25gms which is perfect for the lead heads i would be using.

after the last disastrous trip to blackhead i decided to head back to prove i still had it. this time though i was determined to catching something spinning on a rubber lure as ive never done this before. to make sure i stuck to this plan i didnt bring any bait fishing tackle, just the box of lures, conger traces wrapped around some pipe lagging and some mackerel as bait for the conger. got set up and chucked out a bait. then started spinning with a small shad, then a bigger shad, then a different coloured shad, then a worm with one tail, a worm with 2 tails, put on this weird oranged worm/fish thing and on the second cast i got an enormous pull then it just hung there as dead weight. wondering what the hell it was i got it the surface and it was a __ bird. (dunno what kind) but it was perfectly hooked in the scissors and about the size of small chicken. it tried to take off but hit the water again. managed to get it into the side and lucky for me it climbed up onto the rock itself. 10 minutes of kerfuffle and it unhooked and on its way again. not the first time i caught a bird but definitely the first time on a lure. and i know i was determined to catch on a lure but that was rediculous
come about 8 o'clock i'd been through nearly everything in my box and still no fish. sat down for a smoke and cosidered the situation.
either
a) the fish weren't feeding by sight (possibly as the water was quite murky)
b) they didnt like my lures (who knows)
c) there were no fish (unlikely, theres always a few kicking about)
d) i was doing it wrong (quite probable)
e) it just wasnt my day (i like to think not as that happened on my last trip)

either way i wanted to catch a fish by hook or by crook. had a good old rummage around the tackle bag to see what i had but apart from the conger traces i had nothing expect the lures. this was when i noticed an old 2 hook flapper wrapped in among the conger traces which had 2 size 6 hooks on it. HUZZAH!! put on a hook with the 3 beads that came with it and a chunk of mackerel and cast out. i only had 6lb line on but given the usual size of the fish there it was plenty and as the very light rod had a good aul flick on it so i meant i could still cast out a good 50 feet. free lining a bait isnt something i do often but can be successful and in this case it was. after letting it sink for a few minutes i started reeling in really really slowy, about i turn of the reel every 5-10 seconds, just enough to keep it off the weed. by half 9 i had caught approx 20 pollock and coalies. all under half a pound but all gave a good account of themselves on the light rod. also got 1 three breaded rocking, my first of the year, first in years actually. went to take a picture but the batteries had died and i forgot to charge it. ah well. so by this time the tide rush was in full rip and the fish had either buggered off or gone off the feed so got no more bites on free lined mackerel. stuck around to about half 10 to see if anything picked up the conger bait but no luck this time.

it was great fun though free lining on a slow retrieve, wasnt exactly the kind of spinning i had in mind but whatever works on the day is the way to go. next time im out i think ill definitely try that again before putting on a float.

actually now ive checked it was a shore rockling not a three bearded rockling

well i did say it was years since i got one

i think the best place for 99% of lidls s..te sorry
fishing gear is in the bin .and after reading your post
it confirms it .as soon as you stoped using there crap
and changed tactics hey presto your into fish. it just proved
the fish were there and were not interested it lidls finist

Great report, well done on winkleling out some fish in the end,dont do much lure fishing so i cant advise,think I would have done exactly what you did when you say the 2 hook flapper

fair play to ya for sticking at it man after about an hour of fruitless spinning i usually get bored and give up and go back to bait fishing . i must be getting stuck in my old ways

i think the best place for 99% of lidls s..te sorry
fishing gear is in the bin:!:

i concur, but will try them again one a nice calm day when the water has good clarity and the fish have a chance to actually see them before i write them off completely

mind you the tackle boxes are handy if all you are doing is going to float fish for a few hours and only need to take a few hooks and weights with you

also the "chestwaders" i got were basically a pair of waterproof trousers welded to a pair of wellies. dont imagine they will last very long, but as ive never had a pair before and havent beach fished in years and years (something i intend to try again soon) as long as they last long enough for me to find them useful before investing in a decent pair its all i can ask for the tenner they cost.

fair play to ya for sticking at it man after about an hour of fruitless spinning i usually get bored and give up and go back to bait fishing . i must be getting stuck in my old ways

i agree with this too, i am also probably stuck in my old ways but i dont see the harm in sticking to what you know best and to what you know works. usually if i'm spinning i wouldnt even last an hour before getting bored/tired if im getting nothing. thats why i left the bait fishing tackle box at home so i would be forced to keep going or i would have given up after 20 minutes

when i fish i would enjoy a session more catching away at smaller fish under, say, 2lb all day than using a different method and possibly (usually not) getting something a bit bigger and catching a lot less fish. plus if you're targeting the smaller fish (and lets face it on the antrim coast the bigger fish dont come along as often as they used to) there is always a chance something bigger will come along anyway. it wouldnt be the first time i got a 3 or 4lb pollock fishing for wee wrasse with a 1 inch piece of rag down the rock wall. granted it doesnt happen often but hey thats fishing

Unlucky with the lures! What speed were you retrieving? I'm no expert at lure fishing but have found a really slow retrieve effective for pollack when using jellys or soft plastics. I have had good success with the 4 inch sidewinders in the blue colour, for pollack this year with some good fish hitting them, again with a really slow wind in. Basically chucking out, waiting until the lure hits the bottom and winding back as slow and steady as you possibly can. Have also tried other colours and lures but none as effective as the blue sidewinder. Good luck on your next trip with the spinning rod.