We’ve been in the grips of a low pressure
storm here, which has dumped tons of hail, rain and some pretty nasty winds on
us for about 10 days, but last weekend we were blessed with a couple of
pristine winter days. The wind direction was good, the tides were perfect, this
was not a weekend to stay inside! So me and my fishing buddy David headed out
for two days of rock fishing. Finding potential fish holding spots takes
commitment. I’ve been spending weeks watching weather patterns, tidal trends
and walking the shoreline at low tide looking for the rough ground these
coastal fish love so much.
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| Winter fishing at its most beautiful. |
Saturday saw me showing my stubborn side and
persisting with the fly rod, desperate for that first saltwater fish on the
fly, and David on the spinning gear. For easy access we went to a known spot
and scoured the coastline all day. We had one fish to show for it, a decent
Pollack on David’s spinning gear in the evening low light. It was a tough day,
but sometimes it doesn’t work out.
Sunday was to be a different story. You all
know how much I love my fly fishing, but I was desperate to knock into some
fish, and to be honest, the lure fishing game is brilliant anyway! So to
explain the title of this post, By Any Means Necessary, if you really love our
sport then you should be putting prejudices aside and catching fish wherever
you can on whatever gear you can. With this in mind I left the fly rod at home
and grabbed the spinning rod.
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| David's fish from the second day, a nice schoolie sized Pollack. |
We must have been feeling somewhat
adventurous on Sunday. Heading slightly further afield with an hours hike in to
another known rock mark, the day was looking prosperous. With some choppy waves
and a good strong tide running in I was sure we would locate some Bass. Despite
the initial excitement of site fishing for Wrasse, exhibiting some strange
surface feeding behavior, the rock mark didn’t produce for us. With the sun
going down and wind picking up we moved locations to find less wind, more sun
and more fish. Heading along the coast path we came across a rough track,
leading towards the waterline again. After a pretty nasty climb (note to self, bring
rope next time) we hit one of the best looking rock marks I’ve found
since I’ve started fishing here. Rough ground and deep water, the perfect
combination. Working the soft plastic lures tight to the bottom requires
patience and self control. The Pollack are hard on the deck in the day and come
up to feed as the light fades, and the Wrasse are tucked up in the rocks and
kelp. A slow and jigging retrieve proved most productive. As the tide started
to run in we both knocked into some fantastic fish and had a great session.
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| For two days we fished hard. Chucking lures, climbing and hiking. |
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| The cream of the crop, a 20.5 inch Pollack from the shore in January. On a 7ft 9-27grm spinning rod this thing put some heat on when it was hooked! |
For the middle of January we managed to
pull out some stunning fish, including my specimen Pollack of 20 ½ inches which
tipped the scales at just over 3lbs, plus a much smaller Pollack which was left to swim another day and a hostile Wrasse which bit my lure in half! Dave took two nice fish over the two
day session. It's safe to say this helped me shift my cabin fever and I suggest
that you go and do the same, because when the fly isn’t producing, there is no
shame in breaking out the lures or bait. If it catches you some fish then why
not. This was a real 'red letter day' for me, and I will not forget it in a long time! Get out there and nail some fish By Any Means Necessary!
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