WRASSE AND......THE CHIP....??!!

It has been a little while since our last post, apologies! As the season gathers momentum and Scilly starts getting more much needed visitors, we all get busier and it becomes a little harder to get out and meet up for a session. This coupled with the recent unseasonably high winds, and some of our favourite marks have been unfishable! Sunday saw a dramatic drop in wind speed, and a change from west to east, which killed off a lot of swell and suddenly,I could get some shelter in a great spot, just inside Hell Bay on Bryher!  The weather wasn't great by any means, and the tides...well...far from ideal. I put the idea in Dels mind to come up to Bryher for a last minute Sunday session, but with the bad tides/times of high and low, was a little awkward for him, so a short solo session it would have to be!

With low water around 4:20, I made the "long" (15minutes), walk from my back door to my chosen rock. The sea was calm, had cleared up nicely and tucked away, low to the water, I was nicely sheltered from the wind. Literally first cast, half way back in, tap...tap-tap..strike...nothing! Reel in, and some cheeky little blighter has torn my "night crawler" coloured senko from jackslrf clean off! Put the same lure back on, and fish on! Small at around 2lbs, but a good start! Then....(tumble-weed!) nothing! Goes completely dead for the next 10 min. I am a recent convert to senkos, and until recently had no faith in them. Seen photos of others catching on them, but never had any joy myself, until I was reminded (on a previous session with Del), how effective they were, fished almost static, with just the occasional small twitch. So stuck to my new "go-to" lure, this time black with red glitter flecks. First cast...fish on! 

A beautifuly marked wrasse pushing 3 1/2lbs

Two casts later, and the tiny tap-tap of interest registered on the rod tip. "Annoying tiddler", I thought, then ever so gentle "vibration" was felt through the rod, almost as though the lure was being dragged over barnacles, and the worm weight scraping...- just felt weird? I tightened up to lift the senko off the bottom and all hell broke loose! First, big dive down, then bolted straight for the WRONG side of a ledge in front of me! Some quick but clumsy footwork resulted in a wet boot and a nice 4 1/2lb wrasse, with almost identical markings.

Then after that...dead quiet again! Secretly hoping for the possibility that Del hasn't lost his marbles and DID see a bass a few weeks back, on went a pearly fluke, and a much more aggressive style retrieve, which resulted in this little beauty

Two casts later and this guy hits the lure almost on the surface, right at my feet!

Then...you guessed it...quiet again!

Quick dig through the little bag of  "mixed lures" and this little chap grabbed my attention

What the hell is that! I hear you cry. Well, its the result of trying to model a stickbait when you have had a couple to many beers! I made a mould of it anyway, and decided to teach myself how to make Sps, with this, my first ever creation...that not even a mother could love!

Chucked it out, and thought "what the hell...it may look like a chip that's been in the fryer way too long and soaked up a load of oil!" but worth a go, nothing else is working! A few fruitless casts later and about to change off "the chip" for a real lure, I reeled in quick, and Smack, fish on! A beauty of 4 angry lbs!...oddly the first "orangey" wrasse of the session!

Then for the next 40 minutes, a fish a cast...all on the chip!

Most small, but a few decent ones amongst them, all on a very aggressive "twitch-twitch-twitch" ( 1 foot-ish twitches) then few seconds pause. All hits would come after about 5 seconds into the pause, and all very positive takes!

 Strangely of the 20 or so fish on "the chip", 80% were "orangey coloured....bit like the chip! Hmmmmm....

Last fish of the day, before the chip was too torn up to even survive being cast, was this little greeny-yellow guy, which seemed to fight like mad for a few seconds, then suddenly just stopped, and had some weird wounds on it. All looked like they had just healed a little, probably the result of a seal?

All in all a great 3hours on the water, the most inconsistent start, almost gave up and went home for Sunday roast, but saved by the humble little chip!