Treble hooks suck !
Im not too sure how long it is now since I made the decision to switch to single hooks on my hard lures ? I guess it has to be a couple of years now . I do still have a few lures in the box with treble hooks but as they corrode they always get replaced with single hooks . Heres the reasons why and my findings and feelings on the subject Fish care If you fish with treble hooks its only a matter of time until you will experience fish getting hooked in the eye , gills ,face . Its pretty grim to witness . In the old days I was 100 % catch and release . I do ponder as to how many Bass I sent swimming off to a watery grave or at the very least seriously affected their chances in the harsh world I returned them too ? How well can a one eyed Bass hunt or avoid predators ? The vast majority of the fish I catch annually are returned. I owe it to myself and the fish to make this process as pain free and stress free as possible(for a fish and angler !) . I want that fish to survive the event and get bigger and hopefully return to my hook in a few years time . I hate that solemn feeling when I return a messed up fish and the sense of farce around the event . Fewer lost fish Making the switch to single hooks required a leap of faith . I remember a long discussion years ago on the UKBASS forum . A few guys waded in and were quick to discount the idea, suggesting that the net result of the switch would be less fish landed. I completely disagree with this now having hooked and landed so many on singles and lost so many fish on trebles .Its logical . If I cast a hard lure its invariably a surface lure . Bass will slash and swipe at this and try to stun the prey . With treble hooks we often hook our fish in the cheeks or flanks , sometimes even the tail ! When a Bass attacks a lure with a single hook it will often take quite a few hits before its is on , but when its on, `ITS ON , its hooked fair and square in the mouth. I am now playing a fish on a size 2/0 hook , with trebles I may be playing a 10 lb bass on one size 2 prong hooked in the cheek . No thanks !! You will...
”Inanity ”
It quite funny really how we can all get sucked into all the hype and commercially driven excitement in magazines or ” Blogs ”. I can be just as easily led up the garden path as anyone else and take the odd look at a blog to see which latest ” must have ” lure is being heralded . I can easily forget that I have a load of great unfashionable lures jammed into the archtrave of the door to my fishing warehouse, come stock , room come disaster zone . All this talk of lures and tackle is inane . What if I wrote about the sunrise across Mounts bay , the porpoises and the reflections on the water and the community of cranky, weird , crusty old gits I often share the water with? What about Nigel Hill eh ? Who’s Nigel anyone reading may ask. Well Nigel is one in 10 million . The real deal , as Cornish as they get . He lives for that reef and to be on the water . Saltwater runs through his veins , and it seems to leave him with a permanent smile on his face . At certain times of the year I may meet this fisherman every day ,its is ritual that I cherish . We were recently out of sync. He was fishing early doors and I was fishing PM shifts . After 3 weeks I start to worry about the old goat . I actually made calls to people to check that he was ok ! Suffice to say he was fine . I would miss Nigel out there . I used to have a complete and utter disregard for bass commercials , its hard to hate people when they are so nice to you ! The deep West is far less friendly . Proper Pirate country down there , Penzance is rough tough town , Newlyn is a serious fishing port . I updated my lifeboat training this week . I shared the class with two , 50 year old career trawler men , those guys are hard men ! 10 days at sea and 2 days off, 2 hours on and one hours kip . Imagine that ? We came different worlds . I would not dare question their philosophy towards marine management or the environment for fear of a verbal kicking , regardless I had a great deal of respect for these guys , they were both very polite and had a strong moral code . Band of brothers stuff , proper men that work the sea . Back to the Penzance fishermen...
Someone flicked the switch !
June can be a sketchy month down here . The large Spring Bass have been and gone , where do they go ? I just don’t know . Once we go into Summer mode I would regard any bass over 7 Lb as exceptional . I also believe the Bass will become far more ” house trained” and will stick to their favourite spots provided the larder stays stocked and they don’t get harassed by seals or humans . These resident fish form the basis of a days summer fishing for me , if i find happy ”slob bass” then that makes my job far easier . September and October can provide me with big fish . Soon after Christmas lights of Mousehole harbour are switched on and miles of monofilamnet gilnets are deployed on the Western reefs . Cornwall will attract vast numbers of 1- 2 KG fish prior to spawning The glut of fish on the market sends the price tumbling . Steve Cullen and I fished together one day last week , all hopes of a shark on the bait or Fly were dashed by a stiff Southerly breeze , we slogged it out for 2 hours before opting for plan B and heading inshore to Fly fish for Bass . Steve is a Demon caster , a rare commodity these days , as more and more Salt water fly fishermen go to the dark side and pick up the lure rod in preference to the Fly . If you want to catch on the Fly you need to have patience , skill and self discipline . You cant catch a Bass on the Fly with a lure rod in your hand !! June 2014 was a tough month and certainly not the first one I have experienced . Well the good news is it July . Its as if someone just flicked the switch , vast shoals of whitebait are now in Falmouth Bay. Mackerel and Bass are hitting these shoals hard , a few quiet shore marks I visit have resident shoals of Bass and these fellas are very friendly indeed. I am now booked solid for the next fews weeks , if the weather remains stable I think that we are going to have a lot of fun ! The brains fried already . It becomes hard to remember who with , where or when I fished as the days start to almost overlap. I finished late on Monday and early today. I slept in my van last night . Im not knocking it but it is pretty demanding, my clients go home...
Orion Slider ”LE EXAMEN”
Heres a quick review of the Orion Slider 28 g , this is my way of saying thanks to Eric for taking the time to knock out a few lures for me while there are still a few bass around before they head off to the haunted forrest where the pair Trawlers await . Alex First introduced me to Orions two years ago . Im slow to learn so it took a further 12 months for me to finally digest the information and order my first batch. I was pleasantly surprised to realise that Eric was actually a customer of mine and has been ordering gear from uksaltwaterflies.com for several years . He suggested that he made my lures and I tied him a batch of custom flies , rather than soil the trade with cash . I loved the idea and was soon packaging up some home brew flies and wondering about all those big French Bass eating my Flatwings and Livebait flies ! ORION SLIDER 28 g LE EXAMEN!! Orion are made in France as you may have gathered by now. Eric supplies lures for the hardcore GT Popping fraternity and also the Bass guys. All lures are custom builds and he offers a range of paint jobs that you choose at the time of ordering. This is an old school experience . The lures don’t turn up the next day , they often take weeks to leave France. I think the waiting almost adds to the enjoyment of the experience , a bit like the good old days when you sent your holiday snaps off to be processed from Bonus print or super snaps ! SIZE The orion 28 g Slider is a big lure by UK standards at 140 mm and quite chunky , the Patchinko would be an obvious comparison lure at 135 and slightly thinner in the mid section . I rig Patchinkos with the Decoy 2/0 Plugging singles. I will have to look for an alternative for this lure as its just that bit larger. I had my previous ” lost at sea” 28 Slider rigged with trebles. A Bass around 3 Kg wolfed it down out on Mounts Bay and demolished its gill rakers in the process and paid for its greed with its life. The lure was completely inhaled. That fish really wanted that lure , no question !! WEIGHT It casts a long way . I think my expression was ” Holy Shit !! ” When I first sent it into orbit ,its a big 28 grams ! When this lure hits the water its either going to ring the...