Through the fine Spring and Summer of 2014 I noticed my fishing evolving a bit in certain directions mainly due to an increase in night fishing. The most noticeable change came in terms of the equipment I was using, I found myself scaling up to suit the most productive conditions I fish which usually involve movement...
WIND - SURF - FLOW...
To match these conditions I found my 9' Daiwa Morethan Branzino 90M Shore battle Custom (Blimey that's a mouthful) Rated at 10 - 40g and weighing in at a featherlight 143 grams that I once considered a bit specialised, became my all rounder for hard plastics and bigger soft baits... (By the way, did you know that "Branzino" is the Italian name for our Bass? Ok you already knew - Sorry!!). I started to really appreciate the rod for it's length and power which allowed me to... punch into headwinds, cast further, use a longer leader without the knot passing through the tip ring, stop some fish in their tracks, keep fish away from snags, land fish quicker and more... I now use my previous all rounder the MTB 80 ML for the lighter, calmer, cleaner ground, fishing. I've also added a MTB 10'9" from Japan to my quiver which I coupled with a Daiwa Ballistic 4000SH for a very fast retrieve when fishing at extreme distance, now that is certainly a specialised set up but it works and delivered me some interesting experiences with a few fish I might not have otherwise have had access to from the shore...
Lines stayed the same, either using Daiwa Tournament 8 strand 25lb or a white coloured Toray 8 strand in 20lb that Cian at Absolute Fishing put me onto which I really like. My 1st choice fluorocarbon is Berkley Trilene in 20 or 25lb, depending on the location, which I love for its user friendliness and assured performance - it has never let me down. (I also like the large 91m spools that seem to last forever). I'm intending to try using it as a mainline for some of the rougher close range spots I fish - watch this space for a report on that if it works well...
I found myself using bigger lures to suit these wilder conditions typically around 25 - 30gs old favourites such as the Daiwa Shoreline Shiner 17-FG, IMA Barbarossa 120 set up with Varivas 1/0 Twin Assist Hooks, Zip Baits Slide Swim Minnow 120 also with assists and in the softs the Megabass Dot Crawler 7" at 28g which I caught on in just about every pattern over one hectic and sunny 24 hr period the 7" Sawamura One up Shads, 7" Yamasenkos all mostly fished weightless, you get the idea...
New discoveries such as the 152mm 31g Daiwa D'Minnow which I really like, along with the Seaspin Mommotti 180 SS the 190 SS both slow sinkers became my go to's for lively conditions and accounted for a LOT of fish. It's worth pointing out that all these three lures retail for well under €20, currently Cian has the D'Minnow on offer at €9 !!
As usual I don't know if this all means I fished more effectively than anyone else would under the same conditions but it certainly felt like I was on the money, well most of the time anyway!
Looking forward to the odd session over the winter and of course the Spring of 2015,
keep casting keep catching and most importantly - keep putting them back...
