Large vs Small lure spinning

Last weekend managed to sneak out on saturday with the kayaks. We wasn't really in our usual "lets explore the world" mode just wanted to catch some fish, so made the call to fish one of the well known lake. It has been paid off well but was a tricky and slow day,  the air pressure was high, it was too calm and mainly sunny , but had those little windows when the wind finally picked up and bring some cloud coverage for a few minutes. When you visit a lake again what you did fished before and had a successful day on it, what you probably gonna do is, exactly the same what you did on that day. Well it shows off pretty quickly that this isn't the same situation today at all. We was far from the mad pike attacks, when the jacks hits the big lures without any hesitation and you have to battle through on them to find a bigger fish.

When i'm not after the big mammas and specially when fishing out of kayak I always choose my Illex Element Rider S 250 XH, the rod is 14-80g so this beauty lauds me to fish from small 5" lures up to 34cm shads, and one of the main reason that the handle is shorter than normal jerkbait rods, much more comfier to fish from the  kayak with a short handle. Steve decided to gear up with the big baits and big rod, as if I remember well was his motto of the day before " Go Big or Go Home"! Anchor down on the first honey spot and start throwing the big boys  mmmm 10 minutes not a single contact. Well I love catching pike in any size so i changed my lure to the smaller version 150 dexter shad in rudd colour , my favorite lure all the time  plus had a sneaky chat with a match angler who just arrived that, what he gonna fishing for today and he said roach, spot on I have that pattern in my inventory, because then is high chance that pike might feeding on the roach around that area. Clip it on and had a quick bite which wasn't aggressive at all. Next cast boom had a decent jack on. I was really happy to nail a good few up to 8lb, but suddenly they switch off or moved away from the area.

Check the wind direction and its blowing right to the other weed bank mmmm as it says in the pike fishing bible, the wind blows the bait fish away, so let's get the anchor up and go to the far side. On the way paddling up all ready saw some movement of the pikes to hammering the baitfish. Lure in the middle quickly and then realized that its super shallow might 2ft with weed all over on it. Change over to a 5g jighead what i found the lightest in my bag, cast out and reel quick as i can just under the surface then boom she is back and take my lure as it suppose to be. Very intense fight because I couldn't give a line  for her to go back between the weed, lovely and strong girl in top condition.

As the day was going on i had a few more fish on the small lures, which I was chuffed with , great day to be out and great sport . The wind turns just before lunch so we decided to move on with it , give another hour on the new spot then get out for lunch . Spinning away had a few contact but more likely looked they switched off again as it was brighten up. Wind picked up a little bit from out of nowhere and the clouds covered the sun , made a big cast out my lure just landed front of the  reeds as I was chatting away that the guys doesn't had many luck so far then boom after the about 3 turns on the reel this big mamma just hammered my lure for lunch! And off she go on my screaming

 reel, I managed to bring her up to the boat about 10 times at least but she just didn't wanna give up  and wend pretty bonkers every time when dives down in the deeper parts, but finally after a long fight she slipped in the net.....victory! Paddle out to the land quickly and take some snaps in the water and give enough time to her to recover. I basically don't use very light tackle for pike  but like keep it finesse as possible and the reason is that fight the fish quickly and let it go quickly without stressing out the fish too much , so i give a good stick for her as much as I could but I couldn't break her mind and she was really strong, one hell of a fight that's for sure. Then she just slipped out of my hands and swims away......she had some attitude, as a good girls has.

So this day was definitely a small lure day, because the boys didn't finish the day very well to stick on with the big baits all day. Well my theory is even when out for chasing the big fish with big lures, never can go wrong to put a few smaller ones in the box, because if you don't change with  the conditions you didn't tried everything and if you didn't tried everything , you didn't cover all the options what can get you fish at the end of your line. Its paid of for me on that day ;)

Some Big and the Small brothers

Hope you guys have a good season and lots of fish , Tight lines! ;)

James Smyth Memorial Pike Competition- Anglers together for the good cause

What was the event all about:

Organiser Gerard Smyth put this annual pike competition together raising money for  Suicide Awareness. The competition is dedicated to his brother James Smyth who might be gone but

never forgotten. For those who don't know the money was raised and donated to PIPS 

Programmes ( Preventing Suicide  Through Education ). It's very important to support the 

professional helping hands. Suicide takes 3 life's  every day. POPS helps thousands  of people 

and saving many lifes!

The presentation of the check to the PIPS Charity

4th October 2015, the day what we all fish for  raised successfully 950EUR which covering 

the running costs for 3 months for the Suicide Awareness . Personally I was amazed in front 

of the Spar on the morning after the registration where 50 anglers showed up with all the 

support. 

And of course there is a competitive side as well , You have to be in it to win it!

Gerard, Gerry and Tony with the fish of the day 20lb 14oz

Had a beautiful weather to start with , which some point was lovely warm and sunny. Great

day to spend outdoors anyway but this conditions makes the pike fishing very tough for

everybody. In the middle of the afternoon finally some clouds started to arrive and a little breeze

pick up as well. You could feel in the air this could be the turning point of the game for all of us .

I was spinning away not far from Gerard  when I heard his reels started to scream. 

He shouted Big Fish!! Big Fish!! Tony grab the net!!

He managed to get it close to the bank 6x times but the reel screams off every time she headed back

to the middle, then she finally gave up and slides in to the net. She was a really strong fish in top 

condition. His dad Gerry comes over to see her from the other side of the lake as well. 

Unhooking ceremony  then off she went on the scales, boom baby 20lb14oz, what a beauty she was.

I took a few quick snap of the fish first then I saw  on the screen that Tony and Gerry are half

way in the picture and i said " hey everybody closer and get on the picture now"! and I press the button again . I think with this picture above I captured a very memorable moment, the light was perfect, everybody smiles, the green monster beauty shows off all her size, patterns and 50 shades of green colours on her.

Gerry with his 18lber

The next turn was Gerry's! He has a float out and just spinning around with a lure rod to make sure 

cover all the options, then boom a huge explosion just right front off his feet. Another big lady

knock the bulldog down in the last minute. Gerry had his net right beside him in the water

and he just give a stick to the hard pulling fish that make sure she don't take any line off and run out again, "now or never" and he managed too slide the net under her. The game started to get tight 

after we saw the fish , we knew she was big ...but how big exactly she is ?! On the scale her weight was 18lb. What a beautiful fish! This is going to be a tight match between father and son  and 

probably a few jacks could make all the difference. So they did for me as well.

Little greedy jacks,they great fun too on light tackle

After i saw that two big fish just had been caught front of my nose I knew my chance to nail a 

decent size is shrinks to very slim . Few updating phone calls  shows that not many fish caught

all over on the other lakes either, so decided  to check out the pond which was just a few steps away. 

I asked what is the lake looks like he answer was " I wouldn't fish it , might be none or just jacks there, has been hammered badly for years".  Checked my watch 1 and half an hour lef of the competition , so packed the lures and went off with a blank on my shoulder....what I can loose?!

As I was in jack hunting mode put a soma small lure then on the second cast the magic happened, i got hit by a small jack , I was really happy with this small fish , made my day really . Then went quiet again, stop for a smoke and a quick think what else I have in my box. I had a few flys left from my last trip in there ....bingo jacks like flashy stuff! Clicked on with a little weight and boom I was in again, managed to catch 4 more and finish the day with 5 half decent jacks. Then it was time to head back to the presentation held in the village Inn on the Miam Street.

The local butcher and the Inn sponsored the event with some lovely sandwiches and hot food for all of us which was super nice of them because it was a long day .

Here is the final results of the event :

1st place: Gerry Smyth

2nd place: Gerard Smyth also the winner for the biggest fish category

3rd place: Ian Church

4th place: Emmet Kelly

5th place: Gina Tanczos 

6th place: Jay Cooke

7th place: Dave Moody

8th place: John Molloy

9th place: Darren Walsh

The smallest fish: Will Carney

Also special thanks for Dave Moody who helped to organise the event. For the members of the Leinster Pike Angling Club showed up in force with support. For all the tackle shops who sponsored the event with cracking prizes to win. All together it was a super social event, met with lots of anglers all around of the country......hope to see you guys next year ....tight lines;)

Pike addiction

As i mentioned in last posts i moved from Ireland's pike paradise to Alderney's salt water heaven.

Of course I bring my beloved lures over and the selection is growing bigger and  bigger as I start knowing the ground and the fish here. But mann the pike fishing is so missing for me, its an addiction in my head , like hunt one specific fish. Everybody is different and like catch fish different ways but for me pike on lures is the nirvana, seriously, my "cabin fever" is just drives me mad.....I need to go back to Ireland to do a good 5 days intensive nonstop pike fishing. Looks like the days coming together slowly to make the final booking and then  start shopping for the new tackle. last time i was there i had my lighter set up with me , witch is super fun but i plan to hunt my fish of the life time so i need put together the big guns this time for big river pike fishing.

Will put my hands on one of the Illex rod from the Delivrance series, such a lovely rod with a power to turn any size of predator around in a current. Combined with some Illex Dexter Shads 24cm, Flat Bone Clicker, Gunki Sweepgun, 200 Fiiish BlackMinnows for the deeper areas and 160 BlackMinnows with 15g shore head for the shallow bays, looking forward to try the new Molix Pike Jerks as well..... and many many more good lures to do the best job as they smaller versions proved they does.  And i just had my new 3000 Daiwa X-Fire reel a few weeks ago, well if the green lady's decided to pull hard this reel has a 7kg/15lb drag on it so i will be totally up for the game! But this is just the rough draft of the set up , exiting times to put everything together to try to cover all the possibility's what i will face.....its like McDonald's...I'm Lovin It!!!

I have been hosted/guided on my last trip by Gerard Smyth, who runs a family owned business with a  lovely traditional Irish B&B with breakfast and dinner, it was absolutely super time to stay after a long fishing day, but check out yourself his website http://www.borderfishing.com/  i  had a super time over and i just could recommend and my plan to go back for this trip in September.

Cant wait to go back with a proper gear to discover this stunning part of Ireland, just breath taking when racing all over on the boat and see the old ancient castles, this place is full of history , sitting in silence far away from the city, perfect get away!  And on the plus side Gerard offer guided belly boat tour as well (of course on lakes:) witch im really looking forward to as well for a day or two, sounds super fun. I will take my lighter set up for that Illex Element Rider S230M 5-25g and the smaller brothers of those lures above 10-15cm 4"-5" and maybe fly rod  too .

This is a pure addiction for this fish for me, beautiful, so aggressive proper fresh water hunter. I clearly remember when i caught my first one when i was 8yr old, wast big maybe 2lb and i put my hand in the mouth when i landed but that was the moment when i fall in total love with this fish .....cant delete the feeling when they attack the lure and strike and the fight starts, head shakes jumps and specially when the big ladys start go and reach the point when you need to give them a bit line because she dont gonna stop until your line get to the breaking point......mind game filled with adrenaline just mad.....hope will have a good weather in september for us but until that get some lures to get ready  and the most important thing .....Tight Lines ! ;)

Lure fishing for wrasse on Alderney with Molix lures

Molix S-Stick 4" Savetta

Where should I start ? I think if I said I moved to the salt water lure heaven 2 weeks ago, I dont think these words is describe it properly the wrasse fishing over here. Had a good few takes and my biggest one is so far over 5lb fall for the 3.8" Molix RA Shad in Smoke Sunrise colour. The ground here is a little bit different then the usual deep gullies in   Donegal, I fish over the same rocky ground but its very shallow compare to home , the wrasse come and feed on the rocks with a tide and move back with the next one, but the methods is exactly the same , slowly bump on the rocks with the lure.

Molix 3.8" RA Shad Smoke Sunrise (texas style rigged)

For this style of lure fishing I would suggest to stuck up as many as you can variety of weighs to your tackle box and more finesse are they the less chance to stuck with. And I also like to use a lot of different set-ups, the 3 most important for me and they always in my box: jikka, texas and weighted weedless hooks. Im using the Illex Element Rider S230M 5-28g rod for wrasse the reason is its sensitive enough to feel the lure even on 5g weight but also have a serious power from the back bone to fight with the 5lb wish. I using the Daiwa 20lb SW. Tripple gamma Leader, surprise surprise not fluorocarbon, this leader designed to be super tough for salt water lure fishing no rock will break it. I have my weights from 3g up to 14g max (in all type texas bullet leds, jikka leds and belly weighted hooks) because I think the wrasse fishing on lures is a game of senses, you need to get your rod and your terminal tackle in harmony with the swells, thats why I carry a lot of different weights, the wrasse are not a predatory fish so they dont gonna hunt your lures, they are more curious and can be spooky at the same time. Dont need big heavy weights to touch the bottom need a little movement only witch if you have the right weight on the swell will do it for you and its simple and more natural then twitch it all around the place. And I leaved my favourite part at the end the lure choice!!! If you say wrasse I would say Molix! ;)

 Molix Sligozzo 4" Pumpkin Seed

Wrasse love paddle tails, the Molix Ra Shad series comes in lots of colours to chose from but my favourite wrasse colours is :green pumpkin, pumpkin orange, mx june bug, smoke sunrise, water melon gold chart. Im not using bigger than 4.5" lures for wrasse this size cover the medium to huge size of them so most the time either way I will have fun.

The Molix 4.5" S-Stick is a real player with the swell, the lure has an interesting shape like nearly a triangle and because of that falling in the water slower that other lures, sticks against the swell and the main body slow it down the movement. At the same time the thiny tail with the air bobble in it moves to different way and always pointing up , brilliant lure i love them in savetta colour, blue notte, ghost gill,marron glace.

And the Sligozzo....4" perfect chunky monkey, savage for wrasse! Like rag worm on steroids with annoying thin flapping tail, of course wrasse want it to bite it and they coming in awesome colours too: cinnamon pepper, watermelon red black flake,bloody pumpkin, natural shad, motor oil.......the sky is the limit.

I have my lures from www.fishonlures.co.uk and here is a few more snaps because i also love photographing them as well....hope the few info was helpful and see you on the rocks....tight lines ;)

Pike fishing in Ireland...the story of my last trip here with Fermanagh/Monaghan Boarder Fishing Guide

16lb pike on 28g Illex Element Rider lure rod

So yess this was it, my last trip done before I will move away to the Channel Islands for a while. And  decided to book a trip with http://www.borderfishing.com , chasing big pike on big waters. I mostly does my fishing in lakes and have pretty awesome results at the past so I was like my last trip has to be big. I had one of my best experience on the water for 2 days, learned a huge amount of how this style of fishing needs to be done. However good gear I take with me it wasn't really enough for the really big girls, I lost an absolute monster because of that, but its proofed that my lures is slay fish big time but need the big boy versions of them for this job. We had not really the best weather conditions, 30 mile/hr wind and rain showers non stop, but I put my in it and fished really hard to catch some beauties. My guide Gerard Smith does an absolutely awesome job, he did everything what was possible to get me fish in this bad weather conditions, and yes I had my fish. And I also set a record up on the boat straight after a few cast, I landed the smallest pike ever it was around 20cm and my lure was 15cm, well I wrote a history just from the other end of the game :)

Big or small, we love them all as they said, well that little micro jack was actually super cute. This place is just absolutely magical and breath taking. My accommodation sits in the heart of the country side, traditional Irish beautiful farmhouse run as a family business nearly 40 years. I booked together when I booked my trip with the guide. When I arrived I was too exited to put my bag up to my room , my blood was boiling to get out on the water so jumped in the car and ready to rock, but a lovely lady runs to the car and introduce herself and ask me that what I would like for dinner, I was delighted, what else could you wish for after 12 hrs on the water than a home made meal when you arrive! When we arrived back after the first day I had a warm shower to heat up and dinner was ready, the lady explained that they have a separate dinning room for guests but she made the table in the kitchen because I was  alone and not nice to eat alone, so she take me to the kitchen and it was really lovely and friendly atmosphere and I had my dinner with my guide, sharing good stories and had a laugh and my 3 course meal was delicious traditional Irish dinner, I tell you now that lady really knows how to cook ;)

The pike fishing in Ireland is more like a feeling, I would say if you are a really serious pike angler you must do this trip in your life. The fishing is simply will blow your mind away there, could catch them in any size and if you are in good hands you could hit your fish of the life time easily. And the place is just magnificent, when you get up on the morning look out on the window and the whole country side wakening front of your eyes, dress up quickly and the hot full Irish breakfast ready waiting for you on the table, hit the road arrive to the water get on the boat and the sun comes up while you raping the waves to get to the destination is just pure priceless and if you didnt find that a miracle  just dont go fishing any more because this is what is  all about. Old  enchant churches in pieces and some of them renovated and kept the way it was hundreds of years ago, castle towers visible from the forests and the huge rain clouds front of you gives a dark angry shades for all and when is the sun comes up everything sit around you in peace the way they sits for long long time........

And you knows that in the deep under your boat could lurking the same old angry green irish monster waiting to take a lure or the bait , every pike there what I caught between 2 days it was an awesome memory even the smallest witch sets the new "boat record", a great laugh what we have about, the swearing words when I lost my big one and when the stormy rain hits us. Well this is all about and i couldn't wish better company and host to do my last pike fishing here for a while. I definitely will be back and thank you for the awesome memories for Gerard Smith I really enjoyed my trip, first class!

Sad but happy.

Well tight lines and keep tuned for my new salt water sessions :)

And some more pics bellow ;)

Perch fishing with Pezon&Mitchel Hiker Micro Check rod combinated with 2" Molix Freraky Rock

   Pezon&Mitchel Hiker

For one of my last trip in Ireland I choose to be a river session (we have no close season here). Bring two rods one for pike the Illex Element Rider S230M 5-28g and my Pezon&Mitchel Hiker Micro Check 270 5-20g for perch. Around lunch time when pike fishing going all quiet I was into my perch mission. The river was flowing medium fast so I try a whole  range of weigths and technics to find out witch depht the perch lurking and how fast my lure need to move to make them interested. Also great test for the rod too, made to work the light soft plasics with it. The winning choice was 5g jikka rig, bump it on the bottom dead slow in the current of the river. Because of the solid tip the rod is extremely sensitive, soon as the led touched the bottom i felt every single rock down there. Takes a little time to get use to figure out witch bump is a bite and witch one is just structure of the bottom, but once you get the hang of it this rod will give you super awesome perch fishing. I cant wait to try it out on salt water  next. First class soft plastic rod for the "current job".

2" Molix Freaky Rock (june bug colour)

The lure witch does the damage on this session is a 2" Molix Freaky Roock in june bug colour. The water clarity was pretty stained but the perch seems wasnt interested in bright colours, so I decided to go dark then and boom fish on. Its a really special little lure, in the two long tail  have a built in air bubble its keeps the tail pop up and gives a lure non stop movement in the water.The two flat "lobster claw" imitation on the side is flapping all over the place when the led knock the rock on the bottom. The other two chunkier , perfectly round shaped fin on the top bring the weight to the head, gives the tail and claws more movement with every twitch you make. I set it up with weedless hook and 5g jikka led because the bottom structure was pretty hard to fish with open point jigheads, but works extremely well if you choose the jigging technic.

So at the end I have one of my best perch fishing experience on the river screen yesterday with this rod and this lure, they just really does the job in finesse fishing, give me over 20 perch and some was in  quiet nice sizes as well. The part 2 of the session will be about the morning and evening piking of the same day....coming soooooon, keep tuned! 

Tight Lines ;)

First impression of using the Pezon&Michel Hiker Micro Check rod

Been quiet at the last few weeks because the conditions of the weather unfortunately. Plus I catch a very bad flu witch tie me to the bed for pretty long time. But in between I manage to put my hands on a Pezon&Michel Hiker Micro Check rod. As probably many of you knows its so hard to get rods and goodies from france , mostly long waiting game with the postman but when its finally arrives totally worth the feeling. Last saturday decided that cant wait any longer I need the hit the bank so badly no matter what, well when I said no matter what I mean ready to face 50+mile/hr S/W wind right in the face where the spot, spiced up with rain and ice showers. Roughly all week was the same so kinda expect that water levels will be high and hard work to find a place to put the line in, some lakes/rivers we tried had swells like a sea, but fish was in my mind so put up the "lets do this" emotion on the face witch changed very quickly after 10 min to the "f....k this s....t" face.

However the conditions pushed us to the limit to try everything pretty much where we find H20 in the area. The bright side I could play with the rod lots of different ground, but firstable back in time a little when I unwrap the stick at home. First thing when I grab the parts "wow this is heavy", well the weight of the blank is heavier than what I expect under the "Street Fishing Concept", but thats not a bad omen at all. Put the parts together and get a usual wiggle with , felt  tiff and so soft at the same time, weird i didnt find the balance at all in the rod, but still no reel, line or lure on it. The lenght of the rod is 2.70m and rated 5-20g and these details made me so courious, sounds perfect for my soft plastic fishing but I didnt connect with the rod......yet. Take another closer look and yeah its has a solid tip on it.....light bulb in shine and then I start getting the concept ;)

And now back to last saturday when the magic begining and this rod is deny nearly everything what I wrote above like first wiggle and handle (what you normally do in shop) and let you to feel what is the Street Fishing Concept by Pezon&Michel . Arrived and start put the gear together, screw my little Pezon&Michel Luxor 2500 reel on first hahah keep it in style/ and I need slow reel for cold water anyway.  Booom yeah put the reel on and the rod is in total perfect balance, the end of the handle sits just right above the elbow a little, for perfect cast and a rod weight is just disappear to your forearm without feel any heavyness. Put the Sunline Superbraid 5 braid trough the eyes, leader tied on and the lure at the end 3.8" Molix RA Shad. Now the first cast with ........cast the lure out like a rocket 30m without any huge power cast, just like a catapult, with a little more power in it 50m bang on with 10g led. Actually because the solid tip the rod feels like super fragile, I had a good few cast before I was confident enough to give a big wack but the rod handle it no problem. On the river screen out in the current the sensitivity is outstanding when bump the lure along on the bottom feels every single rock. This was one of the reason what I was looking for in the rod, if I bring it out for salt water for bass in ashtrays......will be super fun.

And finally against all the weather procedure I hooked a little jack. Really made my day after all, take my lure just right about 2mtr front of the stand and when the fish realised the hook set did a straight run right under my feet.....i was like " noooo dont do this to me that I gonna loose it front of my legs" than looked up the rod was in perfect circle and I started to work the fish out from between the wooden legs of the stand.  Super that the real power of the rod comes from near of the handle, its like when you driving a car and turn the wheel once i was feel it and have confidence of the power what the rod has I easely could turn the fish with it the way I wanted. The pike was around 2kg not a monster at all but the fun was super on that rod. I can imagine for a good perch or zander fishing too in light style and even if hook a big fish its dont gonna be a problem to land with. One thing what I didnt try and I dont feel its gonna work at all if wanna over load the casting rate even just a few gramms. At the end im super impressed and love the rod.........5* soft plastic fishing, 5* on light plugs and 5* for power and sensitivity........i just could recommend!!

Tight lines ;)