Frustrating
Well back out with the fly rod in the sea trying to master the art of catching wrasse in numbers on the fly “HOW FRUSTRATING”.
With North westerly wind direction in my favour making it easy for me to cast i headed off down the coast after a successful last session catching my first wrasse on the fly i was eager to better that and learn more and try to catch i numbers. The sea was a lot clearer and flatter than last time, but today i was fishing a totally different location this also being a cracking wrasse fishing spot where i have caught huge numbers of fish on soft plastics in the past.
I have been tying quite a lot of flies over the past year aimed at catching wrasse using info which i had gained off other salt water fly anglers, finding out what they have caught wrasse on in the past. I have been on a few fly forums and most peoples opinion was that it was a waist of time! first of all what was the point in catching wrasse and secondly what a hard task it was.
It was a beautiful day in the sun but out of it it was cold, the water temp was still fairly cold and that would make it harder to find them fish up in the shallower water. The water was gin clear and i could see quite a way down in the water this making it easy for me to track my fly and spot any follow and see the action of my fly.
Today i would be using a 8 weight salt water fly rod and a 8 weight fast sink shooting line thus being so i could get the depth and distance the fly i would start off on was to be a DNA clouser live bait. realising after a few cast i just couldn’t my fly down to the depth at where the wrasse live, the current was moving it round to much so i would have to change my set up some how and get my fly down deeper and quicker but how. I came up with an idea remove the clouser and add and normal black DNA live bait with no weight to it and have a small 3gram cone weight running up down the leader similar to a Texas rig when fishing soft plastics. This would make casting harder but allow the fly to get down to the wrasses front door. It was an instant success within a couple of cast i spotted my first follow, i continued to get follows my no hook ups. This went on for ages so many follows the odd snap at the fly then late i had couple of fish. No matter what i ha did i couldn’t seem to get many takes. Back to the drawing board.
Rewarding work on the fly
For everyone that reads my blog they will know that i love tying flies, I have boxes of them in different patterns weighted in different ways, different sizes and for different species Pike, Trout, Salt water. When it comes to using them i don’t use them enough, its so easy to pick up a lure rod casting in any condition is relativity easy you don have the problems you have with your line tangling reaching a distances you can’t with a fly rod and line. Time is another big factor why i don’t do enough of it i can’t fish every method going.
Unfortunately catching a quality fish on the lure doesn’t give me that same magical feeling as catching a quality fish on your own hand tied fly and in salt water. It would be magical and an achievement to catch a wrasse on the fly.
I have never caught a wrasse on a fly Chub, bass carp yes but not Wrasse this was a target fish for this year. I have caught plenty off wrasse on soft plastics in my time and some big ones in numbers as well. Targeting wrasse on soft plastics is easy you can cast a lure into the kelp or a hole and get it to the bottom with ease but with a fly it is not so easy as i have found out. The flies need to be heavier and bigger than your normal salt water flies. The heavier fly the harder it is to cast the bigger the fly the harder it is to cast add the wind and swell of the sea to the mix it isn’t straight forward or easy.
Wrasse seem to live and feed close to the bottom in around rocks and kelp they are supposed to be very territorial. In the summer i have managed to catch them a lot shallower and in shallower water but at this time of year they seem to be in that deeper water, the water temp is still cold around 10 degrees this meaning that the fishes metabolism is still slow. I have found they are not as confident or as aggressive as they are in the summer.
Over the last few months i have been tying a collection of salt water flies aimed at catching all species of fish tying DNA live baits and DNA clousers, a lot of shrimps and bunnies plus all the small flies. quite a few of these are in my blog salt water flies photos.
The wind was a ENE to E so I chose a mark in the south Hams that was sheltered from the wind and waves. This mark i haven’t fished for a couple of years. There is loads of gullies, kelp, deep and shallow water giving me plenty of options and with this making my fishing as easy as possible. This place is exciting and has an amazing series of channels and gullies in and around the rocks its not that easy to get to but there is a lot of fish there, the wrasse and pollock are always there and hopefully in a month or two it will be teaming with feeding bass.
When i got to the waters edge the water was at its lowest point and the aim was to fish all the way up to high tide. I spotted some shoals of small bait fish but had absolutely no idea what they were. The water had very good clarity and i could see all the way to the bottom in about 2 meters of water. there was no sea weed drifting around it looked so tempting. I was to start off fishing a DNA live bait, I have tied up quite a few of these in various colours and sizes on size 2,4, and 6’s. The two pictured below work well, I know this as i have caught bass and pollock on these before orange can be another very good colour for polock. The DNA movement in the water is unbelievable if i were a fish i would eat one without a shadow of doubt. I first started using the DNA about 2 years ago when i was put onto it through one of the forums. My other fly i wanted to try out for wrasse was a bunny in black and brown with silicone legs and a tiny bit of flashabou hopefully these would hook a wrasse.
My Choice of rod was to be a greys xf2 salt water in an 8 weight , the reel a whichwood salt water using a 40 plus fast sink line with an 20lb fluorocarbon leader. I always fish a strong leader as its a totally different ball game to fishing on a reservoir or river if you hit a good fish here they are off quick straight into cover wether its kelp or rocks its a game of hit an hold a 3 pound wrasse will crack you off without a problem let alone a fish of 5 or 6 pound. Good strong hooks are also a must as i have had a few straightened whilst fishing soft plastics.
With in a few cast i had my first follow a wrasse but there was no take and then a few cast later i was into my first fish a pollock, the fly was hit quick and hard under my feet and the fish headed straight for the bottom it was a case of hold on and hope, it felt so much bigger than what it was but it was a reasonable size for off the rocks i had heard of some monsters being caught off these rocks but that was a while ago.
That was it for a while not a sniff apart from the bottom i worked hard in and out of gullies fishing the open water too. I fished on and continued to work hard at it but it took over an hour to get my next and fish. The next fish was to be a wrasse so satisfying . No monster but a first for me and totally enjoyable a totally different feeling than catching on a lure. They still head for the rocks but just feels different. Another fish to the DNA.
yet again it took at least another hour and a few gullies to get another fish and that was as good as it was going to get but still i was pretty satisfied.This fish taking a black bunny.
I am pretty sure if i was to have fished soft plastic i would have probably lost count of how many fish i would have caught. I think the flies need to be heavier just to get them down deeper. In these conditions off the rocks i would have probably used a 10 gram cone weight to get it down. in the swell the movement of these lures looks great.
When the warmer weather turns up watch out wrasse because i will be on you. It will be so much more comfortable fishing in a t-shirt and shorts with just the line basket to restrict you.
In summery it has been a great session even if it was only 3 fish it was still pretty satisfying.
HOT SHRIMPS
This is something i have been working on for a while now “SHRIMPS”.It has taken a lot of attempts a lot of time an there has been a lot of frustration trying many different materials and adapting many different patterns. There is so many different patterns out there but its creating the right one to suit your fishing for your species of fish. Key to any fishing is confidence in your bait.
Some shrimps look like shrimps and look great but have no movement or don’t sit right in the water. Some don’t look any thing like shrimps but have movement and sit perfect in the water. What i have tried to create is something in-between i think i have done that. These shrimps have been created for Bass, Pollock, Wrasse and the general uk salt water species. Some of the colours may not resemble the natural colours of our uk shrimps but what they do have is a trigger colour which appeals to the fish so they strike. After all the time and effort i have put into these they may just end up being a blow out? only time will tell.
PRINCIPLES OF MY FLIES
Movement: I have tried to create these with as much movement as possible in the legs and antennas.
The legs have been made from orvis silly legs these look great and move great, bright colours something that will stand out to the fish especially when they are moving around in the current.
silly legs
The antennas have been made from buck tail, deer hair and arctic fox tail. These are very fine materials but at the same time very robust. They move great in the water just like real antennas and bring the shrimp to life.
Colour: I have chose my usual colours for bass, pollock and wrasse pink, pearl, natural and orange.
Stability: The shrimps have been weighted proportionately so they will sit up in the water and at the same time don’t sink too quickly. I have used a lead wire as a keel to stabilise the shrimp.
Realistic: Using Bug bond, shrimp foils, marker pens, coloured varnishes and other various materials i have been able to create a body which looks similar to a shrimp.
shrimp foils
MATERIALS
Bug bond, lead wire, silly legs, wire, shrimp foils, varnish (coloured and clear), buck tail, moose hair, arctic fox tail, wing ice, ice uv dubbing, paint, mono, partridge salt water shrimp hooks.
SIZE
The size of the shrimps bodies / foils are 40mm just over 1.5 inches.
The size of the legs are 40mm as well
The antennas / feelers measure 50mm
the total length coming to 90mm
A INSTRUCTION VIDEO HOW TO TIE THE SHRIMP
DNA
PLAYING WITH THE DNA
Over the last few weeks i have been tying some new salt water patterns using the DNA Holo fusion, Frosty fish fiber, Holo Chromosome flash
BAIT FISH
BAIT FISH WITH SKULL HEAD
CLOUSER
EXCITING NEW SALT WATER FLIES
With only a couple months till the warmer weather and water hits us and hopefully the bass and other salt water species are having it. It is prep time on the salt water flies. Many winter nights have been spent tying pike flies and now its spring tying loads of salt water flies, from Crabs to Bait fish.
SHRIMP PATTERNS
The last couple of weeks have been spent trying to perfect some shrimp patterns, weighting them so they sit upright in the water it has taken may a temps to perfect them and perhaps there is still room for improvement. Using marabou feathers and quality hackles for legs with a lot of Uv ice dubbing for the bodies, trying loads of different colour form pearl to black and from orange to chartreuse with the old classic colour of shrimp. I have been trying to make these shrimps come alive in the water with the movement of the legs and antennas we all know movement in the fly is the biggest principle in luring a fish to strike.
CRAB PATTERNS
Started on a new crab pattern using silicon base body and silicon legs and like the shrimps time has been taken to weight it in the right place, so it sits right in the water and does not sink to quickly but gives it a life like appearance. The silicon legs move brilliantly and are so life like. Hopefully i am going to try and catch a few bass and wrasse on these patterns this year.
FISH SKULL HEADS AND ICE WING
I have been tying a lot of river pike and perch flies over the past few months using the fish skull heads and wing ice. These have now been adapted into my salt water bait fish patterns using a Mustad 34007 hook and creating a longer thiner body to my pike and perch flies. I love these fish skull heads and combined with the wing ice they make awesome bait fish the move meant combined with the uv in the wing ice. The ice wing has a large range of colours which can be blended together to tie colourful bait fish.
ICE WING
Crazy hooks by Matt Pickup 