Scilly Wrasse

Well it's been an awesome summer, a Month of scuba diving in Egypt, the Lake District and now, the wrasse heaven that is the Isles of Scilly.

Check out my diving videos here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GJOi_45FBQ&list=PL2k3ieTuj-CfCLIEPAGAkwdE0_aZOFca8

Fishing time has been limited due to being away so much, but in the brief periods I've been at home I've been down the canal or at my local day ticket (once a syndicate I was on) in the early hours of the morning targeting the pike. Straight retrieving shads in the surface layers over shallow areas has produced some spectacular takes from the acrobatic summer pike.

A few new toys have arrived, including this Megabass Lin10 Black Jungle, a stunning reel that will be given a lot of use over the winter on the canal paired with my Major Craft Basspara. There's just something about the products Megabass produce that just scream quality and attention to detail, something that other companies could learn from.

The fishing over here on the Scilly's has been pretty consistent with plenty of small wrasse and a few proper pigs thrown in for good measure. I'm out here with my girlfriend Jess and each day we've been walking round the islands, stopping occasionally to fish. 

I rate wrasse really highly as a sport fish, I really don't get why people write them off as inferior to bass. Sure they may not have the endurance or long drag screaming runs that bass can offer, but if a wrasse wants to dive back to his hole, you better be ready!

Dive Dive Dive! A chunky wrasse heads for home, Tenryu Injection sp82m taking the strain. (gopro video still).

"What gear do you need for HRF (hard rock fishing) wrasse fishing?" This is a common question I get asked, along with "whats the difference HRF/LRF?" LRF and HRF are terms I and many anglers (some incorrectly causing more confusion) use frequently and I have had a few questions regarding them, so lets remove the confusion I often see.

Well the easiest way to explain the difference between LRF (light rock fishing) and HRF(hard rock fishing) is by giving the reader an idea of the tackle used.

LRF:

uses rods rated under 10g, usually 0.5-5 or 0.5-7g  (roughly) casting weight, lines from 2-8lb and lures from 0.5-3 inches.

HRF:

uses rods rated under 30g, often around 5-25 or 7-30g (again roughly as individual rods vary) casting weight, lines from 10-25lb and lures from 3-5 or even 6 inch.

Both HRF and LRF are systems (not techniques as there are many techniques within each system), developed from other styles of fishing for the UK. HRF is developed from freshwater bass techniques being applied to saltwater species in Japan, where as LRF is developed from Japanese aji (scad) and mebaru techniques.

As far as lures for HRF wrasse go, you can't go wrong with senkos and stick baits, craws and creature baits in the 3-4" range in a variety of colours. I favour browns, greens, reds and purple/blues. 

Favourites of mine include: Ecogear 3" bug ants, Ecogear minnow 100, Keitech hog impact, Zman zinkers, Zman scented crabs and Zman punch craws.

my wrasse box

Anyway back to the fishing...

So my girlfriend and I headed over to the Isles of Scilly for our final bit of traveling this summer, my tenryu injection came along too......

The weather over the first few days was lovely, sunny, warm, clear sky. Landed a few fish from shallow bolder ground on St Marys.

Cool green stripe on this little fella

Don't take your girlfriend fishing, she'll always catch one bigger first cast..... Lets say it was down to my expert tuition...

Jess with her first wrasse

lovely green colour

Gradually the wind picked up as tropical storm Bertha made her way towards the UK, I've found wrasse really don't like a heavy swell and as the wind picked up the fishing tailed off on the headlands, but in the sheltered bays there were plenty of wrasse ready to take my lures.

A few pictures from Bryher. Plenty of small wrasse in the shallow bays, great fun and great to get Jess catching.

defeated after a strong scrap

big or small, love them all

After a few days I'd landed plenty of wrasse but had yet to find some proper pigs, a few afternoon sessions on St Mary's soon sorted that out. 

 this beautifully coloured wrasse was the biggest of the trip and put a healthy bend in my tenryu injection sp82m.

this dark green wrasse was caught casting over a submerged boulder, retrieving the lure over it then dropping the lure down the edge where the fish struck.

My gopro got a lot of use filming the fishing, here is the finished video: 

http://youtu.be/2uzydRMki60?list=UU5yg1am8bv6PcBk2lu4CEag

I've also recently set up a Facebook page, please feel free to drop it a like:

https://www.facebook.com/J.R.WheelerLureFishing

The final few days were completely blown out by 35-40mph winds, not ideal at all. My chances of a 6LB+ wrasse from theIsles had faded, but theres always next time.