9 species haul from Portsmouth last week. No flavoured lures were harmed in the making of this blog.
You may have noticed a distinct lack of fake baits on the blog recently. This was an active decision that I’ve been planning for some time. I have been telling myself that once I hit 50 lure species I would ease up highlighting Isome catches, unless they were really special. Because after all, how many more Isome posts does this blog need?! If you want to learn the basics and get instant bites with Isome and Gulp then there are literally hundreds of posts on this website to motivate you and find fun fishing.
So on Friday I headed off to Portsmouth Harbour to fish a slight gap in the appalling weather we’ve been having lately. With just a bag of plastics, jig heads and metals I started off in Old Portsmouth.
It was far from an easy day to be fishing ultralight but I kept grinding away and converting the bites best I could. Several hours later, I found myself in Gosport in the early hours of the next day with my phone showing that I’d walked a distance of 7.5 miles! Best of all, I had caught a respectable 9 species on soft-plastic lures and metals.
The list of species was Ballan Wrasse, Corkwing Wrasse, Black Goby, Rock Goby, Pollack, Bass, Mackerel, Scad and a Lesser Weever.
Most of the day I managed to fish with jig heads of a gram or less. When the wind was blowing its hardest I had to increase to 1.5g to stay in touch but this had the effect of worsening hook-up rate so I switched over to Nano Metals, up to 3g. In fact it was a metal that found the Lesser Weever, casting from the shore. Probably the most unusual fish of the day.
In terms of soft-plastic lures, you’ll always find HTO Knight Worms in my bag for a session like this. They are available in a great range of colours to suit water clarity and different prey items. But best of all they are good value for money and I don’t mind cutting them to length to suit what I am targeting, or the jig head I am using. There’s a previous post on how I rig HTO Knight Worms.
Then in the evening, as darkness came and thankfully the wind eased, I switched over to full Ajing mode with sub-gram Aji-style jig heads and 2-inch plastics from Reins. I’ve been having a lot of success with the Reins Aji Meat lures this year and they are starting to clock up the catches. This night they caught Mackerel, Pollack, Bass and Scad (Aji / Horse Mackerel). The Scad was mostly what I had hoped to catch, so I was really pleased. I wish I lived closer to repeat this kind of fishing more often.
9th August, 2023 @ 11:07 am
Another cracking post, I’m glad I’ve left the isome at home too ?
10th August, 2023 @ 11:25 am
I think your case is almost the perfect example Paul. Your local has a handful of species and if you stuck with Isome it would get ‘same-y’ very quickly. But the same Black Goby has almost unlimited opportunity for satisfaction with different lures and techniques. A Black Goby on a metal is still sexy to me!
9th August, 2023 @ 12:36 pm
After reading recent posts I’ve also spent last few sessions on plastics and metals there’s no doubt it makes for a more challenging experience but again a rewarding experience bringing me back to my perch pike and Zander fishing days in the midlands Sunday I managed 4 species at my local mark in Hayle rock goby pollock Corkwing and goldsinny following day went over to Meva and landed many mackerel Ballen and a lance all to metals I’m resetting my count for summer see how we go on non scented especially for the up and coming big lerf weekender making this a more personal challenge
10th August, 2023 @ 11:35 am
Awesome Dave. So pleased to read that. I think the comparison with the freshwater side is really relevant. I would never entertain using flavoureds when targeting Perch but I’ve caught thousands, mainly from the same small stretches of canal and I’m still enjoying the experience by throwing new lures and trying new techniques each season. Keep it up. Nice one.
9th August, 2023 @ 3:32 pm
Big call to leave the smelly stuff at home Adam, particularly if you’re travelling some distance for a session but I understand that if you carry it and you’re struggling for bites then you’d be tempted to revert back to it !
A 9 species session (albeit a very long session) from Pompey is not to be sniffed at on any type of bait including real baits so to do it on unscented lures in poor weather conditions is an outstanding achievement ?
10th August, 2023 @ 11:42 am
Thanks Stephen. Appreciated. It doesn’t feel like a big call. Not at this time of year. If it was March you’d be right to question my sanity! It’s hard to wean yourself off Isome if that’s where you’ve built your confidence. We’ve all been there. Tight lines mate
10th August, 2023 @ 8:11 pm
Wasn’t actually questioning your sanity, more applauding the focused approach. I’ve done a similar thing today fishing dropshot on the river, something I never do !!! Left all the jigheads and chebs at home so I wasn’t tempted. LOL.
Isome’s a means to an end for me ie comps or if it’s a real struggle, give me a light jighead anytime and I’m ?.
12th August, 2023 @ 6:39 pm
Be interested where abouts the weaver was mate never had one before? been contemplating having a go for them down hengisbury head area as there’s always a few swimmers getting stung by them. Was good to see ya the other evening I should have stayed out for the evening but was keen to try and get me mate some hookups on the heavier gear. ?
13th August, 2023 @ 2:13 pm
No worries. East side of South Parade pier at low water. Nice soft sand. Swimmers always getting stung. Decent spot for Gurnard too.