Spending a few weeks away from the great British summer with my better half has traditionally been a fishing free affair. After all, keeping the ‘boss’ happy is the key to earning a few fishing tokens somewhere down the line and us anglers are nothing if not good at thinking ahead. Lure fishing for me and more specifically LRF though has now meant that the earning of ‘fishing tokens’ (on holiday at least) has been put on hold and I can sneak out for an hours fishing wherever in the world my good lady has been good enough to book up – provided there is a bit of water nearby. So with a borrowed Sonik 3-10g travel rod, a handful of lures / soft-baits and a bit of terminal tackle I tried my best to find a foreign fish or two in Northern Italy
Marukyu Isome
Marukyu Isome, or Power Isome (same thing) is an artificial sandworm imitation originating from Japan. These and other artificial baits are sometimes referred to as ‘fake baits’. Marukyu’s Isome is not just another lure. Isome is constructed from a biodegradable material that is saturated with a fish-attracting mix of amino acids. Fish can be observed to eat Marukyu Isome, unlike a plastic lure that requires action to fool a fish. Power Isome has been largely adopted by European LRF anglers in targeting a wide range of fish species using a number of methods. Hopefully, what follows will give you inspiration in catching fish on Isome worms.
Greek Goby
Not sure which type – answers on the back of a postcard…
Black Scorpion Fish
A Black Scorpion Fish caught LRF using a dropshot Power Isome while on holiday in Greece.
East Atlantic Peacock Wrasse
A new LRF favourite for me – the East Atlantic Peacock Wrasse. Like a Ballan on an acid trip! Caught in Paxos, Greece.
LRF’in Away From Home
Despite being kept away from the boat due to the weather it has not stopped me nipping out now and again with a bag of plastics to see what I can find.
LRF for Mini Species
Aside from getting out in the boat I still find time to indulge in an hours LRF a few evenings a week. As with most of the fishing in my part of the world it is still early for the host of mini-species available to the LRF angler at this time of the year but nevertheless I can’t help myself and with rod, reel and a small amount of lure I will wander around the harbours trying to add to my yearly species tally.
Wacky Night Pollack
A common sight. Small Pollack caught at night. This one on a couple of Power Isome fished wacky on the dropshot
Mullet on LRF
What I love about LRF is just how versatile it can be, last summer I would often nip out of an evening with just a rod, reel and my shoulder bag and squeeze an hours fishing in and more often than not be rewarded with a couple of species for my efforts. So far this year I have not had so much luck, it has been a slow LRF year for me and the mini species I love to catch are taking way too much time to become active for my liking, so, out of desperation (and buzzed by a new LRF rod purchase!) I thought I would try for one of my long-term targets, an LRF Mullet.