POLLACK PULLERS
We've talked about fish being able to take in baits up to a tenth of their own body weight in one go in past columns, but I got a shock myself recently when talking to a tackle shop owner in Ireland, Ray Sheehan of Hewetson's in Westport, Co Mayo.

Ray was telling me that himself and sons have been catching pollack in the 6 to 10lb class on artificial eels measuring a staggering 16-inches long. These eels are not readily available here in the UK yet, so far as I know, but look out for them, they are on their way. They are US made by Felmlee Lures and are plain eel shaped, but with a double fantail. I see these lures starting a trend towards big lures here in the UK too that might just see a record-breaking pollack or coalfish hit the deck this winter. If these 16-inch monster lures can still be swallowed by 8lb pollack, then what size of lure should we be using for the record breakers pushing 30lbs?

Pollack caught on large lures

You obviously need to rig these lures with a two-hook rig, one just rear of the head and the other mid way down the body. I brought a few home with me to try, and I'm going to rig mine with 50lb clear mono and 8/0 O'Shaughnessy hooks, just in case that record beast comes my way. Aim to place the lower hook about 6-inches up from the end of the tail.

The eels are coloured black back, shading through a greeny brown to white on the belly. There are no other colours as far as I know, but I've tried permanent marker pens on my eels and it works fine, so you can self colour if required.

The bodies are amply big enough to push in a Cyalume lightstick at both hook positions to help maximise visual contact in deep dark water. The addition of light sticks I think will be the key to these lures taking some big winter cod off the wrecks when we get past Christmas.

If any of you get success with these lures when they arrive here, then please e-mail, as I'm interested to compare notes.

TIPS AND TRICKS
Many boat anglers use a swivel and link tied direct to the main line or leader to have a quick-change option for swapping rigs. Boat rods have big tip ring eyes and you may find that when retrieving a good fish you fail to see the swivel coming up against the tip ring. If you're retrieving quickly the swivel can either damage the rings insert, or even get jammed inside the tip ring centre, especially with roller tips. If a fish tries to dive and the swivel is jammed, the fish will break free.

You can avoid this by simply sliding a bead on to the main line or leader that is too big to pass through the tip ring centre. The plastic bead does no damage to the ring as it reaches it, but will not jam in the ring centre.

LUG BAIT TACTICS

Key lugworm presentation

This is the time of year when lugworm becomes the number one shore bait. How you bait up with lug though, is important as it can affect your catches. Always remove the actual tail that is filled with sieved sand by pinching it off half an inch from the tail and body junction. This creates a neat more compact bait and makes for easier threading over the hook.

Too many anglers thread the worm on head first with the tail hanging around the bend of the hook. This puts the blood and juices contained in the main body and head too far away from the hook point. Always slide the tail over the hook point first and up the shank to leave the juicy head end around the hook point.

When using very small blow lug for smaller species, and when presentation is important, then to get really neat worm baits it's best to use a baiting needle. Place the needle over the hook point and slide the worm down the needle tail first and gently over the hook point and bend. Done correctly with a fine wire baiting needle on to a fine wire hook the worm won't burst and remains intact.

During frosty weather when the worms are deep down and hard to dig, you can economise on precious blow lug out by putting a section of frozen black lug over the shank of the hook, then adding a single blow lug. It also helps if you retain any broken worms in a separate container and put the ready for use frozen black lug in to the blow lug juices prior to baiting up to increase the natural scent factor.

When using fresh big blow or black lug I prefer not to use a baiting needle. The lug invariably puncture when you thread them on the hook, and this broken up bait releases much more scent in to the tide and proves far more effective for codling and bass hunting in an autumn or winter surf.