An Idiots guide to Pollack Fishing

[Bass-ic Instinct]

It has recently come to the attention of myself and Andy(F1F3R) that there is little information available on the art of shore pollack fishing on WSF forums. Recently Andy and i have been exchanging information on how to target pollack from the shore, and both of us thought it would be beneficial to other forum users for us to post our information. I nor does Andy profess to be an expert on the matter, however both of us are successful at targeting pollack, and believe that this guide would be a useful resource to anglers new to pollack fishing. Look at Andys report from today and i am sure you will agree that our tactics and techniques catch fish!

The first item i will address is the item of Tackle. I would say that a good pollack angler should have a carp/spinning rod, a bass rod and a light beachcaster in his armoury along with 4000-6000 baitrunner reels and a small multiplyer reel.
Here i will reveal what tackle i use for pollack fishing from the rocks. If you are new to pollack fishing than either a carp/spinning rod or a bass rod matched with a 5000 sized baitrunner reel and 12-15lb monofilament line.

1. Shakespeare Odessa Bass 2-4oz, and a Shimano 6000GTE baitrunner loaded with 30lb Berkley Whiplash braid and a 30lb clear shock leader (spare spool of 15lb clear mono).





2. Daiwa Sensor Z 2.5lb t.c. carp rod, Daiwa Regal X 4050 BRT Baitrunner loaded with 20lb Berkley Whiplash braid and 30lb mono shock leader.





3. Century Tip Tornado Lite 3-5oz, Penn 525mag or daiwa SL20SH loaded with 18lb clear mon and 50lb clear shock leader.






Details on rigs, lures, venues and tactics will follow soon. Aswell as more exciting catch reports to come in the very near future!

Hope you enjoy future installations of 'An Idiots Guid to Pollack Fishing' by Iain (Bass-ic Instinct) and Andy (F1F3R) .

[GasHed]

I'm no expert on pollack fishing myself, but have been doing quite well recently. I'm sure your setup that you list there works great in different situations, but it must sound very daunting for a beginner. I'd be suggesting as a start to stick to a decent spinning rod and fixed spool reel loaded with 20lb mono with a 1oz drilled ball weight on the line, a swivel, about about 3 feet of 30lb mono, a 4/0 hook with a jelly worm on it.

That's as basic as you can get and within the scope of the tackle that most beginners would have availble to them. I agree though that switching to braid is an advantage over rocks and kelp.

[Bass-ic Instinct]

I was going to explain rigs in detail with diagrams later and go over tackle and tactics. The reason for three different set ups becomes very apparent when you target them from a variety of marks. I am currently doing the Photobucket tutorial so i will add more pictures, diagrams and information at my leisure. Trust me though this will be a very intuitive series and great information for anybody new to tackling pollack.

[Bass-ic Instinct]

Tomorrow i will add another sections on lures and how best to rig up for pollack. Thanks to Andy for a superb report today and catching the fish.

[John Mason]

Don't forget those incredible Fladen gold tinsel feathers to size 1 gilded hooks!

Lethal on the marks I fish!

Gonna experiment this year with long-casting heavy Dex's like up to 100g (although they are now doing them to 200g +) - when I lived in Scotland I used similar lures off Skye's Neist point with devastating effect. Even had a Ling around 5lb on one occasion!

I reckon you need two approaches - a carp/spinning rod for close-in/float work, with a long Euro rod to blast out lures into more distant tidal rips. The most enjoyable being the close-in work - but the long rods are quite excellent because, having cast miles & hooked fish, you can control them in the final few yards where most of the snags tend to be...

Cheers - John

[gusmcg]

Thanks for that Bass-ic Instinct, great help. Reading that coupled with F1F3R excellent report has been very educational. Now dying to give it a go and know just the place. Thanks.

[F1F3R]

Great work Iain, im sure others newbi's will benefit from your advise on pollack fishing, i wish there was more helpful info like this.
not only for guides for pollack, but for flatties , bass , conger, etc etc ..

i have added some off my basic rig pictures ( which you will find on my site ) so that you can incorporate them into your guide if it helps any. they certainly worked for me lol.

i hope others do similar basic setups for flatties as thats what im after next and have no idea lol.

cheers again.
Andy.

[lobbit]

best bit of all round(all round not specific ) end tackle that targets pollack coalies saithe pouting
is a set of baited feathers ,given the time of year they double as bait catchers comming in
or even get you a pollack on the retrieve
a bit of mackerel on a couple of jellys works also (not a big lump though )
worth a try

[David N]

I was going to explain rigs in detail with diagrams later and go over tackle and tactics. The reason for three different set ups becomes very apparent when you target them from a variety of marks. I am currently doing the Photobucket tutorial so i will add more pictures, diagrams and information at my leisure. Trust me though this will be a very intuitive series and great information for anybody new to tackling pollack.

I'm looking forward to your series.
Here is some info on distribution of the Pollack from the Home page of WSF by Mike Thrussell . http://www.worldseafishing.com/news/...006-06-17.html

[Snatcher]

This is the gear I normally use for pollack fishing.A Greys 10 foot spinning rod and fixed spool loaded with 15lb mono.


I do use spinners and jellyworms on odd occasions but find my own tying of a sandeel much more effective.



It has taken me a few years of design trials to come up with these deadly lures

If anyone wants a couple of freebies to try out giz a shout. I have a big order to knock out next week so its no big deal to tie up a few more.I fish them behind a drilled bullet with a 2/3 foot trace.