[F1F3R]

Hi,

after a recent good session off Pollack fishing, i found while spinning off the shore with a jelly worm , i had 3 good takes, line screaming off the baitrunner so im guessing decent sized . anyway i lost 3 off them, while keeping tenison on the line, they took me into rocks, at this point i didnt really have a clue what too do . lol.

my question is : do i keep applying constant pressure on the rod/line or do i give the fish free line hoping it will swim back out ?

its was proabably due too my inexperience i lost these fish , and they all seemed alot heavier than the best i caught on the day at 3 lbs 8 oz.

cheers.

 

[Marcus]

dont let them take you into the rocks in the first place...

Bully them from the original take!!..They'll fight you!..but try and keep them away from the kelp/rocks..

If they get stuck...Just pull till you pull free.

Thats what i do

 

[Snaggletooth]

Agree with Marcus, bully them from the start and don't let them tie you up.

If, on the other hand, you have a Wrasse that snags you, give it slack line as it will come back out again and you can then get it in.

 

[F1F3R]

hi, thanks for help.

they seemed too take after i cast out a good distance , let the worm sink then bang,summit took the lure and must have headed straight for rocks, i didnt see the underwater rock positions so didnt know which way too try pull the fish,
i managed too get it in maybe 20 yrds closer.
they seemed very powerful and a good weight too them , before they headed for some rocks, i did keep tension on hoping too pull them out but i must have pulled a bit too much , snapped the 14lb snood.
braid and shock leader ,weight all in tack , simple too clip another on and start again.

but do you ever get that feeling " what if i got that in what size would that have been " in your head lol. all i know they felt alot heavier that the 3 1/2 lber i caught .

so cheers for advise i will try keep the fish up and keep tension on line when it happens again.
Andy.

 

[dabcatcher]

set your drag so that you only give line just before you line or rod breaks. allowing them to screem off looks and sounds good but doesnt put many fish on the shore.

 

[F1F3R]

set your drag so that you only give line just before you line or rod breaks. allowing them to screem off looks and sounds good but doesnt put many fish on the shore.

hi,
i dont want too break the rod too set the drag too max so what method do i do too set the drag properly ?

the weakest line i used was 14lb snood. honestly think the rod would snap before that. so i basically set the drag so i had good compression / curve on the rod , even with that set it screamed the baitrunner too the rocks.

it did sound good but i think if i set drag much more summit would snap. unfortunately the snood did when i tried too pull out the fish and i lost it.

 

[Lands End Tony]

Down here in West Cornwall many of my club mates and others I know who fish for pollack use 20-25lb main line straight through with say 30lb amnesia as the hook length onto a 4/0 long shank kamasan with jellys or big sand eels.

Takes are fierce and you musnt let them get an inch if possible. I have my drag done up real tight almost to breaking strain and when hit pump hard and fast.

In reality a fish over 7 or 8lb is very difficult to keep away from the rocks or kelp. Keep the pressure on and bully all the way......great fun and a great fight......

 

[dabcatcher]

if fishing on a mark that has better fish on it i now use a 3lb carp rod with 20lb braid and 15lb hooklength to get them moving. lighter gear was loosing the better ones.

 

[F1F3R]

cheers guys

i may keep with the 20lb braid , but put the snood up from 14 to 18lb,( so its still under the 20 lb braid strenght ) this may just be enough too pull them out off the rocks/kelp hopefully catching one off the bigger fish.

thanx again.
Andy.

 

[Ruff Ground]

Your trace is way too light if you actually want a good chance of landing a decent fish. As Tony says I also use 30lb trace as it resists snapping better when trying to pull from a snag and also allows you to drag a fish from the water when you cannot get to it with a net.

I use an 18lb mainline with a longish 30lb leader. Rod choice is important too depending on where you are fishing. If fishing in Summer in flat seas right next to the water you can get away with lighter rods e.g. a heavy carp rod and fixed spool, then use a net to land the fish. On some of the marks we fish netting is very difficult or impossible, especially when there is a sea running. Therefore I fish with a 12oz spod rod which has plenty of backbone for bullying fish and lifting/dragging them clear of the water. For the same reasons I use a multiplier reel (Penn 525mag). With this setup I can lift fish up to around 5lb clean out of the water. Bigger ones require a mixture of a good plan, patient timing with the swells, and plenty of luck to land!

Have fun whatever gear you use!

 

[frags]

I agree with Lands End Tony! Try and keep them from ever reaching the rocks or Kelp......easier said than done sometimes, but very necessary!

If it does get down into the rocks, I never keep pulling till something gives! Even with a strong line on, if the Pollock is in a crevice, and the line is rubbing against rock, it wont take long before the line will part through!

My tactic, and it works, is to just give the fish line! Take all the pressure off it completely. Sometimes it will take several minutes, but the fish will eventually swim free, and give you the opportunity to pump like mad and get it free from the snags!

Cheers,

Frags.

 

[lobbit]

take in slack and retrieve as you go only you will know when your gear is going to give its not a case of reel it in or a case of let it run you ragged
use the rod as much as the reel to exert force on the fish to turn it from rocks or other obstacles
using a spinner is a far cry from winching fish in on beach gear and you,l get the hang of it through practice and enjoy playing fish you thought werent up for a scap

 

[Ruff Ground]

using a spinner is a far cry from winching fish in on beach gear

Not when you are basically using beach gear in the first place!

Using spinners is good for fun fishing but if you are serious about your pollack fishing then you'd be wise to stick with heavier gear and either jellyworms or frozen sandeels, fished deep off a 4ft trace and 4oz lead. Using spinners to the same extent would cost a small fortune in lost lures!:blink:

 

[lobbit]

Not when you are basically using beach gear in the first place!

Using spinners is good for fun fishing but if you are serious about your pollack fishing then you'd be wise to stick with heavier gear and either jellyworms or frozen sandeels, fished deep off a 4ft trace and 4oz lead. Using spinners to the same extent would cost a small fortune in lost lures!:blink:

yeah that heavy gear comes in handy when you hit into a double figure pollack ,
lesser gear would blow up in a fireball causing a minor ecological dissaster
and you might lose an eye .
how can the op not be serious about fishing because he is spinning
thats ridiculous
lead dont float mate no matter how little you use

 

[jarrow viking]

I am off pollack fishing to St Abbs, Scotland tommorow. My pollack gear consists of a Daiwa supercast bass rod (light enough to have sport with but is capable of bullying bigger fish) and a penn 525 loaded with 30lb line.

Using this set up it's possible to floatfish, spin and even drop a bait amongst the rough stuff without losing a lot of tackle or fish. If a really big fish hits your bait or lure, do your best to keep the fish out of the snags, however if you do snag up, give the fish some line and wait for a few minutes. Sometimes the fish will free itself, if it doesn't, you still have a bit of a chance, due to the pulling power of the 30lb mainline, so try and pull it out, some you win, some you lose, this is the nature of rough ground fishing.

The only bad point I have found is that your casting distance is reduced but where I fish, big casts aren't needed.

My advice is to step up your gear a bit and just take it on the chin when you do lose a good one. J.V.

 

[Ruff Ground]

yeah that heavy gear comes in handy when you hit into a double figure pollack ,
lesser gear would blow up in a fireball causing a minor ecological dissaster
and you might lose an eye .
how can the op not be serious about fishing because he is spinning
thats ridiculous
lead dont float mate no matter how little you use

I mean serious about landing a high percentage of what you hook, and not breaking the bank in the meantime! Light gear and spinners are effective and fun but land a lower proportion of fish than heavy deep spinning gear does. If you fish regularly for pollack in this way you would need to be loaded due to the amount of lost metalwork... I lose on average half a dozen sets of spinning gear (lead, 2 swivels and hook) per trip... the same amount of dexter wedges or similar would be around £20 a trip... now that IS serious!:blink:

 

[lobbit]

I mean serious about landing a high percentage of what you hook, and not breaking the bank in the meantime! Light gear and spinners are effective and fun but land a lower proportion of fish than heavy deep spinning gear does. If you fish regularly for pollack in this way you would need to be loaded due to the amount of lost metalwork... I lose on average half a dozen sets of spinning gear (lead, 2 swivels and hook) per trip... the same amount of dexter wedges or similar would be around £20 a trip... now that IS serious!:blink:

fair point , i have this problem with heavy gear recomendations though there seams to be a rumour going around that if i i were to use light tackle and caught bottom im up the creek but if i use heavy gear i will get free
do rocks n weed yeild to the power exerted by heavy set ups im not convinced and im sure that 15/17lb mono cuts weed like cheese wire and if not then it was caught in thick dense stuff that even heavy gear would have trouble with
this arguement for heavy gear raised it head back in the late 80s and again since , yet on tv we have henry gilbey on three occasions that i can recall fishing side by side with anglers on rocks him using 525 and the others using chrome rocket and mag elites(deemed clean beach reels) i myself fished recentely in the company of two guys one using okuma and the other a slosh nobody lost any tackle so as far as im concerned the jurys still out and i will continue using gear that allows a good feel of whats on the end of my line ,im not saying heavy gear is a waste of time but more that it seperates anglers into two types im sure heavy users have their reasons and scorn light users but thats fishing
on a river you might see a guy using a wf7 and a guy using a dt4 both for good reason but who has the best scraps

 

[Ruff Ground]

fair point , i have this problem with heavy gear recomendations though there seams to be a rumour going around that if i i were to use light tackle and caught bottom im up the creek but if i use heavy gear i will get free
do rocks n weed yeild to the power exerted by heavy set ups im not convinced and im sure that 15/17lb mono cuts weed like cheese wire and if not then it was caught in thick dense stuff that even heavy gear would have trouble with
this arguement for heavy gear raised it head back in the late 80s and again since , yet on tv we have henry gilbey on three occasions that i can recall fishing side by side with anglers on rocks him using 525 and the others using chrome rocket and mag elites(deemed clean beach reels) i myself fished recentely in the company of two guys one using okuma and the other a slosh nobody lost any tackle so as far as im concerned the jurys still out and i will continue using gear that allows a good feel of whats on the end of my line ,im not saying heavy gear is a waste of time but more that it seperates anglers into two types im sure heavy users have their reasons and scorn light users but thats fishing
on a river you might see a guy using a wf7 and a guy using a dt4 both for good reason but who has the best scraps

I think it has a lot to do with the kind of marks you are fishing - most of the places I fish are very rugged and prone to heavy groundswells, hence you have to stay well away from the water. It is a bit of a mission to land a decent fish, often relying on the swells and angle of the rocks to try to beach the fish and drag it clear. A net is useless in this situation, and so heavier gear is pretty much essential to give you the best possible chance. It also means that the smaller ones can de lifted clear without having to scramble around wet dangerous rocks.

As for when you get stuck, you will still lose a high proportion of your gear/fish but heavier gear definitely increases your chances, as you can apply more force in an attempt to pull free... there will be several times on an average trip when I have JUST managed to pull my gear or fish free before breaking off... these would be lost fish or rigs on lighter gear. It also means your gear can withstand some minor damage without breaking later on a good fish... every little helps! Then of course there's the fact that stronger rods, reels and line will allow you to prevent more fish reaching the snags in the first place.

On any particular day lighter gear may be fine, and will definitely increase the sporting element of the fishing, which is probably the number one motivation of the majority of anglers. Personally, my main motivation is to catch the biggest fish I can, and land as many good fish as possible... after all any pollack over 5lb is going to give you a good arm wrenching scrap no matter what gear you use! There can be no doubt however, that the heavier stuff, over time, will result in a greater percentage of hooked fish on the rock... horses for courses!

 

[F1F3R]

aye it is good points mentioned, regarding the light and heavy gear debate.
very interesting reading

need too start a new topic

thanx for comments and advise , views , there all much appreciated.
Andy.

 

[lobbit]

aye it is good points mentioned, regarding the light and heavy gear debate.
very interesting reading

need too start a new topic

thanx for comments and advise , views , there all much appreciated.
Andy.

oh god dont encourage me mate , it could result in finger strain from typing vast essays lol
its deffianately a matter of individual choice