I hit Exmouth yesterday as i hadn't been for a while and do like scratching around for the variety of species that are possible there.

I started off dropping a section of Sandworm on a Decoy flex head in between some rocks by the slipway. Always a good spot for a mini species and a reliable way of fending off a blank.

Soon enough I was into a few Blennies.
View attachment 838553
No other species loitering in amongst the rocks so I took to throwing the same tackle out into the flow. Had lots of trouble picking up weed here and no action for a while. Started to get a few light hits right against the wall as the lure swung back towards me.

I connected with the light hits and something took off, drag screamed, fish stayed low. Hook pulled. Bugger.

I repeated the same approach and eventually picked up a couple of lively Pollock. Again they were hitting the lure as it swung round against the wall.
View attachment 838561
I moved along a little and had a couple more, again hitting the lure as it swung in close.
View attachment 838609
Things went a bit quiet and I was considering moving when a mate turned up and suggested trying round the other side of the docks.

We could see lots of small fish moving about amongst the big boulders here, there were definitely Sand Eel amongst them and some slightly larger, unidentified fish. I put on an Angleworm and bumped it around.

I was getting lots of timid little bites which I assumed were the Sand Eel but as i struck into one I was taken by surprise as a Ballan Wrasse took off and tried to make it to the safety of the rocks. We were fishing high up here and I required all 5.9m of my landing net handle to reach the fish. I might of been able to lift it up the wall but didn't want to risk it.
View attachment 838665
I decided to switch to a dropshot after this to more effectively target the smaller fish and add a new species to this year's list.

Shortly after, another delicate bite which as i connected with, took off straight towards the rocks. I had no answer to its powerful run and it had obviously found a hole as it kept taking line downwards in only a few feet of water. I felt the line rubbing against the rock and then the inevitable release of tension as the line gave way. I was left with several foot of flouro leader that had been coiled up and frayed from being pulled through the rocks. I've decided this is a HRF spot now as thats the 2nd unstoppable fish I've hooked there.

We headed off towards the docks next...

This is where anyone of a nervous disposition might want to stop reading..........I had no chance of holding bottom here, even with 5g dropshot so took up Adams offer of a bigger bomb weight. First LRF faux pas. In addition I was getting no luck on lures, not even smelly stuff so also took up Adams offer of some RAGWORM. Oops.

Spent a happy half hour catching a few species, my first Exmouth Goldsinney, a nice Corkwing, a couple of Tompots and a little Ballan. I felt dirty but I'd caught a few fish to take my mind off the chilly breeze.

View attachment 838673 View attachment 838681
After half an hour or so of guilty pleasure, I returned to the slipway and reverted back to a weedless set up and an EcogearAqua Katsu Aji lure.

All bites were really cagey and timid today and none moreso than the brace of little Ballans I picked up here after a little patience and frustration. They put up a lively scrap when hooked though.
View attachment 838689
Fished a bit on the way back to the car amongst the rocks but no luck apart from a couple of dropped wrigglers, probably Blennies.

A couple of observations from today were firstly the weather forecast was a mile out! Forecast was for sub 10mph breeze, quite warm with sunny spells but I experienced a very breezy Exmouth, overcast, bit rainy and chilly!

Secondly, my Major Craft rod is lovely to use and work lures with but seriously lacks back bone compared to my Rockfish Revolution. Not really suited to getting down and dirty with Wrasse and Pollock amongst the rocks.

Happy with 6 species on a pretty scratchy day though, even though some were 'illegally' obtained. Although the limit for LRF is apparently 6lb line on here and my 0.4pe Sunline small game is rated 8lb so I'm an imposter anyway ;-)

West Bay tomorrow

Brilliant report rich well done m8. Love the colours in the Ballan

 

Thanks mate. I do love a Ballan

Great report mate, some lovely fish and really nice pics. Unlucky with the lost fish, I can relate to that.....

Thanks mate. I thought of you when I wrote about the lost fish actually lol

 

I lost the pollock of a lifetime last week. No net & snapped line not a great combination

 

Great report mate, where do you get a 5.9 m landing net handle from?

 

Thanks mate, it's a Daiwa ISO landing net handle. They tend to come over here in batches and get snapped up pretty quickly.

Have a good search on Google. Todber Manor had them as did Chesil Bait and Tackle I believe.

 

Had a drop net when I used to fish the Thames weirs from the walkways, vowed never to use one again as it took me and dad a lot of work to net Bream and Barbel, although it was hilarious at times. Will look at the Diawa 5.9 or there's a cheaper Lineaffe 5m maybe.

Good luck at West Bay and thanks for your help

 

Also check out prox holder arm. I got mine just recently. Haven't had a chance to try it out yet but looks the part, even my wife said looks quality . Was recommended by Ticter, he has a shorter one at 5m I believe, mine's 6m

 

I hit Exmouth yesterday as i hadn't been for a while and do like scratching around for the variety of species that are possible there.

I started off dropping a section of Sandworm on a Decoy flex head in between some rocks by the slipway. Always a good spot for a mini species and a reliable way of fending off a blank.

Soon enough I was into a few Blennies.
View attachment 838553
No other species loitering in amongst the rocks so I took to throwing the same tackle out into the flow. Had lots of trouble picking up weed here and no action for a while. Started to get a few light hits right against the wall as the lure swung back towards me.

I connected with the light hits and something took off, drag screamed, fish stayed low. Hook pulled. Bugger.

I repeated the same approach and eventually picked up a couple of lively Pollock. Again they were hitting the lure as it swung round against the wall.
View attachment 838561
I moved along a little and had a couple more, again hitting the lure as it swung in close.
View attachment 838609
Things went a bit quiet and I was considering moving when a mate turned up and suggested trying round the other side of the docks.

We could see lots of small fish moving about amongst the big boulders here, there were definitely Sand Eel amongst them and some slightly larger, unidentified fish. I put on an Angleworm and bumped it around.

I was getting lots of timid little bites which I assumed were the Sand Eel but as i struck into one I was taken by surprise as a Ballan Wrasse took off and tried to make it to the safety of the rocks. We were fishing high up here and I required all 5.9m of my landing net handle to reach the fish. I might of been able to lift it up the wall but didn't want to risk it.
View attachment 838665
I decided to switch to a dropshot after this to more effectively target the smaller fish and add a new species to this year's list.

Shortly after, another delicate bite which as i connected with, took off straight towards the rocks. I had no answer to its powerful run and it had obviously found a hole as it kept taking line downwards in only a few feet of water. I felt the line rubbing against the rock and then the inevitable release of tension as the line gave way. I was left with several foot of flouro leader that had been coiled up and frayed from being pulled through the rocks. I've decided this is a HRF spot now as thats the 2nd unstoppable fish I've hooked there.

We headed off towards the docks next...

This is where anyone of a nervous disposition might want to stop reading..........I had no chance of holding bottom here, even with 5g dropshot so took up Adams offer of a bigger bomb weight. First LRF faux pas. In addition I was getting no luck on lures, not even smelly stuff so also took up Adams offer of some RAGWORM. Oops.

Spent a happy half hour catching a few species, my first Exmouth Goldsinney, a nice Corkwing, a couple of Tompots and a little Ballan. I felt dirty but I'd caught a few fish to take my mind off the chilly breeze.

View attachment 838673 View attachment 838681
After half an hour or so of guilty pleasure, I returned to the slipway and reverted back to a weedless set up and an EcogearAqua Katsu Aji lure.

All bites were really cagey and timid today and none moreso than the brace of little Ballans I picked up here after a little patience and frustration. They put up a lively scrap when hooked though.
View attachment 838689
Fished a bit on the way back to the car amongst the rocks but no luck apart from a couple of dropped wrigglers, probably Blennies.

A couple of observations from today were firstly the weather forecast was a mile out! Forecast was for sub 10mph breeze, quite warm with sunny spells but I experienced a very breezy Exmouth, overcast, bit rainy and chilly!

Secondly, my Major Craft rod is lovely to use and work lures with but seriously lacks back bone compared to my Rockfish Revolution. Not really suited to getting down and dirty with Wrasse and Pollock amongst the rocks.

Happy with 6 species on a pretty scratchy day though, even though some were 'illegally' obtained. Although the limit for LRF is apparently 6lb line on here and my 0.4pe Sunline small game is rated 8lb so I'm an imposter anyway ;-)

West Bay tomorrow

Hi mate great report , I thought you were against shane using worm , wait till I see him .

 

Haha I don't mind taking a trip to the dark side every now and then mate.

No point suffering for the sake of pride!

 

I just don't believe it, nice fishing and lots of different fish. I'm off to the rumps lure fishing for mackerel but not been many about yet and chance of a tuna. Art of fishing had diawa handles in stock last week. Don't think I can even look at you using worm, just a small step to bait fishing with beachcaster rods:BigGrin:

 

Haha desperate times mate

Good luck on the lures mate, hope you find a Tuna!

 

Another excellent report and pics. Well done.

 

Another excellent report and pics. Well done.

Cheers mate

 

DR, nice report and pics as usual and a pleasant read again.
Nice one.
G.

 

Thanks mate

Well done Rich, I will be down there tomorrow, I only have artificial so will let people know how I get on, I would never use real worms , the amount of gulp bait in the USA was astonishing

Thanks mate.

Ha! I know you hate the thought of using real worms

Hope you had a good time away mate, good luck tomorrow!

 

I hit Exmouth yesterday as i hadn't been for a while and do like scratching around for the variety of species that are possible there.

I started off dropping a section of Sandworm on a Decoy flex head in between some rocks by the slipway. Always a good spot for a mini species and a reliable way of fending off a blank.

Soon enough I was into a few Blennies.
View attachment 838553
No other species loitering in amongst the rocks so I took to throwing the same tackle out into the flow. Had lots of trouble picking up weed here and no action for a while. Started to get a few light hits right against the wall as the lure swung back towards me.

I connected with the light hits and something took off, drag screamed, fish stayed low. Hook pulled. Bugger.

I repeated the same approach and eventually picked up a couple of lively Pollock. Again they were hitting the lure as it swung round against the wall.
View attachment 838561
I moved along a little and had a couple more, again hitting the lure as it swung in close.
View attachment 838609
Things went a bit quiet and I was considering moving when a mate turned up and suggested trying round the other side of the docks.

We could see lots of small fish moving about amongst the big boulders here, there were definitely Sand Eel amongst them and some slightly larger, unidentified fish. I put on an Angleworm and bumped it around.

I was getting lots of timid little bites which I assumed were the Sand Eel but as i struck into one I was taken by surprise as a Ballan Wrasse took off and tried to make it to the safety of the rocks. We were fishing high up here and I required all 5.9m of my landing net handle to reach the fish. I might of been able to lift it up the wall but didn't want to risk it.
View attachment 838665
I decided to switch to a dropshot after this to more effectively target the smaller fish and add a new species to this year's list.

Shortly after, another delicate bite which as i connected with, took off straight towards the rocks. I had no answer to its powerful run and it had obviously found a hole as it kept taking line downwards in only a few feet of water. I felt the line rubbing against the rock and then the inevitable release of tension as the line gave way. I was left with several foot of flouro leader that had been coiled up and frayed from being pulled through the rocks. I've decided this is a HRF spot now as thats the 2nd unstoppable fish I've hooked there.

We headed off towards the docks next...

This is where anyone of a nervous disposition might want to stop reading..........I had no chance of holding bottom here, even with 5g dropshot so took up Adams offer of a bigger bomb weight. First LRF faux pas. In addition I was getting no luck on lures, not even smelly stuff so also took up Adams offer of some RAGWORM. Oops.

Spent a happy half hour catching a few species, my first Exmouth Goldsinney, a nice Corkwing, a couple of Tompots and a little Ballan. I felt dirty but I'd caught a few fish to take my mind off the chilly breeze.

View attachment 838673 View attachment 838681
After half an hour or so of guilty pleasure, I returned to the slipway and reverted back to a weedless set up and an EcogearAqua Katsu Aji lure.

All bites were really cagey and timid today and none moreso than the brace of little Ballans I picked up here after a little patience and frustration. They put up a lively scrap when hooked though.
View attachment 838689
Fished a bit on the way back to the car amongst the rocks but no luck apart from a couple of dropped wrigglers, probably Blennies.

A couple of observations from today were firstly the weather forecast was a mile out! Forecast was for sub 10mph breeze, quite warm with sunny spells but I experienced a very breezy Exmouth, overcast, bit rainy and chilly!

Secondly, my Major Craft rod is lovely to use and work lures with but seriously lacks back bone compared to my Rockfish Revolution. Not really suited to getting down and dirty with Wrasse and Pollock amongst the rocks.

Happy with 6 species on a pretty scratchy day though, even though some were 'illegally' obtained. Although the limit for LRF is apparently 6lb line on here and my 0.4pe Sunline small game is rated 8lb so I'm an imposter anyway ;-)

West Bay tomorrow

Well done Rich, I will be down there tomorrow, I only have artificial so will let people know how I get on, I would never use real worms , the amount of gulp bait in the USA was astonishing

 

Thanks mate



Thanks mate.

Ha! I know you hate the thought of using real worms

Hope you had a good time away mate, good luck tomorrow!

I really want a good pollock after last time I was down there, it must have only been 1lb in weight, but it didnt half fight on the light gear. My net was at the other side of the slip, so to land it I had to slide it onto the slipway, a one around 2lb would be interesting

 

Haha i bet that was an interesting moment! They are good fun arent they. A 2lb Pollock would be a very interesting battle indeed!

 

Once again Rich, great report mate. Love the colours and seeing those small/micro species that I 'normally' wouldn't have noticed.

Off to Lanzarote in three weeks and will definitely be taking a small LRF outfit to have a bash Rich.

 

Once again Rich, great report mate. Love the colours and seeing those small/micro species that I 'normally' wouldn't have noticed.

Off to Lanzarote in three weeks and will definitely be taking a small LRF outfit to have a bash Rich.

Thanks mate, that's the beauty of LRF

Have a great holiday mate, hope you manage to put the LRF gear through its paces

 

Me and the boys fished there on Thursday and Friday. Thursday it was red hot, Friday cold and wet! Fished the "compass", the slipway and the boulders at the bottom of the seawall. Had shannies, scorpions, tompots and lots of little wrasse. Will post some pictures up. Well done on the Goldsinney - very envious