15/02/17

So I've not had time to post an update till now, this was last Wednesday now. I dug some decent lug early morning then headed to the island after breakfast. Initially I planned to try for the first ray of the year at somepoint, however weather forecast meant it was only bass on my mind.

I revisited the mark of my previous success, getting there much earlier in the tide and therefore getting more fishing time. The plan was to have two bait rods out and throw a few lures out as well to get some practise with them. The water was clearer than last time but some nice waves rolling in I felt pretty confident. I fished up and over high water without a nibble, changing to three bait rods on the dropping tide to try and improve my chances. It wasn't to be though with no detectable bites I called it a day and made a move, via Mconalds, to the second mark.

Arriving in good time I sent out a bait rod with a big juicy lug then set up with the lures again for a bit more practise throwing them around. As I was moving around with the lure rod, I saw a bite on the bait rod as something had broken out the lead. I dropped the lure rod where it was picked up the bait rod, feeling for the fish. It was still there so a quick strike and it was game on. After a short but spirited fight my prize was in front of me. A little schoolie bass of maybe a pound.

I was hopeful of more bites but as the tide dropped so bit my optimism. Despite having grown up fishing for bass in ridiculously shallow beaches of West Wales I have found that the bass around Anglesey seem to prefer a little bit of depth (3ft or more). Switching to two bait rods, one of them started acting a bit strange but I put this down to the wind. However when reeling in I felt a series of sharp rattles and my suspicions were confirmed when a flounder popped out of the water.

As the light dropped I thought I might get a couple more bites before I had to leave and this was the case. I missed a good pull down which meant one last cast but nothing came of it. I was fairly convinced that there was more bass out there as the tide began to push in but in all probability it would have just been more schoolies. Was hoping to get out again in between but the weather seems to have clobbered most of my plans for the weekend just gone.

Rigs - Single snood paternoster

While I was fiddling around doing pictures for the first knots installment, I decided to do a few pictures for making rigs as well.

I've started with one of the more basic, but very versatile rigs, the single snood paternoster. So lets get too it...

Step 1
Tie your top swivel to your rig body, which should be 60lb+ for security when casting. You can start with the weight clip, but I prefer to start from the top down which will become clearer why later.

Step 2
Cut your rig body to the length you desire. A good tip here is to cut the line at an angle which makes it easier to slid on the rest of the rig components. Unfortunately this is a little difficult to photograph.

Step 3
Slide on the components in the order - crimp, bead, swivel, bead, crimp. I use beads that when they are pushed together, still allow the swivel to spin freely around the line.

Step 4
Slide the components up the line until they are the desired distance from the top swivel. No hard and fast rules but I've found too close can lead to more tangles so tend to leave 3 or 4 inches.

Step 5
When in place crush the crimps with a pair of pliers, or you can get a special tool, making sure everything stays nice and compact. They should be tight enough on the line that they don't move under pressure, but too tight and the line could get damaged under the crimp.

Step 6
Attach the weight clip, using a plain clip (left in picture) to leave the snood flapping, or a rig clip (right in picture) to turn it into a clip down rig.

Step 7
Attach the hooklength line to the small swivel and cut to the desired length. It can be cut slightly shorter than the rig body length, but depending on how short you go, if fishing high up into deep water your bait might be off the bottom. Leaving it longer than the rig body will guarantee your bait will be on the seabed. When going for the clip down option I cut the snood the same length of the rig body. And trim the tag end, like I haven't here...

Step 8
Attach the hook. Either a single hook or pennel, sliding another hook onto the hooklength before tying on the main hook. A tip for the clip down option is to make the tag end of the hook knot, the same length as the hook shank which should mean the hook stays secure in the clip when casting. The picture below shows how the clip down should look.

 

And that is the single snood paternoster, more rigs coming soon!

Knots - Blood Knot

So tying knots is a pretty essential skill for those wanting to tie their own rigs. Here I'm hoping to use a few posts to demonstrate a few basic knots, and then show you the way I make my rigs. While there's no doubting the quality of ready made rigs, I found when I was just starting out that I gained greater satisfaction catching on my homemade rigs.

When it comes to knots I have been using the same ones for years but never bothered to learn the names. I have now found out that this one is called the Blood Knot.

In the example I am attaching 60lb rig body line to a swivel, the line is an awful yellow colour but it is easier to see than the clear line I normally use. To make it easier to see what is going on I have used marker pen on the loose "tag end" of the line. So here goes...

Step 1
Pass the line through the eye of your swivel/hook and bring the tag end along side the mainline.

Step 2
Twist the tag end around the mainline between 4-6 times. I find thicker lines (60lb+) 4 or 5 times is ideal, being secure and not too difficult to manipulate. Thinner snood lines (up to 40lb) I found tend to be more secure when twisting 6 times around.

Step 3
Bring the tag end back towards your swivel/hook as pass it through the gap between the eye and the first twist of line.

Step 4
Moisten the knot to prevent any friction damage. Then, pull the tag end and mainline equally until the knot compresses. Marker pen gone now, its easier to see without it now.

Step 5
Pull the mainline as tight as you can, you might need to push the knot towards the eye of your swivel/hook in order to make it neat and secure. Make sure the tag end is sticking out at 90 degrees to the mainline, if it is inline the knot has a chance of slipping undone under pressure.

Step 6
Trim the tag end, leaving just 1-2mm sticking out. This leaves the knot neat and aerodynamic while also giving a buffer. Trimming right down there is a chance that the tag could slip back through the loop under pressure.

And there we have it, the blood knot. Unfortunately the picture quality isn't great, and it was a challenge to keep everything in place and take pictures with only one pair of hands. I think there's enough to go at there, and hopefully I'll be able to improve the photos in the future.