A day of firsts.....

well I got out today to try out my new solpara from major craft
and what a rod it is. The amount of feedback you get from the lure as it hits the
bottom or anything else is unlike any rod i've used before
I got to my mark at low tide and tried a big pool that i knew held pollock
I was using some new lures that i got from jackslrf some small tubes about
2" long in various colours as soon as i started to use them i could feel nips and tugs at the
lure but no takes well more misses to be honest which i put down to getting used to the rod
 I even saw one pollock come up so hard that it completely missed the lure
and broke the surface!!
I switched lures after about 15mins or so to another worm/grub type lure and a 1/16 oz
jig head and after my third cast or so i was into a pollock of about a 1lb or a little over
in weight and what fight it put up it took line and dived i got it back to the surface and down
it went again i got it up after a few mins of a good scrap,

so that was my first fish on the solpara and a pb pollock lrf so far anyway i fished on and
tried for more pollock i got one more of about 7oz or so and nothing else from this pool
so i moved on to another channel that was starting to fill up with the incoming tide and decided
to try for some wrasse i tried the same lure as the pollock but had no bites whatsoever so i switched
to the same lure chartreuse tail with a black head and deadsticked it along the bottom i began to
get bites almost immediately from small ballans which i could see coming up and running with the lure
but dropping it
Then after about 10 mins i got a solid strike and the rod bent into my first lrf wrasse ever a lovely bright
orange bellied ballan of a little under 1lb in weight a new personal best even for such a small fish they sure
do fight on such light gear

back it went and i fished on with a big smile on my face for another few casts the
tide was really beginning to push now and i felt some small tugs then a nice hit
on the lure i struck into it and to my surprise i had a nice little long spined sea
scorpion yet another first and i can honestly say i was thrilled to see such an ugly little
critter on the end of my line

they really are a strange looking creature really prehistoric and after a few snaps and a good look back it went and i fished on in the same channel a few more missed hits and next thing another good solid take and to my surprise another sea scorpion

I really was a happy angler at this stage another few photos and i fished on for another while,
really starting to love the solpara at this stage.
so i deadsticked the lure for another bit plenty of interest but no takes then all of a sudden
out of nowhere came another wrasse and i could tell immediately that this was a much better
fish than the previous one as it was really running and taking a good bit of line eventually i got the
upper hand  and the fish came into view as soon as it came up near the surface on it went again
and as i was using a 4lb flouro leader i had to be careful so as not to lose it i let it take some more line but had to keep it out of the weed i got it to a low ledge and slid the fish up and it was mine
a lovely fish of 2.5lb not massive i know but a new pb for me.

So that was my day a load of firsts and loads of fun
in short lrf rocks

tight lines,

Jay