First Light Lure Fishing

Theres only one reason i get up at 4am.... fishing! I was meeting Kevin at the launch venue at 5:15am for a first light launch into Plymouth Sound in the search of Bass - not a fish i usually target. I had my fingers crossed that the early morning would be worthwhile....

We said our hello's, set up the kayaks and talked fishing before making our way down to a small beach to launch. The morning was still and quiet.... a nice change from the hustle and bustle I'm used to in Plymouth. I would be only be taking my Major Craft Zaltz 10-30g lure rod and lures, possibly the first time i have been without bait on a kayak! I had been to Seaview Angling the day before and brought some Fiiish Crazy Sandeels on recommendation from Kevin so was looking forward to trying them out. 

We headed off across the Sound and headed for Drakes Island. Several small boats and a few kayaks were already there....they must have been up even earlier than me! A couple of casts in....BANG! Something had nailed the lure hard and despite strong resistance found the kelp below....i kept the pressure on and teased it out into the open where it went bezerk again! Rod bent double i coaxed it to the surface and pulled it onboard.... a chunky colourful Ballan Wrasse around the 4lb mark....excellent! 

Not the target species but i was well chuffed. Exactly 3 mins later and another solid fish smashed the lure... more rod bending and line pulling and a second Ballan Wrasse of around 3lb was on my lap

In the meantime Kevin had found himself a small Bass but despite persisting at the spot for the next 15 minutes nothing else was prepared to take my Fiish Crazy Sandeel. We moved off around the island to try somewhere else. Again nothing was too interested. One solid bite bit my lure in half and that was that. Time to move further afield. 

We crossed the ebbing Tamar at the Dragons Teeth and paddled alongside the edge of Cornwall into Cawsand Bay. Kevin spotted a deer amongst the trees at Mount Edgecombe as paddled along the rocks.

We paddled in front of Fort Picklecombe and spotted a few fish rising on the surface. Several casts resulted in nothing so we moved on to try some other marks but still the Bass remained elusive. I headed back to the Fort to try again and this time a small shiny bar of silver took a fancy to my lure! 

Only small but target achieved and a starting point for future trips. We decided to try back at Drakes Island for the last hour before we both needed to head off the water. The fish didn't seem interested and it started raining so we made our way back to shore and found an interesting mark on the way  to try another time. 

A fun few hours with great company. Target achieved and a bonus Ballan too. Im looking forward to getting out with Kev again soon. Hopefully there will be some monsters biting!