WRASSE
Although wrasse are a species which are most often caught by shore anglers, there is no reason why they should not be fished for from boat, especially if you want to target the bigger fish. If conditions, bait and tackle are correct, then you can have some terrific fun.
Fishing from Boat
Different anglers fish for wrasse in a variety of ways, some of which will depend on whether or not the boat is anchored or drifting. Anchoring, for example, lends itself to leger or paternoster rigs fished hard on the bottom, with float fishing a good second choice, while drifting will lend itself to a scaled down version of the flying collar rig that people use over wrecks to catch pollack. Both options work, but each has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Let’s take anchoring first. If you are putting an anchor down into the midst of the snaggy, rocky, ground in which big ballans live, then there is a very good chance that you will lose it. There are, however, two ways in which you can deal with this. The first is to have an anchor that you don’t mind losing, like a homemade concrete slab with a big hole in it for the rope. The second, assuming that you have a grapnel anchor, is to attach the chain on the anchor rope to the eye at the bottom of the grapnel instead of the top. You will then need some string to tie the top eye to the chain so that the anchor hangs the right way up when you toss it in the water. If the anchor gets caught, then a steady pull will snap the string. The angle and direction of your pull changes dramatically and the anchor is usually dislodged without being lost.
Once at anchor, you can fish for wrasse in the same way as from shore, using either leger or float. However your tackle needs to be stronger. Much as I like light tackle, a wrasse trailing yards of broken line and gear probably won’t survive. It is better to up the strength of your tackle. I tend to use a double handed baitcaster, light enough to have fun but strong enough to land a bigger fish.
The paternoster rig that I use is very simple but very effective. To make it, you will need a couple of beads, some carp tubing, two swivels, a length of strong trace, a length of weak trace and a hook. You start by tieing a swivel to the end of your line. Make a loop about two feet above this and thread the loop through the first bead, the carp tubing and the second bead. Pass the loop through one eye of the second swivel, going from underneath to top, and hook it over the other eye, drawing it down the back of the swivel. Attach a trace and hook to the swivel and pull the line tight.
Let’s take anchoring first. If you are putting an anchor down into the midst of the snaggy, rocky, ground in which big ballans live, then there is a very good chance that you will lose it. There are, however, two ways in which you can deal with this. The first is to have an anchor that you don’t mind losing, like a homemade concrete slab with a big hole in it for the rope. The second, assuming that you have a grapnel anchor, is to attach the chain on the anchor rope to the eye at the bottom of the grapnel instead of the top. You will then need some string to tie the top eye to the chain so that the anchor hangs the right way up when you toss it in the water. If the anchor gets caught, then a steady pull will snap the string. The angle and direction of your pull changes dramatically and the anchor is usually dislodged without being lost.
Once at anchor, you can fish for wrasse in the same way as from shore, using either leger or float. However your tackle needs to be stronger. Much as I like light tackle, a wrasse trailing yards of broken line and gear probably won’t survive. It is better to up the strength of your tackle. I tend to use a double handed baitcaster, light enough to have fun but strong enough to land a bigger fish.
The paternoster rig that I use is very simple but very effective. To make it, you will need a couple of beads, some carp tubing, two swivels, a length of strong trace, a length of weak trace and a hook. You start by tieing a swivel to the end of your line. Make a loop about two feet above this and thread the loop through the first bead, the carp tubing and the second bead. Pass the loop through one eye of the second swivel, going from underneath to top, and hook it over the other eye, drawing it down the back of the swivel. Attach a trace and hook to the swivel and pull the line tight.
You should now find that the tubing is sticking straight out from your main line, making a nice little boom to hold your bait away and thus prevent tangles. An added bonus is that you can prepare several traces and keep them to hand. If your trace is broken you simply unloop the swivel and put on another so that you lose very little fishing time.
To the swivel at the bottom, you tie a weak trace, which connects to your weight. Now, if your weight gets snagged, you will only lose the sinker and not the whole rig, which gets you fishing again as quickly as possible.
To the swivel at the bottom, you tie a weak trace, which connects to your weight. Now, if your weight gets snagged, you will only lose the sinker and not the whole rig, which gets you fishing again as quickly as possible.
When fishing for wrasse from a boat, then I rate small crabs – with a shell a little bigger than a 50p piece - or prawns as the best bait to use. The prawns I will fish on float, while the crabs will be secured (with a crossed elastic band so that the shell isn’t crushed) - to a largish hook attached to a paternoster rig. This will present the crab just above the weeds, where it is plainly visible and very, very, tempting.
