Planning a species hunt.

The Osborne and Cragg 2018 Lure only species hunt is well under way with some contestants already well into double figures and from what I have seen, 1 person did so well in the first week he is probably unwatchable by all.

With so little time planned for myself on the coast during the window the competition is open I have to set a realistic target. I probably have one weekend and a total of maybe 6-10 hours to fish. So I am going to be adventurous and make a plan to attempt to catch 6 different species.

You may think that’s do-able or you may think I am mad. This is a target though, and not what I think will actually happen. My LRF experiences so far have taught me that once I start catching any species I find it hard to switch off and move on. I end up running down the clock whilst having fun ☺. My Winter LRF comp being a prime example where I just couldn’t leave the herring alone whilst The were providing such good sport.

The obvious targets going on my previous experience and limited successes with lure fishing are mackerel, pollock, ballen wrasse, rock gobby, common Blenny and then any other wrasse species I have time for.

The first place I would look to target is rockpools at low tide. Using scented worm lures such as ecogear, gulp and marukyu on a split shot rig may pick out gobies, blennys and potentially my first lure caught scorpion fish. 🙏🙏🙏🙏.

I believe if I can then get on the rocks around Devils point and Eastern Kings in Plymouth during middle to high tide, the deeper water will give me the opportunity to cast a small metal on an LRF rod (new experience for me) and find a pollock, a mackerel and perhaps even a surprise first ever garfish or my first LRF bass. If successful a switch to a jigheaded worm lure may even lead to something smaller like smelt perhaps.

Switching methods in the same location on the tidal ebb will allow me the finesse to drop shot and use jig heads to tease out wrasse species and maybe a surprise from the gullies. The obligatory micro Pollack will also likely be on the menu here.

A change in location to my faithfull Sutton harbour which produced 6 of my 8 species for the last competition should allow me to use the small jig heads in close to the wall and steps to target gobies and blennies. The danger here I have found is finding mullet feeding on the surface and wasting an hour throwing the world and a kitchen sink at them to entice nothing more then a curious follow (and if they could a middle finger).

The last place if time allows would be the Elphinstone car park. Right in the far corner where I have had some luck previously targeting goldsinny wrasse.

There are a few good backup venues including the Devonport pontoon which can throw up a mixture of species including good sized shore pollock, goldsinny wrasse, ballon wrasse, bass, seatrout, mullet and more.

I will be fishing with my primary fishing buddy (my son), 11 year old Owen so will likely spend a fair amount if time working with him to help his own tally but this can also often pay off for me as I can switch tactics quickly to mimic his successes. Also with sharing 2 rods as another tactic we can switch between dropshotting, spinning and using jig heads very quickly by swapping rods meaning we do not have to re-tie leaders or dropshot rigs on the go (often anyway).

So wish us luck in our mini quest and tight lines to all those hunting for the prizes!!!

If you want to find out more about catching UK fish on lures, I strongly recommend you try this great book here which provides info on everything you might want to know about lure fishing in the UK and how to catch a huge variety of species