to jelly,shad or keep it like the old days

[chris elliott]

Hi lads,been researching all these new fangled lures such as shads,sidewinders
and jellys,want to spin from the shore for the pollack at the end of may,used to bag up 20 years ago on bar spinners and eddystone eels,but used to lose a lot of gear,are the new lures any better?or is it just a case of finding the fish and they will take itany advice on weedless lures because the kelp up there is a bugger cheers

[dabcatcher]

a sandeel imitation will fish well and you can fish it harder to the weed.

having a single hook on a flowing trace means it doesnt catch as much as the grapnel on a spinner.

[Persues]

I fish jelly worms hard through the kelp by burying the hook so that the point is just beneath the surface of the jelly worm itself.

Being a soft bait if you get a good hit from a decent fish that's usually more than enough to force the point through the worm and hook up into the fish, but it keeps the hook weed free as you work it through the weeds.

I tend to nip a swan shot just below the eye of the hook or if greater distance or depth is required up to an ounce or so of lead can really get the bait down.

You can also use 'boat' shadding methods from cliffs into deep water.

I got quite a few decent hits at Dunstanburgh cliffs last week by flipping the shad just a few yards out from the cliff and a few along from where I was standing.

Just like shadding on a boat, you bump the bottom and reel up slowly. I start at 5 turns retrieved, lower back down and then move up to 10 or even 20 turns. If you get a hit keep reeling at the same pace to (hopefully) hook up.

I tried this out of curiosity because I used to fish frozen sandeel with great success at the same spot 'sink and draw', very much in a similar method to shadding.

Smaller eel imitations can also have the point of the hook 'guarded' by tying a short tag of 20lb line so that it forms a small 'spur' from the eye of the lure back across the point, forcing the lure to bump sideways and shy away from weed. Works reasonably well a lot of the time but it isn't foolproof, as this fool found out

Easiest way is to get a handful of lures and cast them into a gully on a clear day with good visibility and get the hang of how each one works. Varying your retrieve by working the rod up, down and/or side to side can add a lot of movement, and a plain steady retrieve can work very well on small eel imitations - just watch sandeels when they swim and it's a slow, steady wobble as they swim along.

I was at St Mary's island yesterday for a couple of hours doing just that with a couple of new small shads and eels - casting them and working them sink and draw and with varying speed retrieve. It gives a good sense of how they will work when you use them in anger.

I caught nothing, but that wasn't the purpose of the visit. Enjoyed sitting on the rocks in the sun a few metres away from a seal though

[phill_itofish]

This is how i do my weedless hook ups

[chris elliott]

blimey

cheers lads for the time and effort in posting your replys,info brilliantas a small person many years ago used to spend time around st abbs and eyemouth,on a memorble session approaching dusk in 1982 on the rocks behind the harbour i had four pollack not one of them less than five pound on a red gill fished behind a 1oz leadhad been fishing rhe mark for a couple of days with just a few small coaleys,the eureka moment came when i discovered like you suggested to cast parralell to the rocks and retrieve no more than five yards out but forty yards away from me,when the first fish hit i swear to god i nearly shat myself,it was bigger than me,if you lads could reccomend some lures you love i will get on the internetty and order some,cheers lads

[phill_itofish]

get yourself down to Reelsport in south shields mate,Terrys got a good selection of lures, he's also due a delivery of some new Savagear stuff that look interesting.

[peter.m]

New technology is always improving things. Cast a jelly through clear water and watch how it works on the retrieve and you can see how the fish go for them. I like to bump a jellyworm of the bottom on light leadheads. As was said above don't stop when you feel the first plucks just keep winding steady rate and the fish will nail it.