Pollock fishing locations

Lets kick off by looking at the environments that pollock like to live in.

• Rock and reef marks are very popular locations for pollock. They tend to hide in these locations waiting for prey species to appear.
• Wrecks are another popular location for pollock. Both inshore and off shore wrecks will produce pollock to a good size. The winter tends to produce pollock best from deep water wrecks.
• Piers produce good “rises” of pollock on warm barmy evenings, but they will produce fish all year around. generally these fish are not of a great size.
• Weed beds hide  a lot of predators and prey. Deep kelp hides some great pollock and is allways worth fishing in these areas
• Broken ground can hold all sorts of species including the pollock.

Now these locations due to the sea depth, size of the fish and other factors all lend themselves to different types of sea fishing. Getting the balance and matching your fishing tackle to the environment, prey and conditions is very important if you want to get the best out of your pollock fishing.

Pollock fishing techniques

In no particular order lets look at the different techniques employed by anglers to catch pollock. i will try and explain the right conditions and circumstances for each technique.

1. Lure fishing for pollock can take many forms. Classic deep sea wreck fishing often requires heavy weights to take a jelly worm or metal lure to the sea bed. You tend to drift over wrecks and the skipper will tell you when to lower your end rig to the bottom. You then need to feel your end gear over the wreck and retrieve the lure to the surface, before dropping down again. Getting the right color lure for the day and finding the depth the pollock are feeding is the knack. Generally as the tide increase in strength the further the fish will be away from the holding feature ie the wreck. Pollock often reach 20lb and this requires heavy tackle to prevent them getting back to safety
2. Saltwater fly is a demanding and challenging way to catch pollock. it requires fish in shallow water and a sound casting technique to cover the ground. Fish can be of all sizes and at a whole range of locations including piers, reefs and weed beds. I tend to use a weight 8 rod at about 9 foot, with a 10lb leader. Flies that mimic small fish and prawns work well, sea trout flies and saltwater specific flies are recommended.
3. Float fishing can be used almost anywhere in shallower water. If you using a sliding float you can experiment with different depths to hunt the fish out. A float will allow you to cover a huge area of water. Common baits are sand eel and fillets of fish bait, but most common sea baits will work for pollock.
4. Ledgering is not the most common method for pollock fishing but can work well when required. All the typical baits fish well.
5. Live baits work well for pollock. They can be used in conjunction with any of the above methods. Takes are often very strong and positive and demand quick, positive reactions from the angler.

In conclusion

With that information you can now head to the beach. Different areas will generally hold differing sizes of pollock. Match the weight of your tackle to the size of your quarry to get the best sport from the fish.

Pollock will power to the nearest cover.   of initial pressure is required to prevent this, but be careful as they are very powerful and can easily snap you out.

Holding in shoals you can often expect to catch multiple pollock from the same location. Record the conditions, tide, location and lure used for future reference.

Have a look here in the sea fishing for beginners area for some more useful tips

I have not been told of the exact marks, so off you go, get the chart, look for inshore features and bag your self a few Bass. Consider the use of lures, generally metal ones of differing styles. Fish hard to the marks and enjoy!

Let us know how many Bass you get.

July sea angling

This time of year should see some good Bass being caught, Bream, Mullet, Mackerel being caught on light tackle. All I have heard is people despondent with the weather in the south west and having to resort to winter tackle again.

Have you had much sucess so far this year, if so let us know what species and what methods you have used. Lets also hope for some better weather.

2 boats were capsized during a memorial sea fishing comp. It show that just because the conditions are good to start with the sea is a dangerouse place and you need to keep your wits about you at all times.

If you are new to sea fishing it may be a brand new beach casting set up or maybe you are looking to upgrade that 20 year old mag braked multiplier.

Future of sea tackle

I would like to hear where the future of sea angling is going and the best way to achieve this, is looking at what anglers require.

One thing that I have noticed over the past few years is the clothing range available to sea anglers has become fashionable and is now cut to fit. Before it was very un-inspired, covered in pockets etc. So with this in mind and having been fishing for 30 years I have most things I want, except some well designed outer clothing for use when spinning / surf fishing.

What sea fishing items are you most interested in buying or knowing more about, let us know here so we can all help out in your choice of sea tackle.

Hooking Crab No 1

I am not as keen on this method as crabs have feelings! But you remove a leg and thread the crab on, making sure the hook point is proud.

Hooking Crab no 2

 This is much more crab friendly - simply get your crab and use elastic bands or bait elastic to attach the crab to the hook. The knack is not getting nipped.

The most important element is making sure the hook point is well exposed, allowing for a sound hooking action.

Firstly if you are a spammer, do not waste your time as your links will be removed and secondly if you would like to moderate a section of the fishing blog forum to help me reduce spam etc than please comment on this post.

There seems to be no easy fix for this problem. Over time the joint becomes a perfect fit and combine that with some water and you have an airtight seal. With some extreme temperature you have a recipe for disaster.

The best thing to try before brute force, is allowing your fishing rod to dry out and reach room temperature. This often allows the rod sections to part. The application of some candle wax can also prevent this happening again in the future.

Having a fused rod will not effect its capacity, but have you tried getting a 14 foot cod rod into a mini!!!

How to catch what is there

That title above is really all that scratching is. It most certianly is not loosening the flesh around a flea bite! I guess if you are considering going to a sea fishing mark and edging your bets, increasing you chance of going home with a fish rather than blanking, then you are scratching.

If you go to a new mark that you have been told fishes well for plaice on mussel and you set up the ultimate plaice rig, baited with mussle held on with bait elastic and arm your beachcaster to throw your gear 150 yards to catch that plaice, you are narrowing your chances of catching other species. You could be missing out on other prize species.

Everytime you go to a new mark or even an old one, its worth scratching. Fishing for other species will help you learn what might be there and the shap / structure of the seabed. Being open to trying ideas is what will increase your catch rate fatser than anything else.

How do I scratch while sea fishing

This method is not only for beach casting, but includes boat and kayak fishing as well. To be Honest its nothing to complicated, in fact its dead easy.

Fishing in ireland on a few boat comps I learnt that one of the most powerful scratching rigs was as simple as baited mackerel lures. You have the attraction of the lure, baits close to the sea bed and some higher as well as a few different baits on the 3 lure hooks that make up the rig (many comps have a hook limit)

When beach casting from the shore a 2/3 hook paternoster works well. A smaller hook on the bottom paternoster scratches for the flatties and micro species with a size one on the other hook lengths. remember that if you hook a good fish, play it and respect it as your hook size might be small and delicate!

If you are a master scratcher, let us know what system you use, or how your opinion differs from mine by commenting on this post.

Some people match their hook colours with their bait. For example, using red hooks with rag worm and silver hooks for sand eel and fish baits. I once saw someone using white hooks for mulleting with bread!

I am not so sure that hook colour is that important. The thing that I focus on more is not to use stainless steel hooks as they do not degrade and will stay in lost fish for a long time!!

Quality fixed spool reels

The most important factor when choosing a fixed spool reel is the line lay. Line lay is the way the line is added to the spool. Taller spools generally have a better line lay than shorter ones. Different reels have slightly different systems for laying the line evenly on the spool preventing it biting or becoming twisted. This factor will improve you cast with a fixed spool reel.

In essence, don’t worry too much about bearings, but focus and a quality spool oscillation and line lay.

Popular kayaks of 2008

RTM Disco video tour

Ocean Malibu two semi rigged

Big game prowler fully rigged - Well worth a look!!!

Second hand Kayaks

Then, by commenting on this post, let us know your findings and decisions you have made, so we can all learn from each other.

We all have different requirements: Size, our weight, max length, stability, speed, family and friends etc but we could help each other by sharing our research.

If you own a kayak and would be happy to let others have a paddle to try it out then also let us know, tell us where you live! I have a RTM Disco if anyone wants a paddle. I am based Nr. Helston, Cornwall.

Any really helpfull comments might be made into standalone articles here at the fishing blog.

You can comment here or by email here

Sea fishing poll results

What species do you fish for?

Bass - 79 votes  - 31%

Cod - 23 votes - 9%

Ray - 2 votes - 1%

Pollock - 5 votes - 2%

Conger - 2 votes - 2 %

Flounder - 19 votes - 7%

Mullet - 6 votes - 2%

Shark - 4 votes - 2%

Mackerel - 27 votes - 11%

Whaterever I can catch - 82 votes - 32%

Other 5 votes - 2%

So the winner was “what ever i can catch” followed closely by “Bass” - I guess some of this is because we do well in the search engines for terms like, sea fishing, Bass and flounder. But due to the fact that whatever I can catch was the winner I will have posted an article about scratching for fish soon.

The new poll will be finding out which techniques you all use….. please vote!!!

I would love this site to become massive, full of data, info and tips covering all aspects of fishing, after all it is called the fishing blog!

There are a few other good sites out there as you know, but this site is already amongst the best in terms of visibitity in the search engines.

What I want and the readership wants is a broader spectrum of article. This would be impossible for me to achive by my self. So I am looking for people who have a desire to write. A passion for learning or explaining any facet of fishing is all thats required, from beginner to seasoned pro.

If you are kenn about any aspect of fishing, tackle devlopers, newbiees, coarse angler, sea anglers, tackle shop owners, charter boat skippers, trout and salmon angers then drop me a line (no pun intended) and lets see how you could add value to this site, and earn some money towards your hobby.

I am looking to increase the knowledge base here as well as add more channels to the fishing-blog.co.uk

This is a fantastic oppertunity to get in on a project at the ground level and only strong candidates will be considered. The ability to communicate is most important with the ability to learn / share knowledge being second place.

Contact the fishing-blog here

Hi.
just bought a malibu pro fish&dive tandem,have got a nice 2002 small camper with lock up trailer,done a lot of holiday sea fishing but never been on the sea except in the med or with a skipper. I live in the midlands but i can travel at short notice ,i am very aware of the dangers of the sea so dont want to venture out on my own to start,very aware that the buddy system is the safest way to go and would love to join up with some experienced guys. I am planning two trips for the near future, west coast of scotland, and spain and would like to find a partner to share expenses, used to go camping and fishing, but depended on expensive campsites, but with the camper and trailer am totally independent, plus no wet tents in the morning so if you can suggest anything i would be grateful,i am a very experienced fly fisher and tyer,but i got bored, my true love is the sea, all comments answered.
kind regards steve.

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