Pollack fishing from shore does not, generally, yield the big specimens that you will find over wrecks, but it can still be a lot of fun, especially if you scale your tackle down to the lightest gear possible. (The pollack in the photo, for example, was caught on 6 lbs line with a light telescopic rod matched to a closed face reel.)
Frankly, heavy tackle is a waste of time as far as shore fishing for pollack is concerned. They do not give a brilliant fight at the best of times, but on a heavy rod they simply cannot put up any kind of decent struggle. It is far better to scale down to light tackle.
Frankly, heavy tackle is a waste of time as far as shore fishing for pollack is concerned. They do not give a brilliant fight at the best of times, but on a heavy rod they simply cannot put up any kind of decent struggle. It is far better to scale down to light tackle.
You can even go further than that! On a recent trip I experimented with ultra light tackle, scaling down to a Shakespeare Microcast outfit. This combination is basically a tiny baitcasting rod, with a test curve of around a couple of ounces, while the reel is the size of a large egg, loaded with very light line. The results were very good. The fish were, as usual, not very big – the biggest was only around 2 pounds in weight – but they put up an excellent struggle!
So, what tactics should you try out from shore? The most popular methods are spinning, in which I am including LRF and HRF, and float fishing, with most pollack caught on other rigs being taken by accident. Personally I would stick to these two methods, using spinning tackle in the early morning and evening and float tackle at any time of the day.
Float fishing from harbour walls, piers or rocky marks can be very rewarding, with pollack coming up regularly on mackerel or squid strip, live prawns or live sandeels, particularly the smaller ones. Set up a sliding float rig, so that you can adjust your depth to a little way off the bottom, and then try different depths until you encounter the fish. You can then carry on float fishing into the late evening, until you can no longer see the float and then, if you have adapted your float to take a starlite, carry right on into the night.
So, what tactics should you try out from shore? The most popular methods are spinning, in which I am including LRF and HRF, and float fishing, with most pollack caught on other rigs being taken by accident. Personally I would stick to these two methods, using spinning tackle in the early morning and evening and float tackle at any time of the day.
Float fishing from harbour walls, piers or rocky marks can be very rewarding, with pollack coming up regularly on mackerel or squid strip, live prawns or live sandeels, particularly the smaller ones. Set up a sliding float rig, so that you can adjust your depth to a little way off the bottom, and then try different depths until you encounter the fish. You can then carry on float fishing into the late evening, until you can no longer see the float and then, if you have adapted your float to take a starlite, carry right on into the night.
Tip:
To adapt a float for a starlite, which is a sealed plastic tube filled with crystals that give off light, you glue and whip a piece of tubing tightly to the protruding core of a west country float. Varnish the whipping thread and then simply insert the starlite into the top of the tubing. (Make sure that you use tubing which is a good, tight, fit. You might also have to fill in the bottom of the tubing with a piece of dowel.)
To adapt a float for a starlite, which is a sealed plastic tube filled with crystals that give off light, you glue and whip a piece of tubing tightly to the protruding core of a west country float. Varnish the whipping thread and then simply insert the starlite into the top of the tubing. (Make sure that you use tubing which is a good, tight, fit. You might also have to fill in the bottom of the tubing with a piece of dowel.)
POLLACK
Shore Fishing
