Different lures work best at different stages of the tide so to be ensured of effective fishing throughout your trip you will need to have at least a small range of differing artificials. However which do you choose? Basically you should find that, at the bottom of the tide, when there is very little movement, soft plastics like jelly worms come into their own, with a highly distinctive action that makes them attractive to a range of species. There are also several models of jelly worms to choose from - my favourites being the ones with long, curly tails - while you should further bear in mind that colour will play a significant part in their success - or lack of the same!
POLLACK
Artificial Lures
Lures designed for being towed behind a weight need a lot of movement to get them working. Forget the stick lures that you use for LRF and HRF. They depend on action from the rod tip, which isn't going to do a thing in several hundred feet of water. Here you will need speed and water resistance to get the lures working properly.
A reasonable selection of effective lures might be dark red, flame red, black, purple, black and orange and even grey. However as the tide picks up, so heavier latex lures, like shads with their thickened tails, or rubber eels like red gills or eddystone eels come into play with often excellent results. Pick the biggest lures that you can either find or afford, since size definitely seems to make a difference.
Once the full force of the tide comes into play then I discard shads and stick religiously to either red gills or eddystone eels. Both are very effective lures, though my personal favourites are the deadly nightshade red gills or the red gill afterburners. (The tails of these lures oscillate slightly faster than eddystone eels, which can make a difference.) Sometimes, if there is a chance of a really big fish, I will change to the largest eddystone eel that I can find, particularly in red and black. These lures are slightly larger than the biggest red gills and this can, as I have already mentioned, make a difference to specimen fish.
I once carried out an experiment with rubber eels, counting the results of literally hundreds of drops with differing sizes of lures. The result was a correlation of 0.891 between the size of the lure and the size of the fish. In statistical terms this is so close to 1 that it represents a very safe bet that a bigger lure will catch a bigger fish. I have stuck to that maxim ever since, though it was interesting to note that my best wreck fish one year was not a pollack, but a 25½ lbs cod on a deadly nightshade red gill. This gave me a confidence in that particular lure which has never since been shaken. Why not give it a go for yourself?
Once the full force of the tide comes into play then I discard shads and stick religiously to either red gills or eddystone eels. Both are very effective lures, though my personal favourites are the deadly nightshade red gills or the red gill afterburners. (The tails of these lures oscillate slightly faster than eddystone eels, which can make a difference.) Sometimes, if there is a chance of a really big fish, I will change to the largest eddystone eel that I can find, particularly in red and black. These lures are slightly larger than the biggest red gills and this can, as I have already mentioned, make a difference to specimen fish.
I once carried out an experiment with rubber eels, counting the results of literally hundreds of drops with differing sizes of lures. The result was a correlation of 0.891 between the size of the lure and the size of the fish. In statistical terms this is so close to 1 that it represents a very safe bet that a bigger lure will catch a bigger fish. I have stuck to that maxim ever since, though it was interesting to note that my best wreck fish one year was not a pollack, but a 25½ lbs cod on a deadly nightshade red gill. This gave me a confidence in that particular lure which has never since been shaken. Why not give it a go for yourself?
Shads, Red Gills, Eddystone eels and latex lures. All catch fish, but which should you buy?
