1

2

5 EBISU, MYTHICAL LRF GOD.

6 INTRODUCTION

8 OTD BOOTCAMP

1 3 OTD OVERVIEW

1 4 THE 'WAY OF THE ROD'

1 6 MC ZALTZ REVIEW

20 THE REEL DEAL

22 GET RESULTS

24 STRUCTURE BASICS

28 TAKE COVER

29 MASTERS TO THE MOULD

35 SOMETHING FOR NOTHING

41 NOT QUITE HEAVY METAL

45 PIGLETS ?

53 MASTERS TO THE MOULD I I

60 NIGHT GAME

70 UK LIGHT GAMING

71 SUTTON HARBOUR, PLYMOUTH EXPOSE

80 SCORPION

81 & 1 41 A.YOUNGER LRF PORTFOLIO

90 TAKESHI'S CASTLE

3

93 NIGHT GAME ROUND UP

96 LRF ROD BUILD (PART1 )

1 06MOON PHASES

1 08MORE ON COLOUR

11 2 UNDULATED SWIMMING

11 3 TOKYO LIGHT GAME

1 23 DAY GAME

1 27 A DEAD CERT

1 32 RIGGING

1 35 SIMPLIFY

1 40 RESIN MOULD MAKING

1 44 NORIES ROCKFISH BOTTOM

1 52 ROCK AND POOL

1 54 FLYING STINGERS

1 55 THE MEOW CLUB

1 56WEIGHT FOR IT

1 60 JIGHEAD STUFF

1 64 BARBLESS

1 66 BOAT (NIGHT GAME)

1 69 SUSPENDERS

1 72 POLE TO HAND

1 76MASTERS TO THE MOULD I I I

4

1 84 HARBOUR COMBAT TACTICS

1 88 IT MAKES NO SCENTS

1 90 TEN TIPS

1 96 FURTHER EDUCATION

1 98 INTERVIEW WITH ORIMOTO

209 THE ITALIAN JOB

21 8 YOUR MISSION, SHOULD YOU CHOOSE . . .

232 CONTRIBUTION

234 CREDITS

236 PARTING THOUGHTS

5

6

7

Rockfish rod. Rokkufisshuroddo

8

9

10

11

12

13

Left click for 100%

14

15

16

17

Super lightweight, sensitive, responsive, strong (fora rod of this type) and fast taper, fast action. Will castfrom 0.25g through 6g (all up) with properapplication. Not a rod to be forced in the cast, just letthe rod do the casting. Now available in the UKthrough importers www.proluresdirect.com for under£200 these rods will bring a smile to the face of anyserious LRF exponent. It would cost you close to toimport from Japan in the UK.

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

Get it in there!Ground like this demands skills,

patience, the right tackle and lots ofjigheads and lures.But it's worth it.

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

41

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

49

50

You 'must' set your drag. You cannot lay into these fish but, initial ly, youneed to apply 'some' pressure. But, why?Fish wil l pul l against the resistance and you can encourage a wrasse torun rather than hole up by leaning in straight away. Leaning in beingrelative to the available power you have which, isn't alot remember. Youmay have to get mobile over the rocks too and run the gauntlet. I f indoubt, don't make the cast.

Tricks to use are to throw your rod 'in front' of a side running wrasse.You can, l ike in carp fishing, confuse the wrasse and get him to stop,change direction and run the opposite way.

This is no good in open water where you might have a ton of reefextending for miles away in front of your position. Be realistic.

However: I t is more than doable and I think British anglers without agame or coarse fishing background forget that rods are designed tobend. This 'modern action' that is being pushed as the way forward isnothing more than sales hype. Most 99% of those rods are too stiff todeal with what I 'm suggesting. The true 'zoned' action or mid actionedbut fast taper rod is what is required. Fast action does 'not' mean fasttaper. Please research your requirements when even contemplating bigwrasse on super l ight game gear. Fast action means the rod wil lprogressively and quickly lay the law down to unruly fish but, sti l l protectthe l ine rating it was designed for.Be careful here, because, l ike with reels being marketed in the UK, thel ine ratings are for monofi lament. Mono has inherent stretch and helpsprotect itself. Braid has none. Braid has no shock resistance but, the bitedetection is so good it cannot be ignored. Or can it?The newer mainl ine formula's of fluorocarbon mean you could,technical ly, spool with a 5 or 6lb flourocarbon and use a leader 1 lb 'less'in breaking strain. I would suggest using bimini / bimini or other strongtest knots but, fluorocarbon is much the best when it comes to abrasionresistance. I f dealing with bolting fish or, the possibi lty of a big boltingpig whilst out fishing for bream, gobies etc then maybe, fluorocarboncould be a very wise investment.To end this, if in doubt, DON'T do it. However, we are currently fishingKieryu 'super-game' style for both wrasse and bass and that entai lsusing 5 - 7 meters of high quality carbon pole, to hand, fixed l ine, nomercy. More on this in the next issue.

51

52

53

54

55

56

57

58

59

60

61

62

63

64

65

66

67

68

69

70

Light Games and Revelations

An article by Matt Newcombe.

Although I 'm relatively new to lightgame fishing, let me tel l you - I 'mhooked. Not only am I completelyaddicted, it's changed the way Ithink about Lure fishing forever! Ialways knew this stuff was going tobe fun, as a child I 'd reguarly fishfor various mini species in my localharbour. The tackle may have beendifferent - 1 0lb gut and a size 6fresh water hook were the tools Ihad available to me. The bait?Nothing more than a slither ofbacon fat.Funny to think really, that as anadult, I 'm now spending hours andhours in the very same harbour. Ireal ly have come ful l circle. Thetackle has changed, drastical ly -0.6-8g rod, #0.04PE superl ine andan array of miniature lures and jigheads. This time though, I 'mcatching more and better fish.Why? Because I can feeleverything that is going on downthere. No longer am I stood waitingfor a fish to pick up the aroma of abait sat on the deck.I 'm moving constantly, searchingout the fish - noting any patternsthat emerge, and it doesn'ttake long for them to start forming.Water levels, structure, drainagerun off's and people feeding swans- plenty of fal l ing food for Harbourscavengers.

As a lure fisherman, I 've done okon bass and had a few wrasse,

employing the more modernlure methods. But something I 'veneglected is to really study thepatterns. I know thatcover and structure always holdfish - be that weed, boulders,ledges or pinacles etc. ButI never really stopped to questionwhy I had caught that particularfish, at that particular time, in thatparticular place. Now however, I do.With LRF and Light Game, thereare better opportunities to see thefish that you are targetting. Youcan't help but learn and rememberhow to catch a Pouting, if theyconsistantly take a bait in front ofyour eyes, in a very specific manor.For instance, I 've nearly alwayscaught Pouting using a straight tai lbait and a swung drop, along sideHarbour walls. The takes haveincreased when there is a shadowcast on the water from above thewall and I can get the bait to fal lalong the edge of the shadow.True ambush stuff.

I 'm learning every time I get out, Ijust can't help it. I love it and it'shere to stay with me. Bring on thesummer 'Light Game'. I defy anyserious Lure angler to try this andnot get addicted!

71

72

73

74

75

76

77

Sutton Harbour is locked at high tide and therefore maintains a highwater level at al l states of tide. This is perhaps one of the biggest factorsthat makes it such a great venue. I t may not hold the biggest fish, butwhat fish are there can be fished 24 hours a day. The water also remainsalmost permanently ‘slack’ which I think is preferred by the multipleScorpion, Goby, Blenny and Wrasse species that are present andcatchable. These are best targeted from within the gates and the besttechniques for al l seem to involve gently working tiny lures as close to‘structure’ (a wall or pontoon) and as close to the bottom as possible.Only time wil l tel l us what else is possible here, but I wouldn’t ruleanything out. The harbour is not al l fishable, but if you can reach a pieceof water, it’ l l be worth casting at!Outside of the main harbour gate, the water is ful ly tidal. Floating weedcan occasionally be a problem in the stretch by the water taxi, but mostoften this area is fishable. I t’s actual ly been one of our most consistentstretches to date. Around 1 00m long, it is well l i t, extremely comfortableand easily holds 1 2 or more anglers. Many species have been caughthere, including lure-caught firsts for a lot of us.Smelt have appeared present since day one (just sub-surface. Luresunder 1 .5”). More recently flounder have been putting in an appearanceand I think we’l l continue to see these caught in increasing numbers.Just keep any bait close to the bottom to be in with a shot. Pouting,Whiting, Scorpion Fish and more recently, Bass have also showed. I l iketo fish close to the bridge supports of the water taxi. Pinpoint casts wil lput you in the shadow of the bridge, but fish do show all along thisstretch – on both sides of the bridge.Carrying on towards Elphinstone (mentioned earl ier) the street l ightsdeplete and the target fish start to grow. The mini-species are lesscommon here but Pollack in particular seem to like the area. There arenumerous dark inlets in which to drop a lure. Carol ina rigs seem bestalong the start of this stretch as the walls are high and you often findyourself well above the water. The further you go towards the far point ofElphinstone however, the more I bel ieve it suits OTD techniques with rigsup to around perhaps 5g if conditions require it. Fish as l ight as possiblethough. Just remember the dropnet!Plymouth has so much scope for continued exploration that the area Ihave covered here is small in comparison to what else is sti l l out there.Matt Newcombe recently achieved six different species in one evening,and I ’m sure this is just a sign of things to come. We often fish in largegroups and if you wish to join us on one of our regular sessions then feelfree to contact me on ben@artoffishing.co.uk for upcoming dates andtimes - it’s the best way to get a quick gl impse of UK ‘l ight game’!

78

Flatfish

79

80

Sea Scorpion (Taurulusbubalis) Bul l head, FatherLasher, Scorpion Fish.

Quite possibly myfavourite target of al l theLight Rock Fish. Easilyrecognisable from it'shuge head and mouth.When removed from thewater, it displays it'sspines in an agressivemanor.

Don't panic though,despite their viciousappearance, they aren'tvenemous. Regionalcolour variations occur.

Found in numbers aroundman made structure andin rockpools.

Tactics.

For me locally, I havefound 'vertical J igging' theside of Harbour walls andassociated structurethe effective approach tothese critters. Have notso far found a particularlure pattern that standsout as a favourite. Takenon both straight andpaddletai l baits rangingfrom 1 1 /8'' to 2''.Hook size isn't so

important if specifical lytargeting Scorpion's, theycan easily take a 3/0!

Small 2-4'' l ifts of the rodtip, keeping it smooth, butal lowing to bump thebottom. Tend to take asthe lure hits the bottom.Not renowned for it'sfighting abil ity, but wil lcertainlytry and jam itself in anycracks or crevice in thestructure.

Remember, always de-barb your hooks for easyrelease of your capture.

Scorpion

An article by Matt Newcombe.

81

http://www.youngerphotography.com/LRF Portfolio

82

83

84

85

86

87

88

89

90

91

92

93

94

95

96

LRFDIY– Part 1 - Concept

For many the best solution for acquiring a new rod is to buy it. A numberof weeks spent reading catalogues, poring over web forums andinspecting the photos of other people’s rods and asking lots of questionsall gives you good idea of what you want. But what if what you want isn’tavailable? Or if you’re not satisfied with what’s out there?Custom building your own rod is the answer.I grew up in Austral ia fishing l ight and ultra-l ight spinning and fly tacklefor fast running, hard fighting fish that required a far off, del icate, finessepresentation. The demands and characteristics for a rod in thesesituations was not typical ly met by an off the rack rod at that time. Myfriends and I were left with only 2 options – have a rod custom built ordo it ourselves. Having a rod built for us wasn’t an option when you’re inUniversity and your spare cash is spent on lures and fuel to go fishing.So we began building our own. Over the last 21 years I ’ve built anumber of l ight and ultra-l ight rods (both spinning and baitcasters) aswell a number of fly rods in both graphite and split cane. The onecommon denominator in al l of these rods is the finesse applications theyare used for – much as for LRF.Having trawled the various LRF sites and looked at as many rods as Icould onl ine, the internal rod builder in me piped up again – “you canmake one as good as that”. And when I considered that I wanted certainperformance enhancing build protocols put in place I knew that thesearch would end up being for a blank rather than a finished rod.

An article by Nick Kingston

Continued. . .

The BlankThe most important criteria in any rod selection. A blank for an LRF rodis very special ised. Based on the rods being used in Japan and locally Idecided that I needed a 2 piece, fast or extra fast actioned blankbetween 7’4” and 7’6” to provide the best combination of length, actionand portabil ity. I weighed up between tubular and solid tip and havingread JBGs thoughts elected for a solid tip model. I hadn’t fished a solidtip rod since I was 1 8 and took an old cheap Shakespeare model andstuck it in the dri l l to use as a lathe to make my own version of a nibbletip. However blanks of this type aren’t freely available. Japanesefishermen tend not to be as DIY based as American and Austral ianfishermen, and with the language barrier, finding a suitable candidateinvolved a careful search. I was able to source a blank in Japan througha special ist company. The blank is 7’4” in length, casting weight is l istedat 0.4g to 5g and the blank is rated extra-fast and weighs just 32g. Theblank is a 2 piece blank.

97

98

PerformanceA massive draw card of custom building a rod is the abil ity to maximisethe possible performance by way of material , technique and systems.One thing I ’ve learnt during my years building and fishing l ight rods isthat you want to minimise the amount of additions on the rod –especial ly as you approach the tip and there are a number of customoptions I wil l be avail ing of on this rod.- Concept Guide System. The Fuji Concept Guide System ischaracterised by using more and smaller l ight guides at the tip and lessguides at the butt to “choke the line” quicker to create several benefits –particularly for l ight l ine anglers. Some of the LRF rods seem to use theconcept guide system based on an eye ball look but none of them areadvertising as using it that I can see, suggesting they either aren’t or areusing their own variation on it. Fuj i claim the fol lowing benefits:- Greater Sensitivity - A lighter rod tip and guides increases the vibrationwave dramatical ly over standard guides and tops. The system can helpan angler more accurately detect and interpret the most subtle contactwith a fish or underwater structure.- Greater Castabil ity - Trying to reach choice secluded water or in clearwater situations, where long casts are necessary to avoid spooking thefish, requires casting finesse to improve an anglers chances of a greatcatch. The system can significantly improve casting distance.- Increased accuracy - By using smaller rings and a lower profi le, thesystem helps reduce twist or torque, and wind resistance; keeping thel ine aligned with the blank. The action increases casting accuracy andefficiency.

Continued. . .

99

- Improved Weight Balance – the guides and tip-tops are up to 60%lighter than standard rod components. Using this system’s guidesprovides the angler with a remarkably well balanced rod that is easier onthe wrist and less fatiguing during a ful l day of fishing.

- Greater Hooking Power - Hooking power is affected by the number ofguides on the rod. More guides aid in an increase of hooking power bykeeping the l ine close to the rod. There is less power loss with thissystem so your chances of setting the hook and landing that fish aregreatly improved.

- Reduced Line Twist - Line twist is reduced in spinning tackle whenusing this system. A fisherman can easily cast 1 000 times in a day offishing and this kind of casting can create havoc with l ine twist. With aspinning rod built using this system, more guides lessen the angle asl ine passed through the guide, reducing pressure the guide, and in turnreducing the volume of l ine twist when casting and retrieving repeatedly.

- Maximises Rod Power - A rod equipped with this system is claimed toshorten the landing time of a fish by almost 35%. As a rod is poweredback when fighting a fish, drag resistance from the reel and guides areat maximum. More guides wil l maximize the total drag resistance as wellas improve the rod's action.

- Weight. Balancing weight is a major factor is how this rod wil l perform.As well as the Concept guide system which natural ly minimises weight,because the butt has to be balanced, some bling which adds weight isessential . Overal l weight wil l be reduced by the use of l ighter guides andbindings.

Continued. . .

100

101

In order to save weight and preserve the blanks crispness, minimalwraps wil l be extended beyond the foot of the guide and there wil l be nofancy wraps added. For finishing a low build epoxy wil l be applied in onlya single coat so as not to sandbag the action.

- Balance – my preference for rods that fish SPs and smaller lures is tohave a shorter butt length than that normally seen on factory rods. Thebutt wil l be very short with the rear grip being customised to only 40mmin length, the split being only 50mm, and the grip that surrounds thel ightweight Fuji VSS comfort seat being only 70mm in length. Lightsingle handed rods barely require a butt as you tend to fight fish byholding the rod in one hand, and winding with the other, unl ike heavieroutfits where the butt is levered against the body.

This style of arrangement is more often seen on Japanese aji rods.Mebaru specific rods tend to be single piece butts and longer due to thedifference in fishing styles, though this is not a hard and fast rule, andvariations are seen on both sides.

For casting, I l ike the balance point to be immediately in front of theforegrip, this is also the perfect balance spot for providing action to a lurewhen required or pivoting the rod to fol low OTD tactics. Final ly, bymaking a custom rod, I can ensure the rod balances precisely with myreel when loaded up with l ine.

- Eccentric stripping guide - Megabass pioneered this on their Ya-manbaStick rod series and later their Aaron Marten signature series. Theyinitial ly claimed that it added casting distance but due to the languagebarrier (and possibly the air of mystique that MB likes to maintain) nofurther evidence was forth coming. Builders of l ight spinning rods back inthe 1 970s in the US had already experimented with a reversed guide. Atthat time this had been done as way of counteracting the less advanceddesign of guides in those days.

When MB first released rods with the eccentric guide a number offorums had derided the system as “marketing” and of no real value.When considering the rod in a passive state this is correct – the ringitself sti l l stays in the same position – only the leg is in a different place.However recent analysis of the eccentric system shows that during anactive forward cast, as the blank flexes, the standard leg placementflexes in such a way that l ine is directed out and away from the blank.

Continued. . .

102

103

Megabass were sufficiently happy with the performance of the eccentricstripping guide system on light rods that they continue to use it on theirown Shoreluck series of LRF rods.- Drop shot hook keeper. This was chosen as the best way to secure anumber of different rig setups, from trebles on metal blades and microj igs, to weighted j ig head, to drop shot and split shot rigs. This wil l besecured far enough up the blank that you can’t touch it when retrievingnormally.

- Grips were altered to suit my own hand size both in length,circumference and shape. No foregrip wil l be added as on lightsinglehanded rods the rod is gripped around the reel when retrieving orfighting a fish. A foregrip is not only not required, but also addsunnecessary weight and also interferes with the abil ity to feel the blankwith the forefinger when retrieving. This has also recently caught favourin the US bass circuit where well known angler Gary Dobyns insisted onit for his new line of finesse spinning rods.- The reel seat chosen was a genuine Fuji VSS. Fuji claim this is themost comfortable of their l ight reel seat options and by setting it as adownlocking option, the blank is able to be accessed during retrieve asnoted above. The reel seat screw wil l be trimmed to length to ensure tono extra material wil l be left on that isn’t required. The black hood optionwas chosen in l ine with the overal l aesthetic. Graphite arbours wil l beused under the reel seat. Graphite arbours to my mind provide a morecrisp, cleaner transmission of feel than a polyurethane arbour and arealso l ighter. The days of masking tape arbours are thankful ly gone. Useof a graphite arbour wil l also mean that the glue bond between thearbour, the blank and the reel seat is permanent.

Continued. . .

104

The white tip wil l now “pop” out superbly visibi l i ty-wise in al l weatherconditions and you should not be able to tel l where I did the painting andwhere the factory clear coat starts. The reason I chose Pactra is that itwas designed for radio control led cars original ly and is specifical lydesigned not only to flex with movement of the substrata but alsocontains UV inhibitors so that it wil l not lose the colour in the years tocome.

Price

Even using the best blank I could find and the best quality componentsand including postage costs from Austral ia, the US and Japan the rodended up costing me just over €280 (approx. £235). This is right in thebracket of an “average” mid-range Japanese rod – under the retai l priceof Varivas Violente. But what I have instead is a one off, extraordinary,top of the range rod which wil l (in theory), wipe the floor with the factoryrods.

Blank T-Russell Super Mebaru-M 0.4g-5gGuides 2 x Fuji TATSG (20, 1 0), 6 x Fuji TLSG 4.5Tip Fuji TFSTReel Seat Fuji VSSGrips Frogley Camo EVA

- Visual Bite detection – most LRF rods are equipped with a white tipand some are entirely coloured. The blank manufacturer does offer theoption of having the tip painted at extra cost. However, I decided that Iwould colour the tip myself. Colouring a tip or any part of a blank isgeneral ly quite easy. You need to scuff the section to be painted quitethoroughly – but careful ly. Ideal ly you are aiming to remove the entireclear overcoat that is present without damaging the scrim of thegraphite underneath.

I wil l coat this scuffed section in one coat of white Pactra brand paint,then a coat of fluorescent Pactra paint, then a coat of clear fuel sealerPactra paint.

105

106

107

108

Continued. . .

109

110

111

112

Left cl ick for 1 00%

113

114

115

116

117

118

119

120

121

122

123

124

125

126

127

128

129

130

131

132

133

134

135

Simplify-..and then add lightness

Colin Chapman was talking about his design ethic for Lotus racing cars,but it got me thinking about the key things I ’ve learned over recentmonths about lrf methods. Although I ’d sti l l consider myself a novice, Ihope that a semi confessional article wil l shorten the learning curve foranyone contemplating lrf. This article also lays down a personal markerfor me, in that a public admission of my development areas should makeme get out there and do something about it.

Adding l ightness part 1P

Well , as a very l imited fisherman targeting mackerel and snipe I thoughtit was very fair to go out with 30 g + lures and a rod of at least thatcasting weightP. if I landed the occasional wrasse, pol lack or bass Iused to feel very virtuous about being so sporting. I ’d contrast that with ableak February night session recently, when I felt a tiny bite in about 1 5feet of water, with a 1 g weight on a borrowed rod. “Sti l l outrageouslyheavy!” boomed Keith- and he was only partial ly joking!

I ’ve spent a few hours now alongside guys fishing with 0.5 – 5 g castingweight rods and all this has made me reconsider what “l ight” actual lymeans. Admittedly, winter fishing in the harbours does promote eversmaller lures, l ighter weights, braids and rods but al l of this justreinforces that lrf is a fantastic approach to fishing throughout everyseason.

For now, learning the basics in mid winter is a continuing challenge but Ihave come back with solid learning from every session. I have onlyblanked a couple of times and I know that hours spent now wil l stand mein good stead when the fish get bigger and the bait cycle begins again.

Adding l ightness part 2P.

As a newbie, my natural incl ination is sti l l to carry around my personalstock of lures and jig headsPprobably not great in money terms butheavy enough to matter. Carrying a backpack around sl ippery rocks isn’tgreat from a balance perspective, and makes me feel very clumsy andawkward. My learning here is to travel l ight, which wil l then increasebalance and safety.

An article by Neil Macfarlane.

Continued. . .

136

I ’m sti l l embarrassed that one night on a set of boulders I opened mytackle box, cursing that I could not find a level surface. Out popped myfishing knife, which clattered, agonisingly, down between the rocks.Some presents are more precious than others. Damn.

I haven’t actual ly lost my entire set of j ig heads yet but this is down toluck, not judgement. I can also see now why those “in pocket” sets aresuch a great idea and a great example of what lrf is al l about. Al l ied tothis is a growing sense of organisation, or more likely a lack of it. How isit that I sti l l routinely forget my head torch, braid scissors, or somethingreally simple? This drives me nuts and should be easy to prevent.Travell ing l ight would make it a lot easier for me to go through that “mustnot forget” l ist before leaving the house. Must try harder!

Sensory perceptionP

The best learning I have had so far took only a few minutes and I ’drecommend it to anyone. This was a 45 minute guiding session where Ipractised lowering j ig heads on to a dry sl ip wallPup and down,slowlyPwith my eyes shut. I wouldn’t necessari ly recommend this inbroad daylight unless you are very resil ient and have a very good senseof humour!

Getting in tune with how the senses learn to translate that “bump” is, forme, central to everything that fol lows. That session then concentrated onusing progressively l ighter and lighter j ig heads unti l I was no longer ableto “feel” the j ig head in a fal l through the water, al l with a “count down” tomeasure depth and rate of fal l . I didn’t use a lure at this point as it wasall about getting my senses in tune. I ’ve found that once you abandonsight (and it can become marginal ised at night, anyway), the lrfexperience becomes a lot more intuitive. As a result, I am now a lot morerelaxed in darkness and I now know that this does come with practiceand exposure to unl it marks.

Tackle tarteryP

I read once that tackle catches more anglers than fish! As a newbie, Iwas completely overwhelmed with the range of rods, reels, l ines, j igheads, lures and so on. I f you are lucky enough to join bumbles, justusing what works is a good way to get started.

Continued. . .

137

lrf is practiced in so many different styles of retrieves, fal ls and rigs etcthat it is tempting to buy an awful lot of “starter gear” on impulse, withoutactual ly knowing that it wil l suit the season, your location, or whatever isswimming around in front of you.

I now know that perfectly good quality lrf rods and reels can be boughtfor a modest outlay, and that, with a bit of care and advice, expensiveimpulse buys can be avoided. The rod I had bought to start with hasproved to be too heavy for the current winter fishing but wil l be ok in thespringPso I wil l end up with two or three rods and reels plus sparespools. This wil l cover most situations at my level of experience andskil l , which is of course the one thing you just can’t buy in a shop.Simply buying better kit doesn’t buy better results, although better gearbacked by the investment of hard hours on the water wil l obviouslymake a difference.

As for lures, a basic collection of 2 and 3 inch soft plastics with a mix ofstraight and paddle tai ls has been ok. Even so, I ’ve bought far morethan I ’ve actual ly used, so buying “l ittle and often” might be a goodadage to adopt here. I ’ve come to the same conclusion on light metalsalthough that was because I once spent the thick end of £1 00 in aboutas many secondsPouch.

Abandon what you think you knowP.

I ’d say that coming to lrf in a “know nothing” state might actual ly be anadvantage. Catching pouting on a summers evening persuaded me thatI ’d absorbed a lot of conventional wisdom that wasn’t actual ly true!Similarly, I now realise that a lot of things that I had thought were “true”are just the way that non lrf’ers do itP.so here in Jersey I only everfished a particular mark on the flood, and then went home. I now knowto fish it on the ebb!

I am beginning to understand that a lot of the real ski l l in lrf is knowinghow to find the pattern, and then replicate it unti l i t stops working, thenre-cal ibrate, and then do it again, and again. Sticking with a favouritelure, mark and state of tide just l imits your own potential and enjoyment.Alternatively, revisiting marks at new states of tide is very satisfying andwidens potential for what you can catch, where, when and how.

Continued. . .

138

This for me is where bumbles are an essential part of the lrf approachbecause they’ve helped me to practice safely in groups, with a lot ofbanter and with accelerated learning. I also think that bumbles are areally defining feature of this style of fishing in that they are veryinclusive and all knowledge is freely shared and developed. I am veryexcited about seeing 2011 unfolding in bumbles, blogs and future lrf/ hrfrockfish fi les. This seems like a good point to say thanks to everyoneI ’ve met at these sessions for their humour, encouragement and advice-it is making a difference and I hope to be able to pass this on to peoplein turn.

And final ly back to where we started. As a “modular man”, one of mynext guided sessions wil l be with a 1 0 foot garden cane, with fixed l ineand leader. So the options wil l be l imited and if I have not cracked “onthe drop” methods, I wil l not succeed. Simplicity and l ightness wil l becaptured perfectly in that exercise and I ’ l l gauge how much I havelearnedP.or not.

More on this and updated learnings next timeP.

139

140

141

142

143

144

145

146

147

148

As it turned out, it wasn't broken,they ALL run in an angulardirection. It looks strange but theangle closely matches the spool'spinde' angle on your fixedspool reel. This means the coilsof your braid are hitting theguides, square on.In a quick summary, this rod isfantastic, well made, superbbalance, novel and has theheritage of Norio Tanabe writtenall over it. He founded the sportso can you really go wrong?These rods aren't cheap I'l l warnyou now but, if you arediscerning, check it out.

Ratings

Build 1 0/1 0Performance 1 0/1 0Cost 8/1 0Relevance 9/1 0

Overall 9.5 / 1 0

Like an F1 car, fantastic performance, but,not cheap to run or buy. I guess it's downto where you want to be on the startinggrid?

149

150

151

152

Rockpooling

With a multitude of mini speciesl iving in rockpools they are a greatplace to see what happens in themacrocosm world. I f you don't knowwhat that means, lets have aconcise lesson into that word'macrocosm'.

A rockpool has it's own ecosystem,it's own world in a pool. What islearned by observation there mightbe taken to the greater outsideworld beyond. Like, the moonrevolves around the earth and werevolve around the sun and the sunrevolves. . .

These are the ratios of l ife, in apool, sitting right there in front ofyou.

"Gobies are small , not worthbothering with." Really?

I find the chase better than thecatch. I always have. I don't actual lyfish for the fish or the glory ofholding up a fish for al l to see.Coming from a guy who promotesfish, fishing and all thingscontroversial , that might seem likea total ly wrong statement to bemaking but, it's true alright. I fish forthe 'bite'. This has been the case allmy sea angling career. I wil l admitthat in my match angling days, fishnumbers, accumulated weight etcwere the major, no, the only goal.No longer though.

We are often seen poking the tipsof our LRF rods under l ittle ledges,working the upper tier rockpools, orjust below the low tide thresholdlooking for blennies, gobies,scorpion fish and basical ly,anything that swims.

Why?

To learn!

All fish have mannerisms. All fishwil l teach you something. All thingsl iving have a purpose and are herethrough mil l ions of years ofevolution. They know a trick or two.So learn. Believe me, if you havethe resolve to find and hunt gobiesand blennies, that very samemethod of deduction used to locateand catch them can be applied toso called more worthy species suchas bass. Watch how these smallfish react to lures. Match the luresize relative in size to the quarry.Most don't and it is l ike someonetrying to feed you a 6ft roundcheeseburger in one bite. I t isn'treal ly an option right? No matterhow tasty or great it might look. I t isunrealistic.

So, with al l the mini species aroundand the fact that rock pools wil loften provide a clear waterenvironment in even the roughestweather, go and give it a try. Youmight be an adult but release yourinner child and go enjoy yourself.

153

154

155

156

Weight for it

Before we touch on this topic Iwould really suggest you have afirm understanding of the conceptssurrounding both 'freefal l ' and'curvefal l '.These concepts are explained inthis issue and you should havethem 'first'.

Surely though, a free fal l ing j ig isexactly that, freefal l ing? Well , yes,and no. Things get in the way eitherby design, or by accident. Bothscenarios can mean more fish.Note the title, 'Weight for it'. Now,this is a play on words and don'tconfuse it with our other muchloved saying, 'wait for it'.

Lets have a look at what I 'm gettingat. Take 1 X 7g round ball j igheadwith a standard length shankedhook and mount a 5" stick bait l ikea senko on it. Make sure you mountthe lure perfectly and symmetrical ly.This, at this stage is 'vital '. Do notignore the importance of a straightmounted lure.

Either go out in daylight or evenbetter, in gin clear water, by night,under a strong light source. Castthe lure in but, no futher than 1 .5rod lengths away and hold the rodtop sti l l . This becomes a fulcrumaround which the lure wil l swing.

Note the speed at which itcurvefal ls. Then, take a little morethan 1 .5 rod lengths of l ine, l ift the

rod and drop the lure right at yourfeet but, in the water. Watch it fal l .What happens in both cases?

You wil l notice that the curve fal l isstraight arc'd and, the freefal l is anose heavy dive. This may begood, it may not be. Bite off 1 " oflure and repeat. Sti l l straight?Probably.

Bite off another 1 " and things mightget interesting in the freefal l . Thelure might start a spiral l ing path.

However, the weight wil l be themajor force involved here. Repeatthe test with 5g, 3.5g and 2g orless. Do it and watch. You'l l learnalot.

Continued. . .

157

158

Basical ly, the more distributed theweight is, the more it wil l spiral.

Hook length itself wil l help thedistribution. So, we might have asmall lrf style j ighead rig with a 2"straight lure that, with a shortshanked hook wil l dive, yet, with along shanked hook, wil l spiral.

Change that lure to a paddle typeand the hydrodynamic resistancecould 'tip' the lure and it wil l'parachute' down, slowly rockingfrom side to side. Rubbish I hearyou say.

Well , actual ly, a paddle-tai led lurewil l only activate if the weight andit's distribution al lows it to do so.So, 0.5g on PE 0.6 with a size 1

hook and a 3" narrow bodiedpaddle, the lure might not 'kick' atal l .

Change the weight but 'not' thehook size to a point where the lureis fal l ing fast enough and, the tai lmight kick but, perhaps not straightdown. Add enough weight and thelure wil l rocket or nose dive but,perhaps too fast for winter fish tointercept.

You might consider completelyignoring al l of this but, it is the 'root'of j ig fishing. Presentation startshere. The fal l rate is paramount.Play with it, understand it.

159

http://www.youngerphotography.com/

160

161

162

163

164

Barbless

Barb or no barb? This is a topic thatwil l fire up all sorts of animosity onforums, led by people who shouldactual ly know better. The simplefacts behind LRF and sister systemHRF mean that if you fol low thebasics and grasp the fundamentals,you'l l soon be catching loads offish. Yes, I 've said this over andover in this issue but I 'm reallytrying to bang it home. Blanks wil lbecome the oddity.So, this said, the fact is, that amajority of anglers initial effortscould be concentrated aroundharbours, it makes sense to lookafter the fish we are seeking.

Many of these fish might be locallyresident or, l ike wrasse, extremelyslow growing.

Of course, some wil l choose toperhaps eat some catch l ike pollackbut, I 'd sti l l total ly advocatebarbless because you can easilyreturn unwanted or undersized fishwith far less damage. I have fished6 and 9 points on hard lures fordecades. The number of fish wemust have damaged leaves mewith a bitter taste in my mouth.However, we all learn, or should,and as a matter of evolution, wenow almost always, fish barbless.

I t matters not whether or not it's aplug, a flutter lure or a soft plasticon a jig. De-barb it. You'l l read allthe nul l arguments from those whosay they bump fish etc. They areusing rods that are too stiff. The rodshould protect the l ine and cushionlunges from fish or pick up fromwave activity. Sure, you 'might' losea few if you were extremelyunluckly but, with practice and alittle aforethought, you wil l soon getthe hang of it.

You might experience sessionswhere 50 fish are more thanpossible. What is the point ofpreaching catch and release if weare going to slowly commit thesefish to a slow death? In my viewand the view of people i fish with,there is no point. Well , there is apoint, just no barb.

Take a few seconds to de-barb.You know it makes sense.

165

How hard is it tode-barb, really?

This one effort, madebefore fishing 'will 'make a real difference.

166

LRFBoat (Night Game)

I am slowly being convertedinto the principals of LRF fishingbeing more accustomed to Bassfishing. Do not be put off byspending vast amounts on tackle,start on good reasonably pricedtackle as I have.I digress and must get back to myfirst boat LRF trip which took placeon a lovely flat calm evening a fewnights ago. Joined by two LRF fanswe arrived at the boat, and after asafety check of fuel, l ife jackets,radio etc, we slipped off themoorings heading into thedarkness.Operating the boat in darkness isextremely different to day timefishing, being heavily rel iant on achart plotter, depth sounder. Somelocal knowledge of tides, currentsetc is essential and alwaysremember safety first.The tide was dropping away quicklyand was not ideal but the calmconditions made up for that. Weinitial ly tried around the harbourarea, which has recently resulted infish. Nothing doing and we decidedthat we would be better off indeeper water near to a longbreakwater that juts out from anearby castle.I was at this stage not convincedabout fishing a lure in totaldarkness with very l ittle movement,but encouraged by Callum and Carlwe made our way into the inkydarkness. I decided that we would

drift over a reef that lay just off theeastern side of the breakwater witha depth of water of about 35 ft. Twoof us were using mini xlayers on 3gjig heads whilst Carl was using ametal J ig.As we drifted slowly it was not longbefore fish came to the boat.Pollack with an average size of1 .5lbs were abundant. Al l of ushooked fish including al l three of ushooking up at the same time. Wecontinued different drifts taking fishon most drifts, before long it wastime to return back to the harbour.I am no expert at LRF, but thingsslowly began to fal l into place, andeverything that Kevin and Keith hadtalked about made sense. I am agreat believer in adapting methodsto suit your style of fishing, this wil lbe the case when it comes to mygreatest love bass fishing. I intendto adapt what I am learning fromLRF and the website to my style ofbass fishing. Light j ig heads andlures that can be drifted down overreefs etc.Boat LRF must be different fromshore LRF as you have to contendwith wind and currents at the sametime, throw in the darkness and it isa total ly new experience which Iintend to continue during the wintermonths before the onset ofsummer.

An article by Alan Aubert.

167

168

169

The suspense is killing me

Suspended LRF lures (float and no float).

This wil l be something for you to'grow into'. I cannot stress enoughthe importance of trying this methodas described because, it wil l bestowmuch confidence upon you whenyou suceed. And, you wil l , suceed.

We have over the last few yearssuffered attempted ridicule bypeople 'not in the know' aboutfishing hard suspending lures insaltwater for bass. They keeplaughing, we keep catching fish. I t'sa fair trade off isn't it. You see,without going into it, most 99% ofthe worlds hard lures are designedfor freshwater. Freshwater is less'dense' than saltwater and so youneed to displace less sea water tofloat the same object. Temperaturehas a big effect on the way thingsfloat or sink too. The colder it is, theslower an object wil l sink and themore dense the saltwater becomes.

So, a lure that suspends infreshwater at 1 6 degree's C wil lfloat l ike a cork in saltwater. Makethat temperature 1 9 degrees andthe suspending lure wil l slowly sinkin freshwater and slow the risedown in salt. As you can guess, thisis a nightmare.

We tune lures on the water, on theday if need be to suspend for upto5 minutes at any given depth. Lureshave bibs, you can wind down andget the lure there in the first place.

How do you do this with a soft lure?

Dropshot would seem the obviousanswer but, drop shotting doesn'tal low for fish to suck a lure very fardue to it's close proximity to thel ine. I t is also a fixed positionpresentation.(Meaning you have tophysical ly move the drop shotweight mostly yourself)

We have used LRF rods fromharbour walls and pontoons andlowered lures into position slowlyand waited. This works. I t takesresolve to see it work but trust me,it works. We use the long Japanesestyle poles to accompany this too.

The best method we have found formobil ity and sensitivity, with theoption to fish at al l depths is thefloat j ig system. Honestly, havingfaith in hanging a small soft lureunder a float, in the dark, in thedepths of winter takes realhardcore resolve. You may have tofind the suspension depth of thetarget fish. Maybe pollack are 1 6ftdown, in which case you'd fish 1 5ftdeep. Fish are looking up for foodin general or horizonatal ly whilst ina suspended state themselves.

Lets take a quick look at the float j igsystem in a harbour scenario a bitmore in depth. Continued. . .

170

Let us assume those fish areindeed 1 6ft down. They initial lyshowed an interest in fol lowing afew lures up and maybe one or twohave been caught. Now, they aren'tshowing. Moved on maybe? I 'l lhazzard a guess at not.

Chances are, they have just gotover their initial curiosity. So, younow have to go to them and offerthem something new. Drop shottingis fine if the tide height is stable but,fish suspending at a given depthwil l , in my experience, stay relativeto that depth unti l forced to dootherwise where they normallymove. I recommend a long sl imfloat that bites the water but sitsdown in it. A long float with a directroute to a jig and soft lure that wil lset the float. There are other wayswith cane and wire stems and nostem designs but, for now, staysimple and make sure your floatcocks on the jig and plastic(combined weight) alone. For thisexperiment, lets talk about floatscarrying less than 7g.

On a rod of 7ft, you'l l need a slidingfloat attached bottom end only. Tiea stop knot of whipping thread onthe l ine and use a tubular tippedrod. Solid tipped rods wil l snag anytransition of the stop knot and it wil lbe a nightmare. Of course, you mayonly be fishing 3ft deep and thiswouldn't be needed. In fact, thoughit can be done, the action of the luresinking and float setting as it hits

stop could mean you missing many,many takes during the fal l phase.

This is why we use 5, 6 meter andlonger poles or ISO/Bolognese typerods so we get the depth 'without'the need to fish a sl ider. I digress.The point is, eventual ly, your lurewil l be sitting under the float andyou'l l be wondering what the hellyou are doing fishing a bit of plasticunder a float that is just sittingthere.

Have no fear. I f you play with thepresenatation depth, the lure colourand size, sooner or later that float isgoing to do something wonderful. I tcould sink away out of sight, itmight rock, or ti l t over, it might justrise quickly out of the water. I tmight start travell ing where there isno current. Either way, that is a fishon your j ig. Strike. Quickly, shortand sweet but strike, don't just sitthere watching the show.

I 've only briskly brushed over thewhole world that is float fishing. TheJapanese fish in the sea with floatsjust as British anglers have infreshwater for centuries. Our usualsea float fishing is crude beyondbelief by comparison. Love it orloathe it, consider it pure formfishing or not, it is a very exitingmethod that can present lures in away other systems cannot. Oneworth considering and we'l l coverspecific types in future issues.

171

172

173

A pole can allow you to present floats, lures, smallbaits and jigs in such delicate and precise ways that itbecomes hard to beat at times.Even the 'spookiest' fish can be fooled. Just a verysimple, very effective way of fishing and one thatshouldn't be confined to freshwater in Britain.

174

Historical ly, the Japanese have hadaccess to a great material inbamboo. Many high end, handmade poles in the country are sti l lbamboo and I must admit, woodhas an action unmatched in anymodern material . I remember myearly days and total ly miss themany wood rods I used to own. Isti l l do own a few very old HardyPalakona cane fly rods and theserarely see daylight now I l ive on ariverless island.

So, pole types I looked at were. . .

Keiryu, Ayu, Hera, Dobu, Tenkara,Super Game and more. All havetheir own needs and I soon foundout that the Japanese were fishingfor mebaru (small rockfish) withpoles. Keiryu and Ayu are streambased with bait and lures andTenkara and Dobu are based upontwo completely different fly

presentations. Hera is the use ofpole to hand with very delicatefloats for Japanese crucian carp.We are fishing the jig, the fly andthe float with a combination of al l ofthose in saltwater.

In future issues we wil l bediscussing our exploits on wrasse,bass, pol lack and all manner of fishusing these methods but for now,be aware that in the harbours, ifyou can get close to the water, it isabsolutely a kil ler method forpresenting tiny lures OTD or underthe float suspended. OTD is l ikelythe area where the long polecomes into it's own. You canphysical ly lower the lure to the fishwith an accuracy unsurpassed byany other method I am aware of.

You could say, we've been caningem.

175

176

177

178

179

180

181

182

183

184

185

186

187

188

Scented offerings

An article by Nick Kingston.

I t has been shown in tests conducted in the US that scented/flavouredlures are more likely to be held on to by fish (testing was carried out onlargemouth bass with aniseed scented vs unscented lures).Most soft plastic lures these days are scented. There are some that arenot however, and hard bodies and metals/vibes are not scented.There are a number of commercial scents available, ranging from thepheromone based Squidgy S-Factor that is sold with the Austral ianSquidgy Pro Series, to various largemouth bass centric “sauces” andthrough to Berkley Gulp Spray. Spike-it also offer dips and pens that notonly scent the lure but colour it as well – perfect for hotspotting.For those who don’t want to chase these items around the world, forminimal cost a decent home-made version can brewed up at home,quickly and cheaply.Ingredients:Small jar VaselineScent (I l ike aniseed and crab, but you can get just about any scent youwant now - Clam, Herring, Coffee, Earthworm, Tournament, Shrimp,Shad, Grape, Garl ic, Crawfish, Cricket) - try and use decent quality purescents as sold for making SPs if possible (try www.bricoluerre.com orwww.lurecraft.com) - they smell better, are more potent and don't go"off".

Instructions1 ) Remove the lid from the jar of Vaseline2) Microwave slowly - I start at 50% power for 3 mins in a 1 000W oven,then bursts of 30 secs at a time, stirring constantly unti l soft and gloopy -Vaseline wil l NOT go completely l iquid - it just loosens3) Stir in scent - use about twice as much for this as you would for an SP(about 1 teaspoon for 200ml Vaseline) - stir thoroughly4) Microwave for a further 2 bursts of 30 secs each5) Stir again6) Leave overnight to reset7) use sparingly, l iberal ly or however you want

You can also get yourself in your significant others good books bymaking a pure vanil la version with the expensive real vanil la essence ora chocolate version with 1 00% cocoa powder – pour or scrape into afancy tin and give it to her as l ip balm (or use it yourself for those coldwinter night fishing trips)

Continued. . .

189

I t real ly is that easy.Aniseed gives best results as it’s a very strong and stable smell . A fewdrops wil l work, as wil l a lot of drops. I t’s also one of the less invasivesmells if you’re making this at home, and it has a proven track record onbass (think Megabass X-Layer). I l ike to add a bit of something fishy(crab is good or shrimp) to give it a nice usable outdoors smell .

When you’re using it remember this is to cause the fish to “hold on” for afraction longer than the unscented lure. I t won’t create a trai l the wayGulp juice does and it won’t actively trigger a fish strike the way S-Factor does. You're only rubbing in a smear and remember this stuffsticks to the lure.

A touch of this and you’re able to customise any of your lures toincrease your catches.

190

191

192

193

194

195

196

Further Education.

You'l l notice, or can't miss the Japanese accents made throughout thise-magazine. Why? Well , l ike with anything you've learned, you shouldremember and honour it's roots. As mentioned in the introduction, I havehad my head buried in Japanese websites, flash cards, dvd, cd, audio,tv, catalogues, books and more.

I wil l tel l you now, that without the research, we wouldn't be here now.Of course, we don't bl indly fol low and neither should you but the factremains that the Japanese have been rockfishing far longer thananyone in Britain. Their fishing history is fascinating, colourful and thelanguage in which it is written, beautiful . The call igraphy is something tobehold.

I f you search google, yahoo, bing or many of the western searchengines with 'rock fishing', 'LRF', 'Light Game', etc you'l l l ikely bedirected to al l the stuff we've written on the jerseybassguides blog. Thisis much of the stuff written about Japanese rock fish, aj i , mebaru, kisu,chinu, ISO etc is al l in Japanese, written by Japanese and why shouldn'tit be? We all write our websites in English don't we.

I would suggest you get some Japanese fishing catalogues, magazinesand some childrens books. Experts often tel l you to learn hiragana firstand they are l ikely correct but, the magazines have a real tendency tohightl ight/accent the headlines with katakana. Kanji can appear midsentence and of course, there is no obvious punctuation or ruleset.

A nightmare? Pretty much, yes.

You'l l need to instal l a Japanese language pack on your system.windows 7 is a pain in that you need the higher end versions to be ableto do this. Then, find a virtual Japanese kana keyboard, a romanji -kana converter, a kanji dictonary and a bunch of learning guides. We allpronounce common Japanese words wrong because they havedifferent vowel sounds but you'l l soon grasp the basics. Try 'ka ra te' or'ko i ', they are romanised Japanese. From here you can build hiraganaand katakana words.

Type these words into a search engine and you'l l be faced withhundreds and possibly thousands of useful sites that would neverappear under the english search. Give it a try, you'l l be surprised at howmuch info is real ly out there.

197

198

199

200

201

202

203

204

205

206

207

208

209

210

211

I read about LRF for the first time on the web about two years ago, insome Japanese site; I saw Japanese anglers with those thin andultral ight rod fishing “mebaru style”. I saw them catching the same littlefish I caught when I was a child with a pole rod without reel searchingthem between the rocks. Came back in my mind a period of great greatfishing fun. An enjoying fishing philosophyP..a way of l ife I thought lostforever. . . . . . . .

Here come the second word: challenge. I t’s about 5 years I total ly leftthe natural baits for lure fishing: the challenge was just to catch the fishof my childhoodPP.but with lures.

This aim remained in stand-by for a while, than I decided to try an initialapproach. But I didn’t want to try with “adapted” tackle, so I bought anUltral ight spinning rod with solid carbon upper part of the tip, a ShimanoDiaflash ULS 237 0,8-8 gr. ; than a Shimano Twin Power 2500 FC, aSunline PE 6 lb spoolP..

I had everything I needPor not? What lures could I try? I find in theMaria range the Beak Heads, small j igheads from 1 to 3 gr. with a n.4hook. Then some soft plastic lure:

Maria Sea MonkeyMaria Dart SquidMaria Shirasu

Some very small metal j ig

River2Sea Searock 7gr.Maria l ittlebit 5 gr.

And some strange Japanese jig:

Osamu’s factory Corn.

My first time in LRF was quite comic; I feel strangeP.as I was makingsomething with no senseP.the first 2-3 casts, thenPPSTRIKEP.wellit’s quite comic to tel l STRIKE for something l ike this:

212

213

214

Some gobius and some viper fish, very aggressive with lure and verydangerous with their poisonous spikes. My experience is made of near-ground retrieve( bouncing and jerking for rockfish but also very slowretrieve dragging the soft ground for breams), and fast jerking from thebottom to the surface with l ittle metal l ic j ig for l ittle pelagic (something asJapanese aji).But you can feel that improvement are quite endlessP..now I ’mconscious that LRF is not only l ittle fish targeted, but can sure point anyfish in your fishing range.With the same tackle I tried also to use some little eging lure (YamashitaNaory) and find also a great fun also in daylight, when usually eging hasnot too much results.My personal thought: LRF is not a technique replacing the “traditional”lure fishing, but it isn’t a way to fish when you can’t use traditional way.I t’s a own way of fishing, with its difficulties, with it’s rules and a greatgreat space for invention and creativity. And, for me, first of al l , a way toexperience catching species everyone didn’t even think on a lure.

215

216

217

218

Mission LRF (Ourman In South Africa)

An article by Stephen Olsen

Well when I left the U.K I never had I game plan and to be honest neveractual ly knew what to expect. I had about 8 days fishing available so Idecided to target the species I knew best and then take it from there. Igrew up in the Eastern Cape of South Africa soI had a massive advantage, local knowledge.

First task was to scout the fishing shops to see what LRF tackle wasavailable and to introduce my Dad to LRF equipment. Now his acompetent angler in most types fishing and as I anticipated he quicklyrealised this type fishing could be really effective.Back to the fishing shops and the first stumbling block. Reels, j ig headsand braid weren’t a problem but finding a suitable rod and soft plasticswere. Small soft plastics are virtual ly non existent and rods seem to beabout 1 0 inches to short. We eventual ly settled for a 3-1 2 gram BlueMarl in rod which was good value for money and a few packets ofBerkley Camo Worm. With 1 0 rand to the pound I couldn’t resist abargain and got stuck in with some extra j ig heads etc.

219

220

221

222

223

224

225

226

227

228

229

230

231

232

233

234

Credits

Editor: Keith White.

Article Contributors: Keith White, Kevin White, Carl Booth, AndyMarquis, Stephen Olsen, Matt Newcombe, Alan Aubert, NickKingston,Yaminomusuko Dakara, Neil Macfarlane, Pierluigi Marzo, BenField, Takayoshi Orimoto (Ecogear. jp), Andy Kendrick, Mike Sull ivan

Graphics: SVG clip-art (courtesy of www.openclipart.org), custom SVGby Keith White (Inkscape). All Japanese Kanji , Katakana and Hiraganacall igraphy by Keith White (Inkscape and Wacom Bamboo). Photo editsin Gimp.

Photography: Keith White, Kevin White, Carl Booth, Stephen Olsen,Andy Marquis, Matt Newcombe, Dave Fitzpatrick, YaminomusukoDakara, Paul Gunning, Ben Field, Nick Kingston, Andrew Younger,Pierluigi Marzo, Andrew Otten (micro work), Takayoshi Orimoto andNorio Tanabe (Courtesy of Ecogear and Nories JP)

Proof readers: Tom Laws, Mike Sull ivan, Nick Kingston, GrahamBlackmore, Dave Fitzpatrick, Neil (The Machine) Macfarlane, TonyMarshall (previewer and feedback)

Japanese language (nihongo) assistance and critique:Yaminomusuko Dakara (Tokyo JP)

Format Inspiration: Zeno Hromin's (Surfcasters Journal) and manyJapanese magazines.

Software: OpenOffice, Scribus, Gimp, Inkscape.

235

Index OfAdvertisers1 2 AGM DISCOUNT FISHING (UK)

26 MONSTER TACKLE

34 ITALIA FISHING UK

40 VEALS MAIL ORDER

46 PROLURES.CO.UK

52 MEGABASS LURES LTD (UK)

59 BRICOLEURRE.COM

73 THE ART OF FISHING (ECOGEAR)

94 LURE HEAVEN UK

1 22 THE SURFCASTERS JOURNAL

1 31 JERSEYBASSGUIDES

1 33 KINGPIN (REELS) UK

1 34 BASS LURES UK

1 41 ROSDEN GLASSFIBRE (JERSEY)

1 47 NORIES

1 49 ART OF FISHING (NORIES)

1 63 TOPWATER LURES UK

1 83 SUNLINE (UK)

1 94MONSTER TACKLE

202 ECOGEAR

232 SUNLINE

233 UKBASSFISHING.COM

236