Last year I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to fish as Pro staff for Seaspin. I jumped at the idea and looked at it as something new, a challenge and there products really interested me. After a season testing there lures and other accessories I can now shed some light on some of there products but unfortunately not all where used in vengeance and there’s plenty more testing to do next year…

I’ll start with my main tackle, nothing changed here much but I do have more of a view on some of the gear I have been using thoroughly.

Rods:

Daiwa Infeet Extreme EG80

This is still my ”Go too” Bass rod that I use for everything, day in, day out and it has performed faultlessly throughout the season. I believe these rods are no longer manufactured but I feel it still deserves my praise! From chucking 42gm Savage gear sandeel’s to fishing a 4inch soft plastic on a 3gm jighead this rod does all of it and still gives me plenty of feel at both ends of scale and doesn’t feel out of place! With the slightly softer tip than my previous rods it also makes it a pleasure working hard plastics, jerking, twitching and working them hard. No idea what I’ll do when it’s gone!

HTO Rockfish UL 73 1-8gm

My new LRF rod! At 30 pounds can you really go wrong? Well I have to say over the past few months I have been getting out a good few times with the UL gear and this rod has really impressed me! The bite detection for me is absolutely fine and I have taken all manner of species from Goby’s and Smelt to 2lb Wrasse. It feels to me like the rod has a serious amount of backbone too, enough to tame many species and not be under gunned. I’m certainly no Pro LRF’er but I’m really looking forward to using this rod more over the next year. I feel it may be difficult to fish metal lures on with the super soft tip but for that I will have to wait and see.

Reel’s:

Daiwa Ballistic 3000SH

This year I haven’t needed to purchase a new reel! The Ballistic has lasted another year and still going strong and easily fishable though I am considering trying the new Ballsitic when I find some spare cash… I have serviced the reel once with a top up of oil and grease but that has been it for the year and a half I have owned it and this came pretty early on. Though I do really like this reel I have noticed a slight fault. After seeing someone else mention it I started to notice that the drag gets ”Sticky” and at the beginning of each session it needs loosening off and giving a good pull to free it and re adjusting. This isn’t really a problem and is probably good practice to make sure your drag is working correctly. I feel I lost a couple of good fish because of this. One where the fish pulled so hard the hook pulled and one where the line parted over a rock instantly but after the fish nearly pulled me in. If the drag was free the fish may have just run out and into the open but who knows. I’m looking forward to seeing how it copes through another season.

Line:

Sunline Siglon Lo Vis Flourocarbon

I use this in 16lb and is my ”Go too” favourite fluorocarbon leader. I just seem to catch more fish using this fluorocarbon than other I tried apart from the Triple Fish. The Daiwa Steez and Yo Zuri Fluorocarbons just don’t seem to produce as many fish but this is just my feelings and certainly not a fact.

YGK Gesox WX8 20lb ”Pink”

I managed to get my hands on some of this lovely 8 Strand braid and at first I really loved it. The quality of the braid is super! Really smooth, casts brilliantly and never seemed to deteriorate over the time I used it. BUT, I found it to easily snap more than any other braid I have used before over rocks. This really put me off, I have never used anything quite as bad as this. One session for Wrasse saw me lose a lot of gear and don’t get me wrong I may not have got that gear back with other braids, it was just the ease that this line parted. As soon as I tried to ping the lure out of it’s snag the line just parted, over and over again. I could have and possibly should be using a longer leader for Wrasse anyway but I also lost a couple of Bass because of this too and seeing the ease at which this goes if it come in contact with anything I’d be confident that It wouldn’t last a second and for that reason I wouldn’t spend 50 pounds on a spool of this braid. With other braids I have had Bass and Wrasse get stuck under rocks and in small gullies and successfully managed to slacken the line and still get the fish back.

YGK G-soul X3

Still my ”Go too” Braid and has never given me a real problem. It’s a lot tougher being a 3 strand braid compared with the 8 Strands and this is very noticeable and for the price I don’t feel I can go wrong! I use this in 16lb and will continue to do so. If I had a spare spool for my Daiwa then I would be trying others out. Something on the shopping list for this year.

Lures

Top 5 Soft plastics:

1. Savage gear sandeel 10cm and 14cm

2. Redgill Evo Pearl

3. 4/5 inch one up shads

4. Swimming Senko 5.5inch

5. Seaspin Bikoa

The Savage gear Sandeels rarely disappoint though at certain times there are better lures for sure but once again they caught me a lot of fish day and night!

The Redgill Evo is a lure that has really grown on me this year and offers something different at night. At 17gms it is lovely weight to cast, fish just at the right speed and give off a nice silhouette with some vibration. Caught me a lot of fish this year and always have confidence it will work!

The one up shads are just awesome lures and great fish catchers. These allow you to fish really light jigheads down to 3.5gms and still cast great. Less weight also means you can fish them slower or shallow and they rig weedless well too thought this isn’t my normal method.

The Swimming Senko offered me the same things as the one up shad but with a longer slimmer profile and really paid off in some instances.

The Seaspin Bikoa was a little Gem and really impressed me. The twin tail gives off a very subtle vibration and gives a lovely long slim profile in the water. This lure worked really well on nights when the water was crystal clear. They can also be rigged weedless easily and cast well too. I’m guessing due to there size though they do sink through the water quicker. Turned out to also be my favourite Wrasse lure as well but rather than Pearl, Deep Junebug was my favourite colour though don’t put them with any other lures as they will come out the same colour!

Top 5 Hard Plastics:

1. IMA Skimmer in Anchovy

2. Seaspin Coexidda 100

3. Seaspin Buginu 105

4. Seaspin Mommotti 140

5. Patchinko 2 Cabot

The Skimmer really impressed me this year, it’s action just draws fish in fished fast or slow walk the dog. It casts great and has a great profile to boot! Found it to be effective in pretty much all conditions apart from when it was really rough.

Seaspin Coexidda 100 was the first Seaspin lure that got me excited. This thing casts really well indeed and has a very nice slow wobble action on a straight retrieve. It didn’t feel great when jerked around but it certainly caught fish. The thing that I like the most is how versatile this lure is, it casts very well no matter what wind is blowing in your face, It runs very shallow indeed and has a very similar action to the Kommomo 2 and Feedshallow’s and It’s also a slow sinker which enables you to fish it in rougher. Give it a few seconds to sink under and start your retrieve. Unlike most lure that may not grip in to a big swell instantly this fishes from the word go and swims just under the surface. It comes equipped with single hooks and these will not only hold better in a fishes mouth but are less prone to snagging! Ideal for really shallow ground even if there’s swell and surf and will normally just bounce off of rocks rather than catching on them. A lure I can see myself always having in my box. The colours that worked for me where BRZ and GSTR. I also got a couple other colours towards the end of the season that didn’t get any proper water time though hopefully they’ll see more action next year!

The Seaspin Buginu 105 was another surprise little Gem and was nearly always first to go on. This is a jointed lure that casts amazingly well, especially considering it only weighs 13gms! It has the same action of a classic jointed lure and kicks off some solid vibrations. It doesn’t run too deep either and caught me fish in the day and at night. My favourite colours where ACC and SAR though I have a couple others to try this season so we’ll see how they fair. Another lure that I will always carry in my lure box from now on.

The Mommoti is a classic X140 and Tide minnow type of lure. I had no doubts from the off that this lure would catch fish and it did. Once again it is a great casting lure but when you get it right. I wasn’t as consistent with getting good casts as with the other two Seaspin lures. They are really light lures for there size and remind me of the Megabass X120 and X140 in that respect. The 115 weighs 13gms and the 140 weighs just 16gms. Though these lures didn’t catch me a huge amount of fish I caught enough to know that there have the potential to be good fish catchers. I caught jerking them, fishing on a straight retrieve, waking them on the surface and at both day and night. My favourite colour atm is the ACR all white/pearl colour though others didn’t really get much water time and hopefully when the conditions are right I’ll be able to put them through there paces properly.

The magic Patchinko 2! Such a good casting lure and fish catcher. Work it in rough or calm conditions fast or slow and give it a pop I do love it. I never give them a huge amount of water time but they often work when I turn to them. I got one in Cabot towards the end of the year and it did the job and the plan is to get some big fish on it next year…

Accessories

Seaspin Aluminium pliers:

Amazingly these have served me very well through the season and haven’t stopped performing since the day I got them. There’s a lot of these Aluminium pliers on the market know a days and I’m sure it wouldn’t be a surprise to many if they came from the same place but all I know is that these haven’t failed me and are still going strong. I did manage to break the spring cord unfortunately but not from normal use and most of the time they are in my bag or jacket pocket as a result.

Seaspin JACK lure clip:

These lure clips really impressed me, the 20lb version are my favourite size and I can clip nearly everything on them apart from screw lock weedless hooks which even the DUO style sometimes fail to do so. I couldn’t ever see you losing a lure with these either. The clip could never just come undone like the DUO style and for 20lb they are a pretty chunky wire gauge and I couldn’t see them bending out. There also very easy to use, simply slide on and off the lures without having to unclip anything. They did take a bit of getting used to but after a few sessions they really grew on me and it became easier than ever before. A product I really look forward to using in the future.

Regatta ”Pack-it” Light Waterproof Jacket:

I bought one of these to take to Vietnam and Cambodia as it was easy to carry and would keep me dry in case I got caught out in any major down pours. Well I never got to try it out properly over there but when I came back I liked it so much that I used it for all my fishing and it has been superb throughout the hole season. It packs away into it’s own pocket and ends up being a rather small ball about 20cm x 15cm x 15cm that you can also strap around your waist on a elasticated strap. I have taken some pretty heavy soakings and been in some serious rain and from what I can remember I have always been rather dry at the end it. It also acts as a very good wind break and for me it’s just ideal to carry around, especially on those summer days when it may be windy or rough and you never know what to expect. You won’t get too warm with just a T-shirt underneath in the summer and the coat is perfect just to keep you dry from any spray and splash in those perfect conditions.

Thinsulate Fingerless Gloves:

I really love these gloves for all my lure fishing. They only start coming out of the closet around October time but they make the winter sessions so much more comfortable. They keep my hands plenty warm enough and there very comfortable to wear. I just can’t get along with full length gloves and need as much feel as possible to cast and fish so I go for the warmest gloves with my fingers free. You can pick them up for as little as 4 pounds a pair and there pretty much disposable at that price anyway. Well worth the Investment!

 Winter Pike fishing, Fingerless gloves in action and also the Regatta Jacket keeping the wind at bay