December, January and February are the times I find myself fishing for Wrasse the most in a season. The Bass thin out, the big Wrasse can come out to play and you can normally target them both on the same sort of ground. But they certainly seem to bite harder and with more confidence in the summer when the water is warmer and so far I have failed to find any fish of any size but that was also true when I did have a go in the warmer months anyway.

I  had a couple sessions fishing into some deeper water and a new lure for me really stood out and performed better than the rest. The AGM 3.25inch paddlergrub in Green really did the business and rarely failed to get my a take. It’s smaller than I would normally use as I generally always use 4inch lures and it also kicks off some vibrations having a paddle tail. For some reason I have always favoured straight tails but maybe that’s just because senko’s where cheap and easy to get and now I find myself using lures that give some extra movement or have a rattle. The added noise/vibrations certainly help to get the Wrasse’s attention especially during these colder months.

Winter Wrasse on the 3.25” AGM Paddler fished one a 1/0 hook and 10gm ball weight

A nice surprise Pollock also fell too a paddletail as the lure was ripped off the bottom.

 On a couple of other occasions I was really struggling to even get a sniff of a fish. On both occasions I also had my LRF rod with me and swapped lures to either Gulp Sandworm or Marukyu power isome fished dropshot or on a Jika rig. The dropshot was really because I was fishing some very snaggy ground but as I was fishing high up and the fish where right in under where I was stood. The dropshot presented the worm type lure well fished vertically and lent itself well to long pauses and still having the lure well presented and in the strike zone.

This Wrasse fell to a large power Isome fished on a Jika rig under my feet.

 The scented lures also really seemed to get the fish to bite on days when they just didn’t seem interested and saved a blank on a couple of occasions. Long pauses on the retrieve continued to have good effect. I have still been fishing the same way I would in summer but really slowing it down and leaving for a good 20secs before continuing the retrieve. Let the lure land, long pause, lift and let settle then followed by a very slow crawl and repeat. Unfortunately I still didn’t manage one good fish but the sport on the light gear is always fun and I just find it interesting playing around and learning new things. I haven’t been Wrassing in a good few weeks now as I have been focusing my effort on flatfish but I will have to get out again soon.

Surprise Scorpion fish for Tim

Mike with a nice Wrasse caught on a curly tail grub

Cheeky Corkwing on the LRF Rod