LRF. No-Stress Fishing
If you happen to come across a group of shifty looking men with their rods out along Dun Laoghaire pier some evening, do not be alarmed as they will not rob you. They are not interested in your wallet or your phone, but instead in what is swimming in the sea below. Man-made structures like the pier create the perfect environment for small fish to congregate. It also creates an ideal platform for anglers to fish from, and when tackle is scaled down some good fun can be had.
Sam Roche is one of the pioneers of LRF (Light Rock Fishing) in this country (just like back in the day where he was also heavily involved in the growth of tournament casting and match angling). “LRF has been a bit slower to get going here than in the UK, but i’m getting the feeling that interest is beginning to develop”. Sam is keen to promote the idea of no-stress fishing where people can casually meet up and share ideas, and avoid the excessive time and preparation that is often spent on a day out angling. Its a million miles away from his former passion, match angling.
Class has commenced. Sam explains how the setup works while Pat and Derek listen attentively
Sam hopes to be able to organise a few ‘bumbles’ this year, where a group can meet up at a location and head off around the area fishing wherever they like, trying to catch whatever species takes an interest in their lures. Something along the lines of this from the lads over at Jersey Bass Guides. As Sam says – The more the merrier!
The tackle used for this session was as follows,
Sam:
Rod: Reins Raz Aji 7′ 6″ (0.4-7g)
Reel: Daiwa Certate 2500
Line: Varivas Light Game 0.3 PE
Lures: Ecogear Strawtails, Marukyu Power Isome Worms, Berkley Gulp Sandworms
Dave:
Rod: Major Craft Solpara 7’3″ (0.5-5g)
Reel: Shimano Rarenium 2500
Line: Yamatoyo FC 3lb
Lures: Ecogear Strawtails, Marukyu Power Isome Worms, Berkley Gulp Sandworms
Pat:
Rod: Illex Pepper Stick & Major Craft Zalt Tubular Tip 7’6″ (0.5-7g)
Reel: Shimano Rarenium 1000 & Shimano Rarenium 3000
Line: Sunline 0.3 PE
Lures: Marukyu Power Isome Worms
Derek:
Rod: Cormoran ULX 2.13m (1-9g)
Reel: Shimano Stradic Ci4 2500
Line: Yamatoyo FC 2lb
Lures: Marukyu Power Isome Worms
While the conditions seemed perfect on the night, the fishing was slower than normal – typical for this time of year. Another few weeks should see the numbers of fish and species begin to increase. Still, everyone got in on the action and managed to land a few fish, and plenty of bites were missed too. I’m looking forward to the summer evenings when the action comes thick and fast, and where the light tackle is really tested by good wrasse and pollock – and of course the shoals of mackerel and herring.
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- Class has commenced
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- Shimano Rarenium 2500 is a popular choice
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- Some of the different LRF rods are compared and admired before starting
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- Ecogear Strawtail. The fine tail gives an incredible action when worked correctly
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- Derek lands his first fish on LRF tackle
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- Dave rigs up hoping he can add to his species count…
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- …and he does so with this Pouting
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- What we thought was a new world record Sand-Goby, turned out to be a lump of weed!
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- Derek and a whiting
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- Pat gets off the mark with his first LRF fish
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- Sam concentrates, waiting for the familiar rattle on the tip of his rod…
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- …and shows how its done with this Whiting
15 comments on “LRF. No-Stress Fishing”
Leave a Reply to Pat Cancel reply
Irish Sport Fishing 
I’m very surprised that there doesn’t seem to be any interest in squid jigging. From a pier like the one in the pictures with plenty of light squid swim around feeding on bait fish, shrimps and other crustaceans. Squiding is fun and are very tasty. Most people only know them as “Calamari” which is of course italian for squid.
PS. Small hook baited with chicken with a small float about 50 / 70 cm away is an excellent way to catch Mackerel which also like these areas. Simply cast out about 10 / 15 mts and retrieve slowly will generally get hit after hit.
All the best. Frank
The problem is that there are no squid! While i have caught one before out in a boat off Dun Laoghaire it is not a common catch. The water is far too cold, unlike the warm waters you catch them in. Its a pity because they are delicious!
There’s plenty of mackerel in the summer though!
Excellent Article …its great to see more people taking up LRF
hope to get up to Dave and Sam this weekend or the next
Wrasse lrf are the best crack ever especially when you hit a big one
http://wexfordbass.blogspot.com/2011/08/lrf-personal-best-smashed.html
Oh and great blog by the way looking forward to reading more
during the year
tight lines
Jay
Thanks Jay. The wrasse are great fun alright. You have to make sure you’re holding onto your rod tight!
Nice article Steve, those photos came out well. It’s a bit of a pity the fish were a little camera shy on the night but it was good fun all the same and that’s all that matters.
Dave
Luckily those lean days are not too frequent!
Nice one Sam!
Cheers Greg
Great blog stephen,really enjoyed reading it.
Hey Steve,
How you been keeping? Long time no talk!…
Some great content on here makes for great reading. Nice to see you have been fishing away using various methods/styles .Being doing similar fishing myself the last few years. Beats the stress of the match fishing days eh?
Tight Lines
Ger.
Thanks all, was fishing away last year, and hope to do a lot more this year too!
Hi Steve,
Enjoyed the intro to LRF with yourself, Sam, Dave on Sat. First of many hopefully. Nice report and great Irish Sport Fishing site also.
Pat
It was a pretty slow introductory session to LRF unfortunately, but just wait until the Summer arrives!
HI steve great report and super photos really enjoyed the LRF on saturday night looking forward to meeting up again Derek
do the tides matter?
Hi Matthew,
I don’t think the tides matter as much as they do for ‘normal’ fishing. Often when bass fishing i wouldn’t bother heading out if the tides were small, however i would have no such worries for LRF’ing. A bigger tide may produce a few more fish, but the conditions on the day would appear to play a bigger part in my experience.