I made a cast towards an outcrop of rock, around 20 yards out. It was low tide and I was fishing in around 6’ of water, the kelp gently swaying just below the water’s surface. The sea was calm with very good visibility and I could not only see the beds of kelp, but could also identify patches of sand and areas of rock. I let my lure sink before engaging the bale arm and tightening up, giving the lure a few small flicks before letting it sink on a slack line. After a second or two, I tightened up and repeated the process. I could clearly feel the lure working over rock and through kelp, the braid transmitting up to me everything that was happening below.
Without warning, just as the lure was paused, I felt a sudden thud at the end of the braid. An unmistakable hit from a wrasse. Even when your braid is slack as the lure is paused, you can clearly feel the hit from a fish. I swept the rod back and felt the solid weight of a ballan. The second I’d set the hook, I knew this was a good fish. Instantly, the wrasse knew something was wrong and his immediate reaction was to head down and into the safety of the rough stuff. You can ill afford to give a wrasse much line, if they get their head down amongst the kelp or dive into a rocky crevice it could well be game over.
I held the rod high, which would make the angle of the tip to the fish more vertical, meaning that I had a better chance of keeping his head up. He tried his best to get down, but I managed to turn him, before he decided to head out towards the rocky outcrop. My rod was bent to the maximum, the reel letting a little line out, but not enough to give the fish any real advantage. I was aware that at any time, this fish could drop down, turn left or right, or even do a u-turn and head towards me. When it comes to battling big wrasse, concentration is critical as a fish can drop into a snag in a split second. After a couple of minutes and a few failed attempts to evade capture, the fish was beaten.
As he hit the surface, I saw a deep bodied fish of dark green and black, with patches of yellow and orange around his pectoral fins and head. My net is 50cm in diameter and this fish was slightly longer than that so as I slid him over I knew I had a good chance that this was a 5lb plus fish. The scales registered 5lb 9oz, a good solid wrasse and personal best. That was one of seven ballans that session, three going over 4lb with the other three registering between 2.5lb and 3.5lb
I’m often asked via social media how to go about catching specimen sized wrasse. A person’s perspective of a big wrasse will vary. I consider a 4lb fish a good size, with a 5lber being special. 6lb ballans are possible, but wrasse of this size aren’t caught very regularly from the shore, especially on a lure. There is no guaranteed way of catching big wrasse, but there are things that you can do which will give you the best chance of netting that specimen fish.
This isn’t an article on how you should do it, it is simply how I do it. I had some good success last year, with over three hundred wrasse netted, all on lures. Thirty two of those went over 4lb, four were over 5lb.
In my opinion, the most important aspect of catching any wrasse is to learn all you can about your chosen mark. The first thing I do is visit a new spot on low tide, generally without a rod as I’m not interested in fishing it straight away, as I want to see what the ground is like. Is it kelp, is it rock, is it a mixture of both, are there any sand patches, is it dry on low tide? You can make mental or written notes, but I find the best thing to do is to take plenty of photographs. It’s easy to look at a picture of low tide whilst fishing at high to see what you’re fishing over or amongst. Make a note of any gullies that will fill as wrasse will move in and out of these areas feeding. Lots of small fish and crustaceans will be present in rock pools and these are potential wrasse fare as the tide floods over them.
Once the make up of a mark is established, it’s now simply a matter of fishing it. All areas fish differently on certain tides, the only way to determine when a spot fishes best is to simply get out there and fish it and see how you get on. While you learn your particular areas, make notes of the conditions when you fish, such as swell height, wind direction, times of high and low tide etc. I know all my spots really well so I know which mark to target during certain conditions and states of tide which in turn gives me the best chance of landing some decent fish.
A lot of wrasse anglers I know will move spots every 10 or 15 minutes if it doesn’t produce any fish, but this isn’t something that I personally do. For example, on one mark I fish during high tide, there is only one accessible area that’s fishable and that is a deep, narrow gulley. It’s around two hours after high tide, when the tide has receded enough, that other spots become accessible. One particular morning I arrived here around an hour after high, so I had no choice but to fish this gulley for a while. I chose to use a watermelon red 4” senko on a 2/0 off-set hook with the Texas rig. The first half hour produced nothing, then I caught four wrasse, all over 2.5lb, during the next 10 minutes. I’ll never know if the fish moved into this gulley to feed or if they were there all along but just not interested in the senko for a while but it proved to me that being too hasty to move areas isn’t always beneficial. I’ll work an area for at least 45 minutes before moving on.
If you’re going out to target large wrasse specifically, make sure the tackle you use is up to the job. Once hooked, a wrasse will generally dive down and try to find sanctuary amongst the rough stuff, you’ll need to stop that initial run. I’m currently using an 8’ Shimano Yasei 7-28g rod, paired with a Hart Ishod 2000 reel. This is loaded with Sufix 832 braid in 18lb with which I’ll add a length of around 2.5’-3’ of 20lb fluorocarbon leader. I find this set-up perfect for wrasse. It’s still sporting for smaller fish but can handle the lunges of larger ballans too.
The choice of rigs to use is down to personal preference, with the two most popular being the Cheburashka or Texas rig. With the Cheburashka, the lure has a lot of freedom to move as the hook isn’t tied directly to the mainline, it fits on a clip which is inserted through the weight and is able to rotate freely. This is a great rig if conditions are expected to alter rapidly within a session as it’s easy to alter hook or weight size by pulling the clip out of the weight, making the changes and simply clipping it back together.
The rig I tend to use for the majority of my wrasse fishing is the Texas rig. With this rig, I always use a 6mm glass bead in-between the free sliding cone weight and the hook. As the weight hits the bead, an audible clicking sound is submitted which is an additional attraction to the wrasse. I always carry 7g, 10g and 15g cone weights, but will use the lightest one that I possibly can.
I also get asked a lot about ‘what are the best lures to use for big wrasse’? I wouldn’t say that there is such a thing as a best lure, I’ve had equal success on stick baits, paddle-tails and creatures. What ‘size and colour should I use’ often crops up in conversation too. For me, dark colours, browns, greens and black or a combination of these colours, have helped me land far more fish than any other colours. I know of some good fish that have been caught by anglers on what I’d call unnatural colours though, such as bright pink and fluorescent yellow.
After casting out, I let the lure sink on a slack line because if it sinks on a tight line, the lure will swing towards me. If the water depth is 12’ I’d be missing out on several feet of potential good wrasse ground before the lure settles. Once it’s settled, I give the lure four or five quick small flicks. I’ll only flick the rod tip about 100mm as I want to keep the lure down, amongst or just above the rough stuff.
After implementing the flicks, I let the lure settle back down on a slack line.
I generally leave it a second or two before flicking again as quite often wrasse will hit the lure whilst it’s settled. Also subtle changes like speeding up or slowing down the flicks can make a difference and induce a strike.
I always work the lure right back to my feet as wrasse will often be patrolling really close in around ledges or kelp. I’ve had wrasse hit just as I was about to lift out and re-cast.
The general conception is that large lures will catch the larger fish, such as 125mm creature baits or 150mm stick baits. Although I’ve caught plenty of good wrasse on this size of lure, it’s worth mentioning that all four of my 5lb plus wrasse last year came on a 65mm Ned in Summer Craw, which is a two-toned green colour. I think, to a certain extent, this may dispel the theory that large lures are needed for large wrasse.
One thing I will never do is use cheap hooks. The last thing I want to happen is see a decent fish straighten or even snap my hook, so I always spend a little extra and buy a branded product. I’m currently using the VMC extra wide gape, in both 1/0 and 3/0 depending on which lure I use and have found them 100% reliable. I also squash the barbs on my hooks, I don’t see any need to use barbed hooks for wrasse fishing.
I always carry a long handled landing net, although the telescopic variety would suffice too. The last thing I want is to find myself 4’ above the water, on the edge of the rocks, connected to a 5lb fish with no way way of landing it. I also have a drop net which is essential for when I am fishing from a harbour wall.
I always run my finger up and down the fluorocarbon leader every few casts to feel to make sure it hasn’t been damaged in any way by underwater obstructions. If I feel any fray, I change the leader immediately, I don’t want to find myself connected to a fish to only see it evade capture due to an imperfection in my line.
One item I find essential to carry is a good set of pliers. I use these not only to squash the barbs down on my hooks, but they assist in un-hooking fish plus gripping hooks when tying a hook on and pulling tight. I also carry good set of scales, obviously important for recording any decent fish I catch.
So that is how I go about targeting big wrasse. As I said previously, it isn’t a ‘set in stone how to do it article’, it’s just how I do it and it works from me.
You won’t always catch 4lb plus fish, but if you learn all you can about your chosen area, use suitable tackle, work the lures correctly, put the hours in and keep your concentration, you’ll stand a good chance of netting that special ballan
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