Wrasse everywhere in a North Clare rock mark.

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People:Myself

Duration:4 hours

Tide:emptying

Weather:Lovely

Bait:

Rigs:4'' storm wildeye sandeels rigged texas style

Results:Around 30 ballan wrasse and a lost mystery fish...


Report:

Fished a new mark yesterday and had great success with wrasse so returned today for a few hours. To start off I was joined by about 10 dolophins swimming across in front of me, nice sight but I thought they might scare the fish but luckily enough soon after they left the fish came on the feed. I was getting hit on pretty much every cast and even though I lost a good few fish reeling in I still managed to land around thirty with a few personal bests throughout the day. The best I managed to land was somewhere between 3-4lbs at an estimate. Near the end I managed to hook my best fish of the day, I could see from my rocky ledge that it was this colour but it managed to shake the hook off after a bit of a battle before I could get it to the surface. Cursing my luck I cast to the same spot again and it took it again I was confident this time I would land it....and then it managed to straighten my 1/0 hook . Spent another half an hour trying to hook it again but to no avail. It fought way harder than any ballan I had all day and took line even though my drag was tightened to the last, I was thinking cuckoo wrasse but from reading up now its unlikely because this was too powerful. Most likely a big old green ballan even though I thought this fish was too bright, almost like neon green to look at underwater. It was wrasse like to go for the lure again after having being hooked only a minute before, what do ye think anyway? Will throw up a few pics in another post.

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[agardiner22]

some really nice fish there, well done.

[nicefish]

Great spinning mate

[The Austrian]

...It was wrasse like to go for the lure again after having being hooked only a minute before, what do ye think anyway?

One theory is that with wrasse being territorial, it is chasing off a competitor rather than attempting to feed, so it’s not unusual that they will simply defend their habitat. Especially when fishing with artificial lures rather than bait you might hook the odd one twice. There was a report here recently showcasing precisely this pattern of behavior.

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...It was wrasse like to go for the lure again after having being hooked only a minute before, what do ye think anyway?

One theory is that with wrasse being territorial, it is chasing off a competitor rather than attempting to feed, so it’s not unusual that they will simply defend their habitat. Especially when fishing with artificial lures rather than bait you might hook the odd one twice. There was a report here recently showcasing precisely this pattern of behavior.

I was thinking as much myself, most of the time I would get 3 or 4 bites before I manage to hook one, I just stay jigging till they are on, especially with the smaller ones I find. On that note aswell how large is a wrasse's territory, I caught 5 from one spot today and they were hooked in fairly close proximity to each other.

[The Austrian]

...how large is a wrasse's territory, I caught 5 from one spot today and they were hooked in fairly close proximity to each other.

In zoology, the definition of territorial behaviour is largely the methods by which an animal, or group of animals, protects its territory from incursions by others of its species. Territorial boundaries may be marked by sounds such as bird song, or scents such as pheromones secreted by the skin glands of many mammals. If such advertisement does not discourage intruders, chases and fighting follow.

Territorial behaviour is adaptive in many ways; it may permit an animal to mate without interruption or to raise its young in an area where there will be little competition for food. It can also prevent overcrowding by maintaining an optimum distance among members of a certain population. Territories may be seasonal; in many songbirds the mated pair defends the nest and feeding area until after the young are fledged. In communally nesting birds such as gulls, the territory may simply consist of the nest itself.

Wolf packs maintain territories in which they hunt and live. These areas are aggressively defended from all non-pack members. The male cougar has a large territory that may overlap the territories of several females but is defended against other males. Responding to scent marks, the inhabitants of the overlapping ranges also avoid each other, except for breeding.

I am inclined to believe that wrasse territories may overlap too, depending on the quality of their habitat, thus leading to this, for us, erratic patterns of behaviour or different stages of aggressiveness. Different colours in wrasse might play a role to identify an intruder or are simply a way of signalling a no threat message to members of the same area.

Anyway, all of the above about wrasse behaviour is only a theory and is not scientifically proven. It would be interesting to discuss other anglers views on that.

[magpie01]

Nice one well done! The wrasse in that second photo is beautiful! The fish you lost could well have been a Ballan as the have the ability to adapt to the colour of the surroundings. So if there is a lot of green weed around the place it's a possibility. I'd say your kicking yourself, I know I would be.

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Nice one well done! The wrasse in that second photo is beautiful! The fish you lost could well have been a Ballan as the have the ability to adapt to the colour of the surroundings. So if there is a lot of green weed around the place it's a possibility. I'd say your kicking yourself, I know I would be.

Ya, after having a great days fishing all i can think of is the one that got away. I should have held it, I hooked it about ten feet out. I have a sneaking suspicion it was a bass the more I think about it, I was fishing right at the edge of a very shallow part of the mark which had a good surf on it both days I was there. It hit me like a train too, took line and bent the hook, none of the wrasse I had caught had acted the same way. I was thinking a bass in that depth of water might reflect a green colour aswell more so than a wrasse because it looked bright green rather than the dull green I have seen in wrasse a few times. I will have to return another day and try to hook it again anyway

[dexs7]

I love those hot wrasse marks, deadly craic. I wonder was it a CORKWING WRASSE, they can get quite green and with the sun shining down it woud give it that glowing effect. Take a look at the picture attached. I may be wrong but it may put your mind at ease. Nothing worse than thinking about he one that got away

[dexs7]

I love those hot wrasse marks, deadly craic. I wonder was it a CORKWING WRASSE, they can get quite green and with the sun shining down it woud give it that glowing effect. Take a look at the picture attached. I may be wrong but it may put your mind at ease. Nothing worse than thinking about he one that got away

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I love those hot wrasse marks, deadly craic. I wonder was it a CORKWING WRASSE, they can get quite green and with the sun shining down it woud give it that glowing effect. Take a look at the picture attached. I may be wrong but it may put your mind at ease. Nothing worse than thinking about he one that got away

Was talking to a neighbour today that used to fish the mark years back. He told me he used to catch bass at the same spot so my suspicion is as good as confirmed, I will bring the right equipment for them the next day

[dexs7]

I love those hot wrasse marks, deadly craic. I wonder was it a CORKWING WRASSE, they can get quite green and with the sun shining down it woud give it that glowing effect. Take a look at the picture attached. I may be wrong but it may put your mind at ease. Nothing worse than thinking about he one that got away

Was talking to a neighbour today that used to fish the mark years back. He told me he used to catch Bass at the same spot so my suspicion is as good as confirmed, I will bring the right equipment for them the next day

Let me know how you get on, if there is bass there they must be huge if they are not being targeted. You may nab one before the winter sets in

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I love those hot wrasse marks, deadly craic. I wonder was it a CORKWING WRASSE, they can get quite green and with the sun shining down it woud give it that glowing effect. Take a look at the picture attached. I may be wrong but it may put your mind at ease. Nothing worse than thinking about he one that got away

Was talking to a neighbour today that used to fish the mark years back. He told me he used to catch Bass at the same spot so my suspicion is as good as confirmed, I will bring the right equipment for them the next day

Let me know how you get on, if there is Bass there they must be huge if they are not being targeted. You may nab one before the winter sets in

Will do, I may need to think of new tactics though because I couldnt hold them the last day, I had my drag as tight as possible and they still took line and got to the snags. The heavier gear might be in order for them. I had a few ballans between 3-4lbs which would be highly regarded for the scrap they put up but it was nothing compared to the bass I hooked.

[baitdigger]

From your description Joe I would guess it was a big old Ballan. Their colour is often dictated by their environment. I think that the initial hit from the wrasse are much harder than those of the silver spikey things.
I have seen the odd bass cruising along many of those marks but as the area you are looking in are pretty much untouched by people doing what we do and targeting the crab crunchers I believe there are wrasse the size of donkeys down there
Lock up and pull hard, you could go to a 3/0 for the big ones

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From your description Joe I would guess it was a big old Ballan. Their colour is often dictated by their environment. I think that the initial hit from the wrasse are much harder than those of the silver spikey things.
I have seen the odd Bass cruising along many of those marks but as the area you are looking in are pretty much untouched by people doing what we do and targeting the crab crunchers I believe there are wrasse the size of donkeys down there
Lock up and pull hard, you could go to a 3/0 for the big ones

I dont think so Neil, I caught it right at the edge of the shallow part where the surf was running and brought it to right under my feet, It was a very sunny day and it was reflecting back at me and was very bright at about 10ft of depth. I have seen plenty of pics of green ballans but not the kind that reflect light to this extent. You may be right Neil but it acted very different to the wrasse I had been catching all day alot of which had given a very good account of themselves. I casted to the spot where I hooked it straight away again after having hooked it the first time and before I even started to work the lure I was on again, If it were a wrasse I would doubt it would have had the time to get back to the same spot, Possibly a hangout for the bass when they are not actively feeding? Its a pity I wasnt able to bring it to the surface just to know what it was. Anyway 3rd time lucky...next time it follows my lure it will be in your drop net!!

[Mahoney]

Well done! More than 30 wrasse in the few hours is a good result.
Regars Marcin