An express exit
3 hours ahead of me and the desire to make the most of this very short window of opportunity that the month of December has to offer.
The coefficient is good, close to 75. So is the time of the tide, we're an hour after high tide. The current is starting to set in. That's all it takes to motivate me to take the boat out and try a quick trip to an area that's normally home to some nice sea bass at this time of year.
An area highly exposed to currents
Despite the not-so-high coefficient, this area of north Cotentin is very exposed to the current. Drift speed soon reached four knots.
In such conditions, the fish are rarely out in the open, but in the shelter of large rock heads. From this spot, they scan everything that is swept into the current vein and stand ready to emerge from the shelter to grab it. We'll have to adapt our technique and equipment to suit.
A mastered technique
In this type of area, which is a rock head rising to 5 meters below the surface before plunging to 15/20 meters, the fish are stuck to the rock for shelter from the current.
The technique consists in waiting until you can see the top of the rock head to cast your lure upstream and try as far as possible to get close to the bottom without hooking. If you cast too early upstream, hooking in the head will be almost inevitable.
The right choice of lure!
Here, more than anywhere else, the right choice of lure is crucial. If the lure is too light, it will pass too high up in the current. The fish, stuck to the bottom, won't see it. On the other hand, a lure that's too lead-laden will cause numerous hook-ups.
On this spot, you're only allowed one cast per drift as the speed is so high. Personally, I use lead heads weighing from 40 to 60 grams, depending on the lure model. Given the frenzy, they're not very fussy about the choice of lure.
Shad size 12 to 15 cm, or Slug type lure, the result is the same!
If the lure passes well, the bite is immediate! My personal selection includes Black Minnow 140 mm and Nitro Shad 150 mm from Illex, as well as Crazy Sand Eel 220 mm from Fiiish.
As far as the rods used are concerned, we rely on our usual equipment, namely Blanks North Fork Composites distributed by Rodhouse and assembled in-house. For my part, NFC MB 807 HM and NFC MB 739 IM. From blanks power 15/ 50 grams and 20/ 60 grams, adapted to the use of heavily leaded lures.
