Rockpool LRF Part 1

This post will be part one of two, where I will share a few tips about species hunting in rockpools. Whether you are taking part in a competition or just want to add more species to your personal tally, ignore the rockpools at your peril, they can be full of surprises.

When the open sea is particularly finesse unfriendly, I will often try the more sheltered gulleys and rockpools. It can be tempting to just find a quiet spot in the harbour and try there, but then you are missing out on some truly entertaining fishing. In this brief feature, I will cover tackling the deeper pools, in the second instalment I will talk about the slightly trickier shallow ones.

What species are you likely to find in these rockpools? Certainly the most common I've found would be the shanny or common blenny; other species that are frequent in my neck of the woods are giant gobies, long spined sea scorpions, most of the wrasse species, shore rockling and clingfish. In theory though any rock dwelling or shore hugging fish types can get trapped in rockpools, sometimes making them easier to catch. Small mullet can also often be caught out by the receding tide, but try not to get too side tracked by them, a calm mullet is difficult to catch, a frightened and trapped one is impossible.

Tactics wise, split shot rigs and very light jigheads are the order of the day. Being so close to the water and the depth normally being less than a couple of feet, heavy weights are not necessary. Personally I don't use anything over two grams, my preferred weight being around one and a half. For the larger, more aggressive inhabitants, one or two inch unscented straw or ball tail lures can be excellent, especially in crystal clear water. If the water is coloured, particularly if the waves have been battering it at high tide, then Isome is definitely a winner, as it so often is.

What I love about tackling the rockpools is the fact it is low tide fishing. When your favourite mark is bone dry, the rocks near it can be saviours. I recently made the most of a very large spring low tide, the amount of rockpools it revealed was amazing, with whole gulleys and their inhabitants being temporarily cut from the sea. With a stealthy approach it means you have a captive audience of hungry fish, giving you a real chance of catching them.

I definitely have found a correlation, quite unsurprisingly, in how remote the pool is and how large the fish are that dwell within it. It makes perfect sense that the areas that see less humans have the highest density of fish species. We are after all a very scary sight to even the largest goby! If you are more focused on your HRF then you have an excuse to recce new marks at low tide, survey them then fish the rockpools near it. Not only will your HRF fishing improve because you know the mark more in depth, you also will have a better understanding of the prey fish living in that habitat - it's a win win.

But what makes a good rockpool? Firstly, as I've mentioned you need depth of around a foot or deeper. It should also be full of rocks, boulders or crevices to hide in. If there is an over-abundance of seaweed I try another, the fish might be there but you will quickly get frustrated with snagging on thick weed.

My favourite technique in clear water, is to flick the lure to the other side of the rockpool, slowly bouncing it across the rocks. You will quickly get the attention of whatever mini-predator is lying in wait. Scorpion fish in particular can be ultra aggressive and chase your lure, in one bite from their cavernous mouth they're on! It can be very compelling. Another excellent result in deeper pools can be the surprise strike into a wrasse, with nowhere to go they just go ballistic, trying to squeeze into any crevice they can. When you've been hauling out blennies, a wrasse can feel ten times it's size.

Hopefully this has given you some inspiration to try it out. In part two, I will talk more about the stranger fish species you can catch and how to tempt them, clingfish and sticklebacks being two examples.

As always, thanks for reading and supporting the blog. Check out Fishing Tails for more articles from myself and others.

Saluting The Shanny

When it comes to maligned fish species, the common blenny or, as it's commonly known, the shanny, is certainly on a lot of angler's lists. These fish are plentiful, small and bait stealing. Yet isn't it time we looked at them a little differently? Appreciated them for the aggressive, tough as nails fish that they are? Today, I'm in the shanny's corner, fighting the good fight. Hopefully you will humour me as I do.

Firstly, it's definitely worth clarifying what is a shanny? The shanny is a member of the blenny family and is one of the most numerous fish species in the inter-tidal zone (the area that is revealed at low tide then covered at high water). It is most commonly confused with the tompot blenny and the various goby species. The easiest way to tell apart a shanny from a tompot is that the tompot has two protruding tentacle like structures above it's eyes, the shanny does not. The tompot also grows larger and is generally more stripey, usually a deep red to brown colour. The shanny is a lot more uniform in colour, either grey, brown or black with speckled markings all over. They are both scaleless and quite slimy, with tall guinea pig-like heads and large eyes. Their dorsal fin is long and runs the entire length of their bodies. Gobies on the other hand, have much flatter heads, a distinct dorsal fin and tiny scales.

A shanny in classic mottled colouration.

A tompot blenny, a much more heavily set fish.

The shanny is an incredibly tough species. It has an impressive ability to remain out of water for hours, as long as it remains damp. This obviously gives it a huge advantage in shallow rockpools and harbours that dry out, all it has to do is find a safe crevice to hide in and wait for the water to return. Their teeth are needle-like and strong, they are true opportunists: eating fish remains, worms, small crustaceans and even barnacles. Being a territorial species means they do not leave their favoured area much, so eating whatever appears in front of them is a sensible tactic.

A large male shanny in full mating colours - dark body with red eyes.

Their opportunistic nature is exactly what makes them so easy to catch. These are a fish that do not have the choice to be fussy, so any bait of any size is fair game. Quite often they are competing with their neighbours too, when this happens they come across as suicidal! If you are targeting a larger species, this trait can be a frustrating one. It's easy to imagine a group of shannys whittling your expensive bait down to the bare hook. Yet if you are struggling to catch, the shanny can be a saviour. Yes, they are small, with an almost non-existent fight. They also will happily bite if you get your fingers too close! But they are also a rock solid, classically British warrior of a mini-species. Always there no matter what the weather, attacking what ever lure or bait you place in front of them, for that they get my respect.

A small shanny, greedily gobbling up a ragworm bait.

There's one last reason why personally, this fish has a special place in my heart. When I was much younger I would visit my grandparents in Looe. I already had a huge passion for angling at that point, but my love was directed at coarse fishing. My Gramps would take us down to the quay at high tide to go crabbing. Obviously I scoffed at the crabbing lines and brought my cheap and very light coarse rod, along with tiny hooks and split shot. My Grandad would point out the shannys peeking out of the harbour wall, snatching at the fish entrails left by the crabbers. I would take a tiny piece of either bacon or mackerel and lower it down the wall, the shannys would shoot out and attack it. It was the simplest form of fishing I'd ever known, yet it brought me such joy. To hold such bizarre and alien looking fish in my hands, surrounded by family, gave me some of my best childhood memories. Little did I know that over seventeen years later I would be repeating the trick, just this time with artificial lures and high tech tackle instead.

Enjoy your fishing everyone and thank you so much for reading.

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