Crazy thoughts!

I've been thinking a lot lately about how I could work something a little 'different' in to my fishing. I am ALWAYS keen to think a little bit outside the box, whether it's with the way I fish, the way I think, or with the tackle I use or take most interest in (currently Japanese with the odd bit of Italian).

My background in coarse, match fishing was good in that it taught me to think in great detail about exactly what I was doing, especially when it came to visualising how the fish were reacting under the water to my bait(s). Incidentally, this worked the other way round when I initially switched from Sea to Coarse - as a kid my technical casting ability far exceeded that of the friends I made at a local lake. Not because I was naturally gifted (far from it), but just because I'd grown up launching leads at sea.

Since I moved back closer to the sea and hung up my match gear (for a few years at least) I'm really gearing myself up to trying some slightly obscure stuff. There are at least a couple of things that'll probably make me look like a right weirdo if you see me out on the rocks or beach this year. When I have more to report on results, I'll be writing some pretty in-depth articles on here. Even if I'm unsuccessful I'm sure the reading will be interesting to some. A Guide on how NOT to do it, perhaps?

I've been thinking about this stuff for quite a while, but these ideas were cemented in my head today after I took a short drive to a local beach that I hoped would be a little more sheltered in today's wind. With a fairly big swell running, my chances of fishing close to home were zero, but I wanted to give a few soft plastic lures a go for an hour or two, so jumped in the car and went on a mission.

As luck would have it I found some great little spots! Out of the wind, plenty of space to cast around..... just no fish unfortunately. Not today at least. I'd left it far too late to catch the best of the tide, which I think will be quite important here. Still, I'm going to head back there tomorrow lunchtime to survey it over a low tide. Really excited about getting back there though. Not so sure the plugging rod is the right one to take, but that is what gets me thinking.....

Exciting stuff! A year of crazy experimentation ahead!