İnterview About LRF

How did you get started LRF fishing?

My first LRF session was in Spring of 2011. That was the first time I tried small 2.5 gr jigheads with little worm type softbaits of 4 cm and my target was as usual the jackmackerel ( aji ). Until the day I tried that, I was catching those fish by freespooled natural baits like shrimp, mussels, worms etc. But that day made me frustrated that I was catching those fish by tiny lures and oldschool baitfishing was history for me. To be honest I didn't have proper LRF equipment those days and fished with using 10-30 g spinning rod for a while with small jigheads and worms. In this period I caught many species that I was not used to catch with lures and that made me even more excited and curious. For a long period I searched shop by shop for LRF type equipment and ultralight lures but than I realised that LRF technique is unknown in our country those days. Today when I look at the fishing community and tackle shops it developed a lot about LRF style fishing and day by day more people are into LRF, which is a very popular tehnique today.

What is it that intriques/fascinates you abot LRF?

First of all LRF covers a lot. The lure range is endless and this factor makes LRF a technique that is very interesting to any angler. With this technique any species of fish is catchable and unlike other forms of lure fishing a blank session is nearly impossible which makes LRF even more interesting. Cathing any species with imitative lures is a great fun and exciting way and with LRF techniques feeling those emotions is easier for everyone. What attracts me in this type of fishing most is that the equipment is so light that I can feel every tug and headshake of any fish I catch. Even the smaller quarry put up a good fight on LRF setup. This makes LRF fishing exciting and if anything bigger hits your lure it becomes an adrenalin rush. Rod bends at maximum, non stop drag going on and expecting to lose the fish any second makes it another level of excitement. Long story short, LRF is an enjoyable and easy way of excitement for all people ranging from kids to seniors.

What kind of gear would you recommend for LRF and why?

LRF is the lightest way of lure fishing that requires miniature lures of any kind. In this technique rods must be chosen according to lures and actions lures will do. Two kind distinguish LRF rods the solid and tubuler tip rods. Solid tip rods are more flexible and more resistant to bending while tubular rods are fast action and more rigid type stronger rods. In most cases LRF lures are jighead/softbait combinations and for this type of fishing 0-5 g, 0.5-7 g or similar rods of 180-230 cm are ideal. For faster fish, tubular stronger rods are more suitable like 0-10 g or 3-12 g etc range is ideal in 180-270 cm lengths. Reels must be suitable to rods chosen 500/1000/1500/2000 and for bigger fish 2500 size reels are ideal for LRF. If there is no need fast retrieve, gear ratio between 5.1-5.3 is adequate. But if there is need for leverage and fast reeling, a gear ratio between 5.7-6.1 is a must. For reeling lines monofİlament or fluorocarbon are the most used types in 010-0.16 mm, in risky situations and bigger fish, 0.20 mm can be used. For feeling and sensitivity, spectra or pe lines are used but for invisibility, elasticity and absorption as mentioned above mono and FC material are used for leader. For leader materials as braid to mono; 0.04 to 0.16, 0.06-0.16-0.18 and 0.10 to 0.18-0.20 mm and etc...

What kind of lures do you prefer for LRF?

The majority of the lures that I use are soft worm type baits with jighead combinations of 1.5 to 4 gr. I found that saltwater worms are on the menu of both small and larger species. Another thing I realised is during the daytime worms are hiding under mussel beds and vegetation but at night worms swim freely, that's what attract many species I managed to catch such as big jackmackerels, cornivas, mormora breams, black seabreams, gobies, scorpionfish, annular breams, combers and even seabass. The best colors I fished at night are pink and orange. After those two, white and red are the most common ones I use. I decieved nearly any fish in the sea of Marmara with these combinations. Until today I also used small hardbaits ( diving, sinking, topwater ), micro jigs, micro spoons and spinners. All of them proved theirselves on many occasions and provided me good catches. Especially during fishing in Mediterranean micro jigs proved very effective with both micro jigging action and fast reeling water column, I decieved bluefish, blue runners, saddled breams, needle fish and even young groupers. In last year I also found micro poppers attracts like magnets and it's great fun even to watch the top water attacks. Long story short I enjoy trying new lures and seeing the result on LRF everytime.

Is there one specific lure type that you reccomend for LRF?

As I can say lures differ from season to season and fishing spot but if you ask me one bait that is succesful on any day, anywhere, its the combination of worm type softbaits and jigheads. For these lures there are always one or more species catchable both in freshwater and saltwater. If you hop a combination of 4,6, 8 no hook and a light jighead made from it with a 4-5 cm worm lure if through rocky bottom, it won't be long before you get a bite. Biodegradeble scented worm lures are even better, they entice any fish sooner. But these baits are very soft and small fish with teeth are a real problem when using this type of baits and sometimes even unscented baits get cut off by those nuisance fish. The best solution is a small stinger type assist to be used on the jighead.

What are the most important factors in succeeding with LRF?

The success rate mainly depends on your knowledge on LRF habits of the species like when, where, what they eat etc. This way adjusting right combinations with right tackle, in right place and right time, there is nothing in between you and a succesfull session.

How do you fish your lures?

This is one of the hardest quetions to answer. There are so many reasons to tell about how I decide my lure actions. Let me try to describe some; as we all know every lure type has one or more standart actions to use which needs some tuning based on fish behavior, weather, water temperature and water clarity. In worm/jighead combinations for instance when I am fishing in a shallow spot, I first cast and retrieve staight throuh surface layers, if I am fishing from a deep pier for same fish I let my lure sink and the retrieve at constant speed or ups and downs in static or both to draw interest of the fish. Another example is when I try for bottom fish like cornivas, mormora breams, black breams and wrasse, I try to minimalise my actions and keep the lure closest possible to the bottom. The main point is drawing the interest of fish. Different actions sometimes prove success also. There are too many species, baits and actions to tell everything here. Last of all I want to tell about an action for micro jigs I found out especially for bluefish, little tunny, needlefish, saddled breams and blue runners is after casting a jig, I hold rod tip hight and reeling fast with small rod tip actions. This way jig scatters and skips on the surface and sending vibrations and sounds to those aggrasive pellagic fish to home on and provides solid strikes. As you can see, you can experiment and try different things and find out your own ways of using lures. Sometimes you must think like a fish to find out best ways to fish.

What coastal features do you pay attention to? And are you occupied with wind directions, water levels, lunar phases?

When I am choosing a spot to fish, I try to consider what species I am targeting. But I must say most species we target on LRF gear are smaller fish that are very abundant in different types of habitats, so selecting fishing spot is easier than predator fishing. This makes easy access spots very good for LRF fun fishing. Telling here each species' preference is pointless due to too many species to catch on LRF tecnique. In general, piers, horbours, ports, marinas, estuarine habitats, mussel beds and weedy coves are all good LRF venues. By the way wind and wind direction is critical when I am choosing spots, due to inshore coming winds directly decrease our casting ability with light baits, jigheads etc. But in day time mild winds that churn up shorelines are great conditions for micro jigging. Last of all I can say that I don't check lunar phases and tide charts, because water level change are nearly not a factor in our waters.

How do you nrmally fish a new coastal spot - one you've never fished before?

As I must say honestly, before I go to a new venue I always chat with seasoned local anglers that fised there fot information. Also social networks and platforms are good for checking the usual cathes in vicinity. A new venue can look all well but can be emptied of fish by poachers, commercial fishing and spearfisherman, so checking before trying is always an advantage in new places. If there is no information available, I start by checking out spots most adequate for species I search for and trying to develop my own data of the fishing ability in habitat.

Any key advice for people who would like to get started with LRF?

I can tell any newcomer to LRF tecnique, "It's not about cathing big fish, it's about cathing whatever you can and having the most fun out of it". This tecnique provides us having fun without efforts of catching monsters. With LRF tackle you will fish for many species and have fun. Also in time you'll get knowledge and catch more sizeable fish and have more fun and enjoyment. And in time, with bigger fish on LRF tackle, fighting and landing sizeable fish become more of an adrenaline rush and excitiment for you and you will live it again and again every other fish.

Do you have any speciel LRF experiences/memories you'd like to share?

If I go back in my memories I can't even remember all so many exciting sessions and catches  I made in years. It's hard to tell one from another. But to be deliberate in one case, I can tell you of one session in march of 2015 the amberjack I landed on LRF tackle with a soft sandeel bait with jighead of 10 grams.Fish was nearly 5 kg and the fight was undescribeable and the feeling of joy and accomplishment. The first run was a nightmare, thought it would never stop. With my rod buckled to the max and drag of reel screaming was out of my leauge. I felt powerless against this animal. I managed to take control after 5 minutes of fast runs. Fish then started showing signs of tiredness and I started properly fighting and guiding it. It felt like a lifetime to me but fight ended in 15 minutes and the LRF trophy of my life was in the landing net. After and before that I had many memories like this one but this one was very special for me. Last of all I must ask everyone "what do you wait for living those emotions in LRF dreamland?"