last year (or the year before?) me and a couple of mates went out for the spring festivalk.
we went 20+miles to the wall in an deteriating sea .it was well choppy the time we got there (2hrs) and the southerly wind was getting stronger.
managed 1 drop , i used a 4inch sidewinder lure which was immediately snaffled up by a nice , presumed pollock due to the rocket dives the fish was taking.
i thought i had the winner as it was the 2nd last day of the festival and most of the previous days were cancelled and the winning fish to date was 7-8lb .
needless to say , i lost the fish probably by fannying about to much cos of the fine wire hooks on this particular lure. i didnt want to give it too much pressure but when i had to ,the fish came off and hook came up straight as a die.
i know for a fact this fish was well over 8lb in my experience.
by this time , skipper announced it was time to go back in (too rough and we had only 1 drop) , 2 and a half hours later we were back in the fleece .soaking , cold and wobbly.
gutted , and surely enough the festival was won by the 7 -8lb cod (i think).we travelled 50 miles in the boat for 1 drop and 1 single 10oz whiting on the boat then straight back in.
i wish tempest could produce the same lures with o'shaunnassy hooks for extra strengh as i think the small lures are excellent for big fish but the hooks are too weak and i have lost confidence in them even though the lures themselves are superb fish catchers.
cheers ,
mick.