Species: Ballan Wrasse
About Ballan
Ballan are a hard fighting fish, and they offer great sport to those anglers who target them. They are solid powerful fish who live tight in amongst weed and rocks where the crabs, mussels, limpets and prawns that they feed on are found. Ballan are territorial by nature and are stocky and colourful in appearance. It can be quite surprising to see how the markings differ from fish to fish, with colours ranging from greens to reddish browns. They have powerful teeth lurking behind a set of thick rubbery lips, which are perfectly adapted for stripping mussels and limpets from rocks, and for crushing them.
Be careful when handling a ballan as their dorsal fin contains sharp spines, which although not poisonous can be painful if you catch your hand on one. Handle with a damp cloth to protect yourself and the fish from damage.
Ballan wrasse can be caught from the shore in good numbers from May until late November. They can be caught from some breakwaters and virtually all rock marks. Most fish are in the 1lb-2lb range, but they can grow to over 4lb in Manx waters. Any fish over 3lb is a good capture.
The ballan is a very slow growing species, which has a life span of about 25 years. In that time they can grow to a maximum weight of about 4 ½lb in Manx waters. They grow much bigger than this in the warmer waters of Devon and Cornwall, and milder winters could eventually push the upper limit of Manx fish to over 5lb.
Ballan are not recognised as being particularly good to eat, and they have so far escaped commercial fishing pressure (although they are increasingly being used as bait in lobster pots). The lack of commercial fishing, and warmer waters point to a good future for the Ballan, and in time they will become a more important fish for shore anglers. Surprisingly at present, lots of anglers often overlook them, perhaps discounting them because the small fish are easy to catch.
Tackle
Fishing for ballan involves placing your baits in amongst the rocks and weed that they inhabit. This virtually guarantees tackle losses. Tackle therefore needs to be strong and simple. Very little finesse is required for ballan fishing, it is often all about brute force.
A light spinning rod about 10/11 foot long capable of casting 1-3oz is a very sporting outfit for float fishing and drift lined baits. Match this with a suitable fixed spool and load with 15lb line and you have an outfit that provides great sport, but it can be difficult to haul out the larger specimens from their rocky lairs. Despite this, my preference at most marks is to adopt the light tackle approach, and I have landed wrasse over 4lb on such tackle.
On some marks, especially if it is rough, or if you are unable to fish close to the waters edge, then a slightly heavier set-up comprising a rod about 11/12 foot capable of casting 2-4oz is required. This is matched with a multiplier loaded with 25lb line, and is best used when ledgering baits for ballan. This outfit will easily bully the bigger specimens away from the snags.
Methods
There are three methods to choose from when ballan fishing. Ledgering, float fishing and drift lining. All three methods involve fishing at very close range. All of my best wrasse have come quite literally from under my feet. Hook lengths are usually made from 20lb mono, but they will need to be regularly replaced because the teeth on the wrasse will soon weaken the line. Hooks need to be strong. I prefer bronzed Vikings sized 1/0. The bronzed hook is important because quite often ballan will take a hook quite deeply and you have to cut the line. The bronzed finish allows the hook to dissolve very quickly, and no lasting damage is done to the fish.
Ledgering involves a simple one-hook paternoster, which is lowered / lobbed into the weedy gullies where the wrasse live. The weight (between 1 and 3 oz typically) is attached to the paternoster via a length of light line, forming a rotten bottom. This is perfectly safe because no casting is involved, and it allows you to recover the trace at the expense of the weight if it gets trapped.
Float fishing is a fun way of suspending a bait in areas that you can't reach by ledgering. A simple sliding float set up is used - slide a bead onto your reel line, then your float then a ball weight and then tie on the hook length (a short trace comprising a swivel and hook). Tie a sliding stop knot on your reel line to set the depth at which the float fishes. Personally I don't float fish very often for wrasse simply because I find it very annoying when I get snagged up and lose the float, which then has a habit of drifting around enticingly in front of you.
Instead I prefer to simply drift line a bait. This is as simple a fishing method as you can ever get. Tie a hook direct to the reel line, and then pinch a couple of large split shot onto the line. This simple set up allows me to drop a bait direct in amongst the thickest weed and has resulted in some good fish. I may lose several hooks through the course of a fishing trip but this is more than acceptable to me.
The method to use depends really on the mark you are fishing. If you can get right to the water edge and are fishing shallow waters then go for the drift line method. Fishing in deeper water, or from platforms well away from the water edge, is more suited to ledgering.
Ballan bites tend to be a series of short 'plucks' followed by a sudden lunge as the fish takes the bait and heads for cover. Strike as soon as the wrasse makes the lunge and try to control the initial surge, then you will be able to gain line. It is important not to give any line in the initial lunge, or the wrasse will likely reach safety and you will have to pull for a break. Ballan are a curious fish. This curiosity leads them to take a bait quite quickly once they see it. If you don't get any bites after a few minutes then try a slightly different area.
Baits
Lugworm catches a lot of fish of all sizes and is simple to use (simply thread it on the hook). Ragworm are a good bait, and can pick out better fish. Mussels are another good bait, but they can be tricky to secure to the hook. Limpets are easily obtainable while fishing, and they will attract fish but are not the best bait to choose from.
For targeting larger fish though the best choice of bait has to be small hard backed crab. You will catch fewer fish using crab, but they will be bigger fish.
Larger wrasse will feed on small fish, and I have caught ballan on mackerel and sandeel baits in the past, and even one while spinning with a rubber eel. These are not usually considered as suitable baits for regular action, although it can help to target better fish when being plagued by smaller wrasse.
I have also targeted wrasse successfully on plugs at certain locations, in water as shallow as 12-24 inches, but that it probably a story for a completely separate article.
When to fish
Ballan feed exclusively in daylight. A flooding tide is usually the best, with my favourite time being the first hour after low water and then again the final hour up to high water when you can be fishing over rocks that you were standing on a few hours earlier. Learn each mark that you fish, you may find that the fish appear at different states of the tide on different marks, so be sure to keep a note of how each mark fishes.
Calm sunny days are perfect for driftlining baits and ballan are one of the few fish that actively feed during the brightest sunniest weather, which means you can top up your suntan at the same time as enjoying the wrasse fishing. They can also be caught in rougher weather, when you will have to ledger a bait for them.
Where to Fish
Basically all rock marks around the Isle of Man hold ballan of one size or another. They are a territorial fish, so the larger specimens are most likely to be found from marks with little fishing pressure. Some of my best ballan have come from relatively shallow water (10 - 15 feet in depth) so don't be put off a mark simply because it is shallow.
Wrasse are also caught down the sides of some breakwaters. Port St Mary breakwater probably throws up more big fish than any other mark, although this is perhaps because it is fished regularly, and offers easy access to perfect rocky boulders. If you are fishing from breakwaters then you will need the heavier set up in order to lift the fish up the wall.
