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After a couple of evenings scouting and fishing, and after much treking I came upon an ideal looking spot. After an hour of casting, the lure was hit by a solid fish right where I would expect to find one, things were about to get interesting.. As the fish was getting closer I had to get down off the boulder I was casting from to tackle the fish in four feet of lively surf over a field of smaller boulders so typical of the Galway shoreline. As the fish came to me it was pushed towards a handily placed boulder and I managed to gently pin it to the side of the boulder with my left hand, rod in the right hand, I then realised I was stuck for my next move? This was a fish I was determined to land, my first Galway Bass and not a common thing according to local knowledge. The only thing to do was abandon my expensive rod and reel to the surf giving me a free hand to complete the capture which I duly did, getting a good soaking in the process.
The fish weighed in at a fraction under 6lbs and was humanely dispatched for the table, well P&T's table to be precise, and then it was off to locate rod and reel. After ten minutes of wading and searching things were not looking good and I was starting to feel more than a little foolish when, finally I spotted the the lure and hoped the rod was not too far away, the braided line had snagged on the very last growth of Bladderwrack before deep water and certain loss, a narrow escape.
All's well that ends well.
To be continued..........
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Great action, report to follow.........
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After the storms of the previous few days the fish have returned, this six pounder fought hard in the dark and was returned safely, along with a few others..........
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Just received this picture of Anton (My brother) with a 50lb + Mekong Catfish and according to Anton "He fight velly long time"
I will try to get some more details such as How, When, & and Where?
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When I embarked on this project of catching a few Irish Bass some years ago now I could never have imagined what a journey it was to be. From months of hard fishing in the wrong places at the wrong time with the wrong gear, sometimes fishing twice a day, at all manner of venues from, rocky headlands to sandy estuary's, alone but very content to be in these stunning environments surrounded by wildlife.
Just yesterday another piece of the jigsaw fell into place with the locating of feeding fish at a mark I've had my eye on for a year but had never quite caught it right..........
To be continued
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Landed four fish this evening after dark, the last
definitely had me thinking I'd hooked that
illusive double. The fish went on some powerful
unstoppable runs in a very rocky area and I had my hands full for a good while. Eventually as the fish drew closer I put on my head torch to reveal the truth........ a decent fish at well over six pounds but............hooked in the tail : (
O well good practice for when the Daddy finally hits my lure.
All fish were returned unharmed.
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For various reasons I am now the proud owner of the Elite Shimano reel known only as the STELLA, in 4000 size.
It is a thing of beauty and highly regarded by serious fixed spool anglers.
I have given it a pretty good test over the last few days and so far it's living up to the hype................
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