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This story was recently in the Uk newspapers. Apparently this 11lb 14oz fish was caught and released on the River Avon near Christchurch in Dorset miles from the sea, the angler was fishing for Pike at the time. My family know this stretch of river well as my Father lived in Christchurch during World War II and the River Avon was the play area of him and his chums. Another reason this story's of interest to me is that I caught my first (Much smaller) Bass as a boy in freshwater from the adjacent River Stour just a few miles away. Bass are known to move up rivers especially large solitary fish, I remember being told a similar story about a big fish being caught well up a river in Wexford, on a dead bait intended for Pike, over Christmas a few years ago.
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It suddenly struck me the other day that the internet “Favourites” or links to sites I find of interest are actually something I’ve come to view as quite valuable or even as possessions of sorts. Having had a quick count up I find I have around 30 Folders containing about 200 links and the list grows on a daily basis! I don’t do as much research as I used to but I still like to find new information and resources.
I would credit the internet a great deal with my development as a Bass angler, no way would I have gained as quickly what I have in terms of knowledge, equipment , contacts not to mention live weather & tidal information webcams and so on. The web allows us all to communicate and learn from others via quality Forums like The Lure Forum (Not a huge user) email and even the dreaded Facebook (Again I’m not a big user).
Having said all this it means nothing without hours of focused effort with rod in hand especially when the fishing is tough, when it comes to learning, and I’ve been very lucky to have the time for both the web research and the fishing!
I don’t want to be a keyboard warrior who lives half his fishing life on the web. I will never be, and don’t want to be a “Super poster” on any of the forums but there are some very clued up posts amongst the nonsense.
This blog has been a rewarding experience and has added greatly to my fishing life as have the wonderful blogs of many others, the digital photography with editing software and the ability to post photos, with text, in seconds for anybody in the world to read, even from small hand held devices, is quite simply amazing and so easy to take for granted. It will also be funny to look back at what is a marvel now and compare it to what becomes the norm in the future, as with all things.
The digital age has been an incredible assest to all Anglers and will continue to be going forward, it will fascinating to see, and hopefully be a tiny part of, it’s continued evolution going forward......will it be something similar to classic futuristic Sci-Fi films “The Matrix”? Hopefully not! Anyway don’t worry about all that for now just concentrate on having a
HAPPY CHRISTMAS !!
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A nice little film here Here of Austen Goldsmith guiding Sky presenter Andy Ford on a recent lure fishing trip from the boat and also an earlier Sky sports Fly & Lure film featuring the duo Here enjoy!
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Just wanted to say thanks to everyone connected to this Blog. Firstly Jim for suggesting I start one, I'd never have thought I'd have made over 190 posts in the 18 months since and received 21,000+ hits from over 50 countries worldwide. I started out with the idea of just having the blog to let family and friends know how my fishing was going and its grown on from there. An outlet for my photos, a way to interact with others, and maybe contribute to the sport in some small way, it has been far more rewarding than I could ever have estimated. So thanks to the 50+ readers who've have felt its worthwile to sign up as followers. Thanks to everyone that's taken the time to contribute their thoughts by way of making a comment or giving a reaction and mainly just thanks for reading. As with year one I will be converting year two into hardback print shortly as my lasting keepsake.
Keep reading and keep casting - David
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Smith Zipsea pop - Superb surface popper.
OSP Yamato - Versitle large popper / walker.
Lucky Craft Gunnish - Great all round mid sized surface lure.
Zorus Patchinko II - Great action and casting.
IMA Komono II - Very shallow runner great action.
Feed Shallow 128 - THE shallow water lure (IMHO).
Diawa Shoreline shiner SL 17 F-G - My go to for shallow + distance.
Duo Tide Minnow 145 SLD-F - A most reliable jerkbait.
Duo Tide Minnow 175 SLD-F - Often use this version at night.
Duo Press bait Kamuy - Super long distance jig.
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With the 2011 season drawing to a close, for what its worth, here's my favourite products of this season.
These are products I've used for most or all of this season at least, that I can reccommend as the best I've found so far for the job they do.
Rod - Daiwa Morethan Branzino 80ML Seabass Quest Custom
Thanks Cian, we got there in the end : )
Reel - Daiwa Certate 3000
Hard lures - Daiwa Shore line shiner SL17f - Innako
(more on my favourite lures in 2011 to follow)
Main Line - YGK Real Sports G-Soul WX8 Ultra PE Line
Main Pack - Vision Myket Bra
Summer wading Jacket- LL Bean Gortex PacLite
Soft lures - Wave Worm 5" Tikki Bamboo stick.
Jig heads - Zipper Worm Company
Best new accessory (To me) Simms Wading Staff
Best terminal tackle - Delande articulated ball head
Wading Boots - Simms Rivershed.
Waterproof pack for phone and car key - Aquapac
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I was delighted to land this 7lb 8oz beauty from an estuary a couple of weeks ago and its not difficult for me to remember the day as we've hardly seen the sun since! With a few exceptions, my normal size fish for this spot would be 2 - 3 lbs so I was thrilled to feel the power of this fish and pleasantly surprised to hook anything in the bright still conditions of that day. I really took my time landing this one as I'd opted for a 15lb flouro leader and a light wire Decoy Nail Bomb VJ-71 jig head on which to mount my Ayu pattern Xlayer softie to suit the calm clear open water I was fishing. As is often the way the fish was caught very early in the session and no further fish were landed. I never get bored with estuary fishing especially when the produce fish like this one.
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Not good 
(That it's needed)
Good 
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Just to let you know IA Oct is now out and contains Soft Plastics III,
from your humble scribe, that attempts to cover techniques.....
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Been using YGK G-Soul WX8 braid for a year or so with excellent results until very recently when problems have begun......I've been getting the mother of all wind knots every other cast which has never happened before but I think I know why. Recently I've been fishing a lot with weightless soft plastics (Wave worms, Midways, Senkos, Flash-J, Still Hunt, ect) and, combined with not using a swivel clip having moved on to Delanlande INOX No6 clips or the good old JB No3 with the swivel removed, I think I've put twist into the line. Despite running it out across various surfaces and winding back onto the spool numerous times to remove the twist the problem won't go away. The braid looks perfect with no evidence of a problem even when off the spool but I think its time to reload with new and go back to using the JB No3, with swivel intact, when fishing weightless soft plastics.
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Decided to pass on the All Ireland Hurling final between Tipperary and Kilkenny this afternoon in favour of............going fishing, what a surprise! The phrase "Less than ideal conditions" is a bit overused I feel but casting a lure into 30knot+ headwind which was enough in itself to put a bend in the rod and with the lures barely pentrating (maybe not a day for the fly) I think you could definately say these were not ideal conditions. You can imagine what the sea looked like, big waves and lots of white water. I opted for soft plastics with various patterns of shads and was delighted to hook and eventually land this 6lber on a Sawamura One up Shad in #064 (Wakasagi) pattern supplied by
Absolute Fishing after a battle that nearly ended in disaster when the fish dived for the kelp and nearly succeded in its escape bid. It just goes to show that the fish can still be on the feed in the wildest conditions and can be caught if you have the tactics right.
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Ok, so it cost as much as a half decent rod but this
Simms wading stick was worth every penny in my opinion. Its saved my bacon so many times in terms of avoiding certain falls which could have cost me a lot more.
Don't know why I didn't see the potential and get one sooner, its not so much the deep water wading its more the loose wet weed covering the rocks that no boot can grip. Its no trouble to carry when its not needed either
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One of my all time favourite plastics the Xorus Midway mounted on a Decoy Hyper Worm 13 3/0 hook attached to a 12g Tete agrafes
I really like these well, what would you call them, erm articulated jig head weights? Whatever, they are very handy as I can use the same bait, already mounted on a suitable hook as anything from weightless, to having any size weight attached, at the moment I'm carrying 7g & 12g but the range is quite large. These weights allow me to travel light as I'm not carrying one jig head per bait. Minor drawback over traditional Texas rigged jig heads is that they're not as "Weedless" and I would still recommend a blob of suitable glue to hold the bait in position on the hook.
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I first became aware that I was surrounded when I lifted a lure out of the water at my feet and a small plucky Pollock propelled itself clear out of the water in pursuit of my lure. I then noticed diturbances on the surface of the water and was immediately tempted by the idea of catching Pollock on the surface, as the Bass hadn't turned up at that stage. I decided to try with a Lucky Craft Sammy, as the fish were small, and for the next half hour the walking lure was attacked and missed half a dozen times per retrieve on average but they just couldn't or wouldn't take it fully. After a couple of foul hooks I switched to some hard metals to learn a bit more about how they work and was able to see the fish attacking the lure under my rod top. I think using something like a Feed Shallow would have led to multiple hook ups, it was very similar to mackerel behavior. As darkness fell I was joined by an Otter who went right through the Pollock which didn't seem to effect their enthusiasm. Walking back to the car through the shallows my headtorch picked up some unusual baitfish in the shallows which I couldn't identify but I think they were the reason for the Pollock frenzy.
Pollock Frenzy Day 2.24 hrs later I returned to the scene of the crime to see if the action was still on and it sure was. This time I opted for a small weightless soft plastic in white to match the bait fish I 'd seen previously. As I was nearing my chosen spot I stopped to clip on my plastic and whilst doing so I noticed a disturbance in the shallow water to my left, I cast in that direction and Bang, Fish on.....a solid fish....doesn't feel like a Pollock........oh no slack line.......whats happened? I wound in to find the clip had broken, most unusual !?! I quickly retied and cast......again Bang, fish on and this time it was indeed a nice Bass not the Pollock or even Mullet I'd thought was the cause of the disturbance. For the next hour I caught hard fighting Pollock almost every cast and got broken off in the weed and rocks more than once, eventually I was catching in knee deep water before I moved on in search of Bass......
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After much buying and selling I think I'm finally there in terms of the hunt for my ideal rod. When I first picked up the Daiwa Morethan Branzino 80 ML I couldn't see how such a light diminutive rod weighing in at just 127g could do it all but I'm quickly becoming a believer.The amount of usable power this rod has is freaky for its size and I'm thoroughly enjoying getting used to it. So far I've fished everything from Small surface lures to large soft plastics and the experience is wonderfully different to anything else I've fished with before.
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The September Issue of Irish angler will be out shortly and has a super photo
by Jim Hendrick on the cover.
This month also contains Part 2 of my articles on soft plastic fishing which deals with the equipment and baits
....
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Just back from fishing the Copper Coast with agents Cian O'Halloran and James Barry of
Absolute Fishing, I felt distinctly last season in the fashion stakes with my Olive green / tan outfit but thankfully the good news is that a big brute of a Bass didn't mind, the bad news is I lost it due to over egearness. From the off it was starting to look like a tough day by local standards after a usually red hot mark failed to produce but i finally connected with a good fish and the battle was on. The fish was in a rip next to a plateau of rough ground with plenty of surf but I managed to get it to the surface eventually by which time James was standing next to me. We had a good look at the back and tail of a big fish as the trebles finally straightened from too much pressure by me and it was gone. Many thanks for the experiences Guys, I look forward to doing it all again soon.
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Just watched the follow up C4 program on
Hugh's Fish Fight and it seems amazing progress has been made with trying to change the Common fisheries Policy on discards, along with the fishing policies of fish processors and also trying to encourage consumption of a wider range of species rather than the old favorites of Cod Salmon & Tuna by the general public. Surely this can only be a good thing if we want to protect fish stocks, just hope it doesn't put pressure those in power to look at our Bass as an alternative.
Feedback to the above............
Sea Bass in Spain is highly prized and is eaten, and has been for many years. This is why myself and others don’t generally publish where we fish them. Sea Bass is bought at about 30€ a kilo in summer and only a couple of days ago a boat came in to port with over 20 tonnes! I’m sorry to say that it won’t be long before it starts fetching these prices in England and Ireland, so be prepared. The technique which is mostly used and criticised is called “embalo”. This involves setting up nets and then the fishermen go out in small boats close up to the coast and bang away at the water with their oars thus scarring the Bass and driving them toward the nets. Sorry to be the bringer of bad news but I thought you should know. Enjoy your catches while they last.
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I have this Smith Blow Shot Boron Riversider 8' 6" 10-35g high end lure rod for sale.
It's in Mint condition and hardly used, it just didn't suit me but it might suit you....
I will consider any reasonable offer, use the "contact me" button if you're interested.
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Visiting angler from the UK Matthew Norman, age 10, landed this fish ten minutes in to his first ever Bass fishing trip and sportingly decided to return it to the sea
after a quick photo call. Well done Matthew!
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Landed this beauty second cast during an afternoon session at the start of the last decent onshore blow, which seems like a long time ago now.
The brightly coloured shallow running Mommotti 180 in ARB was ideal for the wild but sunny conditions.
A few more fish followed before the weed, stirred up by the wave action, made further fishing impossible....
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Here's a subject that divides people, as an experienced Bass Angler why would you pay for a guide? Well if you're at home you probably wouldn't, presuming you know your spots, state of tides, when & where to fish and when not to bother, but when you leave that area the local knowledge you have is very useful but maybe not quite as effective? If your time is limited its easy to waste a lot of time trying to locate the fish.
Further to the above here are some other reasons I look forward to going down to
Jim Hendrick in Wexford for some guided fishing.
Firstly
Safety, I can rely on Jim to make all the safety calls and just concentrate on the fishing, a big luxury in itself. I could be at the mouth of a huge estuary as the tide turns and about to flood on the biggest tide of the cycle with gullies behind me and fish right to within a safe margin of last orders by relying on Jim to know when that is and communicate it to me. There are a hundred other situations where the safety issue can apply also.
The numerous prime
Locations I have been taken to that I'd never have found myself, and will probably never find way back to, such is the maze of country lanes around our coastline.
Timings you will rarely beat a professional guide like Jim to consistently put you in the right spot at precisely the right times to give you a chance at the best fishing on offer that day. There are never any guarantees as any angler knows.
Transport another luxury, to be driven to location after location with zero navigation required and just be able to talk fishing with a hugely knowledgeable Guy, along with many other related and unrelated topics and to be able to sit in the car enjoy the countryside is just bliss, especially on the way back from a 10hr fishing day! When fishing with a professional guide you cannot fail to
Learn from the experience, knowledge that is hard won on your own that you can take away with you to be introduced to your own fishing at a later dateFinally, and most importantly, I find the whole experience
Hugely enjoyable catching or not and I hope I can continue to enjoy guided fishing for a few more years at least.
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I don't do much surface fishing in my local area so to arrive at a new spot and get hit on the first cast.......then the second......third and so on
up to about a dozen, with most hits resulting in landed fish, was a summer treat. The lure that worked in the flat calm clear water was the Smith
Zipsea Pop 08 (Clear)
until I'd bent the weak trebles straight too often and
switched lures, by which time the action had slowed down.
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The August issue of Irish Angler is out and contains the first of my three articles on fishing for Bass with soft plastics.
This month gives an overview along with how and why I started fishing with them.
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Photo by Padraig Fitzmaurice.Still catching here in Clare despite the changeable weather. Yesterday I returned to a spot I’ve called “The Flats”, with Padraig in lashing rain and a strong onshore wind. The water was soupy from the wild weather of the last few days but we fished anyway having made the effort to suit up and walk to the spot. To my total amazement I hooked this brute at close range, at first I thought it was a double but after measuring we decided to call it 9Lb, my best fish so far in 2011, which unbelievable for a day when we easily could not have bothered. A further smaller fish followed for me and Padraig hooked and lost a fish which put a good bend in his new rod. The lure that did the business again was the Daiwa shore line shiner SL17-F, the retrieve was very slow with plenty of stops. I think the motion of the bigger lure gave the fish a chance to locate it in the murky water.....
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Fishing Clare this week and finding the fish. In order to punch a lure into a stiff southerly breeze and fish the shallow mark I'm on I've been fishing almost exclusively with a
Daiwa Shore line shiner SL17F - INAKKO (Baby Mullet). Meeting up with local expert John Weir shortly for an evening session in some pretty foul weather.
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Visting angler Padraig Fitzmaurice from Tuam, Co Galway enjoyed some good fishing with me over the last two days including this beauty caught on a Small Ayu Xlayer mounted on a 10g jig head. Padraig landed a second fish of the same size during an early morning session in beautiful weather. To celebrate Padraig consumed the Mega Fry Breakfast at O'Donovan's Hotel to round off a perfect morning...
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Honour is restored, after a
fish less marathon due to unsettled conditions we found the fish today.
This one hit a
5" Wave Worm Tiki Bamboo Stick - Laminate Red Shad.(Click on the bait name for a link)
Which was fished
weightless over a pristine W
exford reef on the evening tide.
Jim and I saw the fish hit the worm right in front of our eyes, under the rod tip in
crystal clear water, a
memory that will last a lifetime....
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You would think that a reasonably competent and extremely well
equipped angler in the hands of a world class guide on the most reliable spots in the country in beautiful weather just after a blow with perfect tides and 5.00 am start would have a few fish to show for 10hrs hard fishing....I'm afraid not. This underlines the fickle nature of Bass fishing anywhere, if its not quite right they just don't turn up to feed and there's nowt anyone can do about it other than persevere and hope things pick up or back off until conditions
appear to have improved. That was the results aspect of today. The full story was a fascinating day seeing
Wexford through the eyes of Jim Hendrick, visiting some amazing places and
generally blowing away
the cobwebs of the closed season. What will
tomorrow bring? Nobody knows, not even Jim (Sorry)
that's the beauty of fishing.....
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Getting ready to hit the road tomorrow for my annual pilgrimage to Jim Hendrick in Wexford, which is truely God's country when it comes to Bassing. New trebles have been debarbed and swapped with last seasons old and now rusty ones. Soft plastics have been mounted, braided lines changed, I've even packed some clothing ! Planning to catch up with Cian and Henry somewhere enroute this year in Waterford. Can't wait !!
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The new season is finally upon us, be safe and enjoy !!
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Looking forward to trying this Surface Lure when the season opens.
Its the
Megabass XPOD which Cian at Absolute Fishing kindly sent up to me after I'd seen Henry mention it in his Blog post about Florida. It looks amazing, as all Megabass lures do, and features this unique adjustable bib which gives the angler up to 7 modes of operation or "Comand Modes" and even comes with a pin number with which to log in and watch the "Secret Command Action Movie" on the Megabasss website, far out man !!
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During the Irish Bass closed season I have been reading a fascinating book on an iconic fish species that the world loves to eat but, if you're like me, you know very little about its history and struggle for survival.
"COD by Mark Kurlansky, A biography of a fish that changed the world" is a good read, especially if you care about the oceans, as it graphically illustrates the demise of a species the was once thought to be inexhaustible due to statistics such as " Nine million eggs in a cod fish of middling size - a number that will baffle all efforts to exterminate it !"
Tales of Cod waters so rich that only wicker baskets were needed in order to hoist up untold fish to the size of, a staggering, 6 foot long and 211lbs!
Its all here to read, from the amazing, initially secret, discoveries by the Basques of rich fishing grounds off of what is now known as the US mainland, to the horrendous fatalities and hardships of the early cod fisherman, to methods of preservation after the discoveries of some bloke called Birdseye in the 1820's (I kid you not).
I found this to be a uniquely informative read. Available from all good...........
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Rumor has it that there is to be a pilot scheme opened up for commercial bass fishing by long lines / trolling in Irish waters.
Please write to, or email the Minister -
Simon Coveney to express your concerns.
Thank You.
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After months of research I think I've found my rod for heavier work in the 2011 season.
My
SAKURA Shinjin 862 LR-MH (Which translates to 8' 6" Long Range - Medium Heavy) arrived today from
Absolute Fishing. One phone call to Cian and the rod was delivered within 24hrs for €150 including p&p which has to be excellent value and great service. I've yet to test the rod as we are in the closed season (Not long now till 15th June) but on first impressions it exceeds my expectations for the money. It has to be said this is not a high end rod but having looked at many which didn't have the elements I was looking for I think this rod will suit my needs perfectly. I was concerned that Sakura don't quote a weight for the rod but on first picking up the rod in its bag I knew it wasn't an issue, not sure what it weighs but its as close to anything else I've handled recently. Putting the rod together I see the latest Fuji "K" Series rings and even the orange that looked a bit garish in the brochure is in fact more of a burnt brown and quite pleasant to look at. The handle is exactly the same as my Yamaga Blanks Ballistick 85/16, a Fuji up screw design which builds the grip around the reel and gives a very comfy handle. I think this rod will be just the job for job for blasting out the bigger lures and handling (Hopefully) bigger fish in challenging situations!
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Here's an interesting comparison........
On the left we have the very exotic Duo Press Bait Fusion - Slim a hi tech casting jig packed with design features such an asymmetrical shape a rail attachment for the treble hook to slide up the body of the lure in casting to improve the aerodynamics, realistic scaling detail, a bubble gum pink back that fades beautifully into a shimmering underbelly and an eye that's quite frankly intimidating
Price around 28 Euro from a few specialist retailers in Ireland or from overseas.
On the right we have the good old Kilty Lure (Caught my first few Bass on one) basically its a lump of metal that's been bent and chromed with a sticky label on it that's going to fool nobody.
Price 4 Euro available from every tackle shop in Ireland.
Now, here's the question. Will the Press Bait outperform the Kilty enough to justify the cost and effort to source one?
My answer - Don't care, I want one anyway!
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Decided to see out the pre closed season with two sessions on Sat 14th, an afternoon foray to rough ground and if not successful a night session. The afternoon session was fishless, weed had been pushed onto the coastline I was fishing by the westerly winds of the past few days and it must have been enough to put the fish off. So it was back out for session II as the light faded, at a different location, and would you believe the first cast produced this lively fish to the sand eel like
Mommotti SS140 ACC. Moving on I spotted a disturbance in the moonlit water, cast towards it and connected with a solid fish which was landed after a battle and I released the gleaming bar of silver at approaching 1 hr before the closed season.
Time to give it a rest now for a month, looking forward to the main event !!
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Having missed the brief weather window last week I was glad to pick up this fish over the weekend. The lure that did the business is the classy IMA Sasuke 120 RP117 Sand Borer
The weather is not looking good for the run in to the closed season which is tough when you've been chomping at the bit and then it all stops for a month. O Well, if thats what it takes to give the species a chance then it has to be worth it ...
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Found this in the Carp section of my local
Tackle Shop and couldn't resist.
Yes it stinks but that's the idea.
Must be worth a try for enhancing soft bait appeal me thinks.
Just hope to God I don't spill the evil smelling potion down my chesties....
P.S. A dab behind each ear guarantees dance floor space at the local discho!
