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Just received another year of the blog printed in Hardback and full color I get two copies one for sharing with people who want to flick through it and another that will not leave the safety of my bookshelf at home. In a digital age where its all too easy to have disasters with stored media it's comforting and also very satisfying to have something physical to pick up and and look through at the end of another fishing and blogging year. I find it amazing to look back and remember the people I've met and enjoyed fishing with, the experiences I've had, the equipment I've used and so on, nothing here, no matter how abstract, fails to produce a memory of some sort. I'd like to thank everyone for reading my weekly ramblings especially those who've signed up as a follower, welcome to Richard Andrews who makes up that number to a nice round figure of 100. If I don't post again before the holidays here's to a Christmas and the prospect of doing it all again next year!
If you'd like more detail on anything I've mentioned in this blog feel free to ask via the "Contact Me" button on the right of the Blog.
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Yesterday I attend a protest in Carrigaline aimed at halting plans by the government to allow mega Salmon Farms in locations such as Galway Bay and, closer to home, Bantry Bay. I learnt quite a lot about the damage caused by these fish farms something that I'd only been mildly aware of. You can read more about this very serious threat to the coastal marine environment and add your support to the campaign by signing a petition Here
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I've attempted to tackle this subject before Here but as tough fishing has been a feature of my season I'm back to it again with a few more thoughts...
So, when the going gets tough what should you do? This season, I think, has been mind numbingly difficult at times, hour after hour of fishing near perfect conditions in extremely reliable locations has at more times for me than I care to remember produced very little or nothing. It's at times like this that the internet can become the enemy of one's sanity when reports of good fishing can be found and read off the screen at any time of the night or day. After some great fishing I love to read of others successes but after a big fat blank? Probably not! So what's the best way to deal with tough fishing? Fish more, fish less? Try new locations, new ideas or just back off? The answer to these questions is of course an entirely personal thing. For me I've tried to get through it this way...Read internet reports of great fishing yes but don't get to carried away with the stats or lack of them, how many rod hours fished, what local knowledge was involved, information like this would help paint a true picture for the sake of comparison so I TRY not to get to taken in by these or word of mouth reports unless from the most trusted of sources. Tactically do I try everything and anything to try and hook up? No, unless its to keep it interesting and to store new ideas away in the memory bank for future reference. I go with tried and tested what's, worked before will work again, I just need to find the fish. When I have caught they've been just as aggressive as usual and willing to chase hard. As for locations it's been the same as the tactics. I haven't charged around trying to find where all the fish are hiding but again stuck with the tried and tested focusing on timings and improving the quality of everything I'm doing. I've certainly checked out new spots of my own and greatly appreciated some that others have kindly shared with me in trust, you know who you are and I thank you. I've fished more hours of darkness both after dusk and pre dawn this season than in any of my previous years put together and it can wear thin when not productive but I have certainly come to respect the pre dawn hour as a golden one.Lastly if the fishing is slow I've tried to switch off the results side of my brain and enjoy the awesome places that we go to catch Bass and the experiences we have along the way.
Oh and by the way I haven't given up on a winter Bass or two just yet...
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Not a whole lot of action here as the clocks change and a tough season draws to a close but this fish showed up midweek at a both surprising and welcome moment. In a previous post Here I pondered whether this lure would be as deadly as it looked and in all honesty I still don't know either way but I can say that this fish opened my eyes to what can happen. Fishing off a sandbar as the light faded I blasted off a cast into the gloom and started a sink and draw retrieve but aborted midway, for reasons I can't remember, and cranked the lure home at warp speed to recast but got slammed by this fish a rod length out. How this fish could intercept such a fast moving object is beyond me let alone almost swallow it!
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Continuing to "work" hard here in the hope of some decent Autumn sport but it hasn't quite turned out that way so far. Travelled to a fishy destination last weekend and put in the hours (Including a 4.00 am start) which resulted in - The Good news - 7 fish. - The Bad news - all under 2Lbs many of which attacked big lures such as the ever reliable 170mm Daiwa Shore Line Shiner SL 17 F-G and this was from varying locations at various states of tides. Back home and its pretty much been the same, fish landed during night and evening sessions but all small fish, so much for the big Autumn fish that everyone talks about, oh well there's time yet and I'll be trying to make the most of the conditions as usual. Yesterday evening was a head wrecker, raced out ahead of a big storm to find great conditions clean water moderate swell and winds still light, cast into an area which has produced before, got hit on a DUO Tide Minnow-145-sld-f (H134) and landed (Yes you've guessed it) a small fish, next cast hit again, a better fish, fish takes line picks up weed and manages to shed the lure. Fish for the next hour trying everything I have including switching back to the TM but nothing at all, did the lost fish spook the group it was in and no others were present? I can only presume so, Oh well will sit out the storm that's now raging around the house and give it a rest for a few days...
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Just back from, reflecting on and recovering from another epic trip to the Copper Coast which turned out better than my previous trip 2 Wks ago when it delt me a good hiding in the form of a massive blank for 10 hrs hard fishing including dusk, dawn and night sessions! So this time it turned out better for me but again four hrs fishing at dusk and into the darkness on Friday evening produced nothing in the way of fish landed or even a hit I must admit to getting that "Here we go again feeling" but I kept at it, trying to be as focused as possible on the key times and locations. On key times remarkably for a Bass fisherman I've rarely made the effort to get out early let alone pre-dawn in the past but this season it's accounted for probably over half my fish, I said of an earlier trip away that I'd made double the effort for half the "Normal" results and I'd extend that to my 2012 season as a whole. So back out early on the Sat morning I got hit OTD pretty much straight away when fishing off a strand and landed a reasonable fish in the darkness before moving onto the rocks as it began to get light and landing a better fish of about 5lb to a 14g weedless jig / One up Shad fished sink and draw, things were looking up.. I then moved and got smashed again on the One up shad off a rocky point which turned out to be a very nice fish probably getting on for about 7lb. I fished on for a couple of hours as the spring tide raced out on a beautiful sunny morning with no further action before returning to the Grand Hotel for breakfast and an hours rest and then on to Absolute Fishing for a much needed cup of Coffee. At Absolute there was a real buzz around the place with a few tales of big fish lost including a possible mid double for one inconsolable local, encouraged I headed back out to fish the flood which I did for a further six hrs until fatigue finally got the better of me and I climbed back up the faboulous cliffs of the Copper Coast one last time and started the weary drive home. So all in all a better result but still not great for about 14 hrs focused fishing, it does have to be said though that my knowledge of the CC is pretty basic but improving with each trip. Great to meet new people such as the Neely's who assisted me with landing the larger fish and who I bumped into at most of the spots I visited (Cheers Guys) and also good to catch up with all the locals. Looking forward to doing it all again some time soon...
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Just got one of these from Cian at Absolute fishing after donating my previous grip to the Copper Coast (Don't ask). First impression are good, well built, 0 -10kg scales incorporated (But please don't hang fish directly off of any grip) decent sheath, comes with lanyard and all for half the price of the original Boga. One feature I like is the single finger action and the protection of the finger by the grip unlike the original Boga which puts the fingers far too close to the action for my liking. This looks like a great product from Savage Gear.
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The day game has been pretty tough of late here but there was high drama on Saturday when two decent Bass appeared from nowhere in a kelp strewn gully I was fishing and chased down my small dark softie in crystal clear water and bright sunshine, before dissapearing in the blink of an eye.I returned to said gulley this evening and after pitching a Sebile Magic Swimmer Soft into two converging currents was delighted to hook this beauty, but the best was yet to come... I switched to a Spindle worm in Black Beer (Guinness maybe ?!?) + 7g Batchi head and ran it past my feet to "test" the action only for an exact repeat of Saturday's attack to occur again! This time it was a single fish and this time it didn't miss, after a brief battle at close range (I could have caught it on a hand line) a meaty 5lb+ fish was landed, photographed and released.A few amazing details to consider are, - I'd bet my house on it being the same fish as one of the two I saw on Saturday, behavior and size identical to the larger of those two fish.
- The gully was only 5 - 6ft deep,
- I'd landed the previous fish on top of where this fish attacked maybe 15 mins previously !?!
Bass fishing never fails to surprise me...
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On arriving at my chosen spot just as the sun was setting on a glorious evening I noticed movement on the surface at a distance off the rocks, nothing unusual in that I thought, middle of summer, plenty of Mullet around...I selected a lure and began to fish as normal but again my eye was drawn to what now seemed to un-Mullet like movements coming from those fish. They we now regularly coming clean out of the water, probably Mackerel I thought. To satisfy my curiosity I looked to my metals and selected an Tackle House P-Boy Jig with a single hook and blasted it in the direction of the disturbances, bump bump on the retrieve but no hook up. Switched to a P-Boy with a treble and with the action now at the limit of my casting range I blasted off again and this time connected with who knows what? In my mind I was still thinking Mackerel or even Sea trout as I finally beached a small but energetic Bass !?! So in a summer where they've been hard to find I witness around fifty (Ok small) Bass hammering bait on the surface as if they're Stripers, amazing...
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I've been thinking of trying to reduce down the number of lures I carry partly for practical reasons but also as a challenge to see how few presentations I think I can get away with to cover ALL conditions Rock, Sand, Surf / Surface, midwater, bottom, and Night or Day! I thought perhaps five might do it for me but I've finally settled on a MAGNIFICENT SEVEN as follows...
Top - Smith Zip Sea Pop / Zorus Patchinko
Mid - Feed Shallow / Zonk Gataride
Deep - IMA Barbarossa
Soft - Wave Worm / One up Shad
I'm gonna cheat here and not commit to colors as I want the option of changing to suit water clarity may it be crystal clear, tinged, or soupy, also the soft plastics I reserve the right to fish from weightless through to say a 14g /4/0 weedless Jig Head which gives me another at least ten presentations.
So for what its worth there you have it I'd really like to reduce what I carry (And buy!) and that's what I've come up with and all I need now is some fish to cast at...
What's your Magnificent Seven?
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Moving on a few umm “Overstocked” items… Megabass X-140 SW €18.00 Daiwa DC Minnow €5.00 Duo Realis Pencil 110 €15.00 Megabass XPOD €15.00 Megabass Flutta Bait €15.00 Megabass X-80 Beat SW €15.00 P&P €2.00 Ireland €3.00 Uk & Europe Payment - Paypal / Cash and collection from Cork city or West cork Please use the “Contact me” button if anything catches your eye! |
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Despite it being the weakest tide of the cycle a chance to fish the extremes of night presented itself so Michael Quirke and I joined forces again at the weekend and agreed to meet at mine for 3.00am to head off and fish a bay on the falling tide which we duly did. We found the bay to be free of suspended weed so fishing hard plastics was no problem. Wading in the clear water I was fascinated by the streams of phosphorescence swirling of my waders as I felt my way around under the stars casting into in the darkness probing around the water column in search of a fish. Michael moved from the open strand onto a rocky point and got hit by fish a few times but didn't connect, buoyed up by the presence of active fish I joined him and we concentrated our efforts here as the dawn slowly broke behind us. Sensing that our chances of finding a fish or two in open water were decreasing fast as the light levels increased, I moved on to another section of the strand and after a few casts I connected with a fish which I got to the surface before it threw the hooks and the line went slack, tough going but the results so far were about what we’ve come to expect of the fishing this “Summer”. With the sun well on its way up we returned to the car and headed off for a deeper water rock mark which we fished intensively with soft plastics and metals to no avail until, just as we were about to call it a morning and head to our homes for a well earned rest, this most welcome fish grabbed my Wakasagi (Dark Brown/Silver Fleck) Spindle Worm mounted on a 7g Batchi jig! So, not a great session numbers wise, probably about par for the course at the moment, but very enjoyable all the same...
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I'm sure this is all pretty obvious to seasoned vets but to anyone starting out you could be wondering what the heck you're doing wrong at the moment so, for what its worth I'll stick my neck out and offer my thoughts. Unlike spring for example when the colder water temps change their behaviour causing early season fish to act more lethargically I think we are just fishing to less fish rather than uninterested fish. The fish I've caught this year have been just as willing to chase down lures and attack aggressively at times. The big difference this year, and to a point last, is that we're simply fishing to less fish. So, where I'd be hoping to catch half a dozen I'm VERY glad to pick up one and where I thought there was a chance of a single fish in the past, at the moment it's probably not worth bothering other than to practice techniques and familiarize in readiness for better times. So, I think, its not so much about changing techniques but more about being more focused on where and more importantly WHEN your best chances are, based on past experiences, which to be fair makes it very difficult if you don't have that behind you from past seasons. One way of increasing your chances for sure in good times or bad is to fish the changes light (Dusk or Dawn) or to night fish. From what I'm hearing and experiencing at the moment, by night fishing it IS still possible to match somewhere near average daytime fishing results of a better season so if that appeals it's probably the way to go when looking to increase your chances...
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We really are having tough fishing times here at the moment. The weather has remained unsettled here since the season restarted in June with continuous change leading to poor results. With the technology experience and time I have at my disposal I'd expect to doing really well at this stage in the season but I'm just not. I could do more night fishing and cash in on the greater catch rate but that would still only get my numbers up to reasonable summer fishing results and although I enjoy it now and again I'm not really looking to do all my fishing in darkness despite the results. So for now I'll keep doing what I enjoy which is varied fishing, go when it suits me, look forward to hopefully a few patches of good fishing and enjoy this "Summer" whatever the weather. At least my home or business wasn't flooded like many others less fortunate than myself here in Cork.
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I took up an invitation to fish with Michael Quirke at one of his spots yesterday evening and it proved worthwhile. Water quality was good and the NW wind put a bit of welcome movement into the water. The plan was to fish soft plastics and allow Michael to demo a rod of mine which we did until Michael cracked and switched back to his beloved hard baits which, to be fair produced the first fish! Photos were taken in lovely soft evening light and the fish released only for me to realise that I’d left the memory card out of the camera and the built in memory was full, what an amateur! We fished on and as the light was fading I lost a decent fish at close range after a lively battle, Michael rejoined me and landed this fish on a weedless & weightless Spindle Worm which is one of his first successes on this style of presentation and from what I could see won’t be the last! Good skills Michael.
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Photo by Jim Hendrik
After a tough afternoon session under the sun for a change (20c!) in which we both fished, Jim on the fly and me trying every single plastic I carry to no avail and which involved lots of sweaty and sometimes hairy climbing and treking it all came good in the evening. Within the first five casts my lure was slammed in an identical manner to yesterdays fish which resulted in a decent sized fish being landed, photographed, and released after which energy levels soared as the andrenalin kicked and the senses sharpened in anticipation of what could follow such a promising start. We switched to the surface, relocated slightly to "rest" the spot we'd just taken the fish from and within a few more casts there was an almighty disturbance of white water behind my Dark/Gold Patchinko that made me take a step back, followed by a solid hit after I'd twitched the lure on the surface, this resulted in a smaller but much welcomed second fish, more photos followed and a safe release was made but the best was yet to come.... We swapped to a Smith Zip Sea Pop and again after not many casts the lure was hit and I connected with what felt like an ok sized fish, after a couple of seconds the fish came off but......as I started to quickly wind in to recast the popper was slammed again whilist still subsurface by a much more powerful fish, subsuface popper fishing ?!? Thankfully this one stayed on and after a spirited battle with some powerful runs and some close encounters with the rocks the fish was beached. This fella had swallowed my popper whole and I was relieved to get the trebles out with the foceps and with no damage to the fish, more photos and off she went, amazing during such a tough period of Bass fishing in Ireland many thanks to Jim for, amongst many other things, never giving up on the chance of a fish, looking forward to doing it all again next year. See Here for Jim's super photos.
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Well, despite all the dire predictions and lack of expectations we have made a good start here in Wexford. The first hour looked like it would be the same old story, perfect conditions (Thanks to Jims expert local knowledge) but no fish as has mainly been the story of post close season 2012 so far. As I fished soft plastics from a rocky weedy point focusing on the area to the right Jim directed me to fish to the left and after a few casts my bait was hit hard by a nice fish that looked big by my recent standards but was probably around 5Lbs. With confidence levels elevated we moved on to a similar spot at which my bait was grabbed almost under the rod top by a fish that motored of on a powerful run that made the drag sing which after a good battle I managed to lose just as Jim was getting ready to grab it. We finished of our session with this nice bonus fish which hit a lime green “One up shad” at a deep water mark... See Jim's photos here Here
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Just about to hit the road and I'm wondering if I have enough
SPARE Baits to keep me going for the week !?!
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The Time has finally come to head East to Wexford and Jim Hendrick's award winning guiding service. I am under no illusion that its going to be tough tough tough and Jim, being the professional that he is, has all but cancelled me. I couldn’t imagine a summer of fishing without a trip to Jim’s as I have done for a few years now and despite the grim conditions due to the continued unsettled weather I’m well up for it and will relish the increased challenge. Stay tuned for the full story over the next few days folks...
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I got up this morning with the feel of a child on Christmas morning. The thought that I can finally get back to some bass fishing, with a reasonable chance of getting a few over the coming months, is hard even for me to get used to as the closed season is finally behind us. If I'm on honest I've actually enjoyed the break having fished pretty hard through the winter and up to the close, it's been no harm to give it a rest for a few weeks especially in the name of conservation. Even though the weather has been awful here for the last 48hrs I will be heading out to fish some areas new to me just to go through the motions, learn a bit about these unfmiliar places for a few hours and get a feel for the conditions without expecting too much in the way of results. Here we go and lets hope its a season like 2010 rather than 2011...
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Good luck to all as the Irish season proper finally begins, have fun and stay safe.
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During our closed season for Bass fishing of 15th May - 15th June I've Been getting a vicarious Bass fix by reading a few Striper fishing books on my wife's Kindle. I have to say the one I've enjoyed the most so far is "The Hunt for Big Stripers" by Zeno Hromin who also edits the The Surfcasters Journal a fabulous online magazine devoted to all aspects of Striper fishing. Expressions like "Surf is the straw that stirs the drink" and others are so apt for explaining some aspects of our Bass fishing here as well. That said I'm in no hurry to go and join the massed ranks of the "Surf rats" just yet, I still prefer the beauty and solitude of our Irish coastline even if the fish are a lot smaller...
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Graphiteleader TIRO 2.36m (7' 9")Weight 106g Lures 4 - 22gLine 4 - 12lb PE 0.6 - 1.296% GraphitePower - Med light / Action - Med fastCondition - Mint This rod didn't quite suit me but it might suit you, see what Henry says Here about the next size up. All offers over €175, considered use the contact me link on the right of this page if you'd like to own this superb rod.
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Just reflecting on (And recovering from) a very enjoyable weekend’s fishing. After the Kerry trip and with the wind blowing from the East but set to go South West, I made a risky fishing decision to head to the Copper Coast. On the Monday morning the wind had indeed turned SW but, combined with ground swell had turned most spots unfishable and in some cases downright dangerous! I checked out a few spots and eventually set off on along a strand with cleanish water only to find the water at the rock mark was even dirtier, not good. I waited for the tide to drop and allow me access to other areas pretty much having written off the morning. On returning to a rip that I lost a decent fish at last year I watched the current for a good while before deciding to try the IMA Barbarossa, in modified form to suit the conditions. Sometimes you have lures that you know catch loads of fish for others but just don’t seem to work for you but you might also have a lure that you have huge faith in that you've yet to catch on as you haven’t had the right conditions for it, such was the case for me with the Barbarrosa. I proceed to Jig the lure in the rip and was shortly rewarded with a fish just short of 7lbs followed 20mins later by another pushing 8lbs, my best back to back catch for quite a while and amazing considering the conditions and lack of fish being caught at the time.
For the afternoon session I was delighted to get an invite to meet up Cian Ger & Paul from the Absolute Fishing crew along with the Rt Hon Mr Henry Gilbey and Nick from Top Water Lures Uk. We had a real laugh touring and fishing the coast, great to meet up with you all and I hope the conditions improve for the rest of your stay Henry and Nick.
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Rod - Yamaga Blanks 81/12
Reel - Daiwa Theory 2500
Line - Daiwa Tournament 15lb
Leader - Varivas 15lb
Clip - Berkley fine wire
Lures - Feed Shallow Ayu and other shallow runners.
Fish - 2lb up to 5lb.
Enjoyment - Huge!
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I must say I was initially honoured that the Bass Anglers Sportfishing Society have chosen to name a lure clip after me, and thought it must be to do with my services to Bass fishing or something......only kidding of course !!!
Actually it seems BILL Norman is a fishing Pro in the US and has a Lure brand oh well...
I noticed these at the B.A.S.S. Secure Online Shop and, based on my good experinces of the B.A.S.S. lure boxes (Been using them for years) and the super measuring tapes,I decided to give them a try and have placed an order. I modify the Lure boxes (Also reordered some of these) and will try and put together a video clip to explain the mods.I Will also let y'all know how I get on with the clips when I've used them.
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Well I suppose that’s pretty obvious really, maybe what I should have said was "It isn’t easy when it’s tough"? Anyhow I’m just back from a trip away that I probably shouldn’t have gone on, and feeling it. The tides were good, the time of year not bad but the forecast was bad and.... I ignored it to my cost. So sure was I that I’d get a fish or two that would make it all worthwhile, as on previous occasions, I pressed ahead with my plans and tried everything I know to no avail. To be fair the howling NW winds would have pretty much guaranteed nothing had I stayed at home and fished but I hadn’t bargained on being caught out in some ferocious sleet, driven by 30 knt squalls, that had me hiding behind the rocks for up to twenty minutes while the beach was torrented by those tiny balls of ice some of which were still visible in crevices 10mins after falling no wonder the fish had switched off.
Can we have some nicer weather please!
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Had a very different and enjoyable fishing session with local legend Michael Quirke last weekend. The plan was to target flounders on a rising to full tide, in the event the flounders didn’t show but we had a unique angling experience all the same. From the outset we could see into the clear shallow tidal pool almost as if it were an aquarium and when testing the action of our small plastics in the shallows they were immediately attacked by miniature Blenny like fish, sometimes smaller than the plastic themselves, that would dart out from under the rocks. Michael eventually scaled down and started catching them on crab which had been brought along as a plan B for the flounders (See above). From our vantage point we could witness some huge mullet cruising around and shoals of other smaller species that we couldn’t quite identify, or catch! We were constantly surrounded by massive shoals ever of busy sand eels.
All in all this style of light fishing with plastics in and estuary (LEF maybe?) has a lot of fun potential and would be ideal for kids as there was so much going on and all very visual.
On reflection one thought that crossed my mind was that it’s easy to blame high pressure and a biting north easterly wind, as it was on that day, for killing off the action when at our normal Bass fishing activities but from what we saw everything else in food chain was acting as normal and totally oblivious to what was happening in the skies above...
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Just back from a great fishing trip. On arrival at the spot I was dismayed to find the wind gusting to 30 knots from the SE and the surf at over head high so I wasn't expecting much! Amongst other things I wanted to try the Zip Baits ZBL System Minnow 139F as reccomended by JED at Cloud nine tackle
Here which I used for most of the session in
rotation with other similar lures (X140, TM145, TM175 SLS etc), and which amazingly produced five fish. I opted for the #721 "See Through Mist Yellow" which seemed ideal for the slightly coloured water and bright conditions as I wanted a highly visible bait. I have to say I'm impressed with this lure, it has an internal sliding weight, similar to my beloved Shore Line Shiner, which stays in the forward position during the retrieve due to a carefully calibrated magnet but slides backwards for the cast (Mag Drive) and she flys straight true and long as a result. Although it wasn't the best of conditions to assess its action (!!!) I couldn't get out of my head that it looked a bit Feed Shallow esqe in the water but I'd like another session to confirm. The lure is certainly very stable at its operating depth of 0.3 -0.5m and the bib is broad and very solid. This lure seems to be a class act.
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I have a short article in this month's B.A.S.S. magazine entitled
"A year or two of Irish Bass".B.A.S.S. (Bass anglers sportfishing society) is an organisation
run by volounteers who love their Bass fishing
and they do sterling work to help protect the species.
If you're not a member you should be,
annual membership is only £20 and can be arranged
Here.
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Surface only maybe?
Its about now that my Bass fishing mind starts engaging in relation to seasons past and the coming season in prospect.
I 'm very prone to imagining its all going to be so easy. After all, haven't I got another intense season's fishing under my belt? Which has lead to far greater knowledge than I had this time last year. My equipment is light years ahead of what I was fishing with a year ago. I've found new productive marks and improved my understanding of those I've known for some time. The memories of golden fishing experiences loom large in the memory whereas the tough sessions, weeks, even months have all but been forgotten.
I start to dream up new effective methods that may or may not work, I even go through phases of planning on making it more difficult for myself by maybe only surface fishing for the whole season, or surface and fly only, or not fishing soft plastics.
Normally the pattern from here has been, start fishing way too early for reliable fishing but find myself unable to back off because surely they're just about to arrive so best just keep going.....Last season was particularily hard I thought and the afore confessed thoughts of fishing nirvana certainly did not materialise very often!
My plan for 2012, is to start the year with MOTF (Mullet on the fly) which has just begun and should keep me occupied for a good few weeks yet, then I will be travelling to more reliable winter locations for my Bass fix until a few weeks before the closed season..
So this year I've got it all worked out and under control........what could possibly go wrong?
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I'm really getting into my fly fishing at the moment and so's our cat...
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Kept a fish for the table over the weekend (Which a rare thing for me) and found two Rockling inside it. The lure is a 170mm Shore line shiner which the 5 1/2 lb fish took very shortly after consuming the Rockling, a hungry fish, hard on the feed and inshore in the middle of this "Winter". I can see why my SLS looked attractive, being loosely similar in size, shape and color to the Rockling...
