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Posted 09:16, 11 May 2012
- Sometimes the bass fishing in Ireland is so good that I keep looking around the rocks and beaches to check that there really aren’t thousands of other anglers out and about enjoying it. When their fishing for bass fires I would have no hesitation in classing it as world class sport fishery, indeed if you gave me but one more day to fish in my life then I would choose lure fishing for bass in Ireland. Simple really. But we all know that from time to time fishing is going to give you a good old fashioned kicking, and that’s what I got this week. The last few years in southern Ireland have seen close to mad bass fishing before their close season, and although the fishing had been firing a while back with that warmer weather we all had, I have to conclude that this long spell of abnormally cold weather has had a serious effect on it all. On the flip side though it’s going to fire sometime soon, and I dread to think how many fish are going to pour inshore. One again though it drives home to me how the “art” of weather forecasting continues to me to seem like a best guess “science” - and of course that no year is ever remotely the same as the last when it comes to the weather. Thermal Buffs and hats in May ?
- For all the local knowledge that I am lucky enough to be able to tap into, and indeed for all that I have learnt and continue to learn about the coastline, when you don’t live in an area and therefore have to book fishing/photography trips away, you can do no more than go on the right tides at the right time of year and simply cross fingers that the weather and conditions behave a bit. It’s no different to booking a trip to the remote Seychelles or the wilds of British Columbia. When it all comes together I continue to be amazed at what Ireland has to offer the saltwater angler, but that’s just it. You live for those times when it does all come together and fires like I know Ireland can. And when the fishing is tough then all it does is make me want to head back over there even more, and because I know how good it can be.
- Sometimes I think that anglers might read this blog or perhaps my articles in Sea Angler and come to the conclusion that I am on the secret payroll of the Irish tourist board – yes, I rave about Ireland, and yes, I love the country and its fishing with a passion bordering on a serious obsession, but at the end of the day I can’t help loving what I do and the places I am lucky enough to experience (not forgetting the people that I get to meet, fish with, work around, and in some cases get to call my friends). If I can translate this across to other anglers then I feel that I am doing my job and giving something back to the sport that so drives us all. I don’t have to go to Ireland. I choose to because I want to. I need to for my own well-being and for my work. I live for my fishing/photography time in Ireland and if my passion for the place in any way rubs off on you then I hope you will one day get to experience some fishing that blows your mind and leaves you’re a gibbering wreck that wants for nothing more than to get back over as soon as possible.
- Over time I will put some information up here about some of the different bits of gear I/we used on the trip and indeed for my own fishing back home. Some of the stuff I am coming across these days makes me wonder how on earth it’s possible to get better gear for the money. A few rods and reels lately have left a big impression on me and I just love the fact that it is more than feasible to lay one’s hands on “proper” gear for lure fishing for sensible money – and the fact that this “proper” gear really is out and out “proper” lure fishing tackle surely has to have a positive impact on the increasing numbers of anglers who are finding their way into the joys of chucking lures. Expensive shiny gear is just great, but at the end of the day we need to see gear at all kinds of prices. But do you know what almost broke me the most on this trip ? I like to think that I am pretty much “up” on some of the different lure colours that can and do work, but then the Irish lads I know start showing me some of the colours that have been working well for them and it leaves me weak at the knees !! Should I feel good that I perhaps don’t have as bad a problem as I thought I might, or should I be berating myself for not having some of those colours myself ? At least I can talk myself into believing that I don’t have a serious problem with lure fishing tackle. The power of positive thinking – or is that the power of being able to con oneself ?
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Posted 09:57, 9 May 2012
- I can’t think of a better way to highlight how important good local knowledge via anglers who seriously know their stuff is in fishing. The bass fishing out here at the moment is seriously tough, and I would think that the reasons for this are many – up and down weather, lack of food inshore at the moment, coloured water etc., but the simple fact is that when you know your local patch backwards like Ger Carey does then you are always going to be in with a shout at a fish or two.
- The weather kicked up stink on Monday out here and essentially blew large parts of the coastline out for lure fishing, but the hope was that as the winds died down then that bit of kick to the water might get some bass moving around a bit more. We thought about things and made a plan to meet up very early on Tuesday morning at a mark on the Copper Coast that tends to fish about half tide up and on to high water. I have seen some serious bass come out of the place before in some really lively conditions, including a 10lb and an 8lb fish to Cian almost in consecutive casts if one takes into account me pulling him away from the fishing to get some photos of his bass. Photographers eh ?
- Anyway, we turned up bright and early and almost raced down to the spot, but all too quickly it became apparent that it was completely weeded out and the water was still very coloured. We moved a little further back along the coastline and found a place without too much weed in the water, but there was still a lot of colour/murk. Not great. Was it a wrong call on our part ? Looking at the conditions I suppose it was, but that’s a part of fishing.
- Ger meanwhile had thought about things the previous evening and had (correctly) concluded that where we had chosen to fish would be unfishable. He had very kindly tried to call us on our mobiles but we had switched them off. Our fault entirely, but later on in the morning Ger got hold of Cian to tell him that he had caught six bass to just over 7lbs !! It kind of helps that Ger is massively wired into his local patch in a way that sometimes astounds me, and once again it proves to me that for all the theories, tackle and chat, nothing in fishing is ever going to beat strong local knowledge, instinct and natural talent. Fishing does it for me because I know that I am never going to come close to learning all that I want to try and learn, but at least I can keep trying………….(and Ger continues to smash bass on that IMA/DUO Nabarone 125F in the sardine red belly that l left for him last year !!)
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Posted 05:03, 7 May 2012
- If we had these conditions back home then I would not be out bass fishing, make no mistake, but obviously when you go on a fishing trip away you are going to try and maximise your time and fish almost regardless of the weather. Sitting in your digs, drinking coffee and having a lure-off ain’t going to catch you anything. Sure, you try to be clever and pick and choose locations via any number of processes – logic, local mates, experience, instinct and sometimes just pot luck, but the thing about Ireland is that there always seems to be a chance of a decent fish or two if you put the effort in.
- First thing on Sunday morning and there was a frost on my car. The sea went glassy calm and we all nailed a few small bass on a shallow mark where the lures of choice tend to be dictated by the relative lack of depth to the water. If you walk around you can cover a fair bit of ground, and at one point Cian and I found ourselves on a rock with a number of bass moving around in front of us. As you know though, a glassed-off sea and bright light makes these fish very hard to catch, but I got smacked on an IMA Komomo II fished really slowly so that it swims literally just beneath the surface and rolls incredibly seductively. I felt a double-hit and then saw the bass swirl behind the lure, but neither Cian or I could get the fish to commit. Frustrating ? You bet, but seeing bass moving around will never cease to get me going however cagey they might be feeling. A little bit of choice language was “offered” to the sky though !!
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- Ever since I first had a play with the one of these new IMA Hound 125F Glide lures earlier this year I have been almost waiting for the right place to give it a proper hammering. You all know as well I do that there is no substitute for confidence, and as much as the insane distances this lure casts (it does, take it from me, it ain’t normal how well this lure flies – the guys fishing with me out here were almost giggling when I clipped it on and blasted it out yesterday afternoon) put it up there as a potentially really useful lure to carry for certain locations and conditions, the simple fact is that I needed to catch on the IMA Hound 125F Glide and thus prove to myself that the action turns bass on – you know it will, but you still need to get fish on it.
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- I grant you that distance is not remotely everything in bass fishing, of course it isn’t, but I am not personally aware of a “regular” minnow-type hard lure that casts as far as this lure. It just flies, and I love the fact that it’s only 125mm long and weighs a mere 20g, meaning that I now have an almost stupidly long-range medium depth minnow in a size that I really like that bites into any kind of sea and does not need me to use a longer or more powerful rod just to get it out there. This 6lb bass that I caught on it has now given me a real problem, because with what the lure can do I now can’t leave it out my lure box for certain locations, and with the problem I have for shiny bass lures I am soon going to need a whole rucksack devoted just to carrying them around in – and that’s before I have even packed the camera gear. The fishing might be on the tough side at the moment out here, but Ireland just does not let you down if you work it hard.
