At Long Last!

At long last reports have started to roll in of a few decent fish being nailed around the coast. The Northerly wind has flattened the sea and cleaned the water and seems a few bass are on the feed. The fine fish you see pictured was captured by Craig an enthusiastic angler from Waterford, Craig and his pals are just getting into lure fishing and I think this fish at 7.5lb is his beat to date. So hats off to you Craig that's a mighty looking fish. Before you all go nuts he had it on an xlayer 4.5" in a top secret color!!!!

I don't know bout you lot but tomorrow its on with the winter woollies and me new Musto smock, I know this is a shameless plug but it's my blog and I'm allowed! But seriously this is an awesome piece of wet gear they really are not cheap ask any half decent yachtsman and they tell you bout the price of Musto gear.

I am going to fish a bit festive tomorrow, I have had great success already on the "one up shad", it is just an awesome bait in the water. But I saw it in the colour above and couldn't resist, money says it nails fish too! It will be super mix 210 all the way tomorrow I could not be happier ith this rod, it's light, medium into fast action with loads of grunt and yet retains the finesse feel of a small rod.

On the tackle front I have one Sakura Rookie and onr Injection left so be quick and don't be sick! The picture of my festive shad was so secret it wont even show when I want it too."

Amazonia

I just got these pics in from one of the guys from th Ultimate crew who once he finished here was heading from the Amazon. There really is a whole world of fishing out there just waiting to be explored. Just look at the size of the Peacock Bass that Stephan is holding an absolute monster by all accounts. The other less colorful creature is know as a Guyane and are renowned for their fighting qualities.

Anyone who has ever watched any of this stuff on telly will know just what kind of explosive action it can be.

Before I die I will make it down to the amazon to have a go at some of these marvelous creatures.

I also just got a text from an enthusiastic young Waterford angler who has had his pb on a 4.5" Xlayer on a birdy head in west cork, proving that there are still some really good fish about. So well done Craig and ill get a picture up here in the next day or so! Great to hear of people pushing there own limits all the time.

Cant Sleep! So might as well Blog.

So as many of you know I have a new web site near completion that I hope is going to be a real Bass fishing resource for the lure nuts amongst us. Obviously there will be an e commerce section where "the lure store" will supply you with all your angling needs but I hope to develop a site that is about more than just making money.

I will definitely be including a review section where people can talk about what lures etc are working for them, when I started plugging for bass it was like a secret society where lure where guarded with your life and information was for hoarding not sharing. I really hope that things have moved on a bit since then and that we can see our sport as less competitive and co-operative.

Like no offence intended to match anglers but i always hated it, I just did not get it, I don't care how many flounders you can catch in four hours for me fishing is about being at one with the wild, getting in touch with that part of me that is pre- historic, the urge to hunt. It's there it's in me I want to catch wild animals, it just so happens that i have evolved enough to also want to put them back once I have done it. So if it's not a competition then why all the secrets? It doesn't make any sense. A good friend of mine and avid angler the one and only Cortaz makes a very interesting and valid point when it comes to the whole business of protecting marks etc. When I asked him did he not mind loads of anglers knowing where he fished and was he not worried they would take all the fish his answer was simple if there are anglers on a mark then there can not be poachers, anglers can not do the damage in a season a good poacher can do in a night!

Now as a guide I can tell you it's a fine line, but most of my trade is foreign so what of it! Food for thought though eh!

Peeler Crab

I forgot to mention lads from next week I will have the biggest juiciest peelers you have ever seen, sponge Bob would loose his spongy mind for one of these crabby patties. No order too big or too small so give me a shout.

Long Range

If you are one of the people who is waiting to get out fishing with me then things at last are looking up a small bit. Not perfect but improving and with the way the weather has been then that will do me.

There is no doubt that the fish are there and in numbers it is just a case of getting some degree of water clarity in order to present a bait to them. A plan to do a bit of live baiting has been hatched and will be carried out on Saturday. Now live baiting is not my favorite type of fishing but when you are beat you are beat, you either accept it or plug on aimlessly.However if you accept it you can diversify and hopefully hook a monster. It is hard when you know that numbers of double figure Bass are about and you are not even fishing for them, you just have to have a go at them no matter what the method. No offence intended to avid live bait fishermen, I am just a lure man at heart but when the stakes are this high the time for stubbornness is long gone. Anyway I fully intend fishing a pouting under a pike float on the bar 270 and maybe a Pollock on the super-mix, light tackle fishing at least.

Have a look at the little buck tail above, I would nearly eat that myself it looks so good, the plastic is a 4" haxedong in aruuro shad to which I have added a glass rattle. If you are interested I am doing variety packs in the buck tails, with different heads and plastics. I will post a list and some pictures of the available buck tails, the colors and the the different jig heads on which they are tied. Please god let this bit of weather hold cause I know I am not the only one going slowly nuts!

Plastics

I have just received one injection, well two actually but I have to keep one for the guiding business! It's a tough job but someones got to do it! Which means I have one for sale so if you have been trying to get your hands on one of these little beauty's then give me a shout and ill sort you out!

Pictured is the Chart glow core spindle worm from Megabass, these are just absolutely stunning soft plastic baits. They are almost like a mix of a worm and shad bait, long body with that rigged tail section and then a shad style tail. The action of these baits in the water has to be seen to be believed and if this weather ever clear I know this lure is going to account for some fine Bass over the winter. I only have it in two colors at the moment which is the one pictured and also in glow shirasu which is a speckled silver color. These can fished on a variety of heads, in a variety of weights, anything from 12g to 30g. They are basically a cast and retrieve type of bait with most of the action built into the lure itself. Be warned though these are vios plastic so be sure to store them seperatly or you will have spindle lumps.

I also just got a Bar 270 into to stock, this is where I started with the Red Rods and there will always be something special about this rod for me, when it comes to fishing from the rocks, or cast 30g jigs across the mouth of an estuary for me you just wont beat this rod. Light weight and yet incredibly powerful, summer pollock fishing was where this rod really showed what it had got, I must ask Mick (MRfish) for the video clip of it stuck into a 9lb pollock. The rod was literally bent from tip to but and stopped the fish in its tracks. I have done everything with this rod top water, jerk bait, soft palstics and even a bit of live baiting it's just a cracker of a pole.

Clips

They seem like such insignificant annoying little buggers, like who cares about clips, surely any old clip will do? Well I have to say it was Doug aka (fester) from Mrfish in Jersey who put it nicely for me when he said, "guys spend 400 on a rod, 300 on a reel, 25 on a lure then go use some rubbish cheap clip from china and loose the fish of a life time I just don't get it?" (Cheers Doug) He is dead right I don't get it either.

I learned this one the hard way too I lost an absolute cracker about 2 yrs ago on rubbish clip it just straightened and that was that, but worse than loosing the fish and I truly mean this, is I left lure in bass which really bothers me, to the point of loosing sleep bothers me.

So if you are going to spend decent money on good kit then do the wise thing and buy some good strong reliable clips to go with em! The best I have found so far are the JB's pictured above. I have literally straighted a led head in a snag and the clip did not give, now that impressed me. Granted they have their down side they can be awkward to get a led head on first time but once you get it on once it goes on handy from then on.

In fact if I'm being completely honest when I first got them off mick i thought "ye mad jersey Lula what am I meant to do with this yoke with a swivel on it and all." But as time has gone by i wont use anything else to me they are the best, the strongest, most reliable clip on the market. Like the ad says "often copied never equaled." Carlsberg don't do clips but if they did they would probably get ye pisse* and be no good for fishing at all.

Megabass Zonk Gateride

If you pined me to a corner a gun point and asked me to pick a lure, just one lure that I thought I could not live without then this is it. ITO get very little wrong wit his design but when he put this together he must have been having a particularly good day.

Granted the new lip is fragile and prone to breaking, but what price will you pay for the best and in my humble opinion these are the best. I know a small amount about lure technology and what I think he has captured is the action of a deep diving lure in a reasonably shallow running lure, no mean feet. The action of any lure is supplied by the bid which is the plastic bit at the front, the innovation of this new type of bib has been proving irresistible to Irish bass all year long.

I have had more fish take this at my feet than anywhere else, so imagine how many times have you watched bass follow your lure to your feet just turn away at the last second. Well with the Gateride things seem to happen a little differently, I always stop the lure about 5 ft out from the rock and this is where most of the good bass and Pollock for that matter, that I have caught on it tend to grab it. This lure when stooped sinks back wards in a fluttering motion of a dying fish which I think the bass find irresistible. It is definitely my number one hard lure for this year top of pops without a doubt.

Once again Megabass seem to be a step ahead of all the other lure companies out there, weather it is soft plastic or hard lure technology they are just a cut above the rest, I guess that this what makes them the number one lure company in Japan. Interestingly I recently discovered that everything Megabass make is made and assembled in Japan, unlike some of their rivals who have the parts made in china then assembled in Japan, then go to sell these as made in Japan (not strictly true), bit like "French" oyster's from Dungarvan bay but that's a funny story for another day. I can tell you this that I was a big fan of a lure that was made in Japan, I bought one about 9 month's ago and it was rubbish, I later discovered they had moved their operation to China, I'm no expert but I can tell you that the lure I bough had no resemblance to the lure I previous owned, I used it once and it sits now in the box where all good lures go to die. So bargain is not always a bargain and maybe the old adage you get what you pay for is true after all.

Boga Grips

I know there where a few people waiting on the next delivery of Boga, well they have literally just come through the door. Boga are without doubt the finest fish grip in the world ensuring both the safety of the angler and the fish. Anyone who has buried a a treble hook into their hand whilst un hooking a bass will tell you just how useful a tool these little beauties are.

New Lures and Plastics

I have just received a whole new shipment of lures and plastics from ultimate fishing so anyone interested in effective winter lures should drop me a line. I also got a whole new range of heads in on the advice of the French lads when they where over so give me a shout and ill fill you in.

I just want to make a brief comment about inter net nastiness, I have noticed it creeping into forums etc and I have to say I just don't get it. Why do people feel the need to slag people off or wind them up, it's just cowardly and childish, it really goes against the spirit of fishing. Yes I use this blog to further my business and why shouldn't I, I am completely up front about it. But I also go out of my way to help people out as best I can, I don't claim to be some bass guru, I am just a guide and a tackle dealer end of! So if you feel the need to have a pop at me at least have the courage to say who you are! But that is always the way with bully's and begrudgers they hide out, they just hate to see people make a go of anything probably because they are too scared to try. Just thought I would get that off my chest cause i want no part in slagging people off or winding them up its pathetic.

The Weather Gods

This has to be the toughest year I remember for lure fishing, conditions in waterford have just been really poor from after the ban right through. Before the ban we had some great lure fishing n the spring with some nice bass being caught I think there where three doubles caught between us in March/April. May/June where ridiculously hard months up this way with very few fish putting in a show. July/august where pretty much your average summer fishing with some exceptional days and some really hard days, September and early October fished it's socks off for me and since then it has just been down hill again. By this time you would normally have very settled, very cold weather, with light winds and plenty of frost but this year that weather refuses to show up and so we have these strong NW winds that play havoc with my winter marks dirtying the water and blowing straight at you whilst you fish. Let me tell you an hour or two of that and you are ready for home.

But just to prove that there are still some really fine big healthy here is one of a friend of mine Pat with a lovely bass taken on bait on the wexford coast, if I know Pat there was a fair bit of shouting done when this fish hit the shore something like "Jaysus will look at size a that one lads, ah lads she's beauty!" Pat is an absolute diamond of a character as are the rest of the Wexford Bass mafia Barry and d
Danny, who i would also like to take the time to thank as they have supported my business from the very start so fair play lads and tight lines.

New Order

I have a new order of winter baits on the way from ultimate fishing, mostly plastic baits with the odd hard bait thrown in for good measure. Give us a shout early next week if you are looking for something to get you through the cold dark months of November and December, when the bass are deep and slow moving. I won't say too much just that i have stuff coming that will tempt those big females that have come in shore for the crab moult.

The bass pictured was taken in April. The little guy above the fish is my Nephew Jack (4 bass) Spain, on his proper bass trip with his uncle and his fishing buddies, Cian and Graham, Jack naled four bass and droped one really decent fish. The kid is a natural, after being shown once how to strike the fish he did the rest himself and his best fish of the day was close to 5lb, not too bad a for a 9yr old little guy. So I think this christmas we will have to sort jack out with his first proper bass fishing out fit (boys would I have loved an uncle who was a tackle dealer) . The 10ft Bass rod from Greys is a lovely pole matched with a 5000 size shimano fixed spool and his own little tripod, once he lauhches a lump of fresh crab out there those bass don't stand a chance and he surely can lauch it this little guy has qute a cast on him proving that it is about skill not brute force. I think he might have a birthday coming up prerry soon too so he should be well togged out for the winter fishing.

If you haven't got into plastic fishing yet then get your finger out and try some thing new. A lot of guys who contact me say they haven't tried plastic fishing because they don't reckon they are good enough lure anglers yet. Rubbish, soft bait fishing can be simple, especially this time of year when the weed has died off. It is without a shadow of a doubt the most productive form of lure fishing world wide, there is an absolute explosion in the number and types of baits available and an equal amount of ways to fish them. Probably the best place to start is with the xlayer, giant xlayer and some type of shad. Like any type of lure fishing once you catch you won't look back. Speaking of catching I really hope to get out tomorow if the weather will just be a small bit kinder

Find Of The Week

Ok so I'm in Woodies the other day picking up bits and Bob's to try and sort the house out a wee bit. ME and my Dad live in a 200yr old farm house that is beautifully situated right on a beach at the mouth of the estuary to the three sisters (The Barrow, The Nore and The Suir.) The house itself is called weir house after the salmon weir which traditionally belonged to the owners of the house. For those of you you who do not know what a salmon weir is it was a means by which to trap salmon as they made their way up stream to spawn. It consisted of a series of poles that ran out along the beach for about a quarter of a mile, attached to this then was a a very heavy gauge net that fish could not become entangled in, instead they would swim along the net looking for a way past. At the end of the net was a large cage that once the salmon swam in they could not get out again, it was really avery Eco friendly ay of fishing as any by catch such as bass, flounder, crab etc could just be released back into the tide. But I digress from the matter at hand.

Whilst in Woodies I came across the product pictured which is a glue for soft plastics, as a tackle dealer i am probably the last person in the world who should be telling you of ways to repair your plastic baits (instead of buying new ones) but there ye go sometimes I'm too honest for my own good. I have tried it out on a couple of mother worms that where in pretty poor shape and whilst I don't think it is a miracle fix all, it will certainly enable me to take another couple of fish on two baits that where otherwise for the bin. So keep an eye out for it, I reckon it is worth having for any angler who is serious about his plastic fishing.

Unfortunately some of the most effective plastics are also the most fragile ones, this stuff should tip the scales back in your favour a small bit. It will by no means solve the problem but it will help you get longer and therefore more value out of your soft plastics.

Fsihing and a bit of History

I fish a certain mark in south wexford on the hook peninsula where there are some very unusual rock pools, these have always seemed far to symmetrical and smooth to be the work of nature and it was just the other day that I got to the bottom of this mystery whilst out for a ramble with Dave from Kerry. You see pictured one off the perfectly circular pools which I am talking about and the picture below is off the structute before it was hand cut to leave the crater. They are in fact created by the cutting of mill stones from the rock, so the bottom picture is obviously of a stone which had a fault and was there fore left behind and not finished. The effect is breath taking it creates an almost lunar landscape on the rock.

The stone is red sand stone and was perfect for millstones use due to its course make up of pebble which ground down the corn. The stones where cut and then at low tide lashed to the bottom of a small boat and transported to the bannow, examples of this work can be found through out south Wexford, I have to say whatever about cutting the stone I would not fancy being the pilot of the small boat with the stone lashed to the bottom of it. Fair play to Dave for his insight into this intriguing subject a real glimpse at the past.

Can you imagine the stamp of sea bass that where available at this time the mind boggles. A time machine a box of tide minnows and a supermix 210, am i asking for too much? A day would do me, with a nice moderates southely and a few plastics amd tide minnows! Speaking of plastics, keep your eyes peeled as the lure store is about to develop what I feel will be a deadly combination of buck tail jig! Perecft for those deep slow colder water winter fish combined with a top secret soft platic bait, I know these have been proving deadly for keith in Jersey so I am lawys open to trying new things.

Fish Photography

As there is very little fishing happening at the mo and there is only so much I can think and talk about tackle before I go nuts I thought a change as good as a rest when this topic occurred to me this morning as I leafed through old copies of sea angler etc over morning coffee.

I tried to imagine what it would be like for someone with no interest in fishing who pickled up one of these magazines and leafed through it, what would they see? Well lots of things, cover stories, tackle articles, competitions and lots of pictures of dead fish. People holding dead fish in their kitchen, or in front of their garage (a personal favourite of mine), you know the kind of shots I'm on about, one's where the fish have been dead a while and lost their natural shine, bass in particular look terrible at this stage.

I have no objection to people keeping a fish or two for themselves, in fact if you fish solely for food then fair play to you it really is none of my business as long as people adhere to by laws they will get no guff from me but surely the powers that be in the magazine world can see that these pictures do nothing to promote our sport. Neither am I suggesting that we all need to turn into Henry Gilbey and take outstanding bass photographs (fair play Henry keep up the good work) but a few less of these types of photos and more taken at the beach, pier, headland or on the boat where the fish where caught would be nice. I think it would paint a far nicer and closer to the truth picture for anyone who happened upon one of these issues and had a bit of an auld read.

Not All About Catching Fish

We hit a couple of marks the other morning despite conditions being less then favorable, we knew in our hearts that Bass would be hard to find but with a sun rise this beautiful and that "well you just never know feeling to keep you going," it is hard to resist a few hours chucking plugs.

On the tackle front the new Sakura rods have arrived both the 8 6" and 9 6" if you are interested give me a bell or drop me an e mail, these are a fast actioned, light weight and a good looking pole to boot. Dare I say it but I think I prefer it to the shukan it is certainly lighter and feels a big more balanced and just a touch faster. Combined with a new Stradic 4000 and a spool of 20lb power shot you have a light weight fast actioned Japanese plugging outfit that did not cost the world. I am doing the lot all three, Rod, Reel and Braid for 340 euro.

The Fishing has remained tough in this part of the world, my theory is that it is still too warm, the crab have not started to moult in earnest and this is delaying the arrival of the big fish, I could be talking rubbish or maybe there is something to it only you can decide weather, Ye buy it or not!

Soft Plastics In Stock and Coming Soon.

Anyone who knows their winter fishing knows it is all about soft plastics, I have a big selection in at the minute including the long awaited AYU Xlayer available in both the normal and giant size.

Coming shortly will be the the one up shad, I have used a lot of shads over the years and this is by far my favourite, it has a lovely profile long sausage like body, jointed with a tail that gives extraordinary action to the lure in the water. It is also available in a range of colours and sizes that should cover most eventualities. Mark my words these bad boys are going to nail some serious bass in the coming months. They can be fished either on a weighted jig head or texposer style. I have yet to try then texposer but i will keep ye informed, I think it might be good when the bass are being a bit shy.

I will also be getting some new colours in the xlayer, giant xlayer and mother worm based on the information freely shared with me by the French crew when they where here for a brief stay. It was a pleasure to watch these guys fish they have really put some thought into it and it shows. Both their top water and plastic fishing where top class.

Another bait these guys liked a lot was the spindle worm, it is simple to use and has a great action, I nailed a bass in current i would have thought was too strong to pick fish up in, but this lad had it.

There are a number of really obvious advantages to soft plastic baits, one is they are relatively cheap, two they are at times incredibly effective, three they can be fished in a huge variety of styles using a huge variety of methods. A lot of guys who ring me for lures say " I don't think I'm ready for soft plastics yet," rubbish get them fish them and see for yourself how well they work. Bass will actually take a completely static xlayer.

Credit where credit is due Cian aka "the winkler" was really the first of us to find out just how good these soft plastics where, in February of all months he had one on and turned to me and said "I think I had a pull there", I was sceptical to say the least then next cast he had a nice bass on, it has been a journey of discovery since then with some good, some great and plenty of bloody awful plastics being bought and used. In fact I remember certain parties who shall remain nameless nearly wetting themselves with laughter when they first saw xlayers in the boot of the trusty old focus, we did a lot of bass miles together me and that van

The Masked Man

So the lads have come and gone again, until next time. As usual we had a great time we hit it hard trying our best to find the fish in what can only be described as difficult conditions. I feel the end of October is almost like limbo not quite summer fishing and not quite winter fishing. The big fish are coming I can almost feel it in my bones and no doubt the lads will be back with the thoughts of a monster grabbing their plastic driving them nuts.

It has been unusually warm for the time of year and this I think has had a big impact on the fishing over the last tide. The winter fishing when we target the really big females is dependent on the crab moult, this is why these fish come ashore, they are migratory fish possibly spending the summer months on deep water wrecks and reefs feeding on Pollock, pouting, mackerel and anything else unlucky enough to stumble into their path. The French have a beautiful name for bass they call them "le loop de la mer" the wolf of the sea. So my theory is that the warm weather has slowed the big male crab from peeling which in turn has slowed the arrival of the big bass that come to gorge on them. If you have ever had peelers in the boot of your car for a couple of days then you will know all about scent now imagine this on an immense scale, thousands of large male crab all emitting scent into the water this trail being carried by the tide up to seven miles out to sea and the subsequent reaction of the bass that make their way inshore to hunt for crab.

South East Ireland in undoubtedly a very special place that we get this kind of quality lure fishing right through the winter months of November and December, I know that in the south west of the country they say the basing only gets interesting in December.

Bass theory aside it was a great tip and really good to meet our French counter parts who like ourselves work in fishing but are still just fishing junkies at heart, so a farewell to Yannick, Stephan and Bruno we hope to see you soon. As for the English crew well they just keep showing up like clock work at the first sniff of a decent bass. I have to say I have never seen Henry fish so much and shoot so little in all the times that I have fished with him, his photo's are outstanding and he has a way of working with you that puts you at ease. It is not easy having a big camera pointed at you, but I am getting more used to it and feeling more confident the more practice I get.

Always Learning!

First off apologies for delay in posting anything on the blog in a few days, but I have just been flat out. I have been fishing with my good friends and fellow bass addicts Henry, Andy and Graham. Joining us on this trip where the lads from Ultimate Fishing and I have to say they picked the right name for their company, because it surely is ultimate fishing equipment.

There is so much to learn about bass fishing, about bass behaviour, about water craft, about the rods and most importantly about the lures. These French guys really do know what they are at. For example we hit a mark that I always head right on but Bruno stayed in the middle of the beach and fished the giant Dog X (french pearl from megabass) so slowly it barely moved and sure enough it was nailed by a 6lb fish.

These lads fish seriously light, injections, and total precisions where the order of the day. They really work the lures, not just chuck and chance but thoughtful, calculated fishing, the zonk for example fished finesse style proved deadly, with fish taking the lure on the drop. They introduced me to some new colour patterns that I would never have gone for and yet proved deadly effective. To be honest I think a lot of what I learned is still sinking in.

I fished a favourite mark on Henry's last day, I arrived "late" which in Henry's book is anything after 5.30am. So I fished a different part of the mark and bang third cast nailed by a nice 4lb fish, next cast another then about ten minutes later I lost a really good fish. All these fish fell to the "one up shad" which is definitely the most exciting soft plastic i have seen all year, the action is awesome, it can be fished in a variety of styles and most importantly it hammers fish.

I find it difficult to understand that the best of our bassing is on the way and I am quiet for guiding bookings compared to summer time, If you are a serious bass angler and want a real chance at some really big fish 13-15lb, then get in touch now and book the dates, mark my words the big male crab are starting to moult and the autumn sea trout have arrived and with these come the big female bass that have stayed in deep water up till now.

I am out guiding tomorrow with Micheal who has had an 11lb on bait this week so the big fish are arriving and can be caught on the plastics, fingers crossed for a record fish this winter, she will be measured weighed admired, photographed and returned to the sea where she belongs.

The Lure Store Supports and encourages catch and release.

Last but not least i bought an underwater camera so expect to see some pretty interesting video clips over the coming months, I just need to get my hands on a dry suit and it's away we go to observe these wonderful fish their environment.

Pictured with his first bass is my nephew Jack, this picture was taken the day after my mum's funeral, Granny Meg was looking after us that day we had eleven fish the best was just over 10lb, Jack had 4 and dropped one all of which he struck and landed himself, what a top man! He is coming down in november to get a double no doubt!

The Guides Day Out.

So I'm off today to fish Cobh and Cork harbour at Pat's kind invitation. This man has been sending me some ridiculous pictures of Bass over the summer that he has been nailing (and releasing) down there in the harbour. It is believe it or not my first time ever to fish cork harbour despite it's proximity.

So no guiding today, just fishing. Don't get me wrong I love my Job and nothing gives me greater satisfaction than seeing my clients bend into decent fish, but guiding and fishing are two very different things. Today the only person I need worry bout is mise.

I'm up since 5.30 am, I just thought I could reorganise the clips or maybe re-label the plastics boxes, final check on the reels. I wonder is pat a tea or coffee man sure I will bring a flask of both. These are the kind of cutting edge questions that have drawn me from my slumber at this hour. Funny thing is I don't need to be in Cork until 10 bells so I reckon I should be on time!!! Ha..

Isn't it great though it's what fishing is all about, we all get it otherwise why would we bother that childish excitement before a good fishing trip, the joy of sorting your gear, figuring out lures and led heads. Making sure everything is oiled and working. I don't know about any of you guys but since I got really into lure fishing it has gotten better, "maybe because there are more toys to play with" but mostly I think it is because there is always a real chance of hooking an absolute monster on light gear and having the fight of your life.

Previous to this type of fishing we really had our Sea Bass out gunned, what chance do these fish have against 13ft of carbon fiber trailing 5Oz's of lead with them, none at all. But against 8 6" of wand with 15lb braid after picking up a barb less 7 g led head then they can show you what they are made off. I love lure fishing everything about it, they all fishermen find their niche well I have found mine.

It give these marvelous sport fish a chance to show just how strong fast and intelligent they really are. If you have hooked a decent bass in a good run of tide on a wild rock mark you will know what I am talking about. So roll on today,good company,light kit, and boxes of soft plastics I am going to have a ball!

Above is a 3.5lb flounder hooked fair and square on a white rolling shad fished off the bottom, on the new Tenryu Injection, this fish actually fought really hard and made a couple of runs back under the boot that put the rod tip in the water, so again with the right kit there is great sport to be had out there. I am really looking forward to my first decent sea trout on the Injection I would say it will be deadly. I do stock a cheaper alternative to this type of 7ft plastic rod so if interested give us a shout and ill fill ye in.

Guess that weight!

Ok so here is one from the winkler, though i bet when this puppy hit he had to do a bit more than winkle to get it to the boga. Out of divilmemt and just to get a bit of interaction going I am asking you all to post a comment and guess the weight of the fish and lets see who knows their weights. It is just another prime example of why you should come baassing to waterford, out coast is literally loaded with fish of this stamp and particularly so at this time of year, when all the big females move in-shore for the crab moult. God I love the autumn and winter fishing it still baffles me that loads of guys book their fishing holidays in the summer I still have some slots for November which is prime monster time so get in touch now and avoid disappointment for the shot at the bass of a lifetime. I think I have five personal bests so far this season and all from fairly experienced and some very experienced anglers, not bad considering it is only October.

Ultimate Fishing

The guys from Ultimate fishing arrive next weeek at the start of what look to be a very promising set of tides, I know they are xecited about some of the fish in our waters and the potential that they hold. i for one am looking forward well one to a week off from guiding but mostly to just being out there with a bunch of really experienced guys and get to see what they are up to? How they are working the lures, their favourte colours, patterns techniques etc. It is a well earned break the tackle business will still be running so no panic if you loose that favourite patchinko give me a shout and ill sort it for you.

I have a suspision that we miight get to see some of the new product range for next year and the chance to trial some of that out would be cool. You never top learning in this game, the minute you think you have it mastered is the minute you are codding yourself, you could give a life time to our sport and there will always be things to learn, if I become un teachable then it would be time to stop. It was one of the reasons I was never drawn to match fishing as it had the clicky I am better than you feel to it, just not my thing. I feel fishing as a sport should be inclusive and friendly, life is too short for anything else and recent events in my own life have thought just how presious life really is so get out there live it, go fishing, bring a friend, share your info it just aint a compettition it's a way of life!

Have you seeen the French firm called WOF (way of fishing) I really envy them their name I think it is so cool because i know in my heart I'm a lure guy, it is my "way of fishing" what I love, where I love to be, to talk about, planning trips, fixing kit. You should see the winkler (cian) the man spends hours getting his plastics ready before a few days fishing, he has em all in seperate compartment for different types pre glued ready to roll, but he loves it, it adds to the experience so go for it that's what I say. I had a call the other night (you know who you are) from a chap and he had just recieved the new lure chest pack and was wandering around the house with it on delighted with himself, you know when do we ever get the chance to be kids again, to feel that excitment, that sense of fun. Red rod 400 euro, Daiwa certate 330 euro, collection of lures 1,000, 10lb Bass at dawn priceless!!!! For everything else there is mastercard!

Quality guys and Tight lines to one and all.

Bit of a shout to james in the Photo let us know when you are over home and we wil gett a few hours in! Home bonny scothland is treating you well.

Dawn Bassing

Was out with the dawn this morning and caught not a sausage, but ye know sometimes it just dose not matter. Good friends, great scenery and the chance at a decent fish it just dose not get any better than that. One fish as usual was taken by the winkler who snuck off with the zonk gateride that you rarely see off his rod these days and nailed on right at his feet in a gutter than runs very close to shore. All in all a beautiful morning to be out and about just a stunning sunrise, makes you glad to be alive.

Tackle Purchases

Lads a couple of things in relation to contacting me, number is do not copy and paste my e mail address from the blog for some reason is does not work , just type it in! I still don't have a web site up and running bit it is coming very shortly, you can however pay with credit card through paypal and take delivery by post. I just need to have the time to develop a decent web space, so it was always going to be about getting through the summer and early autumn months so I would have some time on my hands to wade through all the work that needs putting into a project like this one. If you are local ie: Waterford Wexford and Cork, just give me a bell (087 7403445) and we can arrange to meet up and get you sorted for those big Irish winter bass that are as we speak making their way in-shore for the brab moult. God bless the humble peeler crab where would we be with out him. Ask the lads in Youghal about that one! Oopps I'm off again that's another day's work. To finish with the fact that the lure store supports and encourages catch and release and has a full range of products that enable anglers to handle these beautiful fish without causing them harm.

Got to love those double hook up's! keeps me a busy man, only two hands and one boga!

Happy Customers

Here is an e mail from the lads that fished the lats big tide with me, I think the customer say's it all really, not much use me telling you our fishing is fantastic, Im kind of bound to say that.

"just to let u know pat .had the absolute time of my life!i have been on many angling breaks to alderney,but those two days beat them all! all thanks to my two best buddys nige and jim.what a couple of absolute stars.all the best for the future,definately c u again, probably buy from u(when possible).ps your the man!"

Kind words indeed.

The reel pictured is a Daiwa Certate 3000 this is Daiwa's answer to the twinpower, these are a cracking little reel lovely smooth retireve, faultless line lay and hardy enough to with stand a bit of punishment. If you interested in one of these get in touch as I have a shipment on the way from america.

Hardy Old Divil

Well the lads finished out there two days with me yesterday with two short sessions, I think the pictures speak for themselves, it total the three boys have had over fourty bass all from the shore over their short trip. Two of the lads have landed their personal best. It was am absolute pleasure to be out and about with this bunch, they have great crack in em and boys do they love their bassing. Lastly I have to say that Nigel the oldest of the three is possibly the hardiest old devil i have ever met, he climbed rocks, waded gullies, dealt with rolling surf taking boots full of water and still came out smiling. Good luck lads and I really hope to see you again what a cracking trip.

A Cracking Session

Fished today with Jim, Heath and Nigel, Jim booked the day nearly six months ago and when he booked I though now there is a guy who knows his fishing. October, November and December is definetly the Best of our bass lure fishing and today was no exception at the nearest estimate the lads had 17 bass with the biggest fish today around the 7lb mark. I really enjoyed the day just to see guys who are so stuck into their bassing get a real taste of what our waters have to offer is such a buzz.

Well done lads you deserve every second of it, a bonus was that lots of the fish today came off the top with the feed popper doing the business. Some of the winter plastics really shone through today as well, give me a shout for more info.

flounder on rollimg shad

Something a bit different, fished a mark today looking for a few bass, had a good take, fisf fought hard, brought me under the boat and then mucj=h ti my surprise a 3.5lb flounder was brought a board. Just something a bit different and worth a
mention eh.

I had to leave to take my dad for a pint, we live in the country so im the designated driver and murphy's law the lads hammered bass on the drop. Cest La Vie.

Equipment acessories and being prepared.

European lure Fishing has come a long way in the last few years, we have seen advances in tackle at an astounding rate for many this has seen there catch rate and enjoyment of the sport go through the roof. There is a lot more to mobile Bass fishing than just rods lures and reels. I guess the central issue here is mobility and comfort, practicality and durability. The kit takes a hammering, not just from the salt but the rocks, the climbing and endless barbed wire fences.

A couple of bags have come out over the years that I thought ok so this might do the job but unfortunately I was inevitably always proved wrong. I have now found what I believe to be the most useful piece of kit to date. It is made by Sakura, it has a chest pack, and back pack attached, both are light, durable, comfortable and most important of all functional.

The two front chest packs carry a purpose designed double sided lure box, each box capable of holding 12 lures. There are then two further pockets attached to the front of these chest packs which flip down and have foam pads perfect for holding your pre-rigged soft plastics. Two zingers will hold scissors etc and there is a slot for your pliers on the front. Two separate compartments in the back pack leave loads of space for a drink, a couple of sambos or whatever else you might need. The zips on all the compartments are made from heavy weight plastic and once you rinse it this baby should last.

Give me a shout if you are interested i have a few in stock and there are some other funky little extras worth looking at, I also have a shipment of 15lb boga grips which arrived tonight, these are with out question the best fish gri in the world and have a built in scales and aslo a swivel systen=m that further protects the fish from danage. These would clip beautifully onto this well made , well thought out, useful piece of kit.

It may sound quite simple but for the firs time i can change lures, get my pliers/scissors, reach my boga and store my heacy jacket with the greatest of ease and speed, hassle free, no hooks getting snagged, zips jammed, no struggling in and out of the thing just to get a patchinko. God bless Japanese fishermen these guys make some really cool useful kit.

October-December

Well the summer has come to an end and so begins the Autumn fishing (Thank god I hear you say.) When lots of guys are putting up their spinning gear for next spring you will find me cleaning down the gear, making sure it is all ready to roll for the run of absolute monsters that are heading our way. The big crab moult is starting and this draws in the the really big female fish and give us a chance to nail them.

Soft plastic baits are really the reason that there has been such improvement in our winter sport. I have a selection of shads, worms and other monstrosities that get used between October and December and the bass just can't turn them down.

I am taking a few days off from the 15Th to the 19Th of October to fish with the lads from ultimate fishing, i have been sending out a few pics of some of the fish taken on the Injection and I know they are buzzing about coming over.

So if it is a monster you are after and are really serious about your Bassing, you need to because it is bloody cold, then give me a shout now and book a days monster hunting as tides are becoming limited.

Killmore Pollock

Rubbish tide today so I got an invite to join the wexford bass mafia for a day on the water after a few Pollock. Danny, Patrick and Barry are the finest company a lad could ask for out for the day mad for fishing and sandwiches by all accounts. Pat had the only bass of the day but we got some Pollock and when I say Pollock I mean Pollock, big angry south wexford torpedo's that don't want to come out of the kelp jungle they live in. We had some hectic sport with loads of really decent fish being landed and returned. I hooked one fish om a 240 super mix (which I now own, spineless tackle junkie) on a shad that I just could not stop. Drag was set maxed out on a Stella 4000 ans he made it look like a trout reel. The power of these fish is awesome. I have no doubt that had we a rib where we could get into the shallower water we would have nailed a few spiky fellas but I ain't complaining.

We spent a couple of hours around the Saltee Islans, in the sound, then head back in shore and set anchor, four plastics hit the water and all hell broke loose. Incredible fishing on such light tackle the super mixes and the shukan where tested to the max today.

The Fish Are On.

Took David last night for an evening session, conditions felt good nice moderate southerly, bit of lift on the water and a reasonable tide. David had been out with me before so he had changed his style of fishing, using far more jerk bait techniques to get the best from his tide minnows and boys has it paid off. David had a cracker of a session I think he landed five, one a personal best at just over seven lb, he lost a fish at his feet that by my estimation was well into double figures, but not to worry Dave next time... Well done cracking session mate.

Another Double

Took a friend and customer who has bought a lot of kit off me out for a few hours two to show him how to fish the rolling shad. Third cast into the hole and this beauty picked up the plastic, what a way to learn. I bet he fishes that shad a bit more often now! Great scarp staying deep making several powerful runs, fish was returned as always UN harmed to fight another day.