Top Water

Just a quick note to say that I have been dong a lot of top water fishing and catching thank god. Couple of baits I really like are the patchinko and the z claw. I was fishing the other day and thanks to maui jim I spotted four nice fish following my claw, but no take next cast and bang! As for the patchinko well the takes on this lure are really positive, fish just mullah the thing. Personally I think it pisses them off, the action is just so good on these baits they have to catch fish.

Good day out.

Well today was a really small tide but i thought we would have a chance at a fish in one spot that I know. Today I fished with an English customer, jon who was eager to get his first bass on a lure. Our first mark proved difficult. Big sea, lots of weed and bright sun. We moved on and eventually found a fish or two tucked away. Well done on your first lure caught Bass jon, first of many I am sure. Once again the patchinko proved deadly.

Check This Out

This is Marty trying to get to the bass he nailed this evening. a lot of guys would have walked away from what was banging in there tonight but with the right kit and a small bit of know how, you can bang a few fish. Love these two pics! extreme fishing! I love it!

Bit More Like it!

So this weekend has started to throw up a few fish. Have been in touch with a few sets of anglers who are nailing a few fish. Out tonight in conditions I love it can be difficult to fish with this much lift on but it blows my hair back and I got a decent fish that gave me a deadly fight! I would rather be nailing this size of fish on a wild day on the rocks than monster fish in an estuary any time, each to their own eh! The lure of the minute was the tide minnow 140 sinking. You could only fish a sinker tonight anything else would just pop up!

This fish went back by the way, the blood is just from a hook that caught his side not his gills.

East Wind

On a lot of the ground I fish in south wexford the east wing makes things very difficult. it holds back large rafts of weed and cabbage weed in the water which means that your plugs get clogged all the time. Not sure what anyone else thinks but i find that even the smallest piece of weed stuck to your plug and the fish will not hit it.So fishing has been hard oer a couple of days, but last night the wind died and it was muggy warm, it just felt a bit more fishy. I had a couple of follows and flashes behind the lure so I knew the fish where there but could not connect due to clogged up plugs. Digging deep in the tackle bag I found the new press bait from duo. this is like a vertical jig with an assit hook at the back. this can be fished sink and draw and collect very little weed. Fished this for about ten minutes and then bang a nice fish hit it like a steam train. What an awesome lure while my buddies struggled to clean there p[lugs I fished away with the press bait and nailed a couple of fish. Then on the dusk the tide had run off the weed pushing it out to sea and up went the surface lures, the patchinko. This is s msut have surface lure for me, fish hit so aggressively it must just piss them off I think. All in all no monster fish but a really enjoyable evening.

Wrasse On Xlayer!

Got to Love Megabass!

The Ronseel of lure fishing!

Jersey Trip

The Admiral And His Crew

All in all an awesome spot, I throughly enjoyed my two days. The fishing was hard and I have posted some thoughts on this below but I would think when it kicks off it's only deadly. Mick and Bob are class company in the boat and two top class anglers these guys know their stuff and their ground like the backs of their hands, which probably resulted in me taking the kitty for most Bass, a bit of cmpetition always adds to the fun. I owe you boys a pint!!!

So Jersey got me thinking about lure fishing in general, I caught some cracking wrasse on hard and soft baits and boys do these bullies go some. It is too easy to get over focused on Bass as the primary target when there are other hard fighting fish at your feet. I will definitely be putting some time into these boys on our coast line.

Have to say I also really enjoyed boat fishing, i like it a lot. So watch this space I think it's time to open and a credit union account and start putting away a few bob. I think the potential to boat fish in Ireland is enormous and i know the lads would be straight over for a trip.

The bassing was slow but we still hit a few, I had five over the two days with Cian taking four, and I think about fifteen fish taken in total. So while it was hard fishing we still got a few fish so we are not complaining one bit. I think a visit later in the year would produce a very different result. I will be back for sure, just trying to find a slot in my diary as the guiding business is getting busy.

One on top for MrFish

Jersey Days.

Well a bit delayed but have been up to my eyes, so to get the ball rolling the lures that did the job out in jersey where, The Feed Shallow, The Z claw, The Patchinko, The Zonk, Live X Revenge and The Tide Minnow 140 Slim.

What a spot, awesome bass ground, the nicest water I have seen in a long time. Like the place looks like it should produce fish at every corner but there is a noted lack of fish. So over two days really hard to call that this fishery is in trouble cause it's just two days. But having spoke to Mick (MrFishJersey) and Bob, I have a suspicion that commercial fishing has taken it's tole. When you see ground this good and don't hit fish you have to think about it.

On my first day in mick's shop I met a young lad who had been long lining and they had 64 Bass in one day, biggest 12.5lb, that kind of says it all. It just confirms for me the fact that we really need to protect our own Bass fishery and see it for the natural resource that it really is. We can all play a part in this by fishing responsibly and practicing C&R particularly on our big fish.

Jersey

So at last it's the 19th and that means I'm off in the morning to Jersey for three days of fish fish fishing! Or product testing as it is now known. So it's me Cian and Paul, heading for the channel islands to sample some of their legendary bass fishing, I reckon we will nail a few fish and hope we might see some quality. I will be concentrating on top water fishing and am really looking forward to sampling boat lure fishing. i think there is enormous potential for rib fishing in South East Ireland and have been doing some research into getting this sorted out for next year. So ill blog from Jersey soon as we hit a few fish and keep ye posted on the most successful lures.

Are You A Trout Head!

Sea Trout probably the most elusive sport fish in Irish waters, for years only targeted in rivers during summer months, are in fact very catchable in the sea! If you are a trout head have a look at the plug above, it is the tide minnow 75cd from Duo. What a cracker this plug will seriously smash trout, remember all those really frustrating follows on spinners well get ready to start hooking up cause these things and a good few more lures from Ultimate fishing seriously do the business on sea trout.

I want to say a big thanks to any of the Irish lads who got in touch to wish me luck and give me their business, seriously I really appreciate it and hope that i can do justice to Irish Lure fishing because I believe we have the best fishing for sea bass in Europe by a long way. So lets look after it and enjoy it. There is surely no better way to catch these majestic fish than on light tackle with lures and plastics. I know I am well and truly hooked so I hope you all have a great season ahead and drop me a line to let us know how you are getting on, what lures you like, whats hot and whats not. As my mate Henry once wrote "The economy may be rubbish but the fishing is going to be fantastic."

And if anyone has an in with the big man, can you have a word with him about the weather! All we asks is southerlys and a nice bit of fizz!

Tight Lines.

140 slim and 140 slim sinking.

So why do I like these lures, well to be honest the pictures speak for themselves. They catch fish bottom line, the two lures pictured take a more natural approach to colour patterns and there is no doubt that some days Bass just want the real thing. The top lure is the sinking version which I find really handy if there is a bit of lift on, just count it down a few seconds and work it back, bring it to life, get your moneys worth out of your red rod that's what you paid for. The bottom is the floating version of this lure, a great lure if over shallower stuff or on a calmer day. Both are all rounders these lures are perfect for the guys using, bar270, red dragon, ultimate one or similar they are 21g and 19g respectively and cast like a bullet. Summer rock mark heaven!

Edonis sw

Here is the new megabass Edonis SW, this in my opinion is the perfect lure for those days when bass will not look at other lures. Those flat calm days in July when all else fails I reckon this lure will bag you a fish. I just love this company they are at the cutting edge of lure fishing they really are.

Tide Minnow 145sld

Tackle sales

Lads a quick post to let you all know that the new stuff has arrived. There is some absolute quality amongst it. Apologies for the lack of a picture resource at the moment but it is on the way. Mean time give me a shout on 00353877403445 / 087 740 3445 and I will run through stuff with you. I have to say I am once again impressed by this French company they are very efficient and carry awesome bass lures! Here is a taster of what is available.

The Eagle Has Landed..

So my first order has arrived in Ireland and should be delivered tomorrow at some stage. I will post some pics tomorrow of some of the lures etc that are available. It has been a nerve racking stressful time to get this thing off the ground at such short notice but we are up and running and most importantly carrying really cool, effective lures for the Irish and foreign market. A new web site is being developed and hope to be on line by the end of the summer! In the mean time I will keep an up to date catalogue of pics of what's available linked to my blog and feel free to give me a shout to talk about what you need or any lure/rod advice I can give. So watch this space and give me a day or two to sort the pics out! Talk about perfect timing cause all the Irish lads know what day tomorrow is. On the fishing side I lost the sea trout of a life time last night, fish was easily six pounds, fished a tide minnow at the back of a channel on the rising tide, fish hit like a steam train stripped loads of line jumped and snapped me off! **** was what was heard for miles around! Knee trembling, heart breaking stuff, but it sure will keep you fishing. Got to Love those tide minnows boys do they work!

Injection

So i have just ordered a new rod for myself, money is tight after the business start up but I am a weak willed fisherman who can not resist top end fishing tackle. I have ordered the Tenyru Injection, this is a soft plastic specific rod. It really looks like a special piece of kit, it comes in the 5-28g range and will be perfect for the type of plastic fishing that I am into. Other than that I am off to Jersey today week so really starting to look forward to that, it is mixture of business and fishing(pleasure). I will post some pics as soon as i get my hands on some decent snaps of it.

DUO Tide Minnows

I can't say enough good stuff about Duo, this is a company that produces quality lures that will catch you quality bass. There is a wide range of lures available and often the question is, which lure is best for what I want? which will catch me fish? which one is the killer I have been searching for?

Again you need to think about your lure fishing, what kind of marks are you fishing, what are conditions like, what bait fish are in the water. This answers a lot of the previous questions, lets start with lure size, how big or small should your lures be. The answer for me is you need a range of sizes to suit certain situations, as for the big question well I once nailed a bass on a Waterford beach just shy of 10lb, she unfortunately died on the beach, when I gutted the fish she contained, six whole squid, two peelers, one edible and the tail section of a mackerel so these fish can eat and hit big baits.

So in duo I have everything for the 75cd right through to the 175 slim. But I choose where and when I fish these lures. I tend to use smaller lures early in the season the 90s is a favourite of mine, I love the action of this lure and it casts like a bullet, the 75 cd is very similar and also works well for sea trout. The new slim range are really worth looking at, the lure in the man picture in orange and gold is a 120slim which is one of my go to summer lures when there are quantities of sand eel in the water. If there is a good bit of lift or fizz on the water I use the surf range, the 120, 135 and 150. These are a heavier bulkier more stable lure that fish well when there is a good chop on, which we all know is prime bass time. Some of the really big lures like the 175 are an excellent imitation of Launce which is a late summer staple of the bass diet, I have had great success at the mouths of big estuary systems with these lures. Remember that it may be difficult to fish all this range on one rod, a rod that is good at lures in the 10-20 g range may not do so well with the really big lures and vice verse. The range I find most use full, usually fall in the 14g range, these lures need a medium action rod to work effectively some thing that has a bit of give, a big fast action rod can kill the action which in these lures can be quite subtle. I fished a 120slim on the bar270 and was not impressed but once I switched to the lighter rod I have not looked back with what I feel is an extremely useful lure.

As the season progresses and i fish different conditions and marks I will write reports on these lures and give some insight into method, technique and colour. A few pointers are early in the year and when it's calm think small, in choppy weather use a bulky more stable lure, in deep water try a sinking or diving lure and remember try to match the hatch.

Ultimate Fishing!

Bit like Ronseel this company they do exactly what they say on the tin! They supply you with the ultimate equipment to go bass fishing. Seriously lads the quality and range of tackle available is breath taking. The really good news is I am now just waiting on the post man. My first order is signed sealed and payed for. I have picked what I consider to be a really nice range of lures, I will post a list later on so you can have a look through. There is a good range of tide minnows in nice colours, of course the feed shallow, some awesome stuff from Megabass and some cool plastics and jig heads. Once they arrive I will post lots of pics etc. I am really impressed with Ultimate they are an awesome company and it is run by anglers so these guys really know what they are talking about. More good news is that we are near the end of THE BASS BAN, so I for one will be sorting out the kit soon getting ready to rock and roll. So till then men tight lines!

Thanks MrFish!!

Ten days left until the end of the bass fishing ban, thank god for that, May-June is always a time that requires much patience on behalf of the lure nut. We have kept ourselves busy but it just ain't the same as being waist deep in water, with the tide belting out, birds dive bombing all round you and bass feeding hard, roll on July. It might seem mad but I am off to jersey on the 20th as a mixture of business and pleasure, if you are getting into the tackle trade then it makes sense to go see what others are doing and my mate Mick (mrfishjersey) is top class, seriously without this guys help I would never have got this thing off the ground. I guess the difference is this, we are all absolutely nuts, passionate, call it what you will about lure fishing and this gets translated into the work. This is a guy who stuck his neck out to bring modern lure fishing to the UK and my hat is off to him, So cheers Mick for all your help man!

I am really looking forward to sampling some of the lure fishing over in Jersey, fishing for bass from a boat is something that is new to me and I can recognise the potential to do this in our waters so I am edger to check it out. I know the guys over there are dying to get back here for some of the awesome summer fishing we had last year. I fished with the Jersey crew last july, a smashing bunch of lads and lost count of the number of fish caught and returned over the few days. It was absolute magic and we hope to repeat the same this year a bit later in the summer.

I have also had a good bit of interest from lads looking to find out more about lure fishing, techniques, lures, rods etc.. So if the interest is out there I will run a day on all this stuff Incorporated into a bit of fishing. So drop me a line if this is up your street, and if I take four or five the cost will be kept down for lads. So let me know and ill sort it out as soon as the ban is lifted..

Pictured above is the feed shallow 105 it and it's big brother are among my favourite summer Bass lures for shallow ground.

Catch & Release (murky water)

Here you can see this beauty going back into what can only be described as dirty water. funny story actually after I released this fish and went to my next mark and bumped into two lads you will both know well, Graham Hill and Henry Gilbey. Since then we have all been firm fishing mates, finer chaps you could not meet and i wish them the best of luck on their trip to France tomorrow evening. Plenty of fizzy water Gee I know you really love it!

Water Clarity

This is a big issue for lure fishermen and the opinions are many and varied but here is what I think I have figured out that is true for our Bass grounds. Many anglers that I fish with feel that mucky, murky or cloudy water is the kiss of death to their lure fishing. There is no doubt that I have far more confidence when the water is clear but I have caught Bass and sometimes really good bass in murky water. So what do you do if you arrive at your mark and find that the water is dirty, first thing if you think it wont fish then use your head, just because one mark is dirty dose not mean they all will be. The colour in the water may well be related to the wind direction and the direction in which the beach is facing, so do you know a mark that may be facing in a different direction and be more sheltered from the breeze.

If you are going to fish then a couple of tips, are walk your mark find spots where the water may be a bit clearer, this may increase your chances. If you are however on a mark where the water is regularly dirty then things are a bit different. I think the bass adjust to the dirty water and take plugs far more readily than fish that are used to clear water. I tend to use plugs that make a bit of noise so get out those rattlers, also jointed plugs can be useful when the water is dirty. I lived on the east coast for a bit last year where the water was regularly dirty and did well on a feed shallow.

The fish pictured was caught two years ago on a Wexford reef system where the water is normally crystal clear and you can see from the return photo that the water had turned well murky. Just before the ban came in I was on a Waterford mark that is very exposed and it was milky I fished for an hour with not a touch ten had a big fish turn right at my feet after following the plug all the way in, not catching this fish was due to not being able to see him follow, I was fishing blind and therefore did not stop the plug to get him to make up his mind! Sight fishing can be a big advantage. The Bass pictured earlier in the blog at last light in April was spotted following and therefore caught because I could adjust my retrieve.

So in short just because the water is not bang on dose not mean you will catch nothing, it may reduce the number of fish but there is still the chance of a fish or two, sometimes even a good one.

Pollock

One of the pollock from last night taken on deep spun soft plastics, slug go's, eddystones, shads etc.

Calm Weather

I have been a bit slow getting round to posting this weekend but with the ban still in full swing it is hard to keep the momentum up as you feel that people don't really want to read tackle review after tackle review but I could be wrong so if so let me know! So it's looking good for a good summer ahead a lot of this have spawned at this stage and will now get back actively feeding, at least over here your own area may be different. I was on a favourite mark on Saturday getting some crab for a smoothie session and saw that the water was full of bait, most likely small sand eel. I knew that it was worth waiting and watching and was rewarded. The first thing I noticed was a disturbance in the water a good size bow wave them swish big tail and a good sized Bass turned and hit the eel feet from us, what a lovely sight, to see these fish in their own element feeding is a special experience and always gets the blood going. Which brings me onto the topic at hand, which is calm weather fishing, how to catch bass in what can be difficult conditions. First off start early, get up before the sun and fish as the light comes in, this really improves your chances. Lighten the tackle if you can, that means lighter rod, braid and flurocarbon. Smaller plugs, I can not stress the importance of this enough, in calm conditions a small white plug can mean the difference between fish and no fish and that's a fact. On deeper water marks get down to the fish with a small diver like a megabass zonk 77 of the live x revenge, fish will take they can just get a bit shy and wary. The other factor is they can see alot better. Remember match the hatch if their are small bait fish in teh water don't throw a surf 150 at them and think they will take it, one fish might but chances are not. Really a lot of skills from fly fishing are transferable to lure fishing, if lure fishermen thought more like fly fisher men I think they would have more success. So just a few pointers on how to fish calm weather. I am loosing my mind slowly during this ban as im sure any of teh lads from Ireland will agree, it's great to have our fish protected but it's hard when you can't fish especially when conditions are this good.