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.