Month: July 2020

Getting out more…

Since the last post I’ve managed three more trips and all have been productive in their own way. Seem to be a few more bass showing themselves to lures though I’ve had nothing to write home about size wise – a lot of schoolies readily around with the best fish a fat mid-50cm fish, so I guess roughly 4lb.

Rewinding a bit, the first of my recent trips was not about the bass… it was about nurturing my son’s interest in lure fishing and that meant getting out for a spot of mackerel fishing with some small plugs and metals. Picked a nice, calm, warm evening and the mackerel duly obliged. In fact, as it turned out, we had some really good sized mackerel between us especially on metal shore jigs with the occasional ‘double’ hook up on the assist hook present on some jigs…

I used to take him when he was a lot younger but his interest didn’t really hold as I guess there were just too many teenage distractions shall we say! However, and by his own admission, he appreciates the benefits of the great outdoors a lot more these days and especially spending a few hours fishing with his old man! He’s got the patience for it which you definitely need at times, just need to get him on the bass now!

We had the added bonus of a spectacular sunset to end the session on…

The next two sessions were going solo and both produced decent quantity of bass if not any real size to them. First session was over reefy ground and almost all taken on surface lures and of similar size to the one below on the Patchinko 125…

The last of my recent sessions was at the weekend and this time it was back on the beach and numbers again good if size again fairly average. A variety of lures produced from metals to medium divers, like the Megabass Zonk, and also off the top again with the Patchinko 125 and it’s bigger brother. Some nice bouncy conditions and water colour to go with it meant the bass were nicely energised and whilst they were certainly no monsters they scrapped well and all taken at no distance at all, maybe 20 yards at most.

 

Hoping to get out again this weekend and this time getting my lad on the bass…. if I can get him out of bed at the witching hour!

Until next time…

Hard Slog…

It’s been a while…

As some may have noticed I’ve really been rather tardy in my updating of the blog since September last year and if I’m honest I lost a little bit of enthusiasm for writing things up despite another great trip to Ireland in November in somewhat challenging conditions! Fished some new ground for me around Courtmacsherry area for a couple of days before heading down to Thatched Cottage in Kerry to meet up with my mate Nobby for the excellent hospitality and guidance on offer from John and Lynn. Best fish of the week was actually the first one I had based out of Courtmacsherry and while quantity was better in Kerry the fish were on the smaller size and boy did a lot of effort go into catching them!

Fast forward to this year and the virus hits.

Until very recently fishing has been a bit of a non-event as it has for most and I have only very slowly started getting out there amongst it. First couple of local sessions with Nobby resulted in a single fish between us barely bigger than the lure itself  and then on our first excursion meeting up in Dorset we both blanked on a half-hearted recce trip…. more depressing was seeing inshore netters once again throwing their nets out within casting distance. Let’s not go there.

And so to yesterday’s hard slog… been keeping an eye on conditions for a Chesil trip and with winds dropping down a little and having a fishing itch to scratch I booked a day off work, dragged myself out of bed at 2 a.m., drove for an hour and a half, walked for a further half an hour and was just about fishing for first light. From my start point it was walk and cast, walk and cast, walk and cast, and so on with lure changes to boot for the next three hours I think…. not so much as a sniff, zilch! Frustratingly, no more than 300 yards offshore I could see birds working the surface for whitebait and what I would guess were mackerel breaking the surface from beneath but couldn’t be certain from a distance. Water clarity was patchy given the winds of late but certainly not soup and eminently fishable…. it was becoming a bit soul destroying so by the time I’d reached as far as I thought I could go taking into account the return trudge I stopped for breakfast and had a quick shut of the eyes!

It was a good job when a shower passed over to wake me up and get me moving again…. only a nap honest! It was time to head back and follow the same process of walking, casting and changing lures intermittently largely on the basis of slight changes in water colour. I hadn’t long changed from my favourite Pearl Rainbow Zonk to the Hot Shad version of the same lure when out of nowhere… BANG!… the rod bent over and finally I had a bass! It may have only been a schoolie but I don’t think I’ve ever been so pleased to have a blank saver!

Being I still had a fair trek ahead of me I was freshly invigorated and every cast for a while I was expecting the rod to bend over again but guess what….. nothing, no knocks, no sight of a fish in the waves, absolutely nowt… and still the birds fed 300 yards off shore!!

A single fish was all it was to be and I don’t mind admitting I arrived back at the car shattered…. my health app told me 18000+ steps which on those stones feels twice that believe me! I just kept telling myself at least I hadn’t blanked but truthfully I had hoped for a little better. For the dedicated lure angler we can only hope things pick up now and into the autumn….. fingers crossed anyway!

Until next time…