Shad Season ?

I hope you are all enjoying a bit of autumn sport. To see the lovely bass that have been caught lately in Cork Harbour check out the Angling Hub blog at the top of my blog list.
         The different seasons throughout the year have their own characteristics when it comes to the way in which we like to target our favourite quarry. This time of year is when a lot of anglers are more confident persisting with their larger lures, in the hope of getting a magical double.
          Personally I like nothing better than to fish rock marks with a metre or more depth of water and a wave on them. Number one priority is a safe elevated position to fish into the decent swell, with the sun starting to disappear below the horizon the chances are I'd be clipping on a big paddle-tail shad.
          Casting out into the big water and retrieving slowly with the rod tip held high, while your minds eye pictures that tail working away as the big lure swims along, does it for me . If you're not bumping off the odd rock on the way back in you're winding too fast. Admittedly its not about technique and finesse, and casting those heavy lures in bad weather might even require heavier than normal tackle. What it does do though, is put a lure that is easier to home-in on into a water that big fish like to hunt in.
          Unless I'm fishing dirty water it is generally the only time of year I use shads from the shore. That is just one of my habits but is possibly a bad one and should probably be reviewed?
          If it is too shallow a big swell can turn water into a white seething mass which is too dangerous for any self-respecting bass to venture into, so finding the happy medium between depth and swell size is one of the keys to any success that may be had.

           It is the anticipation that a big fish might turn up that gets me out in the unpleasant weather.Its a similar feeling to fishing a live mackeral ,  in the sense that the exciting possibility of being rewarded with a lunker helps with your patience and concentration, and keeps you going. With nerves slightly on edge until that magic moment when your rod buckles over, and as everything goes solid you can tell, by the way the fish stays deep, that you've just hit the jackpot!

Unfortunately my season is on hold at the moment due to some extensive knee surgery. It has been further complicated by a couple of blood clots caused by the lack of activity with the leg. So do me a favour , get out there and catch a big bass for me.

   Oh yeah and just incase you were wondering ?...... it was playing football, not scrambling around the rocks, that caused the damage ....if only I'd just stuck to the fishing!