Season Off With A Bang and a Screaming Drag!

Julian and I had our first session together, this season, yesterday.

 I'd come back from a trip to Kerry to find Julian was

able to get out and had been finding a few fish. Before Easter is a busy time for him getting his raku ceramic orders into galleries in the UK and Ireland before the galleries start getting busy.

Until then he'd been out once and blanked, I wasn't fairing much better with my only decent fish being a 4.5lber.

That all changed this week ,  yesterday we caught 19 bass in a three hour session! I managed 3  between 5-6lb with a mixture of 4's, 3's and a couple of schoolies bringing my total in the session to 9 fish. The best fish squirmed out of my hands and dropped back into the water as we were about to take the photo , I nearly grabbed it but only ended up with wet sleaves to show for my efforts. Here's one that wasn't camera shy.

Julian took 10 fish with similar sizes to mine . He has really made up for lost time this week, yesterday was his third day out in a row and he has managed 26 bass to 7lb in the three short sessions, that is quality angling!   Especially given the smallest neap tides , easterly winds and a sea with the clarity of tap water....

             Highlight of the evening though was the pair of us finding his glasses covered by over a foot of water on the incoming tide.
      In all the excitement he'd left them on a rock while unhooking a fish. After a long time looking with head torches over rough terrain we'd pretty much given up hope and knew the tide had covered them , an expensive downer on proceedings.
        Then he saw a glint off the lense under the water and happiness was restored.

Hard plastics outperformed the softs on this occasion . All the gear we took with us was a couple of spare lures in the pocket box, a pair of forceps each and the camera, kit bags weren't an option.
   The forceps make unhooking a lot less stressful and dangerous for you and the fish , and I'm glad to say all the bass went back strongly to fight another day.

Flounders on Soft Plastics.

Check out this great blog  " ecoastfishing.blogspot.com  " !   Fairplay to the man that is some great flatty fishing on lures , hopefully I will get a chance to try out a bit of that this summer.

Two more weeks then we should start seeing a few more decent sized bass starting to show up, mostly smaller sub 4lb fish about at the moment as far as I can tell, which of course is expected this time of year as the bigger fish have other things on their minds.
     Even though the closed season doesn't start until the 15th , which is supposedly when the fish start dispersing their eggs, it is very important to put the breeding sized fish back before this date as they may already be dispersing their eggs in your area,..... very important for your local stocks!

   The crab peel is well under way with the bigger Jacks/Cock crabs changing their outer skeleton first, water temperatures are rising slowly and spring is in full swing , everything is shaping up nicely for what will hopefully be another cracking season.

Brainy Bass !

       Bass learn to recognise lures.
                                                   I've believed this since my involvement in the commercial rod and line bass fishery in Wales in the 80's and early 90's.
        During the developement of this fishery it became obvious to the guys involved that somehow bass had the ability to suss out that even the most naturally presented bait can represent danger.
     Redgills were the first lure used and caught well for an artificial. Then one of the small boat crews got hold of a sandeel seine to catch this perfect bait and secretly went about using this deadly new technique. If you happened to be a very close friend of this crew they would give you some sandeels. If they gave you 30 eels, you caught 30 bass ! Thats how it was then , the bass attacked the sandeels with abandon and fishing with them became the only method used in the fishery.
     Not for one second, did anyone think then that one day the bass would stop attacking sandeels, after all they were their natural food.
     Day after day , season after season, the same boats with the same skippers fished the same areas using sandeels. This intense pressure cannot be compared to the amount of attention our shorelines receive from general angling. It was/is an unusual situation.
     The sandeels effectiveness declined slowly season by season until eventually it became practically useless as bait , other methods had to be used and caught plenty of fish but amazingly the shoals of fish had learnt , and through second hand (indirect) observation  in probably 99% of cases, that a sandeel "presented" on a long flowing trace of either mono or flourocarbon was something that was now dangerous to attack.
      This attitude shown by the bass lasted for whole seasons, and I suspect sandeels would have to be stopped being used for a number of years before they could attain the catchability they once had in the area.
     
       The above is a quick/shortened example of one of my experiences of observing that the bass has the capability to learn. But how does it apply to our fishing?
      That depends on the type of areas you like to fish in. The bass in Ireland are generally localised/territorial and especially so in rocky areas . If they do ,as I believe, learn to relate trauma or danger to a specific lure through ,either experiences they've had (direct), or through the observations of other fish (indirect) , then it is possible that last seasons "super lure" might not have the miraculous effect on your local fish this season as it did last .
    The lure will ofcourse not stop catching all of a sudden, but in my experience its effectiveness will decline and maybe "resting it" for a while may be a better option in the great scheme of consistent catches.
      I'm not suggesting either that you need a lure box that resembles a tackle shop to keep catching consistently.
     I just think a sensible rotation of lures will help to keep things fresh and is an approach I use in my fishing.

I don't expect everyone to agree with my theories , infact I've noticed most people don't which has in the past left me feeling a bit confused. But I was glad when recently, in the middle of a debate on this subject,  someone brought my attention to this Bassbuzz Link.
    A very interesting article that got me thinking "maybe I'm not going mad after all!"

  P.S. If any of you have a copy of the classic  "Bass Fishing on Shore And Sea" written by the brilliant John Darling ,you will find photos in the centre of the book of some of the Welsh bass boys that I know going about the fishery.I enjoy looking at the boats and seine netters from days past, and it could give you a bit of a picture of what I'm waffling on about.

 P.P.S.   The season is underway and bass along with seatrout are now being caught on lures around the coast, so get out there and happy hunting.

Happy St Patricks Day !

Wishing you all a great day and if your going for a pint of Guinness, slaintè.
        Heres a couple of fine birds I met at The Spaniard Inn , in Kinsale recently. I'm no expert but the one at the back could be the male bird.

Fishing The Margins

              You ease back the throttle as you approach the small rocky bay, moving as quietly as a boat and engine can allow.With wind and tide direction calculated the engine is cut at the start point of your planned drift.
       Picking up your pre-rigged rod and unclipping the chosen lure a quick scan of the immediate area is made. A small gully is spotted with some fizz in it, this white topped area of turbulence has been created by the gentle swell hitting a recently submerged ledge of rock just in front of the entrance to the gully. As you prepare to cast into this potential fish holding position you remind yourself not to over cast as this is the shoreline and your prized lure will be high and dry if you over do it.
       You ease back on the power as you pull the rod through but your smooth technique and modern rod make the lure fly better than anticipated .A finger pinch on the line stops the lure mid air and it drops straight into the gully. Mild panic turns to pride as you congratulate yourself on a skillful cast.
        You take up the slack as your lure is being washed around in the surface commotion, the lure starts to move but before you even settle into the retrieve something grabs the lure, the rod slams over and your heart is in your mouth...............

        This type of fishing is great for many different reasons but the two points that I'm focusing on here are the ease at targeting the shoreline and that even in a boat it can be done with some stealth as its possible to stay a good distance away and cast in.

    Approaching the same mark from the shore many anglers focus their first attention on the potential fish holding areas at the range of their casting ability. By walking out to the waters edge and casting out a lure they may well of just missed some decent fish. Even anglers who think they are being stealthy are quite often not . I've done it myself and seen it done many times, if you see a fish when you approach it probably saw you first, never mind the ones that you didn't see.

  On some days Julian ,my fishing buddy, and I may have walked a long way carrying gear as its not always possible to ramble along the shoreline fishing as we go, if it is then spooking fish in one spot is not as bad, as at the next we can be more careful.
   If we've made the effort though, to first drive to an area and then walked to our chosen piece of coastline, then we want to maximise our chances by covering the venue as efficiently as possible. Fishing short is our first focus and we view this as part one of the session . The plugs stay in the box for now and generally flies or soft plastics are put into action.
     It actually takes quite a lot of effort to be stealthy especially when you're excited and you just want to get on with it . Crouching as low as possible or crawling on your knees and spare hand can be uncomfortable and slow to get about, never mind the fact that it feels daft. Keeping the rod low and avoiding temptation to get your head  up and have a look take concentration, but if the tide is flooding and conditions are calm and clear it can make the difference between luring bass or scaring them.

    As is well known bass will come into very shallow water during the flood  so practising to fish the margins when you're shorefishing will improve your catch rate in the long run , try surface fishing  that weightless soft plastic or send a fly out into those first few metres of water, use your imagination, it's possible to cast even the smallest of lures , what about an imitation  shrimp or crab ? There's all sorts of possibilities
   After we've covered our available shoreline by fishing short we'll cover it again at distance ,usually though we've already caught bass.

    This fish was caught on a beautiful day near Rosscarbery in West Cork , it was hooked in the shallow clear water behind....... Julian had to be very careful and quiet in his approach , if he had walked on the rock behind him he would have spooked the fish and would probably have not even seen it as it swam away.

Spring is in the Air

                              Days like this one a couple of weeks ago help to ease me through the winter .
      Last week  though it was 100 km/h winds that we had lashing the coastline and some nice bass were caught by those hardy enough to get out in it. I've had reports of an 8lb , a 10lb and 12lb bass getting caught during the rough weather that week.
       Its been a good winter for big fish on baits and razor fish has been a successful one , with no peeler crabs coming out of the traps lately and probably not for a couple more weeks either, getting yourself some shellfish for bait can make all  the difference.
            Looking at an empty mooring reminds me  the boat needs it's annual  overhaul aswell.......
     Not today though as its my first competition of the year ,  fishing against two current World Team Champions , Derek Kendrick and JP Molloy and a host of other top class anglers its not gonna be easy!
   I'll just have to get lucky and draw a decent peg.

Night Lure Fishing - Targeting kelp banks.

Rotting kelp or rather the creatures in it , provide a banquet of food for fish and birds .
   Mike Ladle has written some excellent material on this subject and anyone who hasn't read his work is missing out and should buy his and Alan Vaughan's book "Hooked on Bass", it is perfect reading for this time of year and is a book you will keep on picking up.

To recap quickly, the kelp gets stranded on the shore on spring tides and is left high and dry. As it begins to decompose it attracts flies ,which lay their eggs ,which can quickly become a mass of maggots.  These larvae become the main course for species further up the food chain including mullet and bass.This happens when the weed gets lifted again at the beginning of the next spring tides .

   
                   I have also found that its not only maggots that are prey for bass around these areas.
     The main diet of  isopoda (slaters) and amphipods (sand hoppers) is also decomposing seaweed and plenty of these can  be found in the kelp area, especially at night!
            These little fellas are crustacea and are related to shrimp, crab, lobster and crayfish , and are definately on  bass's menu.

 The gut contents of bass that have been feeding on slaters and hoppers can be quite astonishing .
A big congealed mound , the size of an apple, can be found in the stomach with possibly 100-200 of them all digesting together. I hardly ever keep a fish nowadays so unfortunately have no photo to put up, but believe me at certain times they eat a lot of these creatures.
   
We sometimes fish around these areas in the darkness especially when there is a bit of swell to lift and give the kelp a good shake. It is easier to sneak up and start fishing in darkness especially when the water is clear. The added activity of the nocturnal creatures may also help to draw the bass in .
     Even though the bass are feeding on small items of food they will still take a fairly large lure in these situations. They probably pick off the odd small fish , or atleast keep an open mind as to attacking one when hunting around this food feast.
    
To fish into the floating kelp you need suitable weedless lures to avoid hooking heavy kelp stalks. Wading out a bit may help you avoid the worst of it.
 If you prefer using plugs or fly-fishing, concentrating down-tide of the kelp bank during the first hour of the ebb can be effective.The tide run carries suspended food towards patrolling fish , usually mullet and bass but sometimes decent pollack turn up and give you a suprise.
  At night time there are no birds around,..........if you approach these areas in daylight there are usually lots of birds feeding in amongst the waves and kelp. As you get closer they all fly off creating a bit of a commotion , I wonder can  bass pick-up on this simple action and possibly become more alert to the approaching danger?..........Who knows,maybe i think too much?.............I think i need to get out fishing!