Tuesday 16 September 2008

Some up and down fishing

  • The bass fishing over the last couple of days has been very up and down, (after such a snorting start on our first day), but when it is good, it is really good. Some of the marks have been very quiet though, and this has forced us to really think and work hard to find fish - but things do tend to come right eventually in Ireland. Above is Andy Bignell with a 5lb 4oz bass he took this afternoon on a crab bait fished tight to the rocks. This fish really crashed around the gullies before we could land it.

  • Above is Andy bait fishing for bass, right before he hooked the fish above. The bass here are in incredible condition at the moment - full of fight, very well fed, and bristling with intent. You need to see these fish up close and get them on the scales to see just how heavy they are for their size.

  • Don't do this at home, part 2 : Here is Graham getting right in amongst it again on a plugging mark here in south east Ireland. We all tend to push it a bit when the fishing is on, but none of us are into taking stupid risks to catch more fish. As I said the other day, Graham knows what he is doing out here. It looks very cool though, and he was well wrapped up in his waterproofs before standing on this rock - great for photos.,

  • Proof that it works - Graham with a 5lb bass he took on a soft plastic lure, the Megabass Xlayer, fished tight to the rocks. This lure also accounted for some nice pollack, including the one you can see below. The guys out here are going mad for these soft plastic lures, and we had a few bass this morning on the high water, bouncing the lures up and down along the bottom. When they hit, they hit big time.
  • Anyway, I need to get on and charge my camera batteries, sort through the photos from today, and then get some sleep. We are pushing it really hard out here, but the more ground you cover, the more fish you catch when bass fishing - what we are doing here is not for the angler who would prefer to stay in one spot and look at rod tips. This is highly mobile, light tackle fishing, and I love it as much as always. I might be knackered, but you can guarantee that I will wake up before my alarm clock before dawn tomorrow morning, ready to do it all over again. We are mad....

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Amazing scenery. What kind of gear is Andy using? I'm in the States, but enjoy learning about bass fishing around the globe. And that's one pretty fish he caught.

Aardvark McLeod said...

Bet you are missing your tim Hortons!!!!

Henry Gilbey said...

Paul,

The red rods we use for lure fishing are here

http://henry-gilbey.blogspot.com/2008/05/i-have-finally-found-my-bass-rod.html

And for bait fishing we tend to use rods that are around 12' long and rated to cast 2 to 4oz, along with spinning or conventional reels and 15lb mono line, or increasingly, 30lb braid and a long 40lb mono leader. Hope this is of help.

And yes, they are stunning fish. Got to do stripers next !!

Martha S said...

This was lovely to reead