Lure fishing for Bass

What can I say, had a fantastic New Year’s day out fishing with Mark and Graham HK, fishing during winter for bass can be hard and you don’t expect to catch especially when most of the coast is blown out.

Thanks to Mark and despite the conditions we found the fish but none of us where ready for the results.

We had tried a few spots but none of them had inspired us with confidence, so we stopped for some breakfast and headed off to another that we hoped would produce. We all took one look at the sea state and thought, yes, this looks good. Their was a decent swell smashing into the rocks and the water clarity was good, not crystal clear but certainly not coloured. Mark stated, this is it lads, we’re not leaving here.

Pushing on along the rock mark I hooked into a bass that felt reasonable but I failed to keep in contact with it as a large wave washed it in and past me, I could see it looked half decent, maybe 4 or 5 pounds but as soon as I had that quick glimpse she was gone. I looked around but Mark and Graham where out of sight so I cast out again.

Bang fish on, this felt like a good one, it started taking line surging up tide with savage head knocks pulsating through the rod, I knew I didn’t want to loose it. After a decent fight I managed to get the bass to the boulders in front of me and as a large wave came in I made my move and guided by the rod the wave deposited a fantastic bass at my feet.

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The thought of letting October pass without a trip to Ireland was just not going to happen, so with a call to Graham, a quick chat, we had the ferry booked. Mark as ever wasn’t very organised and neither Graham or I where totally convinced he was coming until we meet up with him at Steve’s house where we all stopped for a chin wag with Steve who was on his way over to Jersey the next day to fish the comp.

We arrived at Rosslare early the next morning and as usual raced straight onto one of Graham’s marks to fish the tide down. What can I say within an hour or so of landing in Ireland I was already hooked into a decent fish.

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So I have no excuse for not posting since May, I’ve got out fishing a fair amount not as much as I’d like though. The weather proved to be a challenge during the Summer North Easterlies and Easterlies followed by very strong South Westerlies meant the conditions you hoped for never really materialised.

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Managed to get out today, to be honest I couldn’t resist with a size of tide I like and a light South West wind all with the knowledge that I managed a few the other day with a horrible North Easterly. Arriving at the mark I found loverly clear water with a little bit of chop, looked perfect to be honest, I find it hard not to get carried away and start bounding across the rocks, but this is rough ground and a little care is required especially with what I like to call “Movers”, those boulders that look like they offer a secure footing but then move as you put your weight on them, it’s amazing how large some of them can be.

Which lure first, I was tempted by the Gataride Pearl rainbow but I went with the Tide Minnow 140 Flyer in candy and fired it out, being a sinking lure you have to be a little careful on a rock mark but I needn’t of worried, a couple of turns of the handle resulted in a hit and without much of a fight I landed the first bass of the session, first cast, this could be good. Weighing only a couple of pounds this bass must of been hungry, he had devoured most of the lure, typically I had forgot my pillars so I took a quick photo and then noticed that the lure had badly damaged the gills and the fish was bleeding quite badly, so I left the lure in and despatched the bass, one for the pot can’t hurt and I don’t see the point in returning a fish that has little chance of surviving.

So which lure now, well I had another Tide Minnow in a very similar colour this time a 145F and two casts later I had another fish on, this one felt a little bigger and weighed in at four and a bit pounds, the usual quick photo, returned the fish and cast out again. This time I had to wait for three casts, oh the pain and this bass felt decent too but unfortunately she slipped the hooks, still it was only a few more casts until I hooked into another and landed a three pounder.

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