Absolute fishing 2010....

Christmas Opening Hours

Dec 24th - 10.00 - 15.00

Dec25th Closed

Dec26th Closed

Dec 27th 10.00-15.00

Dec 28th 10.00 - 18.00

Dec 29th 10.00 - 18.00

Dec 30th 10.00 - 18.00

Dec 31st 10.00 - 15.00

Jan 1st Closed

Jan 2nd 10.00 - 15.00

Then back to normal .

If anyone needs anything over the Christmas period and the shop is not open just call the shop on 051393559 as the phone will be diverted to my mobile and I only live two min from shop and have no problem opening up if anyone needs anything .

Water Temp is still Good

Water temperature is still at 10.4 degrees and for me that is still more than enough to go fishing with lures. It has been a tough two weeks on the weather front here with freezing temperatures roads not passable but saying that I have had reports of people making a serious effort to get out and fish . Reports of catches are still coming in and I for one can not wait to get out and give it a good go with the plastics . Saying that all the fish that I have heard of being caught in the last week fell to hard lures . There were even guys catching on surface lures two weeks ago ( insane for this time of year ). The sun is out here today and the snow is starting to melt so hopefully anyone who has been stranded will be able to make it out and give it a go there are fish around and some big girls too . James is just back from a trip to Poland , so soon as he recovers and is able to mind the shop I am going fishing . Once the water temperature stays above 8 degrees I am happy to fish with lures . At the moment it is a case of slowing everything down and getting down deep . This is why I favour soft plastics at this time of year . If possible let the current do most of the work or stick to a very slow retrieve . As the water temp drops so does the metabolism of the fish which makes them less likely to use up a load of energy chasing a fast moving lure . Offer them easy pickings ( nice and slow moving plastics ).

If anyone else is like me and wishing this weather to go away so we can continue fishing I hope you all can make it out over the next few days as the tides are perfect and who knows when your going to hook into a monster .

Tight lines,

Cian.

When will it let up ?

If any of you are like me then you are starting to go Stir crazy with the snow . Bad weather or not I will be out fishing soon . If I have to walk to a mark I am going .
They are starting to clear some of the roads around Tramore so the shop is open but please be careful .

Cheers,

Cian.

Snow Day Again

As you can see by the outside of the shop we got a lot of snow last night . The roads in Tramore are treacherous so I walked down to the shop to check emails and parcel off a few phone orders . Not much point in sitting down here for the day but if anyone needs anything just give the shop a call as it is diverted to my mobile and I am only a short walk away . Enjoy the snow and hopefully we will all be back fishing soon before the withdrawal symptoms get unbearable.

Cian.

The snow is very nice BUT !!

The snow is very nice but is seriously effecting our fishing and not because of the temperature , because we can not get to our marks . Most of the places we fish involve country roads which have not been treated . It is frustrating as we know the water temp is still good , the clarity is good and there are still a fish around as many people proved last week with some outstanding catch reports coming in . Anyway such is the way of life and I am sure will will get out soon enough .

Christmas is just around the corner and just to let ye all know there are gift vouchers available .

Also we can take any credit or debit card orders over the phone .

Cheers,

Cian

November Rock Fishing.....

Plenty of action still to be had along the copper coast at the moment. There was a window of opportunity to get out early this week and although the tides weren't great conditions were spot on....nice onshore wind with reasonable water clarity.

Myself and Paul fished a rock mark on early this week which produced some nice fish. The lure of the day was once again the Zonk Gataride in a variety of colours and we are really starting to think that colour doesnt matter when it comes to this lure as one colour seems to be as good as the other, but wer always going to have our favourites.

Fishing into gullies on a flooding tide worked to great effect for us. Visiting your mark at low water and finding gullies and ambush points for the bass can be a great help when the tide floods in over these areas you have a much greater chance of connecting with a bass or two knowing where these areas are instead of casting blindly into the water.

When there is a big surf/swell rolling onto the rocks like in the picture above a lure which can really bite down into the water can be a great help, the Zonk 120 and sinking tide minnows can be a great help and can sometimes make a big difference giving the lure that extra bit of stability needed in such conditions.

So before you put away your bass gear for winter get out and give it another go as there seems to be good numbers of bass around the rock marks, if the water clarity isnt great try a xlayer or a shad type soft plastic as they can be very effective over rough ground fished nice and slowly which may entice a fish that may not come as easy to the plug.

Tight lines,

James

New stock arrived....

Megabass Gaterides, Zonks, X140's, IMA sasukes are all back in stock.

Zonk Gataride Pearl rainbow

Zonk 120 GG Bloody Bait

X140 Sw GG Heat Iwashi

X140 SW HT Hama Shirasu

Zonk Gataride HT Hama Shirasu

IMA Sasuke 140

Ring the shop or call in for more details and for the full range of colours available.

Tight lines.

Trout n About....

Myself and Cian decided to try something a bit different yesterday, we headed to a trout fishery to practice the fly casting and to have a bit of craic with some lively rainbows.

James.

Fishing Junkies

It makes me feel better about myself to hang around with people who have the lure fishing bug as bad as me . Above are some of the fishing junkies that I fish with Paul, James, Henry and Nick. Henry and Nick were over for a week recently and we all fished a lot and when we were not fishing we were talking fishing . For me it is a complete obsession , lately because I am not getting out fishing as much as I would like to be I am dreaming about fishing , I caught a 15lb bass in my dreams the other night ( not bad ). It is evident since opening the shop that there are a massive number of guys who have the fishing bug as bad as me . Getting stressed when they can not get there favorite lure in there favorite colour, going crazy when they can not fish due to weather . To me it is the best pastime in the world . Playing a soccer match or a game of golf would not have the same effect on me that's for sure but I am sure that there are people who get that buzz out of there chosen hobby's . We who are addicted to our hobby's are lucky people to have found something that gives us such pleasure and excitement and will continue to do so as we are forever learning . Fishing is something that I will never figure out or master and that is why I love it so much , no fishing sessions is ever the same .
Weather looks perfect today SW breeze at 15Kpm and I am in the shop for the day wishing I was out on the rocks. Hope a few of you are out giving it a go . Tight lines

Plastics at the ready....

There are still some reports of bass hanging around the rock marks and they seem to be there in reasonable numbers, if the water temperature stays where it is at the moment and we get some good conditions with some reasonable water clarity I have no doubt that we will get some good bass fishing off rock marks for the next one or two good tidal cycles, and heres hoping conditions are like this below...

However as winter starts to get a proper hold and water temperatures start to drop, a lot of people think its time to put away the spinning gear and time to dust off the bait gear in pursuit of the silver fellas which are still around the coast, however November and December can give the dedicated lure angler a great chance of connecting with a double in the many estuaries found along our coastline if conditions are on your side.

As water temeperatures begin to drop the fishes metabolism slows down so in other words there not going to be as willing to chase down a plug being retrieved at a quick pace. This time of the year soft plastic fishing comes into its own twitching slowly along sandy bottoms or allowing them to bounce through a current can lead to some excellent fishing.

Around this time of the year a lot of big fish tend to make an appearance in these estuarine areas which are ideal locations for working soft plastics. Numerous bass over the magical 10lb mark are taken this time of the year, when conditions are right.

For example check out the fantastic session Henry Gilbey and co had on a winter bass hunt in Waterford from a couple of years ago here and here

The photos from Henry's blog show just how good the bass fishing can be in the winter months when conditions coincide with good tides, at this special time of the year the results can truly be outstanding.

Heres some photos of some of the well known but deadly soft plastics we will be using in winter months which lie ahead.

GT shad

Megabass spindle worm

Megabass xlayer

Tight lines,

James

A big thank you...

A big thank you to everyone who was at the opening day . It amazed me the amount of people who turned up to the official opening and I would just like to thank everyone for making the effort and taking the time to come along . It has been hard work setting up a tackle shop but seeing the crowd that turned up on Sunday made it all worth while. So again thank you all very much.

Cian.

Nick Hart and Henry Gilbey arrived over last thursday for a marathon week of bass fishing and to help out with the opening day. The weather was mixed while they were here but we still managed to get some good fishing in between what at times were difficult conditions with the lads having a very enjoyable week with the bass making an appearance at times, Nick managed to get his first bass on lures and now has the bass bug bad!! For some great pictures from there week here take a look at Henrys blog here

James.

Opening day....

Difficult Conditions

This settled weather is very nice but it is making fishing difficult . The water is gin clear and there is still plenty of bait fish around but in my opinion without that bit of fizz ( life in the water ) it is hard work fishing with lures . The bright sunshine and clear calm water give the fish too much opportunity to see the lure the line and you . Also I think with a bit of movement or surf they do not get as much time to think about attacking something if they don't have it straight away they could loose it in the next wave . Saying all this there are still some fish being caught and nice ones too.

Here is a little story that explains the catching of the fish above .

A few weeks back myself and Paul were fishing a mark , nothing new about that only that Paul lost a brand new Yellow Patchinko. That evening Marty Harrison and his friend Austin arrived into the shop just after fishing the same mark . Marty announced that he had found a Yellow Patchinko. When I informed him about Paul's loss we had a bit of a laugh and Marty was sure it was going to catch him fish but the lure obviously had bad luck attached to it because Marty did not get a touch on it . Marty and Austin were down again this week and again the Yellow Patchinko did nothing for Marty so he handed it to Austin and within five min the picture above explains what happened . Austin smashed this fish on Marty - Paul's Yellow Patchinko . Well done Austin what a great fish off the top . That lure certainly does not have bad luck for you.

Tried a bit of bait fishing with James earlier in the week which was nice and we managed a few fish nothing spectacular but very enjoyable . The biggest fish was 4lb and full of life when hooked but all of the fish landed were just plucking at the bait , it was like flounder bites . I do not know does the same go for bait fishing as lures , do they need that bit of fizz in the water to really switch them on or is there still just to much food in the water for them.

Just a quick reminder about the opening day Sunday the 24Th a week today from 1pm to 4pm . Everyone is welcome .It should be a good day and you never know you could win something .

Cian,

Easterly

It has not been a great week for fishing with all that wind we are getting and now its in the east and due to stay there for a while , which is certainly going to make things a lot more difficult . It is such a shame with such nice tides this week that the weather got the better of us but we can not complain too much as we have had some fantastic fishing so far this year . In my opinion we still have a good bit of time lure fishing left this year . The water temperature is up there has not been too much rain and all we need now is for that wind to swing around and settle a bit and we will be out again . This time of year right up to Christmas and after if the weather allows is probably my favorite time for lure fishing . Its time to get the plastics out slow it down and hopefully see a few big fish .The weed will start move on and make it possible to bounce plastics where it was impossible during the summer . If all that fails I will be sure to be getting out the light bait fishing gear a bucket of crab which I must admit I am looking forward to . It is another nice way to approach bass fishing and if it means getting fish when lures wont work I am quite happy .

Official Opening
We are having an official opening of the shop on Sun 24Th of October from 1pm to 4pm . There will be a raffle with loads of prizes and a top prize for lure fishermen of a Tenryu rod and a top prize for bait fishermen of a Daiwa 7HT Mag and lot more . Henry Gilbey will be here for the day doing the official opening so come along and pick his brain . Everyone is welcome and hopefully it will be a great day .
Just a quick thank you to everyone who is reading the blog its great I can not believe so many people are reading it , James and myself enjoy doing it so thanks to everyone .

Not a bad day.....

After checking the weather last night I was delighted to see some high pressure sneaking in between the constant low pressure we were having. From past experiences I found that if you can find some clean water on the open coast the day after a strong blow that it can fish its socks off, so hopes were high for a good day.

I arrived onto the copper coast early afternoon and after checking the usual marks it was clear that it wasn’t going to be easy to find some clean water, after checking countless marks I said Id take a gamble and try a mark I had not fished for a couple of years. After a bit of a trek I found what I was looking for, some reasonably clean (mixing) water with plenty of fizz!

Lure of choice was a Sasuke 140 in candy colour. Within the first few casts I had a nice Pollack, I was delighted thinking to myself if the Pollack could find the lure if there were any bass around Id be in with a good chance. Sure enough within 20 minutes I hooked a good fish that doubled the Injection and proceeded to strip countless yards of line of my 3000 sized reel, the gear was well up to the test and after a few minutes I slid the most well conditioned bass I have ever seen onto the shore, the girth of this fish was remarkable, on the boga she came in at over 9lb.

The tide was really pumping in at this stage and there was a thick line of kelp on the foreshore which was slowly starting to get picked up and beginning to float in front of where I wanted to fish, making things difficult. Fishing amongst this floating weed was a nightmare, but on one of the retrieves I felt a bang then another, thinking to myself here is another Pollack I stopped the lure and bang…not a Pollack but bass on, the fish really wanted that sasuke, giving yet another outstanding fight on the light gear, definitely the best way to catch these fish. Again on the sasuke 140.

Confidence was sky high at this stage and but the line of kelp had made its way out in front of me so time left fishing the mark was of the essence. A few minutes later I hooked another fish again in close which went on one hell of a run but the on this occasion the fish won and all I got back were two big bass scales on my sasuke.

A quick break for lunch and into the shop for a couple back up lures to have for the dropping tide and of course to let Cian know what he was missing. So onto the next mark that I generally fish on the dropping tide, and which had been fishing very well for me of late. Sure enough within 5 minutes I had a fish which came in around 8lb on the boga.

Fishing where I was I only had another 30 minutes before the water would strip off in front of me making the gulley I was fishing into impossible. Just as I was thinking I would move on I hooked a reasonable fish which after a bit of head shaking on the surface took me to ground,, DISASTER the fish and the lure of the day gone.

The confidence knocked a bit after losing my lure of the day I fished on and to round up the day nicely I had a nice 6lber as the sun was setting on yet another perfect day on the copper coast.

Tight lines,

James.

September silvers....

Sorry for the lack of reports in the last week but it was hard to blog with the non stop fishing which we have done in the last week or so. Great days, bad days and a plenty of craic would some up Henry Andy and Nicks visit to the Copper Coast. Their first day with Cian turned out to be the highlight of the week when they got to see what the copper coast is capable of on a good day with Cian getting bass to 10lb, for some excellent pics from that day and from their week here check out Henrys blog.... here


As Cian was off fishing alot last week I was only getting out for an hour every evening after closing. However it turned out that all I neeeded was 40-50 minutes to make my season and probably the highlight of my bass fishing to date. I arrived at the rock mark without a head torch so it was going to be a quick session. Within 3 casts I had a fish which came in at 7.5lb, in the next few casts I hit another fish which I know from the first run and the bend in the Injection that it was a serious fish. My Injection proved more than capable of bringing in the fish and never looked like it was going to struggle with one hell of a fight in rough conditions, after what felt like an hour of vicious head shaking and long powerful runs I got the fish in close as soon as the fish came to the surface I knew straight away that this must be close to my previous pb of just over 9lb, panic then set in as I tried to get the fish to the boga after a nervosus couple of minutes with waves crashing around me I somehow managed to get a hold of the fish. She measured 76cm and was around the 10.5lb mark, words cant some up how I felt looking at this fish after spending so long chasing a double the feeling of everything finally coming together......perfect! After a few phone calls and picture messages fired off I had a few more casts as the water was alive with fish in front of me, I was hitting fish every few casts and managed to land a 3lber and lost another 2 fish one which straightened the hooks on my Gateride.... another fish to add to the list of the one that got away...

Being in the right place at the right time for that 40-50minutes made all the long hours blanking and hard days worth while. All fish were cuaght on the Zonk Gateride in GG IWASHI.....my new favourite colour!!

The same mark produced fish for me 4 days in a row last week but then the Northerly winds set in which killed the fishing with the much needed fizz on the water gone, the lads still picked up the odd fish towards the end of the week but nothing like the first day when conditions were spot on.

Simon Lewis and his son from Wales were also over for a few days at the end of last week, have a look at Alans Blog here turbot on an xlayer,, very cool!! and a new pb for Luke. A sucessful trip?


At the moment fishing around rock marks is tough however some good fish are still making an appearance, the bass seem to be pre occupied with the abundant bait fish which is still around the coastline. The megabass X140-sw, ima sasuke 140 and of course the Zonk Gateride are the lures we found are working best at the moment.


Tight lines.

James

IMA lures....

Some superb IMA lures have just arrived today. The highly sought after ima pokey, sasuke 140, komomo II and honey trap are all in stock in a wide range of colours. These lures are sure to fly off the shelves, so please call the shop for more information or pop in for a look yourself.

The ima popkey above is a great surface lure for calm conditions, stopping the lure dead can induce some great takes off the top.

The sasuke 140 and kommo II are shallow running lures and have produced some great results over shallow reefs, with their excellent side to side rolling action.

Sasuke 140

Komomo II


James.

Plenty of fish around

My apologies for the lack of posts recently , just up the walls . The fishing over the last few weeks has been brilliant when the weather has played ball . The amount of reports of good quality fish been caught is outstanding . The most recent is Pat Connolly with yet another double , an 11lb fish yesterday on a regular Zonk . This man is putting in the hours and getting the results, well done Pat.

Unfortunately I have not been out myself as much as I would like but when I have made it out there has been plenty of fish around and its definitely the time of year when the bigger fish are starting to turn up. In recent weeks we are all catching a bigger stamp of fish and everyone I talk to is in agreement at how fat all the fish are at the moment , they are definitely in feeding mode at the moment with all the bait fish around its easy pickings and they are taking advantage.

Paul has had two fish up to 9lb in the last week and many more , I was there for one of those big fish and when it was landed I was giving it 10lb it was so fat . When weighed on the boga it came in at just over 9 . The same night one of my fish around 6lb and the hardest fight I have had from a fish all year , I thought that I was in to a monster with its initial run . The fish are here at the moment and switched on . Pat told me that his fish yesterday made run after run and would not give up . His injection was well able though , a monster fish on light tackle you can not beat that.

The lads are over in a few days, Henry , Andy and Nick . It will be great to catch up with the lads and do some fishing and of course winding each other up. A great bunch of anglers and great company . Hopefully the weather gives us a break as I am taking a few days off to fish with the lads . It will of course be the usual routine , non stop fishing food and sleep coming a distant second , I can not wait.

Hungry Fish

This picture and the picture below were both sent to me in the last week .

The picture above was sent to me by James McSweeney , both fish hit the Lucky Craft Gunfish at the same time and hooked up . There are plenty of fish around at the moment and as you can see they are hungry. All we need at the moment is for the weather and the wind direction to stay on our side and this month should throw up plenty of fish .

Below is a picture sent to me by a friend up North again two hungry fish a bass and a Pollock fighting over dinner . Both pictures just show how competitive these fish are . Stuff like this just makes lure fishing so exciting . Two bass off the top on the same lure my heart would have been in my mouth.

Cian

Whats working for us.....

Decisions decisons....

IMA lures, feed shallows, tide minnows etc. have all been catching a lot of bass for us this summer however two lures in particular have really stood out which are the Zonk Gataride and the Patchinko….

Below is a picture of the Zonk gataride in “cruizin blue” which has been the stand alone lure/lure of the moment/go to lure whatever you want to call it so far this season, especially when fishing off rock marks. When I got my hands on this lure last summer I was wondering what the hell was going on with the bib I didn’t use it that often as I generally fish in areas WHERE I THOUGHT were more suitable to shallower diving lures and areas which were not suitable for the zonk,…how I was wrong. This summer things have changed from talking to Cian who will barely use any other lure off rock marks it slowly started to sink in that I needed to fish this lure a bit more especially after seeing the countless big fish he was smashing on it. First of all I had to get out of the habit of lowering the rod tip to the water as the gateride does run that little bit deeper than your conventional shallow divers such as the feed shallow and tide minnows etc. Keeping the rod up will ensure the zonk fishes that little closer to the surface and can stop snags and losses and you can still add the extra action to the lure by sweeping the rod back when retrieving. When fishing in deep water I get the rod back down again and really work the lure. I mix up the retrieves when fishing this lure ranging from slow to a quiet quick retrieve, you should feel the lure working and vibrating through the rod as you retrieve it. I was out recently with a friend who was snorkelling and he said he could hear the lure underwater (rattling) the moment it hit the water which was almost 25 yards away, combine this noise with the vibrations you can feel through your rod and you can start to realise why this lure is so good.

This lure alone has accounted for the vast majority of bass I have caught this year off rock marks along the copper coast. However one word of caution, the hinged bib is fragile and fish hitting the lure and also hitting the lure into rocks may cause the bib to break, but we cannot complain as the lure was not designed to be fished in the areas we are fishing such as over rocks and bolders where accidents will inevitably happen and the bib will break. It may be fragile and I may have a stack of broken gatarides in the lure box but its not going to stop me using them…..they’re just too good.

The Xorus patchinko (above in yellow) has also been taking a lot of fish (big bass) off the top….by far the most exciting way to catch bass. The trick to this lure is to get the head twitching from side to side, this can be achieved by raising the rod tip and twitching the patchinko back quickly if you’re doing it right it should come across the surface in a zig zag pattern. It can also be worked well be lowering the rod tip close to the water and moving the rod tip from side to side while retrieving which also achieves this zig zag pattern you want. I also like to make short stops/pauses when retrieving as fish may be following the lure and I have found that a sudden stop can sometimes induce a take (as is the case with alot of lures)….however with this lure they usually hit it before I have a chance to think about making a stop. Youtube yellow patchinko to see yourself just how effective this lure can be.



Bass Report 4/9/2010…

I had a couple of hour’s yesterday afternoon to head out for a quick session. At the moment the water is coloured along my usual marks which at times is a nightmare especially with the floating weed the recent easterly winds kindly dropped onto the copper coast. I went for a quick recce to the usual marks but could only find milky coloured water. A bit disheartened by the water clarity I decided to head to a mark I hadn’t fished for a couple of months where I thought the water might be clean. The only problem with this mark is that you don’t know how coloured the water is until you make the hike down to it. I arrived at the mark with high hopes of some clean water, but as soon as I arrived I could see that visibility must have only been 1 foot or 2 foot max…I was thinking to myself DISASTER!! I was very close to unclipping the lure and walking back to the car but I said Id have a few chucks….happy I did. Second or third cast I had a nice fish on the feed shallow, the areas I was fishing was full of bolders and snags a lure graveyard!! I decided Id try the feed shallow a lure which kept me away from the snags and which also leaves off a lot of vibration underwater with its great action,,, what I thought was needed to get the fishes attention in the murky water. Delighted with the fish I took a quick pic of the wee fella and slipped him back sure enough on the next cast had another fish, again on the feed shallow. Things went quiet for a while and just before heading home I hooked a decent fish when retrieving a tide minnow very slowly, this fish let me know he was on making long powerful runs on this occasion the fish won and I lost the fish when he decided to steam train off on his second run. No records were broken with the fish caught but I was delighted with the session and catching in conditions when I normally would have headed home.
Murky or coloured water has always put me off but again another lesson learned. The fish can certainly home in on your lure in murky conditions if you give them enough time to find it picking a lure with a lot of action i.e vibration which the fishes lateral lines will pick up straight away.

James.

Another one on the zonk.....

This is Paul with yet another cracking Waterford bass taken on the lure of the moment the zonk gataride. This fish came in around the 9lb mark. The bass at the minute seem to be in great condition gorging themselves on the abundant baitfish around the coast which seem to be everywhere at the moment.

We have had some outstanding fishing in the last week, however the next big tides will hopefully see the fishing step up that extra notch which will result in some great fishing if the weather holds.

James

New Author

Above is a picture of James Barry taken the other night ( when he beat me 3-2 ) not that we would be competing or anything like that ! It was a great nights fishing with 5 bass in total and loads of mackerel , James was even taking the mackerel on a Z-Claw .
James is also going to be writing on this blog and will be in the shop from time to time (when I am fishing) so do not be afraid to drop in and pick his brain about lure fishing or bait as he will blow your mind with the info and knowledge the guy has. He is slightly obsessed about bass fishing , so watch his eyes light up when you mention it to him.
Be prepared for correct spelling , correct use of the English language , and some great posts on here from James. From now on when either of us post we will finish with our name so all of you will know who has written the post ( I think ye will tell anyway) . James is going to be a great asset to this blog with a wealth of knowledge and experiences to share.

Cian

Man on a mission

Curled up in my nest this morning with no intention of getting up for at least another hour , when the phone rang . The phone was answered on the second ring to be met with the voice of the happiest man in Ireland , Pat Connolly . Soon as Pats name came up on my phone at that hour I knew it was good news as he had told me yesterday that he was heading out this morning. He was after landing a fish just over 10lb and better again he took him on a surface lure.Pat told me he was so happy with his fish that he was packing it in for the day and coming home, so we arranged to meet in the shop. Pat had taken the pictures on his phone and a video of the fish being released so he sent them on to me . So I must say I did not mind being woken up for that news , well done Pat another great fish and well deserved. The fish was taken on a Phospho Patchinko .

Anyfish Anywhere

The new range of Anyfish Anywhere lure fishing rods have just arrived in the shop and I have to say they look and feel amazing . You can tell by looking how well these rods have been made . Fast action rods that are just perfect for lure fishing and come in 7, 8 and 9ft to suit every ones taste and style . The rods also come in a travel version which are outstanding , there will be one going in my case from now on . Call in have a look and see what you think.

The man was catching one way or another

Well done Pat

Saturday morning I got a phone call from Pat Connolly to inform me of the 5 fish he was just after landing one after another on the megabass xlayer. It has to be said I was jealous , stuck at work wanting to be out fishing but such is life. Pat called in to the shop after his session for a cup of tea and to fill me in on his outstanding mornings fishing. Its great to hear about guys getting out there putting in the effort and finding fish . Plans were made to get back to where Pat was fishing for the evening tide or as soon as as could get out of work.

All set up and ready to go

Myself ,Paul, Pat and Alan met up at around half six and headed for the mark . It has to be said hopes were high. On the walk to the mark the conversation was fishing , tackle and fishing. We arrived at the mark and were to early we could not get to where we wanted to be the wind was after picking up the tide was bigger it was a case of sit down and wait for the tide to drop off another bit , something which I am not great at . It was hard sitting there with the idea in our heads that just across the channel there were fish waiting to be caught . Pat was really itching to get across even more so than the rest of us as he knew what was on the other side , at one point I thought after a few failed attempts at crossing he was going to swim . Luckily he didn't have to and we made it across after a short wait.

Weed Weed Weed

Imagine the disappointment after crossing to discover we were completely weeded out and the xlayer was covered in weed before it hit the bottom. Gutted we struggled on for a while casting , praying that the weed would push on . The weed never moved it was there for the night . Next thing I look to my right and Pat is stuck in to a fish . By the time I went up to him the fish had been released. The usual questions followed . Was he any size ? What did you get him on?. The reply was around 7lb on a Patchinko . My reply was ya right a surface lure , I did not even bring a surface lure with me to this mark , didn't even consider it . Pat did and it paid off fair play to him a quality fish in extremely difficult conditions , adapted to to conditions and caught a quality fish.
As I have said before I will never stop learning . Well done Pat and thanks for the photo Alan.