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.

New Mark

Fished a new mark last night .
Myself and Paul were kindly brought to a new mark last night by James Barry. Yesterday when James told me about this mark he had my full attention . James is an outstanding angler who gets out there and finds marks all over the coast fishes them at every stage of the tide and finds out if they are gonna fish or not ( a bass nut ). James has worked out that the mark fishes at the top of the tide but we could not wait to see it so we went out at the start of the rise to have a look and of course a few casts . Top of the tide was too late for us last night with work this morning . When we arrived we knew that we were in bass country reef, gully's and drop offs everywhere . We started fishing and after 10 min I had a fish have a go at my yellow Patchinko but no hook up. The same thing happened to James two seconds later and then it was Paul's turn but he did hook up and landed a nice fish of around 5 lb again on the yellow Patchinko. After that the tide pushed us off where we were fishing and it was a case of waiting for the tide to fill before we could get at the fish again . It was getting dark and a bit dodgy for wading around rocks on a mark you have never fished before under the cover of darkness. Cant wait to get back to the mark over the next few weeks at the top of the tide and give it a good go.

Finding Marks
We are so lucky with the amount of marks we have on our doorstep around here , it is never ending and enough marks for us to keep fishing new marks every year. It is just a matter of putting in the effort getting out there walking around spotting places that look good. Look for shallow rocky ground with drop offs and gully's. Put in the effort fish them at different stages of the tide and find out if they are gonna produce. The weather obviously will play a big part so fish them in conditions that produce on other marks for you. Its all part of the fun finding your own mark and catching fish on it , that's an achievement .

Big Tides

Big tides this week with plenty of fish around but I think next week will fish even better .

Over the last few years lure fishing I am noticing that the big tides are good but the following week as tides are dropping back down to 3.9 , 3.8, 3.7 are out fishing the bigger tides. So you can be sure that I will be out this week to try and get a few. This is only my opinion based on marks that I fish I am sure there are plenty of people out there with marks that fish better on the big tides.

Xlayers and yellow Patchinkos did the business

Managed to make it out on Thursday for a while with Paul and Keith from the Isle Of Man , now I did not expect much with the northerly wind over the last few days but we said we would give it a go. Off to an estuary with xlayers rigged up and ready to go . Soon as we got to the mark Paul had a fish first cast as you can imagine the excitement levels rose . Paul hooked up again 3 or 4 cast later and still not a touch for me and keith. The water was moving so fast with 7g heads we could not reach the bottom but clever Paul was using 14g heads so obviously me and keith switched over to the heavier weight . What follwed for the next hour and a half was some of the most exciting fun fishing that can be had . Sixteen fish were landed in total and many more dropped. After that we decided to give a rock mark a go for and hour on the start of the push , I was the first to hook up on the yellow Patchinko with a nice fish of around 5lb . Then keith had one just over four on the IMA Popkey . Of course Paul would not be out done and landed 2 fish on the yellow Patchinko . A great day out and glad I made the effort even with the northerly breeze.

All fish were released .

Last minute sessions are always the best

Last Minute

Myself Paul and lets call him K-Ten man( as he does not want his name mentioned for embarrassing reasons ) decided to head out last night at the last minute and how glad we were. We arrived at the mark at around 19.45 to be met by a group of turns picking sandeel off the surface. It was the start of the rise so there was very little water at the mark so surface lures were the order of the day. The yellow Patchinko was my first choice and third cast with a big splash I was on , heart pumping after such an aggressive attack I got the fish in a nice fish around 4lb out with the hooks and straight back . Next chuck a big boil behind the lure and another big splash to follow but the fish missed the lure , that didn't stop him though back he came again and devoured my lure a fish of about 5lb my biggest of the night . After that I had another 4 fish all between 2lb and 4lb over an hour or so . While all this was happening I was looking over at Paul across the rocks from me smashing fish as well also on the yellow Patchinko.Paul had five fish his biggest 7.5lb . It was just quality fun , as I have said before surface lure fishing is so exciting it really gets me going .

Cut Short

Now we get to K-Ten man , he was not having a great night at the start which just happens many a night everyone around me is smashing fish and I cant hook up and then bang he smashed a fish on his favorite lure you guessed it the K-TEN . The fish was landed a nice fish again around the 4lb mark. It was the unhooking where the problem arose . As K-Ten man was unhooking his fish it was still full of beans thrashing around and shaking its head and then a treble in the finger while the fish is still on the other treble jumping around . We got the fish off and released and jumped off the rock we were on to the shore to have a look at the damage done. We considered our options cut the hook and push it through rip it out . We decided on cutting the hook , this did not go so well as the pliers would not go through the hook and all we did was cause more discomfort . So K-Ten man decided to try rip it out approach this to failed as he yanked on the treble it did not budge .So the decision was made off to the hospital K-Ten attached. After a five and a half hour wait the hook was cut out of the finger and home for four in the morn. The main thing is K-Ten man is ok , the fish will still be there tonight so its back out again if I can stay awake .

Ouch !!!