Megabass Flutta Bait...

This is a lure that I have had in my box for a while and have caught on. Using it over clean ground with fast moving current , sinking and drawing it as the tide carried it from left to right . This method works well for this lure and I put my hand up and say this is probably the only situation and method that I would have used this lure for ( not anymore ). After getting a demo on this lure in France last weekend it is going to move up into a lure that I will turn to far more often . It is amazing on a straight retrieve with a few twitches and if the area allows ( depth of water ) stop and pause for a few seconds a few times through the retrieve . It is one of many lures that really impressed me over the weekend . It weighs 35g so you are certainly going to cover plenty of ground and when the wind is up you are going to have no problem pumping it out. One situation that I can not wait to give it a go is off the rocks with a big surf coming in as it will certainly stay down and stable. Some of the best lures on the market can not handle these situations but as you know we get lots of rough weather and wind, finding another lure to have in my box that is going to work well in this situation gives me another advantage (I can not wait to get out with some lures).

More reports on lures seen in Nantes to come during the week.

Cian.

Nantes

Firstly I would like to thank everyone who reads the blog . While I was away over the weekend in France the blog reached over twenty thousand hits since we started. It is amazing how many people are reading the blog and both I and James love doing it . So thank you to everyone .






The picture above is of me Paul Burns ( my fishing buddy and tackle junkie) , Yannick ( the owner of ultimate fishing ) and Mick Ward (my good friend and ultimate fishing agent ).

Myself Yannick and Mick.

The lure forum gang having a meal on the Saturday night . What a great group of guys and passionate lure anglers . It was a pleasure to spend the weekend which such a nice group of lads . It was great to spend time with these lads and find out what techniques they are using and what lures are working for them .( also just to have a good laugh in good company).

One of the lure tanks at the show where lures are demonstrated . It is brilliant to see lures being worked at close range. What action needs to be put into these lures , what speed to retrieve and so on . But most important to look at new shiny stuff swim by .

If you are a lure fishing nut I would highly recommend making the trip over to this show . To be honest my mind still has not caught up with the amount of information I took in over the weekend . Hopefully I will settle down and be able to right about what I learnt over the weekend but at the moment my head is buzzing with info .

Above are two of the product designers from DUO . Both of these guys had great English and were more than willing to share information . To be honest they blew my mind . We went to the lure tank where they did demos of some new lures and some which I have been using for years . There is no right and wrong but I have been shown some very effective ways to use these lures that I would have never come up with on my own in a lifetime of using them . Later in the week I will get some pics of lures up and explain as best I can what was shown to me and what way these lures were intended to be used by the guys that designed them .

Cheers,

Cian.

That time of the year again....

As winter slowly starts to slip away and with those nice spring days hopefully just around the corner, I cant help but get sea trout off my mind.

Sea trout run the majority of Irish rivers to spawn from October-December then as spent fish fall back out to sea to feed and condition themselves at sea before returning to their rivers for their next spawning period. So sea trout are hungry predators gorging in the sea surely they will be easy to catch....think again, catching/chasing sea trout on lures, is to say the least challenging and sometimes quite frustrating (but can become an obsession very quickly), but well worth it when that bar of silver slides onto the beach.

These silver bullets are a great sport fish which will do everything they can to shake the hook and they have quite a nack of doing just that. It is also hard to get good hookups as sea trout have very soft mouths while at sea. Small trebles are a must when fishing sea trout if you want a good hook hold.

The key to locating sea trout is to find an area where you think they may be feeding, estuaries, lagoons etc. Visit these marks at various stages of the tide and if there are sea trout present they will show you wont miss them as they jump clear out of the water on a regular basis some say this is to knock off irritating sea lice they may have picked up at sea.

So once you have located the sea trout or know of particular marks where they are present there are a couple of lures I wouldnt be without. As most areas where sea trout hold have a flow of current I like to knock small jigs through the current such as duo press bait fusion and kamuy, p boys and nabura dekas etc. This method can be lethal for trout covering a lot of ground quickly fluterring baits just above the bottom where sea trout sit in wait for passing food.

There are also areas like back eddies (slack water) where small lures like the Zonk 77 and Grace minnow can be very effective lures for catching out sea trout feeding in these areas.

The sea trout are predominantly feeding on small sandeels and small fish therefore these lures seem to work well. Match the hatch!!!

Zonk 77

Grace minnow

Press bait fusion

Press bait Kamuy

Nabura deka

*Important Note*

If you intend to fish for sea trout you will need a licence. You can purchase your licence here

Nantes 2011

At the moment Cian is away in Nantes at the superb fishing show see here for some words from Henry Gilbey about the show. Cian will write up a full report of all new findings (lures/rods/techniques) from his visit over to France sometime next week.

Tight lines,

James.

Sakura Shinjin....

The new sakura shinjins have just arrived and boy are they impressive pieces of kit. Since I heard the sakura rookie range was being discontinued I was eagerly awaiting the arrival of the new sakura shinjin which take the place of the rookie in sakuras range. The shinjins are extremely light and very well balanced. The shinjins also have new fuji K anti tangle rings to avaoid looping of braid around the rings.

Sakura have really done it again producing a superb lure rod that is sensitive, light, very well balanced but also extremely powerful for a great price.

We currently have the long range series in stock which include;

SIS 702 LR-M 10-35g

SIS 782 LR-M 10-35g

These two rods are great all round fast responsive rods with stacks of power in reserve when needed. They are suitable for fishing both hard and soft baits (Fuji K guides).

SIS 862 LR-MH 15-50g

This rod has a lot of power. When the sea is alive and really pounding in this is the rod to deal with such conditions, built for long range casting and also having all the power you will ever need in a lure rod when fighting fish in big swells. Also fitted with the excellent Fuji K guides for tangle free casting.

For more information on these rods give us a ring in the shop or call in for a look yourself.

Tight lines,

James.

It has only begun

Lure fishing is only getting started.

It amazes me how quickly lure fishing has taken off in the UK and Ireland . It is a great way to fish , light tackle , moving around and finding fish . Tempting a wild fish to hit a lure is something else and highly addictive . What really gets me is that I think we are only scratching the surface of the possibilities , there are so many techniques and variations- the mind boggles . Lots of guys are adapting their lure fishing to target different species, not just bass . One that really gets me is what James did last week in Cork and that is taking decent cod on Sp's, on light gear - he was using a 2500 size daiwa and a 7ft rod . If you told me a few years back you were going cod fishing with that kind of set up I would had a pain in my side from laughing . Lrf is also taking off in the winter months , guys going ultra light to fish for an array of different species , cod , coalie , pouting, pollack and so on . A conversation today with Henry Gilbey really sent me off thinking , we were talking about Lrf and he said after talking with some guys who are really in to it that the technique used and learned will work extremely well for bass . Another technique or skill could mean the difference between catching or not .

Lure fishing is moving so quickly and we are all being flooded with information . The Japanese are at the top of there game when it comes to lure fishing with company's like Megabass and Ima constantly developing new products . Whats happening now is they are developing more and more products to suit our type of fishing in Europe , which is great for us . Yes you can get very technical with your lure fishing but do not let that put you off , that can come in time . First of all get yourself a couple of decent lures and get out there and find some fish . You could have all the gear and be chucking your lure a mile away from the nearest fish . Bass are predators and if they are hungry and you put a decent lure in front of them they will most likely have it. Get to know your marks and when they fish , what state of tide , wind direction and so on and you are more than half way there . Take your lures to a place where you can have a good look at them coming through the water and try to put different actions into them see what way the lure likes to be worked , fast or slow retrieve , twitch or not , pause , suspend . Also have a look on you tube you will find a demo video of most lures .

Tackle

Tackle has come along way in the last few years and no you do not have to have a red rod and a five hundred euro reel to get started. Yes there are some amazing bits of kit available and yes some can be amazing to fish with but there are so many options now of reasonably priced kit that has been designed for our lure fishing . The quality of some of the rods and reels available now is outstanding , Daiwa , Sakura ,Shimano, Savage gear and many more have some outstanding affordable kit out making it easier for everyone to get out and give it a go . The thought that you need a € 1000 euro to get a decent set up is far from the truth .

Any one looking to get started and they want to pick my brain call in to the shop send me an email or call the shop , you can get all the contact details at the top of the page .

Hopefully the season ahead will be as good as the last .

Tight lines,

Cian.