January Sale

We will be having our January Sale on the 4th and 5th, so make sure to call in as there will be some outstanding offers on all gear.

Christmas Opening Hours....

Dec 24th - 10.00 - 14.00

Dec25th Closed

Dec26th Closed

Dec 27th Closed

Dec 28th 10.00 - 17.00

Dec 29th 10.00 - 17.00

Dec 30th closed

Dec 31st 10.00 - 14.00

Jan 1st Closed


Jan 2nd 10.00 - 18.00

Then back to normal winter opening hours.

Merry Christmas.....

C&R

"Gamefish are too valuable to be caught only once"

Lee Wulff

November silver....

Some great sport still being had along the coast. 

Lure of the day see here

Winter Opening Hours...

Here are the winter opening hours:

Opening hours:

Monday - Friday      10.00 - 6.00

Saturday                    9.00 - 6.00

Sundays and Bank Holidays          CLOSED

The evenings are shorter and we might be waking up to frost however it is not all doom and gloom. This is the time the big bass show up along our coastline. We have got some great reports in over the past few days with some seriously tidy fish being landed.

Here is just one of those "big" fish. Kenny, Johnny and Steven were down from Northern Ireland and to be fair the weather didn't play ball for the majority of their trip however the wind swung into the SW on their last day and they made the most of it. Kenny landed this superb 11lb bass along the copper coast to make their long trip down worth while.

Here they come....

Well it that time of the year when the bigger fish start to make an appearance along our coastline, by far October November and through to December is when you will have your best chance of hooking that fish of a lifetime. So make sure not to put those rods away as some of the best lure fishing can be had over the next 3 months....

Here's Eric with a cracking fish he had today.

Bend it....

Some actions shots from a session we had a short while a go on the Copper Coast....

Here is hoping we can get some nice conditions over the next set of springs....

Doubles up...

Some exceptional reports have been coming into us here in the shop over the weekend. Here is just one of the big fish we have heard of, Ger had this 11lb yesterday morning. 

There are some quality fish being had along the Waterford coastline at the moment. Make sure to make the most of it!

Tight lines.....

A good trip...

Its always great to hear from visiting anglers that make the trip over for some bass fishing and get some great results.. 

Steve Richardson and co had a great trip with plenty of fish around the 5lb mark with the best fish of the trip running to 7.5lb with the added bonus of getting a lot of fish off the top. 

Here are some pictures Steve sent onto us...

Its almost like a switch has been turned with the coastline fishing very well with some excellent reports coming into us in the shop....

Quality fish....

Well the fishing is really firing at the moment, here are a couple of the better fish Eric Upton has caught in recent days.....

Long may it last....

Back to some normality?...

We can talk all day long about how the conditions have been against us this season with most of us having to make the most of those very small weather windows throughout the "Summer" to date. The copious amount of rainfall we have been getting has made things very difficult lowering the salinity of our inshore waters and thus pushing bait fish and most likely the bass out to deeper water.

However in the last few weeks things have finally started to return to some normality. Last weekend on some neap tides we had some nice bass coming to hard lures in estuaries and along rock marks. The usual fish holding marks are again starting to produce the quality fish we know they can and reports are coming in steadily to the shop of some quality fishing all along the coastline.

Here are some pics from a session we had on Saturday, fishing hard lures into some moving water the bass seemed to be passing us in phases...put your lure in the right place and eventually a fish would oblige.....

There was some nice fish caught during this short session (4-7lb), with some people picking out a few more than others. It always great to see your friends (who you introduced to bass fishing) hook some great fish., even if they do out fish you!!  

If you get the chance check out this great video Peter Aspinwall put together, some very impressive surface fishing in Clonakilty bay..... 

Conditions....

Well what can I say but this season has to be the worst conditions for lure fishing I have ever witnessed. If its not Northerly or Easterly it's blowing a gale from the direction we want Southerly. Then wind comes good conditions look good but water clarity is poor due to previous wind directions and strengths. Fresh water running off the land, pressure seems to be low and not hitting the usual summer highs.

Let me start by saying this is just my opinion and I could be wrong but I think that massive storm we had in June ( the worst weather recorded for something like 113 years for that time of year ) had a massive effect on the whole season. All of the early summer weed and kelp got uprooted and is still all over the shore and floating around. The bait fish were slow moving in and and water temps were slow rising.

Did that storm stop the usual progression of the summer routine on our coastal system? Yet again last week we get hit with massive winds from the south. The biggest surf I have ever seen here in tramore real winter weather. The water clarity is now poor again when winds are perfect and tides are good. When I talk about water clarity it does not have to be gin clear but it does have to have some bit of visibility. All of these factors have made things very difficult but saying all that fish are still being caught and a good stamp of fish too. Put in the hours, search for that better bit of water and you just might be rewarded. When conditions are coming good and clarity is ok we seem to be hitting our normal standard of fishing but as we have all witnessed getting those conditions this summer has not been regular to say the least.

September and October have always been my favourite months so lets hope it comes good and I am sure a few good sessions would make everyone forget the tough ones. Wind is staying in the south a bit more lets hope it stays that way.

So yes it's been difficult but yes fish are still being caught and some good ones too. Unfortunately we can do nothing about the weather but we will keep fishing that's for sure because who knows....

Irish Bass Festival....

Well where do I begin, what was just an idea myself and Cian came up with sat in Absolute Fishing just over a year a go finally came to fruition last weekend. Between websites, rulers, rules and schedules for the weekend we eventually got there. The main reason we decided to hold this festival was to give anglers from the UK and Ireland the chance to experience the quality bass fishing we have along the South East Coastline all packed into a fun weekend.  

Well it was an early start for us on Friday morning getting into the shop at 4.00am ready for registration to begin at 5am. There were some eager bass anglers waiting in the cars as we arrived, keen to sign in and begin their bass fishing for the weekend.

By Friday afternoon almost half of the 121 anglers who registered for the festival had collected their measures and I.D cards and were out on the rocks and estuaries around the south east coast. Conditions on Friday were bright sunshine and flat calm conditions....far from ideal, however moving water in estuaries etc. were where the fish were located and reports were soon coming into us in the shop of good numbers of fish been taken.

Saturday morning was another early start and we were greeted by two very tired anglers who appeared at the door of the shop still in their waders, Patrick and John had been out along the Copper Coast and had fished through the night they soon got the camera out and showed us a nice 77cm bass which Patrick had taken on the ebbing tide in darkness, a super fish which was going to be very hard to beat....

Saturday brought similar conditions as Friday, at this stage all anglers were signed up and on the loose on the coastline. Bright sunshine and calm conditions made things difficult for the guys who went out however a South Westerly wind began to build along with the hopes of all the anglers of some better conditions...

Once again the estuaries fished well during the calm conditions on Saturday. Come Saturday evening the SW wind had risen and text messages started to come through telling us that the rocks had started to produce some fish. At 11.30 on Saturday night I got a phone call with the news of a 80cm bass, a stunning fish again coming in darkness on the Copper Coast.

Sunday morning was a busy day in the shop with lots of angler who fished throught the night coming in to register their fish. Numerous 70+ cm bass being landed Saturday evening and again through the night and into Sunday morning. Come 2pm all fish were registered and signed off, result time was upon us...

In total ~250 bass were caught and released over the weekend. Granted conditions were tough with flat calm conditions, the guys who targeted estuaries by day and rock marks by night got their just rewards with some quality fish being landed.

Darragh McCarthy (Juvenile winner)

 Seamus Enright (Winner of best 3 combined- 199cm)

 Steve Richards (Winner of the Longest fish from a vising Angler)

Steve with his 72.5 cm fish.

Eric Upton managed a nice fish of 73cm on Sunday morning when conditions were at there best along the rocks with a very nice SW wind creating a nice fizz on the water which earned him 3rd place, with the 3rd longest fish of the weekend.

Patrick Morris (2nd longest fish of the weekend)

Here is a picture of Patrick with his stunning 77cm fish. 

And last but not least the winner of the Irish Bass Festival. 

Anthony Phealan had this stunning fish on Saturday night, it was 80cm in length and was well deserved winner of the Inaugural Irish Bass Festival. 

We want to thank our main sponsors TopWater Lures along with Costa Del Mar and UK Bass who supplied some fantastic prizes. We would also like to say thanks to the Grand Hotel who provided accommodation for the anglers and where the function was held on the Sunday night. And finally a big THANK YOU to all the anglers who took part in the festival who made our idea a reality.

We hope you had a great time and see you again next year.

Cian and James.

T minus 2 days...

Some nice reports coming into us here in the shop of some good fish being caught all along the Copper Coast in the last few days... 

I went out this morning and had this nice fish and dropped another of similar size at my feet, plenty of fish around so hopefully we will see some quality fish being caught over the weekend.

Conditions are looking good for the  festival this weekend.

 Excited?...Because we are.....

James & Cian

Festival reminder...

Just to let everyone know you have until July the 6th which is this Friday to get your entry fees in.

 http://absolutefishing.ie/Shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=47&products_id=545

 And here is a pic of the trophy the overall winner will be collecting on Sunday the 22nd....

Nice Fish...

Check out this beauty that was caught along the Copper Coast this morning. Conditions are finally starting to come right, after the freak weather we have been getting. 

Here is hoping conditions stay favourable and you never know a fish of this quality may well just hit your lure. 

Tight lines...

Savage Gear....

Ever want to put your lure somewhere you know you may be at risk of losing it? These new Savage Gear 4 play soft plastics will allow you to drop your lure into the roughest of ground and you wont have to worry about getting snagged up.

These soft plastics are gaining a lot of popularity and it easy to see why, check out the video...

The video above shows the amazing action of these lures when they are fitted to the specially designed lip skull see here. However you can fish these weedless with the specially designed weedless 4play hooks see here

Working these lures through rough shallow ground in and out of gullies will help find the fish.

Savage Gear Soft 4Play Loose Body 

With Bass Festival news we are in the final stages of getting everything organised and have been blown away by the amount of interest and entries to date. Please note that all entries must be in to us 2 weeks in advance by Friday 6th of July. 

Tight lines,

James. 

A big thank you...

A massive thank you to all of our customers and followers of the blog. We are open two years today and it is only with the support of all of our customers that this is possible. We have met so many great people through the shop and made lots of new friends.

So thank you all so much for all of your support, it has been a great two years.

To celebrate we will be giving out a free double sided lure box with every purchase over €10 today. (while stocks last) see here 

Specials...

We will be running weekly specials again from next week, and to start it off with have put over 40 products on special for you to get started.... 

see here

We have started to get a lot of products back up onto the online shop in the last couple of weeks, with more and more stock due to arrive, so keep an eye on the new products.

On the fishing front the countdown is well and truly underway for the 15th of June, in the mean time we have been having plenty of fun with Smoothound and wrasse with some excellent fishing being had when conditions play ball.

IRISH BASS FESTIVAL ITINERARY

We have put together this itinerary to ensure everything goes smoothly over the weekend and you know where you are supposed to be at all times. We have included information of things to do (apart from fishing) in the Tramore area.

You will find all the information you need with regards times of check in/ registration and social events which will be running over the weekend.

___________________________________________________________________________

Thursday 19th of July
Morning:

Registration from 9am on at Absolute Fishing until 7pm.
Receive your entry pack but you will not receive your official measure until Friday morning.
Anyone who is staying in the Grand Hotel can check in from 2pm.

Evening:

Briefing in Grand Hotel at 8.30pm
Live music with Seattle from 9.30pm.
*Anyone staying in Grand Hotel who is getting up too early to get breakfast can order a packed lunch from reception. This must be done before 8pm.

Friday 20th of July
Morning:

Festival Starts.
You can register all day from 5am at Absolute Fishing until 6pm and collect your welcome/information pack with official measure and I.D card.
If you have been in on Thursday to register you still have to come to Absolute Fishing on Friday to collect your measure and I.D from 5am on.

Once you have your official festival measure and I.D card you can begin fishing.

Now go fishing!!!

Evening:
Live music in Grand Hotel on Friday night at 10pm is Pablo Duo.
*Again anyone staying in Grand Hotel who is getting up too early to get breakfast can order a packed lunch from reception. This must be done before 8pm.

Saturday 21st of July

Morning:
Registration is still open in Absolute Fishing for those of you who can only fish Saturday and Sunday. You can register from 5am.

Everyone else can keep fishing….

Evening:
Live music (from Lebowski) in Grand Hotel at 11.30 till late…                                                                                                               
*Again don’t forget to pre-order packed lunch if leaving hotel early

Sunday 22nd of July
Morning:

Keep fishing!!

Afternoon:

All anglers who are entering fish MUST be back in Absolute Fishing by 2pm, we will not be accepting entries from anyone after 2pm. Your entry will be counted once you are on the premises of absolute fishing by 2pm.

Evening:

Prize Giving in the River Room at the Grand Hotel at 7pm followed by the after party.
Finger food and live music with The Jam Tarts. (Bring the family and friends)

Party and fishy tails from the weekend to go on until the early hours…..

___________________________________________________________________________

SAFETY

Fishing over the Festival weekend is at your own risk. We will take measures to mitigate risk, but ultimately involvement is as at the risk of the individual.

PLEASE NOTE THERE IS A LACK OF MOBILE SIGNAL AT THE MAJORITY OF MARKS YOU WILL FISH OVER THE WEEKEND.

BEWARE OF RISING TIDES, NOTE HIGH WATER MARK SO YOU DON’T GET CUT OFF

IT IS ADVISED TO FISH IN PAIRS.

HOW TO FIND US

Absolute Fishing is located in Riverstown Business Park in Tramore.

Full address: Unit B Site 2, Riverstown Business Park, Tramore, Co.Waterford.

Google maps/ Sat nav’s etc for directions.

If in doubt just give us a call on 00353 51-393559

When approaching Tramore on Waterford road, take the first exit at the roundabout, follow this road through 3 roundabouts and take right hand turn into Riverstown Business Park. Absolute Fishing is located on right.  

ENTERING YOUR FISH

We encourage anglers to enter fish on the Saturday if you are in the area, if not all fish must be entered by 2pm on Sunday at Absolute Fishing. We will not be accepting entries from anyone after 2pm. Examples will be given on entry of how best to take a picture of the fish you catch.

MARKS TO FISH
The marks to fish are endless, terrain and ground to dream about. You will be supplied with maps courtesy of the Fisheries Board which will give you an indication of the best marks to fish over the weekend. If anyone has any particular worries with regards access or terrain at a venue please let us know and we will point you in the right direction.  

WHAT YOU NEED

- A 1m+ measure. You will receive your official measure when you register for the festival at Absolute Fishing.

- A digital camera. A phone camera will do just fine, but ideally all entrants will carry a digital camera with removable memory card or have a lead to connect to our computer. This will ensure good quality photographic proof and enable us to quickly and easily verify fish measurements.

- Your ID card. This must be carried with you at all times and must be clearly visible in all fish photos. You will be provided with your ID cards when signing in at the beginning of the festival.

TIDES (am/pm - tide height)

Friday 20^th : 7.07am-3.9, 13.25pm-0.6, 19.25pm-4.0

Saturday 21^st: 1.46am-0.6, 7.42am-3.9, 14.01pm- 0.5, 20.00pm-4.0

Sunday 22^nd: 2.23am- 0.6, 8.18am-3.9, 14.40pm-0.5, 20.37pm-4.0

SPONSORS

TopWater Lures

PRIZES

__________________________

1^st: Overall winner: Longest fish (Wins Irish bass festival trophy)

2^nd: Overall second longest fish over the weekend

3^rd: Overall third longest fish over the weekend

__________________________

Other prizes

Longest fish (visiting angler, outside of Ireland)

Best combined length (Best 3 fish combined)

Juvenile angler (Longest fish)

Raffle (spot prizes)

THINGS TO DO IN TRAMORE

Every possible leisure activity is catered for in the Town itself, or in the surrounding areas. Outdoor activities include several adventure and water based activities along with plenty of indoor pursuits for kids and adults.

Tramore is also close to many popular attractions such as the amazing Waterford Crystal Visitor’s Centre and factory tour, and the Museum of Treasures located at the Granary Visitor’s building on the Quay above the tourist information office.

Trmaore is regarded as one of the top surfing and outdoor adventure spots in Ireland with three world class surfing schools located on the beach.

Tramore’s Golf course is well regarded internationally, and other excellent Golf courses such as Waterford Castle and Faithleg are only a short drive away.

Tennis, Pitch and Putt and Horse Riding are available in or near Tramore, and the nearby Comeragh Mountains are ideal for hiking.

Please visit the Tramore tourism website (www.tramore.ie) for more details on things to do in Tramore

Something to think about...

As the bass ban arrives its gives us a great chance to get out and try for some of the other great sport fish we have around our coastline this time of the year. The Smooth hounds are starting to make an appearance along the Wicklow and Wexford coast (there is a target for the soft plastic fanatics). And we always have the mighty pollack to keep us entertained during the month off. However one species I am most looking forward to having a proper go at is the wrasse. Plain and simple soft plastic fishing for wrasse is a lot of fun. In my very limited experience (too busy chasing bass) I have found wrasse take about any soft plastic you land on his nose. The fight is excellent they will try their very best to run you straight to ground...so tighten up that drag. For info on plastics and rigging drop into the shop and we can show you what has worked for us.

The bass festival is just around the corner, so if you are thinking of signing up just give us a call on 00353 51-393559. Looking for some encouragement well then check out Henry's new photo gallery of his recent trip over to the Waterford Coast.

A full itinerary of events over the bass festival weekend will be online shortly here. Entry numbers to date are fantastic and it is shaping up to be a great weekend....

We are also back OPEN ON SUNDAYS the usual time from 10am-3pm.

Tight lines,

James.

Things starting to look up....

on the Copper coast...

We are closed this Sunday (gone fishing) but we are open on Monday form 10-3.

Have a good bank holiday weekend. 

Lure Colour...

With these non-stop northerly winds, at a time when we should all be out catching fish instead of lighting fires to keep warm or putting more oil in our tanks , when we thought there was no way we would need more this year! My mind starts to think about all the aspects of my fishing, and one thing that keeps coming up in conversations and running around in my head is lure colour.

Just how important is lure colour ?

This for me anyway is a never ending question, with no definitive answer. So many times while out fishing with friends I have seen fish taken on all different colours and go away thinking it’s all about action, profile, retrieve etc. and there are sessions when one colour just does the business when nothing else…..

For me I try to use what I think works best in with conditions or the area I am fishing. For example trying to give them something they can see in coloured water, whites or something with a good flash of silver. Then in clean water I try and use the more neutral colours and again silver. Match the hatch, try and put something out there that's looks like the bait fish that are in the water…so be observant don’t just chuck your lure out and aimlessly crank it back in.  

When all is said and done what does a bass really see, sometimes fish hit the craziest coloured lures. Another thing that happens a lot to me is, I will get a new lure go out catch a fish on it and then that's my favourite colour in that lure but I have not tried any other colour in that lure nor am I that bothered about trying another colour because (and this to me is key ) I have CONFIDENCE in what I have used before. Confidence in what you are using is a massive part of it. It can make all the difference.

We stock colours and lures in the shop that I do not use but I have customers who swear by certain colours and certain lures and also catch well on them, so there is no right or wrong it's all down what you have confidence in.

So my conclusion is that yes colour can make all the difference and I have seen it proven over and over again. The hard part is making the choice of what colour to use in what situation. Yes there will be certain colours out there that are always going to be great fish catchers and these are a few that have done well for us.

"Cruising Blue"

                                                                          

"Hama Shirasu"

"Cotton Candy"

Others well we will keep experimenting with, but I think lure colour will still be something I will be talking about when I am an old man….

Cian 

Costa Del Mar....

We are delighted to announce that we are now stocking Costa Del Mar sunglasses and accessories. Available through the online shop here you will be able to see the most popular frames and lens, however if you wish to mix and match just let us know as we will be able to get you whatever you want. 

The visibility you get with these super lens is unrivaled. When it comes to polarized glasses these are the best you can get. I can still remember putting on my first pair of Costas and arriving at one of my favourite rock marks and noticing features such as gullies and drops off that I had never noticed before. They simply opened up a whole new world and now I cant be without them . There comfort is also outstanding with an excellent fit for heads of all shapes and sizes. 

If you get a chance drop in to the shop and try some out for yourself....you wont be disappointed. 

You can read Henry Gilbey's thoughts on Costas here

"See what's out there...."

For more info on lens choice check out this link here

And for more information on individual frames see the descriptions here 

Tight lines...

How do you approach a rock mark?

These are just a few thoughts that will hopefully help a few people.

This is all stuff that is learnt over time, and believe me lots of blanks contributed to the learning. As time goes on I am starting to figure out marks a little quicker through learning from my previous experiences.

With rock marks the first thing I try and do is get a look at the mark at low water and take a picture. This is hard to explain but I try and pick out the places where I think bass would move through or the spots where bass would lie up waiting to ambush. These places are the gullies , points , places with kelp and cover, boulders and basically all the spots where I think a bass might be moving through or where they can ambush their prey.

The next step for me would be to fish the spot on a rising tide ( right up to high water ). Now of course conditions need to be right , for us here that would be south or south westerly moderate wind. Also I would first try and approach a new mark on a decent tide 3.8 upwards. The next is water clarity , a few years ago I would have said water would have had to be extremely clean but these days I don't mind fishing murky water at all ( but filthy water makes things difficult ).

Yes this is a lot to ask to get all of these conditions at the same time. I also fish in all conditions and catch but when checking out a new mark I try to maximise my chances.

Now I fish the mark on the rise, remembering all those features I spotted at low water and targeting these areas with a few lures which I have confidence in and are proven fish catchers. Hopefully things go well and it produces , if not I will go back and repeat the whole process on a dropping tide. Sometimes this works sometimes it does not and if I still have a good feeling and I think this is a spot that has to hold fish I will keep trying and hopefully figure it out.

In my experience most rock marks have a certain hour when it kicks off ( the hour of power ) and finding this hour can be gold because it means in the future you are maximising your fishing time and arriving at marks for the prime time. We have noticed it so much that bass are creatures of habit and quite often you will catch fish next to the same rock or in the same gully at the same state of tide over and over again.

Another few things to look for are

1. Access

2. Where can I land a fish safely

3. Am I going to get cut off by the tide

4. Do I have phone reception. If not let someone know where you are going. ( of course someone who will keep your mark top secret )

Hopefully this helps someone... or does it just show how obsessed I am with fishing.

Cian.

Its like a switch has been turned on....

Over the last two weeks it is like a switch has been turned on, and the bass are here and hitting lures. It has been an exceptional winter as regards the mild weather we got and all through the winter bass were getting caught on bait. But it seems now with that quick jump in water temperature that they are a lot more active and willing to chase our lures in the shallows. The shallow water marks are where the fish are at the moment and its just a guess but it is most likely because of the week of sunshine we had, the shallow waters just that little bit warmer. Aim for these areas as they warm up a lot quicker than the deeper water marks and this is where the fish will be.

The usual lures are doing the business Komomo SF-125, Komomo 2 , weedless plastics and various other shallow runners. It has to be said after going through the winter and itching to get out lure fishing it is hard to be sitting here in the shop when your friends keep sending you through pictures of the fish they are catching.It amazes me that on the weakest tide of the month with the wind in the North East, bass are being caught on lures. Those conditions are normally the time when I would not even consider going fishing , but yet still at the moment fish are being caught . It just shows that we will never completely figure out the movements of these wonderful fish, and I suppose that's the great thing about it. This type of fishing will keep challenging you and making you think about your fishing .You have to love it!!

Lets hope the fishing keeps picking up and we get the weather we are looking for.....