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.

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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…..

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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

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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

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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.....