Teasing & Rubber.

I've just been having a bit of a tidy-up in all the boxes and bags Ive accumulated over the years & found a bunch of Sbirolinos and a few flies.
Although I have caught before on Sbirolinos before, I haven't used them that much, but as the fishing might be hard going next trip (Holland where the fishing has been a bit tough recently as far as I can tell) I may well give them another go.

Something else I have neglected, is using flys as teasers with both hard and soft baits (again something I intend to try in Holland if the fish are few and far between).

I will be taking a bunch of softs with me as they fish very well there (just picked up this nifty Illex bag for the softs).

Also new is the Lucky Craft ESGII 3.0g - 30g, 8'7" I recently bought (model code is 871XHXXF). The rod looks great & I cant wait to give it a go. Sorry if the pictures are a bit iffy.

Anyway keep an eye on the blog for more stuff soon!

Oh and happy fishing to all..................!

A half day on Chesil.

After a bit of confusion as to conditions & meeting up with Steve (sorry about that Steve), I ended up popping down to Dorset for a half day yesterday. Mark was guiding for Dave and I caught up with them for a brief Chesil session.
True to form the perfect morning conditions changed on my arrival & the wind turned which pretty much killed the swell we so badly needed.Dave has only recently taken up lure fishing, so needless to say he was happy catching a few fish despite the going being tough,

A happy Dave with his first Chesil Bass.

The X-Rap in Ayu was the lure Dave was catching on (bait fish were abundant but the bigger bass didnt show up as we had hoped).

Greedy bait fish.

I managed a couple too.

Its was also great to see how close the bass will come in to get an easy meal - the fish in the above picture was caught in water that just covered its back (bold fish indeed!!).

Walking Chesil can break a man!

With the conditions looking average for the next day I decided to make the long haul back (I had intended to stay overnight if the fishing was really good).

I hope to get another trip out (possibly to the Gower) in the next few days in the search for a bigger fish or two........

Tight lines!

A Few Days West.

Just arrived back from a few days family holiday in Pembrokeshire, (with a spot of fishing of course), as usual conditions were not that good, but a few fish were caught and a great time was had & that is what counts so all in all it was a great week.

First trip out I met up with Simon & Jeff Clapham who both fish the local area alot, as well as Rhod who is gradually getting infected with the bass plugging bug. Conditions seemed reasonable other than a grayish water (a colour I don't like at all for plugging), the four of us gave it several hours and managed to blank on a mark that had been producing fish in numbers the previous week.

Not too bad but no fish showed.

The following morning I tried the same mark with Rhod with the same result (although the water colour was better). Next day I tried a different mark for a couple of hours and the fish finally showed and I managed 5 fish to 47cm, which was a confidence boost after the previous two days (needless to say).

This schoolie took a Feed Shallow.

No great size but great fun!

Now knowing where the fish were to be found, I set out to the same mark the next day with Hywell, Simon & Jeff (who I had told about this mark before but they had never fished). We knew it would be a short session as you only get about 2 hours before the tide pushes you off the rocks. The fishing was good again - Hywell caught schoolie as I did (at 38cm) - Simon managed a 47cm and a 58cm fish (so we were quite happy).

A dirty car helped as mobile coverage was very patchy ;)

Simon & schoolie.

Plenty of laughs were had.

Jeff with a fine rock caught bass.

Hywell & Jeff outside the mystery machine!

Next day I met up with Steve "hound Dog" Payne & Mark (Tide Dale), and we decided to fish a reef mark but conditions were way too calm and clear and I was blessed with yet another blank!

Way too calm & clear (but pretty).

Early next morning I winkled a small fish out from the edge of a surf beach with a topper (thanks to the advice of a nine year old kid I had seen fishing the surf the previous evening lol).
Not to be beaten I headed to a low water mark the low tide to find the clearest water I have ever seen in Wales so I wasn't hopeful. A Z-Claw fished slowly over the kelp managed to draw the fish out, and I ended up catching 4 fish to 49cm!

Beautifully coloured rock caught bass.

The Z-Claw did the trick in gin clear water.

Following a family day out (with a quick evening session which produced a schoolie), I headed to the mark we had been blanking on to find Simon there kitting up for a skishing session (find out more about skishing at http://www.jerseybassguides.com/ )........ I must admit its the first time I have ever seen someone pouring anti-freeze down by the wedding tackle to get a wet-suit on (much to my amusement). I blanked from the rocks for an hour or so and left but Simon managed 4 fish!

A surprise meet!

Simon covering the outer reef.

Oi get out of my way diver boy!

Fish on (?)

Who's catching who?

True to form the last days weather was awful and the marks that had been clear were very dirty & 2 schoolies were all I managed (the only 2 casts that I didnt have a lure covered in weed!).

Also found a gill net while there (very professionally laid out on the point between Broad Haven and Settlands Bay - I was under the impression that both ends of a net must be clearly marked with name address and telephone number (this one wasn't), fortunately for the netter I didn't have a knife with me (or I would have cut his anchoring rope).

A well laid gill net.

This net must have been 100 yards+ !

To sum up, I had about 14 or 15 fish in 7 sessions (although some of the trips were quite short). Had a great time (well the fishing could have been better but it was a family holiday so I probably got the balance about right.

Looking ahead to next week I hope to fish the Gower coast with Jeff & maybe get a quick trip in to Dorset (time permitting), so keep an eye on this space.....

Thanks for reading and tight lines to all.

5 x 1(lb)

It was up early this morning (02.30!), as I had decided to travel west in the pursuit of a Welsh bass, the two hour drive was easy at that time so the anticipation was high by the time I arrived. The moment I got out of the car it started to pour (as it does) and by the time I was kitted up the rain was pretty much horizontal (luckily enough the wind was behind me but boy did I get wet).
Conditions were actually pretty good (perfect clarity & overcast), but the sea was a bit flat & could have done with a bit more fizz.
On with an Ima Sasuke (Sand Bora), and second cast was a schoolie of I guess about a pound - next cast another - and another (all small fish).
Changing lures to a Feed Shallow Mullet#11, I was hoping for something bigger but second cast with the FS gave another schoolie.
The next 3 hours were quiet other than the rain drumming on my back, and after a 5th and final schoolie I decided that it was time to start the long haul home.


Not big but a Bass!

Of course catching bass is always a buzz, but I had mixed feelings about the day (|I cant help feeling I should have caught more perhaps or tried something different while it was quiet).
I will be heading West on Friday for a week, and I hope to post again while I'm there if I can get some Internet access (looking forward to meeting a few of the guys while I'm down too!)

Thanks for reading..................

Gone Fishing!

Gone Fishing.

Reports to follow soon.