Some nice bass fluff.

I have just received these beautiful bass flies from good mate & fishing buddy Alex  Jordan, they really are pretty things (almost a crime to fish these behind a Sbirolino!).

Alex & schoolie.

Who knows - might take these along on ,my next trip & actually catch something for a change! (just thought I would share as they really are nice on the eyes).

Thanks Alex!

Happy Fishing!

The Holland blank report.

We knew the fishing was poor in Holland at the moment, but were hopeful of at least a fish or two - we were to be dissapointed.........

On arrival we checked in at our somewhat eccentric hotel and headed straight out with high hopes.

After a couple of hours we decided to head off for "breakfast" and had some great bacon and mushroom pancakes in a windmill (as one does in Holland)

Back on the water we fished a spot with a very strong current and chatted to another fisherman who confirmed that the fishing was awaful at the moment (the previous week had been fantastic and he had taken fish to 72cm!). The water did look good so we put some effort in, but nothing showed).

Next day we decided to meet with Rob Staigis who was running a bass workshop for a couple of clients while we were there (Rob had already been out on a boat - they struggled for a couple of very small schoolies).

We met up at Bass Hengelsport - a really cool shop dedicated to lure fishing for bass (they have a massive selection of softs - every colour and type you can imagine). The owner (aptly names Bas), really knows his local stuff & showed us some underwater video of large numbers of bass holding on local structure which was interesting). Bass Hengelsport is well worth a visit if you are in the area.

Off we went again - cast after cast produced nothing (we fished well on into the evening)

That evening we decided that we would leave early the next day and cut the trip short (sometimes you just know when you have been beaten).
We did have alot of fun (as soon as the boys got back to the UK they went straight out and Mark managed a couple of fish - typical!)...........

Stop Press......
Just received a message from Mark - hes out this morning.......10 fish to 76cm! (what a difference a day & 400 miles can make lol). Not jealous at all (cough cough).

Gone Fishing.

Gone Fishing!

Back Soon.

Sad Picture....

Thought I would just post this picture of a large dead bass we found earlier this year as it is quite unusual to find dead bass (I put the rod there for comparison - easy to tell this was a large old girl).

Im glad to say the above is not see something you often see............it is actually the first large bass I've found dead (hopefully the last too).
Who knows what this fish may have died of (unless it was an extremely large male, I assume it was a female which can grow much larger so perhaps disease or an encounter with a gill net or even hook damage or similar could have been the cause).

Sad demise of a beautiful predator............