Just got the Cobra.

Just picked up a few replacement lures - and a new one for me - the IMA "Pugachev's Cobra".

The Cobra is a small top-water bait & looks as though it will do the trick (weighs in at 12g at 90mm & comes with ST-46 #6 hooks).

 I know a couple of spots where I'm confident this lure will bag a fish or two - take a look at the videos to see the action.

Thanks for reading (again)......& tight lines.

Spanish Silver

Just a quick pic of a nice fish that Dario sent me from Asturias (well done Dario!)- it went over 8lbs & over on Manels blog you can find plenty more of the same http://pescamanel.blogspot.com/ .

Great to see the bass are about for the Spanish boys - they do have some cracking coast down that way too:

Over and out!

Robs new book......

For the German speakers amongst you, good fishing buddy Rob Staigis has just released his first book (I don't have a copy yet but will be getting one asap).

Well done Rob! (I'm sure its not easy to write something like this). The book isn't dedicated to lure fishing & covers most aspects of hunting the elusive Labrax and as mentioned is in German.

I hope to be fishing in the UK with Rob later this year (Robs web page can be found here http://www.wolfsbarsch.com/ ). Rob also runs very popular bass fishing tours in Holland a few times each year - demand is high so book early!

Happy fishing to you all!

Planning for 2012.

It looks like 2012 might be a good year for the bass with the unusually warm weather (and water) being a real bonus.

Ive read several reports of fish being taken (even off the top) which is great as far as I'm concerned. The mild weather could also affect the fishing for years to come (fewer year 0 fish will have died from cold conditions this year & hopefully the pair trawlers wont get to decimate the schools of breeding bass as they usually do).

I hope to fish the usual locations this year (I do intend to avoid Dorset during the Olympics though) and will be down in Pembrokeshire early July (neap tides this year instead of the springer's I am used to).

As the UK fishing is looking promising I'm not sure if we will be heading to Northern Spain as we did last year (saying that - anythings possible and we might go ahead at short notice).

I have a few new toys on order, including a new custom build rod - more on that later when I receive it, I will of course post a few pictures of my new buys as they arrive.

Anyway - roll on 2012 & I wish everyone a great years plugging!!

Cracking start to 2012 for Joe.......!

Good Buddy Joe (Adrian) has had  a cracking start to 2012 and landed this beauty in Dorset!

Now that's a top fish in anybody's books!!

Joe really deserved a double with all the time he has put in over the last couple of years - mission completed! - well done mate!

Below is another he caught (I think he had 4 fish for about 20lb in a few casts!

I know Joe is still buzzing (who wouldn't be?) - Joe's blog can be found here:

http://lurefishingforbass.com/

Thanks to Joe for the pics (and the great story behind them) - you are the man!

Winner of the Daiwa lure.

I will be giving the lure to Hugo Morais from Portugal (there was a double post but he was 11th so there!)

Hugo please post a comment here with your address & I will post in the new year (well done)

Lee Samson - if you are out there I still need your address to send you your XRAP.

Thanks for playing guys!!

The braid winner is.............

For a second time the winner is Daniel Pereira from Portugal ! - well done Daniel !

The Daiwa lure is still open to win (come on guys - its free & easy)

@ Daniel - I will send the braid in the new year (your plug is in the post - please let me know when you get it)

@ Lee Samson - I still need you address to send you the XRAP

Happy Christmas all..........

Win some braid!

The Daiwa lure still hasn't been won so have a go guys - you've got a good chance if you're quick !
Next up is a spool of Avani Sea Bass braid (23lb).....as usual please use real names & just one post per person - this time the 2nd comment wins.

Q:  What is the Latin name for the European Sea Bass?

Oh and no silly comments about the phrase "European Sea Bass" - its just to clarify what answer we are looking for ;o)

Win a lure! (3)

And again - the third prize....this time a Daiwa Current Master in Ayu.

All you have to do to win it, is to post a comment (below) with the answer to the following question:

Q: What do the letters B.A.S.S stand for?

 
The prize will go to the 11th person to post (comment) the correct answer (all comments will be published once the 11th person to give the correct answer has commented). Please make sure to post your name too.

Just one go per person - good luck all! (P&P will be paid by myself)

Mo Jack.......

Just a quick pic of another fine Jack that Omar recently caught in Australia (these fish go like stink!)

Wish I could be there and all that!!

Well done Omar!

And a second winner..........(IMA Popkey)

Our second winner is Daniel Pereira from Portugal (please post your address in the comments box Daniel & I will ship your lure asap by registered post).Keep an eye on the blog guys (there are a couple of more prizes coming up soon).

I will free up the comments in a few minutes.

Thanks to all who are taking part (& well done Daniel).

PS for those who are counting the posts I have taken the second answer by Kes:
Tom, Great competition! I hope that it sparks a decent number of replies. JDM = Japanese Domestic Market C&R = Catch and Release Kes

By Kes on Win a lure! on 11/12/11   (I had to chose which comp to put this in & Kes goes without but its all good fun).

First Winner....(XRAP)

Well we finally have a first winner who gets the Ayu XRAP. The prize goes to Lee Sampson (I will let this one slip through as I didn't state one comment per person on the first comp & Lee did post the 7th comment).

 Lee - please comment your address details below (I will not publish them) and the lure will be on its way per registered post in the next few days.

So in future just one comment per person please & I will have to exclude comments that are anonymous as I have no way of knowing who posted them! (in future please make sure you include your name when entering).

Also guys n gals please post answers in the individual comment boxes (per comp) - it make things tricky if you answer two comps in one box!

I will post the comments in the XRAP thread in a few minutes for everyones entertainment.....oh and the IMA Popkey is still up for grabs so get in there!

Thanks to all for playing!

PS to sum up - one post per person - use real names and one comp per comment .......

Win a lure ! (2)

Well the first prize is still up for grabs (strange - I would have thought posting a quick comment with the answer would be easy - maybe nobody wants a free lure?)
Anyway here we go with the second prize....................which is an IMA Popkey (pattern as shown in picture).

All you have to do to win it, is to post a comment (below) with the answer to the following question:

Q: What do the letters C&R stand for?

The prize will go to the 9th person to post (comment) the correct answer (all comments will be published once the 9th person to give the correct answer has commented).

Just one go per person - good luck all! (P&P will be paid by myself)

Win a lure!

As Christmas is almost here I thought it would be a good idea to offer a prize (or two) over the next ten days or so.

First up for grabs is a Rapale XRAP in AYU (the much loved SW version).

All you have to do to win it, is to post a comment (below) with the answer to the following question:

Q: What do the letters JDM stand for?

The prize will go to the 7th person to post (comment) the correct answer (all comments will be published once the 7th person to give the correct answer has commented).

Good luck to all who enter ....oh and I will also cover packing & postage!

Mo-Man & Jack

Good Buddy Omar pictured below has been cultivating his Movember Mo for a while now, and being its for a good cause you can sponser him here...http://au.movember.com/mospace/1664810/

The fine Jack Omars got here went about 25lb, and gave its very best not to be landed by Mo-Man.

Go on - its for a good cause!

A spot of fun.

After a failed mission (35mph winds) in Pembrokeshire I decided a quick trip to Dorset was the way to go, so at short notice I chucked my gear in the rental car & headed down from Cardiff. On arrival a bitter cold NW wind was a blowing but we were in with the chance of a fish or two.
I arrived at lunch time and met up with Mark (any excuse to avoid work lol). After a few hours of thrashing the water for a schoolie each we decided it was time for a change of venue.

True to form, Mark clipped on a weighted sluggo (jig head) and on his first cast shouted over he was into a fish. "What sort?" I shouted over "weed fish or rock fish?" thinking he had just tripped a snag, and suddenly Marks rod arched over & the fish screamed off up current much to my suprise taking line as it did so. Being a true fishing buddy I declined Marks request of help grabbing it (well what are friends for), and after a fiesty scrap he landed the below at 63cms.

By now it was getting dark & we fished on with Mark taking another schoolie around the 3lb mark. A bit dissapointed at being beaten 3 to 1, I headed back to my hotel with the hope the morning session would be better.

The next morning I woke to find the wind had dropped with weed making the fishing very difficult (about 1 in 10 casts was coming back clean). Just as the sun broke the horizon my lure got smashed at distance and a fair bit of line was stripped from the reel on the inital run. Fish landed it measured 58cms and was a very solid fish as Marks had been the previous evening.

Somewhat happier I cast out again and was hit straight away by another which also gave a good scrap, this one went 54cms. I fished on for an hour or so, but the tide was slack & I had to leave to get back, so I missed the push of the flood which I suspect would have fished well.

We didnt catch any great numbers, but the fish we did catch were decent fighters so we were both happy & had some fun as we always do.

Hopefully I will get another trip in the the next few weeks (Dorset or Ireland both tickle my fancy), so with any luck I might catch a few more before silly season (winter) starts.

Thanks for reading!

The going got tough.

Just a quick interim report from a few days in wild & windy Dorset. As expected I arrived to raging winds (W& SW @ 25+ mph with gusts to 40mph!), almost unfishable but we managed to find a couple of sheltered spots but fish were few and far between.

Mark with a rock caught 3lber

To cut a long story (well walk) short, we really covered a lot of ground and climbed alot of cliffs to find clean water away from the winds on the tides we needed. I ended up catching 10 fish (excluding the usual bycatch), all of which were taken on surface lures, with the biggest at about 53cm (a suprisingly fat little chap).

The schoolies wanted it off the top.

Always a pleasure to catch these pretty fish.

A very fat fish at about 53cm.



I hope to be out in the next couple of days again - probably West Wales (or maybe even Ireland if air traffic control go ahead and strike in Germany, but thats another story).

Good luck to Gee, Joe & Mark who are off to Ireland tonight (they have a few days over there with tides and conditions looking good - no excuses lads lol).

Tight lines & thanks for reading!

Gone Fishing.

Gone Fishing.

Reports to follow soon.