Winners!

Today I received something I have been eager to get my hands on for a little while now; my TLF Team  Bass Trophy!

The Team Bass competition is run on The Lure Forum and is mainly just a bit of fun, however, with such an amount of serious Bass anglers on board, it is fun with a game face.

The Bass teams are made up of four random forum members, so each year you'll have different team mates. 50cm is the qualifying size for entry and the final count is taken from the length of the teams three best fish.

Well this year I was on a team with some cracking anglers, guys who really know their game and boy did they land some fish!

We all had qualifiers, all had fish on the board at various times and all fished our socks off, having some serious fun while at it. 

Sadly I didn't have a fish in the final count but mine was superseded by such an awesome specimen its impossible to feel sour!

So lets see the fish.

Simon Lewis was the first to get a fish on the board and what a stonker at 78cm.

Simon is a serious specimen hunter and I think he has been on the winning team three times in a row now!

Beautiful fish and well deserving of a win.

Next up was David Ansell who caught his fish in Ireland, coming in at a very respectable 64cm.

A lovely fish that no doubt made for a memorable session! 

Lastly; there was Simon Kenny who actually beat his PB three times in one night, culminating in a fine specimen that well and truly knocked my fish off the board.

75cm of prime Silver! Hugely well done too, an amazing team and some exceptional fishing!

The competition was a very enjoyable part of 2013 and is I feel, an integral part of being a member of The Lure Forum.

I would like to extend an invite to you too, do you fancy joining in the fun?
Maybe Bass isn't your thing, well I have good news! There is also a Wrasse comp, a Pollock comp, Perch comp and a few others to satiate your competitive side.

Check it out by registering here; www.thelureforum.com/register.php

Tight lines

Skid Stiks

Admittedly in my last post I did say that I didn't like blogging about tackle, but there are times when I do get slightly excited about new purchases, my latest purchase is just one of these.

The Sussex anglers known as and associated with the Bass Junkies have been using Skid Stiks for some time, and have been successfully nailing European Sea Bass on them for a couple of years now. 

They are primarily a top water lure designed for US gamefish such as Striper Bass and Blues, they look and feel insanely good value for money, in fact I purchased three of them for the price of a standard Japanese Bass lure, that's including delivery!

Also included were a few for field testing purposes and as soon as this truly awful weather passes I will be out with them, I am positive they'll nail some Welsh silver soon.

There are several colours in the range and they come in 8, 5 and 4 inch lengths, the ones I have are the later two and weigh in at 3/4oz and 1/2oz respectively.

You can view the range here; fishinmagicianlures.com and can be purchased from here;  fishermansline.com

I have to say I really like the 4" Rainbow Smelt pattern, I think it would be a good summer Pike lure in Trout reservoirs too.

Emerging from Winter.

Well I don't need to tell anyone in the UK what a truly bad winter it has been, in fact not only bad but plain weird!

Thunder and lightning in December and January, hurricane like winds throughout February, I've never known a winter like it, we haven't even had a hard frost!

Of course this has meant for me, no fishing, major cabin fever setting in and only a little retail therapy to keep me half way sane.

I managed to get out with young Ben Edwards Sunday last, the weather was good but landslides and the rainfall run off meant the water clarity on the North Llyn was dire, there was literally 4-6 inches of subsurface visibility, hardly great for lure fishing! 

However, it was nice to be out on the coast and also good to check out some new potential ground, there wasn't a hope of catching much without resorting to stinky bait. I must confess to wishing I had've taken some, it seems so damn long since I caught a fish its unreal!

I did manage to pluck out a couple of tiny Long Spined Sea Scorpions, but it was hardly worth the journey. In saying that though, I did have a smile on my face which Ben commented "was much bigger than the fish".

I went out today just seeing if any Bass were starting to show. There was some lovely movement in the water and some nice rip tides, but it just feels a tad too early yet. Perhaps when the tide builds a bit some schoolies at least may start to show.

At least today gave me the chance to try a few new lures, and it allowed me to try my new reel.

Shimano Complex Ci4+ 2500HGS F6

I bought it after selling the Shimano Sustain 2500FG, I have to say I was not very happy with that reel, it felt a little grindy and even though I sent it to Felindre Servicing centre to be sorted, it came back the same (apparently there was nothing wrong with it).

Anyway on first use, the Complex feels lovely and has a real feel of quality about it. The stock knob was a bit naff so I have fitted an aftermarket ZPI Anchorfin, which make things feel and look a whole lot better. She's spooled with 0.8 PE Duel X-Wire just now, I believe its a discontinued line and thats probably why I bought it so cheap.

I have made a few other new purchases, but to be honest I am not all that keen on blogging about tackle. I may do a little show and tell at some point, but I'd rather post catch reports, sadly the lack of those has meant my blog hasn't been updated for some time. I sincerely hope that changes very soon!

Til then, tight lines.