A Little Tackle Talk?

I think I can speak for everyone across the UK and Ireland when I say the early Bass season has been the hardest we have known it for a long time, in fact for myself, so far it has been a non-starter.

The sea temperatures are nearly half what they were this time last year and with a slow thaw still leaking icy cold water onto the shore, things are still looking a little bleak.

I have been out a few times but aside from a few fish sightings, I have blanked as far as lure fishing goes.

There is a difficulty to know what to write about when the fishing is so poor, as much as I hear people say "I'd like to hear more reports where people have blanked", it really doesn't make pleasant reading and in reality is about as miserable as the blank itself.

Of course a day out on the shore is always better than a day at work, but thats as much as I'd like to write about it.

There is of course one thing we lure anglers like to do when not out fishing and that is buying lures and lure fishing equipment, so I guess I shall share a few purchases I have made lately. We all love a little bit of shiny don't we?!

I personally get a little excited about lures and especially ones which are currently unavailable in the UK. As I'm sure some of you know, buying from abroad can also work out a bit cheaper in the long run too (At least that's what I tell myself).

So, fishing shallow reefs as I sometimes do, I rather like lures that swim no deeper than 30cm, so not to get snagged on weed and still reach the fish that are help up there. These two appear to fit the bill perfectly;

The Duo Tide Minnow Lipless Slim.

I chose the first colour as the rainbow pearl patterns always seem to do well for me and I feel very confident fishing lures with this pattern. The second pattern is a Mullet Pattern and also tends to be very effective around the UK for many anglers, after all small Mullet tend to be a good food source for Bass. At 19 grams it should cast a good distance and I am quite excited to see how these lures will work for me in the coming season.

The next lure is one I contemplated about buying for a while as, I am unsure it will be effective in our waters, although it may be good on hot sticky summer nights.

The ima Aldente 95s.

From what I understand the Aldente is supposed to mimic a surface swimming Sandworm. Its a sinking wake bait, 95mm long and weighs 7.1 grams. I could possibly cast this on a light rockfish rod, but I bought it for use with my Megabass XOR Shadow SXX-85L primarily in mind.

The next is a surface lure that has been doing some damage for a few anglers here for a while now.

The Zipbaits Fakie Dog.

A lovely finish on this lure and it weighs 12 grams. I also have a couple of the Fakie Dog Downsize coming too, though hopefully by the time they arrive I shall be blogging about catches and not so much about lures.

Now I am not about to neglect the light gaming this year either, I picked up a real bargain from a fellow Lure Forum member recently. Practically new and at an absolute steal of a price!

The Yamaga Blanks Blue Current 80

I think everyone knows how much I love my BLC-74 and this will complement it nicely, I'll be using it for heavier stuff on the open shore and headlands. This at least I have used now a couple of times in the hope of an early Turbot, but I am yet to actually break her in with a fish.

Finally I bought two Sinking pencil baits which I shall easily be able to use on the above rod, whether they will actually do any damage remains to be seen, but they do match the profile of Sandeel and small fry that so many species like to feed on.

The Jackall RollaMinnow 5.1g in Ayu

The ZipBaits S.P.M. 55

The next time you see these lures I very much hope they shall be accompanied by fish! I certainly expect the DUO's and Fakie Dogs to work just fine, but the others are somewhat experimental.

Lets hope we get a run of good conditions soon, I'd personally like to see everything heat up a degree or ten, with a good dose of light westerlies and overcast skies, but who knows? I stand beside my fellow UK and Irish lure anglers and look forward to wading waist deep and to scramble the rocks in search of our various target species. Won't be long now surely???

Tight lines.

A Thought Too Soon

I don't know what you're like but I tend to get mighty despondent after a run of blanks, this has been the case for me lately. I have been out after Bass and Flatfish on a few occasions and despite the odd bite and lost fish, I have not landed a thing.

I could hardly muster the energy to go out today and had a defeatist attitude for the morning. I finally managed to get my backside into gear and go to my local for low tide. It was a lovely day even if another blank was in store, it is nice just to be outside.

I walked along the beach and tried various places for flatfish. It's quite easy to spot fishy features along the low tide mark and on one of the gullies I spooked a small Flatfish, Initially I was a bit peeved but stayed for a while. I saw the fish return to where I was standing and spook again. On this I moved backwards and continued working the area twitching my Gulp! Sandworm up and letting it fall, then deadstick. Eventually I got a bite but missed the hookup, I quickly cast to the same place and repeated my retrieve. I got a positive bite and just let it develop for around twenty seconds before setting the hook, a relatively decent fight ensued. Before very long I had landed a Flounder and was quite pleased, I had beaten the dreaded blank!

I walked along the shore trying a few more features before heading to my Turbot spot. Sadly I didn't get a Turbot but I did get a good little scrap off a Bass that inhaled my lure off the bottom.

The tide now really started to push and was picking up all the washed up weed on the shore line, it became impossible to fish this section of the beach again. I started to get a little grumpy as I was thinking to myself "I haven't had a really good session with more than two fish for some time", anybody who knows me, knows I am a miserable ol' sod though.

I had decided to accept my lot though and wandered along the beach in a homeward direction. I saw three Razorbills in the water occasionally diving under, I thought "well nothing to loose" and started casting near where they were. The odd bite but nothing much really, when all of a sudden the sea just erupted! I was soon standing amid a cloud of tiny Smelt with fish hitting the surface, the Razorbills started going berserk and were catching fish. It was just an awesome sight, the sea looked like it was boiling. The next hour and a half I was practically getting a fish a cast, mostly small Mackeral but with the odd Schoolie thrown in the mix.

I stopped taking photos and just got on with the fishing, franticly changing my Gulp! Fish Fry as they  got totally mullered. The fish were just hitting them on the drop nearly every cast, it was epic and such good fun!

I couldn't believe a short while ago I was so pessimistic, yet was now in my element.

Strange though how as dusk approached it was like someone flipped a switch and the action just died. On the return home I was thinking about those Razorbills, I hardly ever see them on my local and wondered if they just knew what was going to ensue and where, amazing things!

Tight lines Peeps.