A busy week

Bass in the SW, reasonable at some points & tough at others over 4 days. Wont be commenting on Bass numbers on this blog for a few reasons from now on....

The big fish are hard to come by this year, apparently...but there are a few. Just avoiding me again for the time being. I had a look at two 7 pound +  on Tuesday via a forum caught on Monday.

Nice camo!


I also had a trip with Stewart Clark this week AKA Mr Perch. He certainly knows some of these SW Perch & Pike marks. He knew I wanted a big Perch so when the fishing picked up he gave me a call.

Go large or up the road!

This is a Deps Bumble Shad. I got these for use in rough weedy ground where there are a lot of small Pollack and the theory larger Bass looking for them as prey. It has an 11/0 Owner Weedless in it. At 25g and sinking it works nicely at a slow pace. I have two nail weights in the belly to keep it stable.

Its also me new fav Perch lure! 2.4 oz

This jack took a Sebile Flatt Shad

It was good to get a break from Bass fishing, thanks Stewart!

Night 2

As much as I appreciate catching and not blanking it was more small Bass last night. Jamie had two school Bass on a pink& purple Komomo 2 fished across a shallow and weedy point on what was a really blustery night. They didn’t fancy the same lure in black magma so not a good start for me and had started to think about blanking. This unusual for me but put it down to being tired from Friday night. We fished on at the first mark till the lights went out and then moved to another spot to fish the remainder of the drop.


I switched to the controller and SP which is a stone wall imitation of a butter fish or I guess possibly a Blenny, given the terrain we fish in a certain prey item for a Bass. It’s a proven catcher here and worked on dead slow retrieve. I was optimistic after picking up a couple of better fish on Friday night but in truth the tide times and heights were against us. I did manage 4 small Bass and Jamie added another to his tally on a Sluggo. No pictures for the blog, only so much I’m motivated to do at night with a 1 1/2 Bass. We hit the road just before dawn and I checked the forecast ahead of our trip next week. I think I had better dust down the beach gear and check my frozen crab as things are not too clever. I can see me picking some weed out of leader knots and digging some worms for the first couple days.

Red Bull & Marlbro Nights

Another dark session last night which started badly. I had some issues knotting my Sunline after three attempts out came the spare spool with Power Pro. Nothing wrong with the braid but can’t say the same for my eyes, certainly at night anyway.


I started off with a Bombarda and Pearl Skaliwag which had been doctored two tone with a black marker to make it blurple a nice mixture of black and purple. First cast I just getting my eyes adjusted and looking for the controller which was still about 20 ft away when I had a solid take, 1.15am. A good start, not a really small fish but not what I was after and with a quick picture just up the beach the fish was back on its way.

This was followed by another about 30 minutes later. The fish got hung up in weed and the headlight had to go on, wading stick bounced off a couple of rocks and I realised I was making too much commotion between this and flashes going off earlier. I then stumbled along the rocks in darkness and gave myself the comfort of my red light for the last few feet.

I had changed my offering for something bigger, a 200mm SP( lets call it x) but the hook was too heavy for the shallow and weedy terrain and it found every bit of bladderwrack there was. Another change of SP and I had an instant return. This fish didn’t just take the lure it ran with from the get go tearing through the weed. How good does Power Pro sound leaving the reel at speed going up through the guides? Strong fish, after a quick visit to the weighing bag, 3 pounds on the nose.

 I checked my drag but found it to be surprisingly tight. The fish had just given a super account of itself with 3 terrific runs before wrapping the leader around some weed stalks. More wading, more commotion, not good but decided to use the camera this time. I sat for 10 minutes to rest the area and had another cast, smash!  This one didn’t go as hard as the other but yet again hung itself up in the weed so in I went again, 3 pounds 4oz .

The Yamaga was outstanding and extra length a great help not least to keep wading to a bare minimum and getting over the weed /taking zone at the end of retrieve. It was pleasure to use and while not really what it was designed for it took to it well.

I only fished for 4 hours this morning and the last hour was a non-event, too much wading and noise but it was good to get some slightly better fish. I think I learnt a few handy things for the future.

Out again tonight, better get some more Red Bull.

This weeks round up

Quick round up for the week. Fished with Rodney for some Sea Trout and we caught 5 or 6 each with him having the best of them. The fish seemed to be coming short and it would have been a good night to use a teaser above the lure with something like a shrimp or fry pattern. Having had my fly box in my hand before leaving the house I wasn’t best pleased to have left it at home.

I was down in the SW last night and the plan was to fish the incoming tide into darkness and then fish SP’s with a controller in darkness looking for more of these.

But all I got was more of these…..  wading, sharp hooks slippery rocks = not great pictures 

I meet a couple of guys fly fishing who managed a  small Bass each while I managed to get five, some Pollack and a Mackerel. We were fishing with 40 yards of and for me there seemed to be a lot of action over a short period but it was noticeable the difference in results due to the ground I could cover with the Hart X3 pencil I was using. It looked like a nice night for fish off the surface but having tried when I knew there were Bass there they didn’t seem interested.

I then switched to night mode at about midnight with the Bombarda and Killie lure and got a Bass on my first cast, same sort of size followed by some small Pollack and then an another school Bass. It really tunes your senses in fishing at night alone ,dead slow retrieve you can feel the movement of the lure through the weed, then the interest from the fish but it would be nice if there was the odd better fish in there.

I’m getting a bit despondent about the average size of Bass in July for me at least. I can feel a Mullet and Wrasse session coming on soon.

A few hours on a nice evening

A few of us met up down in the SW last night, Scott, Chris, Paul with Jamie and me driving down for the evening round trip.

Conditions were calm and bright with small tides so we knew it wouldn’t be bumper. We fished a rough and weedy area and after a couple of almost fruitless hours on a variety of surface lures and Shads the only thing to admire was the start of a nice sunset.

With the light going I could see Pollack moving way way out so out came the Hansen knowing fine well that any slight pause on the retrieve and I wouldn’t see the lure again. I then managed a couple of Pollack and a Mackerel.

As the light went with the exception of Paul we moved to the beach where the tide was so small it had hardly moved at all. I kept the Hansen on as with a vast expanse of calm water on the beach it’s a good lure to prospect with. The first sign of life was a humongous Salmon which cleared the water about 70 yards out. I then had a false alarm with another Mackerel before the first small Bass came along.

Paul then joined us on the beach and after finding the fish I managed 5 and lost as many with the fish nudging lightly at the lure at range then following it in the spin-stops were very very effective yet again.

By this point it was getting late so time to head home on a school night. There were a few blanks with only Paul and I getting fish and I think we were lucky to get them at all.

Long Night

We stuck to the game plan last night. Fished the rough stuff on the drop, had some fun with small Pollack and Mackerel which I ended up taking off the surface when the tide dropped and the fish came within range of my hard lures. We saw a couple of Bass but no takers on the first mark.

Onto the beach, knew there would be Bass there but they would be small so I left Rodney and Jamie there and hoofed it to the shallow and rocky opposite end of where we started. I took two Bass and a Pollack off the surface on the Z Claw but nothing of note but unless you try you don’t know.

 On getting back to the beach the guys had done better than me which was no surprise but the fish as predicted were small. Rodney had asked me for a headlamp and pliers as he thought he had a hook stuck in his finger, yeah no sxxt Sherlock. Without my glasses I was not going to attempt it so he squashed the barb and pulled it back through and headed home happy enough he had a few fish.

We fished on in darkness but not on the mark we wanted to because of the wind, this was a non-event and a waste of time.

Dawn came and the wind dropped to zero. We travelled to catch the dropping tide in another area and after checking the water clarity we cracked on. This was ok as we picked up a few Bass and Pollack but yet again all pretty much carbon copies of the fish which seem to be going around at the moment.

Some fish but we take a wrong turn

It was a flat calm night last night with a threat of thunder and lightning that eventually turned up with a brief but monsoon like rain storm.

We got lazy and gave the rocks a miss which I think was a mistake. There were plenty of fish to be seen moving on the surface between the fronds of sea lace. I could see it floating and occasional caught it a good way out but knew there was less of a chance on a night like tonight anyway of really good fish from this beach.

I’ve never lost five or so Bass in a session at the same point, ten feet from my rod tip which was curious as they had come in just fine from 70 yards. Two of them being reasonable fish. This little’un was the first to stay attached.

Then this jumped on the hook followed by another of a similar size.

And as the light faded and I continued to lose fish this but this one stayed on.

I checked the hooks and they seemed fine. The fish were all taken at the extreme top end of my casting range hence the use of the Hansen Fight. I also had some Mackerel and a solitary Pollack.

Jamie had a night that’s best not mentioned at all. I'm sure if we had fished on overnight we would have taken a couple of bigger fish, it had that feel to it.

Fish’n Impossible

Your mission should you chose to accept it is to land every Sea Trout you hook.

Anyone who has tried for Sea Trout in the sea or freshwater for that matter will know they can be tricky to keep on the hook with their airborne antics they can be masters of escape. On many occasions you see both the fish and whatever you happen to be using parting company mid-air. Last night was a wee bit different to say the least.

This fish hammered the Hansen In Line lure first cast. Good start but that usually makes me wary that its downhill from there!

A short while later this little chap wanted in on the action.

Then his brother came along and the In Line lure was working a treat providing no leverage for the fish to spit the lure as it’s free to travel up the line. I also add a little fluro bead providing some protection for the knot as well as a hot spot for the fish to hit.

This fish took another pattern of Hansen which I’ve painted white. Although the In Line was working well I noticed that there was a rough spot somewhere on the lure which was causing it to wear/fray the Seagur Ace Hard Fluro.

I then did a spot of deep wading to cover a seam of current just out of reach of even my best casting lures. This produced a few more fish and a couple of nice one's at that.

I moved back to a more sensible position as I was trying to go back to my hotel dry for once. My fish had been taken with an up tide cast but being too lazy to walk a few more yards to cover the next area of water I put a cast along and down resulting in this beauty. He totally nailed my lure and took to the air and started using the current to his advantage. It also coughed up a Smelt which was approximately the same size and profile of the lures I was using (funny that?)

A change of lure colour as water clarity had worsened with the tide’s progress and the fish were still in the mood.

A couple observations...good spread of sizes which is good to see. Also hanging spin stops are very effective. I've started doing these not just when a fish follows or I feel a bump but try them on speculative basis during the retrieve.

Back to the mission….. One of those rare nights where they all stay on the hook and sure I missed a few takes but each one stayed on the hook once connected.  Not a night to be counting fish but it was many. It was more of a night to just enjoy a superb session over a good tide on a nice night.

July starts with some SW Bass surface action

For the first half hour or so I was thinking that I should have been on another mark. In the calm conditions there was somewhere I had been keen to try for the first time this year but it was another 30 minutes drive. With it being Sunday and having work on Monday I stuck to plan A which worked out well.

It was a calm evening so I picked out a  Zenith Z Claw in 500 GP. Its got a nice lazy walk add in a few pauses and a shake of the rod tip and bingo!

 Ok so not the biggest Bass but good fun off the surface.

A bit more of the same and these little fish were in the mood to have a go at what is in comparison to their size a big bait.

A marginally better fish that followed the lure for a while before deciding to eat it. One of the best things about summer lure fishing for me is watching this happen.

This little fish hit the lure when I was just shaking the rod tip.

A brief venture sub surface with a Komomo 2 but after a few casts I missed the action of Z Claw
A nice little session with a dozen fish all off the top bar one. Has summer arrived ?

Last Bass session of June

Another dank night last night so I hope July is better. The Met Office and Windguru got both the strength and direction wrong but Jamie and I dodged on anyway. With the wind almost off my back I started off with a weightless Sluggo and them moved to an Xlayer which produced a couple of hits but nothing solid. Jamie tried a variety of lures with one half hearted splash to show for his efforts. The tide was dropping fast and with only a three hour session on the cards time was running out. As we looked out sea we could see Gannets moving fast, diving covering ground at an incredible rate as they did so moving towards us with tide emptying out the bay. Just at that we got a double hook...

Jamie with the better of the two fish on a baby Patchinko

Me with my fish on a Komomo in joker plate. As well as being happy to see the fish we were pissing ourselves as the rip in my waders at the backside had filled them almost to the waistband. You can see them in the picture below.

The two fish hit the beach at the same time

These are my spare pair.For a laugh I got Jamie to cut them at the bottom to let the water out.

Simple things make you laugh....this was one of them.

I arrived home today to find a new pair of waders replaced under warranty happy days!

Hopefully have some better pictures next time as phone cameras dont cut it in this light. I just got a new Lumix FT20 as you can see with summer here its defo got to be waterproof.

June round up, Tope, Huss, Sea Trout & Bass

Its not all been catching. I fished through the night a couple of weeks back with nothing to show for it ...sore one. The time flew in for me anyway as fishing lures at night is fairly focused with no distractions. It was a calm night and I could hear fish we just got the presentation wrong. 


The weather was nasty across the weekend just past but with it clearing on the Sunday I took my chance and managed to bash some school Bass on SP's. I caught 9 altogether two on a small 2 inch sandeel pattern metal lure and 7 on 4.5 inch Xlayers in Ayu as well as a larger copy of these called a Tsunami which is pictured below. I used these with a 10g jig head on a 2/0 hook.

I had some Sea Trout lastThursday night ... horrific conditions. It rained all night and blew a hooli.I lost 4 fish before I  took 4 on the trot which turned it into a very good night. It seems it was too much for my water proof Olympus which is now dead after leaving it my bag over night. Some bad pictures but the conditions were grim. Not really worth taking the XD card to Boots to get the pics.

 My Hansen lure is now well and truly battered and seen enough action in the last few months to lose the paint.

I joined Gordon to fish the last day of Sharkatag. It was bumper day for anyone near Whithorn with really bad weather the previous few days the fishing made up for it.

Gordon with one of the 29 Tope we had on the Sunday.

Me with one of the 18 Huss.The minute the Tope took a break these were on the baits.

Huss are prone to holding onto to baits till they get to the boat.This Tope followed a Huss up.It let go of the bait which I then held in the tide, fed it a little line and then nailed this Tope...sweet! Double hook ups and follows were a regular occurance.

Willie seen here with a double shot of Huss, him and Stuart had busy day as well.

This is a proper Tope from Graham caught on the Friday. Its a peach at 63 pounds

Time out

I'm taking some time out from forums, clubs and indeed blogs for the time being. I'll still be fishing. Not really a fan of this chocolate bar to be fair.....but picture and words et cetara

Blanks & Bats

The only thing on the score sheet last night was a Bat that hit the windscreen on the way down last night. I lost a fish about 2 hours in when it hit the SP and ran into weed and then pulled the hook out in the process. We fished through to dawn and the start of the dropping tide without any reward.

Night Mode

I took a permenant black marker over these two Storm Jointed Thundersticks to give me another option at night.. I've ever really used these classics since I bought them. They have a rattle in them and will move nicely at low speed rod tip up they should be no more than 1ft deep..... ideal

East meets West

Scott and Jake travelled through from the east coast today for a little LRF action on Wrasse.

We managed to get Goldsinny, Corkwing and Ballan. There were more Pollack than normal on the mark which made for a couple of interesting scraps. I hit a run of nice fish that took a little 3 inch blue fleck worm stick on a 3.5g jig head with the fish tearing off on some terrific runs.

I also had a few dabs on bait and Scott added a Long Spinned Sea Scorpion. It was a good day to be out and great to see the guys add a few species to their LRF species crusade.

June's account opened

Well that’s the sleep pattern mixed up for the next few days having got in at 5am this morning. I was down in the SW a couple of weeks ago but this was a proper session which covered a lot of miles in the car and on foot. It was shaping up to be a total failure. This fish changed the night taking an SP which was being slowly worked back toward me when it wolfed it about 5 yards out. Something special at night and one thing I’m keen to do more of this year