Passive Bass

Friday night again.... it was a nice night for this weeks Friday night Saturday morning session, overcast, rising tide, bait in the water. Highlight of the night was a fish which looked like to me to be about 4-5 pounds following the Z Claw on a number of casts, tight behind it in a flat calm breaking the surface but not aggressively, just having a real good look at the target, not seen this happen before in such a manner. Anyway, blanked on Bass but I did have some fun on a Frosty surface lure that’s a stone dead look alike for a large sand eel or small launce, 6 Mackerel late on, the last one I caught was about to 11.30pm in a place the Bass should have been !

Back 2 Back Bass sessions

I fished last night and again this morning after five hours sleep in the car. I had five fish almost identical in size miles apart from two separate areas. I weighed one of these, 2 pounds 4 oz. I had my chances to probably double the numbers of fish I caught but the Bass were intent in trying to drown the surface lure and not eat it. I enjoyed both sessions but I fished hard for what I caught. Where are the bigger fish? I hope to find them soon. They do exist here but the reality is its not Wexford or Brittany… it’s the SW of Scotland. Maybe the next session will throw one up. Marie Chase BW in green eel and a Z Claw in mullet did the damage.

It's a funny old game sometimes

I fished last Friday night which is the first in July for Bass. In terms of sessions I have not really got going so far in June, July or indeed this year and it felt like it. Jamie and I fished an area I had not visited for a couple of years. There had been a SW on it for most of the day with the wind switching to the NW then NE with the sea calming off nicely it looked good to go. Long and short I had a Pollack straight away on a Z Claw. Jamie had 3 Bass and lost one on the Mag Popper. I changed pretty much after Jamie took two fish but with the same lure I only managed one offer.You can try and work it out sometimes but still doubt what you’re doing. The answer is probably the most rational one, although we were about 20 yards apart there were no fish in front of me at that point (that’s my story anyway)

Playacar Rui Palace Mexico

Great holiday,hotel was amazing and there was some great DIY fishing to be had 15 mins walk SW from the hotel. Small Threadfin, Jacks, Palometa and Permit if your lucky. Caught one of these and did not have the camera with me but here are a few pics.

All good things

Currently sitting in Cancun airport having the last beer of my holiday. Hopefully the flights on time. The weather has cleared up today but we have lost the last three days of our holiday to a tropical storm, the tan is fading fast.

This was never intended to be a fishing holiday but surprise surprise...managed a few sessions, caught some cracking fish and added a few more species to the list. We stayed at Playacar, Riu Palace Mexico which was superb. The service was second to none the suite was roomy and cool and the food was tip top. Not to mention the fishing which was handy just a fifteen minute walk down the beach. I will post some pics and detail this week.

Boo hoo, back to work Wednesday

A while coming

I drove south last night after work. A strong NW wind was forecast and was duly accurate. I found this area a month or so ago on one of my early season blanks. The first lure on was the IMA Kommo II. On my fifth cast a put the lure out about 40 yards and let it sit for about ten seconds, jerked it and did not get through the first rotation of the reel handle…bang. It’s a small Bass buts it’s the first of the season and also on a lure which to me seems really versatile and it’s also my first fish on this lure which I bought in January. You could fish this in a saucer of water it runs so shallow and was ideal in terms of where I was casting it. Not much of a Bass but who cares, first of the season and hopefully one of many.

A bite a chuck

Last weekend I had a nice little session with my mate Rod. We had a glorious morning for it, very little wind and totally scorching by mid morning. We fished from around 8am till 12pm and with the exception of the odd lull it was pretty much a bit a cast with Roach, Perch, and Skimmer Bream with Rod picking up a PB Bream of around 4 pounds. I just love looking at a float when this dips and slides out of sight. For a while toward the end of the session the bites seemed to occur on the drop and for me proved a little trickier to connect with. Nice session, good laugh as usual and tip top weather, great way to start a Saturday.

Mexico

I managed to get a holiday booked, off to Playacar Mexico. Certainly looking forward to the break and while it wont be a fishing holiday there will be some opportunity to chuck some lures and maybe the odd livebat or two. Two weeks today...happy days

More Mullet

Bank holiday Monday, great weather forecast and not much else to do and cutting the grass can wait.

Had me second session for Mullet in three days. Why is it that nothing happens for an age, you then take a second to throw some ground bait in and then the float dips? This happened twice today, not just half hearted bites but the type of offer that takes the float down a foot or two, sods law, never understood that statement but that’s what it is I guess.

I managed one fish pictured here, I would give it around 3 ¾ but never weighed it. About 20 min’s later the float stopped its slow wind assisted drift from left to right then shot down. When I struck into the fish it went berserk and jumped clear of the water. It then tore off left, then towards me and then took a screaming run against a light drag for about 15 yards to my left again. I had the fish pretty much beat and was easing it toward the net when the hook popped out. Having had a real good look at this one I would say it was a good 5 ½ - 6 pounder, that’s showbiz as they say…. all summer to catch that one again. I don’t think it would have beaten my PB of 6.5 but would have been a great end to May.

May Mullet

The tide dictated another early start this morning leaving the house at 5.30am I double dropped two coffee’s and off I went. Today was the first Mullet session of the year, overcast with the threat of rain it mattered not,it was great to be up fishing at this time and not driving to work as has been the case lately with lots of early starts.

I decided to change from 4 pound to 6 pound line this year due to some obstacles I encountered last year, 11 inch Drennan waggler due to the strong wind and my usual mix of bait. I will keep it short, two bites one fish lost and this one landed 4 pound 10 oz. A nice start to the Mullet season with a solid fish which fought well and went back easily. The threat of rain became a reality so off home for some breakfast I went.

Have I got time to slink a Bass in May?

Battered Ling & homemade tartar sauce…lovely

Scoffed this two days back to back last weekend. I like to use Thai spices in my batter…braw!

Cod & Ling in the sun

Superb weather this weekend, along the same lines of this time last year 26 degrees on Saturday.

The weekend started with a visit to the SW on Friday afternoon, fished for around 3 hours till around 9pm. No sign of a Bass, nada. Having been down there working anyway it was no big deal I would however like to get my first one of the year sometime very soon please. If I had stayed till the light went I might have had more of a chance but the fact I had a two hour drive home and a 3.30am start on Saturday played a major part in the early finish. Les had invited me over for an east coast session with decent prospects so it would be worth the effort..

I dozed off at around midnight, alarm went off and up and out the house I went. Lynn asked me if that was me just coming to bed! I headed off to Edinburgh to meet with Les, short trip to Dunbar to a flat calm sea and the prospect of some fish at last. No disappointment this time, plenty of Codling for us both with Les getting a number of double shots on jellies. I opted for a baited pirk no shortage of fish for us both. We also tried two diving vanes trolled behind the boat which produced the first Mackerel of the year for me and some beautiful fresh bait for Ling.

The best Codling went about 6 pounds and we also caught Pollack, Coalie, Ling, Pouting, Launce and the solitary Mackerel.

The last time I wore the shirt in these picture was in Cape Verde in May 08. Checked the pocket before it went into the wash last night and found 1000 CV Escudos, couldn’t remember what they were worth. My excitement was short lived £8.21, not to worry; I still have the Lotto to check!

Mini Tarpon

My dry spell continued tonight albeit with some entertainment. The target was Sea Trout on a dropping tide into darkness. When I locate these fish in the sea any breach on the surface even a slight lump or wake usually pays dividends. The result in my experience is almost always an offer or a follow. Tonight I did this four times and had four hook up’s. On a bad night I would expect to get two from four, tonight was worse with no fish landed. Two of the fish hit the lure and took straight off into the air, second jump and then the slack line you dread. The next two solid head shakes and then the realisation that something’s not right more jumps….same result. I had one other fish follow me right in leaving a nice wave and boil in inches of water, probably the best fish of the night 16 inches or so, I flicked the lure out a short distance thinking the fish was still in the area, it was, same result a nice follow then off. On reflection I think I was a little sore on two of the fish being a bit out of practice. I use a softer rod for this and always nylon as mainline while the Bushie would have been nice to use in my opinion it’s just too quick for ST.

No surprise really

Being in the SW working this afternoon I packed the gear last night with a view to having a few hours this evening. To be fair the planned session was more out of complete optimism than reality, as was the session in March. Having set myself a probably unrealistic target of an early Bass on a lure at least I had to try.

Blank. No surprise really. After a cold winter my enthusiasm has got the better of me. I have however tried some new gear, had some exercise, got the boots on, walked a few miles and found some new marks again. The next two weekends I will be tied up and by that point things will have moved on again.

There was noticeable increase in gannet activity tonight, more sandeels and a few moulted crab shells. No holding the season back now.

The difference a month makes

I will be out this Friday for a quick session after work, the temparature looks a lot better. Here are two views today and this time last month. While far from being confident it's worth a try. I am currently in Inverness and will be at the other end of the country on Friday,,,,,

Rudd & Roach, something different

I decided after last weekend that the water temperature was still to low and that I was probably, at best about another two weeks away from a realistic chance of a Bass on a lure.

A friend called me on Friday night and suggested that we could have a try for some Roach, Rudd with the possible chance of some small Carp. Never having caught any of these fish in Scotland off we set armed with poles which was another first for me.

The fish here is a Rudd, beautiful little fish. I also caught Roach and Perch but no Carp unfortunately. I can see why people can get addicted to this style of fishing. A Carp would be fun on the elastic…maybe next time. I will need my specs when I try again, light lines, tiny knots and pin heads floats!

I also discussed some coarse fishing tactics which will be useful when Mullet fishing come May.

First Bass trip of the year....skunked !

Yesterday was my first attempt to target Bass this year. The water temperature was 7/8 and being March it was never going to be easy. To be fair I have never caught a Bass on lures or bait this side of May, but then again I’ve never tried.

Fished three hours late morning into the afternoon then had a break for a few hours then fished till dusk…..nada. I guess I put in around six hours in total.

To be fair I just felt I needed a day out and a trial run with some of the new gear I have bought since last year. The breathable waders were spot on cheapo’s from Bass Pro in the states. The Scierra Dynatrack studded wading boots Lynne gave me for Christmas were great and provided me with a massive improvement in grip. In terms of the lures the Komomo II and Z Claw look tip top. If the Komomo does not do the business for me as the year moves on I will be very surprised.

When I took a break from fishing in the afternoon I travelled a few miles and took a walk down a dirt track of some west facing cliffs. Never been here before but it looks great in terms of bait fishing opportunities. Bass will be a certainty and I would be surprised if I could not pick up a small Turbot or two. The picture is pretty naff but there was nice surf, plenty of tide and a number of features which are out of the shot.

Loch Etive

First trip out today since November. Myself and Scott made the trip north to Loch Etive for the first club match of 2010. The weather was better than expected with sunshine and for the most a light but cold wind from the north. We had around 90 Spurdog…all small fish with the best going 3 pounds 8oz, trebles and doubles at times with a few whiting mixed in. You can see Scott here with the typical fish for the day, a small male. Some of the guys found some doubles and there were a handful of fish to just over 11 pounds. No decent fish for us I’m afraid but it was good to get out.

Trying some new kit ahead of spring

Tried out these new lures today, all below £6 apart from one via Bass Pro Vegas. Great value!

Super Spook Jnr

Daiwa Chugger

Rapala Subwalk

Yo Zuri Chrystal Minnow SP

Daiwa Salt Pro

Lucky Craft Flash Minnow SP *

Bass Pro Laser Eye Lipless

No fishing and bad weather

Unfortunately no fishing this month, might manage out early January for some cod. I have however been putting my fishing kit to some use in the recent few weeks, not my rods but some of my clothes.

I’ve never been a fan of flotation suits either in the one or two piece variety. When I started going to Norway about seven years ago I had a look at viable alternatives to these. I needed something which would cope with the weather, could be worn with a life jacket and which would give me freedom of movement and the ability to lair up or down. I had a look at the range of clothes from Patagonia, this is extensive and covers everything from wading in streams for trout to climbing Everest. I realised then that I could pick up pieces of kit which could be used across all areas of my fishing and also day to day…especially in the winter and that’s been particular useful this last week or two.

Outer layer (red) – Patagonia Jetstream Jacket, breathable, waterproof lightweight compressible shell.

Mid layer (blue) Patagonia down sweater, very warm and again compressible

Base layer (black) Patagonia R1 hoody, this is the best piece of clothing kit I have bought. Zips up like a balaclava and makes you look like a ninja, thumbholes to keep your wrist and hands warm and dries really quickly. I wore this lot in the summer on its own or for early morning work I would put a Patagonia long sleeve Capilene underneath it. If I had bought this seven years ago I could have done away with every other base/mid layer I have bought and now rarely wear.

Anyway from this self confessed Patagonia label junkie have a fantastic 2010, hope it brings us a lot of PB’s