Bass

The year gone by…looking back over 2016

Let me start off with an apology for letting this blog slip away…I was thoroughly enjoying writing but Summer came and with it work, fishing and surfing took over and I just lost the flow of regular writing. I guess once you fall out of rhythm it is a hard thing to get back into.

2016 then…it’s been a great year for me in terms of both Surfing and Fishing, I’ve had some awesome surf sessions along with fishing ones.

So to pick back up from where I left things in July…

The end of July saw some pretty good Bass fishing round my beloved Gower coast, there was alot of small Bass about and it became hard at times to find a way of avoiding them and targeting the better Bass. This is where luring in the dark came into its own. Simple tactics, focusing on being in the right places at the right time and complete focus over where and what your lure is doing in the water yielded success.

Ignore the gloves, I had hands that were falling apart from being constantly damp fishing, surfing and working in all weather.

This year really has opened my eyes to night fishing and how much it really is about confidence, a lure with a confident angler on the end will always out fish a lure fished by an unconfident angler (believe me I’ve learnt this the hard way). Something else that I really believe in at night is the power of a WAKE. A waked lure at night has done some real damage this year, not just for myself but a lot of the guys I fish with. A calm flat night, a wake along the surface just seems to drive the Bass mad. Slow but not stupid slow and your sub-surface lure will be just in that surface film waking and enticing the Bass with something to home in on.

August came and the Bass fishing dropped right off…we had a few unseasonal summer swells which saw the likes of Langland and Gennith pumping on quite a few occasions in the sun. I spent a day in Pembrokeshire with Matt Powell of Bass Fishing Wales on the hunt for some of the big Bass he had been both seeing and hooking into but on the day only a few small Bass played ball but we fished some stunning ground and got pretty adventurous. Wetsuits on clambering along cliff edges, near to swimming out to the mark, stuff a navy seal would be proud of.

In August I had my first piece of published work for Sea Angler writing on behalf of BASS, I was really stoked with this and how the piece turned out, and its something I will keep for a long time. With my passion for writing still strong, its something I would really like to make more of and continue and improve on. Hopefully there is more to come.

September saw the Bass fishing at home start to pick up, with local estuary marks that hadn’t fished all year start to produce once again. Once again the Fiiish Black Minnow in the deadly yellow and white combo proved its worth, picking out Bass consistently in water you just wouldn’t look at for lure fishing.

It does get a little clearer further out but not by much…

September is meant to be the month when we get some of the best waves of the year with clean ground swells straight off the atlantic rolling to our shores, yet this year they just never arrived…so with this in mind I headed off to Ireland with a group of Welsh Boys I didn’t know all that well but welcomed me along and made me feel apart of their friendship group along side some awesome Bassing. Here’s a taste of some of the fish had throughout the week across some stunning Irish coastline.

Returning from Ireland, and October on the Horizon, everything should be at its prime, perfect clean autumn swells and Bass hungry on the feed before the water temperature begins to drop…well only one of those turned up, the autumn swells. October was an awesome month for surf and plenty of Autumn session were had. It was also when I headed to Newquay, Cornwall with the Swansea Uni Surf Team to compete in the BUCS Surf Competition, an annual comp that sees universities entering teams of surfers from around the UK, this year had a huge turnout with well over 350 competitors for a weekend of surfing and partying. As part of the Swansea Uni team, I took 5th place individually and as a team we took a respectable 2nd place in the team rankings. I was happy with my performance although I would really like to return next year with my eyes set firmly on making the final.

The waves were consistent back home there after with windy, stormy Langland being a regular thing, something I do thoroughly enjoy as it’s what I grew up surfing.

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Photo – Chris French

Into November, on the back of October’s swells it went flat for what seemed like an eternity. This gave way for calm, gin clear water, something I have rarely seen in November, just look at the image below!! Yes I did use my sunnies as a polarising filter, but it can only show whats there.

The fishing, with the conditions we had, really came on fire. It seemed that the East winds, and sudden drop in temperature drove the Bass well and truly mad. When you found the fish they really played ball, smashing lures in the pitch black with sheer aggression with the average stamp of fish definitely up on what is was for most the year.

Its interesting what has been working at night, far contrast to what you will be typically be told will work at night, again confidence it a huge factor. Not forgetting that deadly wake. But the black at night concept hasn’t seemed so true is all I’m saying…

Winter slab of silver…

December has been a surfing month with plenty of good sessions round Gower, with the crowds of summer dying off as after work surfs are no longer possible. With a new stick from long time shaper John Purton – JP Surfboards, I’m amped to get in the water as much as possible now on my small wave shredder and impressions so far is that it definitely turns crap, gutless waves into waves worth getting wet for. The fin set up also lends itself perfectly to laying down a hard rail and surfing this in small clean waves I can definitely feel an improvement in my flow and rail game.

With the temperatures now dropping rapidly as winter takes its hold, conditions have definitely swung towards surfing, and that will be mainly what I am doing now until April. Piking, stillwater fly fishing and Grayling will be the targets over winter with their sessions taking place when flat or surf is poor. Grayling on the fly is something I am very keen to pick up and learn, theres something oddly satisfying about wading a river in the depths of winter while the ground is frozen and icicles hang from the overhanging branches on the far bank. I also find the czech/french nymphing methods captivating and something I am very keen to learn the ways of.

So to all those reading this, I apologise for the length of this post, but I hope you’ve enjoyed reading as I took you back over my 2016 season. It’s definitely been one to remember and I have a lot to take away from it and continue on with into 2017. A late Merry Christmas and an early Happy New Year.

–

Nathaniel

Braid…the good, the bad and the ugly

Everyone’s opinions on what braid they like is different. Some want silk others want rope. Me…I like somewhere inbetween. As nice as some of these silky smooth 8 strand braids are, there is a part of me that doesn’t quite feel confident in them with a Bass of a lifetime on the end that’s diving towards and across shallow, jagged, barnacle ridden ground…but there is always the argument that any braided line thats tight against a rock is going to snap regardless, but there are undoubtably some that are going to take it alot better than others.

Personally I like a braid that’s friendly to use and enjoyable to cast all day. Hence this I pretty much only use 8 strands for all my lure fishing. Going back to a 4 strand braid since just feels thick, rope like and I can’t help but feel let down casting it and not getting the distance I am used to…(yes Bass aren’t always at distance, often below your feet…but it’s only beneficial to cover as much ground as possible and lets face it, it’s pretty satisfying to see your lure fly out towards the horizon).

Over the last few years I’ve gone through quite a few spools of braid trying different types and brands to see what works for me and how they will do for my various types of fishing.

Daiwa Tournament 8

daiwa 8 green

A very nice braid that I’ve only used in the ridiculously thin but strong 25lb…to use it’s absolute joy! Casts lovely, silent through the guides and I trust the breaking strain of it. It’s pretty strong stuff. Where I found it let me down though is wind knots…I did suffer from wind knots with this braid, it did tend to struggle to bed down nicely even when keeping an eye. Abrasion resistance is also another factor where I wasn’t fused on this braid. Just touching something remotely rough left it chaffed and after a long day fishing and rough dry hand syndrome sets in I was worried handling the braid and found that the area round my trigger grip was left lacking colour and fluffed out fibbers were pretty visible. Never the less though, over clean ground it is a nice braid to use, but for me it doesn’t stand up to the wear and tear or rough ground I fish so personally it’s not the braid for me.

Sunline Castaway

This is my sweet spot. It’s to me a great point between a 4 and 8 strand. Just feeling it you can tell it is a pretty tough braid. Not stupidly thin but just right. I’d call it my goldilocks braid, yes it may miss out on a few yards that other super slick 8 strands can give but it isn’t far off.

What I do like though is how tough it feels, infact I’ve had a fish pull the line across some nasty ground where I really felt it was going to be “goodbye” but the castaway held in there and although chaffed it didn’t straight away give as I feel a lot of other braids would. Pair this with the fact it has a specific saltwater resistant coating it inspires a lot of confidence in me and without that whatever fish you hook into is always going to be at an advantage.

This is the line I’m using at home on the rough, nasty barnacle ridden reefs of Gower this year and after last seasons performance I’m hopeful it will do me proud again. Currently seeing how the lighter 20lb (1.2pe) stuff will do for me since the 25lb has had 2 flawless seasons.

Daiwa J-Braid

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This is a pretty new braid that only came out in the UK this year but wow is it impressive for the money, first impressions were that it feels a marginally thicker, tougher version of the Daiwa Tournament that I really wish suited my fishing better. I first started using it for my UL/LRF fishing, especially the lure fishing I do for Trout and I’ve got to say I’ve been nothing but impressed with it. For £15 a spool, its far cheaper than 90% of other 8 strand braids out there and it has stood up to alot of abuse. Especially the amount of abrasion its got from lures cast into bushes and trees that have been yanked out while the line is wrapped round branches or leaves.

I then went on to load up the spare spool of my Shimano Sustain with it for my trip to Ireland back in April…a week solid fishing I felt would show me if there was any immediate faults in the line, and nope. I could find any, it didn’t let me down. Knot strength was great and it is really nice to use in terms of feel and casting. Yes I cannot be 100% on it from that trip but after 8 months using it for my UL fishing and plenty of hours using it for Bass I got to say it’s up there with one of my favourites so far, especially when it’s half the price of many of it’s competitors (In my opinion) cutting a few yards away doesn’t feel so bad. I feel this could be my go to braid for cleaner or less sharp nasty ground where boulders and kelp is more of a sight as opposed to angry barnacle ledges.

So to round it up…for me personally my go to braid has to be the Sunline Castaway. It’s reliable, nice colour, I trust it 100% and I know that if fish over the rough ground I tend to fish decide to take the upper hand against me then I’m going to feeling rubbing (that the braid will resist to a point) that I can react to before I feel a ping as opposed to other 8 strands where I feel a ping is going to be the first you know of contact with rough ground…for me it’s a practical braid for real fishing purposes.

Zero Bass…ICES 2017 Advice

FullSizeRender Just small changes to our Bass Fishing has in my opinion made a big difference to the number of Bass we are seeing across our coast. But it seems we are far from a sustainable fishery…ICES (International Commission for the Exploration for the Sea) have recommended zero retention of Bass for 2017 after two years of failing to meet their 80 and 90% reductions respectively. See here for the release.

Dispute the evidence if you must but this advice is only going to see more benefit long term, yes it is a shame that as anglers we could very likely see ourselves banned from keeping any Bass during 2017, which I don’t feel we are at all directly responsible for the decline of (if we want to be seen as important stakeholders though I feel we must take some blame and accept restriction)…but the biggest factor here for me is that we could see commercial fishing closed for the year. It has been an absolute farce this year that anglers cannot retain Bass while certain commercial fishing methods may continue nearly as they always have done.

For me I’m being optimistic and thinking long term, I’m going to be out there though and say it I cannot overly sympathise with commercial Bass fishermen (as much as I do think commercial rod and line should be a part of the fishery once we reach a sustainable level). The way I see it those who are in Bass fishing for quick buck and greed will be filtered out, they will be gone (yes sad as they will need to find new jobs) but long term once we see a recovery in the stock we and less pressure from a greed driven commercial lobby we will only be left with those who care about Bass fishing and we can work towards a sustainable fishery.

Just look at what happened in Ireland, complete collapse of Bass stocks and now a sportfishing fishery that is the envy of Northern Europe. Only because the commercial fishermen that once relied on Bass moved on to other things.

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Releasing large Bass like this could one day become nothing but a smoke tinted memory…

In 6 years time I just hope that we could be looking at a sustainable fishery as we see the Spawning Biomass protected in order for the 0-1 year class fish reach maturity to have a huge number of breeding size Bass and even the smaller 1 to 2lb Bass we are seeing in decent numbers at the moment getting chance to sow their seed, and reach specimen size.

Here is BASS’ (Bass Angler’s Sportfishing Society) response to the 2017 recommendations.

I could be hopefully but this is “the bright side of the advice” that I’m looking at and there is every chance it could come through with a Ban.

Just please let us catch and release! Haha.

Time, tide and place

There’s no doubt about it. In Bass fishing time, tide and place is THE most important factor.

You can have all the lures under the sun. Work them beautifully, fire them to the horizon on your flashy jap rod and reel. But…if there’s no fish in front of you and you’re not prepared to cover ground and find them then sorry but results will be disappointing.

While on a walk the other evening it (conveniently passing a mark I’ve been fancying for quite some time) I decided that it couldn’t be left to think about no more and after thinking for a week about when (I guessed) fish would pass through and how I could safely get down, and fish it I had to get out and give it a go as soon as!

I’m sure there’s lots of guys out there that have been on similar walks or passed a mark and thought “Wow that screams Bass” or species of choice. But only then to stick to your banker marks and in your comfortable confident zone but as I’ll come on to. Sometimes scratching that itch, following your hunch and getting out – giving it a go can all be worth it.

Well last night I headed out to said mark that took my fancy and gave it a go! Why not, I’d been to somewhere else I know I could manage fish out of but found a dirty band of muddy water, run off from an afternoon of torrential rain and thunderstorms. So I plucked up the courage and headed to the mark that’s been fizzling on my mind.

Got there it looked perfect…little bouncy but that was going to be more hassle to me than the fish (they were going to love it) long story short I was trying to hit the rip that comes racing through out in front at full distance but with the loose cabbage like weed that was in the water anything that wasn’t on the surface was soon to be chocked. So stuck on the surface and right when it was getting dark and rip well within casting distance a gorgeous gold and plump Bass came up and smashed my Gunfish in a huge boil! Mission accomplished.

So I guess the purpose of this post was partly down to my excitement of fantasising about fishing a mark , scratching the itch and having the outcome I’d hoped for! More so however I hope that it inspires others to get out on that mark they’ve been fancying and had a hunch about and hopefully by stepping out the usual comfort zone of your banker marks you could seek a nice reward! Get out and give it a go…here’s to more exploring!

The Finger of Blame

So as some of you may be aware there is a Bass Ban going on at the moment where no anglers may retain fish…but commercial fishermen may fish for Bass by rod and line and FIXED nets… find out more here

So when last night I saw a boat I presume from Burry Port laying two drift nets across Llangennith (something they aren’t permitted to do until July) last night I was pretty gutted to say the least. I’ve kept to the Ban for Anglers returning all my Bass so far this year yet to see this last night was a kick in the balls.

Where would you rather see Bass? – Here

…or here!

I did ring one of my local fishery officers when I saw it but being out of hours there isn’t much they can do but pass the information on…shame as all they really need to do it catch these boats coming back into the harbour and board them and check the gear being used.

At least when the stock collapses and the scientists call for a complete closure of all Bass fishing we will know who to point the finger of blame at!

Major Craft Skyroad 902 ML Review

Major Craft are a Japanese brand famed with making some of the finest yet value for money lure rods on the Japanese Market. They are widely available in the UK from most tackle shops that specialise in Lure fishing.

Modern lure rods are a world away from the original british spinning rods and japan has lead the way for the slimmest, lightest blanks and a true inspiration for the UK market that is dominated by supremely light fast action spinning rods, the majority of which are Japanese.

My first taste of these light Japanese rods was with a Major Craft Solpara. A stunning rod for under £100, a bit of a steal if you ask me…

In the back of my head though I had always fancied a skyroad, but I had the Solpara and it suited me well. It was light, the action suited my casting and the butt handle felt the right kind of length. The temptation was avoided even with most the guys I fish with back home using and praising them.

All that changed though when I headed to Kerry, Ireland last year on a co-guided trip with Henry Gilbey and John Quinlan. Henry had bought with him 2 Major Craft Skyroads, the 8’6 and the 9’ for us, the clients to use if we wished. As you’d expect I couldn’t resist getting my hands on them to give a thrashing it’s great that Henry can provide rods of such quality high quality for customers on the trip to use! (and you can see yourself putting a nice bend in them once the camera comes out)

Putting the 902ML Skyroad through it’s paces punching a lure into a strong headwind © Henry Gilbey

The first I tried was the 8’6, this length has always been my sweet spot. Not too long, not too short. A fairly fast action that loads up very quickly but there’s no sweet spot to have to find, it just wants to be cast and it’s easy. First session out with it was some topwater fishing for Bass in a shallow rocky bay, this rod just suits topwater lures down to a tee, the lure responded to every little twitch “walking the dog” instantly due to the tips fast recovery, it’s a wand that makes animating your lures truly magical. I then used it the following day on a morning Bass fishing where once again Bass were happy to take lure off the top resulting in 3 fish landed on the infamous IMA Salt Skimmer, this 8’6 really is a joy for surface fishing, it feels great in the hand very light, quality fittings, comfortable handle and a fast action that really punches lure out with ease.

The rod also makes a very very good boat lure rod as I found out later on that afternoon when John took us out on his boat to fish some inshore reefs for Pollock in less than 50 feet of water…

What an afternoon we had with easily over hundred Pollock caught. In the shallow water (for pollocking at least) the fish didn’t blow their swim bladders as is often the case when fishing for pollock over wrecks and offshore reefs, and all fish were easily returned especially with the barbless hooks and the sport they provided was far superior to that of standard “Boat Fishing for Pollock” with the fish not giving up the ghost easily and following up to take the lures within sight just under the surface.

It was the 9ft that I really connected with though and although I originally thought the 8’6 would be the rod for me, the 9ft was just that little bit more perfect (to me). It has a slightly softer feeling tip that gives that extra feel with soft plastics, both weightless and jig heads, with it being extremely nice for the touch and feel of bouncing soft plastics. To me casting felt that bit better with this 9ft and the handle length everything felt right. After 2 days fishing with it I had one on order from Cian at Absolute Fishing ready for fishing with back home.

As with all carbon rods though there is every possibility of getting a flaw in the carbon and it snapping. Unfortunately this is what happened to me first session out with the new rod. I was casting a 4” TT Shad rigged on a 3g weedless hook (total of 18g i believe) and the rod snapped clean above the second eye from the tip. This was replaced free of charge with zero hassle, and it must’ve just been a dodgy blank that slipped quality control. I have before snapped rods due to my own error, tip tangles, over loading and through transport but they have all spliced as such, whereas this was a clean snap and only a few casts into the session.

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Since this replacement though, I have had no issues at all with the rod and it is still an absolute joy to fish with. It’s had plenty of use and landed enough fish for any faults since to have been found, so feel confident saying there is no fault in the model itself, just that I got unlucky, but there could well be a few going round that were from this same dodgy batch I had. Luckily it was replaced so smoothly and no issues have come since. It can happen with all carbon rods and no grudges held.

If you want to get a taste of the modern lure rods and are looking for upmost quality in terms of fittings, blank and weight then you really won’t go wrong with the Skyroad with the length depending on your personal preference. There’s even a 9’6 which is pretty tempting!

Kerry Ireland – April 2016

As some of you (or just those that read the previous blog post) may be aware, I headed off to fish over in Kerry, Ireland at the end of April for 5 days guided fishing with John Quinlan of Thatch Cottage.

Just a few days before heading over to the Eire, the Bass fishing back home in Wales had just turned on and confidence was high as my tally of Bass for the year so far hit 8, considering last year it wasn’t till May I had my first of the year, I was pretty happy with this. Warmed up nicely for Ireland I thought to myself…

So rods, clothes, gear and more tackle than I could ever need packed I headed off to catch my flight from Luton to Kerry.

Upon landing I was greeted by a different sight to last year, the grass which was once the typical emerald green was a straw like beige and the man I was sat next to on the plane told me it had been a cold start to Spring and the grass was late growing back. This cold start was confirmed as I stepped off the plane and a bitter cold breeze chilled my neck resulting in shimmering shoulders and rubbing hands. Never the less John had been catching Bass consistently and if anyone could find fish in tricky weather it would be him, “you’re in safe hands I told myself”. Outside the airport I was met by the grinning Irish man himself, we caught up, headed back to the Cottage where we were greeted with some of his wife – Lyn’s fine homemade cooking. 13092099_1009036092522413_7569311496874629222_n

So the fishing…

The Pollock fishing I experienced here last year was phenomenal and the trip begun with the hope of big Pollock as we waited for the afternoon’s flooding tide that would see the Bass coming in on the feed as it passed over the sun-warmed rocks.

We hiked over 5 miles of tough steep terrain to reach the ledge were we hoped the Pollock would be queuing up to hit my lures…stunning scenery as we looked out at the famous Skellig Islands (where some of the scenes from the latest Star Wars The Force Awakens was filmed) unfortunately the Pollock just weren’t there or if they were…they were just plain rude, no lure could tempt them. Perhaps the bait the Gannets were diving for a mile offshore had something to do with it…they were out there, not in close.
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Never the less we made up for this with an afternoon of Bass fishing the really got me excited and the fishless but scenic hike was soon forgotten, just as we got down to the water I spotted a Bass sitting in the foaming whitewater at the edge of a gully. This got me proper excited as my tongue poked half out the corner of my mouth in concentration as I hunched over and lightly cast my lure just beyond where it saw it. This happened a further 2 times, the fish were obviously about but with the temperatures low, gin clear water and bright sunshine, they weren’t feeding or easily fooled. Never the less, on we moved. As we clambered down to our next mark we could see some tidy fish cruising about, mullet we agreed, any Bass angler will have seen this time and time again. Mullet doing their best to fool us into thinking they are Bass. But wait…there was a fish deeper there, it’s head far chunkier…that’s a Bass! As we got our feet secure on the rock and the waves crashed around us, we could see a whole school of Bass and not small “schoolies”- good Bass, all well worth catching as they cruised across the sand path between the two reefs. Really heart in mouth stuff!! First cast, follow. “DAMN TAKE IT!!” I shrieked in my mind, as I bounced the soft plastic along the bottom and we saw in the crystal clear water 3 Bass following the lure, as if inspecting what it’s doing there but nope, not feeding. This happened repeatedly for quite a few casts. John informed me that the Bass here can often be tricky and that there is such an abundance of Sandeels that they can be picky about when they feed and what lures they hit. It was at the mention of Sandeels that I remembered I had some Sunslicker Gibbon Paddle Ups, a unique lure with upside down paddle tail but wow it looks like a Sandeel in the water. So on it went and second cast crawling it along the bottom on one of John’s home poured jig heads. WHAM. Fish on!

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After a tidy scrap, the fish was swung up with the surging waves and landed, a quick photo and the release was filmed as it swam off strong to give another visiting angler the joy of such a stunning fish. Check out the clip below!

<p><a href=”https://vimeo.com/165852707″>Kerry Bass Fishing – Thatch Cottage Ireland</a> from <a href=”https://vimeo.com/user7271313″>NathanielSurf</a> on <a href=”https://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a>.</p>

With the cold weather though, the Bass fishing became hard. We persisted on through out the week. Surprisingly it was the shallow reefs where we saw the most Bass, which in theory should’ve been the coldest areas in the bitter north winds, but as is always the case in fishing, you never really know. I recall seeing a particularly nice Bass sitting in the shallows cruising in and out of the weed looking for prey but a few casts towards it saw it swim back out towards the deeper water, not interested.

Weightless soft plastics were the order of the day over this ground, with a new lure to me being highly impressive – Keitech Sexy Impact (bit of a funny name but it does look like a pretty sexy Sandeel in the water!) this lure yielded success in a few lost Bass, follows and one landed. A lure that will stay in my box! There was also a very nice fish, that would have easily been my best Irish Bass to date that followed in my Dolive Stick fished snail pace slow but last minute as I saw it homing in on the lure it flicked its tail and decided it didn’t fancy playing.

Tricky fishing but nice to pick them out on weightless soft plastics, something I’ve not had a huge amount of success with before.

Staying with me was also a very talented Dutch fly Angler – Anton Hellings, he managed a few on the fly, something pretty exciting to see and very commendable working so hard to get a fly out in tricky conditions.

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A nice Bass on the fly in tricky conditions for Anton… I think he was impressed with the size of their mouths or ready to give it a kiss.

As those who know me or read this blog will be aware, I’ve got a growing interest in fly fishing, especially for trout, so being in Kerry and having multiple Loughs at reach, a day on a lough was in order. Making the most of having two very talented fly anglers with me to show me the ropes of this lough style it wasn’t long before I got the hang of it and we were managing multiple fish per drift. Nothing big, but some stunning wild Brown Trout using traditional methods, flies tied by John that morning while surrounded by stunning scenery. We even had a sighting of a Sea Eagle, a bird that was once native to this part of Ireland before hunting wiped them out, they have since been reintroduced and to see one so close up, then into flight was something special.

Small, Pretty and Acrobatic – Irish Brown Trout

Seeing Bass is something I’m not quite used to, back home we are rarely blessed with gin clear water and we rarely if ever see the Bass we catch. But seeing Bass you weren’t catching or would half heartedly follow your lure really was something else, anyone that spots Bass puts a lure in front of them and then catches them, I take my hat off to you because just three days of it showed me just how tricky fishing it can be when Bass are solitary in clear water.

It often seemed the case in these clear water scenarios to give the fish something different. One evening session in particular showed me this, I had been getting follows on Fiiish Black Minnow’s, Komomo’s and other soft plastics worked fairly slow but it wasn’t until I clipped on a Shoreline Shiner and cranked it pretty fast through the foaming white water that a beautiful conditioned Bass showed interest, this was in an area I had thrashed with a manner of lures but followed or ignored. Something different was done, and it became fruitful. Food for thought!

All in all, I had a superb week with John at Thatch Cottage, the food was superb, comfortable stay, and he did his best to ensure the fishing despite tricky conditions was productive. Not to mention his encyclopedia mind of fishing knowledge that I did my best to pick dry over my stay. Yes the Bass fishing wasn’t what it could have been for Kerry but that’s no fault of our own, simply mother nature was against us but John consistently put us where the fish were.

I’ll be back!!

If you’d like to find out more about Thatch Cottage and fishing with John, visit their website http://kerrybassfishing.com/

Hook'n'Surf