Part Four- You, your boat and the fishOver the years you meet a lot of very interesting people. I happened to meet John Devereux owner of the Celtic Lady when I was much younger (12) when I was deep sea fishing with my father. I met him as an adult for the first time during the early autumn of 2003. At the same time I was guiding Clive Gammon for bass fishing in Wexford. Not that Clive needed it of course - for he had been fishing here with Des Brennan since the early nineteen fifties.
I was fishing in the company of legends. John is the oldest serving coxswain in the history of the RNLI and Clive well......we were fishing the race using live sandeels. John and I have fished the race ever since aboard the Celtic Lady, regularly catching some superb fish, having great fun and even experiencng some scary and of course frustrating moments. We learned and probably, for the first time in these waters witnessed a lot of new fishing together.
For us working at the race, it was about boat positioning, lure choice, presentations and then re-positioning - a constant learning process. In all the years we have bass fished so far, with so many fish and experiences, we have learned that the boat and its presence and position is the singular most important factor for success. Not only does it influence your fishing but it also influnces the fishing around you, and other boats also affect you. Very few people understand this and hence the fishing is o
ften not at its best or even non existent. Fish are spooked and driven elsewhere by many simple factors - so simple sometimes people cant see them and then everyone looses.photo of Clive courtesy of Terry Thomas.
