Friday 26 June 2009

A great mornings fishing.

Paul provided the thunder with his snoring whilst Nick did a
great job on the silver lightning - Bill caught his first ever bass. A day I will never forget, great company - great fishing.
Landing gear and a full report of the week is dicussed in Bass Fly&Lure Fishing Files later this weekend.




A classic mornings bass fishing at todays workshop with Nick, Paul and Bill - with over twenty fish landed it proved to be a great ending to a very up and down week, but one with lots of nice fish!

Thursday 25 June 2009

How difficult is SWFF for bass on the Wexford Coast?


















The reality is of course very difficult - you may be a capable fly fisherman but as conditions dictate the fickle nature of the fish, many factors are beyond your and indeed my control. This 'grip' that elemental forces have on the fishing is particularly evident this week and sometimes, as I have often seen before, a deterioration can happen quickly and is often not perceived as possible in having a negative effect on the fishing. A breeze blowing from a particular direction, I mean how could it?

I distinctly remember an angling journalist remarking to me last September that he felt that he had been brought to Ireland in the wrong season for fishing 'seabass' and was very dissapointed with the fishing. He knew more about bass fishing in Wexford than I did. I asked him how was his fly casting this week - he said it was the best it had ever been. He was a right hander.

The 'difficulties' and the 'positives' of the fishing influences are the subject of the next post in SWFF tips. This is not a post on the technicalities of casting, line management, presentation or similar subjects but of those ingredients that are beyond our control and how we must deal with them too.

Wednesday 24 June 2009

Andrews C+R - 79 cm's































A full report in his own words in Bass Fly&Lure Fishing Files NOW

.....The fish swam over again and by the lure. He was heading out past it again and had actually gone past and behind it., i thought im not letting him away a second time so i gave the lure 2 quick jerks, he turned like a flash and nailed the lure......

Sunday 21 June 2009

Latest Reports


















With lots of fish now showing in all the systems plus the prospect of a great weeks weather and tides ahead its all systems go. Mike hits and returns an 8-pounder confirming Richard is a Jonah! All details of the latest catches, techniques and tactics in BASS FLY & LURE FISHING FILES tomorrow!

Plus Allens SWFF Journey - Bass Workshop May 5th, Casting Workshop-Glenda Powell June 01st, Refresher bass fishing techniques June 12th - JUNE 22 first bass on the fly (see above)!

The first of many.

Saltwater Lure fishing Tips - Part 12 of 21 - splash, bubble and POP.........





























Theres more to poppers than you might think! Certainly casting a popper and working it back in the much described 'erratic fashion' does work, but do you find yourself wondering why some days are better than others?

Traditional technique - simpy cast you popper and let it land. Tighten down to your lure by winding a little line and when you see your lure moving a little then simply move your rod tip in a sharp pull - provided you are using braid and a reasonably stiffish rod you lure will generate a 'bow wave'. This bow wave is related to the type of movement you make with your rod arm and the size and shape of the concave face of your lure. Shorter snappier movements make different waves than longer strokes. Experiment with movements and lure shapes. Often an exaggerated or uncontrolled motion will see you lure turning end over end and fouling upon the mainline, with braid minimal movements create the most effective fishing.

Stop and go - Combining these movements above with periods of stopping the lure give the fish the opportunity to locate the source of all this disturbance. Constant popping with constant retriving whilst on occassion does produce fish will also cause you to miss many opportunities. Adding a stop creates a longer retrieve time and hence your lure is fishing for a longer period - time for fish to find it! Add stops for as long as twenty seconds if you can stand the suspense!

Bubble stream generation - Creating a bubble stream can often produce results where popping wont. A buuble stream is simply a long pull of the lure through the water causing a 'whoooshh' followed by a stop often just subsuface. Bass locate the lures through their well tuned senses and this technique creates both longer and different sounds coupled to a visual stream of bubbles.
Can you 'walk' a popper? - If you own the new generation of poppers then not only can you perform all of the above but you can also combine it with the 'walk the dog' technique. Some poppers are more difficult to walk than others, some are downright impossible but when you can achieve the combination of walk and pop its often unbeatable.
Not all poppers are created equal - The concave face of your popper is unique to the particular model. The angle that this face is presented at is also different across ranges of lures. Owning one popper doesnt mean 'you have a popper and dont need any more'. Sounds, shapes, splash types, even static presentations all make differences to your fishing on the day.

Tuesday 16 June 2009

Opening Day 2009

Tight lines to everbody for the coming seaon of 2009! Its a nice day for opening, lets hope it stays that way for the rest of the season.

Bass Fly&Lure Fishing Files will be updated regularly from today until the end of the season.

bendy rods in 2009
Jim

Thursday 11 June 2009

Italian Video Opportunity with Angelo Piller - Fly Fishing for Bass in Wexford

I'm really looking forward to the 19th of June - Angelo contacted me recently about the possibility of filming fly fishing for bass in Wexford - we will work together for seven days in Wexfords many different locations. These are his words.....

....am planning a holiday with my girlfriend, probably June. I was thinking to bring her in a warm place (where obviously I can fish), but your website is so good, I can try to convince her to try Ireland. Consider that I live in the italian dolomites, where it's warm only in summer.













I have recenly started a new activity, a kind of Flyfishing Moviemagazine: http://www.reelvideo.eu/
Next monday I'll send you one copy.

In Italy interest for sea bass has recently started, and it would be great if I could make a short film about you and seabass fly fishing. How are the chances...is there a possibilty to film the capture of three or four sea bass?

I am responsable for the magazine section of Pipam: http://www.pipam.com/ which is the nr.1 italian webpage in Italy with almost 5000 subscribers, I am interested in writing an article about this experience too.

I can only hope the weather holds up, its a real opportunity to demonstrate the techniques, flies and the wonderful venues and fishing challenges that the south east offers to the saltwater fly fisherman.

http://www.flyfishitaly.com/

Sunday 7 June 2009

The Bass Fishing Flies

For those of you who asked, the bass flies that are displaying in the post below have been tied by the following people

Andy Elliott - visitor 2008
Rudy van Duinjhoven - visitor 2007
Enrico Puglisi -
Ed Mitchell - visitor 2004
Marc Petitjean - visitor 2006
and Rod Tye -











Sadly Rod Tye is no longer with us. The flies average in length from 6 to 9 inches, because of good design and a clever use of material most can be cast to bass with a #8 and even a #7 on good days!

The Puglisi works really well in the surf and I use a G-Loomis stinger double hander to cast 35-40 yards overhead with a Rio outbound short.

Tuesday 2 June 2009

Bass Fly Fishing Ireland - Part 19 -Tackling up for bass - Fly Fishing

7Below is list of material suitable or needed for fly fishing bass in Ireland, please find that the following items are all very suitable, budget, recommended and even top of the range.

Fly Reels

Loop Evotec CLW8
Okuma Airframe 7/9
Danica Traditional 6/9

Ross Evolution
Danielsson Lw6-9
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Fly Rods from #7 - #9 – occasionally #10 in late Autumn occassionaly
Vision 3 zone sws €155.00
Lefty Kreh TiCrX €185.00
Scierra BW2 €275.00
Redington CPXsw
Sage Xi2
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Fly Lines #7- #9 – occasionally #10 in late Autumn
Floating and Intermediate
Rio Aqualux striper
Rio Outbound Inter and Rio outbound short for estuary wading/surf fishing
Teeny TS XD
Scientific anglers mastery series
Vision extreme distance
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Suggested Leader material -

Rio Flouroflex
Frog hair deep blue
Varivas

Frog hair deep blue
Rio saltwater tapered leaders


Rio Bonefish/permit tapered leaders
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Backing

Dacron backing 75-100ms 12-15 kgs
Flies – Deceivers/clousers/poppers/sliders – white/white& chartreuse/
Olive/white – grey/lavende/blue/white – from 3cms – 20cms
Stripping Basket

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New Website

The beginning AND the end…

Forwarded to - The Irish Bass Policy Group (David McInerny, John Quinlan, Shane O Reilly, Mike Hennessy, Dr William Roche, Dr Nial O'Ma...