Beulah Surf and Switch Rods

The most versatile fly rods on the planet. Can be used with one hand or two. High stick, Double haul, roll cast, single and two hand spey, and send the line zinging through the air well over 100 feet with a simple two hand over head cast. The Switch rods are very light, boat friendly and an alternative to two handed spey rods. The ultimate rod for most fresh water and coastal fishing situations. Each Switch rod is 10'6", 4pc construction from a blend of IM8 graphite that positions the fibers to maximize the strength/casting ability in each section of the rod. Each Switch rod comes with a rod sock and cordura carrying case. How would it feel to out cast your buddy who has a 13-15' stick!
Beulah Fly Rods was the first company to successfully manufacture and market a full line of Switch rods in 2005. Presently in 2009, Beulah continue to offer the most comprehensive line up of Switch and Surf fly rods including five models 4/5 through 8/9. With Beulah Switch and surf rods each size rod is defined by its own unique action and taper.

AVAILABLE HERE FROM LATE JUNE 2010 -

Fishing Report - April 24th - David and Jim

David and I stole two days freshwater fly fishing in Irelands north west last week. We made a dash across the country to spend two days fishing with Kenny Sloane a well known fishing guide from the area. The plan was to fish for pike on thursday and again on friday morning with a sprinkling of trout fishing on Friday afternoon. We had an exceptional few days fishing with 18 pike to the boat (several over the 5kg mark) on Thursday and similar numbers on Friday.

The highlight of the two days was the fish David took on Friday morning in excess of 20lbs on the scales. Some of the photos I made can be seen in the posts below.

Landing Gear

Rods: Sage xi2, Redington CPx, Guideline,
Reels: Danielsson LW 6/9, Lamson Velocity, Hardy Angel
Lines: Rio Outbounds inters and floaters
Leaders : Rio toothy critters (adapted)
Flies: As per photos below

a predator

Fishing Report - April 23rd - David and Jim

photos blogged live via a Sony Ericsson Mobile

Bass fly fishing Ireland - Part 23 - The BTDG.

This is a fly tied for me by Andy Elliott – the BTDG or the bucktail deceiver gurgler.

The original gurgler as invented and tied by Jack Gartside must rank as one of the greatest surface fly ties of all time. Falling between a popper and a slider its easy to cast and when on the water it can perform all sorts of tricks - slides/squirts/splash. A slow retrieve will of course generate a wake when in calm water, whilst a short pull will create a spit and a splash much like frightened baitfish. At the end of your retrieve the gurgler will lift easily off the water, often easier than poppers do, that sometimes grip and ‘burst’ free if not managed properly, and during the cast you will find the gurgler easy to put out there, where the fish are.

Now take Bob Popovics buck tail deceiver. Seen put into action HERE and HERE and it rapidly becomes a favourite fly of many people. Tied skinny to get down deeper and with more material to ride higher in the tide. The BTD is tied by using shorter and successively more compacted layers of buck tail it achieves a wonderful profile – it has almost endless possibilities and when tied on spec with a tier like Andy the results are often incredible.

Combining the gurgler with the BTD results in a very, very effective fly indeed. The fish eye view is a solid and wide baitfish profile. The bucktail fibres breathe in and out on retrieving and stopping and the gurgler ‘prow’ allows you to create a lot of splash and wake and searching interesting noise. Highly recommended these flies are available HERE

Forecasting the weather - April - 8

I came across a little book recently - Signpost to the weather by D&K Barlett. First published in 1949, I have extracted their forecasts for each month of the year. I hope you will enjoy their weather theories over the next few months –

The Month of April according to D&K Barlett with BASS indications by Jim Hendrick

During this month there can be changeable weather, but on the whole it is fairly bright and sunny. Prolonged spells of heavy rain are very unlikely, and it usualy falls in light sharp showers.
During the calm sunny days it can be quite warm, but cool nights with frost usually follow. If a warm spell occurs a chilly one with dull dys usually follows.

If the latter part of March has been wet some fog can occur during quiet spelss of the month.
The sea around our coasts is still very cool and is slowly responding to the heat of the sun, it heats slower than the land hence coastal fog may occur at times.

1st to 7th - Can begin chilly, with occassional snow. The weather gradually improves later in the week.

8th to 15th - Frequently a short dry fine spell the n followed by showery weather

16th to 23rd - A changeable time, with mixed weather towards the end of the week

24th to 31st The week is usually unsettled at first, followed by the odd bright days and occasional showers

Bass Fishing: this is the first month of the new year that I would have some optimism in catching bass on the Wexford coast. These tentative opportunities begin on the tides at the end of the month but things will remain challenging from a lure and fly perspective until the period just before the beginning of the closed season in May.

Rating 2/5
April Bass Fishuing Experiences Here Here Here

In school today

Temporary Link to DAN and RUTH fly/lure fishing in Cork

Who's zooming who?

When a great white meets some kayakers HERE

Saltwater Lure Fishing - Part 13 of 21 My Spring setup

Since my posting about my basic set up for bass fly fishing in Wexford -What do I bring and what do I fish with? I have had lots of questions regarding my Lure fishing set up.
So in answer to your queries the following is a list of my basic personal Lure Fishing Bass Setup - Please click on the links for more details and diagrams/animations/help -

If all of this is new to you why not consider attending a dedicated Lure Fishing Workshop at SEAi – workshops are run on an individual basis on request

The Basics

The Reel – Shimano Twin Power 3500
The Rods – From SMITH

BS-90RS 9' 650mm 8～20lb 10～40g 245g 2 pieces – 141cm

BS-86SPL 8'6" 500mm 6～16lb 4～15g 173g 2 pieces – 134cm

The Line – Power pro 9kgs and 5kgs – with Rio Fluoroflex tippet

The Detail

I have pre-loaded 20 lbs BS Dacron fly fishing backing on both spools of the Shimano as I only carry 135 metres of braid (both spools loaded with different BS)
Bimini twist on the line end of the backing with a doubled over closing knot to provide double loops
Mainline powerpro braid tied to the backing using an Allbright knot to the double loops of the bimini

14lbs Fluoroflex is tied at the end of the mainline braid using a Reverse Allbright Knot

The leader BS and mainline BS depends on the rod / lure/ presentation I am making to the fish

I will place a rapala knot at the end of a one meter (varies) leader of Fluoroflex to attach to my lure

My go-to hard lure on a typical Spring day (depending on water clarity) would be a Lucky Craft pointer 78SP - view in full screen mode for best effect

I will fish with the BS-86 at this time of year (spring) with small soft lures and smaller sub-surface or surface lures and change up to the BS-90 only when necessary


The Gear

One small Fishpond waist Pack containing ALL of the following
Two small lure boxes one containing surface lures the other containing sub surface lures
One small lure box containing soft lures and various jig heads
One Fishpond nippers
One Stream works forceps
Spare tippet material
One spare spool loaded with alternate braided line
One pair of Sunglasses – Tan or yellow - NEVER leave without them
Small tube of sun factor
One waterproof camera

All the above available at www.thecoastalflyshop.com

Under / Wader Wear
all the following are breathable

Hellyhansen base layer - warm for this time of year
Patagonia insulator pants (maybe) Redington Fleece Vision Ikon Waders and Jacket – Vision boots (felt/stud)

Sea Surface Temperatures April

Surface Temperature 2010 04-10 Apr



















Surface Temperature 2009 05-11 Apr

Smith DD Panish 70F

Pat Connolly from Waterford was fishing this morning hoping to hit a nice trout - he did land silver but of a different kind! Take a look HERE

In the washing machine

Fishing Report - April 11th Andrew and Philip

photos blogged live via a Sony Ericsson Mobile

This is progress....!

Dutch rod and line sea bass fishery enters sustainability assessment process

THE Dutch Organization of Professional Rod and Line Fishermen (VBHL) have entered full assessment for Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification.
The VBHL rod and line sea bass fishery will be assessed against the MSC standard for sustainable and well-managed fisheries. This is the latest step in fulfilling the Dutch demersal fleet’s 2008 commitment to enter all their fisheries in the MSC programme by 2012.
The Dutch professional rod and line fishery for sea bass is a relatively new fishery. It developed from a practice where recreational fishers sold part of their catches. In 2005 the Dutch Government banned the sale of fish caught with unregistered fishing vessels amidst complaints of high unofficial landings from recreational fishers.
The fishing fleet operated by VBHL members consist of 19 small (under 10 m) fishing boats. They fish mainly in the daytime, around 70 miles out at sea and the boats normally make one-day fishing trips. On board, fishing is carried out with a fishing rod. The boats are normally crewed with two or three fishers and catch around 100 tons per year.
Imre Schep, chairman a.i. of the VBHL Netherlands says: “By embarking on the MSC journey and working to meet the sustainability criteria, we hope to be able to contribute in a more structured way to the management of the fishery. Increasingly, awareness is on the rise both in the fishing industry and among consumers, resulting in a balance between supply and demand. If successful, we also expect a better and more stable price for our products and hope that it will influence other fisheries to follow in our footsteps. The MSC has set a compelling vision and has inspired us to be part of this drive towards sustainability.”
Karin Fredrikze of MSC Netherlands says: “I’m delighted to welcome the VBHL fishery into assessment. If successful, this fishery not only demonstrates that it is a sustainable, well-managed fishery, but can also supply an increasing demand for fresh seafood by the foodservice sector.”
Accredited certification company SGS Nederland B.V. will carry out the independent, third-party assessment. All interested stakeholders are encouraged to contact Mr Ing. Sander Buijs on +31 612 965 272 or email

Conditions South East - Week 14

I have made some layout changes to the blog over the last few days as you can see in the Contents section. I have decided to include and re-introduce Weekly Fishing Conditions and Regular Fishing Reports as part of the update to the blog. You can see older posts from 2008 currently in the contents section.

Also included is a new section Bass Fishing Influences and News and bass fishing notes.

I hope you will find these helpful for your fishing over the next few weeks around the South East Coasts.

Bendy Rods

Jim

A Blind Eye For Bass - from 2009

005 May Guides Diary

Tough times in Cork

The Irish Examiner newspaper puplished an excellent article yesterday written by Donal Hickey - Bass stocks face annihilation as FIF seek u-turn.

This was also accompanied by editorial support by the newspaper.

See the full article HERE Monday April 05th.

Bass fly fishing Ireland - Part 22 - The Set Up

With spring fast approaching lots of people ask me what is my basic set up for bass fly fishing in Wexford. What do I bring and what do I fish with? The following is a list of my basic personal Fly Fishing Bass Setup - Please click on the links for more details and diagrams/animations

The Basics

The Reel - Danielsson L5W 6/9
The Rod - Redington CPX #8
The Line - Rio Aqualux Striped Bass Line at this time of year plus a Rio Outbound WF8I/S

The Detail

20 pound Dacron backing in a high-viz colour like chartreuse or orange
2 wraps around the barrel of the spool, attached to the spool with a 6-turn Uni Knot
Bimini twist on the line end of the backing with a doubled over closing knot to provide double loops
I will cast with a #8 line on a light windy day and an #9 line on a strong windy day, but I will cast both on the #8 weight Redington CPX at this time of year
I will whip a loop with fly tying thread on the backing end of the fly line, sealed with superglue or Zap A Gap
I will place another whipped loop in the leader end of the fly line
Tapered leaders hand-tied with Rio Saltwater Hard Mono
I will tie a Perfection loop in the fly line end of my leader
The Leader is built and tapered with blood knots, (alternative reverse allbrights if using droppers) starting with 40 lb Rio Hard Mono, going to 33 lb, then 22 lb, then 15 lb
Tippet section of leader is 18 lb Rio Fluoroflex plus. Its diameter is smaller than than that of the mono.
The go-to fly on a typical day would be a chartreuse and white Lefty Kreh deceiver about 2.5 inches long tied with a Non-Slip Mono Loop.

The Gear

One small Caribee or Simms bum bag containing ALL of the following
Two small C+F fly boxes one containg deceivers, the other containing clousers
One Fishpond nippers
One Stream works forceps
Spare braided loops and super glue
Ten pre built leaders 9 - 10 feet
Spare tippet material
One spare spool loaded with alternate fly line
One pair of Smith Sunglasses – Tan or yellow - NEVER leave without them
Small tube of sun factor
One Olympus MJU
One stripping basket

Under / Wader Wear

all the following are breathable

Hellyhansen base layer - warm for this time of year
Patagonia insulator pants (maybe) and fleece
Vision Extreme Waders and Jacket
Vision felt/stud boots