Current surface water temperatures

Saltwater Lure Fishing Fundamentals for beginners

Saltwater Lure Fishing Series - first published Irish Angler 2004

1. Improve your saltwater lure fishing introduction.
2. Lure and tackle choices.
3. On the big blue.

Part Two

I am often asked the question ‘Which lure is the best Jim?’ I always answer ‘The one which you think is the best.’ This is not Jim trying to be smart or quipping but it is often the case that an angler will feel more confident with one type or make of lure than another. He will often feel that it is the best lure available and will go to extremes to hide it from other anglers. He sometimes catches fish on this lure but there are times when he doesn’t. When he goes fishing again he fishes with the same lure, often in the same place and with the same method. He may or may not catch fish. Lets look at the range of lures available to the modern saltwater angler and why some are more popular than others.

Metal spinners or jigs like the famous Kilty lure are now famous in Ireland. Other lures in this range are the ABU krill and Toby. The renowned German bait is still often indispensable and the simple but deadly Dexter wedge is a good fish catcher. This is the range and type of lure that most saltwater anglers are familiar with, spinning for sea trout, bass, pollack and mackerel with these lures is commonplace and widespread in Ireland. Anglers use medium to heavy spinning rods of various lengths and spinning reels loaded with monofilament line. The spinners are attached to the line with a simple swivel.

The activity of ‘spinning’ is relatively straightforward when the angler is fishing over clean ground. The spinner is simply cast out and retrieved and then re-cast. Varying the speed of retrieve allows the angler to speed up or slow down the lure and hence change its position in the water ‘table’. When fishing over rough, rocky or broken ground with a metal spinner, things often become more difficult. There is often a subconscious fear that the spinner is fishing too deep and close to the rocks and the angler may be apprehensive about loosing the spinner by getting it caught. As a result the spinner will be retrieved rather quickly and higher in the water ‘table’ where fish may fail to react to it. Fish are often secure closer to the cover of rocks and weed.

In order to improve your catch rate if you are fishing with a metal spinner I would recommend that you try and fish as close to the submerged rocks as possible quite frequently during your fishing session. To avoid or at least reduce possible tackle losses reduce your treble hook to a single. If you are fishing over an area that is covered by high tide then it is often possible to retrieve lost spinners at low water. My grandfather showed me a trick I used as a young angler whilst fishing the Forlorn Point in Kilmore Co.Wexford. Take your spinner then attach your swivel, then attach about fifteen feet of 20-pound test monofilament to your mainline which should be about 12-14 pounds test, you can use a double blood or uni-knot. When you are fishing and then find you are stuck simply pull for a break after making valid attempts to free your spinner. The line will generally break at the knot. When the tide retreats its very easy to locate the ‘leader’ of heavy line which will lead you to your spinner. I once as a boy spent an entire months summer holiday bass fishing in Kilmore with two Jensen Jigs. I lost and retrieved them several times and I fished them until their coatings disappeared.

As I mentioned in part one, most angling shops have a wide stock of what I like to call Lures. These are different from the metal spoons, spinners and jigs, which we spoke about above, and they also have very different fishing methods. Some of most popular range within this ‘modern’ type of lure is Rapala, Storm and Duel. There are many others like lucky craft, Smith and Jackson too. The Rapala J13, J9 and J7 are very famous bass lures. They are often called jerk baits. The jointed body allows the lure to swim with a unique action that has been imitated by several other lure manufacturers. The main features you will notice about this type of lure are

1. Its fuller profile – it has a more realistic shape, colour and form than a metal jig
2. It may well have a diving vane at the front
3. It may have a rattle inside and you may feel or hear objects moving inside
4. It will feel light
5. It will be indicated on the packaging as to whether it is a floating, or sinking lure.

Lets take a closer look at each point. The fuller profile of the Rapala type lure is different to your metal jigs. Its form suggests a ‘fishy’ presence in the water and its colour will be completely different than a spinner. The vast amounts of colours available within a lure range should not put you off and we will discuss this later. The second thing on our list is the diving vane of clear plastic situated at the front of the lure. This vane forces the lure to ‘dive’ when retrieved and it also causes eddies around the lure causing it to swim actively. The deeper the angle and the longer the vane the deeper the lure will swim, a shallow swimming lure will not have as steep an angled vane. It is important to mention that on the lure packaging the lure diving depth is often indicated.

When you are examining the lure closer you will often hear objects moving about inside. These generally serve two or three purposes. Take a storm chug bug for instance, which is a floating lure and shake it. It has a very loud and distinctive rattle that can be heard very easily. This is caused by several ball bearings inside. This rattle acts as a fish attractor. The other purpose these ball bearings serve is in casting. When the lure is suspended in the cast the ball bearings drop to the bottom of the lure. This creates a weight distribution, which is far easier to cast. With more complex lures like the Aile Magnet the distribution of weight is a key factor in maintaining the balance of the lure and hence a natural appearance when it is been fished.

On the packaging of the lure it is generally indicated as to whether the lure is a diving or suspending version. This is an important factor in your fishing decisions. By been able to make several different presentations with your lure at various depths you can fish very, very effectively. Take a Rapala J13 floater for instance. You cast the lure and it floats on top of the water, when you retrieve it, it swims and dives to its indicated depth usually one or two metres. When you stop retrieving it will return to the surface if it’s a floating version. If it’s a suspending version it will simply remain at rest moving slowly in the currents until you begin to retrieve it again. Deadly effective.

These lures will feel light in the hand when held, especially in comparison to your metal jigs. Fishing with heavy mono will not be effective for your fishing. It will restrict your ability to cast any distance and it will have adverse effects on your lures swimming action. I would suggest that you fish with a high quality monofilament of about 10-14 pounds test or if you can afford to I would strongly recommend fishing with braid. A braided line of 30 pounds test has the equivalent diameter of 8 pounds test monofilament.

If you do invest in some lures and lure fishing equipment please bear in mind the following. When using braid always purchase a good quality reel that has a slow oscillating feature. This will improve line lay and helps resist burying of the braid on the spool during retrieves. Without this feature especially with less ‘modern’ braids you will experience tangles that the devil himself would be proud of. Always attach a leader length of fluorocarbon or monofilament to the end of your braid. This should be about one metre in length and be of around 20 pounds test. Join the braid to the leader using the allbright or reverse allbright knot. This leader will ensure a number of things. Firstly the multiple hook points on your lure will not ‘pierce’ the braid and get tangled whilst tumbling through the cast. Also sometimes whilst playing or striking a fish line can be drawn across a hook barb – braid can be deteriorated by this quite quickly and show no visible signs of wear. This leader will also allow a little shock absorption (as well as your rod) as remember braid has zero stretch.

So what range do you need to carry from a beginner’s point of view? To allow effective presentation of baits and lures across the widest range to predatory fish I would recommend the following -

· Spinners and spoons

· The Kilty lure

· The ABU krill

· The ABU Toby

· Jerk Baits

· Rapala J13, J11 Floating

· Lucky craft flash minnow

· Storm thundersticks, yo zuri's or similar

· Surface Lures

· Storm chug bug

· Rapala skitter walk

Duel Aile Magnet

While colour is important I would concentrate at the beginning on buying two fishy type colours of each lure and one bright type like yellow and white or a red and white combination. You should have a compact yet comprehensive range with this selection allowing you to fish effectively for all major saltwater predatory species in Ireland. In the next issue we will address effective methods and the various techniques required to fish your lures more effectively. We will concentrate on selection; colour and how to target you preferred species.

NEW PE+ Crystal Line from Cortland

A new crystal clear FLOATING fly line now available from Cortland for fishing warm water only! Surely a cold water solution is not far away..........

This is what Cortland have to say

The all-new Precision PE+ Crystal is formulated with a proprietary blend of polyethylene and special copolymers. Built on a nylon monofilament core, the PE+ Crystal’s patent-pending crystal-clear jacket is naturally lighter than water, eliminating the need for micro-balloons or other agents to make it float. The hard, ultra-smooth PE+ line jacket finish has a lower coefficient of friction than any production floating line ever built, so it shoots silently through the guides and casts faster and farther than equivalent PVC-coated floating lines. The tough, new PE+ line jacket is also much more resistant to cuts / abrasion and is fused to the monofilament core with an almost unbreakable bond so nail knots hold securely and there is never any separation of jacket and core. It’s high tensile strength virtually eliminates stretch for instantaneous hook sets and incredible sensitivity. The PE+ jacket is also UV stable, will not absorb water, is highly resistant to chemicals -- and won’t soften or dissolve when exposed to DEET, gasoline or most other solvents. And, unlike PVC-coated fly lines, they are 100% recyclable.

www.cortlandline.com

Ireland remains a Great destination

Just published Partir Pecher (march-april-may edition) features NINE pages on bass fishing in Wexford, Ireland. Ireland holds its own as a unique location against more exotic destinations like the Bahamas, Greenland and Alaska, because of the quality of the bass fishing, combined with the unique attractions of the South East and all of the amenities available.
The journalist (Daniel) involved in making the article spent a week here in Wexford with my family and I and got a first hand experience of what the fishing and the guiding service provided.
For those of you who care to remember the 'difficult' season of 2008 this week proved no different. Although at times the sun shone, it blew north easterly for five days....interesting!
The article is both realistically balanced and mature in its approach to bass fishing in Ireland and all of the aspects involved. It also does a fair, accurate and brilliant job for Irish angling as a whole.

Bass fly fishing Ireland - P13 - Where are the fish?

Lure fishing for bass in the sea whilst difficult at times, and fly fishing too with its greater challenges should not to be viewed as impossible tasks. They do however require some particular skills. Casting yes, presentation yes, patience yes, but the essence of this post is based around the knowledge of 'where the fish are'.
If you spend some time with succesful fishermen and you happen to have found one of them who will talk sensibly about his experiences over time, you will quickly learn that they have several unique abilities. One of them is that they instinctively seem to know where the fish are, or rather they know where the fish are going to be! The 'where' is not specifically like what we have mentioned before HERE but rather the 'where' along many miles of coastline (be it estuaries, current, rocky headlands, open beach) at any particular point in time during the day. This of course doesnt mean that ALL the fish gather in one location that is privy to only a few people, but it does mean that at certain times under certain conditions, you are more likely to catch fish at location X rather than Z.

Lets go back to our 'virtual' rocky point - its 5 in the morning (June) and the wind is blowing easterly with a rising tide. This means that three major influences are sourced from a singular direction - the rising sun will shine from the anglers right hand side, the wind will blow from the anglers right hand side and the current will be flowing from the right hand side. This little scenario presents a particular set of circumstances to the bass angler -

1. At this time of day the sun is low on the horizon for some time. When currents flow, fish tend to point into the direction of current and in this case when they point into the current they will also be pointing into the sun. They will experience lots of light in the water in the direction they are facing for the first few hours over dawn. Their field of vision is bright.
2. Wind blowing in the same direction as current flow tends to 'flatten' the water and if atmospheric pressure is dropping both the volume and speed of the moving water may increase significantly as a result of this.
3. Depending on the strength of the wind and whether the angler is casting lures or flies his mainline will be affected by both wind and current. As a consequence so will the presentations he makes to the fish with the fly or lure. A lure moving in a head on collision with a predator does not induce many takes!

During the periods of dawn and dusk contrast should play a significant role in your lure and fly colour choice. With fish staring into the sun against a lighter bckground a darker lure or fly will appear more visible. Bass tending to hunt mid or low water in these conditions may need to change position more frequently to view prey from different angles to make determinations. Having to change and jostle for position will expose them to the strengthening current, this current as I have mentioned may be stronger because of lower atmospheric pressure and wind force and hence the fish may not spend as much time as they would hunting in this local as they are expending energy. In other words this simply may not be the place to fish today! Fish holding lies are often volatile and based on subtle external influences that can change from hour to hour and day to day!

Appearing to have what can seem like the fishing powers of a Jedi Knight is based over years of experiences coupled to a high level of sensitivity towards many of these influences.

Next - Making the best of the circumstances

Bass fly fishing Ireland - P12 - Influences Tidal Flow

Tidal flow and fish position relations











There is a significant relationship between tidal flow or states and the positions that fish take up during that flow. Not only do they take up different positions but they do so at different times in different locations often within very localised areas.

This is especially true for bass and learning these relationships is one of the major keys to success for the fly and lure angler. One of the first of these tidal influences that the bass fisherman learns is that fom the shore neap tides are often not as productive as spring tides - simple. You can follow that with something like full moon tides are not as productive as new moon tides, equally as simple, and reducing tides over a moon are often better for bigger fish. Before you synchronise your watch and go fishing to the latest fashionable tables rest assured you dont need to now much more than the above. What can bring you much more success than any 'galactical optimisation software' is learning and understanding fish behaviour in the phases of a tide over a location within any lunar cycle. In the diagram above we are at a hypothetical rocky point at low tide. Water is indicated blue, sand yellow and rocks are a darker colour
To your left the diagram indicates the same location much later in the cycle of tidal development. Tidal streams are in full flow and currents, eddies and back washes are all in action. Fish are to be caught here too.

Below is the tidal data for Rosslare during July 2009. Spring and neap tides are indicated and the early spring tide is clearly visible as been somewhat less active than the later spring tide of the month. The locations indicated in this example will fish differenty on each day over the spring tide cycle and indeed differently within the same month.
The diagram of the full tidal flow above would look similar on both spring tides but in fact the water flow, strength and volume would be completely different.















Reading the previous posts HERE regarding tidal flows could help you determine when to fish your favourite location. With the third and fourth hours of any tide coinciding with maximum activity, bear in mind each location has its own patterns and its own reasons for fish to be in its vicinity. Food, shelter, breeding, resting some locations provide them all others just one or two. If you would like to discuss these or any of the other similar posts below or indeed the many other aspects of bass fishing in detail then why not try one of my courses - HERE or HERE or maybe even try a one day guided fishing trip.

In Bassfishing Files

Fly fishing for bass is not always about casting and retrieving, you need to control how your fly and fly line are affected by many and various factors - waves, current, wind, eddies..
coming soon