Salt Water Lure Fishing - P3 of 21 - Fishing Ultralight Lures

Fishing ultra light lure gear doesnt mean ultra weak - dispense with that other theory too - big fish big lure - yes its true on occasions but big fish also eat little fish if given the opportunity. Heres another one - light/small lures restrict my fishing - take that one with a big pinch of salt too! The biggest opportunity for the saltwater lure fisherman who chooses to fish ultralight is that it creates access to many more species. Seatrout, wrasse, bass, mackerel, pollack, garfish, even mullet can all be taken on ultralight tackle - by confining your fishing to larger heavier lures and gear you may be limiting your experiences and opportunities for enjoying these other species.

Ultralight lures also transfer to fresh water for perch, pike, brown trout and salmon

How many quality seatrout have you caught on saltwater lures intended for bass - some perhaps, but by scaling down and adjusting your lures and lure tackle not only can you continue to target bass but you can also put seatrout positively in the frame! And so many other species too. By opening the box of micro lures your fishing becomes instantly more creative more active and more involved.

So what is ultralight? To me ultralight fishing is done with lures less than 10 grammes in weight - rods are often shorter than eight feet - reels are small in the 2500 or less style of things and braids are kept light too , less than 5kgs.

My current ultralight set up is of the following

Rod -Smith Bayliner boron - casting 2 - 10 grammes - length 6'-6"
Reel - Shimano stradic 2500
Line - Powerpro
Tippet - Varivas fluorocarbon

No swivel or clips are used.

With this setup its possible to cast a 6 gramme lure 50 metres and more. Light lure fishing does not restrict your fishing, with the correct setup it enhances it. Nor does a balanced and light setup mean excessive 'playing' of fish. The technology invloved in modern ultralight lure rods allow you to/or

1. cast sufficient distances with micro lures
2. work the lure properly
3. work across a range of different lure types
4. land fish quickly and efficiently
5. fish comfortably for long periods
6. provides access to many different species

Next Month (June) - Choosing ultra light lures for differnt species

Bass fly fishing Ireland - P4 - Choosing a fly

Although I have been saltwater fly fishing for a good few years now I guess I’m still in my infancy when compared to many other people. I have also realised my personal fishing tends to be very much limited to the beginning and end of the seasons. In between times I’m guiding for customers and I generally don’t like to fish when guiding unless asked. Because of my limited time, which must be similar to many other peoples, I like to make the most of any opportunities that I may have. It still surprises me to get a fish on the fly and I always try to go fishing as best prepared as I possibly can. This to some extent eliminates the factor of luck, but I believe you make your own luck in many things and fly fishing is no different.

During preparation I inevitably need to make choices regarding equipment etc. One of the things I have started doing lately is travelling only with my jacket, waders, line tray, rod and reel, two spare spools plus some tippet material. And that’s it! My jacket holds two fly boxes, the tippet material and the spare spools. Of course I’m tempted to bring another fly box but where do I put it – in a bag? Then I’ll put more stuff in the bag that I don’t need. But what flies do I put in my fly box? How do I make my decisions?

Size Does Matter.
Size is a very important factor when choosing from your selection. Early spring time and summer I tend to choose smaller, skinnier flies whilst later in the year and towards autumn my choice is towards bigger fatter flies. Be sure that what you see out of the water in a fly is replicated when the fly is in the water. Many materials have different qualities whilst under water!

Shape and silhouette.
If you are seeing sandeels in the water then i would suggest that you fish with a sandeel type pattern - long and skinny. If you see baitfish then choose a broader denser pattern. Often a change within a pattern type ie changing a deciever for a different deceiver from a different tier or material may result in more takes. This seems to be related to the material type of the fly and its better representation of the bait present in the water. How is the natural behaving?













Imitating natural motion.
If you are witnessing lots of surface smash takes from bass then it might pay to fish on the surface with a popper or gurgler. If baitfish are visible and moving slowly in tight shoals then fish slowly with a deceiver pattern on a dead drift. Again softer materials fished slowly are often all that is needed. If fish are beyond visible range a clouser pattern might be succesful in reaching those that are closer to the bottom.
What colour is the sun?
Whilst color may not be considered by many to be a huge factor in fly choice there are some hard and fast rules - colours closer to the surface are more important than colours in deeper water due to light absoprtion and reflection. Choose a colour that is closest to the natural baitfish present if possible - grey/white - brown/tan/olive - pink - black/grey/white and the best general colour for bass is chartreuse and white or just plain white. White is beyond doubt a favourite.

My two boxes are divided into quarters - reading the quarters from top to bottom and left to right the following applies

Bass Box 1
Quarter one - small clousers of the colours above and some with larger dumbells - size 4- 1
Quarter two - larger clousers of the colours above - size 1 - 3/0
Quarter three - half and half patterns of the colours above size 1- 2/0
Quarter four - various clousers of different sizes and material

Bass Box 2
Quarter one - small deceivers of the colours above size 4 - 1
Quarter two - larger deceivers of the colours above size 1- 4/0
Quarter three - eel and crab patterns of various sizes and colours
Quarter four - surface patterns - poppers and gurglers size 1 - 4/0
Next month (June) - how far should I cast?

what we saw today the dog and I - May 28th

there are other places too

Boat Angling Ireland

Just a short note to the guys from BAI to say thank you for your patience and interest at Saturday evenings 'workshop'.

Its not often I get the opportunity to speak in front of such a large number of people about the many aspects of Bass fishing.

I was glad to be able to help and encourage many of you into what surely is some of the best and most exciting fishing Ireland has to offer at the moment.

Your positive questions and answers allowed us to develop a very worthwhile evening, and for me personally it created and confirmed another opportunity to help continue the development of SEAi.

keep casting - Jim

larry makes loops at the river

............take off

the fish - the smiles

Visiting anglers to SEAi and Wexford - 2008

The following nationalities are represented in anglers using the guiding services ot SEAi this season. Most anglers stay for more than four days and less than seven. The highest number of anglers interested in learning about SWFF are Irish.

Saltwater Fly Fishing

Denmark (6)
New Zealand (2)
France (8)
Italy (3)
USA (2)
Ireland (10)
England (2)
Belgium (4)

Saltwater Lure Fishing

England (2)
Ireland (4)
France (9)
Holland (3)
Belgium (3)
Spain (1)

let sleeping monsters lie

still stunned by the colours

the colours of these shad when taken from the river leave a lasting impression, a truly special fish. These photos dont really do them justice.

Fishing Report - May 06th - Niall Kelly

Vision XLA 8/9 reel
Vision 3zone SW #9
Rio Outbound #9F
Rio Hard alloy mono
Rio Flouroflex plus

Oceanflies chartreuse and white deceiver

Whilst guiding for Niall this week he had a real treat - it had been blowing easterly most of the week but was still mild. Water was loaded with weed for the first ten metres or so but Niall picked the fish up at about 15-18 ms out. Hit the fly hard in a big current fished across and down with little or no retrieve, loads of wave activity so he was in 'good spirits' - went back fine too.

shad in the river

These beautiful fish were taken on the river By Ollie today -
Hi Jim,thought I might try for these guys in earnest today,and was rewarded with three smallish but very feisty fellahs. Great sport on light tackle..............