The first pencil sketch - of many.

This is the very first 'rough draft' pencil sketch as drawn by Eileen last week for my 'Bass Book' project. I have been working on this project for nearly ten years now and its finally consolidating into some shape. With many photographs, watercolours, sketches, experiences, notes and observations I am happy to be finally bringing it all together. Its still a work in progress and this years season will be the last one I want to complete before finishing the book next winter.

Yahoo - Winter Wahooo

The fastest fish I ever encountered - tactic used 'bait n switch' - Fish are teased up on hookless lures and the fly is cast - reel melting speed....... <"))))))))))))<<<

You can get a better sense of it HERE

New Service 2011 - Sport Boat Fishing

I'm planning to have my New Service ready for June 16th 2011 (thereabouts) - fancy spending a guided bass fishing session aboard a fully kitted fast bass fishing boat?

The boat will come fully kitted and ready for you with balanced Lure and Fly Tackle choices. On board you will find rods and lures from the brands below plus many other ranges - all ready for you to use

on board inventory includes -

Lucky Craft
Smith
Illex
Yamamoto
Wave Worm

Should you decide to fly fish then rods and lines are also provided in line ranges from #5 to #9 with lines suitable for all depths, presentations and species.

If you want to get away from it all in safety and comfort then dont hesitate to contact me - more details and the final details of the service available later in the year.

The end of winter.....

Its been a busy end of Winter for me, in fact an incredibly busy start to 2011 has kept me from posting here with any regularity. With spring shows coming down the line from Europe and Ireland, re-stocking the on-line shop, beginning a three year Degree programme in small tourism enterprise management and getting the boat training and certificate before June 2011 its been a hectic few weeks and will remain busy right up to opening in Springtime.

I will post more details of events and additions to the service to come for 2011 later on this week - best for the moh - Jim

January weather summary

Periods of cold weather at the beginning and end of the month were separated by a short spell of mild, wet and windy conditions around mid-month. There were many dry days during the month and rainfall totals were below normal everywhere, by around 40% generally. It was the driest January for between 10 and 14 years in parts of the west and southwest, and since 2006 in other areas. There were between seven and 15 wetdays during the month (days with 1mm or more rainfall), well below the average for January at most stations.

Temperatures rose well above normal for a few days around midmonth, but most of the month was cold with widespread frost, which was severe at times. Mean air temperatures of between 3°C and 5.5°C were around a degree below normal everywhere, but at no station was it as cold as January of last year. There were between 15 and 19 days with air frost at inland stations, compared with the normal number for January in these areas of between nine and 11.

Sunshine totals for the month were above normal at all stations and were well above normal in the west and south. Belmullet’s total of 87 hours of sunshine was its highest for January since 1985. By far the sunniest period of the month was between the 16th and 23rd.

Guided Days Wexford–Bass Fishing

	Year							To Date
Nationality	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
France	48	112	125	120	112	104	25	0
Ireland	26	64	67	65	60	56	66	38
Belgium	12	27	30	29	27	25	0	0
England	5	14	15	15	14	13	32	22
Italy	5	11	12	12	11	10	0	0
Holland	8	19	21	22	19	18	14	14
Switzerland	6	14	15	15	14	10	0	7
New Zealand	0	0	0	0	3	3	0	0
Denmark	3	3	6	6	3	3	34	8
South Africa	0	0	0	0	3	3	0	0
America	4	8	9	9	8	8	0	5
Total	117	272	300	293	274	253	171	97

The table above is a summary of the days I have spent guiding people for bass fishing in this country. This does not include the year 2003 when the business was just beginning. The calculations are simple - number of people multiplied by the number of days spent in Wexford – (3 guys X 5 days) = 15 guided days.
The total number of days is not indicative of a ‘better’ year than the previous as some weeks or days can be dedicated exclusively to one angler. 2010 did see a difficult year from a financial point of view.
To date for 2011 – People will take guided days in Wexford from the US, Denmark, Switzerland, Holland, England and Ireland. Even though its only early February the 2011 is nearing the max number of optimum guided tidal days. Workshops are still available
Some numbers from the table
The Lure / Fly divide is roughly 62% – 38%
A return rate of 67% is normal over a two/three year period
Saltwater fly fishing is continuing to grow
Peoples biggest interest is learning techniques a sense of the fishing and the natural heritage
Interest in workshops continues to grow and are NOT included above

Guided angling groups spend on average 385.00 euros per day in the local economy (conservative)

Saltwater Leaders and tippet

Your leader is an a important part of terminal tackle. No single material can provide you with all of the options required. Whether you need excellent turnover (always!), elongation, toughness or near invisibilty or indeed a combination of all of these, Rio provides the solution - see the product details of the latest Number one seller in the AFFFTA industry survey and if you happen to find yourself stalking spooky mullet on the fly or casting lures to bass in rocky barnacled environments then you can find some solutions HERE

On saltwater fly or lure...!

You CAN do something

From The Irish Bass Group - with the help of other conservation and sea angling organisations, Irish Bass are running a campaign to highlight the need for better management and protection of our sea bass and our sea angling sector.
We believe that by focusing on the potential of our bass angling sector, we can show the benefits of including sea anglers in the managment of all our sea fish stocks.

Now we need your help.

We are encouraging you to print off a few copies of the attached flyer seen below.

Then all you need to do is just hand the flyer to the canvassing politicians, in exchange for the literature they will be handing you, when they come calling to your door before the election.

We really need the support of all anglers and also those who believe in protecting our marine environment and all the species that are important to angling.

We would also hope that all anglers, regardless of the species that they fish for, would share and distribute this post with the attached message to their friends on social networks so they could hand it out as well.

Thanks for your help.
The Irish Bass Group.

Dead Loss for the economy

Some days last forever

Some days have no end. This one was really special.

New products Spring 2011

CLICK HERE TO GO TO SHOP

Venus saltwater fly rods from Vision

Venus rods are powerful rods for real saltwater fishing. No matter if you are targeting fast and sneaky bonefish on a shallow turtle grass flat or a spiky bass in a boulder field, you can find a suitable tool among these rods. Medium fast/fast, full flex action is suitable for all fishing styles and conditions making it easy to deliver long and accurate casts. As a four piece rods they are easy to pack when you’re heading for a distant destination.

These rods are built using the highest quality Pacific bay guides and triple anodized aluminium reel seats to withstand the harsh saltwater conditions.
Venus SW rods have high quality full wells. All Venus rods are 9 feet long. The SW versions are available from #6 to #12 and the SWS ( rods with ergonomic D - shape™ handles) cover line weights from #8 to #12.

At the fly fishing shop I will supply #8’s and #9’s suitable for bass fishing in Ireland