To leave or not to leave

During summer and Autumn months some fish like bass will choose not to leave the estuary when the tide is exiting. Instead, sometimes, they will ‘lie up’ within the remaining water that stays in the estuary when the tide is out. These fish are often lying in deeper pools created where current has created ‘waves’ of sand. They may often lie along edges of bends where water is deeper and drop-offs exist. They are resting and maybe digesting and are very shy. One of the most exciting ways to catch these fish is with surface poppers. Now its often not easy to cast a bass popper with a long…….

A post from 2008 – Bass Fishing Estuaries - you can read more here

Bass tide approaching

A near perfect set of opportunities to catch bass on opening day or close to it presents itself this year on the south coast – current conditions might be considered difficult but that’s fine, it just adds positivity to the equation. It’s the sudden change around the 15th / 16th to south westerly that’s just perfect but not only that this is combined with an incredible set of NEW MOON tides too. A chance to catch em...the text below is from this post on Probassfisher - http://www.probassfisher.ie/2010/10/sequencing_27.html from a while back - expect an 'elastic to snap' on the 16th June.

The forecast was for the big blow to arrive quickly on the south coast on Friday late morning or early afternoon corresponding to a rising spring tide approaching the top of its cycle. What this would do and depending on the arrival time of the system would be to generate ideal fishing conditions for bass. Coastal water would be clear and break white in the increasing wind strength; the sudden wave activity generated would provide cover to hunt and also create feeding opportunities that haven’t existed for a number of days. All this was happening over a single rising tide on a spring cycle. It was a perfect short bass fishing storm that was visible from as early as the 10th of October – 12 days previously; this was the stretching of the elastic. It snapped on Friday somewhere around midday of the 22nd.

See latest forecasts here
http://www.xcweather.co.uk/forecast/rosslare_harbour

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'Maoileidigh,) Malcom Gilbert, several members of the IFI and other home based bass fishing customers.
_______________________________________________________________________
I am writing this letter to call to your attention the serious concerns I have for the continued deterioration of the bass population as I have experienced it on the south and eastern coasts of Ireland. As you may know I have fished these coasts on a recreational basis since 1975, I am a bass fishing guide working and developing bass fishing on these coasts on a professional basis since 2002/03. My business South East Angling Ireland was established to provide both guided bass fishing services (fly and lure) and approved accommodation with a view to a holistic approach to the fishing, including airport transfers, provision of modern tackle and singularly strategic bass fishing solutions.

The profile of the traveling, affluent, adventurous and experienced European sportfishing angler was where my target customers lay and whilst historically Wexford may have had a small heritage in relation to bass angling the challenge for me lay in both attracting the correct customer whilst simultaneously demonstrating responsibly the remarkable accessible ‘new’ bass angling environment available in Wexford through my services.

This was a considerable business challenge as Iconic locations like the Kerry coast, the Dingle peninsula, still attracted by default traditional bass angling interests. Added to that challenge the profile of my customer needed to be correct in order to maintain a high level of ‘impact distance’. This meant that customers came to Wexford, fished for a week and left, simple. The likelihood of ‘local interest growth rate/impact’ was minimised.

Inclusive of the years 2003 – 2007 this was largely achieved through keeping a tight lid on advertising of services which was directed entirely at a European and US target audience through various magazine editorials. These were wide ranging and spread with the help of IFI and Failte Ireland between France, Germany, Italy, Holland, Belgium, the US and Denmark. Up to this time, end of 2007, both the Irish and UK markets were not where I felt large number of ‘profiled’ customers lay, the market didn’t exist in the UK at this time as ‘modern’ bass lure fishing techniques only began to develop there from late 2007 / 08 in both the UK and Ireland.

I made a considered business decision that any associated ‘local’ advertising would have had a negative impact on my business through creating access to awareness and hence increasing ‘local recreational angling’ impact. Wexford is easily accessible.
However I did feel it necessary at the end of 2007 (for many reasons) to begin to increase the public awareness of the actual existence of an approved bass fishing guiding service and expertise that was available in Ireland at this time. I did this through Irish Angler Magazine, 2007-20011 inclusive. This was also achieved through the active development of my website www.probassfisher.ie from the beginning of 2008.

The core strength of the business lay in the availability of the fish along the SE coast in a multitude of exciting and different locations. Coupled to that was the strategic angling solutions I provided in order to catch the fish effectively (based on thirty years of local experience), the quality accommodation I provided in Wexford town and the accessibility to local support services.

Pre business establishment ‘test cases’ were run to establish the validity of the availability of the fish across the multitude of locations along the Wexford coast - estuaries, current, rocky shore, deep water, sand bars, etc.

The rate of return was calculated very simply as I spent more and more days fishing with customers the key catch base was running at an average of fish per hour per customer. In some locations this could be as high as 8 in others as low as .5 – this depended on the type of location, timing and also the size of fish anticipated or targeted. This was communicated to the customer in relation to their expectations on a day by day basis, but always ‘under estimated’.

It is also important to note that years prior to opening the business this base was strongly in evidence.
The factor that most changed these numbers in relation to catch return at any time was weather of course but this was always a minimal impact on a general day by day basis with the odd exceptional week of complete wipe out.

Location footprint and location frequency was kept to a minimum as I fished across an empty coastline for five years.
The base calculated from 2002 (intro only), into 2003 (beginning), and through the following years 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 remained within 15% +/-25% of my expectations for customer returns. When it didn’t it was always attributable to other external factors.

The operational constraints of the fishery were recognised and established from year one of the business. Growth was restricted by the tidal environment but customer yield was kept high to maintain validity of financial return. There was always the option of an offshore boat to realise the potential of neap tides but this venture has not been pursued as yet. This would effectively increase the business by 50 %.
It is important to know at this stage the weekly guiding service only ran on optimum tidal times (alternate weeks) – approximately 70 days. This was extended at times to over 100 days when conditions were better earlier and later or combined with workshops. This is probably the fullest valid guiding window of opportunity for the south east.
One week June
Two weeks July
Two weeks August
Three weeks September
Two weeks October

On average a visiting group consisted of two people and the majority, 95%, up to this time (2007) were very experienced lure fishermen.

Fishing six days a week for two people at a base of 1.4 fish per hour averaged a seasonal return for 1200 fish. (+/- 200). Many of these fish occupied a similar size bracket. Taking into account the many variables some weeks consisted of only one angler some weeks consisted of three anglers and some weeks were more difficult than others from a perspective of weather, this high return rate NEVER deteriorated below a valid key catch base of average 1.0 per hour for nearly five years.
During 2007 the return rate for the second half of the season deteriorated suddenly by 50% and more (this was under normal expected angling conditions and customer profile) It was also the first of a sequence of very wet summers.

Based on catch returns during the years from 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 and including 2014 to date the catch rate has declined and has continued to decline on a yearly basis to the extent that the recreational bass fishery along much of the south eastern coastline has in my own experience suffered a complete ‘collapse’.
*During 2011 there was an indication of some improvement, however 2012 proved worse than 2010.
For a typical example of this, as it has continued from as early as last week, - Two UK anglers from Wiltshire – lure fishing for six days guided by myself under the best times locations and conditions in Wexford, Waterford, and Cork investing a combined 120 hours of fishing effort for one fish caught – TOTAL. This is now not unusual.
Prior to and including 2007 for the same investment of 120 hours somewhere in the region of 120 fish could easily be expected as a return.

The above scenario is repeated time and time again and the expected return rate has gone from
1.3 fish for one hour investment
TO
1.0 fish for thirty hours of investment – this varies but never significantly increases and hasn’t done so for more than seven years. The fishery has continued to decline very quickly.

Notes - Anglers
• Fish can be caught at times in much localised areas (for instance Splaugh rock) – reefs, current and structure at very specific times. This is not testament to the fishery as a whole. In other words vast areas of coastline hold no fish where previously there was a healthy population
• Local ‘expert’ anglers can have access to these fish but this should not be confused with the ‘general’ bass angler who should at least be enjoying a modicum of success
• Similarly boat angling over offshore reefs or at the mouth of estuaries with soft plastic techniques is not representative of the fishery as a whole
• Depending on the year of beginning to bass fish (the new generation of anglers) the entry was made on a sliding scale if made post 2007. In other words I encountered very few if any bass anglers on the Wexford coast prior to 2007 whilst post 2007 this number increased locally year on year – valid comparisons regarding the fshery need to be made over valid time frames.
• It’s possible for an angler to express ‘good bass angling experiences’ say in 2012 if he started in 2010 – this is not a valid comparison

Notes – Locations / habitat
• There are two extremely special locations on the Wexford cost that still have a population/ number of very big fish – these are very small and difficult to determine locations which may in time help preserve them from rampant local recreational pressure.
• I have guided on these locations once a month for two hours on previous years but will no longer continue to do so
• Modern lure fishing techniques create easy access to larger mature breeding fish of which there is a high angling impact
• All possible high yield locations on the south eastern coasts are now common place knowledge
• Social media quickly highlights any availability of fish on any location

Notes- Illegal fishing and retention
• Whilst there is a lot of catch retention I do not believe it is responsible for the decrease in numbers (there is a high recreational impact however both from poor C+R and retained fish)
• Whilst there is a lot of continued localised illegal netting this has been in existence for many many years, it does have an impact but I don’t believe this has increased by any significant level to cause such a decline in the Wexford region.
• There is evidence of increased and continued illegal netting on the East Cork coast
• Spearfishing is also increasing in popularity
• There remains the extended periods of bad summers 2007 2008 2009 and 2010 combined with two significantly extreme winters which amounted to an extended period of five years ‘poor’ conditions. Whilst I have no scientific evidence of the possible impact on the dynamics of the fish my instinct is that the SE bass population may have moved as a result and to where it was subsequently impacted upon commercially.
• Certain sections of the angling media will portray the quality of the bass fishing as being extremely good whilst neglecting the valid unit of effort (often extraordinary)required to produce any fish. There is often no management in respect of these special locations where large fish reside and a tendency to ‘forget’ the lack of fish on the wider coast.
• Genuine anglers on the ground with good and valid experiences are recognising similar instances.

Conclusions
Since 2003 over three hundred tourist anglers from Europe and the US have used the services of SEAi for guided bass fishing in Wexford. Easily twenty different publications have published positive editorial of their experiences distributed throughout many countries. Video footage has been made and distributed. Many Irish and UK people have attended intro Bass fishing workshops and perhaps as many as half again have partaken in bass fly fishing workshops. Numbers of guided Irish and UK customers remain small with less than ten active people.

Recent 3- day workshops include partnering with Irish fly casting and fly tying experts providing a total saltwater fly fishing solution.

The current situation is certainly a very difficult challenge for me and my business due to the decreasing numbers of fish. And to be honest here there’s no avoiding it, bass are largely absent from our coasts at this time. Talking about it openly has its risks and of course its own complications regarding the possible reasons any or all of which could be a cause for their absence.

Whether it be a natural phenomenon, a change in behaviour or something more serious it’s largely extant around the normal prolific ‘bass coasts’ at this time. For me I need to strike the balance between fairness and expectation with customers currently arriving at my door.

Again yes there are fish to be caught but the unit of effort is enormous, has been for weeks and weeks, in fact years, seasons. I have been personally motivated over the last twenty day run by the positive attitude of my customers, their eagerness to learn new techniques, presentations, casting, and even new locations. As a bass fishing guide I have had to push all my timings, options, variations in equipment and solutions, techniques and experience to be at its very best.
But two anglers for 120 hours of effort for one fish doesn’t make any sense from an angling business perspective. And this is not a singular story but commonplace at this stage.

As a person who largely makes his living from Guided Bass Angling well I guess it’s a very different and worrying perspective than that of a recreational angler. In an unregulated environment mercenary guides from both Ireland and the UK appear and disappear often offering various business models founded on reduced rates or a no catch no fee basis – this does nothing for the guiding occupation as a whole and in fact has a further negative impact on the environment and the fishing.

Having invested heavily in personal development and in the business (just completed a four year BSc degree – Tourism enterprise management at WIT) As a way of trying to ‘manage’ the decline I have reduced guiding days over the past few years, but now I am faced with little or no option at this time but to consider closing the business permanently at the end of this season.

Jim Hendrick

Outside my door,

A new set of flies from Brian, a new moon, nice breezes, clear water, two friends and two days off from the office. Leaders all re-tied, knots checked rods loaded…a mind full of intent, excitement and the anticipation of being out there.

GEOBASS trailer

In the series, the GEOBASS team searches the planet to locate and catch unique bass species, and experience the adventurous waters where they live. The crew will receive tips and advice from B.A.S.S owner and TV fishing legend Jerry McKinnis, as well as some Bassmaster Elite Series tournament pros, on how to conquer some of the most sought-after bass worldwide.

"In addition to being a story about unveiling Earth’s greatest fishing frontiers, GEOBASS is about our overriding urge to explore the world,” said Robison. “If a fish has the word ‘bass’ anywhere in its name, we’re going to try and catch it, no matter where in the world it lives. From the infamous record breaking largemouth bass of Mexico, to the legendary peacock bass of South America and the mysterious Indonesian black bass, our mission is to find bass in the places they thrive – many in places no one’s seen before – even if it means using extreme measures to get ourselves there.”

Easy to learn and quick to tie–The tying workshops I

The flies that have proven themselves over countless hours fly fishing for Irish bass are undoubtedly three

The classic deceiver

The bucktail deceiver

with Hollow fleye variants

The clouser minnow

Tying saltwater flies that are easy to learn quick to tie, and probably equally as important, easy to cast and fish is what the fly tying workshops are all about during our Season 2014 primer.

Brian, during his first workshops, will take you, in is normally relaxed fashion, through the thought processes of both Lefty Kreh and Bob Popovics designs and functions especially when tying with natural materials.

Learn about sparcity, density, profile,shape and size plus on the water crossover techniques for both seatrout and bass

Because of the successes we have experienced in using both the BTD and the HF we have decided to dedicate one of your workshops almost exclusively to these two flies.

The Hollow Fleye is an expansion of Popovics’ Bucktail Deceiver. Rhode Island fly tier Kenney Abrames was impressed with the Bucktail Deceiver, and  he urged Bob to continue developing this pattern. Popovics decided to find a construction method that used less material to build a fly with a large profile.

He soon discovered a new technique that allowed him greater control over bucktail than he previously thought possible. He found that by tying the bucktail on the hook in reverse and then propping it rearward with a wall of thread, he had infinite control over the angle of the bucktail. This technique allows him to sculpt baitfish patterns using varying lengths and angles of bucktail. When tied in this manner, the cone of bucktail forms an outer layer that gives the fly its hollow appearance and name.

Watch and build with Brian as he unfolds Bob Popovics and Lefty Krehs patterns for you – all will be revealed!

See you at the Bella Vista (April 28th, 29th and 30th) – Jim 

Saltwater Fly Workshop–casting tying fishing April ‘14

Saltwater Fly Fishing Primer Ireland by Jim Hendrick

Bending the sand

“One legged oystercatchers limping along a mirrored strand take off and land again and little waders run quickly in groups backwards and forwards reflected in the shallow waters. The curlews sudden startled cry, a fright, as you walk back a late October estuary the sky already darkening.

All these things bred into your skin into your person into to what you are, into what you have become over years – north winds, south winds, east winds, sunshine, frost, blue skies, rain, salt and sand. The shape, the colour and the sound of the sea the waves that break on the shore into white bass water where you know it will happen, you can sense it, and you know it instinctively.

All these things have built in me over many years – from these countless repeated and yet different experiences and messages I have a sense of where I am – I am home.

And into this you must add the fishing, what you know is what you know because it has been forged in this instinct and experience. You see the gulls struggle against a grey drizzly sky and you get the heavy rod, the #ten, and your heart is racing because its happening and you can be in the middle of it and you move so quickly you hardly remember getting there and you almost run to the location to get a cast off. This is where I am most happy, this is what I understand, have understood for a long time now.

The fishing and the fishing and the fishing. You wait for spring to come and you see the way the winter waves have bent the sand and the sandbars, the new entrances the new exits the different flow and where it was once safe is now dangerous or is now a new fish holding spot. Maybe this year the fish move differently into different places at different times, maybe not and the familiar anxiety and excitement around the arrival of a new season begins again”.

For more about what it means to be a saltwater guide working in Ireland go here

Inspired to a new EPIC level

Tim Harrisson and his Dad Colin were some of my customers during year two of my guiding service, eight years ago now - Colin's words below, received by a letter he sent a few weeks after his visit, still mean a lot to me. It was one of those magic moments. If I can achieve this on a day by day basis then I know I am doing my job properly.

“......you thought us where the fish might lie, and how to cast to the right position and use the waves and tide to take the lure into the right place. The result of all that was that we were able to hook and land some unforgettable fish and those memories will last forever”

Colin Harisson pictured right - 2005 Then aged 69.

_______________________________

Tim Harrisson was duely inspired enough by what he saw and experienced in Wexford to go on later and establish his own very successful bass guiding business in Wales -

Now Tim has raised the bar even further yet again, he sent me this link to his new site completely out of the blue last evening, with some very generous and complimentary words included in this post Battered Bruised and Blind

“….When surface lure fishing for bass was known to a very few people (only around 8 years ago did the dawn break on us Brits) there was precious little choice available on the UK market. It was Jim Hendrick the original, now much copied and still the best Irish bass guide (find him here www.probassfisher.com). That taught me the marvel, the wonder and the addiction of the LC Sammy”. Tim Harrisson - 2014

Good luck with the new adventure Tim always great to hear from you.

Christmas street

Don’t just do something – stand there P.I

AFTER TEN YEARS

Here’s what I love about guiding, as in guiding as a sustainable responsible business

• It is very difficult and at times very complex
• It is hard, very hard – it really is, the hardest thing I’ve ever done
• It very often has very little to do with fishing
• During a guided day a person will, very often, chat about themselves, the time they have, the things they do, their lives and complexities, the people and the things they deal with on a day by day basis
• Very often at the end of a guided day a person will tend to want to deal with some of those things differently
• People in a guiding environment are very interesting
• It very often has everything to do with fishing

After ten years of working as a bass fishing guide blogging and writing about some of those experiences I have developed a desire to move on from the love of trying to perfect the actual guiding process. This has, over the years, become a slight obsession, and after any number of experiences and a number of qualifications, indeed years of hard work, I have it where I want it, just about. I have it distilled!

Because I am ‘over’ trying to determine and dig out and create the best process of doing it and making it happen I surely know it enough now to forget about it, to stop thinking about it and yet still be able adapt and change it as is necessary, seek to reinvent it appropriately to circumstances– I’ve earned that. That is my reward and I am doing that. I am a good bass fishing guide.

I’ve spent enough time on trying to perceive clarity, to understand the meaning of what it is to bass fish in Ireland as a guide and the wider perception and often misconception of what bass guiding is about. This in itself means I no longer seek to try to understand the frequently expressed opinions and ‘definitions’, the ‘functions’ the ‘modern requirements’ of the bass angler. I know what these really are.

These opinions, wherever they exist, are done too often, done for the sake of supposedly encouraging valuable dialogue, but in reality are done for self serving debate and congratulatory ego snacks, even done for plain old look at me and what I can do.

‘A recent blog documenting the experience of one East London Tesco customer has gone viral this week, prompting the company’s chairman to give his first ever media interview in response.

The tumblr account was started two weeks ago and tells a story of store alarms going off through the night, empty shelves, cluttered aisles and absent staff – all illustrated with comically disastrous photos.

Normally a champion of social media customer service, Tesco reacted quickly and openly stated their in-store ops weren’t up to scratch. Richard Broadbent went so far as to tell The Sunday Times that, in a Digital age, having a good product is no longer enough:

“The company that provides the best relationship with the customer will win – not through product, but through the best experience.”

His sentiments are not unlike those expressed by Michael O’Leary in his recent customer service U-turn. A long-time proponent of product over service, he announced in September that Ryanair is making steps towards improving the user experience of their website.

The real difference arises in customer experience.’ – DMI

A sense of reality really!

Tourist anglers may well have have certain preconceived notions and mental images of an angling destination before they ever visit. Expectations are one of the driving forces for the initial desire to visit any particular destination. If customer effort is high and those high expectations are met, high customer satisfaction is likely.

Adversely, an individual with high expectations who receives a low-value experience or an experience that doesn’t meet with his or her self perceived expectations as result of exaggerated media will likely report a low customer satisfaction, regardless of level of customer effort or indeed guide effort.

This high-value expectation, low-value product is known as the dissonance theory (Cardozo, 1965).

To reduce dissonance levels in visiting tourist anglers, it is important as a service provider to offer accurate realistic information to the visiting angling public so as to not create heightened expectations that are not likely to be met. This is often contrary information to that as portrayed by angling media.

‘It is important to remember that quality tourist experiences result from businesses that know their product, their customers, and their employees’ (Hayes, 1997). As a bass fishing guide I would also add that it is necessary to include an intimate local and wider knowledge of the coastal environment and the influences of current conditions on the fishing.

An unrealistic expectation in relation to angling returns for a fish as capricious as bass needs to be discussed at length with any potential customer. Yes a good guide may know some honey pots, yes a good guide should recognise a confluence of circumstances that can lead to exceptional fishing or indeed the reverse, and yes a good guide should work hard to push every possible opportunity as it happens.

But in reality a very good guide will also recognise that honey pots need to be managed very very carefully and are often the exception to ‘day to day’ fishing, a customers individual skill can only be matched to specific environments, conditions and a singular limit of physical input. Plus, and contrary to popular belief, Ireland is not localised it has a vast coastline that operates differently at different times and giant bass do not readily surrender and crawl up your line at the mere sight of a soft plastic!

Being realistically aware of the true nature of the fish and the fishing, getting a measured sense of what ‘could happen’ if I try hard and work at it, a ‘I cant do any more’ frame of mind is a good honest approach. Instead of trying to deal with the associated disappointments of unrealistic hyper expectation and so often its associated companions, accelerated unearned learning and supposed ease of accomplishment through the latest bass tackle fads, a much simpler and wider approach will lead to a far greater sense of achievement and personal reward.

Besides isn’t there something so much more satisfying about simply being out there, imagining rather than expecting? 

Dana Scully: 'Purple Rain'?
Fox Mulder: Great album. Deeply flawed movie.

Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn

Its November already, October seems to have blown by in an early autumnal rush that I missed completely. Cedric from Switzerland was due on one of the tidal weeks but due to the obvious and early indications that it wasn’t going to work because of deteriorating weather we re-scheduled until next year.

In an already difficult fishery I wasn’t about to make things any worse and I know that the strategy that many of my customers and I discuss before booking is the risk of cancellation. With todays easy access to very good and accurate weather information its often very possible to make decisions a considerable number of days in advance.  Sometimes these decisions are never very easy however and a lot depends on the customers wishes and circumstances.

Imagine you and your fishing friend (John and Peter) have an annual holiday from work at the same time each year and you have both decided to come to Ireland for a weeks guided bass fishing on one of those weeks. You save hard, update the gear, the waders the boots, the jacket, you make a personal investment of time away from your family perhaps, you book your flights and your time off is planned. Done and dusted – all you have to do now is wait. The anticipation builds and builds, you’re going to Ireland bass fishing with a guide what could go wrong?

Then something like what you see below starts to happen, you get a phone call from me about seven days before your arrival, even more if I can see it coming, and I try to manage your situation and the consequences as a result of a very poor weather forecast. Based on years of experiences there are any number of possible solutions and LOTS to talk about. But sometimes just sometimes you just know its not going to work, there’s no avoiding it and its obvious.

Which is better to do? Abandon the holiday on my advice, absorb the cost of the flights, take the few days of notice to make an alternative and spend the week at home somewhat disappointed OR come anyway into a world of pain, brown water, weed rain wind and no fish whilst wondering if this guided bass thing was really worth all that investment?

As an experienced fishing guide I have no hesitation and will tell you as straight as I possibly can, I will absorb the cost of not having you here in preference to the drudgery you will experience in these conditions. Even opportunities to learn become very very difficult under such circumstances. its difficult to concentrate, your heart is often elsewhere and you feel disappointed.

My hope is that such a decision will benefit both of us in the future. The impact of this bad news is different for different people. Cedric from above is self employed, single, and travels frequently. He was disappointed yes but also trusted me completely and is ready for July of 2014.  He plans to use the money he saved to invest in a new fly rod and some casting lessons over the winter.

I have learned to take this type of hit at least once in any season and it often gives me time to re-align and get some personal catching up completed.

Its very seldom that I do not see the original client back again the following year or at a different time. Sometimes we can win together, sometimes we can learn, but seldom will either of us lose.

Jim hendrick

A little bit of fishing in your day - Jim

The bass angler - Part I

‘……And further still beyond that the gannets wheeled and dived, fishing shallow they were scarcely airborne before plunging again into the shoal of bait. The sea and the tide and the sky and the light spoke to us of what it meant to be in this place just at this time as fishermen. Like a dream in which you can’t speak I turned to try to communicate something about what I felt, the angler had already known this, and in a way I knew that words would never do it. He smiled, a wide knowing smile the first of the morning.

We were both alive in a place that was alive and it was telling us something that we both felt and recognised. We were connected perhaps in a way that we could never really describe or fully explain.’

Coming to Irish Angler this summer June July and August editions

Its beginning to feel that fish might be on their way

		Wexford Harbour May evening 2013 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

The weather of 2012 Cold and very wet

The first three months of  the year and August reported above average mean temperatures, with remaining months of the year reporting colder than normal conditions in most places. March was the warmest month, relative to average,
with deviations from normal above 2.0°C at some Dublin stations and in parts of  the West and Southwest. These stations reported it as the warmest March in at least 50 years. October was the most relatively cold month, with mean temperature as much as -2.0°C below average and the majority of  stations in the Northern half  of  the country reporting the coldest October since 1993 (19 years). Overall, annual mean temperatures were mostly on, or slightly below average with a few stations in the West, Southwest and Dublin reporting slightly above average.

Mean temperatures ranged from 8.7°C at Knock Airport, its coldest year since 2001 (11 years) to 11.0°C at Sherkin Island and Valentia Observatory.  The majority of  annual highest maximum temperatures were recorded during the months of  May, July and August. The highest temperature of  2012* was 28.3°C at Ardfert (Liscahane), Co. Kerry on May 25th, its highest June and annual maximum since 2006 (6 years). Other stations in the West and Southwest also reported their highest annual maxima in six years on the 25th May.  Most lowest temperatures were recorded in February, October and December with the lowest temperature this year* of  -6.7°C recorded at both Thomastown (Mt. Juliet), Co. Kilkenny and Carrickmacross (Dunoge),Co.  Monaghan during a cold spell the start of  February, with Derrygreenagh, Co. Offaly recording the lowest grass minimum temperature of  -12.2°C at the same time.

Annual rainfall totals for 2012 were near or above average nearly everywhere, with below average totals in some parts of the Midlands and West.  March was the most relatively dry month with percentage of  long-term average (LTA)values ranging from just 12% in parts of  the South, and with most locations across the country reporting it as the driest March on record. In contrast, June was extremely wet, with many rainfall totals in the eastern half  of  the country nearly triple their LTAs and the majority of  stations across the country reporting it as their wettest June on record. Percentage of  average annual values ranged from 77% at Mace Head to 123% at Casement Aerodrome with the percentage average rainfall of  103% at Athenry, its driest year since 2007 (5 years). Most other stations reported 2012 was not as wet as 2009. The highest daily rainfall of  the year was at 99.5 mm at Lough Glencar, Co.Leitrim recorded during thunderstorms on the June 8th, its highest annual and June daily rain fall on record since 1993 (19 years) while Malin Head reported 50.9 mm of  rain on June 22nd, its highest annual and June fall since 1987 (25 years).

Sunshine totals were near or above average at most synoptic sunshine stations, except for Cork Airport and Valentia Observatory which both reported LTA values below 90%. Percentage of  average annual values ranged from 86% at Valentia Observatory which reported its dullest year since 1983 (29 years) to 106% at Belmullet which reported it dullest year since 2002 (10 years). Most remaining sunshine stations reported their lowest sunshine in at least seven to 18 years. The sunniest months relative to average were September and October, with June recording the least. During June, Cork Airport reported only 54% of  its LTA and its dullest June since the station opened in 1962 (50 years). The majority of  stations recorded their sunniest day of  the year at the end of  May, with the highest daily sunshine of  the year* of  15.7 hours recorded at Ballyshannon (Cathleen’s Fall), Co. Donegal  on May 27th, equalling its highest annual daily sunshine since 1988 (24 years).

Catalytic

		Clive Gammon  1929-2012 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

I could never have known then what was going to happen. It was the start of it I guess, the Summer and Autumn of 2003. Three days in a car with Terry Thomas and Clive Gammon, bass fishing and driving around the southern coasts of Wexford, trying to capture the essence of something. For me it was listening to the stories of Wexford, the angling past remembered by Clive.

I remember standing at the coombe, at the race, casting half mackerel twenty yards into the cauldron, holding our bass rods into a late October evening. He said he had seen something similar somewhere in the US, where I cant remember, I felt very naive, very young.

We fished with John Devereaux on board Celtic Lady – free lining live sandeel over a reef, he smiled and held a fish and told me he had felt the sandeel panic as the bass approached to eat!

Catalysts.

The Wexford Wolf

The cover of one of Germanys best selling angling magazines features Wexford bass fishing this month – a six page feature that can only do good for angling in Ireland in many ways.

Thanks to Holger, Holger and Markus.

Heh, blondieee

Bass, where?

June weather Ireland