Irish Bass off the Kayak

Here's a few pictures sent for me from my mates Mick Boland and Dave Tilley from Dublin,,
On one of their Kayak adventures,,i have know Mick and Dave over 10yrs now and its great to see these Irish guys Catching and enjoying Bass Fishing from the Kayak ,,
The Irish Republic is going through a Torrid Time at the moment with the Depression so a ray of sunshine like these two nutters catching bass is a breath of fresh air getting away from the tight times that may lay ahead
But mick tells me he gets his Tenru Rods Reels and most of his lures and accessories from                       Henrys Tackle    Dave is the baitman of Ireland you want it he can get it,,,
Below a nice Bass on the Ayu Slayer with a 20g articulated jig head

Below Dave with a superb Irish Bass I love this picture it says it all pose for the camera blue sky calm sea Bass on the Feed what more could a man want
Been a while since i have seen Dave i can tell you all the hat don't do him justice but it did not put the Bass Off

Dave Tilly with a 8LB yak Bass

Mick with a nice Yak caught fish the lads a doing so well off the Kayaks and its good to see some Bass These lads were out and out off  the shore fishermen up to last year but as they say the Kayaks have them hooked ,,i would like to thank Mike and Dave for sharing their Photographs and the experience of their day out on the sea

Mike Boland with a Bass off the Yack  and the Red Injection

Light Rod Fishing (LRF) Target Mullet

As i approached Steve i recognised him from yesterday we were both having a mooch on the local estuary looking for signs of life ,,Any good!! i asked got a nice one in the keep net ,whats that then ,,a mullet came his reply ,,nice one too.,,around 10lbs my mate has just gone for the scales,,WHAT!!! 10lbs i stammered,,had my camera too,,
so Steve fished on with tales of monster sea trout ,chub,double figure carp,Bream,Dace and Bass!!! OMG!!! my head was spinning,some learning curve this fishing,just when you think you have it then some other challenge comes along with a dirty estuary in the offering,,


Above a wild Essex very tidal estuary over grown with flora and fauna possibly a place for large mullet and Bass mixed with all manner of Freshwater species,,

I asked Steve if i could have a look at the fish in the net and then before i could see it i got the tale of how long it took to land ,,100yd ripped of my reel on the first run and the fish gave four of these in the 20 minute fight ,,Looking at Steve's gear a roach rod with a 2500 size fixed spool 5lb line float attached bottom only 2BB shot on to a size 14 hook and double red maggot,,can this fish be that big?? and thinking there are certain people that should see this rig up,,

As Steve lifted the Mullet out of the Keep Net I then realised that this fish was certainly the biggest i have ever seen landed on rod and line ,,what a fish it looked like a striper!!

We zero the scales and placed this monster in the weighing sack ,,the scales drew out at 9lb,6oz below,,a result
and what a monster fish by any means

Above the Specimen Scales showing the Mullets weight of 9lb 6oz the present shore record is 14lb 2oz i think caught in the 70s and the boat is 10lb caught in the 50s so this is a half tidy fish and Steve says he has seen bigger on the Estuary

Steve with his 9lb 6oz of pure muscle The Grey Mullet target species what a fish on very very light gear ,,if it did not have that typical head you could mistake it for a Striper


Again a great looking fish and ain't Steve the proud angler a super achievement by a very talented angler who reads the water, tides ,conditions and keeps his gear light and gives his self the best chance of a specimen like this by cutting his odds,,

Well Done Steve on a tremendous Fish the biggest mullet i have seen caught on rod and line 5lbs line at that,,,,,,,,,,

Lure Colour

Just had a fantastic couple of days Bass Fishing in Dorset with my mate Adrian Rogers and Mark Padfield ,,,
Drove all the way cross country from my Essex home setting off at 1.30am for the 3hr drive down to the Jurassic Dorset coast when Adrian and i arrived it was still dark and led head lights lead the way on the coastal paths ,cliffs and boulder strewn shores to a nice Dorset Bass Mark Lights off i teetered along the reefs to the fishing grounds,,,

In these early morning dark and low light lure fishing situations lure type is key,, so my personal lure choice was the above celebrated Komomo SF-125 a pure bass lure that has been manufactured by IMA Lures Japan since 1998 but more important is the colour and combined with a top Bass Lure first light with the Red /Orange (aka kin) a pure killing machine lure and colour working together for the angler in the early morning session cut your odds is my motto and this combo certainly does,,

First Bass a round 3lb in the black dark ,, fell to this lethal combo the bass love the red and orange in dark conditions at first and last light also overcast during the day that's why keep a aka kin in the lure box for just the situation of fading light




Happy as Larry and don't i look it!!! holding another Bass falling to the man with one lure,,yes a great tip for the new anglers to our sport the colour of the lure is king at first light and i know we all have our favourites but for me the aka kin is a superb colour on any lure,,, up until not so long ago i did not rate at all,,
just shows you what i Know Bass Lure fishing off the shore is hard enough in the UK in todays fast living world,, but with friends like the Komomo sf-125 aka kin they make it a little easier,,,,,,,

Dont Forget The Normal Joe!!!

Got a E-Mail from Steve Sidebottom couple of months ago,,

who had just purchaced a Caravan right on the sea front ,what a location on a bass beach,,now asking me to come out to Barmouth in West Wales to show him how to catch Bass ,,Steve was saying that he and his family had not caught a Bass in 18Years of fishing and with my web site and stuff that is on TV he made the move to get in touch,,,,NO PRESSURE ON ME THEN!! this was a challenge i just could not resist,,,
so throwing in all the Bait and Plugging Gear i set off with Carol and Arron to a not so sunny Barmouth,,we met up with Steve and Matt his son outside the beachcaster tackleshop in barmouth town a great part of the country ,,but the weather was stinking,,,and set off to do some plugging and chucking a few plastics in the Estuary,,,,,the previous nights weather had been terrible with 2/3inches of rain falling over night ,,spoiling the chances of a fish or two out of the estuary,but i very quickly realised that these guys were not too bothered about catching bass they needed imfomation how to fish Rods,Reels,methods,Lures,Line, extras such as fish grips and waders,,


why should 3 guys want to be taught lures,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

i was very humbled to be brought over to wales to teach 3 guys about the ins and outs of Bass fishing and i found out some very astonishing things from them ,these guys are quite experienced anglers but were a little lost in the Plugging and lure side of things ,even to Fishing for Bass off the Flat surf beach ,,,,
The teach in was well into the evening and we agreed the adjacent surf beach from 9 till 11 on a rising tide into darkness 7 bass took our fresh lug Bait the guys were over the moon with the Bass ,nothing big , but great stuff and to see the exitement on their faces when holding the rod when a Bass Takes is Priceless,,,
That bait got me out of Jail and the 18year wait is over,,,,

Below a nice Bass on Black Lug


Below is Steve and Matt after a hards morning plugging session and teach in i am sure they will benefit over this season and the coming years what i taught them over this single weekend

On Reflection,,,,,,,,,,,,,

In todays fast lane plugging with all this hi tech gear around and blogs galore calling for more technical stuff tackle shops giving out buy this buy that!! Elitist Forums and Plug anglers with their Red Rods, Rapala Bags, joined at the hip all looking the same manufactured Peas in a pod i would call them the guys with all the gear and no idea ,

, out there are we forgetting the normal Joe the real salt of the earth fisherman with general fishing experience that wants to get into plugging has the sense and is very wary of what he sees in the plugging world today and fearing the big rip off ,,,

Lure fishing is advancing that is plain to see for all of us but is it going too fast ,,keep it simple i heard a few years ago from famous voices,,its far from simple now a days but you can rest assure that i will keep it simple and its effective i will gaurantee that and i know what works in the world of plugging today and help the undecided for the rest of my days thats for sure ,,,

any how ,,thanks for a great weekend steve and great to meet your family we will do it again soon to see how you have advanced along the Rocky Road of Lure Fishing,,,

Anybody out there with similar conundrums Contact me on grahamhill@seabassfishingonline.com for any guidance any time just as Steve and his family have done it makes sense in the hard sell of todays plugging world,,,,