Shimano Stella STL-4000FD

Well i said i was going to get one and Taking advice of anglers that have one swung it for me!!,, ,the Shimano Stella 4000 FD has a 4.8:1 gear ratio which is a perfect retrieve rate for my type fishing ,Line capacity on the FD deeper spool is 200yds of 12lb mono ,,i backed up the spool with a larger Braid 50lbs then 150yds of 20lbs yamamoto braid,setting up the spool i placed one supplied washer behind the spool to slightly cone forward the line lay this suits Braid,line lay and Casting ,,

For some reason Stella came right handed ,normally on delivery the Stella will be delivered Left handed changing from left to right is a simple operation make sure you have the correct size screwdriver for the handle grub screw undo and the assembly will come apart then change for the Left hand shaft handle that is supplied with the reel, Reassemble and fix in reverse order ,,,simple

DUO TERRIF DC-11 TYPE II-J

Again i found in japan a jointed minnow type lure price delivered £13.00 price comparison with the UK dealers at £19.95 for the standard DC12 Bullet,of which is not at the top of my list ,so you ask yourself why the DC11 TYPEII-J First it was the colour Dark Back silver Flanks Red Belly shallow diver that caught my attention and a smaller lure that is jointed!!!all this adds up fishing a very active lure, fishing it slower (what the joint gives it) in running water that is cloudy like the Blackwater in Essex perfect for sunny days  

The silver flanks give that flash on a sunny day and the dark back/red belly gives silhoutte in dark esturine water

Fitted with Singles just looks the part ,

Just a bit of time out from the Fishing just let me thank all of you out there that bother to read my ramblings and have made the effort to join my site a  big thanks from Me!!

More winter Bass

I have so much respect for fishermen expecially lure fishemen that get out in the middle of January and with this year been so mild there are Bass still around with reports coming from all over the place and  of course the mighty Chesil; Beach my mate Adrian who has had just a amazing start to 2012 bagged a few more bass up to 4lb on Friday of course the Megabass Zonk and Gataride have played there parts,have a look here some great january prices, 

 Mark with a January Bass off the top!!!!!great stuff mate no doubt on the old faithfull gunfish keep up the fine fishing mate and thanks for sharing...

I got a new lure over the weekend too a Duo Tide Minnow SLD-S 125 sinking you can get Duo lures from a lot of outlets in the UK and Ireland i personally go to a friend of mine Henry Linem Henrys Tackle in Dublin fantastic choice of Duo lures,,but i have checked all over the UK and the SDLS-S 125 is unavailable at the outlets i have checked in the UK that includes  Mr Fish ,,

This little sinking beauty came direct from Japan £14.39 delivered and i have simply fallen for it,,,a super lure to have in your box,,,,a slow sinking long casting minnow,a killer in the right hands,,

Double Trouble in the UK

New years day evening on tramore strand Ireland looking for that stray bass in the dark surf bait fishing is the only way i have fished this beach for years now and i always say its a long casters beach you need to get out there beyond that last established wave for the cod ,coalfish and chance of a Bass after dark i had a schoolie a couple of days back and was brimming when setting up my bait gear ,,

a clip down with a 2/0 pennel and half a live black making a small bait greys triplex 16ft tapered leader to 10lb main line ,,wade out into them surf tables then hit the cast as hard as you can beyond those waves if you can,this is the skill of Tramore  ,,like  the picture below and you will be in business 

 i have won a few gold medal competitions off tramore beach and similar Munster beaches in the past with fish like this coalfish ,below,the first of the night the coalies were coming thick and fast at distance and i was enjoying myself ,, then

 a slack liner gave notice to the first codling of the session Tramore can produce some super fishing in the correct conditions but the Angler has to be switched on too ,,at the end of my new years day eve session i walked off the beach quite content with a bag full of coalies and 4 codling and a couple of prime storm beach flounders and a couple of monster bites missed ,some really tidy fishing i must say i felt very content as the memories of this beach came flooding back ,,

 JOE! JOE!JOE!!!!!!!!! Getting back to my Jeep the phone had been banging ,,and no wonder,,, take a look at this Double Figure Bass Joe nailed on a 120 Megabass Zonk pearl rainbow what a fantastic angling achievement caught on New Years Day  and to back this up !!!!!!!!!

 a 6lber next cast ,,,well done Adrian fantastic fishing ,,made my Irish cod and coalies look a Little like bait fish,,,,

Anyway let me wish a Happy new year to one and all,, these images have made my year and thanks to Adrian and Mark for showing the world your talents this is special for UK shore caught lure Bass,,,,,
what a way to End ???? start a year,,,,,,,,,

Winter Bass

The weather for coming up to the new year up to arriving in Ireland at one of my favourite spots Tramore was poor to say the least so fork at the ready and off to dig a few worms bait fishing looks order of the day,,this is just a small update of a few days fishing,,

  A Small December Bass on bait but hey any bass in December is a bonus,also had a few storm beach Flounder which were in fantastic condition a decents evenings sport ,,then !!!!!

 Off to the Pub for a few well earned pints of the Black stuff,,we are staying at O,Sheas hotel right on the beach in tramore very nice place Take a look HERE

 Bait digging is actually one of my favourite pastimes in sea angling and if the lures are not working theres still a few Winter Bass to be had of that classic Irish surf Beach Tramore Strand,,

 Black lug ,,just the job!!!!got this little lot for a night session tonight the weather seems to be calming too so there may be a small chance of a lure caught bass up the estuary,,,

Winter Bass off To Ireland

The last trip over to Ireland was a little rough to say the least Adrian and myself, even came back to the UK a day early the weather just was not playing ball at all we met up and had some great craic with anglers like us were chomping at the bit to get out there but with the coloured water even in Ireland ,,forget it really ,fish can be caught in coloured water on lures but that's another story for another day Cian and the Lads from absolute fishing kept us entertained with tea and biscuits with all those Irish fishy stories,talk eventually went back a to when Cian and i fished together through the winter months of previous years with a few years where Bass were captured all year round on lures so if the weather plays ball the posibilities for catching Bass are endless



Above a Tidy bass was nailed the second week in March 2009 on a plastic shad the last couple of years have been severe with the weather this year is a lot warmer some 20 degrees on this note i remember winter 2007/8 when the Bass ran through all year on the wexford waterford coast ,,Kerry does seem to be place on a regular basis for winter Bass,,

A fiesty Christmas ,New Year Bass one of a dozen Bass nailed on X Slayers in the festive period of 2008 so these  fish are around taking lures when the conditions prevail,

Carol ,Arron and Myself are getting the ferry over to Ireland on the 27th December for a winter fish,, in last year Temps were minus15 this year is a different ball game fingers crossed the weather looks OK have a look at  magicseaweed i know you all have your own weather stuff but i find this the most accurate guide we have to the winds swells and tides,

So,I have had a great year and to all of you out there that have looked  in on my Blog ,joined ,fished, fell out ,loved and lost have a great and peacefull Christmas with your Family and loved ones,i am packing and off to Ireland soon so my thoughts are not on Santa bringing me that  st criox down the chimmey,  find them here dorsetfishingrods

Delalande Shad time again

Long Trotting for Bass in Estuaries with soft plastic lures i have spoken about before but what a lethal way of Fishing when presented correct,a method that cannot be ignored by any Bass Angler,

Here's a few tips to help you on your way,

Pick your water my personal favourites are the fast moving deep water channels and the slower back eddies of Clearwater lagoons and estuaries moving even further up estuaries into Fresh water ,Bass do lurk in these areas too,,

The choice of rigs and plastics are endless in the world of fishing today, Paddle Tail shads are my personal favourites best when the sea trout are running the estuaries and the and worm type with the sand eel are around both very effective on their day.

For this description I am relating to the paddle tail shad.

Find your area and work out the normally ebbing tide where the most likely place for Bass are going to lie ,on sandy underwater dunes , weed strewn margins, back eddy bait gathering areas, this will come with experience and developing your watercraft and this bit is the fun part,, working it all out,

The approach to trotting is exactly the same as trotting an Avon float for Chub and Barbel species in freshwater a skill I worked out in my younger days that terminal gear is all important which then relates to the natural presentation of the plastic lure to the Bass.

Cast your lure at one o’clock keeping your line as high as possible out of the water by raising your rod tip check and mend your line getting all your line behind the lure keeping as much line out of the water as possible, feel for the paddle tail working, then you are in business, keeping your bail arm disengaged and letting line off between your thumb and forefinger of your left hand giving you controlled trotting your swim with the odd time checking the line feeling for the shad tail working in the current this will tell you the angler that the bait is working weed free and in the zone.

Stopping the Trot will have the effect of lifting the bait off the bottom and restarting will have the effect of dead sticking the bait to the bottom and keeping the line slack, strikes are common in this phase

An upstream wind is ideal for this method, keeping your lure in the Bass zone for a considerable amount of time holding your tackle and lure back in the current, water moving faster than the lure will make your paddle tail work even faster for you with a natural presentation over trots as much as 120yds long and covering vast amounts of ground obviously increasing your chances of a Bass Nailing you with that well presented lure.

The following steps are essential for successful soft plastic lure fishing in estuaries

• Always use the minimum weight (g) that you can possibly get away with 5 to 10g on a worm or paddle tail shad

• Articulated jig heads are a must with the use of short shank hooks for a more natural set up for the plastic lure and will give a natural roll and action to the soft plastic you are using, its all about keeping it real

• In a sensitive environment of clear ,shallow water a fluro carbon leader of 15lbs BS optimum length of around 5 ft Longer leaders with floating greased line are a advanced option

• Concentrate on the presentation of your lure the use of longer light rods will assist with the presentation

• In the shallows of estuaries sight fishing can be so exiting and a pair of top quality Polaroid’s are a must

I have used this method for a long time now and is successful Bass do go for the shads find them here i have got a few on the burner as we are off shadding in Ireland next week and with the picture above taken on our last trip the excitement is beginning to build,
i have with others probably had more success for larger Bass with the delalande shad with the articulated head than any other lure i own ,for me it is a no1 soft plastic lure,,,

Megabass ,IMA and a trip to Ireland

For years i always looked at the original Megabass vision 110 as a viable Bass lure ,,
just could not get on with it at all ,casting,action just certain things that didn't suit my style
i know there are you out there screaming at the screen and yes i agree to a point a great lure but sadly not one in my box ,, i got a few lures sent out from bass lures  and the 130 ONE TEN MAGNUM was in there amongst them and certainly builds on the success of the vision 110,,i really fancy this lure for bass i am sure as a shallow diver to a depth of around 2ft will do the business i cannot wait to try this lure on a few marks  i know,,

A suspending lure that works in fresh water

,just upgrade the trebles and it will suspend in the salt water balancing is crucial for success in the salt i also love the colour of flashing wagasagi colour,,, looks like the Legend of the vision just got bigger,,

Another lure that has caught my attention is the Nabarone 125 slim ,
below in Sand Bora this lure has worked all over the place for me in the old model ,,but what i like about this slim is the 2 trebles instead of the three and that helps with the landing and hookup of the Bass and about time we got back to two trebles on a Bass Lure ,makes the hook up a lot more sensible with two trebles
a brilliant price of £16.99 here

Anyhow ,,

,got the pass out to SE Ireland from the FPO and our Saga will continue into deep November weather permitting, and boy i cannot wait, this time of year can and regularly does produce some really tidy Bass ,,I will be traveling to Ireland on the 23rd November with a couple of mates for another Crack at those Bass the weather can be fickle though , in the picture below courtesy of Henry Gilbey was a fantastic day we had on a very Frosty November morning a few years back,