The Plastic Princesses

Here's a few plastic lures that came to our attention on our trip to the magic isle of Bel Ille the french adore these lures but yet to be adopted by the standard UK lure angler in a big way last year right up to Christmas we had a great deal of Bass on the x slayer

This x slayer is the ayu pattern rigged on a 2/0 1/2oz straight jig head for twitch and draw method deadly !!



Just take a look at this goby immitation little gem the hazedong with 1/8th oz mega bass head you will need a flick tip supermix rod using these goby immitations

great for fishing the weed margins and close gullies but with a very fast rod and you will sure nail that illusive bass with this gem of the lure world


Heres a de le lande cut down 4inch blue/black GT Shad i think it looks so impressive used in waterford Ireland last winter with fantastic results and while we are on the subject of fishing in winter what about these i found today £ 12.00 a pair the ultimate 3 fingerless plugging gloves,,,

Great for them cold winter months

The Red Reveloution

What a Fantastic few days i have spent on the isle of Bell ille off the French coast with Henry and the staff of ultimate fishing including the man himself father of all our lures Yannick Cordier The visit to the Ultimate Fishing HQ was for me a life changing experience what a place walking down the isles opening boxes of lures that went to the ceiling all them little sparkling eyes looking back shouting buy me ! buy me! OH MY GOD !!!!!Where am i??The next corner revealed plain boxes stacked 10 high and peaking over the edge were packs and packs of xslayers thousands ,tens of thousands of these wonderfull plastic lures,then the jig heads the poppers the sea trout stuff feed shallows,megabass zonks in there hundreds with there little green eyes peering back at me ,,up the next isle masses of z claws, tide minnows all sizes and colours of the rainbow and the then when i thought i could not get any better than this my jaw hit the floor when i wandered round the next corner and saw a Forrest ,masses of Red Tenrhu Rods ,have i died and gone to heaven?? no this was real ,very real what a sight to behold i dug in like a man possessed stuff i had never seen before,open shad victory,super mix 210,240,270 steel red system,red luck top water new stuff due out soon like the injection !!!that's one to watch

Heres Henry desperately trying to keep his wallet in his pocket with Yannick the God Father

i desperately searched among the forest for the dragon but to no avail yes you have guessed it !! all sold out !!

I Think Henry wants to be lashed while holding on to the x slayers there were millions in them boxes

Buy me !Buy me!! Henry is just a tackle tart but just look at all them tide minnows

But honestly i cannot begin to scratch the surface of Ultimate fishings operation on Belle ille with these few pictures on our first day visit,,, but as i said what a day just life changing and i must thank Yannik ,Henry,the one that holds the fort at home and all the staff at ultimate for making me a very happy chappy

What a place for fishing too a wild and wonderfull part of the world and all interested in a guided life changing tour of the factory please, please let me have first refusal to show you round!!

A Day Blessed by Pats Mom

Up bright and early this morning the birds were singing and i just had that spring in my step i still get that buzz after 40+ years of fishing the thought and expectation of what lays ahead in the day to come,coming down to Cians house i promised i would give him a knock rattling on the door and what a sight to behold the man himself donned in his light blue Lycra bedtime shorts!with bags under the eyes as big as one of my peeler crabs don't you just love him,!!
we met pat and his nephew jack down on the beach and them three opted for the crab bait and i went off on the soft plastics,
immediately on the first cast a Bass of around 3.8oz came on pats bait rod which he very kindly let young jack reel in and land his first ever bass and he is only 9 years old well done jack

Jack above with second of 3 fish he nailed today not bad for a first time effort on the bass,,This was starting to look good today there seemed to be a few fish moving around i had been walkabouts and falling out with a dog walker (threatened to throw him in the drink if he diddent stop chucking cobbles in the water for his dog)and ended up where i started at the beginning of the morning reading the water where two channels meet ,the water was gin clear in the late winter sunshine so i opted for the fluro leader on to the well proven blue pearlessant GT Shad on a articulated jig head the boys were still bait fishing as i persisted with the soft plastics i was fishing the shad a very particular way a trotting sink and slow draw is a very effective method i had seen a couple of fish moving so my confidence was high and concentration was just automatic in the winter sunshine working the plastic on and off the bottom then the sutler resistance of a take !! i lowered the rod tip instantly and drew the shad slowly again by raising the rod tip from slow to strike mode in one lift and bang the fish was on and within a few seconds i knew that this was no small fish,,could it be one of them november crocs??as it broke the surface whoo!!!!IT SURE WAS and for the time of year this was sure a fine specimen that was putting up a fantastic scrap 10mins later it tipped the scales at 10.01oz and my first fish on a lure this year and a double at that!! a very thick set sparkling silver fish


here's a couple of pics below 10 01oz 75cm long

I was absolutely over the moon what a fantastic fish for this time of year a couple more casts and oh!!my god i was in again another fine fighting bass a fish weighed at 7.6oz again on the GT Shad what a lure this is turning out to be the boys were looking a little nervous down to my right on the bait i could see the red rods twitching in the wind as the were been made for action

Above the bass clearly has a firm hold on the GT Shad the articulated jig head is plain to see and the reflection in the water in the picture above,, Cian took this one during the fight watch out H
Could this day get any better?? it sure could !!hearing a call Cian was stuck into a nice fish his greys BZE was bucking with a sizable fish and oh yes a fish of around 7 lbs came to the shore on the scales it went 7.04oz what a fish great to catch on a light bait casting outfit and of course gees best peeler crabs

Look at the condition of that fish for march

After the photo call back to the business an believe this or not first cast with the GT shad bang a fish of 6.8oz

All this happened in an hour and what a magical hour for me and Cian poor old Pat was pulling his hair out ,,the slayers were just not doing the business today

towards the end of the day we started to have a go with other stuff ,when the fish are in front of you this is a must i got another bass 3lbs on a white slayer and pat nailed a bass of around 3lbs on a lucky craft flash minnow trout pattern ,,,,the theory today is that the Bass were feeding on trout and small mullet so the shads and the trout patt plugs work in these conditions this seems to happen in march april before the main peel of crab and the arrival of the bulk sandeels that is when the slayers will come into their own,,having said all that the ever trying pat puts on a mini asturi and misses one take and hits another off the top and looses the second fish after 30 secs but how cool is that!!!!! fish on the surface in march

heres pat with that elusive 3lber on the flash minnow

In summary we had 10 Bass to 10 lbs and were blessed with the weather ,fishing , great mates and fellow fishermen i think someone was watching over us today a day never to be forgotten cheers Lads

gee

Wexford Sea Trout/ Bass anglers dream

The Morning was cold and overcast a real drag to get out of bed but i had promised my mates Pat and Cian that i would meet them down on the beach in cullenstown, deepest darkest south wexford,on the drive down my mind started to wander ,thoughts of Bass off the rocky shore in summer,the terns diving for the sandeels in the shimmering blue sea ,Bass rolling in the margins and sultry mornings, Bass spotting off the cliff tops in the early morning sunshine what memorys came flooding back on this dark dismal morning.

Pat and Cian were already fishing when i arrived but as i popped the question have you!!!no not yet,,but in a stange sort of way the water in this river look a like looked very fishy under the dark skys

i noticed Pat was on the spotted trout smith pannish a fantastic small lure for trout and Cian was on the flash minnow mustard backed and 60mm long these small lures are so detailed something the large lure manufactures and dealers should take a lot more seriously there small lures expecially with lighter plugging rods coming to the market all the time ,,these two had dumped their bass gear for a 2000/3000size set up much lighter for the hard fighting Sea Trout and they seriously know their Trout fishing

the perfect trout set up below

Pat below is in deep concentration ,the slightest pluk or small bang could be a Sea Trout of a lifetime ,,in these productive waters they can turn up any time, trout will nip and snap at your lure and you have to be very aware what is going on under the water i would say many Bass Anglers out there have had takes off of Sea Trout without realising it one ultra fast knock and gone,,sound familiar??

Pat and Cian on a fine strech of back water below,Bass are also to be had as well as superb sea trout

A call from Cian and a fish was on!! fresh out of the sea a Trout leaps for its life a sport fish of epic proportion so much so the fish Cian hooked parted company with the hook we estimated around4lbs 3ft above his head this fish had just leaped 7to 8ft out of the water and parted company with the hook what a sight to behold Cian was unconsolable ,but thats what these fish do to you.

about 100yds down stream there was another angler who just landed a fine sea trout Cian is going to go ballistic!!

A fine fish of around 2lbs fresh from the sea ,look at the sea lice on the head and flanks a sure sign of a fresh run fish

Pat had moved up just round the bend and a glance up from me it looked he was into a tidy fish that little smith pannish had done it again this is a serious trout leaping and diving deep testing tackle and angler to the limit great stuff on plugs for early march

A fine sea trout of 3 lbs what a super fish for a very talented sea trout angler well done Pat,,

In reflection today showed me that these guys Pat andCian make things happen they work hard at the right venues at the right times with the right gear and in a irish winter catch fish on plugs!!!i have mabey showed them a trick or two on the Bass but when it comes to these pure bars of silver these irish guys can do the buisness ,on the way home i forgot about the summer bass all i could think of were those fantastic,majestic Sea Trout what fish they are and do they brighten up an irish winter???You Bet They Do

Home international shore championship

• Just recieved a entry form in the post from Mike and Brian for the Weymouth Bass Festival Looks well presented and you can be sure that myself and carol will be there ,the Tenryu Bass Spinning rod in the prizelist caught my eye,,must be a red thing,,


• you can get in touch at weymouthbassfestival@yahoo.co.uk


• The home international shore championships are held in the Aberystwyth area of west wales from the 9th to the 12th of july and the irish team is


• Paul Divito (Manager)


• Sean Ivory (Captain)


• Liam o Connor (Ulster)


• Richard Gormley (Leinster)


• MichealCurtin (Connaught)


• Graham Hill (Munster)


• As you can see i was lucky again this year to qualify for the team again as i did in 2004 when we finished a creditable third one fish behind the English for the silver medal mabey get our own back this time round,,is there any lads out there that know this part of the world Aberaeron,Tan-y-bwlch,South beach,Borth,Tywyn would be handy for some inside information for the july comps all bait is supplied for this one and i cannot wait

• got a call from kian and pat today chomping at the bit to get out there trouting on saturday but been out all week with a strong bout of flu,,cullenstown (theyimplied)i will be joining them tommorow a sheltered backwater and guess what the fly rod is coming out of moth balls too!!mullet and sea trout will be the main targets and i just cannot wait after been legged up all week

The Legend that was Bass Alley

Heres a few pictures from 8years ago ,you can tell that by little Arron and Carol both looking in amazement at a wonderfull silver sided bass bagged off this once wonderfull high producing
section of coast ,,sadly this area through shifting sands does not exist any more so i suppose this is a small tribute to an area of coast Carol and I christened Bass Alley a place where dreams were made

Carol stuck into another nice Bass pulling here slowly down the alley take note of the small width of the channel in the next 8 yrs thisgot eventually filled on and the channel ceased to flow

Carol stuck into a hefty Bass in the bright september sunshine

its not the bass in the picture its the sweeping bend of the shingle beach alighned from the rocks in the background that is the holding feature for Bass in this area

28th Febuary Basstastic

Well look at this little bar of silver of around a pound a sea trout,this on made my day took a viva parade at 100yds a great scrap for such a small fish only managed to return this fish when kian called !!!!!!!!!!Again its Febuary!,,kian is stuck into a nice fish his greys bze bucking and pulling !! special as i raced round the Bass was eased on to the beach a fish of 4/8oz what a great sight to see in the depths of a irish winter pure class on one of gees irish winter peeler crabs

Well the main man has done it again take a peek at this proud finned irish Bass again on a peeler a crabbie pattie as the jersey lads like to know them and a deep diver at that !! all i can say is what a place what fish in the winter months great guys and great fishing ,,,beat the winter blues come to SE IrelandAnd can you believe this ,,Pats back ,, with the mother of all flounders,,what a man what a fish,,three species in the dead of winter and loads of mullet out there too,,what a great day thanks pat and kian you are the best

Over here in Ireland we have tonnes of marks that produce all times of year just like the small report above,,

Bass are now a definate all year prospect in wexford and waterford not just schoolies but quality fish too, on bait and lures the Bass are a little pickier in the cooler months plucking and picking at baits presented to them,, but they are there if you get out there looking,, tight lines