IRELAND FOR CHRISTMAS

Well it may be getting back end and things may be winding down for Christmas but not me this time next week i will be on my way home to Ireland For Christmas at Shady Nook ,obviously will catch up with Cian at absolute fishing will be looking for Bass down Tramore on the plastics hope the weather plays ball because this area of Ireland can Produce Bass all year round if  it does,,best stay out of the shop though with all that shiny plastic and that in there having said that fish like in the pictures below frequent very close to Cians shop especially this time of year when the water temps stay up



all the photographs in this Blog Post are with Courtesy of Henry Gilbey

 This morning was arount minus 4C Air temprature you can see the frost lying on the fields in the distance superb for Bass ,the cold can turn them on below a nice fish of around 5lb that nailed the old faithfull Delalande GT Shad on the Trotting Method the bass just cannot resist it,,,

Above returning Fish is one of my great satisfactions of Bass Fishing

Here below an old mate of mine Tom Holyhock from Germany with a superb bass of 9lb8oz again nailed on a soft plastic this was the first time Tom and i had fished together and with a little assistance from me had 27lb of Bass in Three fish in the same Day!!!!!!!!!!!!! 



Photo Courtesy of Henry gilbey



we became good friends after that day and with the fantastic pictures from Henry Gilbey it made a day never to be forgotten ,,,,anyone looking for great Bassing in 2011 contact me on grahamhill@seabassfishingonline.com

 To finish up this post there is a brand new forum opened up here at jersey bass guides a forward thinking Forum that thinks outside the box and is run by Anglers so when you get a chance  get over there and have a look sign up and join the modern lure angling scene Tom and i are over there and just look at the pic above it says it all

The only way is Maldon Essex

certainly not a picture from the only way is essex a few snowey pics from around the place i live in Maldon Essex

This is the prom with the Thames Barges great place for a pint and a chat we live in the  estuary and its a great place to live ,,near the sea and the wild life of the bay

 The local church in Maldon this place is very old and they say that George Washingtons GRANDAD!!
is buried in the Grounds ,,,now thats History dating back to the 13th century

 Love this a great picture of the river in maldon ,,the Blackwater holds Bass and massive mullet including masses of bird life,,,

i am getting used to living around here

Its Shad Time,,,,,,as long as the weather holds

From now on up to Christmas and beyond ignore the paddle tails at your Peril

  below is the highly successful combination of a 20g articulated jig head paired with a Holderness twin point carried by a 130mm delalande GT shad Pearl this set up in the later months can be lethal in the right hands

Below ,,,,Here's a great shot where the angler is fishing typical shad ground a fast run off over weed and rough ground ,typical Bass ambush area with back eddies and fast flowing run offs containing sand bars and the character of many underwater holding features,,,

The new Delalande buster and GT shads are now coming along too encountered a few fish in 2011 on this mover the thing i have found with these shads on the ground i fish the are very successful for the latter end Nov/Dec and the very beginning from march/April  small windows you say but you only need an hour on the fish with these things

                Long Trotting for Bass in Estuaries with soft plastic lures you must try 


          

     THE METHOD

The Method as I call it is my personal favourite way of fishing the fast moving deep water channels and the slower back eddies of Clearwater lagoons and estuaries for Bass,

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 worm type plastics when the sand eel are around both very effective on their day.

For this description of method fishing for Bass I am relating to the paddle tail shad.

Find your estuary and work out the fish holding areas on both rising and ebbing tides and times,, first light coinciding with high water if at all possible is a magic time.

Look hard for where the most likely place for the Bass are going to lie ,on sandy underwater dunes , weed strewn margins, back eddy bait gathering areas and natural ambush points , especially on the ebb tide, 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 of 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 back your lure in an underwater balancing act in the current,
Water moving faster than the lure will make your paddle tail work even faster for you with a natural presentation,
Trotting as much as 120yds long down your swim and covering vast amounts of ground with your lure obviously increases your chances of a Bass Nailing your well presented lure.

TIGHT LINES

Next Move Bass Match Angling

This is a question that is killing me,,,,,



A lonely Strand Tramore CoWaterford waiting for that first bite
Cod or Bass Match Angling at its best


Well i keep asking myself the question and thinking about has Bass got its place in the match fishing world

As a  matchman and always aspiring to a challenge any body who goes Lure fishing for Bass or any other species for that matter, to have half a idea must have a competitive streak its part of the job description
i think ,
Bass Lure compertitions organised in the correct way this could be a reality, there are a couple of Bass driven  shore comps in the country at the moment they are not on the scale of  proper open shore competitions that happen every weekend week in and week out in the sea angling world in the UK today ,,



 The problem i have with these Bass competitions for example the weymouth one  at the moment ,is that the organisers seem to think it is OK to stop certain People from competing in that event,,

 this is a mind boggeling attitude banning anglers and local anglers to the area at that when realy the sport is in its infancy in the UK,,who do these people think they are and  what damage are they incuring to compertition fishing and the future credibility of Bass Fishing,,

is this a good image for Bass Lure Fishing? to portray to the outside world to stop locals fishing a open comp in their local area?

The poor results of the weymouth comp this year Nice fish that won it  around 9lb i hear But nothing of note to back it up  just shows the inexperience and short sightedness of the organisers picking the tide and times ,, i am sure if you organise a compertition its for all to compete not a select few,
because of this and other  issues,,, i have been contacted personally by quite a few disgruntled anglers who were fishing the so called Bass comp in weymouth this year,,, they all said that they wont be there next year , to me as a Match Angler and Bass Angler this is so dissapointing,,so is the rot setting in already??

The  Daiwa Open
I am fishing a proper compertition up in Yorkshire on the 21st Nov the Daiwa Open with Carol entering the Ladies and yes i cannot wait realy looking forward to  meeting some of the possible1000 entrants of anglers that compete every year,,i just hope they dont ask about any questions about Bass Match Angling that would be quite embarrasing ,with the sorry state of affairs at the moment,
You should try this site out these lads fish shore comps more or less every week of the year and a bit of a hot bed for lure fishing too,

 they asked me to do a QA Session have a look whitby sea anglers a realy great forum and web site and i enjoyed doing this for a very knoweldgable bunch of anglers,,

MEGABASS EDONIS,MIYABI,GATARIDE,ZONK, Thanks to Singapore Airways

Well Carol and her mom have just got back from a trip to the  far east for a couple of weeks having a bit of women time i just fell into work and looking after Arron while she was away ,but hey it was worth the wait with a few goodies brought home for me to sell on the open market in the UK is she a absolute diamond bringing theses little gems back for US!!,,,,
 just feast your eyes on these Gems now in stock at megabass lures ltd heres a sample of pictures of the new lures available

The aka kin Miyabi vision 100 sw

Zonk 120 Hama Iwashi

Megabass Edonis x-92 SW Bass Lure



Megabass Zonk 120 Ringo Starr my personal favourite



THE RINGO STARR!!!!!!!!!!!!!a collectors item

THE MIYABI Vision 100 SW Crusing Blue

EDONIS MISSILE 17g pure muscle GG Iwashi 

Megabass Gataride Yoro Yoro singetsu Iwashi

Megabass Edonis X-92 aka kin

Megabass Zonk 120 Teaser

If you want to get a full description ,views and Prices have a look here at seabassfishing online.com

Dont forget its the Opening of Absolute fishing on sunday the 24th of October I will be calling in and Carol my lure smuggler will be there with me and  Henry will be along too,,,i hear there is certainly a great prize up for grabs in a raffle 

Grand Opening

Well got back from Ireland safe and sound after a great trip with my mate Adrian and what a great time we had straight off the ferry and within 1/2 an hour i was into a 8lb fish that i had beat at the rock face and with one serious head shake it was gone but what a fish and a sight ,the lure was the Zonk Gataride pearl Rainbow the No1 Bass Lure in 2010 in my humble opinion,but yet another flaw it was the hook that gave out and not the bib this time,,Adrian promptly nailed a Pollock then a bass of around 4lbs having some great sport between us for a couple of hours on the rising tide,,,
i had to leave early and go to my house Shady Nook to handover from my sitting tenant,, i did not want to leave the fishing but business elsewhere was calling,,,

The few days i had in Ireland at my home were quite inspiring and a calm came over me if anyone out there has had to leave their house not to mention your country you may have an idea of how i have felt for the past 18months but hey another week is beckoning at the end of this month with Carol, Arron and a couple of mystery guests with us at the end of October,,so now my all new adventure can begin,,,,the first job i have to do is go and visit my mate Cian o Halloran at Absolute fishing in Tramore on Sunday the 24th October its His grand opening of his shop ,so if you are around come on down i know Cian   will make all of  you guys out there wanting to come very welcome,,

Cian Has always got a bass in his hands

Cian and i go back quite a few years and is a great guy even though he was so busy last week he found time to come fishing with his old mate and i must say,,, i did him again with a 7lb fish on plastic that he did not have in his shop!!!!just to show him i have not lost my touch while i have been away,, only joking mate best of luck with the shop and i will see you on the 24th Oct at Absolute Fishing

Not the one but a nice Bass on  a De La Lande GT Shad

Crabbing part 2 will be coming soon just a little busy at the moment re/building the M25

Big Bass on Crab( Part 1)

Bait fishing has always and will always be my first love for bass fishing light tackle fishing can  be achieved with bait in certain locations 3oz lead simple running ledger rig ,,watercraft needs to be good and is all important reading the tides conditions and of course refreshing the bait,,

Her es me pumping a peeler crab into Bannow Looking for the big one

 Below you will see a prime condition peeler crab ,male peeler crab, the ultimate bait for bass nothing else can compare from September to Christmas for Irish Bass In estuary's I Have a few traps in the Estuary for this wonder bait and love collecting them it make you one with nature and boy takes some getting right

Male Peeler even in the moult are so aggressive

But make a fantastic bait for Big Bass

First the smaller Bass appeared

then 12lb stunners like this can appear to crab baits for this angler that was staying with us at shady nook Ireland

Crab baits are simply the best way of catching bass out there,but the dark secrets of catching the prime peeler crab take it from me it is very difficult to work out,,, tides ,times ,sizes,where and when to set traps,weather systems ,crabs have been around since before the dinosaurs so i would imagine they can predict a storm coming and when they do its deep water order of the day,,
bait fishing is so good especially when the bait is the best and bass will become plentiful to the distinct musky smell of the male peeler,,,
In part 2 i will explain in detail how and where to set crab traps for best results for the best prime crab for your bass fishing,,,,
Iam off to Ireland on thursday so cant wait and have missed the old bait fishing,,bring it on!!!