First bass session in Ireland - epic stuff....

It was an awesome first morning's bass fishing over here in south east Ireland - the conditions were pretty good, and I knew it might just be a decent few hours when I nailed a small bass within a couple of minutes on a Smith Saruna lure. What a fantastic action on this lure.

Getting up before first light always gives you a shot at some fantastic light to really give the photos an almost surreal feel. I shot a lot of stuff as the sky came alive and the bass came on the feed big time. The mix of awesome skies, a tumbling sea that takes on a golden hue from the sky, and the guys doing their thing with the red rods can make for really powerful photos. The Nikon gear is making me a very happy fishing photographer indeed !! I shot some stuff this morning right up at ISO 2000 and didn't worry about it for a second.

I got hold of a lure the other day that I just liked the look of the moment I saw it, and our first morning over here was of course the perfect time to try it. On it went, and on about my third cast with it I got hit by a seriously proper fish that crunched into me and tore line off in the same split second. But the bass came off - typical !! At least my new lure was working though......

Cian went as far round the bay as he could with the tide and smashed three bass in three casts, all on the MegaBass Zonk Gatoride, but he then broke the lip on the lure when he hit one rock too many. I could have sworn I saw him wiping a tear from his face : "just got something in my eye". Lure love or what ?

I moved over to fish next to Andy, and then I hooked another proper fish on my Tenryu Super Mix 240 (this rod grows and grows on me) that smashed into my (new) lure right beneath my feet and charged for the bottom. Andy went down to land it for me, and we both reckoned it was nudging the 8lb mark - a really chunky fish, but it managed to shake itself free of the lure just as Andy grabbed the leader. Or at least that's what he tells me !! The thought that Andy might have kicked the fish off because he doesn't have this particular lure in his already overflowing lure box never even crossed my mind......??!! I am bad.

Andy then caught a stunning condition bass around 6lbs that you can see in the photo. He also had another fish around 4lbs, both on the Tackle House K10 - with all this secret squirrel lure stuff going on, Andy is over the moon that he is the only bloke here with that particular lure in his bag. I can see it going "missing" very soon though......

We even smashed a bunch of wrasse when we were waiting for another tide, including this cracker from Cian (check out those shiny white teeth, I reckon he had then done especially for the photos !! Sorry Cian...). There are a few gullies around here just stuffed full of decent wrasse, and with the rubbish weather that has come in here, I can see us tucking away and nailing a few more of them.

But none of them have got the one I've got !! Not that we are mere children at heart or anything, but the lure I picked up the other day has the most stunning "tight wiggle" action that works just below the surface. It also casts like a bullet and the bass obviously love it. To many anglers I know it is most likely not a new lure, but it is to me. The lure in question is the IMA Sasuke 140, and I got mine from these guys here. I don't reckon you need to put much action on this lure. Just crank it in a medium to fast pace and it does its thing in the most seductive way. I've only got one of them, so when I get home I am going to get a couple more.........and I am really hoping I don't go and snag it up !!

Whatever happens with the weather or the fishing, Ireland never ceases to amaze me with the quality of their shore fishing. When the bass fishing fires, it fires big time. Nowhere fishes well all the time, but if you get half decent conditions over here then the fishing goes mad. We will see what the next few days bring......