Heading back home today, SO looking forward to going fishing!
I have been out here in Ireland for about two and a half weeks, and this morning I am starting the long journey home. Our last group of anglers are leaving after breakfast and then I will pack up and hit the road to head for a friend’s house in south east Ireland. My ferry back to the UK is on Thursday morning so if all goes to plan I will get back home for supper. I love these guiding trips, but without a doubt I find it a touch tougher being away from my family for a bit of a stretch and I put it down to my heart attack. I can’t really explain it, but something’s changed a bit..............
The bass fishing has been really up and down here in Kerry, indeed it’s been up and down for most of the year. Much like back home which I am hearing has suddenly switched on while I have been away; bloody typical! We always have a bunch of different fishing options in this part of Ireland so finding hungry fish to bend rods isn’t usually much of a problem, but it’s been a noticeably cold year with almost constant N and NW winds. For how little we know about bass food/bait movements and behaviour, one has to assume that something has been “off” this year with what brings our favourite spike predators close inshore. I feel like we are clutching at straws so much of the time when it comes to what is really going on in the natural world, and aside from the obvious commercial pressure on bass, it’s obviously interesting how the presence of bait tends to equal the presence of predators - like what I am hearing has been happening back home. Do we put 2024 down as a bit of a freak year for many parts of the UK and Ireland? I have always worked on the assumption that bass aren’t coming within casting distance just for a bit of a laugh, so if the bait/food ain’t there then neither are the bass.
Whatever is or is not the case, I love this work out here in Ireland, but of course I don’t get to fish and I can’t wait to actually go fishing myself! My preference isn’t for the really big tides around me at home, but when I get home I am going fishing as soon as I can, however much water is coming in and out. One thing you can probably guess is that I don’t need more lures, but one of our clients was fishing with the smaller IMA Chappy 80 surface lure yesterday - and I want one! Or two. I remember catching a good few bass on the larger IMA Chappy 100 when it first reached the UK a few years ago, but I had never seen the smaller 80 version. First off the Chappy 80 absolutely flies, but more than that for me is quite simply how it looks and sounds when it’s being worked. I just like it, and it seems to be very stable as well. Pollack have to be about the most useless fish at actually connecting with a surface lure, but one of our lads had five small pollack on his Chappy 80 yesterday morning and I’m sold! As a smaller surface lure it looks right to me and I know just where I am going to have a go with it on the bass back home.
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