West Waterford - 13th April 2009

[RockHunter]

People: Me

Duration:6.30 pm to 10.30 pm

Tide: HW at 8.40 pm

Weather: Partly cloudy, dry, calm

Bait: Lug, crab, mussel

Rigs: 4/0 and 3/0 pennel pulleys

Results: 1 bass




Report: I headed to a beach that I reckoned should fish well close to high tide and shouldn't have too much weed. However, there was quite a bit of weed on the foreshore although the western end appeared to be the worst. I walked about halfway down where it seemed cleaner and set up two rods, one with the 4/0 and the other with a 3/0 pennel pulley, both baited with lug.

There was some weed but it was fishable. However, the rods tips were remaining motionless except when a clump of kelp was snagged. I wasn't too hopeful of getting anything during daylight as the only thing I ever got off this beach during daylight was a dogfish. But at about 8.00 pm there was a knock on one of the rods. I grabbed it and struck then and the line went slack. At first I thought I missed it but reeled in quickly in case it was a slackliner. Then I briefly felt the pull of a fish on the end, it was charging in towards the shore. I reeled in the remained slack line and then felt a very strong pull on the line. The fish was putting up a good fight. It surged in to the edge of the beach and back out again putting a severe bend in the rod. I reckoned this was a good sized bass. I eventually hauled it through the surf and it was indeed a nice bass

It was 64 cm - and weighed just over 6.25 lb. The biggest bass I have got this year . Bigger than any bass I got last year too.
It was my 13th bass of the year - so that turned out to be a lucky 13

It was still daylight at this stage so I was hopeful of getting a few more after darkness. However, as the tide started to drop the weed became a much greater problem. It was starting to pull up the grippers and drag the line down the beach. There were no more bites so I packed up at about 10.30 pm. But I was delighted to get that one big bass.

[minty]

thats a lovely fish, well done
i'm hoping to get down to cork during the summer as the flights are only £25 return.
can the bass be caught durning the summer months?

[saltydog]

Well done on the PB Frank Did you keep track of the ammount of Bass you caught last year i'd say your going to finish well ahead this year judging by the way you've started 2009

[RockHunter]

Thanks guys,

Well done on the PB Frank Did you keep track of the ammount of Bass you caught last year i'd say your going to finish well ahead this year judging by the way you've started 2009

I got 36 last year - my target for this year is 50.
Last night's bass was my second best - the very first bass I caught (in December 2007) was 6.5 lb. It has taken a while to get another 6+ pounder.

i'm hoping to get down to cork during the summer as the flights are only £25 return.
can the Bass be caught durning the summer months?

Yes they can. Spinning/plugging is probably the best during the summer, but you can still get a few on the beaches.
Give me a shout if you are heading down and if I am free I could go out for a session or at least point you in the right direction.

[Pat]

Frank,
At the rate you're catching the bass I'd respectfully suggest that your target is too low . You should set yourself a more testing target....say 80 . It can be done .

[RockHunter]

At the rate you're catching the Bass I'd respectfully suggest that your target is too low . You should set yourself a more testing target....say 80

At the start of the year I thought I would try for 50. I am doing better than expected, I only had about two by this time last year. I will probably spend more time spinning/plugging for bass this summer - I did very little of that last year. Although during the summer I like to do some wrasse/pollock fishing so I won't be exclusively fishing for bass.

[rory from cork]

Well done again rockhunter..I reckon you'll have hit your target by July

[RockHunter]

Thanks Rory,

I reckon you'll have hit your target by July

I don't know about that - but I will be having some long sessions over the big tides of the weekend of 24th-26th April weather and weed permitting and hopefully add a few more to the total.

[eyesreilly]

Lovely fish Frank(was going to say fab fish Frank but thats too hard ) and congrats on getting another 6lb + bass, i've only ever caught one 6 lber, but what a feeling . Keep em coming

[Al and Jordan]

cracking fish frank twice the size of my p.b. can only dream about what that would fight like

[Bass Buster]

fair play mate for gettn da bass