Co.Kerry Coast Bass (Lure and Bait fishing) - Oct & Nov 2010

[KERRY1]

People: Myself & K2

Baits used: Razorfish, freshly dug lugworm, mackerel and sandeels

Methods used: Spinning, plugging & bait fishing on the bottom

Tides: Various states of the tide depending on location

Weather: (Mixed) Rain, strong winds, sunny and dry at times. Cool nights with some frost in the air

Results: Bass, Pollock, flounder (new PB), mackerel, whiting, dogfish and coalfish


Report

It had been over 5 months since K2 and I where last down in Co.Kerry and after fishing for the mullet all summer up at home, we both needed a change of scenery and so with that in mind there was only one thing for it – a trip back down South again for some bass fishing. So, without delay we put our plan into action, got all our plugging and surf gear ready and packed up and we where off!
K2 picked me up at my house at 6.00am on the morning of our departure and after a 350 mile journey lasting 6 and a half hours we had arrived at our destination excited and looking forward to the fishing ahead.

Our main target species off the trip was bass but we managed to catch a variety of other species along the way which was a bonus.

We focused/concentrated on plugging and lure fishing for the bass during the day and went out bait fishing at night. Tides dictated where we fished and when but unfortunately so did the weather with strong winds and rain preventing us from accessing alot of the marks we had planned on going to fish. Luckily enough, on a positive note, we didn’t have too much problem with weed on the beaches that we fished from, which to me was quite surprising considering the wind and how bad weather conditions where at times.

For whatever reason the majority of the bass we caught this time down where all small fish. But that didn’t matter to us, we were just happy to be catching, whether it was on the plugs or on the bait.

K2 caught the first bass of the trip, taken on razor fish during a night session. The sight of it coming in through the waves and onto the beach was just fantastic!

The two biggest bass of the trip where taken on the plugs and where both caught by K2, the lucky thing! One weighing approx. 6lb and the other about 5lb.
Our overall bass total/tally at the end of the holiday came to 47, with almost half of them caught on the plugs and spinners.


The fishing overall was made that bit more difficult for us due to the bad weather but the plugging and lure fishing was even more of a challenge than normal due to the strong winds and rain. That still didn’t stop us though and as soon as there was a break in the weather and we got any window of opportunity at all to go out with the plugs we wasted no time and headed out somewhere to fish. Our plugging sessions proved to be quite productive with both of us catching bass on almost every trip out we made.

Our best day out resulted in us catching 10 bass between us on the plugs and spinners in the space of an hour and a half. It was complete madness and very exciting at the same time! It was for me the most memorable day out fishing of the whole trip. On our light gear it was fantastic fun. It was just so good to give the plugs a good run out again and even better to hook into some fish using them. I love plugging, it’s very addictive. There’s nothing quite like the sight of a fish breaking the surface of the water chasing and attacking your plug, it’s amazing and hard to beat as far as I am concerned. Then that night we went out and had another 5 bass on the bait. A day to remember and one that will be hard to beat for a while I’d say.

K2 was using the XLNT 8ft Prologic bushwhacker rod matched with a 4000 series reel and he had some great crack with this set-up, with the bigger fish he got testing his gear to the limit, giving him some really good scraps.
We studied what the conditions were like each day when we went out plugging and then from that we choose what plugs and lures would be best suited to those conditions accordingly.

The plugs and lures that we had the majority of our fish on and the most success with was the sub surface lures that worked brilliantly over the rocky/kelpy ground that we where plugging over as well as the spinners. When out plugging, we kept ourselves mobile, moved around the particular mark alot and covered as much ground as we could until we hit into fish or at least got some follows. We then stayed in that area for a while and then, once it went quiet, we moved on again to look for and find more fish. I didn’t get using the surface poppers as much as I would have liked to have done due to the big waves and surf present which made working the plug in the water quite difficult, spoiling the action of the plug.

We fished a variety of different locations and marks, some that where new and some that we have fished quite regularly in the past.

Another highlight of the trip for me was catching my biggest flounder to date, a new PB. It was caught on razorfish at night from one of the surf beaches. I caught it along with a bass on the same trace (a double shot) and if that wasn’t good enough. To top it all of my bass that night was also our 100th one caught this year and so I was well pleased.

The two main baits that we used and the ones that produced the best results for us were freshly dug lugworm and razorfish, with the razorfish out fishing any other bait we had. The majority of the bass we caught on the bait where caught on the razorfish and it’s this reason why I would never go bass fishing without it. It is a bait that I feel is still very much under-estimated and under-used as for as bass fishing is concerned and is one that I think more people should try more often.

The mackerel that we got where caught while spinning for bass. I went out spinning with some jelly worms from the rocks during a quick session one evening and managed to catch a few Pollock, nothing of any great size but again, great crack on the light spinning gear.
The whiting and coalfish that we got where caught at night and took the razorfish. The dogfish where caught on mackerel during a couple of sessions out targeting thornback rays.

One afternoon we arranged to meet up with three fellow members of the site (lucky, stefwest and Tornado8) who were also down for a few days fishing. We met up at the chosen mark and after the introductions where all done and dusted we wasted no time in getting our gear ready and began fishing. Bass was our main target of the session with most of us opting to plug and spin for them. Although the fishing was quite slow, the chat and banter was great. A sound bunch of lads and K2 and I were really pleased to have got the opportunity to meet up with them.

To conclude, despite the weather being against us, we both had a really great time away as we always do. We put in alot of hours and thankfully it paid off with us both catching a few fish which is all we had hoped for from the beginning. Our time just flew by too quick but we made the most of it.

As always, Co.Kerry certainly didn’t let us down. No wonder they call it the kingdom.............it certainly is as far as fishing is concerned.

Below are some pictures of our trip for you to have a look at.

[KERRY1]

More pictures......

[KERRY1]

More pictures.......

[KERRY1]

More pictures.........

[KERRY1]

Last pictures!!

[razor2]

Ah thats bass

[Nite Owl]

Nice report yet again. Did you measure that flounder? He looks massive.

[grady]

great few days trip to kerry Paula, lovely fishing sessions
also your new PB flounders looks good sized to me anyway
well done guys
i thing my year is done untill next may, but i'll keep enjoy others fishing just from house

[Mayorga]

Well done on the flounder super fish

[bigsod]

Holy god them flounders are massive, well done K1 and K2.

[polmac]

brilliant report and pics

[kilkeeconger]

Excellent result's but deserved for the effort you both put in,great photo's
and the report was grand reading,welldone!!!!!!!

Tightlines

K.C

[stefwest]

well done to both of yous some nice fish there it was nice to meet u both petty the fishing was slow that day but that fishing as u well know

[Trojan]

Use two should think about doing your own tv program,super fishing and great pics

[FisherKing]

Great report,pics & fishing well done guys some quality fish there well worth the trip fine Flounder, nice one Paula

[junior conger]

rweally nice flounder
well done k2 and k1

[corbyeire]

savage flounders there - any idea of the lengths?

[immunecfg]

I really have to go down with you's the next time you are going down lol!!!

Great report as always!!!

[saving private brian]

great report and pics paula.took u a long time to put those 11 days into a report lol.deadly fishing.had to laff thou how all ur bass r the small ones and ur flounder must be atleast 50.me and 2 of the lads r heading down that way soon so hope its as productive as that

[RockHunter]

Excellent report - sounds like you had some great sessions despite the weather - well done.

For whatever reason the majority of the Bass we caught this time down where all small fish.

Strange - the bass I have caught over the last month have also been small, I was expecting bigger bass to be coming in close at this time of the year.

Razor is a great bait alright - mostly that's all I use now (don't have the time to go digging lug).