Irish Bass Festival 2012

Irish Bass Festival 2012

Where do I begin? First off a great thanks to Cian and James at Absolute Fishing for organizing the event. Great idea and it ran like clock work. There was such a buzz about the shop every time you were in and of course the usual top service and banter. 

http://absolutefishingireland.blogspot.co.uk/

Obviously the various sponsors need thanked as well for backing the lads.

We had been waiting to get our hands on the new Graphite Leader Argento RV 8 foot 6 lure rods ..... They are awesome! Lovely finish and they cast lures for miles with little to no effort. Stick on a Daiwa Shoreline Shiner or Patchinko and they fly out into the distance. 

The conditions .......

To put it mildly the conditions were poor. It is not often that I complain about bright blue sky and sunshine but on this occasion I did. Flat calm seas and no life in the water made the fishing tough around Wexford direction. This seemed to be a common theme among most anglers who fished this part of the coast. However Danny Meagher, Pat, Crevan and the lads seemed to hit into some fish due to some precise running around and keeping on the go. 

Waterford seemed to be fairing a little better but on the whole low light seemed to be producing the best chance of a fish. I was to find this out on the last night!

The fish ..... 

Despite it being slow and tricky we did manage to intercept a few Bass over the duration but the windows of activity seemed small. 

First Bass on the new Argento RV rods ..... It was great to get the first pull on these new rods. A dream to fish with and for the money they are sublime. Nice action and they transfer the power quickly when fighting silver!

First experience with the Patchinko - SMASH!

We had been fished this mark for about an hour and I had bumped one Bass and my dad had landed a 2 lb Pollack but things were slow and the light was dropping fast. Time was running out. The weed had began to blow inshore and sub surface was no longer an option. I hunted in the box and pulled out the famous Lemon backed Patch, stuck it on and fired it out. Slowly began to walk it back towards me. 

Click, click, click, click - Whoosh! The Bass came up like a rocket and hammered the lure on the top before running like a train down into the water. If I am honest it took me a second to even register what had just happened. After a nice little scrap I landed the fish around 4lb weight. It was a great feeling a) to hit my first surface lure Bass and b) to register a fish for on the competition ruler. 

The fishing buddies.

I couldn't go to Wexford without catching up with my mate Jay La Roche http://wexfordbass.blogspot.co.uk/

We fished a few sessions together but things were tough but we kept on going. As always it was a pleasure and good banter. Lets just hope we have better luck next time. 

We met some other lads when we were out and about. Thomas, Kenny and Jonny were sound lads and we shared many fishing stories and had a crack together at a mark just as the light dropped. I will be very surprised if in the future you do not see our ugly mugs out together fishing .... watch this space. 

Also met Cliff, who turned out to be good mates with another angling buddy of mine. Some impressive fish caught by him over the competition and some nice secret lures used also. 

Seamus Enright and Aiden from Kerry were great lads, friendly and hope to stay in touch with them in the future. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tralee-lure-angling/391344080920937

A day to remember......

After some arrangements in the bar on Sunday night, Monday was looking like a special day. We set off to meet some lads to fish the Copper Coast. This would be my first time venturing this far over and completely into the unknown. Conditions looked awesome and there was enthusiasm in the air. 

It was a long days fishing with some of us producing fish up to the 5 to 6 lb mark ..... On a mix of hard and soft lures .... I got one take on a white wave worm but it didn't hook up. 

Lets just say these lads know this coast like the back of their hand ..... An experience which I shall not forget and one which I am eternally grateful to have had.

Maybe (if I am lucky) this will be done again.

The last day ....

We had arranged to meet Crevan on the mark around 9am. We set off early to have an explore. Withing the first three casts I hooked and lost a Bass of around 5lb. I was gutted. Was this my last chance and I had blown it? We met up with Crevan and began to work our way along the mark. 

Out hammered the Patchinko again and I stood in awe as I watched the Bass come up and splash behind Crevan's lure. Three chases in one retrieve ......Wow. The place was certainly showing promising signs. Splash after splash and no hook ups. It was looking like one of those days ..... 

I got fed up with this tormenting and stuck on a Feed Shallow - just as it came passed over the little wave ..... the Rod lurched and I had a nice little schoolie on. Landed and photographed (picture still to come....) We fished on with the spirits lifted. We hadn't blanked!

Dad opened the box and the IMA Salt Skimmer was produced. This was the last change of the day then it was home time. Cast out (these things hammer out on the rods) twitch, twich .... BANG! Fish on! 

Another first surface caught Bass of the trip. My dad was delighted as it ran and dived about. 

After it was returned safely (like all the other fish of the trip) we decided to call it a day and headed to the car. Lures, gear and Bass were discussed for about an hour before we split and headed for home. 

What is next?

I think and I hope that this will become an annual event. We met loads of great guys, chatted about lures, gear and of course Bass for hours on end. Granted the fishing for us was slow but it was a fantastic event and one which everybody who took part and organised should be proud of. 

I have already started to plan my next trip down. When that will be remains to be seen but stay tuned - who knows what is next.....

Tight Lines

Steve