All the gear, no idea!

Hi Lads

I'm an experienced fly-fisher but am now living in East Waterford, thought I should broaden my horizons and try to catch some sea fish.

So I'm kitted out, have made some mistakes and learned from them, sought advice from a very helpful Cian from the fishing shop in Tramore who suggested some great lures (Sasuke 120 and Black Minnow). Armed with all this gear and rthe advice to fish the ebbing tide at Saleens I tried everything I thought possible and never even got a touch. I was on the rocky point, fishing above the submerged rocks and weeds, the weather was mainly overcast, a little windy and warmish (18c). I varied the retrieve etc.

So anyone able to advise what else I can do or where else I can try? Is it just like that some days so I should persevere?

Oh and another thing, I lost 2 lures as I cast and the bail arm closed mid-cast, kind of expensive mistake, is this an often made mistake and any ideas how I can prevent it.

Thanks in advance for any light you can shine on this for me, I'm determinded to catch at least one fish.

keep at it - it's not easy

Hi, yes I will I'm no quitter. Just want as many practical bits of advice to digest as I can get. Where to fish, techniques etc.

Scan your marks at low tide - pay particular attention where there's plenty of seaweed/bladderwrack - fish those areas 2hrs before high tide.

Trying to get a bass mark of Waterford bass fisherman is like pulling hens teeth, they take them to the grave with them. Best advice I can give you is that the majority of fish are caught at dusk, dark or dawn and generally on the pushing tide. Unless you are fishing Tramore beach which generally fishes better during the day, when spinning anyway. As for the lures, anything candy colour is killer - Komomo and sasukes. Fiiiish minnows and savage gear sand eels bring in some fish (Cian is great btw and he wouldn't lead you astray). The final thing is to put in the time, bass can be very elusive but there isn't anything much better then hooking into 60cm+ fish! Tight lines.

Thanks. I've worked out that I have to do my own homework in terms of getting out when the tide is low and make some marks my own. I'm up for the challenge.

Thanks for your advice.

Hi Daithi, keep at it and you will get your reward as you become more experienced. The conditions you mentioned for that mark you fished sounded fairly ideal, it's usually a matter of finding the fish rather than having exactly the right lure for the job etc. When you start to learn some patterns for a particular mark (each is of course different), you increase your chances greatly as obviously if bass are not present it doesn't matter what lure you throw out.

Regards losing a couple of lures mid cast when the bail arm closed, what kind of line are you using, and did you have a leader tied on? fishing braid line with a approximately a 3 foot leader is a common setup, and the leader may help to absorb the shock if bail arm closes mid-cast, but the real issue is the bail arm closing in the first place which shouldn't happen..

Bass fishing is a learning process, I'm at it about 8 years now and I'm still learning and only moderately successful. I started catching more fish when I started lure fishing at night but that's not everyone's cup of tea.

Just keep trying at Saleens. The fish pass by twice per tide you just need to work out when those times are.

Thanks lads. Heading to Salleens tomorrow to try again.

OK so I've had 2 bass so far. A little shaky sometimes with my tackle, some ugly tangles with the braid.

Both fish to a Satsuki lure 2 feet below the surface, I love fishing with it, one further around away from the gap and the bigger one on a flooding tide in the fast flow.

Thanks for all the tips, I'm confident for my next trip.