Bass fishing - 19th - 27th March 2011

[RockHunter]

People: Me

Duration: Various

Tide: Various

Weather: Dry, calm

Bait: lug, razor

Rigs: 4/0 and 6/0 pennel pulleys, 2hook flapper (2/0 hooks)

Results:
19th March: 2 codling
20th March: 3 bass, 1 flounder, 1 coalfish
23rd March: 1 bass, 1 flounder, 2 coalfish
27th March: 3 bass, 4 flounder, 1 codling




Report: I havn't put up a shore report in about a month. I didn't do any fishing in the first half of the month , I was abroad for part of time and busy with work.

19th March: I got to a mark that was very productive last month at the same moon stage (6 bass that night), fished the same stage of the tide with a good surf so I was hopeful of a good result. But it was very poor, all I could manage were two small codling The Solunar theory didn't hold up too well that night

20th March: I headed to a different beach, with a large batch of freshly dug big lug and some razor. I hadn't fished this end of the beach in a long time so was unsure how I would do but reckoned it had to be better than the previous night. There was a weak/moderate surf. I fished the last three hours of the ebb and first couple of hours of the rising tide. I set up two rods one baited with razor the other with lug. There wasn't much happening at all on the dropping tide, but over low tide I had a strong tug on the rod baited with lug, I struck and connected with a good fighting fish. It had to be a bass After a few minutes I hauled a 45 cm out of the surf

As the tide began to push in I spotted a tug on the same rod. The line went slack, I grabbed the rod, rapidly reeled in the slack and connected with the fish. This one was putting up a stronger fight, ran another slackliner as I was getting it close, I caught up with it and after a brief struggle in the shallow surf I landed it - this was a better plump bass at 54 cm

A little later as I was casting out one of the rods I noticed that the line on the other was running diagonally across the beach. I rushed back and found the line was slack - another bass I thought but when I connected with the fish it wasn't fighting as strong as a bass and I soon hauled in a 42 cm flounder. It was extremely thin, must have been delighted to find 4 big juicy lug on a 6/0 pennel, and despite the hook size still managed to get it mouth around it

The bites died down after that so I started to pack up. I brought in the rod baited with razor first, I didn't have a bite on it all night - the fish were in the mood for lug. I started to reel in the other rod, at first there was little resistance, then I felt a sudden pull on the line and had a fish fighting on the end. It was a 42 cm bass I reckon it must have chased after the bait as I was retrieving it as there was definitely nothing there initially.

23rd March: I had a few lug left over from Sunday night’s session, so headed back to the same mark. However, there was quite a weak surf. I got there just before high tide and fished from 8 - 11.30 pm. I had a small bass (34 cm) over high tide and in close taken on lug. This was followed by a small 27 cm flounder. I quickly used up the lug and then fished exclusively with razor but had nothing more apart from a couple of small coalfish.

26th March: I tried some lure fishing from a reliable summer time mark, but nothing to report. A couple of small fish lept out of the water about 20 m in front of me as if a predator was chasing them but whatever it was I could not interest it any of my lures/soft plastics. I had a spare spinning rod with me and baited it with limpet on a 1/0 hook and dropped it into a gulley in close. I had a good bite on this but the fish went to ground by the time I got to the rod. I could not dislodge it and left it for about 15 minutes. When I picked up the rod again the line had come free but the fish had shook the hook. It’s probably still too early to expect much for the lures.

27th March: I headed back to the same beach mark directly after digging a load of lug on the last hour of the ebb. I got to the mark just as the tide was starting to push in. There was a better surf there than I expected so I was hopeful of getting a few fish despite the slack tides. I set up three rods, one with lug/razor, another baited with just lug on 4/0 pennel pulleys. I set up the third rod with a two hook flapper and cast in short into a bit of a gulley. It was quite until after dark, then just after the light went I had the first bite. It felt to be a strong heavy fish but I lost it two thirds of the way in

About 20 minutes later I spotted a gentle twitch on the same rod (the one baited with lug), I picked it up and could feel some slight tugs, I released the lock on the reel and waited until the fish started to run with the bait, locked the reel and struck. This felt to be a good fish and after a strong fight I landed a 54 cm bass

This was followed by a 38 cm flounder and then a smaller 26 cm flounder. After that my lug baits were been constantly robbed. I would see subtle twitches on the rod tip but the fish were seldom hooked. I reckon there was a load of small flounder pulling away at the worms.

About an hour after the first bass I had a strong tug on the rod in close. It ran a slackliner to the left but I quickly caught up with it. The fish was fighting strongly and I could see it splashing about it the shallows. After a few minutes I landed a 56 cm bass

I had a couple more small flounder after that (24 and 26 cm) followed by a small bass at 38 cm, again all fish were taken on lug. The bites then died down, apart from the little bait robbing flounders The last fish was a small codling this time on the rod baited with lug/razor cocktail.

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Last edited by RockHunter on Mon Mar 28, 2011 3:03 pm, edited 3 times in total.

Photos from 27th March

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Last photo - solitary small angry bass from 23rd March

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Nice few sessions frank. Good lookin bass and nice to see the flounder returning to the beaches in good numbers. It's gonna be a curse waiting for dusk now with the hour gone forward. Another hour spent sittin round waiting for fish.

nice fishing u do,Frank!

NICE few Bass ,WELL DONE

Well done Frank, some nice looking bass there! Lug seems to be the preferred bait at the moment alright.

some lovely fish there frank.Sometimes it is very hard to beat good old lug

nice one frank.some beefy looking bucks there

Some nice sessions there Frank, you certainly made the most of the good weather.

Well done frank, some nice bass there! 50CM + is my next target

super fishing frank not even april yet and your up to 27 bass :mrgree roll on
may and 7 days pure bass fishing i cant wait

the things i give for anyone of those sessions well done frank great fishing

great report frank great looking bass there

Great stuff...quality catch..super pic's

great catch man, never seen so many bass in the same report before, well done!!! great pics aswell

Thanks guys,

great catch man, never seen so many Bass in the same report before, well done!!! great pics aswell

Have a look at this one viewtopic.php?f=3&t=24232

Nice few sessions frank. Good lookin Bass and nice to see the flounder returning to the beaches in good numbers. It's gonna be a curse waiting for dusk now with the hour gone forward. Another hour spent sittin round waiting for fish.

Thanks Evan, the flounder are back alright but devoring the bait which is not so good. You just have to go out an hour later and fish a hour later.

Well done Frank, some nice looking Bass there! Lug seems to be the preferred bait at the moment alright.

Thanks Declan, yes lug was certainly outfishing razor, but hopefully with the return of strong southwesterlies for the end of the week it might get them feeding on razor again - it a handy bait as I have the freezer well stocked with it so can head out for a session whenever I like. But at the moment I have to get out and dig lug if I want to go fishing.

nice one frank.some beefy looking bucks there

Thanks Brian - by the way they were all from the beach that I took you and the lads to the time you were down last month.

Well done frank, some nice Bass there! 50CM + is my next target

There should be a few of those knocking around - a couple of years 40-48 cm bass were very prevalent on certain East Cork beaches, I guess the 50 cm + fish that are about now are from the same year class.

super fishing frank not even april yet and your up to 27 Bass :mrgree roll on
may and 7 days pure Bass fishing i cant wait

Thanks Gerry, seems to be plenty of bass around this year - should be improving even more as the weather warms up.

Well done, great report and some lovely bass

`54cm bass thats mongolian well done a extremly productive 2nd half to the month

Thanks guys,

`54cm Bass thats mongolian well done a extremly productive 2nd half to the month

It should only get better as the weather warms up and the southwesterlies blow.

never seen so many Bass in the same report before, well done!!!

I will be shortly putting up a report that makes this one pale into insignificance (in terms of quantity anyway)!!!!