Duration: 12.15 - 6.00 pm
Tide: HW at 5.30 pm
Weather: Light southeasterly breeze, mostly overcast, mild
Bait: Lures
Rigs: Asturie, Xlayers, Feed Shallow
Results: 12 bass
Report:It looked like Saturday was the last good opportunity for lure fishing for bass before the weather broke and the first of the winter storms sets in. So I wanted to make the most of the day and headed to a reliable East Cork rock mark where I reckoned we had a good chance of a few bass. We got there about 12.15 pm just after low tide. The conditions looked perfect, good water clarity, small waves producing a bit of turbulence but not enough to stir up the sediment and cloud the water and fairly overcast. I started off using an Asturie. I cast it across an area of turbulent water where the rock surface drops off. After about the third cast I hooked a bass but lost him just as I got it to the edge of the rocks. I was trying to get it onto a low ledge but he was was doing some furious head shaking and shook the lure off when only about a foot from the edge



Shortly afterwards there were a couple of splashes behind the lure but the fish were not hooked. But at least I knew there were a few bass there. I kept casting across the area where I saw the last splash and about 15 minutes later I hooked another bass – it was putting up a good fight but this time it stayed on the hook until I landed it. It was a 52 cm bass






A few casts later I had another – this was also putting up a strong struggle and turned out to be a slightly bigger bass at 54 cm












Next cast I had a fourth bass of 50 cm out of the same gully








Shortly afterwards I got another 51 cm bass





















After a few more casts with the Xlayer I had another bass. This was putting up a very strong fight, and felt a good size fish. It was a 55 cm bass, the largest of the session












At this stage there was a lot of seaweed floating on the surface restricting the area that was fishable. I had a few more casts then hooked the ninth bass, another 50 cm fish. I had now equalled my previous best session










The bites had slowed down but was hopeful of making it to ten. A little later I got it, another 48 cm bass












The tide has risen considerably at this stage so I moved back up the rocks and cast across a small embayment. Nothing was biting so I switched back to the Asturie. Twenty minutes or so later I hooked another bass – 50 cm – Number 12










I continued fishing until 6.00 pm and tried a variety of other lures but there were no more bites – the bass had moved on.
So that may well be my last lure fishing session of the year, but it was a good one to finish on.
It looks like it will back to bait fishing now for the winter.