Confidence is Crucial
Last week I journeyed out to Ireland for a quick visit and as usual the trip produced a whole bunch of things to think about. I would have relished the chance to chuck a fly, but the remnants of a hurricane dispelled any real chance of success using that method so the lure was the way to go.
Cian from Absolute Fishing has been fishing Wave Worms recently and so I decided to give them a go. First session and I pulled a fish, using a weightless soft plastic. Instantly I had confidence in the method and fished it hard throughout the session. But I am convinced that those fish knew the weather was on the way, because we all struggled for the rest of the day.
In fact the weather got so bad that we opted for bait during the next couple of days. I am into all sorts of fishing but so used to the active characteristics of fly fishing that two solid days without a fish (I was very good at missing bites!) meant that I was keen to get back to lures. Then Nick Roberts of Topwater Lures turns up and nails a fish on a Komomo 2. That was it; I would be stringing up the lures the next day.
Highly experienced lure angler Nick Roberts with an lure caught Irish Bass taken in murky water conditions - photo by Henry Gilbey
We arrived quite late in the morning to coincide with a decent tide and I was ready, tooled up with a new rod from Megabass (The Blackshadow) which to all intents and purposes is a fly rod which will cast lures. The water was dirty so I went for a White Wave Worm incorporating a pimped out Chartreuse back … colour bleed from another Wave Worm. Carefully wading into the shallows I cast hopefully towards fish movement which I assumed was Mullet, hoping that maybe there were Bass amongst them. Most of the fish spooked.
I continued fishing and then suddenly there was a huge bow wave heading straight for the worm, but no take? Was it a Mullet perhaps; spooked and rejoining a shoal? Nothing else happens for a good hour and by now both Nick Roberts and I have covered a fair bit of ground. I started changing lures, hoping to find the winning formula. I tried a Chartreuse Wave Worm in an estuary flow and did have one hit, but my confidence was dwindling. More lure changes.
Moving to some moorings (the same area in which Nick had caught the day before) my confidence climbed once more, especially as I had tied on a Komomo 2. Within a few minutes Nick had called over “crank it slower, feel for the action on the rod tip.” Really confident, I followed his advice and then I noticed a loop in my braid. “Damn, why now!?” At which point Nick hooked a fish on some kind of rubber minnow … my mind was all over the place. I didn’t have minnows, the worm had not worked and was I really fishing the Komomo correctly? Confidence back down and a tangle to sort.
He does it again - James Barry with a Bass on a Wave Worm. Photo by Henry Gilbey.
Then James Barry turns up and I begin inching closer to him as he throws a few casts. Fish with this guy and you will know this is wise; he rarely blanks. It was no surprise to see his rod hoop over and I set off to Boga a good fish for him. And guess what it had eaten … yes, a White Wave Worm! I was kicking myself! Why had I not just gone with my instinct and stuck to the method … suddenly the bow wave in the weeded margins seemed more likely to have been a fish.
The worm went back on and when James got back to fishing I watched his every move and asked questions. “What speed should I wind, should I add movement via the rod tip etc” As with all the guys over in Ireland including Cian, Ger and Paul they are only too willing to help. I learned a lot from watching James and once again felt confident, especially when he got hit again, tearing the worm clean off the hook.
Heading towards some rocks we had a particularly exciting few minutes when we could see Bass momentarily in the waves, gliding through murky water little more than 2 feet in depth. One of these fish rushed my lure but refused at the last moment. We continued fishing, following the tide and hopefully the fish, but even James wasn’t getting a take. We must have lost them.
I have fallen in love with Irish Bass this last year and catching them on soft plastics is just so much fun. Photo by Henry Gilbey
The rocks began covering and then my radio crackled into life as Henry explained that they were heading back to drive to a new mark. I could see them about half a mile away and said I would continue fishing until I could see them nearer the car. Waist deep in water I wasn’t confident that we were with the fish and began wading back towards the rocks, there had to be fish hugging this feature! A Tern dived nearby and I turned to shout to James … he was already shouting to me and motioning that I should get a lure in there. The Wave Worm goes out; I give it a moment to sink and then crank steadily, gently flicking the tip of the rod to impart movement, confident that any moment I will hook up. There is slight resistance; I just keep winding and then the fish hits. What a feeling, total satisfaction … confidence had once again won the day.
White Wave Worms, Bass love them! Photo by Henry Gilbey
It’s what I love so much about fishing; it’s about learning,observing, listening, trying stuff, using a bit of instinct and above all being confident. My instinct had been correct (the White Wave Worm, the rocks and the Tern) and who knows, had I stuck with my original plan maybe I would have caught a bunch more fish? That doesn’t really bother me, what does is becoming confident in a method and the only way to do this is to listen and observe those who already have confidence/experience in a technique… then try it for yourself. The result will be that you catch more fish! I have a lot of guiding coming up over the next couple of weeks but at the earliest opportunity I will be throwing a Wave Worm at a Devon Bass; I have total confidence in them!
25 Hour Bass
It’s been a mad few days. On Thursday I was up by 6am for last minute Ireland preparation before heading off to look after Hugh Caslake and Martin Baum. These guys are regulars and make an annual pilgrimage to the Exmoor area to indulge their growing addiction for fly fishing. It is awesome to see how they are improving with Hugh now making a move towards double handed Salmon fishing … he was popping some sweet loops. Meanwhile Martin got to grips with the finer points of hauling to improve casting accuracy while river fishing.
I left the guys fishing by 3.30pm and headed off for Bristol Airport and my evening flight to Dublin. The meet and greet parking was brilliant as usual, but I could have done without the £80 overweight baggage charge levied by Ryanair. Perhaps I should have taken the ferry? Too bad, the Irish Bass are worth it and I kind of forgave the airline company because the flight arrived 20 minutes early! There was to be no lonely trip down towards Dungarvan either because Florida fishing maestro Rodney Goodship was there to meet me for the journey. On a break from his Fish the Dream operation, he was about to sample something quite different, Irish Bass Fishing. The last time I met up with Rodney for a fishing trip was several years ago in Miami so the chatter was nonstop during our 2 ½ hour drive.
We arrived in the wee small hours of Friday morning and after catching up with the guys various members of the party including Henry Gilbey, Andy Bignell and Rodney quite sensibly retired to bed. That left Cian of Absolute Fishing and me. After trying to talk ourselves into getting some much needed shut eye we took the slightly insane decision to put our waders on instead. Cian had been up since 7am too and it was now 2am the following day. Rods were thrown into the car and we set off eager for a fish; we could sleep later. We fished hard but drew a blank, even though conditions seemed perfect. Some thanks for our effort! We had to be back to catch up with the other guys by 4.30am, at which point we did a U turn and set out for a favoured mark that produced fish during our last trip in July. But once again sport was slow and I have to admit that I was starting to feel the effects of 24 hours with no sleep.
The wonderful Wave Worm soft plastic - Bass love them!
Local Bass fishing junkie, Ger, came to the rescue. He had joined us for the morning session and managed a Bass of around 5lb using his favourite Feed Shallow lure. I fished my Wave Worm soft plastic with renewed anticipation, a method of lure fishing that shares many characteristics with the world of fly fishing. Rigged to swim weedless without any weight, I cast into some mouth watering gullies adding lots of tip flicks, pauses and other movements to simulate life. I got it right on one of the occasions and was hit hard by a Bass of 4lb. This was a fish to be savoured, not only because it was my first ever on a soft plastic but also because it looks like the next few days could be no good for anything except bait. Not to mention the fact that I had now been awake for over 25 hours!
The 25 Hour Bass!
The weather is now horrendous! At one point the barometer on my Casio Protek just crashed signalling the arrival of massive South to South West winds and driving rain, interspersed with periods of relevant calm, even sunshine. But the weather has taken its toll and many of our intended marks are now unfishable. Frustrating yes and the forecast doesn’t offer much comfort, but time spent in the company of like minded anglers is just as good and I am sure we will find some more fish in the days to come. Andy has been doing just that and I am constantly amazed at this guy’s ability to extract fish from about every location we go to such as this fish taken on Crab. Hopefully we will get some more fish for Henrys camera soon. Writing this blog late on a Sunday night I should probably do the sensible thing and get some sleep!
Andy seems to extract Bass everywhere we go - despite the weather!
Specimen River Frome Grayling
Day tickets for the Frome are available from John Aplin at Casterbridge Fisheries
What red blooded angler would?! Gin clear water, stunning scenery … specimen Grayling caught to over 4lbs! I had been counting down the days. Arriving early on Thursday morning I was greeted by a hot cup of coffee and when Henry turned up this was followed by a cooked breakfast, which was good because I had awoken so early that I had not bothered to eat. This is the kind of service you can expect from John and his wife Andrea who manage the fishery. Arriving on the water, we were not disappointed and yet John explained that we were seeing the Frome at its worst. The dry spring had taken its toll and we were fishing over very low water, which had rendered some very tasty runs unfishable. First stop was a deep pool although the low morning sun made it hard to spot fish.
We moved upstream and found a pool teeming with life. I had expected to see big Grayling but suddenly was faced with a 2lb Trout. This may not sound big by Trout standards but this is no stocked chalk stream. This was a Wild Trout, which was also very skittish, especially after my less than graceful leap over a barbed wire fence. 10’ #3 Greys Streamflex + at the ready I aimed a catapult cast in amongst a swathe of branches and hoped that the fish would return. It didn’t but a few decent Browns up to 1 ½ lbs did. In plopped a Quill Bead head and a Grayling of no more than half a pound appeared from nowhere and nailed it! Not the intended fish and certainly not the specimen Grayling we were after, but great fun all the same.
Next stop was a mouth watering pool. More Trout were spotted to over 2 ½ lb (John has seen them to over 3 ½!) and remember these are wild fish. I worked those fish over but they were just not on the feed. But what about the Grayling? Well they were there too and I reckon the best went 2 ½ lbs, big enough but not by Frome standards. In the hope of seeing the kind of fish this venue can produce John walked us to the top of the beat but in the low conditions the fish all spooked and shot off upstream. Even so my eyes were on stalks, the bow waves were enormous. I had to see one of these fish up close … pleeease!
At last I whinkled one out for the camera (photo - John Aplin)
We went back to our previous pool and I began working one of the Grayling hard, it didn’t really seem to be feeding but every now and again it cast various offerings a sideways glance. This is one of the things I love about the species, they will let you throw all sorts at them and basically ignore it and then all of a sudden … you are hooked up! At last something for Henrys camera and nearing 2lbs a superb fish, it was hard to believe that somewhere not far from us was a fish twice the size. As usual Henry could be heard cooing from behind the camera, the conditions were superb for pictures and Grayling are just so elegant.
Our morning was complete and lunch beckoned. Once again the full Aplin hospitality service was bestowed upon us as a lovely ploughman’s lunch was served up complete with particularly fine homemade chutney. These guys also have some very reasonably priced self catering accommodation and nearby there is a great deal of excellent sea fishing, including Bass. I had begun conjuring up trips!
John was desperate for us to have a crack at one of the Frome’s monster Grayling and so after lunch we were taken to a deep pool, covered by a canopy of branches. Do not expect manicured, that is not what this place is all about although Johns enormous experience spanning some 25 years managing rivers can be seen throughout. The venue is extremely fishable, but testing; just the way I like it. The deep pool did show up one fish that I would have put at around 3lbs, although in the shade it was difficult to say. It was also in the company of a few other fish and so in true Hart style I managed to extract the smallest, using the tip section of my rod! More pictures followed but time was running out.
We headed back to the original pool; the light conditions were better. But concentrated fishing takes its toll, especially after several back to back days of guiding and a very late night spent at the cinema … oh and not being able to sleep through being too excited! Why did the big fish appear now?! Sat under a low branch, right up against the opposite bank I could see a decent looking specimen which I bombarded with everything. That was when I actually landed a fly in the water because on several occasions I hit the branch, or snagged the opposite bank. Controlling 2 bugs at range on a long leader is not easy, especially when knackered!
Eventually even Henry decided it was time to throw in the towel and packed up his cameras. Yes we all know he is not famous for his patience but actually when out taking pictures I marvel at how long he will wait for the shots he needs. Sure I am a guide and watch people fishing every day, but I am very involved. Sitting behind a lens all day, waiting for a fish, that takes dedication. I could hear him still in conversation with John so in one last ditch attempt to fool this fish I waded out carefully to try and get a better look and enable control of my heavy weighted bugs.
I cannot publish the expletives that followed. Clearly unsettled by my presence the big Grayling … no let me rephrase that … massive Grayling took a little wander around the pool. “HENRY” I bellowed “you have to look at this”. Both John and Henry joined me to see what all the fuss was about. More expletives! I think Henry said “Herman” and “Holy Cow” a few times. Meanwhile I continued to fish like an idiot much to my companion’s amusement although if I am brutally honest and without trying to make excuses I was shaking like a leaf! I attempted to compose myself, shortened the leader a little and tied on a plain and simple Billy.
A few casts went in, I played tennis with either bank for a moment and at one point turned away to get out of the water and go home … beaten. No, just one last cast! The Billy sank; I lifted the rod and noticed the Grayling slightly alter its position. It seemed as if we were suspended in time for a moment as I struck and then the fish slowly turned on its side. It was hooked!!! Then there was chaos as Henry charged out of the river to unpack his cameras while John urged me to take care and not lose this fish now careering all around the pool. The hook held and suddenly our aim had been achieved, the biggest Grayling I have ever seen in my life was in the net. Measurements put this fish at around 3lb 12oz, it could have been smaller or possibly even bigger but the exact weight of a fish has never really bothered me.
One very big Grayling - One very happy angler! (photo - Henry Gilbey)
What more can I say … true elation, a massive angling high and even better you guys can do this for yourself without breaking the bank. Please go and take a look at Johns website, Casterbridge Fisheries here … you won’t be disappointed.
