A Fish with Fight
I can’t believe that it has been a week since Henry and I arrived in the Beara Peninsula. Barley Lake was certainly an experience but when I head out to Ireland I can’t help but get excited by the prospect of Pollack. For serious arm aching fun … is there a better fish? For prolific sport … is there a better fish? One thing is for sure, the South West coast of the Emerald Isle has plentiful stocks of this dirty fighter.
Rocks, ledges and deep water. The Pollack are not far away.
My set up consisted of a Hardy Proaxis rod (you have to cast one of these things!) coupled with a Hardy Demon reel. Expensive kit to be thrashing around on the rocks but the Beara Peninsula (Kerry & Dingle) represents the chance to tangle with the fish of a lifetime. During our trip I met one devastated angler who had lost a fish that was well into the backing and then his cheap composite reel jammed. Unable to control the crash diving brute the backing was then sheared off by a submerged ledge. His fishing was over. A decent drag would have helped; carrying a spare line (or two) would have at least got him back up and running. I never go fishing for Pollack without spare lines.
30 seconds of mayhem!
There are various lines out there on the scene which are suitable, you could make up a shooting head for instance with a lead core. But personally I am into the Depthfinder 500 by Airflo for really deep work and I also took a T11 Rio with me. Next time I will also go with a T14. Various streamers, such as a Deceiver are staple saltwater patterns. White, silver and flashy patterns seem an obvious choice and do account for plenty of fish. In fact on a reasonably shallow reef mark, set just off a beach, these patterns were engulfed (and I mean engulfed!) on a regular basis. Awesome sport!
Not big, but huge fun on fly or lightweight lure tackle
This was not the case out on the deep water marks. We were on neap tides and even the lure struggled to regularly pull fish. That said in one session Henry landed 3 fish all over 6lbs, such is the quality of this fishing. All of these fish came to dark lures and unfortunately I had nothing in the fly department suitable at the time. The next day I returned with an old favourite Pike fly tied on a 4/0, jet Black Marabou and a bunch of crystal hair for the tail. That fly worked within 2 casts and I managed several fish to around the 4lb mark. Not huge, but Jesus how hard do those things pull? It’s all go for 30 seconds as a rather angry Pollack crash dives towards the sea bed, doing its best to stick your fly where the sun don’t shine.
Would you want to be a little fish?
This trip has made me think about this species in an entirely different way. To be honest I have always considered them easy, yet I did not hook a really big fish off the shore. The lure did. The fish were obviously there. If I had cast that dark silhouette pattern for more than one session, would I have connected? One thing is certain I will head back to the Beara with an open mind about Pollack, especially after Henry finished our last session off with an 8lb specimen, just look at the size if that eye, captured perfectly in Henrys photograph (see more here).
If you are heading out to Ireland this summer then you could do far worse than hook up with Paul & Anne Harris of Dromagowlane House. A great place to stay with a fine breakfast and Paul also offers to guide anglers to some of the best marks on the Beara. But be warned, bait, lure or fly … once infected by the magic of the Beara Peninsula you won’t want to leave!
Bass Chomping in Ireland
I am lucky enough to find myself in Ireland again after my visit in October last year and as usual I am loving it! While the area around us, including North and South Devon offers a great chance of Bass it has to be said that landing quality size fish using fly gear is not the norm. However Ireland represents a great chance of encountering a tidy fish with the fly and of course for anglers who are willing to diversify there is also lure fishing.
During the whole trip (we are three days in as I write this) I have been carrying both, but so far other than a couple of tentative chucks with the Sakura Mazzera it has been a #8 Hardy Sintrix Proaxis that I have been relentlessly casting at every Bassy looking nook and cranny …. of which there are plenty!
I am over here with Bass junkie Henry Gilbey who has fallen in love with the coastline and makes several trips every year, those of you who know Henry will now how buzzed up he is right now! Sure the fishing has not been easy, but honestly I like to work for fish and while I have fallen in love with the lure … this time I was determined to land a fish from the shore using fly gear. The first day proved tough as we visited several marks in the company of Cian from Absolute Fishing and a real gentle giant, Ger, a local angler with phenomenal talent. It was his remark that “don’t worry Nick we will find some Bass chomping at our lures soon” which gave me the confidence to keep chucking my Rio Pike line and a DNA sandeel pattern … and when we were tired Ger producess the most incredible lunches. Great for my enormous appetite!
5 1/2lbs of shore caught Bass on fly ... and one very happy angler!
I don’t have much time to go into the details right now, dinner and an early start are calling but all I can say is that I am one very, very happy angler having landed this 5 1/2 lb fish on a sandeel pattern yesterday. There are a million other things that I would like to say right now but all I can honestly do is thank Henry, Cian and of course Ger for sharing their knowledge of the coastline around here. The marks we have been fishing have been outstanding and for us guys who like fly fishing it has to be said that there is some very fishable water around here … and if the wind blows up, chuck a lure! Henry has done just that and landed fish everyday, while Ger has had moments of brilliance, picking up fish on pretty much every spot he tried this morning. More soon …
What’s floating your fishing boat this year?
Monday morning and here we are in the last week of January already! Time definitely seems to wait for no man and meanwhile we are doing our best to advance the way we live with each day that goes buy. For example I have to say that plugging my iPhone into a dock and listening to live radio still amazes me. So with tunes streaming over the broadband and a hot cup of tea I started thinking about innovation in fishing gear.
Even though the act of catching a fish can be broken down into a set of relatively simple processes there is no doubt that the technology available to us today is developing our enjoyment and overall success. For sure great gear, “god with a rod” does not make , but there is a lot more to our fishing experiences than megabyte starved memory sticks filled with fish. Isn’t it a pleasure just owning nice tackle for starters? Are we not all closet “tackle tarts”? I put my hands up and admit that I am and 2011 is going to be no exception. So what is floating my fishing boat on the tackle scene?
How could I start without mentioning SINTRIX™? SIN … what? I am sure you have heard but Hardy have been busy incorporating a 3M designed material into fly rods. The overall result is Silica Nano Matrix which sounds like it should have a lot more to do with an Apple iPhone than a mere fishing rod! All sorts of statements and views are flying around over the internet but there can be no doubting the buzz surrounding this product which is being touted as the biggest development in rod technology for 25 years. I got my hands on the saltwater version known as the Proaxis last year and was utterly blown away, meanwhile the freshwater Zenith has just won one of George Anderson’s famous “shoot-outs”, read more about that here The claims are that this rod comes in at around 60% stronger and 30% lighter than similar models in its class, made possible by binding carbon fibre together with a resin incorporating silica nano spheres. Enough of the jargon; this is definitely one to watch.
A little less exciting but nonetheless practical is the all new Wychwood Competition Reel Case. Don’t be put off by the word “competition” because although this product has been designed around anglers who frequent the match circuit it still offers a host of features which will be beneficial during an everyday session. The capacity is enormous, up to 18 spools can be stored with ease and there is room for a number of reels plus lots of little cubby hole pockets for those all important accessories. But what makes this a step up from other reel cases is the innovative T Fold design which packs down into a compact unit enabling the bag to be carried around a lake using the carry strap or conveniently positioned ready for action while boat fishing. There is even a waste tippet dispenser! My reels will soon be located in this pent house reel case which funnily enough was created by a gentleman who once made his living designing mobile phones!
They have been around for a while but it was Lewis who got me interested in the Varivas range of leaders and so I intend, in the words of Fawlty, to “give them a damn good thrashing!” Of course the whole idea of a tapered leader is not to thrash and these Varivas products have been developed to provide sublime presentation. In particular the Specialist Dry Fly and Underwater Nymph leaders look interesting while I will be keen to get out and thoroughly test the flat butt system. You can find out more here
For the last couple of seasons my glass Costa 580s have never been far away and it is hard to see how they could be bettered. I guess that some may say that a glass lens produces a heavy pair of shades and of course such quality does not come cheap. Costas solution has been to launch a rang of Polycarbonate lenses in 2011 that are incredibly light and come in at below £200 per set. Granted Costas are never going to be cheap but if you are into visual fishing then the investment is well worth it, attach to a decent lanyard (you are much more likely to lose them than break them!) and be amazed by the underwater viewing ability enabled by a set of Costas. I can find little difference between the Glass or Polycarbonate lens although I will be interested to see how durable the new product is. After two seasons there is not a scratch on my glass Costas.
This post could become an essay because there is so much quality gear coming on to the market and I have not even started on my new found interest in light tackle lure fishing! But it would be churlish to end without at least a fleeting reference to those all important flies. Not more flies! What can possibly be new? Flies are variations on a theme for sure but there is no doubting Iain Barrs ability to innovate new patterns and 2011 is no exception. A few days back an interesting Jiffy bag fell through the door and upon opening a host of mouth watering creations greeted me including some stunning looking nymphs. Will they make it to the favourite flies section by the end of the year?
Who knows? All I can say is that even though we have a few weeks to go until the season properly begins to fire it at least feels like 2011 is now well on the way.
The Brits are back in the Rod Race!
What a fantastic start to the new year! Ken Brewster, the sales & marketing manager at Hardy contacted me yesterday with the news that the Hardy Zenith SINTRIX has won the 9′ #5 “shoot out” conducted by the guys at the Yellowstone Angler fly shop over in the USA.
Based in the Paradise Valley region of Montana, South Livingston, I was lucky enough to call into this fine fly shop during a trip to the area back in 2008, in fact it was a source of inspiration for my own venture here. Out of all the establishments I visited this was by far the best organised and most friendly. The staff certainly knew their stuff. In fact it would be fair to say that George Anderson’s name and business have become world famous in fly fishing circles. So this test was not just a few guys heading down to a field for a quick chuck and a few pints back at the pub to mull over their findings. This is serious stuff. Just check out the charts! (link at the foot of the page)
I have only had time to digest a little of the information so far but the key point is this. The reviewers were all American, the rods that the Hardy Zenith was pitched against were also American. We are talking Orvis Helios, Sage Z-Axis and the new Loomis NRX (this latter rod calling for a remortgage!) To sum up I think this paragraph from the man himself, George Anderson, says it all.
“In our last 5-weight shoot, it was just by a nose. This time it wasn’t even close! The Zenith surprised us all when it swept every single performance category, blowing everyone else away! Hardy has produced some good fly rods in the past, but nothing that we have seen would really challenge the best American fly rods until now.”
Read the full article regarding the “shoot out” conducted by George Anderson, James Anderson, Robert Kovich, and Justin Bolduc here.
And find out more about what makes SINTRIX so special on the Hardy Website.
