When the weather allows it is time to start targeting bass... it is hard to refuse some pollack fishing first....
With recent fine weather we decided to take a run out to the eastern reefs. We had not fished down this way since last year and it would be interesting to see what fish were about.
Kevin wanted to get the BIG1 into the water ready for the first arrivals of German and Dutch anglers. His season is really kicking into gear with demand outstripping supply on many weeks as the summer progresses.
We hit the water and headed for our first stop of the day. We were immediately into some pollack though the average size was small. Still, it was superb craic for a while. The mist began to lift revealing a stunningly sunny day. We headed for another reef and here we encountered a better stamp of pollack. We had some ling, gurnards, coalfish and a solitary little cod. Cod are certainly scarce at the moment. We began to contact some decent fish. Kevin had a fish that broke double figures while I did manage to break nine pounds. There were loads of fish in the three to five pounds class about and less of the heavier beasts.
On light gear pollack will give a great account of themselves. We were using light 7 foot rods and various soft lures on jig heads up to 100g.
After we had our fill of reef fishing and as soon as the tide allowed we headed inshore to attempt to lure a bass. We cruised inshore and started to drift. We used the same rods as outside but were using lighter jig heads (10-20g). Within a few casts we had a couple of feisty bass on board. All fish were released to fight another day. Such was our excitement we did not even take scale samples for the IFI Bass Study. Next time we will start filling envelopes!
We tried a few casts on the further western marks and also the inner harbour but we did not encounter any more bass. There seems to be more action going on at the moment than there was in the previous couple of years. Hopefully it is a sign that bass fishing will return to levels of a few years back. At the moment things are encouraging.
Contact Kevin Murphy – Info@bellavistahotel.ie
