Bass fishing in the UK 2009
This has been a strange year . The bass fishing was great in May with blitzing bass everywhere on every visit. Then I spent two weeks striper fishing on Cape Cod in June. When I returned the weather had turned terrible the baitfish had vanished and the bass with them. My guided bass fishing bookings were down on the last couple of seasons. So the summer was somewhat of a non event. I did have the pleasure of sharing a few great days with clients during early September. I missed the best tides of the prime month due to the Tarpon fishing trip to Costa Rica in September and here we are now , its October and once again I will miss some great tides while we are in Los Roques Venezuela .

Great Company and Great fishing this week.

200 fish in three days !!


After a great start with a 9 lb fish from the shore I had the added bonus of three days boat fishing lined up. This the time of year to get out as much as possible. I will continue to do that for the next few weeks .


Wednesday



I was joined by the editor of Total fly fisher Steve Cullen and Dave Edgington . We had a great days fishing around the Fal with plenty of fish landed. Steve landed a nice 4 lb fish casting tight to the banks Most of the other fish were taken on the drift with fast sinking lines. All fish fell to the Sparse Olive Frosty Fish Fibre Clouser size 4.


Thursday



Fished within the estuary with Jason Lowe and his mate Alex - 7 am - 4 pm. We had exactly or we think exactly 100 fish . It took around 1 hour to get the last 2 fish but we thought what the hell. Lets be morons.
That was made up of 21 Bass all 2 - 3 lb class - 7 Mackerel and the rest were all Pollack ranging in size from 2 oz - 2 lb. Most fell to Sparse FFF Clouser . Most of the others fell to a horrible Christmas tree style Blobby baitfish pattern, at times this monstrosity was hit straight away. It was a shame to see it work as well as it was a horrible looking thing .

Friday




Fished the with Jason and Alex. It was hard to match the fishing from the previous day. The wind had switched from NE to E and picked up in speed. This proved to be rather bumpy so we hugged the shoreline staying in the lee of the land. After a slow start we eventually started to catch consistently with fish falling for sparse offerings rather than Jason’s Sparkler. (Much to my relief!! )

Alex lost a good fish. At the end of the day
the whole estuary is stuffed with Herring fry. Fish busting around the margins all day . I cant wait to get out again.

AG

A Big Bass on fly for 2008 at last!

2008 has been a tough year down here in Cornwall. The weather has hampered us as you would expect. Beyond that, the one thing that has concerned me this year is the lack of larger fish, make no mistake, large bass are almost always hard to come by regardless of wind and tide. My guided customers have all had what they would regard as a great days fishing, they go home happy having landed a load of different species and several bass at around 2 ½ - 3 ½ LB. This happens daily. I’ve had a few thousand of those now so I am always on the look out for the larger specimens. I’m not complaining about the day job as I love taking people Bass fishing in Cornwall. What a great job and for that I am thankful.



If you fish for Bass in the UK then you have to understand that we are fishing for the left overs, the ones that have slipped the net, so to speak. These fish are subject to so much abuse and mismanagement. The commercials harvest fish that have not spawned and most UK recreational sea fishermen are the sporting equivalent of thugs. I’m afraid that threes only a small proportion of UK based fishermen who have grasped the essence of sport fishing. , Catch and release, Fair Play! When you catch a mature Bass from the shore you have to consider the incredible journey that has brought this fish to you and the sheer odds that that fish has had to survive. Any Bass that makes it past the Dolphins , Seals , Pair Trawlers, Gill netters, Livebaiters, Moronic recreational sea fishermen deserves a bloody medal !

This fish measured in at 29 Inches that’s around 9 lb in weight. Trust me to leave the scales on the boat when I headed out on foot tonight!!

This fish was released and I will be standing on the same Rocks at exactly the same time next year hoping she has survived in the face of all the odds

Aprill Fools or brave souls?

I was joined by Clive on Thursay April 11 th. So two brave souls headed out into the rain for an early season saltwater fly fishing session. The initial plan was to hit the same mark that provided me with a couple of Bass in Febuary. As soon as I managed to position the boat correctly and set up the right drift we were into fish, fishing in 25 foot of water with fast sinking lines on 8 and 9 # rods. The fly of choice was a size 2 Olive over Polar DNA frosty fish Fibre Clouser ( By way of a change !) We managed to land over 40 Pollack and coalfish, no bass were landed today . But it was still great fun to see a bend in the rod.

Austen Goldsmith CLICK HERE

First Bass of the year

I ventured out today for the first ''uk based '' saltwater fly fishing session of 2008. After the stunning weather on Saturday the change of wind direction to easterly and the drop in temperature came as rather a disappointment. Fearless and well wrapped up I hid behind the rather small consul on the Boston Whaler to keep warm. It was great to be out in the fresh air at last after what has been a hectic month work wise. I fished several of my favourite locations within the Estuary and drew a blank. Marks that always produce a fish 'In season' were lifeless, not a Tug and not a fish on the Fish finder. A change of location followed by a change of fly finally paid off. The Orange and Black clouser was switched for the well tested Frosty Fish Fibre 2 # clouser with red eyes. The first cast with new fly produced a Bass, Not a Monster, but regardless it was a Bass! It was a cold February afternoon, not the conditions associated with UK saltwater fly fishing. This fish suffered the indignity of the traditional kiss on the lips for the first Bass of the year before being released.

The second slightly larger fish fell to the same fly on the next drift across the edge of the reef the depth was around 17 feet. The flies were fished on the swing at depth with a slow double handed retrieve. The takes were gentle perhaps that indicates that the fish have slowed down with the drop in water temperature.

The Fly pattern - http://www.uksaltwaterflies.com/articles_Sparse_clouser.htm

More uk saltwater fly fishing information - http://www.uksaltwaterflies.com/articles_homepage.htm