Roll on the spring!

It's been a funny old few months since I last wrote in this Blog. I've been fishing, but not in the salt, which I think may have been a mistake. Whilst I thought I was enjoying what I was doing in freshwater, It seems in all honesty I was just going through the motions this winter. I thought by setting myself some targets, i.e a big Roach and a big Perch, that it would keep up my interest, and, whilst it worked to begin with, I am now struggling to muster any enthusiasm for it anymore. It seems freshwater definitely does not hold the interest for me it once did....
The whole saltwater experience, encompassing HRF, LRF and Fly fishing have really got under my skin. The techniques, the tackle, the sport, the magnificent raw environment and scenery, and almost no competition for 'swims' or someone ruining your day by casting at you, across, you and / or just being a general nuisance cocking up your chances of a few fish!

Unfortunately we are at that time of year in the salt where fish are harder to come by, paricularly Bass, as they are spawning offshore and only a few fish are venturing closer in now and again when conditions suit them. Even Lrf'ing for the smaller species can be tricky. I'm waiting for a decent enough tide to try a bit of Lrf at the moment. Hopefully a few fish will put in an appearance.

In the meantime obviously my thoughts have turned to preparations for the coming season, and as a result, I made the decision to sell my Kayak, the proceeds of which have gone towards the purchase of a new HRF rod in the form of a Century HPR lure rod, I chose the popular all round 7' 3" EBT model, as this will cover most if not all my wading and shore fishing requirements. Obviously I cannot give a proper review of the rod until I have used it extensively, but my friend has this model also and used it a lot last season, and from what I have seen it promises to be a superb tool for the job, and will hopefully help to improve my lure fishing skills as well as assisting me in catching a few more fish. Credit to Keith White and the gang over at JBG extreme fishing, who helped design and field test these rods extensively, these guys know their stuff and the input into these rods make them one of, if not The best lure rods on the market. There's lots of new soft lures I want to try this year, along with some new ( to me ) techniques, so I'm really looking forward to this season. Our first season was very good so all being well this one should be even better now we have a better understanding of what we are doing, and the places we are doing it.

I also want to try and utilise the Fly rod a bit more this year when conditions are suitable, as I believe there is some superb sport to be had fishing like this at some of our venues.

Lots of new venues are going to be explored this year too, as well as getting to grips with some newly discovered one's from last year, we really aim to maximise on the potential of these spots whenever possible, and find the best methods to use to catch the fish, whether they be Bass or Wrasse, or any of the other species available.

I'll be keeping a close eye on the sea temperature in the coming weeks, waiting for those steady 9's to appear, although it has been a very mild winter so far compared to the last couple of years and as I said there is the odd few Bass putting in an appearance already, so just maybe that time will come a bit sooner rather than later......

Looking forward to many evenings like this......

July catch up.

Okay, quick catch up . So we've been out, my friends and I, we have caught some fish, but it's been a bit of a struggle, Bass, Wrasse have been targeted from both shore and Kayak. My best Bass of late was a fish of around 2 1/2lb the other evening, and my friend was lucky enough to land a clonker of 5lb 3oz while out with his new Century HPR lure rod on it's maiden mission, a very nice way to christen such a prestigious rod. My other mate bagged a 4lb plus. A blank on the local pier, which hurt, I hate piers...while fish were clearly and visually in evidence, but we couldn't catch one. Been out on the Kayak this morning, conditions started off ok but started to deteriorate making presenting to the targeted Wrasse very awkward and I managed only one small Ballan. Not very good is it? so what am I doing wrong? The answer i think is not much, you can only catch what is there, and if the fish or the weather or tides or any of the other pieces of the puzzle aren't in place then it's not going to happen either way. I don't like to make excuses, and often I will over analyze a session if it hasn't gone well, but when you look at the dismal weather we have had for July...lets hope August and September make up for it!

Mr B's 5lb 3oz and New Century HPR lure rod