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Saturday, October 2, 2010

Watch The Ball Girl !!

HER NAME IS:
Lotta Hustle
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The Wild West.


Fished the West of Ireland last weekend with fellow bass addict John Weir based in Co Clare. The weather preceding the weekend was not ideal with a Strong Northerly breeze blowing for 24hrs swinging to SE later in the weekend. Day one was bright, calm and surprisingly productive for me with three species being caught over rough ground on hard plastics namely Pollock Wrasse & Bass.
The Wrasse were insanely hard fighters diving straight into the nearest snag instantly when hooked, the Pollock gave quiet a good account of themselves, pound for pound and the Bass were quite docile by comparison. John joined me for Day 2 persisted with the surface lures and was rewarded with a decent bass off the top which he is seen here playing. I switched to soft plastics to target the Wrasse and had some more epic tussles with fish that I could see hitting the baits with my Costas. Looking forward to trying it all again with better conditions.

Pentax W60

All photos on this blog have been taken using the above camera. I have to say it's been excellent. The number one feature of course is the fact that its genuinely 100% waterproof and also shockproof, which is ideal for Bass Fishing photography. The W60 uses a standard size SD card which suits me, I like the fact that the zoom is internal meaning no lens protrudes out of the camera when its powered up. Picture quality is good although I'm no expert as you might have noticed! Minor gripes might be the face recognition featue which needs to be turned of each time the camera is powered up, when not needed, which is most of the time for me. The battery can be inserted with the wrong polarity into both the camera and charger which, although does not cause damage, could have easily been designed to be impossible. Maybe a lens cover would have been a good idea. Others have noticed that the tapped hole for the tripod is off centre making it a bit more tricky to balance on a micro tripod than if it were centered. There was already a later version available when I bought this over a year ago, the W90 but it looked more of a sports camera in its bold colours whereas this on passes itself off as any other Compact Digital for all round use. 

9/10 Very Satisfied.  

A Pair To Draw To

VISIT BOTH
Firehole & Madison Red Hot
temperature - not catching
"Hey, what's not working for you?"
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.. This is most bizarre. There was no snow in September at our elevation. There was very little precipitation of any kind.
.. Right now is the traditional time for crappy weather, Big Baetis, Big Caddis, and large numbers of giant fish running up the Madison River from Hebgen Lake. Not so!
.. October is here and it looks like late July. The flows are down, the temperature is up, small caddis and terrestrials dominate the fly choices, nymphs are a close second, and the worm crowd on Hebgen Lake is scoring big time in the estuaries as we await some semblance of our normally harsh fall weather.
Antelope Fire
.. The Firehole River is running at a consistent 73° F and the long range weather forecast suggests only a gradual cooling of our temperatures for the next 10 days.
.. There may be gentle showers on Monday or Tuesday and again Thursday or Friday of next week, but it will be well into the following week before the lethargy abates and activity gets down to serious stupidity.
.. Yellow's are beginning to dominate the color palate around here, frustration dominates the catching psyche, and neighbors from far and wide are enjoying the gentle entrance into fall.
.. Fisher folks continue to grumble about the delayed arrival  of "real" fall weather - they're greatly outnumbered by the hoards of park visitors.
More than one way to . . .
.. The west side of Yellowstone National Park is hazy and smoky from the fires in and around Yellowstone. The Antelope fire has grown to over 5,000 acres and is only about 20% contained [check INCIWEB for details on all the nearby fires.]
.. Fish are actually being caught, even in mid day, by the most persistent anglers.
.. Dredging and re-dredging deep dark runs with a variety of nymphs and streamers will finally wear out the poor gullible fish.
.. There have also been some early morning baetis to fish to. That second cup of coffee will just have to wait.
October ?
.. Anglers are being very creative in approaching fish in their parking spots. Crawling and waiting and observing, (a hot and sticky business in this weather,) are seen more often right now than is usual. Extra energy and creativity are also being exhibited by folks exploring those normally "too hard to fish." locations.
.. A smattering of large, (October?) caddis are beginning to appear on both rivers. Dry/dropper combinations should be in order for those times when the river speaks with forked tongue. There are times, and right now is one of them, that the mixed messages from the water befuddle even the most sage of fishers. Go with it!
Small tributary - big slick
.. There are, not surprisingly, better places for catching than the ones adjacent to the easy parking places and pull-outs.
.. The Firehole River above Old Faithful, (in the canyon between the bridge and Kepler Cascade,) has some very large fish. It's a chore. About 10 minutes down and two weeks back up, but for some hardy fisher folk it's worth it.
.. If you're not afraid to catch large numbers of brilliantly colored Brook Trout, try the bicycle path to Lone Star Geyser. There are eager fish to be had and lots of shade to keep you cool.
.. There are several places along the Madison River where small streams from the plateau debauch into the larger river. It's not always apparent where they are - BUT - seek them out and fish just below in the merged streams.
.. Don't, if you want to catch the fish, walk through the water in the deep dark slick downstream from these places. Sneaky is the watchword for these places. The water is cooler and the fish are happier.
.. Of course, not to put too fine a point on it, many of the neighbors have abandoned the glories of these two famous rivers and traipsed on up to the Gallatin River.
.. We're headed there now. More to follow.
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A Spey load . . . .

Friday, October 1, 2010

Sweet San is just soooooo sweet, the conclusion


gettin off the plane and into the fishing mobile
 Well i never got a good chace to continue the blog days as the drinking at night got too much in the end!!
I have had many emails asking me o continue the Dream session so here goes......

The last post shows top angler Richie holding the fish of the week and it was well deserved indeed.
We arrived at the power lines pool which comprised of a long slow glide for over 300 meters...as our goal was to catch these huge grayling on the dry this looked perfect...it was obvious these fish were going to be very hard and me and Richie decided to pair up and go and stalk out rising fish together...i cannot tell you how hard the Grayling can be to catch on a dry, back in the UK they can be teased up by a fancy pattern like the sturdys fancy or a grifth knat, these fish are a nightmare, they will only take a perfect match of a hatch, the size, colour and drag free are all absolute critical, the trout are much easier to catch but still can be hard but like i say the Grayling can send you mental!!!!
Ritchie and myself waded into the river and stood still for a good hour, any movements would send the fish down, this was the technique for the week, get in your spot and wait for them to come on the feed, all around you!!!
We were taking it in turns to cast at rising fish, the difference from the Grayling rise and the trout rise was obvious, something i have learnt to a T on this trip...We saw a nice fishing sipping every five mins and we both covered it with no success...after grinding us down for over a hour Richie just flicked a dun to it and it just walloped it!!!!
Wicked!! the fish played him mellow until it found the deep water.... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz this fish went mental taking line off...these fish are different strain to ours and are nasty in the fight, after a few mins the fish tailwalked right infront of us to give Richie a heart stopping moment...soon we landed a 46cm 2.8 oz San wacker on a size 20 dun pattern!!!
Top angling by Richie as you just dont catch on this river by luck, hard work paid off and a high five was given to him after we released it.....
Later in the evening was something else for me that night, i was at the bottom of the pool waiting for some rises......i saw a huge hatch of pale wateries  emerge off the pool, now i learnt more tonight in all my fishing on fly rivers...the trout and grayling would only take the emerger at this stage as they were coming out of the shuck, any full duns would be left alone... i selected a emerging dun with no luck...why?? i could see the fish sipping them no more than 5ft from me!!! I had no drag, the size was perfect.... i then thought of colour? something i dont really believe in....i selected a pale green shade emerger like the real dun and then bang!!! 3 Gralying coming straight to the net!!! great feeling that but then i could not get a take........they had switched to the full dun at the end of the hatch and selecting a full dun in green batterned them again.....i was standing in the river and realised how switched on u needed to be to get into these fish...yes you might get lucky with the odd fish but to take them u needed to be on your game...a lesson learnt....how many times do you see a angler walk past and say 'they are on the emerger today'! well now i would always think that could have changed in ten minutes!!!
In the evening the spinner fall was mental.......a sherry spinner took the odd trout but i was getting so many refusals it was not right...they were taking the real spinner but not mine...i went home happy but gutted i was doing something wrong... i soon would find out...

On the Thursday we went to a pool i cant remember the name but one that i wont ever forget...
The sun was out, bright clear and a flat calm pool that looked like a lake....i was not going to flog my heart out when the lads all ventured off to get in the river... i decided to stay back with JT and we sunk cans of lager for most of the day in the most scenic place i have ever been...just being with JT at the side of the river we just chilled out and talked of past sessions in our fishing days....Richardo came to the river at dinner time on most days and cooked us full barby meals next to the river...sausages, pork the full job, we were right looked after....
That evening i made my way upto the top end of the beat as Jt had advised me of some deep runs that hold big ladies...
I walked up and got into my position and waited.....waited....a hour gone with no rises and i saw a huge fin come out of the water with a typical grayling boil....my heart started to pound.....i put my line though and waited for it to rise again....nothing..... i thought of moving but this fish was huge... i then waited bollock deep in the river for another hour!! the lads were catching fish and i was staring at a blank for the day but this fish was a proper ltd fish!!! i had noticed from the week that a big fish will hold its pool so i just stayed and waited..a sudden flush of P waterys came off and the fish came up again... then one minuite later again....this was my chance... i selected a full dun in pale green, size 20.....i knew it was my chance....the cast had to be down stream, no other would do, drag would kill it off back to the depths...i mudded my 9 x tippet and just hoped it would hold the fish if i hooked it...any bigger tippet lower than 8X would send me home with nothing on this river...
A few false casts and i dropped the fly perfect in the scum lane of drifting olives.....the fish came up and nailed a real dun 3 inches from mine!!! i was now starting to get that sinking feeling...i then put in the second cast and fucked it up with swinging drag...i then though that was all over....i then put a third cast in thinking i had put it down.....i saw the huge fin come out roll over my fly, the sheers size of this fish was mental, as soon as i saw the huge crimson colour down the side my heart just skipped a beat as only anglers will know this feeling...like slow motion i struck down to my left and the lovely feeling of the line tightening as the hook set home.....i was in!!!! the fish came back upto the surface and my heart was beating out my chest when i saw the real size of this fish...it was bigger than anything i haad ever seen...over 50cm no probs and over 3lb for sure...
The fish snapped it head and the fly came pinging back to me hitting me in my chest!!! FUCKIN HELL!! i screamed across the river!!! i had just pulled out of the fish of a lifetime on the dry....i had waited all day for that and stood over the fish for nearly three hours!!!
I was so angry i had the the thought of snapping my rod in two to ease the pain....
I caught fish in the spinner fall that night but the thought of losing this fish hurt me deep...Richie stood 20 yards up the river from me and saw what this fish did to me, he looked as gutted for me as i was...

Back at the fishing lodge at night we had some right good crack, sinking beer and just full piss take all around...all the lads on the trip were sound, i got to know all of them very well,
Roger my room mate is so cool, takes everything in his stride, and had massive balls...
Steve, a calm mellow lad, who just sits there and laughs all day long...always catches fish
John/Richie two geordie cunts who are hard to separate, always smiling and talking and both very good fisherman, a joy to pair up with and fish..
Clive a sound lad who loves his fishing and a right nob after drinking!!!
JT A bloke who is hardcore, can fish hard, drink hard, nothing bothers him, shares all his knowledge and a right good laugh...
On the last day before we come home i stumbled across c=some Polish fly men and got chatting to them which turned out to be a right good laugh, non of us could speak each others language but we swapped flys and they give me Vodka shots next to the river!!! real LTD with the Poles!!!


The trip was one to remember and i will be back there again next year, i learnt so much and never thought fish could get that hard, its made me a better angler for sure, the fishing was hard going at times but this was not normal for the time of year but hey thats fishing, i still sit here now writing this and that fish i lost is still in my head, i could go back to the very spot tomoz and know where the lunker is... i will cover that pool next year and hopefully have more luck....
Nice one
LTD
Glen

2nd cast of the day!! Johnny

My room mate Roger

Geordie twat

Clive in the spinner


wankers..all of em!!




Steve


time to go

JT shows us the snake roll pissed up

the dream liver

Richie into the fish of the week...top angling shag

crimson wacker





the downstream cast



wojek


The Polish lads on the Vodka!!



Why Live Here ??

CLICK IMAGE FOR ANSWER

September silvers....

Sorry for the lack of reports in the last week but it was hard to blog with the non stop fishing which we have done in the last week or so. Great days, bad days and a plenty of craic would some up Henry Andy and Nicks visit to the Copper Coast. Their first day with Cian turned out to be the highlight of the week when they got to see what the copper coast is capable of on a good day with Cian getting bass to 10lb, for some excellent pics from that day and from their week here check out Henrys blog.... here


As Cian was off fishing alot last week I was only getting out for an hour every evening after closing. However it turned out that all I neeeded was 40-50 minutes to make my season and probably the highlight of my bass fishing to date. I arrived at the rock mark without a head torch so it was going to be a quick session. Within 3 casts I had a fish which came in at 7.5lb, in the next few casts I hit another fish which I know from the first run and the bend in the Injection that it was a serious fish. My Injection proved more than capable of bringing in the fish and never looked like it was going to struggle with one hell of a fight in rough conditions, after what felt like an hour of vicious head shaking and long powerful runs I got the fish in close as soon as the fish came to the surface I knew straight away that this must be close to my previous pb of just over 9lb, panic then set in as I tried to get the fish to the boga after a nervosus couple of minutes with waves crashing around me I somehow managed to get a hold of the fish. She measured 76cm and was around the 10.5lb mark, words cant some up how I felt looking at this fish after spending so long chasing a double the feeling of everything finally coming together......perfect! After a few phone calls and picture messages fired off I had a few more casts as the water was alive with fish in front of me, I was hitting fish every few casts and managed to land a 3lber and lost another 2 fish one which straightened the hooks on my Gateride.... another fish to add to the list of the one that got away...

Being in the right place at the right time for that 40-50minutes made all the long hours blanking and hard days worth while. All fish were cuaght on the Zonk Gateride in GG IWASHI.....my new favourite colour!!

The same mark produced fish for me 4 days in a row last week but then the Northerly winds set in which killed the fishing with the much needed fizz on the water gone, the lads still picked up the odd fish towards the end of the week but nothing like the first day when conditions were spot on.

Simon Lewis and his son from Wales were also over for a few days at the end of last week, have a look at Alans Blog here turbot on an xlayer,, very cool!! and a new pb for Luke. A sucessful trip?


At the moment fishing around rock marks is tough however some good fish are still making an appearance, the bass seem to be pre occupied with the abundant bait fish which is still around the coastline. The megabass X140-sw, ima sasuke 140 and of course the Zonk Gateride are the lures we found are working best at the moment.


Tight lines.

James