My 1st flounder.....

After setting myself a target of a flounder on a lure earlier in the year
and after trying variuos marks that I know hold them but failing to find
them I hatched a plan with David of Eastcoastfishing  to meet up on
Friday last to see if I could finally pick up what i had been looking for.

I woke on friday to what has become the norm.... torrential rain!!
but a quick text to David and he said to come up anyway it was
still nice and clear that the rain hadn't made it up that far yet.

So I met up with him and after a bit of a chat and going over the
technique and lures he uses for flounder we began to fish.
After about 15 mins he got the first fish only for it to spit the hook
and it wasnt long after that I finally achieved my long term goal
my first ever flounder on a lure

not the biggest fish by any means but a fish all the same.

Shortly after David also picked up a nice sized fish

He headed off to work and I fished on for another while but with the rain getting progressively

heavier and showing no signs of stopping i was forced to call it a day

needless to say I didnt mind at all and I left for home one very happy angler.

Tight lines

Jay

a bit of new gear...

After some debate i decided to change the reel I was using with my Tiro
the 3000 Theory is a great reel and I didnt have any problem with it but
after continuous use I found that it was just not balancing the rod as well
as I wanted it to so I decided to change.
I took a spin to Absolute fishing and got myself a nice shiny Daiwa Ballistic
3000SH which is a 2500 size with the spool capacity of a 3000 it balances the
rod perfectly

While I was there Cian told me there was a new supply of Costa's in and I had to take a look
wish I hadn't as I now also own a pair of those

and what a great piece of kit they are. Up until now I had mostly been using other polarised lense
sunglasses but the difference these make is incredible. I can see into the water more clearly and sharply
than I have ever been able to before. They really are superb.

I also recently recieved some Ecogear lures in the post and since I hadnt seen these lures
before now dont ask me why...I have to say they just look fantastic but its all very well looking
good I had to see how they fish.....

First up the Mebaru Shokunin in the strawtail version which are specifically designed for the Japanese
rockfish called ''Mebaru''
I had a few different colours in this range and also some of the ecogearaqua range of strawtails
So I decided on a mark and went there armed only with the Shokunin and strawtails

These lures have really odd smell kind of like a burned smell strange...anyhow I rigged one colour after
another texas style and nothing not a touch.

It wasnt until I rigged up the light smoke gold colour that I was into my first fish a nice feisty little ballan

I moved to another little gully and cast in and slowly retrieved tight to the bottom or at least as best I
conditions were far from perfect with a steady easterly picking up and a good size swell making life difficult
to keep in touch with the lure but even so it wasnt long until i picked up another nice wrasse

Had another few fish on this lure which stood up to the teeth on these guys I only used 2 for the session

A short but sweet 3hr session but enjoyable all the same great to get to use and catch on something that I had never used before.

Tight Lines

Jay

First proper bass on the Tiro...

I finally picked my first good sized fish on my new Tiro the other
day.

I was initially fishing soft plastics with a couple of taps which I put down
to small pollock after a half hour just coming into dark I noticed a
large swirl just outside the distance i could cast with the sp's so
on went my new illex chatterbeast in pink and white and cast beyond the swirl
and just as I was working the lure past where the initial swirl was a bass came crashing
up and nailed the lure. It went on a few nice runs and had plenty of power but at no time
did I feel out of control with the rod absorbing everything the fish threw at it.

A lovely fish landed weighing in at 7lb on the boga.

Very pleased with the fish and by the way the blood at the rear of the fish is mine I stupidly got
nailed by one of the trebles whilst lifting the fish from the water.
One thing I did notice was that this was one solid fish stuffed with food and in great condition it did take its time going back but back it went to grow and hopefully get caught again as a bigger fish some other day.

After returning home I took out the BASS tape and according to that it should have been a fish of between 5.5 and 6lb's which makes me think that maybe this tape isnt really applicable to fish in Irish waters.

A short but great session and really pleased to have my first decent Bass on the Tiro.

Tight lines,

Jay