End Season 2009Well, another season closes and a record year for www.bass-fishing.co.uk in terms of quality bass over quantity. This season’s tally was almost in line with season 2008 at just under 1900 fish, but the ratio has rocketed to above 30 percent maturity (46cms – 73cms). It was interesting to note that in early May we met Bass in large numbers and quality, feeding over immature sandeels just outside the Nursery area. This boded well, for it was an initial sign of the year class 2004/2005 returning to the inshore fishery in healthy numbers. Unfortunately, my logs show we were interrupted by a very bad Low Pressure system for 4-5 days just as the fly fishing was getting consistent and this dissipated the bait, coloured the water and effectively closed the fishery down for just under a week. June, July and August offered up some great days sport with over 1000 Bass being deceived, many on large red Clouser Minnows (2/0-3/0), black Deceivers (2/0-3/0) and a number of Tarpon patterns, the best fish in July fell to a blue and white 2/0 deceiver to Simon Johnsons rod which passed the magical 10lb mark. The crustacean patterns used for Tarpon have proved to be very successful over the last few years and we will continue to experiment with them in 2010. It’s strange how the usual colours of Chartreuse in both a Deceiver pattern or a Clouser pattern failed to pull anything like the fish we have seen in recent years. The only reason I can think of is that maybe the light penetration in the areas we’ve been working over this year have made spotting this particular hackle much harder, i.e brighter days and a flatter sea state unlike last year which was generally windy and overcast making the reflective quality of the sun much less of a problem.
September gave us some great days on the run up to guiding in the USA and congratulations to Steve Symons who got into a tug of war with a good female – what a way to christen a new Sage rod and reel combo!
Steve Symons with a good Double figured Sea Bass (09.09.09) Lastly October, which in my opinion has been disappointing, very similar to 2008 where the Bass seemed to have moved off earlier rather than later. In 2007, we fished until November 11th as the water temperatures were still high and the Bass continued to predate within our areas, last season they moved off in the third week of October and this season seems very similar. Going forward we will be guiding next season and Casting Instruction for “Double Hauling” will start in March. I have tabulated the new spread sheet so should anyone want to look at the new dates just email me accordingly (info@bass-fishing.co.uk). Connecticut trips are scheduled for the third week in September so those of you who have already expressed interest in joining me again in 2010 to visit the Eastern Seaboard for the Striper and Albacore run, please confirm with me directly And lastly, as some of you may know we have been busy filming with a TV production company called TVMI this season and have produced a DVD called “A Season on the Salt” which will be available early next year ready for the 2010 season. The purpose of the DVD is to produce something which is just as informative and educational as it is fun, in order to help like minded Salt water fly fishing enthusiasts become more consistent in their approach to the foreshore and inshore fishery. Its production was made possible by the help of sponsorship from Ian Maclean at the Orvis Company (www.orvis.co.uk) , Christer Sjoberg and Peter Asenlund at LOOP tackle (www.looptackle.se) and Roger and Steve Warner at Beulah rods (www.beulahusa.com). May I thank you all for making 2009 a successful season and fingers crossed the forthcoming winter this year is less difficult for the young Sea Wolves and the Spring comes early to aid their route back to our Southern shore. Kind Regards Justin Email info@bass-fishing.co.uk Tel: 07767 820268 |