A new sport in Ireland that has seen great responses.
11 out of our 34 sea bass were caught this past week on the fly rod in North Kerry in near Caribbean like conditions.
A lovely bass on fly
Twice each year I travel to a remote part of North Kerry and take some time out with some close friends to pursue prized Atlantic Sea Bass. Unfortunatley my 74 year old father Aiden was unable to travel on this adventure. My angling companions on this occasion were Tom Wilson, Greg Muldowney, Daniel Levy, Matthew Penny and Brendan O Sullivan. The past weeks weather and sea conditions could only be described as near Caribbean like conditions with crystal clear seas, warm sunshine and temperatures averaging 18C. Flooding early tides coupled with a warm spell of weather played to our advantage with a total of 34 sea bass and 22 flounders caught and released in North Kerry. In fact the fishing was so good that 3 of out of our 5 angling party watched in excitement as sea bass swam with shoaling mullet along the shore lines. Fly rods were quickly set up and with some skilful double haul casting and presentation of the fly, a total of 11 sea bass were landed. Sea bass are a hard fighting fish and must be respected. They are amongst the slowest growing fish in the ocean. It is prohibited to take and kill more than two bass on any one day. (Bye-law No.667)
The minimum overall size limit of 40cm. From tip of snout to end of tail. The Closed season for bass is from 15th May to 15th June.
I had the pleasure of meeting up with some old friends and would like to thank Tim, Ray, Richard, Joan, Sheila, Brendan, Michael and Deirdre for their warm welcome. I will be returning in September along with my Dad and a party of 5 anglers, fly fishing for sea bass once again.
You can’t put a price on experience and knowledge.
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