This report in from Cormac Walsh of the Lure Fishing Podcast:
If you were lucky enough to have been bass fishing on the South East Coast of Ireland recently you would have experienced some of the best fishing in a long, long time!
The last few weeks we have seen numbers of bass feeding with the shoals often hitting the shore devouring sprats, sandeel and herring.
Average fish was approximately 4lb with numerous 60cm + and a few 70s for good measure.
The fishing has been relentless morning, noon and night on numerous locations.
The prime catch times for me have been dawn and dusk, and I’ve been matching my tactics to the daily habits of the sprat who instinctively swim to the surface in the evening and return closer to the bottom at first light. Therefore, topwater was very effective in the evening with shallow divers deadly in the morning. Actually, it’s been hard lures only – shallow divers, surface lures and metals, not a soft plastic in sight!
The masses of baitfish offshore, along with herring and sandeels, have provided an abundance of food for the bass which appear to be in prime condition possibly preparing for spawning.
There is so much we still don’t know about bass, a fish that continues to give us so much action so late in the year!
