54 Saltwater Boat Angling
for a stretch of shore reef that is usually
productive but, when I got there, the water
was cloudy. I don’t like fishing in cloudy water, not
when clear water is available close by, so I turned
around and paddled along the coast the other
way to a stretch of broken rocks that is another
spot that produces. There was a little bit of swell
rolling in, imperceptible while paddling but the
building wave over another shore reef and the
steep breaker that was crashing down on the
rocks was all the hint I needed. On an otherwise
quiet shoreline, this was the one area where there
was moving water, created by the surge from the
reef break and the push of the tide around the
rocks.SECOND CAST, FIRST TAKE
The wind was blowing me offshore, so I paddled
right in close to the rocks, almost within touching
distance, and drifted out just clear of the rearing
wave. I was able to cast my fly right into the white
water at the base of the rocks and strip it back
around the rocks and up the gullies between
the pinnacles. On the second cast, just as I was
drifting level with the crest of the wave, I got a
take. It wasn’t a firm take though, but it gave me
renewed confidence and, on the very next, cast
I connected solidly with a good fish. The pull
from the fish was dragging me into the breaking
water, so I had to paddle backwards one-handed
using my neck as a fulcrum, to clear the danger
area, while keeping control of the rod in my
other hand. Once out of the waves, I was able to
play a lovely 5lber to the side of the kayak and
thumbed it on the lower jaw to gain control.
The glistening flanks were flecked with gold in
the early morning sunlight. I got out the BASS’
measuring tape and laid it from snout to tail, it
read 59cm and the weight on my scales was 5lbs8ozs. I took two scales off each flank and popped
them in the scale reading envelope for the BASS’
catch reporters to read. Holding the fish gently in
the water, I revived it until it started to swim off.
As soon as I let go, with one waft of its tail it was
gone.GOING WITH MY INSTINCT
Sometimes falling back on previously-gained
knowledge pays dividends and this was such an
occasion. My plan was to go the other way, but the
conditions meant I had to change my mind and
go with instinct, born out of a mixture of blanks
and successes. The knowledge accumulated in
this way gives us the tools to work with. On this
occasion, my choice had worked, on other days
they don’t, but you can still learn from the result.
I did a couple more drifts on this breaking wave
and caught two more fish, like peas from a pod,
they were all around the same size. The same fly
did the trick each time, it was working so, unless to
experiment, why change it? I wasn’t in the mood
for experimenting, I had come a long way and I
wanted to make the most of my fishing time and
catch a few fish.“IN ONE DAY OF
FISHING OVER
IN IRELAND,
YOU CAN
CATCH MORE
BIG BASS THAN
YOU WOULD IN
A MONTH OF
BASS FISHING
AT HOME”LANDING A DECENT BASS BY
THUMBING THE LOWER JAW