Saltwater Boat Angling 55
IRISH ADVENTUREI SAW THE GOLDEN BROWN
OF A POLLACK
After the third bass had landed on my lap, there
was a lull. I did several more drifts without so
much as a touch. Then, as I cleared the reefy area
and hit slightly deeper water, I gave the fly a much
longer countdown. Instead of fishing in the top
2 feet, I let it sink for about 6 feet. I had only just
started to retrieve the fly when it was slammed by
something powerful. I played the fish out, thinking
as it stayed deep it was going to be a bigger bass,
until I saw the golden brown of a pollack coming
up through the crystal-clear water. It wasn’t a big
one but about 4lbs, so worth catching. However,
I messed around too long with it and it threw the
hook into my lap as I tried to grab its jaw with
my thumb and finger. Had I bothered to take the
landing net no doubt I would have boated it. I
wasn’t worried, I would have put it back anyway. It
did signal to me that I needed to move though.THE LINE TIGHTENED AND THE
FISH THREW ITS HEAD
A nice-looking bay down tide was beckoningand I paddled across looking into the water with
my Polaroid sunglasses. I was crossing an area
of alternating weed and rock and I immediately
thought it looked fishy. I set up a drift that took me
parallel to the shore, using the drogue this time to
angle the kayak to the wind, which wasn’t quite so
offshore now. It was only about three casts in to
this drift that I got another take. I had counted the
fly down what seemed like a lucky number, seven
seconds, and started to retrieve in staccato pulls.
The line tightened and the fish threw its head.
This was a feisty fish, it was fighting faster than the
others had and I combined letting it take line out
through the rod and winding in what was lying
in my lap at the same time, until I was playing it
off the reel. It ran hard and fast four or five times
before boring deep for the weed. It got into the
weed and I expected to lose it, and possibly my fly
too. Thankfully, having learned from last year, I had
stepped up my leader from 12.5lbs to 20lbs and
this gave me enough additional strength in the
system to pull the fish out of the weed. It turned
out to be the smallest bass of the day, weighing in
at 4lbs 8ozs, but what a scrapper!
I had had the best of it by now. The tide was
easing and fish were getting harder to find, but
they were still taking if you could put your fly in
front of them, as this last fish proved. Sometimes
though, it is best to finish on a high note and that
is exactly what I did. I called it a day having caught
six bass between 4.5lbs and 6lbs and a brace of
pollack for variety. The shore anglers I had seen
making their way along the rocks returned to
the car park at the same time I did. Naturally we
swapped notes and they had not had so much
as a swirl between them. On days like this there
is little to beat getting out in the kayak, and using
a fly, it really does give you a genuine advantage.HOW TO GET THERE
I travelled with Stena Lines from Holyhead to
Dublin Port. There are often ferry saver deals
for a car and two passengers which makes it an
affordable trip and there is a choice of either
Holyhead to Dublin or Holyhead to Dunlaoghaire
also available. For those living in the south an
alternative route would be from Fishguard to
Rosslare. The road network in Ireland is such
that you can drive to Cork from Dublin in just
over three hours, even with the kayak on the roof.
I only cruise at a steady 60mph, which saves a
considerable amount of fuel due to the windage
of the roof load. Accommodation was with
friends, but there are plenty of angler
friendly B&Bs.SIMON BENT INTO
ANOTHER BASS
SIMON’S FLY GEAR AND ONE OF
HIS SUCCESSFUL BASS FLIES