I think I need to do a series of audio style blog posts on here (podcasts?) which detail some specific moments or people or events in my saltwater lure fishing journey as such, mainly because if they are interesting to me then I would hope they might prove interesting to a few of you. There are definitely a bunch of distinct things which really stick in my mind with this whole lure fishing thing………….. Probably one of the first few times I rigged a MegaBass X-Layer on a jig head You have read this before, but one of them was I believe in October 2007 in south east Ireland when this local lad r ..read more

A year and a few days ago I landed my best bass of last year, so I am naturally interested and excited to see what might or might not happen out on the coast when we lose this protracted period of high pressure plus the generally calm, offshore conditions. I am obviously no weather forecaster and I don’t keep weather records, but I have been saltwater fishing around the south west of the UK for over thirty years now. I noticed that almost every year around March or April we tend to get an extended period of high pressure and more settled weather down here. Very welcome after winter of course ..read more

I got to thinking about this blog post last night when I had been out fishing yesterday and I was using the excellent RBB Surf Supporter II lure bag (review here) which to be honest I hadn’t picked up in a while. My HPA Chest Pack is nearing the end of its life, and as much as I like it, I do think that a few simple changes to the overall design would make it a bit better than it already is. I don’t really need to, but my brain is wired to explore different options, hence me picking up that RBB Surf Supporter II lure bag again. And as much as I like it, I think the webbing-style, non-stretchy ..read more

Two (lost) bass in particular are always going to bounce around my brain. One fish hooked on the IMA Nabarone 125F hard lure (doesn’t get nearly enough love) quite simply went the wrong way on a very shallow reef on the south coast of Ireland. A bit earlier in that session a mate had a couple of trebles literally opened up on another big fish which tore off. The second bass I will never forget was on the south coast of Cornwall early one morning, hooked on a Fiiish Black Minnow bumped along the bottom. Again the bass quite simply went the wrong way and I didn’t have the angle on it to prevent ..read more

I don’t really see how a lure rod designed to fish with slightly lighter lures than what might be termed the norm for our bass fishing can get much better than the sublime Favorite Black Swan 8’5’’ 6-24g lure rod (review here). It’s just ridiculous how good that rod is, and because I found that the cheaper and more powerful Favorite Totem 8’4’’ 12-36g rod (review here) feels very close to the more expensive Favorite Black Swan 8'5'' 10-36g (review here), I was naturally rather interested to see if I might find a similar thing going on here…………….. And, spoiler alert, it’s once again the case ..read more

One thing I can’t do is complain about a lack of bass numbers in the middle of March in the UK, not when I am managing to snag a few from estuary waters in which I have tried but failed miserably at this time of year. The weather is that stunning at the moment I don’t want to be fishing the open coast anyway with no “life” to the sea to speak of, so even the slimmest of chances of connecting with a bass in an estuary in March is enough to get me excited. And you know how my head works with wanting to see if other lures and presentations/techniques might work as well or better than this admitte ..read more

I simply couldn’t resist heading out to the coast on Monday afternoon when I saw a bit of swell rolling in on the webcam. I know it’s early March, but if I hadn’t thought what the hell and gone for it at the end of March last year, I wouldn’t have caught my best bass of 2024. If you don’t go then you’ll never know. I found some pretty good conditions yesterday so I gave it a good go - and blanked! But the light went a bit loopy for a while and I got to fish some of the lures I had bought at the Glasgow Angling Centre Open Weekend. Storm got her third walk of the day, we never saw another soul ..read more

The Glasgow Angling Centre really is a hugely impressive fishing tackle shop done on a scale we are simply not used to here in the UK. What I really admire though is that however big the actual shop is - it’s massive! - you can talk to any of the people who work there and they are all passionate anglers who can help out with all kinds of fishing and fishing tackle advice. A great big fishing tackle shop done with the feel of a much smaller and personal place to go and abuse your bank balance! Their spring Open Weekend is a very different type of event to The Big One Show from the previous week ..read more

It always happens at some point in March - the weather gets stunning for a few days and it feels like a proper taste of spring. I went out fishing a couple of days ago to do what I have promised myself I am going to do a lot more of this year - try estuary areas I loosely know in a different way - and for the whole session it felt so utterly glorious in the warm sunshine that all I could literally do was smile. Storm was sunbathing and I’d be gobsmacked if I ever saw another person where I was………… If there is one thing I don’t do at this time of year it’s to fish for bass with lures in estuar ..read more

What a weekend up at Farnborough. I have worked in the fishing tackle industry for nearly thirty years now. I know a hell of a lot of really good people, and I love getting to see so many of them like I did over the weekend. I am very happy working on my own from home, but grabbing my passport and coming out of Cornwall into the big wide world is always a buzz when you get to chat about all things fishing and industry with so many fascinating people. I don’t do fishing tackle company politics and I am so proud to work within fishing……………. The amount of anglers who came up to me over the weeke ..read more