New Toy

As posted before i do a fair bit of testing new and exciting gear from all over the world through the guys at Topwater and http://www.basslures.co.uk/ and i recently recieved this fab new Reel from the guys at Sakura. Nick sent me out for my up and coming Ireland trip the 2010 Sakura Alpax 4008FD, this reel is pretty much everything a lure angler could want.

Now using a Non Shimano reel is almost a hangable offence, BUT this reel really does do the job well! as you can see its got modern styling following the trends as of late with anodised spools with machined holes throughout. with a one piece forged BIO handle with a really cosy grip. the bearings in the grip are smooth as butter and spin endlessly, it swallowed up a good 100metres of 30lb PowerPro with Backing which is plenty for UK fishing. it comes with 7 cartridge bearings and one roller bearing so its smooth and runs clean and fairly light for a ALL metal reel. the one niggle i have with it is the 5.0:1 line pick up...... im used to fast 6.0 plus Shimano's and it took a bit of getting used to but instantly felt good to use. the drag is smooth and packs plenty of punch, it has micro adjustment so plenty of scope for cranking up and down on the drag, all in all this reel has really impressed and i wouldnt shy off buying another one out of my own pocket as in any new reel time will tell and ill keep you updated once iv abused it on the pollack of southwest ireland next week. retailing at around a £100 i believe you cant go far wrong.... please check it out on www.basslures.co.uk

Piking antics finally come up trumps

Well just a quick Congratulations to my fishing Partner Tezo for having a blinding session on one of our more local spots, first time this has been fished properly in a while using our techniques and wow didnt it pay off!!taken using a large swampy twitched back fairly fast and SMASH

this is a known fish to me and Terry which was last weighed a couple weeks ago at just over 22lb Terry didnt get this one under the scales as it was released strate after the photo. id say its was still a good 20lb still and was a awesome sight to a good days fishing. Terry also managed another fish of just scraping the 20lb mark!! (how jealous was i!!) and wait for it a further four upper doubles all to surface lures! all in the middle of the day, which just shows the difference between two venues where simular venues only produce fish this stamp after dark.... Massive well done Terry and ill be up to catch them all next week ha ha ha

Wicked un-planned session

Me and martin headed out late yesterday afternoon to a couple venues, with the tripple in mind! Chub, Perch and Pike. we started one a venue which Martin has never properly fished, with Chub and Perch on our minds i was completely single track minded to catch chub off the surface and managed to nail a awesome fish! i wizzed out a swampy onto a raft of streamer weed tucked up behind a weeping willow. i had about 5ft of water under the raft and as iv fished this venue since my school days i know full well where and when these chub will be! behind the raft is a tiny inlet stream coming into the main river, i flicked out the swampy and on the first cast i saw two Chub turn right in under the willow, i got the lure about half way between me and the raft and smash a chub of around 4lb nails the lure! i missed it, and after a few seconds on continual swearing and almost spooking every fish within a mile! i gathered myself together and tried again. anyone who has the lure bug knows how special chub on surface lures is and i simply cannot miss the chance to get them off the top. i cast over the raft into a 12inch channel of clear water before the raft and started to twitch it back and soon as it hit the raft SMASH this time i was on! i could see it was a decent fish as it went crazy under the raft! it headed strate to the willows roots under 8ft of raft and twigs but with some heavy side strain i pulled it away into the mid channel. she was quickly unhooked and returned safely as it was still roasting hot!

The buzz you get when it all comes together really makes it worth while, i saw some worm danglers down river and i bet they had no where near as much fun as us nailing this fish! lure fishing at its best and yet again surface lures fished correctly do the business every time! i then went away and managed to lose 3 other chub of simular size all to surface lures. Meantime Martin was pulling out Perch one after another, nothing huge but all great fun on light gear and on these tiny rivers theres soooo much fun to be had with the little Perch. Martin must of had 20+ perch to half a pound all to sonic spinners the light was starting to fall now and the chip shop was calling us before we tackled up with the Big Guns for our next venue! we tackled up with swampys and approached the venue it looked amazing the water was warm and the bait fish moved where ever you looked! it was shockingly bright with a massive moon beaming down on us, you didnt need a head lamp this wasnt good! as the Pike shy away from the surface lures when the light is beaming down like this, we fished for a good couple of hours with ony a handfull of hits, no fish landed! we hit my fav section where i knew there would be fish looking for baby moore hens etc and soon as i cast out i saw the massive bow wave smash my lure! this was a massive fish the whole venue rocked and the moore hens started making alsorts of noises! i called Martin over ready with the net. head lamps on and ready for action the hooks pulled...... judging by the flank i saw and the tail id say a good 15lb. in the next swim i cast out again and instantly got nailed by this nice fat scraper double

Not as big as i had first hoped, as it proper went mental on the first run and some impressive tail walking before weeding itself up! the moon started to fall now and it slowely got darker and darker! almost every swim now had chases or hits which made for some heart stopping fishing. but nothing prepared us for what was about to happen! i hear martin shout so i flick the headlamp on and leg it down the bank, Martin looks gutted! he then tells me of how he had a massive take under his feet which he hooked the stuck his head lamp on to see another mid 20 had nailed the swampy! this is literally a swim away from where i lost the 2o last week! it then ran 10-15ft of line before coming off! it gets better, he then cast over the top again and yet another hit but did not connect, we put of lights on again to scan the water and there it was !!!!!...... one of the big upper 20's litterally 20ft from the other big pike he just lost, this fish was huge! both myself Adrian and Tezo have all hooked huge pike from here and iv had a couple 30's from other venues this fish was well up there with them a true monster!! after a nervous 10mins tryin to connect with it she slowely swims off into the snags. we then decided to hit the lower sections still buzzing from what we just witnessed Martin was soon to hook up again! this time it was staying hooked! Terry was now with us and we landed the fish and got her weighed. 10lb 8oz yet another double which went like stink!
the pike really turned on to our lures now and the hits were thick and fast! Terry also Landing the best fish of the night at over 16lb, not sure of exact weight but it was 16 something a really nice fat fish! we were all tired now and decided to call it quites and headed back with smiles all round yet another cracking nite using surface lures. we managed the tripple and saw some amazing fish in the process. you cant ask for more than that! Bring on the next trip

Another quiet Night off the Top

Fished a Local spot again friday with Good friends Adrian and Martin. we set up with big grins accross our faces as the conditions were spot on once again, clear warm water good weed growth and bait fish looking VERY nervous!! could of done with more wind but not the end of the world. kid you not im standing next to Adrian talking about the conditions when we hear Martin shout he's actually had a big hit on his first cast! but to no avail, the pike didnt return for seconds on his Competition Frog (yellow and green) was this a sign of things to come? we walked down to a heavily reeded section where both me and Adrian have seen Big doubles and the odd twenty on previous ventures. i cast my large bullfrog swampy over to a patch of lillies tight to the bank and snags when i could see the reeds all move as something charged from the cover, a massive bow wave came up behind the lure but no take, the fish chased right to my feet where i could see the fish in front of the reed. i crouched down as to not spook the pike which id say was 11-12lb i cast agin to far bank in hopes of this fish nailing the lure when it came past again. but another bow wave from another direction came hurtling towards the swim! i could see another double! Martin confirmed what i was seeing by giigling like a child saying F*$@in hell Danny you have two doubles chasing this lure! i couldnt believe it the second fish being well over 11-12lb id say a 15lb+ you could almost see the look of confusion on the pikes faces after a paniccy 10mins of so trying different angles the pike came head to head and bolted off! mean time Adrian had a couple hits from what sounded a decent fish possibly another double! we decided after half hour or so of fishing the good section to head out of town to the sticks where no one fishes where we could tickle of a few on the way. knowing full well once dark fell we will head back down this way to all my sectret monster holes :-) we walked a good mile and a bit up the venue where all of us had continuall hits from smaller pike all the way up the strates with both me and Adrian landing Jacks to about 5-6lb all great fun off the surface! by this time the light was falling fast and we could no longer resist the temptation of the quality stretches we left behind, so we strolled back and geared up for Big surface action. after a quick drink and a packet of crisp we headed back up to the sections we first fished! it looked a totally different beast now! there is such a atmosphere on this venue when all the factors come together it just seems to get me in the zone where nothing can fail! its truelly 100% the soul of my lure fishing.

soon as we got to my swims Martin eyes up a decent swim, flicks out a moss boss and all of a sudden we hear this massive missed take the noise is heart stopping the water just comes to life! Martin is jumpin around like a idiot and flicks out again! this time he's in...... the drag screaming and rod looped over i run over with net at the ready head lights beaming it looked a double! she was safely unhooked and weighed 9lb 5oz and a cracking start to the night! both me and Adrian wanted some of this action, we headed down the sections with numerous decent fish nailing the surface lures hard and falling off mid fight, sometimes it just happens like that! we hooked 12-15 pike all on for some time but most throwing the hooks! i managed to land a nice fish of 8lb 2oz which really did fight like a demon! Adrian also managed another few fish around the 6lb mark all off the surface it really was a cracking night, with hardly any moon it reallt got dark after 11pm which slowed the fishing a bit, i managed another Pike of 7lb exactly then we decided to head back to the car. knowing full well none of us could of resisted a few flicks here and there on the way back up to the car. me and Martin both managed a few smashes on the way up but nothing landed! by this time i was half past 1 in the morning and Adrian has a hour and a half treck back to dorset. all in all another good nite but could of done with a few more fish but cant complain

Swampys in the Night

Heres a few pictures from a few sessions of surface fishing last year! this type of fishing is mental and is deffo where my heart is throughout the summer months! not only does it produce consistantly larger Fish but the action is heart stopping! nothing beats seeing a bow wave of a high double surging up behind ya lure and wrestling the pike from the weedy layers! i still remember the first time i introduced Tezo to this style of surface fishing a couple sessions ago and the massive smile accross his face painted a picture only a Lure angler will ever inderstand! i owe allot to my close fishing buddys Adrian and Martin for opening my eyes to such epic fishing dotted accross a few of the venues we all fish!

The picture above is of a fish that weighed nearly 16lb the usuall stamp for this style of fishing, id say as a rule fish from 9lb to around 14-15lb are the stamp of fish we are connecting with on ever session, with a noticable lack of small fish i believe this is due to the clear water enviroment the larger fish hide away untill certain times of day so not to be spotted by the swarms of prey fish. then one the light drops BINGO the bigger fish come out when there is less chance of being spotted, we fished sections where 25-30 jacks a session all around a pound 2lb would easily be done then fish the same section at dark and not see a fish under 10lb! it really is amazing what a difference times make in a session, we see alot of guys who apparently "know all" fish some of our local waters and will swear blind its not worth fishing due to weed and small pike. indeed my close mate Tezo struggled to believe me when i first told him about this style of surface fishing but the proof is in the pudding with numerous fish caught over the magic twenty pound mark and countless high doubles on most sessions! even the prized 30's came to play numerous times which really made ya heart stop dead as Adrian full well knows the feeling of hooking something that CANT be stopped!This is something im keeping a complete detailed diary on this season aswell as my blog so watch this space, hopefully getting Gemma varney onboard as well to get some more amazing photography as well as Henry Gilbey once his work slows a bit. i cannot wait to get out again, soon as this is posted im preppin my tackle ready for assult!

Surface session

Well its that time of year again........ fishing yesterday with my fishing partner in crime Tezo armed with moss boss's and got ruined by numerous Big pike i think last count was 16 fish hooked and lost!! with one paticular stretch which produced a 18lb pike last week proving its weight in gold! within two swims myself and Terry hooked and lost 3 doulbes losing them at the bank under our feet just before netting!! it was gutting! conditions where as good as it gets, with cloud cover and super warm temps it was spot on apart from the water being like a sheet of glass, not a ripple in sight! anyone who does allot of topwater piking or even bassing will know dead calm conditions make things allot harder! id say most pike were lost due to the calm conditions as they seem to nail them sooooo much harder when there is more ripple. you can see them approaching the lure allot more causous when calm rather than the usuall bow wave and brutal attacks from last seasons antics!
the final nail in the coffin for me was the fact that Terry had a fish he reckoned to be 6-7lb snap at the back of his Swampy after 4-5 cast he had nothing, so he asked me to have a chuck. everyone who knows me will know i wouldnt turn that down ha ha i had 4-5 casts then this really gentle snap at the swampy and i agreed to it being a shy smaller fish due to the flat calm conditions. then Tezo came over seeing the small take, and i cast again but this time i wasnt prepared for what was going to happen! i cast to the car reeds and lillies and twitched the swampy back and all of a sudden in exactly the same spot smash! thinking id hooked the 6lber the rod looped over and went solid!!...... i could feel massive head shakes and the swim irrupted and up comes a Monster of a pike this 6lber turned into a fish well over 20lb!! it was over 3 1/2ft long 6-7inches accross just sat right on the surface shaking its head as pike always do, it turned and charged off with me attached, i had my 70g tournament rod and Shimano E7 cranked up for abuse and i could not stop it!.... after having to run 10-15 ft down the bank after this monster it threw the hooks in my face! i was gutted! could of cried, i was shaking with the rush of seeing this when i least expected it, and looked at terry who was jumping up and down like a child shouting about what just happened!! the first 2010 surface caught 20 escapes when i didnt even plan to hook a beast like that! all in all a horrid end to a amazing night, but as Tezo said we know where these fish are and WILL be back next week :-) lets hope things come to plan!! im out with the dorset distroyers friday chasing bigguns again with full camera gear in hope of a special nite on the water, lets hope for the wind! full report to come on sat

Weekend Perch Mega session!

Well this weekend saw me up at the crack of dawn chasing dreams!! after hearing of a decent perch coming out of a local canal recently which topped the scales at a whopping 4lb 4oz!!! iv had this horrid niggle in the back of my head telling me "Go on Danny, you know you can tickle Perch out! Goooo Onnn do it!" so i gave in and headed to some likely looking get aways where i knew Decent Perch hung around! armed with my usuall Perch lures 4" grubs 5" shads and a few MegaBass bits and bobs mostly Xlayers and Spindle Worms, and a few Sebile lures but in paticular the Brand spanking new Spintail shad which was kindly given to me by Nick at TopWater. now all i need is the right weather for the Job! well is pissed it down! i was soaked to the bone but with the heavy cloud cover and low mist it screamed Perch! well it didnt let me down after reading the water a bit i decided to hit a nice opening from a island and a bay lined with lillies and weeping willows, it just felt right! after 10mins or so with a 5" Cannibal shad from Savage i got nailed! just off the island in about 5ft of water typical heart stopping Perch head shakes i knew instantly that i hadnt nailed a small Jack!

sorry about the picture, i was on my own and it was humping it down with rain! i managed 5 fish in total, but the best bit was they were all 2lb+.... cracking day out and caught them all on either Cannibal shads or the Spintail shad! they really do hold a special place in my heart! its one of those fish you see in the streams and canals about a inch long and its a maggot killer but when the get over the 2lb mark they really are the Muts nuts! i shall give it a few days and head back with my brother to get some decent pictures. days like this really make the cold and rain worth while!