[Dave Fitzpatrick]

I took a trip down to Wexford at the weekend in search of my first bass of the year and met up with my mate Ronan from the site. I'm not too familiar with too many marks down but a big thanks to Danny for pointing me in the right direction.

It wasnt too long before I caught the first bass of the year on the feedshallow. It was a fish of about the 3lb mark but I kinda ended up releasing it in an unconventional sort of way. As I brought the fish for Ronan to grab with the lip grips the fish decided to take off again and shot through my legs getting one of the trebles snagged on my waders and as I reached down to free the treble I lost my footing and went for an unexpected swim, freeing the fish in the process. Needless to say I didn't get a photo but I'm just glad that it wasn't caught on camera. :-D

A little while later Ronan was into a fish of about 4lb, which he hooked at distance on a kilty type lure but it was very lightly hooked and just before I got a chance to grab it with the lip grips, it shook the lure. :sad:

We really weren't having much luck with actually landing fish but eventually I got one to pose for the camera even if it was only a small schoolie.



and an underwater release shot



We went back to the same spot the next day but the wind and weed had picked up, making fishing subsurface lures a little tricky so I fished the Patchinko. I'm not sure what I was doing wrong or what I could have done better but I had loads of follows but no hook ups. I mean the fish were quite small and maybe if the lure was a little smaller, I don't know but at times there were 3 or 4 bass following the lure. :shock: It was incredible but it would have been nicer if we hooked up with a few more fish.

Great weekend and nice to eventually see a few bass.:-D

 

[Barry Howlin]

well done Davey, good to get off the mark things are not easy at the minute

 

[Simon L]

Nice report Dave :clap:

 

[Steve Lewis]

Great report Dave and well done on the first of the year :-D

 

[mike symons]

Congratulations Dave now your up and running keep it up.

 

[Kevin Wilkinson]

Great fish im still after my first this year so hopefully soon great underwater photo

 

[Pennywise]

Nice one Dave!!
Its worth the wait when it comes together isnt it?

 

[Danny Meagher]

Good stuff Dave, you did well down there.

 

[Ronan O'Halloran]

It was a class session alright. Me losing a nice bass was well worth the look of surprise in Dave's eyes as he toppled backwards into the water. The Sunday was slightly frustrating with all the follows we were getting with no results. I put a small soft plastic as a stinger on the patchinko to see if one of the following bass would hit it but no joy. It seemed to spoil the action of the lure a bit though. Strange day but good fun.

 

[Ken O]

Fair play Dave nice to get off the mark was down North wexford today with no luck again,im having more luck in Dublin at the min.

 

[Dave Fitzpatrick]

Thanks Lads it's been a while coming alright but I was delighted when finally the line tightened, the rod arched over and I eventually saw that elusive flash of silver, you just can't beat that feeling. I'm off to Kerry tomorrow for a few days so I'm hoping that I'll have something else to report when I get back.

 

[Sam Roche]

Well done Dave, best of luck in kerry this week.