Catch Fish with
Mike Ladle

Information Page

SEA FISHING

For anyone unfamiliar with the site always check the FRESHWATER, SALTWATER and TACK-TICS pages. The Saltwater page now extends back as a record of over several years of (mostly) sea fishing and may be a useful guide as to when to fish. The Freshwater stuff is also up to date now. I keep adding to both. These pages are effectively my diary and the latest will usually be about fishing in the previous day or two. As you see I also add the odd piece from my friends and correspondents if I've not been doing much. The Tactics pages which are chiefly 'how I do it' plus a bit of science are also updated regularly and (I think) worth a read (the earlier ones are mostly tackle and 'how to do it' stuff).

03 May 2007

Modern plugs are wonderful.

For many years the first lure out of my box was always a Rapala and they are still excellent bass attractors. Even today when things are difficult with coloured water I'll tie on the old faithful J11F. However. for most situations, particularly when it is shallow, weedy, rocky ground with the fish feeding at various distances (often the case) one or other of the modern Japanese lures is the best choice. They are often weighted by moving ball bearings which not only gives extra yards on the cast but also reduces the risk of a lure 'tumbling' in the air. The plastic is durable and has an excellent printed finish (it might not matter to the fish but it gives me confidence), the hooks are usually razor sharp and all in all, they are about as good as you could wish for. My favourites, particularly when I'm not sure about what's under the surface in the way of snags, are the Maria 'Angel Kiss', 'The First' and 'Chase' shallow divers. They look like sandeels, fish over all but the shallowest rocks and above all they catch lots of bass.

After a good spell of bassing on the spring tides in the middle of April we have been cursed by what I call the 'bream winds'. In years gone by, in April, when I used to fish for black bream from the dinghy, the fishing was always afflicted by strong easterly winds. Despite global warming we still seem to get the same phenomenon at this time of the year. Of course it doesn't stop you spinning from the shore but it can make casting tricky and by stirring up the sea it produces 'weed soup' with little bits of loose weed fouling the plug on most casts. That's exactly how it was when I went down with Ben and Nigel the other evening. The sea was reasonably calm and the fish seemed to be small. We fished with our favourite plugs and managed to land a few fish but it was not particularly easy and we were grateful for the additional casting distance as most of the bites seemed to be at maximum range. I had one bite about ten metres out which failed to hook itself. The fish was about four or five pounds in weight - I know because threw itself clear of the surface after letting go of the lure - but everything else was small.

Anyway, thank heavens for long casting, shallow diving lures I say. I'm off on holiday next week so there might be a lull in my web pages until I get back. In the meanwhile - "Good fishing!"

If you haven't signed the bass petition yet, please go to Saltwater page 168 and do it now.

If you have any comments or questions about fish, methods, tactics or 'what have you.'get in touch with me by sending an E-MAIL to - docladle@hotmail.com

Hard at it!

A small bass.

Closer look.