Last years’ boat Lauren Jade was excellent but completely different to ‘3 Fishes’. For a start this boat is built to bass, the blood that pumps through her veins is bass flavoured! Her design is both modern and unique in the UK; she is quiet, safe, stable and roomy. With comfy seating, rain shelter, stowage for your personal belongings and private area’s for you and your family, ‘3 Fishes’ will feel a bit like home from home on the water. But remember she is built to go fishing on. Her purpose in life is to find you fish and with state of the art super modern electronics professionally fitted to the highest standard; find you fish she will! And this boat will carry the kind of tackle that you should expect to use. Quality well maintained kit with the kind of thoroughbred angling reputation that only successful businesses build. Think Okuma, Luckycraft, Savage Gear, Power Pro and you find them on board. We are not messing around; you should demand quality and we promise to deliver it!

Whether we take to sea to get a feed of mackerel for the BBQ or to find adrenalin filled excitement as a big bass hits your lure, it matters not ‘3 Fishes’ is built to deliver.

Today is a thoroughly wet and miserable Friday 22nd March. But my heart is warmed by looking at next seasons’ boat as she nears completion in Cheetah Marine, Ventnor on the Isle of Wight. This photo was taken by me a couple of days ago and clearly shows ‘3 Fishes’ in all her splendid style!

What was the trigger for my life time’s passion for fish and their environment, for the world’s wider nature and its open spaces? What single life changing event in my childhood could possibly have dictated this life’s path? I know what it was; indeed I remember it clearly..... It was catching a mackerel.

A thing of pure thrill and of pure beauty; of sparkling iridescence, of blues, greens, silvers, pinks, black barred of infinite pattern and flapping with pulsing seemingly limitless energy. Hold it, drop it, chase it around the deck, look in its mouth, clench it so hard that you feel its muscles ripple down its flanks and get slapped by its tail. Tiny and at first invisible scales sticking, as if super glued, to everything they touch and the smell...smell of the sea, smell of freshness, vitality, cucumber and sea weed.

It now belongs to me; I caught it, My achievement, all on my own. No angler has ever caught one bigger, a thing of marvel and wonder. Does it really have to go in the fish box? A peek inside every couple of minutes confirms it is still there. My trophy, mine to carry down the pier with pride so huge that my heart thumps and I walk taller than ever before....

Forty something years later I still never tire of catching a Mackerel and it is this passion that I try to pass on to all those that fish with me. So whether you are young or just young at heart, whether you have fished a thousand times before or whether it’s your first time I promise you this... fish with me and I will reveal an alternative better world that for the rest of your days you will always be able to escape to. It is in a place called ‘fishing’.

Of all the species you could target why have you chosen Bass fishing in Wales?

Sport fishing for sea bass is for me the ultimate sea angling experience. To encourage a truly wild predator to smash a surface lure that has just been cast into a hidden reef or a rocky gully is a thrill that lives with the angler for a lifetime. It combines the mystery and uncertainty of sea angling, with light tackle, precision casting and often results in the most beautiful of Wales's native sea fish lying in your arms. Add in the scenery and wildlife that only Wales can offer and you soon realise that hunting sea bass on lure and fly is the pinnacle of wild angling in not only Wales but the UK’s.

I've commonly heard clients comment why they ever spent a fortune travelling around the world chasing bonefish etc. Better fishing is right here on their doorstep!

What do you look for when choosing a mark around the Welsh coastline?

Sea Bass are easy fish to catch. That is not a statement influenced by any arrogance - it’s simply a fact. The difficult thing to achieve is to find them. Do the right thing, in the right way, at the right time and in the right place and you will catch. The right place is difficult to describe but in a generic sense look for a feeding zone (often a beach - could be pebble, sand or boulder or a mix but it’s clearly a beach). Either end of this feeding zone or beach will be holding areas and it’s those holding area's that I start by targeting. Locate one and then go back in similar conditions and more often than not the fish will be there.

What would you say are the main do’s and don’ts when it comes to bass fishing?

The do's - spend money on your rod and your line (less important but still up there as a do is your reel). Lure animation is everything and only the correct tools will bring regular results. You cannot effectively animate a lure with a 10' spinning rod. Sure you can catch bass with such a rod but bass fishing is all about doing everything to the maximum all of the time and so my main do is get the right kit.

The do nots - don't worry about, tide, time of day, sun or rain. They are extremely catchable in 25 degrees of flat calm bikini weather as they are at 2100 hrs on a summers evening. The trick is to find the fish!

If you were given just 3 baits/lures to fish with for the rest of your season which ones would they be and why?

In generic terms two would be hard plastic and one soft plastic (or a fly) - sorry that's four! My first go to is a surface or as the American's call them Top water lure. A slider of around 110 to 120 mm would be my choice always in a natural colour and bright for dirty water dull for clear water. I like the Japanese colour Ayu.

Secondly a shallow running diver of which there are many on the market. Always naturally coloured they are of the pencil and unjointed type. Fished slow with an enticing wobble mixing in either stops and starts or quick speed ups.

Soft plastics fished across the tide are deadly. Often the very best fish that clients catch come to large softies. I fish them under anchor and cast at 90 degrees to the tide twitching them as they swim across the tidal arc. They just get mullered!

Area of coverage.

Based in New Quay Harbour our charter bassing boat Lauren Jade is licenced to carry up to six anglers 20 miles from a safe haven. We hunt the inshore reefs and gullies that abound this coastline.

Who you cater for, what you can supply etc.

Specialising in lure casting, we guide and coach all types of Angler. You can get onto Lauren Jade having never fished in the sea before and you will receive the very best of coaching and guiding. For skilled lure casters we will just get you to the spots..... The rest is up to you!

www.facebook.com/bassfishingtrips

Wow, no really it’s the best way to sum up my feelings towards the last couple of weeks. Stunning weather, flat calm seas and wonderfully clear water were all just lovely but better still, the fact that the fish came in.

With the help of committed clients lure casting beautifully, I found a pocket of classy fish and got on them day in day out. I have to be honest they were not caught in numbers - the best day totalled only five landed but every day we had at least one fish over 4lb with the best being 7.5lb. Have a scroll through www.facebook.com/bassfishingtrips to see the pictures. Many happy faces will stay in my memory for a long time. There is something unique about the smile when either the angler or an angler’s family get into the fish! I guess this genuine photo sums it up....fish on!

I can hear you thinking it is all very well rambling on about happy people but how and where did you find them. Well here’s the secret on at least the how.... the where will remain with my clients and myself (apart from they were all caught out of New Quay, West Wales).

The best fish fell to a 7.5 inch Slug Go Arkansas Shiner. I fish it at anchor on spring flooding tides across rough broken ground of no more than 2 metres deep. Cast at 90 degrees to the boat and let the tide swim it round whilst working it with very short taps of the rod. Braid is a must as is a stiff bassing lure rod. Once the eel has completed its 90 degree swim and is down tide of the boat retrieve and go again. So simple even a 13 year old lad can do it – and he did resulting in a 7.5lb Bass.

The rest came to sub surface to shallow running divers and both Lucky Craft flash minnows and Rapala Max raps featured heavily in the catch ratio. The Max Rap Ayu was the star though and brought in Pollack and Bass time and time again. Fished slowly with either stops or fast acceleration this lure got some arm wrenching hits. One guy (Ed) was so amazed at the staggering power of the hit that he spent a while afterwards shaking!

The Flash Minnow is an all time favourite shallow runner and I carry them in a variety of colours. The simple rule being clear water = dull colour, dirty water = bright.

Plenty of fish also came to weighted softies with the Shimmer Eel rigged to a 3g, 5g or 7g lead head hook (depending on depth, tide and drift speed) fast becoming a favourite. The trick with these stunning eels is to barely move them. Simple gentle tiny taps of the rod (again bassing kit needed here) will impart all of the action needed. The slug go and shimmers are my softy of choice so far this year. Get some, try ‘em and join the Wow factor!......