Andy 1965
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2020
- Messages
- 362
- Reaction score
- 3,353
- Points
- 93
- Location
- North Wales
- Favourite Fishing
- Lure
After a week off work, much of it spent fishing with both bait and plastic, it was back to normal this week with a return to the grind and to two sessions on the lures.
First off was a return to the same mark as last Tuesday, where I hoped the bass would still be waiting, but incredibly the place was completely devoid of life
. Conditions looked good, with calm clear water and high tide just after sunset, but owing to a lack of cloud cover it just wouldn’t get dark . In fact, the sky was barely dark when I finally packed in just after midnight. In over 5 hours of fishing I hadn’t seen a single fish of any description, no bass, no sandeel and no sea trout. In fact I didn’t even hear any signs of life, such as splashing or slurping or jumping, so I wasn’t overly surprised by blank number 5 of the year .
Next up was Wednesday night, and determined to make amends for Tuesday, and to escape the effects of the 20mph wind which was gusting to 30mph+, I headed for a different mark. Conditions on my arrival couldn’t have been any more different from Tuesday and as well as the wind, thankfully blowing offshore, the clouds scudded along a rate of knots against the leaden skies, in fact conditions were more reminiscent of October than June. Apart from this, conditions were surprisingly good and the water was crystal clear, allowing me to see every rock and patch of weed for meters around, very handy when wading on rough and rocky terrain. There were also a lot of terns diving further out so I was feeling very confident of seeing some action.
First lure out of the box was the Frosty in 500g and with the wind from behind I was able to punch it out for absolutely miles, covering a lot of water, surely this would help me to locate any bass which might be mooching around I thought. When this failed to attract any interest, I swapped it for the Mag Popper in Ghost Mackerel but this didn’t work either, so I resorted to a lure which served me well there last year.
This did the trick and after only half a dozen casts, the Swimmish was smashed by something lurking in among the boulders. In the snag strewn shallows the fight was an exciting one and the fish dived into the weed on more than 1 occasion, but thankfully the hook hold was a good one and I was able to bully my catch to shore. After one or two heart-stopping moments my first bass of the week was duly landed.
After a quick snap, the bass took off like a rocket into the crystal clear water and I got straight back to the fishing, but I didn’t have to wait long for take number 2. This was a slightly smaller fish and not being quite as sneaky as the first one, the fight was soon over.
This productive start certainly boosted my confidence and for the next 2 hours the fish just kept on coming. They weren’t big fish, mostly around the 1 – 2lb mark, but in the shallow water they kited rapidly from side to side in an attempt to escape, and they provided some great sport . The fish were feeding so well that even when I had a visit from my old mate Sammy the seal that half way through the session, it didn’t put them off and in between countless missed hits, the numbers kept on rising.
As the tide pushed me back and the light began to fade, the size increased slightly resulting in the 2 best fish so far of around 2.5 & 3lb, which including 1 clever bass that managed to throw the hook as I laid it on a rock for a picture took me to 10 bass for the evening .
I would of course have been happy to keep catching like this all night, but with darkness falling it became more and more difficult to wade about in the weedy and uneven shallows. The angle of the ground was also shallowing and I was being pushed further back from the fishable depth of water, so with an increasingly snaggy expanse of weed between me and the bass, I reluctantly decided to err on the side of caution and to retreat to safety.
With 45 minutes to go until high water, I wasn’t about to call it a night yet so I moved a short distance away to an area where I’ve previously caught plenty of schoolies after dark, and here there was only 1 choice of lure. I gave the Swimmish a few more casts first, just in case, but this was soon switched for the mighty Mishna, again in Lemon Meringue.
Despite my expectations of a few more fish, I was to be disappointed and for the first time in a while I couldn’t tempt anything else at this second mark. As well as the Mishna, I also gave the Swimmish another go and as a last throw of the dice, I tried bumping a Do-Live stick around the area, but the usual schoolies were completely absent.
Despite the lack of fish I gave it another hour, during which time Sammy the seal swam past me less than 5 meters away, but thankfully he was completely oblivious to my presence or things could have got very messy .
Finally, at just after midnight I decided enough was enough and I set off back to the car, more than happy with my 10 fish for the night, which incidentally brought up my half century for the season so far, in only 20 sessions.
First off was a return to the same mark as last Tuesday, where I hoped the bass would still be waiting, but incredibly the place was completely devoid of life
. Conditions looked good, with calm clear water and high tide just after sunset, but owing to a lack of cloud cover it just wouldn’t get dark . In fact, the sky was barely dark when I finally packed in just after midnight. In over 5 hours of fishing I hadn’t seen a single fish of any description, no bass, no sandeel and no sea trout. In fact I didn’t even hear any signs of life, such as splashing or slurping or jumping, so I wasn’t overly surprised by blank number 5 of the year .Next up was Wednesday night, and determined to make amends for Tuesday, and to escape the effects of the 20mph wind which was gusting to 30mph+, I headed for a different mark. Conditions on my arrival couldn’t have been any more different from Tuesday and as well as the wind, thankfully blowing offshore, the clouds scudded along a rate of knots against the leaden skies, in fact conditions were more reminiscent of October than June. Apart from this, conditions were surprisingly good and the water was crystal clear, allowing me to see every rock and patch of weed for meters around, very handy when wading on rough and rocky terrain. There were also a lot of terns diving further out so I was feeling very confident of seeing some action
.First lure out of the box was the Frosty in 500g and with the wind from behind I was able to punch it out for absolutely miles, covering a lot of water, surely this would help me to locate any bass which might be mooching around I thought. When this failed to attract any interest, I swapped it for the Mag Popper in Ghost Mackerel but this didn’t work either, so I resorted to a lure which served me well there last year.
This did the trick and after only half a dozen casts, the Swimmish was smashed by something lurking in among the boulders. In the snag strewn shallows the fight was an exciting one and the fish dived into the weed on more than 1 occasion, but thankfully the hook hold was a good one and I was able to bully my catch to shore. After one or two heart-stopping moments my first bass of the week was duly landed
.After a quick snap, the bass took off like a rocket into the crystal clear water and I got straight back to the fishing, but I didn’t have to wait long for take number 2. This was a slightly smaller fish and not being quite as sneaky as the first one, the fight was soon over.
This productive start certainly boosted my confidence and for the next 2 hours the fish just kept on coming
. They weren’t big fish, mostly around the 1 – 2lb mark, but in the shallow water they kited rapidly from side to side in an attempt to escape, and they provided some great sport . The fish were feeding so well that even when I had a visit from my old mate Sammy the seal that half way through the session, it didn’t put them off and in between countless missed hits, the numbers kept on rising.As the tide pushed me back and the light began to fade, the size increased slightly resulting in the 2 best fish so far of around 2.5 & 3lb, which including 1 clever bass that managed to throw the hook as I laid it on a rock for a picture
took me to 10 bass for the evening .I would of course have been happy to keep catching like this all night, but with darkness falling it became more and more difficult to wade about in the weedy and uneven shallows. The angle of the ground was also shallowing and I was being pushed further back from the fishable depth of water, so with an increasingly snaggy expanse of weed between me and the bass, I reluctantly decided to err on the side of caution and to retreat to safety.
With 45 minutes to go until high water, I wasn’t about to call it a night yet so I moved a short distance away to an area where I’ve previously caught plenty of schoolies after dark, and here there was only 1 choice of lure. I gave the Swimmish a few more casts first, just in case, but this was soon switched for the mighty Mishna, again in Lemon Meringue.
Despite my expectations of a few more fish, I was to be disappointed and for the first time in a while I couldn’t tempt anything else at this second mark. As well as the Mishna, I also gave the Swimmish another go and as a last throw of the dice, I tried bumping a Do-Live stick around the area, but the usual schoolies were completely absent.
Despite the lack of fish I gave it another hour, during which time Sammy the seal swam past me less than 5 meters away
, but thankfully he was completely oblivious to my presence or things could have got very messy .Finally, at just after midnight I decided enough was enough and I set off back to the car, more than happy with my 10 fish for the night, which incidentally brought up my half century for the season so far, in only 20 sessions
.
