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North Wales Not done yet.

Andy 1965

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 18, 2020
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Location
North Wales
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Following on from last weeks double blank, the pressure was really on this week to find some silver again and thankfully the weather was a lot more settled. As usual, I had checked the tides well in advance, but the final choice of day and venue was delayed until I checked the forecast much nearer the time. Not that this actually means anything, as the Met Office don’t seem to be able to predict anything accurately more than 20 minutes in advance lately ?.

First off was Tuesday night and though low tide was a little late in the evening, I decided to fish a spot which usually produces on the first 2 hours of the flood. This would mean fishing almost 3 hours of the ebb first, but you’ve got to be in it to win it I thought and bass still have to eat. I arrived at the mark to find perfect conditions, with the mirror calm surface of the dark water betraying every little underwater feature and eddy in the current. As usual though, the curse of the Met Office had struck again and instead of the dry weather they had promised, it was in fact quite misty with a light drizzle falling. To be honest I wasn’t too bothered by this, as it was very reminiscent of what I considered to be perfect trout worming weather from way back in my youth, so I was hopeful that the bass would enjoy it too ?.

With a long time to go until what I considered to be the best period, I decided to do some exploring first and I set off along the shore, having a few casts in any likely looking spots along the way. Eventually I found myself a good mile or more along the shore, at a spot I’ve never fished before, but despite trying a variety of lures, from the Mishna and Swimmish, to the feed Shallow and SF125 and even a couple of surface lures such as the Patchinko and Vulture, I hadn’t has so much as a sniff. At least the drizzle stopped though and with an hour to go until low water, I began to make my way back to my starting point.

Eventually I arrived back where I started, just as the tide turned, and with my confidence increasing I started to fish my usual place, hoping that the bass would show up at the expected time. Sadly, they were nowhere to be seen and after almost 2 hours of the flood, the only interest shown in my lures had been from the resident population of mini pollack, nipping at the tail of my Mishna ?.

The drizzle had now returned too and it was getting heavier by the minute, so I called it a night on consecutive blank number 3, equalling my worst run this year ?.



Next up was Wednesday evening and after giving fresh South Westerly winds all week, the Met Office were wrong again ?, but for once this was a good thing, as the light winds that actually blew, meant a much better choice of venues for me. After a long think and a chat with a mate, I decided to fish a mark where I’ve had the odd late season bass in the past. I usually do better there over high water but fishing over low is by no means a waste of time. As I drove down the country lane to the coast, I was feeling quite confident of a good session, but as I rounded the final corner and the coast came into view, my hopes were shattered. The mark is a fairly popular one, so it isn’t uncommon to find the odd car there already but this time I was completely gobsmacked ?. The lane was completely packed with at least a dozen Transit vans and 4 x 4’s, many of them towing trailers, and on these were at least half a dozen quad bikes. As if this wasn’t busy enough, there were at least 25 guys wearing waders, milling about on the road. After a moment of shock it dawned on me that the guys were cockle pickers, which brought an immediate end to my plans of fishing there ?. As I drove back up the lane, I was surprised to see the vans still coming, so I knew I was doing the right thing by moving on. Thankfully I had another mark in mind, which wasn’t too far away and within 10 minutes I was pulling up there to find there wasn’t another soul in sight ?.

I don’t have a lot of experience of fishing this particular mark, but I have it on good authority that the first 2 hours of the flood are best, this meant that I still had almost 3 hours to go before the best time. Despite this, I was still feeling surprisingly confident, so I started my evening with the only lure I’d caught on there before, the Mishna of course. The first half an hour was quiet, apart from the occasional sea trout jumping, I did however gradually become aware of the sound of disturbed water off to my right.

Now this stretch of coast is made up of several sandbanks, with deeper channels among them, so I assumed that the sound was due to the receding water rushing between the banks, this suggested one thing to me, food being washed out of the sand and it had to be worth exploring ?. I made my way along the shore, stopping to listen every so often, until I was adjacent to the sound, and I waded out again. I then cast my lure towards the sound and on only the third cast the move paid off when zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz something made off with my lure at top speed ?. After this first run, the fish tired very quickly and I was gradually able to draw it back towards the shore, but once I got it into the shallows, I was surprised to see that it wasn’t actually bigger. It wasn’t a tiddler by any means though, and at 51cm I was still more than happy with it (y).
Bass_101_2021.jpg

Given that the bass wasn’t as big as that first run suggested, I tightened my drag a couple of notches ? and hoping for more of the same, I waded back out and cast towards the rushing water once more.

Unfortunately, I must have moved just a little too late and over the next hour or so the sound of rushing water gradually abated. I did get another couple of hits, but neither of them connected and the only thing I caught was this ?.
Mishna Crab 1.jpg

Despite me trying a variety of different lures, including Mishnas of different colours and weights and the very fishy looking Dark Sleeper, the last hour of the ebb and the first hour of the flood were very quiet. Eventually though, the flood began to gather pace and I did get another hit, which sadly I missed again ☹️.

It was now past midnight and I was beginning to flag, so I decided to have a last try at my original spot on the way back to the car.

By the time I got there, the tide was really beginning to push and I hoped for 1 more bass to finish the evening off, but I was shocked when my lure was hit on the very first cast! ? A short scrap later and bass number 2 of the evening was safely landed, at 48cm it was slightly smaller than the first, but I was still chuffed to double my tally for the evening ?.
Bass_102_2021.jpg

From being really tired I was now wide awake ?, so I decided to give it another 15 minutes and this turned out to be a good move. The bass were well and truly on the feed and I soon tempted another couple of slightly smaller ones of 44 & 42cm in quick succession ?.
Bass_103_2021.jpg

Bass_104_2021.jpg

Sadly and despite the excitement, the second late night in a row really was starting to catch up with me now, and I also had an early start in the morning for work, so with the bass still feeding in front of me I reluctantly called it a night ?.

So I had successfully avoided a fourth consecutive blank, and managed to increase my season’s bass tally to 104 at the same time, that makes it a good week in my books and the lure season goes on ?.
 
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Thanks for the replies all (y)


Have you ever considered writing a Novel.Cracking report.(y)

I'm usually too busy fishing to write a novel ?.
 
Fit it in between bites or let them develop a little longer.;):)

Maybe I'll do it when I'm back on the hunt for a 20lb conger then :unsure:. With my poor record on the snakes, I'll have plenty of time :ROFLMAO:.
 
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