Andy 1965
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2020
- Messages
- 376
- Reaction score
- 3,442
- Points
- 93
- Location
- North Wales
- Favourite Fishing
- Lure
After last week’s blank I was determined to get back on the bass again this week and my first session of the week was on Wednesday evening. In a change from normal I wasn’t fishing alone this time, as I had arranged to meet a couple of guys I chat to on another forum, who are down from the North East on their annual outing to sunny North Wales for a week of fishing. I texted them after work to let them know my plans, but when I didn’t get a reply I assumed they might have encountered traffic on their way down. Just to be sure though, I texted again as I left home to set off for the mark.
The mark I settled on had produced some decent fish for me earlier in the year and though I haven’t fished there for a while, I hoped the bass would still be around. The mark also had the advantage of being fairly central for all of us. Conditions were ok when I arrived but there was a fresh crosswind picking up, which made fishing a little awkward. Surprisingly given the small tide, there was also quite a lot of floating weed but I hoped that it would clear later in the flood.
I started off with the lures which had previously produced the goods for me there, but after half an hour I still hadn’t seen any signs of life, I did however see a couple of dodgy looking characters walking towards me along the shore ?. It was of course Bill and Steve and after a brief chat they returned to the car to get suited and booted. Once they returned we moved along the shore a bit, in an effort to avoid the worst of the weed and as soon as we found a clear spot, we all got straight to the fishing. The next hour remained quiet, but to be honest I didn’t expect much to happen until the light began to fade, and as it happened my prediction was spot on.
As the sun dipped into a layer of cloud on the horizon, and its light no longer shone directly onto the water, we saw the first fishy omens. The initial signs were the sea trout, leaping in the distance but here and there was the odd splosh closer in as something else, probably bass, fed along the seaward edge of the weed beds. Try as I might, I couldn’t temp anything to have a go at my lures and neither could Bill, but a cry from along the shore told me that Steve had actually hooked a bass! It wasn’t particularly big one but that didn’t matter one bit, he was chuffed to catch a North Wales bass on a soft plastic, Bill was happy just to see a bass on their first evening of fishing and despite him saying that meeting up and fishing together was more important than catching, I was still chuffed to have put them onto a fish
.
The lads stayed for another30 minutes or so, before heading back to their digs but the schoolie was a loner and I fished on for another 2 hours without so much as a sniff of a bass, so sadly I chalked up blank number 2 in a row.
For my second outing of the week, I decided a return to the mark where I’ve been doing rather well over the last month, and though I blanked there last time out, I hoped it was just a one off. Conditions looked good on my arrival and though there was still a large build-up of weed at the high tide line, the water was clear, so I was confident of an improvement in sport from the last time.
My plan for high water was to fish the same tide rip where I’d previously found the bass hiding, but with that still being a long way off I decided to try at a different spot first. An hour later though, having tried all the lures which normally work for me there, I was still without a sniff of a bite. It was still a bit early yet, but I decided to move to my high water spot so I would be there ready and waiting for when the bass tuned up. 30 minutes later and the water was flooding nicely but the rip hadn’t yet formed, so I was busying myself with trying a few different lures when I saw the first signs of life. I was fishing a Patch 125 at maximum range when completely without warning, I saw an almighty splash right next to my lure ?. Typically though, the would-be lure muncher didn’t have its contacts in and it missed my lure completely! ?
Though disappointed, I was at least encouraged by the fact that there were bass about, but it was another half an hour before I had the next bit of interest in my lures. This time it was the good old Swimmish which enticed a bass into a hit, but again it wasn't to be and a decent double bang on the lure failed to result in a hook-up ?. I was beginning to think now, that it just wasn’t going to be my night.
High water now came and went, but apart from a series of faint taps at the Swimmish, which I assumed to be a small pollack, I saw no more signs of life and with an hour of my planned 5 hour session to go, I decided on a move to another spot to finish the evening off.
After enjoying clear water over the reef, it wasn’t quite as clear at this new spot but by wading out I was able to reach the clear water beyond the weed. The next 50 minutes were uneventful and I had resigned myself to blank number 3 in a row, so I was just going through the motions until midnight when I planned to give up. More in desperation than anything else, I decided to move a little way to my right, to a rocky outcrop for a last throw of the dice, and once there I launched my Mishna out into the darkness. In the still of the night I heard my lure splashdown and I began the retrieve for the umpteenth time that night, but I had only turned the reel handle a few times when bang! At long last, and completely out of the blue it was a case of fish on! The fight was tense affair, as I prayed to the fishing gods that the hook hold was a good one, but finally they were on my side and after a couple of minutes my prize was successfully landed. After 15 plus hours without a fish, I was finally back on the bass trail and blank number 3 in a row was narrowly avoided! ?
Once the fish was released and I finished celebrating, I considered ending the night on a high, but obviously I couldn’t do that ?. In a desperate attempt to catch something else, I fished on for another half an hour but the bass was a Billy no mates and I didn’t get another touch. I didn’t really care though, I was just massively relieved to catch anything at all ?.
Though the fishing was over, it wasn’t the end of the excitement for the night. After packing the car I was about to drive off, when I heard a flapping in the back. Quite used to the odd moth or fly being attracted by the interior light, I assumed that a confused insect of some description was trying to cadge a lift. I looked over my shoulder, fully expecting to see a moth but I was gobsmacked to see something altogether different, the would-be stowaway was in fact a small wren! ?
The poor thing was terrified, but by opening all of the doors and the tailgate I was eventually able to release it back into the night. After making sure that my visitor was safely back in the hedgerow, I set of for home to make plans for my next outing, 2 days of boat fishing out of Penzance for sharks and other stuff.
The mark I settled on had produced some decent fish for me earlier in the year and though I haven’t fished there for a while, I hoped the bass would still be around. The mark also had the advantage of being fairly central for all of us. Conditions were ok when I arrived but there was a fresh crosswind picking up, which made fishing a little awkward. Surprisingly given the small tide, there was also quite a lot of floating weed but I hoped that it would clear later in the flood.
I started off with the lures which had previously produced the goods for me there, but after half an hour I still hadn’t seen any signs of life, I did however see a couple of dodgy looking characters walking towards me along the shore ?. It was of course Bill and Steve and after a brief chat they returned to the car to get suited and booted. Once they returned we moved along the shore a bit, in an effort to avoid the worst of the weed and as soon as we found a clear spot, we all got straight to the fishing. The next hour remained quiet, but to be honest I didn’t expect much to happen until the light began to fade, and as it happened my prediction was spot on.
As the sun dipped into a layer of cloud on the horizon, and its light no longer shone directly onto the water, we saw the first fishy omens. The initial signs were the sea trout, leaping in the distance but here and there was the odd splosh closer in as something else, probably bass, fed along the seaward edge of the weed beds. Try as I might, I couldn’t temp anything to have a go at my lures and neither could Bill, but a cry from along the shore told me that Steve had actually hooked a bass! It wasn’t particularly big one but that didn’t matter one bit, he was chuffed to catch a North Wales bass on a soft plastic, Bill was happy just to see a bass on their first evening of fishing and despite him saying that meeting up and fishing together was more important than catching, I was still chuffed to have put them onto a fish
.The lads stayed for another30 minutes or so, before heading back to their digs but the schoolie was a loner and I fished on for another 2 hours without so much as a sniff of a bass, so sadly I chalked up blank number 2 in a row
.For my second outing of the week, I decided a return to the mark where I’ve been doing rather well over the last month, and though I blanked there last time out, I hoped it was just a one off. Conditions looked good on my arrival and though there was still a large build-up of weed at the high tide line, the water was clear, so I was confident of an improvement in sport from the last time.
My plan for high water was to fish the same tide rip where I’d previously found the bass hiding, but with that still being a long way off I decided to try at a different spot first. An hour later though, having tried all the lures which normally work for me there, I was still without a sniff of a bite. It was still a bit early yet, but I decided to move to my high water spot so I would be there ready and waiting for when the bass tuned up. 30 minutes later and the water was flooding nicely but the rip hadn’t yet formed, so I was busying myself with trying a few different lures when I saw the first signs of life. I was fishing a Patch 125 at maximum range when completely without warning, I saw an almighty splash right next to my lure ?. Typically though, the would-be lure muncher didn’t have its contacts in and it missed my lure completely! ?
Though disappointed, I was at least encouraged by the fact that there were bass about, but it was another half an hour before I had the next bit of interest in my lures. This time it was the good old Swimmish which enticed a bass into a hit, but again it wasn't to be and a decent double bang on the lure failed to result in a hook-up ?. I was beginning to think now, that it just wasn’t going to be my night
.High water now came and went, but apart from a series of faint taps at the Swimmish, which I assumed to be a small pollack, I saw no more signs of life and with an hour of my planned 5 hour session to go, I decided on a move to another spot to finish the evening off.
After enjoying clear water over the reef, it wasn’t quite as clear at this new spot but by wading out I was able to reach the clear water beyond the weed. The next 50 minutes were uneventful and I had resigned myself to blank number 3 in a row, so I was just going through the motions until midnight when I planned to give up. More in desperation than anything else, I decided to move a little way to my right, to a rocky outcrop for a last throw of the dice, and once there I launched my Mishna out into the darkness. In the still of the night I heard my lure splashdown and I began the retrieve for the umpteenth time that night, but I had only turned the reel handle a few times when bang! At long last, and completely out of the blue it was a case of fish on!
The fight was tense affair, as I prayed to the fishing gods that the hook hold was a good one, but finally they were on my side and after a couple of minutes my prize was successfully landed. After 15 plus hours without a fish, I was finally back on the bass trail and blank number 3 in a row was narrowly avoided! ?Once the fish was released and I finished celebrating, I considered ending the night on a high, but obviously I couldn’t do that ?. In a desperate attempt to catch something else, I fished on for another half an hour but the bass was a Billy no mates and I didn’t get another touch. I didn’t really care though, I was just massively relieved to catch anything at all ?.
Though the fishing was over, it wasn’t the end of the excitement for the night. After packing the car I was about to drive off, when I heard a flapping in the back. Quite used to the odd moth or fly being attracted by the interior light, I assumed that a confused insect of some description was trying to cadge a lift. I looked over my shoulder, fully expecting to see a moth but I was gobsmacked to see something altogether different, the would-be stowaway was in fact a small wren! ?
The poor thing was terrified, but by opening all of the doors and the tailgate I was eventually able to release it back into the night. After making sure that my visitor was safely back in the hedgerow, I set of for home to make plans for my next outing, 2 days of boat fishing out of Penzance for sharks and other stuff
.
