Andy 1965
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2020
- Messages
- 367
- Reaction score
- 3,374
- Points
- 93
- Location
- North Wales
- Favourite Fishing
- Lure
Now I’m not a fan of fishing massive tides, either on lures or dirty bait, so I wasn’t feeling particularly confident last week. With a 30ft tide, Tuesday evening wasn’t too bad, but having never caught on such a large tide, I wasn’t looking forward to Thursday’s 33 footer in the slightest 
.
I arrived at Tuesday’s mark to fond perfect conditions, with calm clear seas, lots of baitfish and plenty of bass swirling at the surface, but surprisingly the fishing was very quiet. I tried all the usual lures, through daylight, dusk and into darkness without success until eventually, 2 and a half hours after I started fishing, my Mishna was finally hit. The fight was more of a sub-surface tug-o-war rather than a frantic struggle with lots of splashes, but there was only ever going to be one outcome and I soon landed my catch, just shy of 54cm
.
With the blank beaten I was hopeful that things would finally switch on, but I was to be disappointed as things stayed very quiet
. It wasn’t game over just yet though, as I planned to fish on for another couple of hours.
An hour later my perseverance paid off, when my Mishna was smashed again. This time the fight was completely different, as the attacker charged around all over the place, and at one point it even took off a small amount of line against the drag
. I really thought I had hooked something very decent, so I was surprised when I slid the fish ashore to find it was actually smaller than the first one at 50cm 
.
Despite its modest size though, it had really wanted my lure, which it had completely engulfed
.
I fished on for another hour but there were no more signs of action and that was it for my night’s sport. To be honest, with the building tides at this particular mark, I had hoped for a lot more action, but with the fish still coming regularly, and the average size now over 50cm, I wasn’t complaining
.
Next up was Thursday night’s monster 33ft tide and there was no way I could return to Tuesday’s mark, as the flow there would have been unfishable, so I had to come up with an alternative plan instead
. After giving it some thought I decided to fish a beach mark, where the flow would be minimal but where the tide would give a fair bit of additional depth over high water.
I arrived about 45 minutes after low water to find less than ideal conditions, with a light swell but some quite poor water clarity
. I fully expected it to improve though, as the depth increased nearer high water.
First lure on was the big Patchinko in Yellow, my thinking being that I would be able to reach any bass out in deeper water, and that the colour would stand out in the murk, but things stated off quietly. There were definitely bass there, as I saw several splashes over a patch of rocks quite close to shore, but despite trying several top water lures and shallow diving SPs over said rocks, I couldn’t tempt a bite.
As darkness fell I was pushed back from the rocks and it was at this point that I had the first hit of the night, but sadly the attacker missed the hook of my Mishna. It was reassuring to know that there were fish about, but after that bit of excitement they vanished again.
I fished on for another couple of hours until eventually I ran out of sand, as I was pushed up onto the rocks which back the beach but that wasn’t a bad thing, as the water clarity now improved rapidly. This gave my confidence a boost, just as I was beginning to flag a little, and about 45 minutes later my luck changed for the better when my lure was hit again. This time there was no mistake, as the hook found a secure hold, and after a couple of minutes the fish was beaten and just cruising backwards and forwards in front of my vantage point.
The swell had picked up quite a bit by now, so I had to time the landing just right so as not to lose my fish in the backwash of the swells, but I nailed it and the blank was beaten once more
.
At 51cm it wasn’t a big fish by any means, but I was still chuffed with it. Not only was it bass number 140 of the year, now only 6 short of my previous best ever session, but it was also my first ever bass caught on a 33ft tide in the last 12 years
.
I fished on for another 90 minutes but there was to be no more action, I wasn’t bothered though and I was still happy with my night’s work on my hated monster tides
.
.I arrived at Tuesday’s mark to fond perfect conditions, with calm clear seas, lots of baitfish and plenty of bass swirling at the surface, but surprisingly the fishing was very quiet. I tried all the usual lures, through daylight, dusk and into darkness without success until eventually, 2 and a half hours after I started fishing, my Mishna was finally hit. The fight was more of a sub-surface tug-o-war rather than a frantic struggle with lots of splashes, but there was only ever going to be one outcome and I soon landed my catch, just shy of 54cm
.With the blank beaten I was hopeful that things would finally switch on, but I was to be disappointed as things stayed very quiet
. It wasn’t game over just yet though, as I planned to fish on for another couple of hours.An hour later my perseverance paid off, when my Mishna was smashed again. This time the fight was completely different, as the attacker charged around all over the place, and at one point it even took off a small amount of line against the drag
. I really thought I had hooked something very decent, so I was surprised when I slid the fish ashore to find it was actually smaller than the first one at 50cm .Despite its modest size though, it had really wanted my lure, which it had completely engulfed
.I fished on for another hour but there were no more signs of action and that was it for my night’s sport. To be honest, with the building tides at this particular mark, I had hoped for a lot more action, but with the fish still coming regularly, and the average size now over 50cm, I wasn’t complaining
.Next up was Thursday night’s monster 33ft tide and there was no way I could return to Tuesday’s mark, as the flow there would have been unfishable, so I had to come up with an alternative plan instead
. After giving it some thought I decided to fish a beach mark, where the flow would be minimal but where the tide would give a fair bit of additional depth over high water.I arrived about 45 minutes after low water to find less than ideal conditions, with a light swell but some quite poor water clarity
. I fully expected it to improve though, as the depth increased nearer high water.First lure on was the big Patchinko in Yellow, my thinking being that I would be able to reach any bass out in deeper water, and that the colour would stand out in the murk, but things stated off quietly. There were definitely bass there, as I saw several splashes over a patch of rocks quite close to shore, but despite trying several top water lures and shallow diving SPs over said rocks, I couldn’t tempt a bite.
As darkness fell I was pushed back from the rocks and it was at this point that I had the first hit of the night, but sadly the attacker missed the hook of my Mishna. It was reassuring to know that there were fish about, but after that bit of excitement they vanished again.
I fished on for another couple of hours until eventually I ran out of sand, as I was pushed up onto the rocks which back the beach but that wasn’t a bad thing, as the water clarity now improved rapidly. This gave my confidence a boost, just as I was beginning to flag a little, and about 45 minutes later my luck changed for the better when my lure was hit again. This time there was no mistake, as the hook found a secure hold, and after a couple of minutes the fish was beaten and just cruising backwards and forwards in front of my vantage point.
The swell had picked up quite a bit by now, so I had to time the landing just right so as not to lose my fish in the backwash of the swells, but I nailed it and the blank was beaten once more
.At 51cm it wasn’t a big fish by any means, but I was still chuffed with it. Not only was it bass number 140 of the year, now only 6 short of my previous best ever session, but it was also my first ever bass caught on a 33ft tide in the last 12 years
.I fished on for another 90 minutes but there was to be no more action, I wasn’t bothered though and I was still happy with my night’s work on my hated monster tides
.
