Andy 1965
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2020
- Messages
- 375
- Reaction score
- 3,426
- Points
- 93
- Location
- North Wales
- Favourite Fishing
- Lure
After last week’s mixed fortunes while fishing there over high water, I decided this week to give the same mark another try over low. First off was Tuesday evening and I arrived just before low water, to find the terns hard at work again, but I knew from experience that this wasn’t a guarantee of catching.
Having done well at the same mark over low in the past, I had a good idea what lures work there, but that was last year and unfortunately for me, nothing stays still in the world of the hunting bass. For the next 2 and a half hours I moved all over the reef, trying all of the lures which have been successful for me in the past, but despite the terns working the area continuously, my lures remained untouched for the whole time
. Eventually though, the light began to fade and I made my way off the rough ground and onto the safer beach alongside it.
Once there I switched to my favourite lures over that ground, the mighty Mishna, and incredibly the move paid off almost immediately when on only the third cast, my lure was hit. After a short scrap I safely beached my prize and despite it being only a little ‘un, I was massively relieved to avoid a second blank in succession
.
After a quick pick I got back to the fishing and 10 minutes later I was in again
. It looked like things were going to get very busy, so in order not to waste too much time, this fish was pictured in the water before being shaken off the hook 
.
Over the next 15 minutes I missed another couple of takes, small schoolies I assumed, but that was it on the bass front and things soon went all quiet again
. Despite the absence of fish though, that wasn’t the end of the evening’s excitement.
45 minutes later and I was standing in the waist deep water, and just enjoying the solitude when completely without warning, the water erupted in a massive splash no more than a meter to my left!
Immediately after the first splash there was another one, this time directly in front of me before the culprit headed for deep water. I was in shock for a moment or two but everything soon became clear when a seal surfaced about 10 meters out from the shore and just began staring at me 
.
For the next 10 minutes, my new friend stayed fairly close, and just cruised backwards and forward in front of me but eventually he grew bored and vanished out to sea again. If the seal couldn’t find any fish, then I didn’t fancy my chances either and so I decided to call it a night just after midnight and to save my energy for Thursday night.
The next 48 hours soon passed and once more I found myself walking along the shore on a beautiful summer’s evening
. After Tuesday’s struggles there, I had decided to give the reef a miss and with low water still over an hour away I decided to try another mark nearby, where a small stream entered the calm sea.
After a few exploratory casts on the way, I soon arrived at my main choice of mark and I immediately became aware of fish feeding on the surface only 20 meters out from the shore, in really shallow water
.
Clipping on a weightless Swimmish, I waded carefully out into the calm water and once within range I cast my lure beyond the fish, before I began to retrieve it slowly through the target area. On the very first cast my lure was nipped a couple of times, but the smash I hoped for didn’t materialise, it was still an encouraging start though. After the initial interest, the fish soon became bored of my lure, so after a dozen or so casts I swapped over to a small Patch instead. Once more the lure was bumped several times on the first cast, before the fish lost interest again
.
For the next couple of hours I found myself completely surrounded by feeding fish, but no matter what lure I tried, I couldn’t get them to show any interest in it. It soon became clear that the majority of the fish were in fact mullet, but something out there had nipped at a couple of my lures, so I hoped there might be a few bass in among them
. As well as the mullet, and hopefully bass, there were also a few sea trout in the mix and every now and then one of them would tail-walk acrobatically across the surface 
. With so many fish about, they were bound to attract attention and sure enough a seal soon showed up, I’m not sure if he was having any more luck than me though, as despite quite a few large splashes and swirls, I never did see him actually catch anything.
Finally, after trying almost 20 different lures without success, I had to admit defeat and I decided to put part 2 of my plan into motion. This was to fish the mark where I caught on Tuesday, but with dusk still an hour away, I decided to wade there along the shore, casting lures as I went. 30 minutes later, and still bite less I arrived at my final destination.
After a short break I got back to the fishing and as the light levels finally dropped, I was encouraged to see signs of fishy activity. Once more my lure of choice was the Mishna and as darkness proper finally fell I finally began to get some interest again. Encouraged by a couple of small nips, I fished it hard until finally my lure was engulfed. The attacker put up quite a fight but there was only ever going to be one winner and a minute or two later a nice 50cm bass was landed, my 80th of the year
.
With the knowledge that the fish were there, I fished on confidently but they were being a little finicky and I missed several more hits, I carried on though and bass number 2 of the night was duly landed.
Sadly that was the last of the action for another night though, and I called it a night at 00:30.
So the bass total is still rising, albeit slowly, but given that I haven’t been catching until after dark I can’t really complain. Much as I enjoy the summer though, I can’t wait until the nights start drawing in again
.
Having done well at the same mark over low in the past, I had a good idea what lures work there, but that was last year and unfortunately for me, nothing stays still in the world of the hunting bass. For the next 2 and a half hours I moved all over the reef, trying all of the lures which have been successful for me in the past, but despite the terns working the area continuously, my lures remained untouched for the whole time
. Eventually though, the light began to fade and I made my way off the rough ground and onto the safer beach alongside it.Once there I switched to my favourite lures over that ground, the mighty Mishna, and incredibly the move paid off almost immediately when on only the third cast, my lure was hit. After a short scrap I safely beached my prize and despite it being only a little ‘un, I was massively relieved to avoid a second blank in succession
.After a quick pick I got back to the fishing and 10 minutes later I was in again
. It looked like things were going to get very busy, so in order not to waste too much time, this fish was pictured in the water before being shaken off the hook .Over the next 15 minutes I missed another couple of takes, small schoolies I assumed, but that was it on the bass front and things soon went all quiet again
. Despite the absence of fish though, that wasn’t the end of the evening’s excitement.45 minutes later and I was standing in the waist deep water, and just enjoying the solitude when completely without warning, the water erupted in a massive splash no more than a meter to my left!
Immediately after the first splash there was another one, this time directly in front of me before the culprit headed for deep water. I was in shock for a moment or two but everything soon became clear when a seal surfaced about 10 meters out from the shore and just began staring at me .For the next 10 minutes, my new friend stayed fairly close, and just cruised backwards and forward in front of me but eventually he grew bored and vanished out to sea again. If the seal couldn’t find any fish, then I didn’t fancy my chances either and so I decided to call it a night just after midnight and to save my energy for Thursday night.
The next 48 hours soon passed and once more I found myself walking along the shore on a beautiful summer’s evening
. After Tuesday’s struggles there, I had decided to give the reef a miss and with low water still over an hour away I decided to try another mark nearby, where a small stream entered the calm sea.After a few exploratory casts on the way, I soon arrived at my main choice of mark and I immediately became aware of fish feeding on the surface only 20 meters out from the shore, in really shallow water
.Clipping on a weightless Swimmish, I waded carefully out into the calm water and once within range I cast my lure beyond the fish, before I began to retrieve it slowly through the target area. On the very first cast my lure was nipped a couple of times, but the smash I hoped for didn’t materialise, it was still an encouraging start though. After the initial interest, the fish soon became bored of my lure, so after a dozen or so casts I swapped over to a small Patch instead. Once more the lure was bumped several times on the first cast, before the fish lost interest again
.For the next couple of hours I found myself completely surrounded by feeding fish, but no matter what lure I tried, I couldn’t get them to show any interest in it. It soon became clear that the majority of the fish were in fact mullet, but something out there had nipped at a couple of my lures, so I hoped there might be a few bass in among them
. As well as the mullet, and hopefully bass, there were also a few sea trout in the mix and every now and then one of them would tail-walk acrobatically across the surface . With so many fish about, they were bound to attract attention and sure enough a seal soon showed up, I’m not sure if he was having any more luck than me though, as despite quite a few large splashes and swirls, I never did see him actually catch anything.Finally, after trying almost 20 different lures without success, I had to admit defeat and I decided to put part 2 of my plan into motion. This was to fish the mark where I caught on Tuesday, but with dusk still an hour away, I decided to wade there along the shore, casting lures as I went. 30 minutes later, and still bite less I arrived at my final destination.
After a short break I got back to the fishing and as the light levels finally dropped, I was encouraged to see signs of fishy activity. Once more my lure of choice was the Mishna and as darkness proper finally fell I finally began to get some interest again. Encouraged by a couple of small nips, I fished it hard until finally my lure was engulfed. The attacker put up quite a fight but there was only ever going to be one winner and a minute or two later a nice 50cm bass was landed, my 80th of the year
.With the knowledge that the fish were there, I fished on confidently but they were being a little finicky and I missed several more hits, I carried on though and bass number 2 of the night was duly landed
.Sadly that was the last of the action for another night though, and I called it a night at 00:30.
So the bass total is still rising, albeit slowly, but given that I haven’t been catching until after dark I can’t really complain. Much as I enjoy the summer though, I can’t wait until the nights start drawing in again
.
