Mr Fish
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2020
- Messages
- 19,134
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- 116
- Location
- North Devon
- Favourite Fishing
- Shore
Nearly at the end of August and I haven’t had one single surf beach after dark bass session yet.
Mainly I’ve been waiting for darker evenings as hanging on until a 2am low water and going home when it’s light doesn’t appeal so much these days.
Also not really had the best tides when I’ve had a time window.
Usually start in July though so late August is very late for me.
Anyhoo, this weekend is a club 48 hour comp. Fish when/where you like between 7pm Friday and 8pm Sunday.
Really on my coast you’re looking at 4-5 hour tide windows, unlike say Chesil where you could fish the whole 48 hours.
That’s too long for me but it’s very doable if you want to lug all the gear down there.
ANYWAY, getting to the point, I checked the tide times and figured I could get three hours in Friday up to the midnight high at Saunton Sands.
Unpredictable as a bass beach, holds some big ones but you’ve got two miles of flat sand to choose from and I had no plans to walk to the very end, that needs a 4x4 and I don’t have one at the moment!
So arrived in the car park about 8.50pm, hot footed it about 10 minutes down the beach to get away from the last few surfers and dog walkers and quickly tackled up.
First impressions a LOT of weed on the shoreline. Nice but of surf though.
I hoped it was inshore and not out in the surf and generally that was the case.
I hadn’t been fishing long when I got a knocking/rattling bite on the left rod.
I was fairly certain it was weed, but surf beaches can throw up odd bites and on a calmer night it could well have been a bite.
Until you get a feel for what that night’s conditions are doing, there’s no choice but to check the first one or two odd tip movements, just in case.
As suspected it was weed hanging on the line about halfway down and making the tip nod, but was pleased to see the end gear was clean and not covered in clumps of vegetation!
But…. Returning to the rod rest, I discovered the line on my other rod was as slack as a politician’s resolve and blowing down the beach at right angles.
Wound down the yards and yards of slack and struck into nothing at all.
The half bluey bait was snapped on its spine between the pennell 6/0s so it certainly LOOKED as if I’d had a bite.
Very annoying, as I’d only been away for a minute or so to deal with the weed at the shoreline and in case the weight on the other rod had been a fish.
Ah well, that’s the drawback of surf beach fishing with two rods, they can and do hit at any time, but you do need to leave the tripod to reel in/cast out etc.
I carried on, mostly with half bluey baits although they were a little smaller than the norm, but not as small as the ‘normal’ small ones, if that makes sense?
As I moved up the beach, I decided I’d go with a whole one next cast.
Don’t usually do that as half a big bluey is plenty but these ones were kind of twixt and between.
The tail is cut off to stop the bait spinning. No reason at all to cut the nose off except I feel it helps to release a few more juices to hopefully attract a hungry bass!
Was minding my beeswax when without warning one rod pinged back totally slack!
Getting all excited, I wound down and struck, only to find there was an odd rubbing sensation - stuck on something.
The culprit was revealed as a six foot long but thinnish tree branch no more than 20 feet out, that had somehow managed to snag the line and create the mother of all slack line bites ?
The rod tips were about as high as I dared to try and avoid the weed…
Nonetheless, the odd irritating lump of eel grass or wrack would occasionally attach itself just at the surf line and make the rod nod convincingly.
I walked down a couple of times to remove these pests but it WAS fishable so persevered up to the high.
The beach is so flat that as soon as the ebb starts, the water disappears within minutes.
I left the gear out for about 20 minutes after high, then packed up.
Two anglers I know who had been fishing way up on the big sandbank by the estuary stopped in their truck on the way back down and reported they’d (allegedly) had nothing.
I say allegedly because people do get secretive when they land a big double here - which I kind of get, but it’s such a huge beach that I don’t really see the need for too much secrecy.
So that was it, the first three hours of my bass season didn’t amount to much, but there’s two good months or more yet, with nice early after dark tides and fewer and fewer tourists - bliss!
Mainly I’ve been waiting for darker evenings as hanging on until a 2am low water and going home when it’s light doesn’t appeal so much these days.
Also not really had the best tides when I’ve had a time window.
Usually start in July though so late August is very late for me.
Anyhoo, this weekend is a club 48 hour comp. Fish when/where you like between 7pm Friday and 8pm Sunday.
Really on my coast you’re looking at 4-5 hour tide windows, unlike say Chesil where you could fish the whole 48 hours.
That’s too long for me but it’s very doable if you want to lug all the gear down there.
ANYWAY, getting to the point, I checked the tide times and figured I could get three hours in Friday up to the midnight high at Saunton Sands.
Unpredictable as a bass beach, holds some big ones but you’ve got two miles of flat sand to choose from and I had no plans to walk to the very end, that needs a 4x4 and I don’t have one at the moment!
So arrived in the car park about 8.50pm, hot footed it about 10 minutes down the beach to get away from the last few surfers and dog walkers and quickly tackled up.
First impressions a LOT of weed on the shoreline. Nice but of surf though.
I hoped it was inshore and not out in the surf and generally that was the case.
I hadn’t been fishing long when I got a knocking/rattling bite on the left rod.
I was fairly certain it was weed, but surf beaches can throw up odd bites and on a calmer night it could well have been a bite.
Until you get a feel for what that night’s conditions are doing, there’s no choice but to check the first one or two odd tip movements, just in case.
As suspected it was weed hanging on the line about halfway down and making the tip nod, but was pleased to see the end gear was clean and not covered in clumps of vegetation!
But…. Returning to the rod rest, I discovered the line on my other rod was as slack as a politician’s resolve and blowing down the beach at right angles.
Wound down the yards and yards of slack and struck into nothing at all.
The half bluey bait was snapped on its spine between the pennell 6/0s so it certainly LOOKED as if I’d had a bite.
Very annoying, as I’d only been away for a minute or so to deal with the weed at the shoreline and in case the weight on the other rod had been a fish.
Ah well, that’s the drawback of surf beach fishing with two rods, they can and do hit at any time, but you do need to leave the tripod to reel in/cast out etc.
I carried on, mostly with half bluey baits although they were a little smaller than the norm, but not as small as the ‘normal’ small ones, if that makes sense?
As I moved up the beach, I decided I’d go with a whole one next cast.
Don’t usually do that as half a big bluey is plenty but these ones were kind of twixt and between.
The tail is cut off to stop the bait spinning. No reason at all to cut the nose off except I feel it helps to release a few more juices to hopefully attract a hungry bass!
Was minding my beeswax when without warning one rod pinged back totally slack!
Getting all excited, I wound down and struck, only to find there was an odd rubbing sensation - stuck on something.
The culprit was revealed as a six foot long but thinnish tree branch no more than 20 feet out, that had somehow managed to snag the line and create the mother of all slack line bites ?
The rod tips were about as high as I dared to try and avoid the weed…
Nonetheless, the odd irritating lump of eel grass or wrack would occasionally attach itself just at the surf line and make the rod nod convincingly.
I walked down a couple of times to remove these pests but it WAS fishable so persevered up to the high.
The beach is so flat that as soon as the ebb starts, the water disappears within minutes.
I left the gear out for about 20 minutes after high, then packed up.
Two anglers I know who had been fishing way up on the big sandbank by the estuary stopped in their truck on the way back down and reported they’d (allegedly) had nothing.
I say allegedly because people do get secretive when they land a big double here - which I kind of get, but it’s such a huge beach that I don’t really see the need for too much secrecy.
So that was it, the first three hours of my bass season didn’t amount to much, but there’s two good months or more yet, with nice early after dark tides and fewer and fewer tourists - bliss!
