Andy 1965
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2020
- Messages
- 367
- Reaction score
- 3,374
- Points
- 93
- Location
- North Wales
- Favourite Fishing
- Lure
After a couple of rather damp sessions last week, I was looking forward to something a little drier this week. Unfortunately, once the ex-hurricane had passed through on Monday, taking its torrential rain with it, the weather gods put another obstacle in my way on Tuesday night, south westerly gales gusting to 50mph+ 
. This meant I had to delay my first outing by 24 hours to Wednesday instead, but with any luck this would just confuse the bass.
After some heavy showers had passed through on Wednesday afternoon, the weather looked a lot drier for the evening, but the winds certainly limited my options. I eventually came up with a mark though, which usually produces a few fish at this time of year. After an arduous drive across Anglesey, made much worse by clowns who were obviously very confused by Herr Drakeford’s latest clever idea, and who slowed down to just 10mph in places
, I finally parked up.
Now I had been feeling quite confident up to this point, but as I walked to the mark my confidence took a bit of a knock. First off, as I glanced into a nearby field I spotted a mixed flock of about a dozen pheasants and partridges, I then saw several rabbits as they dashed for cover in the nearest hedgerow, and finally a squirrel ran across right in front of me. All of this reminded me of Andy’s first law of angling
. As some of you might know, this law states that “The number of fish caught is inversely proportional to the amount of wildlife seen on the way to the mark”, but I tried to put that out of my mind as I approached the shore, and by 19:30 I was standing by the water, ready to go.
Though conditions had calmed down quite a bit from the weekend, and the wind was now blowing offshore, there was still a bit of a groundswell rolling in, and the water clarity wasn’t great in the shallows. Despite this, I reasoned that it would be clearer further out and with this in mind, I clipped on a lure I don’t use that often, the SG Seeker. This certainly reached deeper water and the clarity was obviously better out there, as on only the third cast my lure was hit
. After a short scrap the blank was beaten with a schoolie of 37cm, and at long last I had equalled my best ever tally of 146 bass in a season 
.
With a fish under my belt nice and early, I hoped that it might turn out to be a very productive evening, but apart from a small whitebait which became impaled on the treble of my Dexter Wedge, I didn’t see any more action for a long time. 3 hours later and my time on this particular mark was almost over, as the flooding tide threatened to cut me off, but there was still time for one last twist.
I decided to give it 5 more minutes, and then completely out of the blue my lure was hit for only the second time of the session. Sadly though, after a couple of rapid headshakes the attacker was gone, and it looked like my chance to beat my record was gone
.
I was really up against it now but before I made my escape, there was still time for a couple more casts. Thankfully the bass were still there, and on my very last cast my lure was hit again, and this time the hook found its mark. Another short scrap ensued, before another schoolie was landed and at 36cm, it was even smaller than the first
. I didn’t care one bit though, as after 46 sessions and over 230 hours of fishing, I had finally beaten my highest number of bass caught in a season 
.
Though I now had to leave this particular mark, I still had another hour until I would have to call it a night, so I decided to try another nearby spot. Sadly the new mark was devoid of life and I couldn’t add to my tally, but though my modest 2 fish bag may have proved Andy’s first law of fishing, I was more than happy to have finally accomplished my mission.
The following evening I was out again and with lighter offshore winds it seemed a shame not to return to the same mark. With another 24 hours to calm down, conditions this time were a lot better, the swell had really eased off and the water clarity was excellent. Once again I started off with a selection of metals, but it was the mighty Mishna which attracted the first interest of the evening, when it was hit after 20 minutes. This hit failed to connect, but it was at least a sign that the fish were still there, and 20 minutes later I was off the mark with another schoolie of 37cm
.
The rest of the ebb was quiet, so I decide to try something different until the flood got underway, and I clipped on a 6inch Do Live stick. This was tweaked along the bottom and it resulted in quite a few sharp rattles, which I assumed to small flatfish, but no definite hook ups, so once the tide started to push I switched straight back to the Mishna.
An hour after low, another hit finally came but once again it missed the hook, I didn’t have to wait long to make amends though and 15 minutes later I was in again. At 30cm the culprit was my smallest bass in quite a while
but I was still happy to keep the numbers climbing.
Soon after this I was forced off the mark once more, so I moved a short distance along the shore for the last 30 minutes of the session. After Wednesday evening I wasn’t expecting much and things started off quietly. 15 minutes later and I was considering another move, when without any warning my Mishna was attacked again. This time the culprit felt like something a bit more substantial than a schoolie, and it even took a small amount of line against the drag, but I took my time and after a couple of minutes I was able to safely beach bass number 150 of the year, a chunky silver of 54cm
.
The fish was quickly photographed and released before I got back to the fishing, but that was it for the night and the last 15 minutes passed by without incident.
Though it wasn’t my busiest session ever, I was still pleased with 5 fish for the week, and when it started pouring with rain just as I drove off for home, I was more than happy with my week’s fishing
.
. This meant I had to delay my first outing by 24 hours to Wednesday instead, but with any luck this would just confuse the bass.After some heavy showers had passed through on Wednesday afternoon, the weather looked a lot drier for the evening, but the winds certainly limited my options. I eventually came up with a mark though, which usually produces a few fish at this time of year. After an arduous drive across Anglesey, made much worse by clowns who were obviously very confused by Herr Drakeford’s latest clever idea, and who slowed down to just 10mph in places
, I finally parked up.Now I had been feeling quite confident up to this point, but as I walked to the mark my confidence took a bit of a knock. First off, as I glanced into a nearby field I spotted a mixed flock of about a dozen pheasants and partridges, I then saw several rabbits as they dashed for cover in the nearest hedgerow, and finally a squirrel ran across right in front of me. All of this reminded me of Andy’s first law of angling
. As some of you might know, this law states that “The number of fish caught is inversely proportional to the amount of wildlife seen on the way to the mark”, but I tried to put that out of my mind as I approached the shore, and by 19:30 I was standing by the water, ready to go.Though conditions had calmed down quite a bit from the weekend, and the wind was now blowing offshore, there was still a bit of a groundswell rolling in, and the water clarity wasn’t great in the shallows. Despite this, I reasoned that it would be clearer further out and with this in mind, I clipped on a lure I don’t use that often, the SG Seeker. This certainly reached deeper water and the clarity was obviously better out there, as on only the third cast my lure was hit
. After a short scrap the blank was beaten with a schoolie of 37cm, and at long last I had equalled my best ever tally of 146 bass in a season .With a fish under my belt nice and early, I hoped that it might turn out to be a very productive evening, but apart from a small whitebait which became impaled on the treble of my Dexter Wedge, I didn’t see any more action for a long time. 3 hours later and my time on this particular mark was almost over, as the flooding tide threatened to cut me off, but there was still time for one last twist.
I decided to give it 5 more minutes, and then completely out of the blue my lure was hit for only the second time of the session. Sadly though, after a couple of rapid headshakes the attacker was gone, and it looked like my chance to beat my record was gone
.I was really up against it now but before I made my escape, there was still time for a couple more casts. Thankfully the bass were still there, and on my very last cast my lure was hit again, and this time the hook found its mark. Another short scrap ensued, before another schoolie was landed and at 36cm, it was even smaller than the first
. I didn’t care one bit though, as after 46 sessions and over 230 hours of fishing, I had finally beaten my highest number of bass caught in a season .Though I now had to leave this particular mark, I still had another hour until I would have to call it a night, so I decided to try another nearby spot. Sadly the new mark was devoid of life and I couldn’t add to my tally, but though my modest 2 fish bag may have proved Andy’s first law of fishing, I was more than happy to have finally accomplished my mission
.The following evening I was out again and with lighter offshore winds it seemed a shame not to return to the same mark. With another 24 hours to calm down, conditions this time were a lot better, the swell had really eased off and the water clarity was excellent. Once again I started off with a selection of metals, but it was the mighty Mishna which attracted the first interest of the evening, when it was hit after 20 minutes. This hit failed to connect, but it was at least a sign that the fish were still there, and 20 minutes later I was off the mark with another schoolie of 37cm
.The rest of the ebb was quiet, so I decide to try something different until the flood got underway, and I clipped on a 6inch Do Live stick. This was tweaked along the bottom and it resulted in quite a few sharp rattles, which I assumed to small flatfish, but no definite hook ups, so once the tide started to push I switched straight back to the Mishna.
An hour after low, another hit finally came but once again it missed the hook, I didn’t have to wait long to make amends though and 15 minutes later I was in again. At 30cm the culprit was my smallest bass in quite a while
but I was still happy to keep the numbers climbing.Soon after this I was forced off the mark once more, so I moved a short distance along the shore for the last 30 minutes of the session. After Wednesday evening I wasn’t expecting much and things started off quietly. 15 minutes later and I was considering another move, when without any warning my Mishna was attacked again. This time the culprit felt like something a bit more substantial than a schoolie, and it even took a small amount of line against the drag, but I took my time and after a couple of minutes I was able to safely beach bass number 150 of the year, a chunky silver of 54cm
.The fish was quickly photographed and released before I got back to the fishing, but that was it for the night and the last 15 minutes passed by without incident.
Though it wasn’t my busiest session ever, I was still pleased with 5 fish for the week, and when it started pouring with rain just as I drove off for home, I was more than happy with my week’s fishing
.
.
