Action Man
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 3, 2020
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Afternoon all,
My fishing of late has been rather frustrating. September and October are usually my favourite months to catch bass, as the weed has finally passed and the bigger specimens come into feast, and tactics turn to big baits lobbed 5 yards from the water's edge. Well, as mentioned it's been frustrating on many fronts, mainly being the number of blanks I've had, the unwelcome dogfish, and finally the tide never being where I want it at when I need it!
So determined to beat this run, I decided that the Saturday morning tide at 3am would be the right idea. I wanted to fish my favourite North Kent Bass mark, so I ditched the big bait plan and went and got 2 score of lovely local commons, which is the best bait for this venue. Friday night was here and god it took a long time sitting at home in front of the telly waiting until I could go out, felt like the evening was never going to end. Finally, midnight came and I set off to this mark which is about 15 mins drive, as I approached on the last road I faced an unexpected challenge - fog. I crawled the last mile in the car until I was safely parked up where I got out and realised the fog was going to be a real problem as I couldn't see further than 5 yards, and as soon as I put my headtorch on it bounced back right in my eyes. Hmmmn, now let's make the 15 min walk to the mark!
I finally arrived and dumped my tackle box down and I couldn't even see the groynes in front of me, so I looked around for a few broken slabs of concrete buried in the shingle which is where I usually set up. Once located I got my gear ready and awaited the tide which was probably still on the horizon. Just so you know, you don't dare walk out here to the water's edge as there are some very soft and muddy patches, you just need to wait for the water to arrive. 20 mins later I could hear the tide rushing in, so I quickly baited up and sent 2 casts as far out as I could.
10 mins later I was sat watching my rod tips which started to sway and swing about, well there was no wind, not a breath so what was going on here? I decided to reel one rod it to investigate, and this is when I encountered my next problem - weed. What the hell? That shouldn't be here, never get weed here in October! Turns out there was tons of the stuff coming through, completely burying my leads, hook lengths rig clips etc. Totally ruining any chance of a fish getting to the bait. So I decided to change my paternoster rigs to up and over rigs, this way I would be sure the hooks are bout 4 feet from the lead giving the baits more of a chance. This appeared to work as I was reeling in every 15-20 mins to find loads of weed on but the hook points were clear - a success it would seem.
I continued on for about an hour like this, just about keeping myself warm as the fog really had lowered the temp. The forecast said it would be about 10 degrees but it felt much much colder. It was nearing high water (3am) now and I was cold, very tired, fishless and still could only see a few yards in front of me. This was not the comeback I was planning! As high water approached it would seem the weed had calmed down and my rods were no longer swaying about, was this going to be the time to catch? Well yes, sure enough, my left-hand rod to a succession of thumps and I reeled in a feisty bass. This one measured 42cm bang-on so definitely coming home with me for dinner - I needed some reward! A few pics then I was back fishing again.
It took about another 15 mins of watching the rod tips, this time the ebb had started and I got an almighty huge bite, nothing like I've ever experienced before. It was a massive thump then a really exaggerated pull-down which just held there completely motionless. I lifted into the fish and felt some serious weight, then it went slack. I started to reel and of course, I knew I had lost it. I put the rod down in the rest hoping it would come back - and yes it did, no more than 20 seconds later the exact same thing happened, huge thump and massive pull down! I once again went into combat mode and once again the fish wouldn't have any of it. A few winds of the reel and it spat the offering out. This was very frustrating indeed. I was completely deflated by the would-be decent sized fish that got away - twice!
Determined to keep going I fished through the ebb right down to barely any water left. I started to get lots of knocks which I suspected were micro Bass, and sure enough, it wasn't long until I one mars bar sized Bass on the shingle. It was 5 am now, and I was cold, exhausted, deflated and still couldn't see anything! But I didn't blank and managed the one keeper and token micro-bass. So one would say - a success it would seem!
Until next time
Alan
My fishing of late has been rather frustrating. September and October are usually my favourite months to catch bass, as the weed has finally passed and the bigger specimens come into feast, and tactics turn to big baits lobbed 5 yards from the water's edge. Well, as mentioned it's been frustrating on many fronts, mainly being the number of blanks I've had, the unwelcome dogfish, and finally the tide never being where I want it at when I need it!
So determined to beat this run, I decided that the Saturday morning tide at 3am would be the right idea. I wanted to fish my favourite North Kent Bass mark, so I ditched the big bait plan and went and got 2 score of lovely local commons, which is the best bait for this venue. Friday night was here and god it took a long time sitting at home in front of the telly waiting until I could go out, felt like the evening was never going to end. Finally, midnight came and I set off to this mark which is about 15 mins drive, as I approached on the last road I faced an unexpected challenge - fog. I crawled the last mile in the car until I was safely parked up where I got out and realised the fog was going to be a real problem as I couldn't see further than 5 yards, and as soon as I put my headtorch on it bounced back right in my eyes. Hmmmn, now let's make the 15 min walk to the mark!
I finally arrived and dumped my tackle box down and I couldn't even see the groynes in front of me, so I looked around for a few broken slabs of concrete buried in the shingle which is where I usually set up. Once located I got my gear ready and awaited the tide which was probably still on the horizon. Just so you know, you don't dare walk out here to the water's edge as there are some very soft and muddy patches, you just need to wait for the water to arrive. 20 mins later I could hear the tide rushing in, so I quickly baited up and sent 2 casts as far out as I could.
10 mins later I was sat watching my rod tips which started to sway and swing about, well there was no wind, not a breath so what was going on here? I decided to reel one rod it to investigate, and this is when I encountered my next problem - weed. What the hell? That shouldn't be here, never get weed here in October! Turns out there was tons of the stuff coming through, completely burying my leads, hook lengths rig clips etc. Totally ruining any chance of a fish getting to the bait. So I decided to change my paternoster rigs to up and over rigs, this way I would be sure the hooks are bout 4 feet from the lead giving the baits more of a chance. This appeared to work as I was reeling in every 15-20 mins to find loads of weed on but the hook points were clear - a success it would seem.
I continued on for about an hour like this, just about keeping myself warm as the fog really had lowered the temp. The forecast said it would be about 10 degrees but it felt much much colder. It was nearing high water (3am) now and I was cold, very tired, fishless and still could only see a few yards in front of me. This was not the comeback I was planning! As high water approached it would seem the weed had calmed down and my rods were no longer swaying about, was this going to be the time to catch? Well yes, sure enough, my left-hand rod to a succession of thumps and I reeled in a feisty bass. This one measured 42cm bang-on so definitely coming home with me for dinner - I needed some reward! A few pics then I was back fishing again.
It took about another 15 mins of watching the rod tips, this time the ebb had started and I got an almighty huge bite, nothing like I've ever experienced before. It was a massive thump then a really exaggerated pull-down which just held there completely motionless. I lifted into the fish and felt some serious weight, then it went slack. I started to reel and of course, I knew I had lost it. I put the rod down in the rest hoping it would come back - and yes it did, no more than 20 seconds later the exact same thing happened, huge thump and massive pull down! I once again went into combat mode and once again the fish wouldn't have any of it. A few winds of the reel and it spat the offering out. This was very frustrating indeed. I was completely deflated by the would-be decent sized fish that got away - twice!
Determined to keep going I fished through the ebb right down to barely any water left. I started to get lots of knocks which I suspected were micro Bass, and sure enough, it wasn't long until I one mars bar sized Bass on the shingle. It was 5 am now, and I was cold, exhausted, deflated and still couldn't see anything! But I didn't blank and managed the one keeper and token micro-bass. So one would say - a success it would seem!
Until next time
Alan
