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 won’t go into too much detail about my fishing this week, as to be honest I haven’t got the time to write that much 
, but generally it went as follows.
Having pretty much missed out on 2 weeks of my season, due to illness and family commitments, I was desperate to make up for lost time. As well as my 2 regular sessions, I had also planned a bit of a marathon on Saturday, but I’ll get back to that in a moment.
First off on Wednesday night, was a visit to a mark which usually produces well for me in the autumn. Strangely though, after fishing consistently on the late flood for many years, in 2022 the early ebb had become much more productive. After many hours spent fishing there last year, I thought I had it sussed again, but as is often the case, the bass decided this year that they don’t like either the late flood OR early ebb anymore!
Despite not yet having figured out the new feeding routine yet, I have still been catching the odd fish there in 2023 and Wednesday night was to be no different. Just under 5 hours of fishing resulted in 1 take, and thankfully 1 bass of 51cm, caught 2 hours before high water
.
With the tide only 30 minutes later, Thursday night saw me returning to the same mark to check out a theory I had
. Sure enough, another 5 hours effort resulted in another solitary bass, 50cm this time and caught 1 hour and 45 minutes before high 
.
With this in mind, I spent Friday finalising plans for Saturday’s all day mission
.
After an early night, my Saturday morning began with a 3:45 alarm and by 4:30 I was on the road. My plan for the day was to visit several locations, starting off with low water at a mark which has previously produced for me on the first 2 hours of the flood. After a quiet drive there, well it would be at that time of the morning
, I arrived at my first stop of the day just after 5, to find a moderate onshore wind blowing. Despite the wind, the water clarity was still quite good, but I didn’t really fancy the idea of trying to launch my lures into a cold headwind, so it was lucky that I had a back-up mark in mind, where I would find much more shelter. Unfortunately, when I jumped into the car and turned the ignition key, I was confronted with a single, very sluggish turn of the engine, before the battery apparently died and I was confronted by the dashboard lit up brightly by a variety of warning messages and lights! 
Now this might sound pretty terminal, but it does happen occasionally if I try to start the car when the engine is hot, but I know from experience that after a short break to cool down, the engine usually starts first time as usual. This meant that plan B was out, so I had no choice but to give it a go where I was.
As I belatedly waded out to begin my hunt, I was pleasantly surprised by how good the conditions actually were, and after traversing a band of heavily coloured water I was soon into the clear stuff again.
For the next 2 hours I tried all of the lures which have served me well at the spot before, and conditions actually improved as the wind dropped at sunrise, but despite my best efforts, I started the day off with a blank
. Telling myself that the day was a marathon and not a sprint though, I headed off to the second mark of the day.
My second venue was the very same place I had caught during the week, but after catching there twice at a very similar state of the tide, I was only planning a short stop to coincide with 2 hours before high water. After a 30 minute drive, I arrived in the middle of a heavy shower but after a short wait in the car it soon passed, so I made my way to the mark, hoping for an upturn in my fortunes.
Though it wasn’t yet 9 o’clock, the sunshine was beginning to warm things up by now and conditions were pretty good. It was a little bit choppy, with some suspended sediment close in but I knew that things would only improve with depth. The water clarity did indeed improve, but sadly the fishing didn’t and 75 minutes later, after having lost one of my precious Mishnas to a snag, I still hadn’t had a bite
.
Now after previous sessions this year, I wasn’t confident of catching at this mark over high water, so I made the short move along the coast. 35 minutes later I was at my third mark of the day, ready to fish up and over high water.
Conditions here weren’t as good, with a fresh onshore breeze blowing, and the water clarity was also quite murky, with some loose weed and the first of the autumn leaves floating on the surface, but it was still easily fishable. Unfortunately, yet again the bass weren’t playing ball and despite my best efforts I didn’t get a touch. To top it all off, after casting into the breeze for an hour straight, I also got a nasty looking wind knot. Thankfully though, after slightly over-filling my reel it wasn’t the end of the world to cut it out, and I still had a good level of braid left on the spool.
So with the tide having turned, I now had a decision to make, and after giving it some thought I chose a return to the previous mark. This decision was based on 2 factors, firstly, the tides so far this year have meant that I’ve been unable to fish the mark more than 1 hour down the ebb, so I was intrigued to know if the bass are simply feeding further down the tide than they did last year. Secondly, if I could fish the tide down for a couple of hours, then there was also a chance then I would be able to retrieve my lost Mishna!
The water clarity now was much improved from my earlier visit, so I was actually feeling more confident. My expectations were heightened further by the sight of baitfish sheltering in the margins and out of the main flow. I immediately resumed my hunt with the Lemon Mishna, and only 10 minutes after starting, my lure was hit only a couple of meters out from the rod tip 
. It wasn’t to be though and after a few quick headshakes the attacker made good its escape 
.
I was of course gutted and after having only had a solitary take on both Wednesday and Thursday nights, I feared that I might have missed my only chance of the day.
Ever hopeful, I carried on fishing but my worries came true and I didn’t get another hit for the next 2 and a half hours
. As if that wasn’t bad enough, no matter how hard I looked for it, I couldn’t find my lost Mishna either 
.
I had been on the road for 10 and a half hours by now, and actually fishing for 7 hours of that time, with only 1 missed hit to show for my efforts, so I was more than ready for a short break, while I decided what to do next. After an hour parked up in a layby overlooking the coast, during which time I had something to eat and drink while listening to the first half of the Wales v Argentina rugby world cup semi-final, I had reached a decision.
With low water due there at 18:00, around the same time as sunset, I decided to finish my day at my morning back-up mark, where I would have ended up if my car hadn’t let me down. I know from experience that the first 2 hours of the flood are productive there, so I was still hopeful that I might be able to finish the day with a fish or two.
I arrived at the mark an hour and a quarter before low to find perfect conditions, with the tide just starting to push after slack water, and I was immediately excited by the sight of shoals of baitfish in the margins. Things soon got more interesting still, as these shoals started to be targeted by predators. The attackers looked to be small pollack, which sometimes launched themselves completely out of the water in their attempts to get a meal, but I knew that it was only a matter of time before the light faded, and something bigger decided to get in on the act.
I fished on and eventually, after a couple of heavy showers passed through with the last hour of daylight, the light began to fade. Low water had passed by now too and the flow was really starting to push, creating some very fishy looking eddies and whirlpools as it pushed through in front of me.
Though this should be a productive time, I was losing interest by now, it had been a long day without any fish to keep my interest peaked and I was seriously starting to flag
. One of the things I like about lure fishing though, is how quickly things can change and just as I was at my lowest ebb, my lure was now smashed completely out of the blue!
It took me a few moments to realise what had just happened, but I was soon shocked back into the moment, unfortunately the first thing I felt was the unmistakeable sensation of braid rubbing through weed
. My heart was in my mouth now but I just kept tension on the line and thankfully, after 10 seconds or so the fish swam out into open water. Once there, it decided to head for deeper water and I heard the sweet sound of zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, as it took a few meters of line off the reel against the drag .
Having waited soooooo long for this moment, I wasn’t about to risk losing it, so I played the fish as carefully as I dared and eventually, after what might possibly be the most nerve-wracking few minutes in my entire lure fishing career, I was finally able to slide my prize ashore onto a soft patch of weed.
16 hours since I left home, and after 10 hours of actual fishing, the blank was finally beaten with a decent fish of 55cm
.
I was absolutely buzzing now and after releasing my catch I could barely stop myself from shouting out loud
, but there was still time for another fish yet so I got straight back to it.
Alas it wasn’t to be, and the only excitement for the rest of the session was when I spotted some red headlights gliding my way across the calm water
. I wasn’t sure if I should make myself known to them, but before I could do anything, the lead kayaker spotted me in the darkness and switched on their headlamp! Now I’ve witnessed a few strange things while fishing, but perhaps this was the most surreal thing yet, as 4 very posh sounding young ladies paddled out of the flow and into the shallows a few metres down tide of me 
.
I wasn’t sure of the best thing to do in this situation, and I was unable to think of any witty remarks, so I just carried on fishing while my neighbours discussed their next move, then after a minute or two they paddled off back into the darkness, leaving me completely alone once more.
The tide was pushing really hard by now, and I knew that my chance was gone for another night, so with a massive sense of relief I called it quits and headed for home, and a refreshing cold beer
, followed by a bloody good night’s sleep 
.
, but generally it went as follows.Having pretty much missed out on 2 weeks of my season, due to illness and family commitments, I was desperate to make up for lost time. As well as my 2 regular sessions, I had also planned a bit of a marathon on Saturday, but I’ll get back to that in a moment.
First off on Wednesday night, was a visit to a mark which usually produces well for me in the autumn. Strangely though, after fishing consistently on the late flood for many years, in 2022 the early ebb had become much more productive. After many hours spent fishing there last year, I thought I had it sussed again, but as is often the case, the bass decided this year that they don’t like either the late flood OR early ebb anymore!
Despite not yet having figured out the new feeding routine yet, I have still been catching the odd fish there in 2023 and Wednesday night was to be no different. Just under 5 hours of fishing resulted in 1 take, and thankfully 1 bass of 51cm, caught 2 hours before high water
.With the tide only 30 minutes later, Thursday night saw me returning to the same mark to check out a theory I had
. Sure enough, another 5 hours effort resulted in another solitary bass, 50cm this time and caught 1 hour and 45 minutes before high .With this in mind, I spent Friday finalising plans for Saturday’s all day mission
.After an early night, my Saturday morning began with a 3:45 alarm and by 4:30 I was on the road. My plan for the day was to visit several locations, starting off with low water at a mark which has previously produced for me on the first 2 hours of the flood. After a quiet drive there, well it would be at that time of the morning
, I arrived at my first stop of the day just after 5, to find a moderate onshore wind blowing. Despite the wind, the water clarity was still quite good, but I didn’t really fancy the idea of trying to launch my lures into a cold headwind, so it was lucky that I had a back-up mark in mind, where I would find much more shelter. Unfortunately, when I jumped into the car and turned the ignition key, I was confronted with a single, very sluggish turn of the engine, before the battery apparently died and I was confronted by the dashboard lit up brightly by a variety of warning messages and lights! Now this might sound pretty terminal, but it does happen occasionally if I try to start the car when the engine is hot, but I know from experience that after a short break to cool down, the engine usually starts first time as usual. This meant that plan B was out, so I had no choice but to give it a go where I was.
As I belatedly waded out to begin my hunt, I was pleasantly surprised by how good the conditions actually were, and after traversing a band of heavily coloured water I was soon into the clear stuff again.
For the next 2 hours I tried all of the lures which have served me well at the spot before, and conditions actually improved as the wind dropped at sunrise, but despite my best efforts, I started the day off with a blank
. Telling myself that the day was a marathon and not a sprint though, I headed off to the second mark of the day.My second venue was the very same place I had caught during the week, but after catching there twice at a very similar state of the tide, I was only planning a short stop to coincide with 2 hours before high water. After a 30 minute drive, I arrived in the middle of a heavy shower but after a short wait in the car it soon passed, so I made my way to the mark, hoping for an upturn in my fortunes.
Though it wasn’t yet 9 o’clock, the sunshine was beginning to warm things up by now and conditions were pretty good. It was a little bit choppy, with some suspended sediment close in but I knew that things would only improve with depth. The water clarity did indeed improve, but sadly the fishing didn’t and 75 minutes later, after having lost one of my precious Mishnas to a snag, I still hadn’t had a bite
.Now after previous sessions this year, I wasn’t confident of catching at this mark over high water, so I made the short move along the coast. 35 minutes later I was at my third mark of the day, ready to fish up and over high water.
Conditions here weren’t as good, with a fresh onshore breeze blowing, and the water clarity was also quite murky, with some loose weed and the first of the autumn leaves floating on the surface, but it was still easily fishable. Unfortunately, yet again the bass weren’t playing ball and despite my best efforts I didn’t get a touch. To top it all off, after casting into the breeze for an hour straight, I also got a nasty looking wind knot. Thankfully though, after slightly over-filling my reel it wasn’t the end of the world to cut it out, and I still had a good level of braid left on the spool
.So with the tide having turned, I now had a decision to make, and after giving it some thought I chose a return to the previous mark. This decision was based on 2 factors, firstly, the tides so far this year have meant that I’ve been unable to fish the mark more than 1 hour down the ebb, so I was intrigued to know if the bass are simply feeding further down the tide than they did last year. Secondly, if I could fish the tide down for a couple of hours, then there was also a chance then I would be able to retrieve my lost Mishna!
The water clarity now was much improved from my earlier visit, so I was actually feeling more confident. My expectations were heightened further by the sight of baitfish sheltering in the margins and out of the main flow
. I immediately resumed my hunt with the Lemon Mishna, and only 10 minutes after starting, my lure was hit only a couple of meters out from the rod tip . It wasn’t to be though and after a few quick headshakes the attacker made good its escape .I was of course gutted and after having only had a solitary take on both Wednesday and Thursday nights, I feared that I might have missed my only chance of the day.
Ever hopeful, I carried on fishing but my worries came true and I didn’t get another hit for the next 2 and a half hours
. As if that wasn’t bad enough, no matter how hard I looked for it, I couldn’t find my lost Mishna either .I had been on the road for 10 and a half hours by now, and actually fishing for 7 hours of that time, with only 1 missed hit to show for my efforts, so I was more than ready for a short break, while I decided what to do next
. After an hour parked up in a layby overlooking the coast, during which time I had something to eat and drink while listening to the first half of the Wales v Argentina rugby world cup semi-final, I had reached a decision.With low water due there at 18:00, around the same time as sunset, I decided to finish my day at my morning back-up mark, where I would have ended up if my car hadn’t let me down. I know from experience that the first 2 hours of the flood are productive there, so I was still hopeful that I might be able to finish the day with a fish or two.
I arrived at the mark an hour and a quarter before low to find perfect conditions, with the tide just starting to push after slack water, and I was immediately excited by the sight of shoals of baitfish in the margins. Things soon got more interesting still, as these shoals started to be targeted by predators. The attackers looked to be small pollack, which sometimes launched themselves completely out of the water in their attempts to get a meal, but I knew that it was only a matter of time before the light faded, and something bigger decided to get in on the act
.I fished on and eventually, after a couple of heavy showers passed through with the last hour of daylight, the light began to fade. Low water had passed by now too and the flow was really starting to push, creating some very fishy looking eddies and whirlpools as it pushed through in front of me.
Though this should be a productive time, I was losing interest by now, it had been a long day without any fish to keep my interest peaked and I was seriously starting to flag
. One of the things I like about lure fishing though, is how quickly things can change and just as I was at my lowest ebb, my lure was now smashed completely out of the blue! It took me a few moments to realise what had just happened, but I was soon shocked back into the moment, unfortunately the first thing I felt was the unmistakeable sensation of braid rubbing through weed
. My heart was in my mouth now but I just kept tension on the line and thankfully, after 10 seconds or so the fish swam out into open water. Once there, it decided to head for deeper water and I heard the sweet sound of zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, as it took a few meters of line off the reel against the drag .Having waited soooooo long for this moment, I wasn’t about to risk losing it, so I played the fish as carefully as I dared and eventually, after what might possibly be the most nerve-wracking few minutes in my entire lure fishing career, I was finally able to slide my prize ashore onto a soft patch of weed.
16 hours since I left home, and after 10 hours of actual fishing, the blank was finally beaten with a decent fish of 55cm
.I was absolutely buzzing now and after releasing my catch I could barely stop myself from shouting out loud
, but there was still time for another fish yet so I got straight back to it.Alas it wasn’t to be, and the only excitement for the rest of the session was when I spotted some red headlights gliding my way across the calm water
. I wasn’t sure if I should make myself known to them, but before I could do anything, the lead kayaker spotted me in the darkness and switched on their headlamp! Now I’ve witnessed a few strange things while fishing, but perhaps this was the most surreal thing yet, as 4 very posh sounding young ladies paddled out of the flow and into the shallows a few metres down tide of me .I wasn’t sure of the best thing to do in this situation, and I was unable to think of any witty remarks
, so I just carried on fishing while my neighbours discussed their next move, then after a minute or two they paddled off back into the darkness, leaving me completely alone once more.The tide was pushing really hard by now, and I knew that my chance was gone for another night, so with a massive sense of relief I called it quits and headed for home, and a refreshing cold beer
, followed by a bloody good night’s sleep .
