DJDBazzer
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2020
- Messages
- 249
- Reaction score
- 1,330
- Points
- 93
Hi all.
It's my bday on Monday so I wanted to do something a little different this weekend.
The weather looked absolutely perfect for a specimen hunt at my favourite mark so I spent the week arranging all my gear, charging batteries, tying rigs and drying out my manky sleeping bag that had been left festering in my garage since my last soggy excursion.
I left work on Thursday and after a stop off at the tackle shop, made my way down to the Lulworth Ranges for what promised to be an epic adventure.
I arrived on the beach at 8pm and after setting up my camp, proceeded to launch sandeel and squid baits in to the horizon.
As has become standard practice for me, a big squid bait was plonked behind the surf in the hope of a bass.
It wasn't long until one of my rods registered a bite, in fact, I think it was my 2nd cast.
I left the rod for a short while before striking in to what felt like a half decent weight.
A few moments later I was pleased to see my first ray of the session sliding its way up the beach.
The next few hours I spent untangling rigs and re-tying hook lengths, as the strap congers came out in force.
I decided to drop all of my rods in short to try and avoid the pesky critters.
This proved to be a good idea, as I was soon in to a half decent fish. After some violent head thumps, I was some what surprised to see a decent size cod making its way up the shingle.
It had only taken a whole cuttle at 20 yards, the greedy thing.
Absolutely buzzing, I decided to chuck out a couple of fresh baits, but unfortunately, this was all the action for night 1.
The following morning, I opted to chuck a couple of smaller baits out in the hope of bream, and it didn't take long to find a couple.
First up was a female, followed by an angry male with awesome black lines along its side, indicating to me that it was not particularly happy to have a hook through its lip.
@Goateeblank joined me mid-morning and after a quick chin wag, he was pulling in bass and bream for fun.
I decided to catch a few winks and woke up to a lively sea. The kelp became a bit of an issue but we persevered.
The light soon started to fade, and after collecting some fire wood, I walked back to my rods to catch the tip of one of my rods take a nose dive.
I shouted over to Keith, as I knew it had to be a ray, and after some fun bringing it in on a wave, I was absolutely chuffed to see a beautiful blondie at the end of my rig.
Catching a blonde ray is always extra rewarding, as they're not that common along this stretch, but to catch one on your favourite mark, where they have eluded you for almost 2 decades, and to share it with your mate, it was something special.
I was over the moon and I could tell in Keith's voice that he knew how much it meant to me!
Quite content, I sat back in my chair and enjoyed a coffee and thought to myself, I am 1 bass away from arguably one of my best sessions.
The sun set and I managed to find a few mackerel at distance, which filled me with even more optimism for the evening.
Similar to the previous evening, the straps came out in force, Keith, in particular, was losing patience.
I decided to drop down to 2 rods, as it was becoming too much trying to recover every rig and battling with the kelp that was now moving from east to west.
The night before started to catch up with me and I was falling asleep in my shelter when line started stripping off my reel.
After a careful retrieve, trying not to put too much strain on my mainline that had taken an absolute beating thanks to the kelp, I was pleased to haul a half decent bass up on to the beach.
A quick snap and it was returned to fight another day.
This gave me the boost that I needed, and spent the next hour glued to my rod tips, until the lack of sleep caught up with me (again) and I decided to hit the sack.
I woke up at 4am but couldn't bring myself to crawl out of my cosey sleeping bag so opted for a "lay in"...
5.30am I finally decided to arise from my cocoon, and I was soon fishing with 3 baits... 2 big mackerel fillets in close and a smaller bait at range.
An hour later, I decided to start packing up, so I walked over and picked up my rod, but just as I did this, I felt a big thud on the rod before my line went slack. I caught up with the fish and all of a sudden it darted to my left at a fast rate. I had to walk about 30 yards up the beach to catch up with it and I was absolutely elated to see this absolute beauty of a bass on the beach.
I couldn't quite believe it, a session of dreams. I think Keith summed it up in our WhatsApp group the following day.
"It was like watching an artist at work, the sea and Bazzer in perfect harmony".
That's exactly what it felt like, everything happened as I had planned.
It's safe to say that I will remember this trip for the rest of my life, it had absolutely everything, and I am so glad I got to spend it with my good mate, the legend, Keith.
I've been loving my solo camps recently but the quote from the film Into the Wild rings true, that, "happiness is only real when shared".
All the best peeps. As always, video link is here
Appreciate the likes and subs.
Over and out.
It's my bday on Monday so I wanted to do something a little different this weekend.
The weather looked absolutely perfect for a specimen hunt at my favourite mark so I spent the week arranging all my gear, charging batteries, tying rigs and drying out my manky sleeping bag that had been left festering in my garage since my last soggy excursion.
I left work on Thursday and after a stop off at the tackle shop, made my way down to the Lulworth Ranges for what promised to be an epic adventure.
I arrived on the beach at 8pm and after setting up my camp, proceeded to launch sandeel and squid baits in to the horizon.
As has become standard practice for me, a big squid bait was plonked behind the surf in the hope of a bass.
It wasn't long until one of my rods registered a bite, in fact, I think it was my 2nd cast.
I left the rod for a short while before striking in to what felt like a half decent weight.
A few moments later I was pleased to see my first ray of the session sliding its way up the beach.
The next few hours I spent untangling rigs and re-tying hook lengths, as the strap congers came out in force.
I decided to drop all of my rods in short to try and avoid the pesky critters.
This proved to be a good idea, as I was soon in to a half decent fish. After some violent head thumps, I was some what surprised to see a decent size cod making its way up the shingle.
It had only taken a whole cuttle at 20 yards, the greedy thing.
Absolutely buzzing, I decided to chuck out a couple of fresh baits, but unfortunately, this was all the action for night 1.
The following morning, I opted to chuck a couple of smaller baits out in the hope of bream, and it didn't take long to find a couple.
First up was a female, followed by an angry male with awesome black lines along its side, indicating to me that it was not particularly happy to have a hook through its lip.
@Goateeblank joined me mid-morning and after a quick chin wag, he was pulling in bass and bream for fun.
I decided to catch a few winks and woke up to a lively sea. The kelp became a bit of an issue but we persevered.
The light soon started to fade, and after collecting some fire wood, I walked back to my rods to catch the tip of one of my rods take a nose dive.
I shouted over to Keith, as I knew it had to be a ray, and after some fun bringing it in on a wave, I was absolutely chuffed to see a beautiful blondie at the end of my rig.
Catching a blonde ray is always extra rewarding, as they're not that common along this stretch, but to catch one on your favourite mark, where they have eluded you for almost 2 decades, and to share it with your mate, it was something special.
I was over the moon and I could tell in Keith's voice that he knew how much it meant to me!
Quite content, I sat back in my chair and enjoyed a coffee and thought to myself, I am 1 bass away from arguably one of my best sessions.
The sun set and I managed to find a few mackerel at distance, which filled me with even more optimism for the evening.
Similar to the previous evening, the straps came out in force, Keith, in particular, was losing patience.
I decided to drop down to 2 rods, as it was becoming too much trying to recover every rig and battling with the kelp that was now moving from east to west.
The night before started to catch up with me and I was falling asleep in my shelter when line started stripping off my reel.
After a careful retrieve, trying not to put too much strain on my mainline that had taken an absolute beating thanks to the kelp, I was pleased to haul a half decent bass up on to the beach.
A quick snap and it was returned to fight another day.
This gave me the boost that I needed, and spent the next hour glued to my rod tips, until the lack of sleep caught up with me (again) and I decided to hit the sack.
I woke up at 4am but couldn't bring myself to crawl out of my cosey sleeping bag so opted for a "lay in"...
5.30am I finally decided to arise from my cocoon, and I was soon fishing with 3 baits... 2 big mackerel fillets in close and a smaller bait at range.
An hour later, I decided to start packing up, so I walked over and picked up my rod, but just as I did this, I felt a big thud on the rod before my line went slack. I caught up with the fish and all of a sudden it darted to my left at a fast rate. I had to walk about 30 yards up the beach to catch up with it and I was absolutely elated to see this absolute beauty of a bass on the beach.
I couldn't quite believe it, a session of dreams. I think Keith summed it up in our WhatsApp group the following day.
"It was like watching an artist at work, the sea and Bazzer in perfect harmony".
That's exactly what it felt like, everything happened as I had planned.
It's safe to say that I will remember this trip for the rest of my life, it had absolutely everything, and I am so glad I got to spend it with my good mate, the legend, Keith.
I've been loving my solo camps recently but the quote from the film Into the Wild rings true, that, "happiness is only real when shared".
All the best peeps. As always, video link is here
Appreciate the likes and subs.
Over and out.
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