North Wales He thinks it’s all over…………… it is now!

[Andy 1965]

Having come within 4 hours of catching a December bass on a lure, I couldn’t possibly leave it there, so I decided to give it a couple more tries this week. The only fly in the ointment, was the weather, which though it was forecast to calm down after the weekend’s easterly blow, was actually getting a lot colder, with frosts due later in the week. Not good for the water temperature!

First off was Tuesday evening, on an ideal tide for the mark where I’ve been catching recently on the ebb. Unfortunately, the easterly winds hadn’t quite subsided yet, which resulted in quite a swell. This meant the water clarity left a lot to be desired, but I’ve caught in worse, and I was confident that the mighty lemon meringue Mishna would still sort out a fish or two. The more pressing issue for me though was the water temperature, which at 7.7°C was a massive 2.1°C down on the previous Wednesday!

Despite all this, I was still in with a chance, so I set about trying to catch myself a December silver. Sadly, it wasn’t to be and after chucking all the usual fish takers at it, I didn’t see fin nor scale of a bass in over 5 hours of fishing .


Next up was Thursday evening, and having heard of a lure caught bass there last weekend, I decided to try a different mark. I arrived about 2 and a half hours before high water and though the wind had finally dropped completely, so had the temperature, and by the time I waded into the water the air temperature was a bracing -0.7°C . The water temperature by now was also down to 6.7°C, and coupled with an extremely bright full moon, this didn’t exactly inspire confidence in the glassy calm conditions .

There was only one sure way to find out if the bass were still there, so I gave it a go and for the remainder of the flood I tried a variety of hard and soft plastics. With the old adage of “low and slow” in mind, I concentrated mainly on SPs fished near the bottom, but apart from a seal drifting by on the current, I didn’t see any signs of life whatsoever.

As well as my doubt about the conditions, I also couldn’t help but wonder if I should have given Tuesday’s mark another go now that it had calmed down. The longer I fished without success, the stronger this doubt became until eventually, as high water approached, I decide to bite the bullet and to move on.

After some brisk walking and a half hour drive, I was back in the water at my next mark less than an hour later and thankfully, the conditions there were indeed better than they had been 2 days earlier. There was still a bit of a swell running, but this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, the water clarity was very good and I thought some disturbance on the surface might just make the bass more inclined to feed in the bright moonlight. At 2.4°C it was also a lot milder there than at the last mark, so I was still hopeful of some action .

At this mark there was no need to use anything other than the Mishna in various weights to suit the tide run, so I wasted very little time swapping lures, but despite fishing it hard for the next hour, the bass just weren’t there .

As midnight approached a bank of cloud moved in, covering the full moon completely, and my confidence was boosted once more, but despite the darker conditions the bass were still conspicuous by their absence. I gave it another 30 minutes, before I reluctantly admitted defeat.

So after spending over 5 hours in freezing conditions, standing up to my nicky nacky noos in cold water, chucking various bits of plastic and rubber about, with no signs whatsoever of fishy life, I think I can safely say, that's my lure fishing done for 2022. Despite ending on 2 blanks though, it's been a very successful lure season for me.

I haven't caught anything particularly big, but the average size of my bass was definitely up on last year, with plenty of 3lb fish showing. I also caught my second earliest lure bass ever on March 29th, as well as my latest ever by some margin on November 30th.

Finally, with a new best total of 146 bass caught and released, having more than doubled my average number of bass caught per session, and with the 100 reached a month earlier than ever before, in 15 less sessions, I can honestly say it's been a good one .

So it's 3 months of fishing with dirty bait for me now, before I do it all again next March .

 

[chewitt]

Being sadly an armchair fisherman these days I have enjoyed your Bass chasing exploits and excellent reports. Well done on the record breaking season Get the Mince pies down you and look forward to more Silver exploits in 2023, Merry Christmas

 

[Andy 1965]

Being sadly an armchair fisherman these days I have enjoyed your Bass chasing exploits and excellent reports. Well done on the record breaking season Get the Mince pies down you and look forward to more Silver exploits in 2023, Merry Christmas

Thanks for that, I'm glad you enjoyed my reports.

There are still a few bait sessions to be fished yet, before I start on the mince pies but a Merry Christmas to you too.

 

[John Mitchell]

It’s a bit cold for bass lure fishing at the moment I think

 

[Wolf]

Pity you blanked mate, write up made good reading tight lines for next time

 

[Beach]

It’s a bit cold for bass lure fishing at the moment I think

There is always the ting with some bait & a small hook John, good for fishcakes.

 

[John Mitchell]

There is always the ting with some bait & a small hook John, good for fishcakes.

I am doing the big lerfer winter comp so plenty to keep me busy

 

[Andy 1965]

It’s a bit cold for bass lure fishing at the moment I think

You would be surprised John, the cold weather has slower sport on lures right down, but there's still the odd bass being caught if you can find patches of warmer water, where they're holed up.

I'm definitely done now though, unless we get a winter heatwave of course .

There is always the ting with some bait & a small hook John, good for fishcakes.

Not for me I'm afraid, unless it's in the club matches, when every fish counts for a point.

I'll be after bigger stuff now, with a 20lb conger being my usual winter target. I also intent to target some other stuff though, like rays, coalies and maybe cod, which sadly isn't an easy task here in north Wales .

 

[John Mitchell]

You would be surprised John, the cold weather has slower sport on lures right down, but there's still the odd bass being caught if you can find patches of warmer water, where they're holed up.

I'm definitely done now though, unless we get a winter heatwave of course .
2 of us spent an afternoon lureing for a small bass and a gar ,


Not for me I'm afraid, unless it's in the club matches, when every fish counts for a point.

I'll be after bigger stuff now, with a 20lb conger being my usual winter target. I also intent to target some other stuff though, like rays, coalies and maybe cod, which sadly isn't an easy task here in north Wales .

 

[flappy]

… intent to target some other stuff though, like rays, coalies and maybe cod, which sadly isn't an easy task here in north Wales .

Have you tried Morrisons..?

 

[richtic]

Great report. Well done on all the lure caught Bass you have had this year on the lure, great fishing

 

[Kine262]

I must start with an apology Andy, as I don't always reply to your posts and even occasionally forget to add a like or great catch report emoji, but let me assure you that I have really enjoyed all of your reports (catch or otherwise) over the last few months!
I think I have mentioned it before now, but being disabled means that late night lure fishing on surf beaches for bass is now something I can no longer contemplate, however, reading your reports is a close second, so thanks again and keep them coming next year please!

 

[Andy 1965]

Thanks again gents, it really means a lot to me that someone enjoy reading my reports .

 

[Kevin3110]

Awesome year’s luring…… well done mate

 

[Topwater]

Awesome year’s luring…… well done mate

Couldn't agree more

Excellent efforts and reports Andy 1965