Andy 1965
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2020
- Messages
- 410
- Reaction score
- 3,705
- Points
- 93
- Location
- North Wales
- Favourite Fishing
- Lure
Since my last report I’ve been keeping myself busy and part of that has been down to fishing, with mixed results.
First off was a follow up visit to where I caught my opening bass of the 2021 season, and this time I had the company of 2 of my boys. Josh and Sam were looking forward to getting out again with the lure outfits they received for their last birthday and the chosen mark can also produce in the daytime, so I decided on a Saturday afternoon session. Sadly, despite the warm sunshine there was a bitterly cold easterly wind blowing and the bass failed to show. As if that wasn’t bad enough, yours truly also managed to snap the tip section of Sam’s new rod ?. Thankfully it was still under warranty and a replacement is winging it’s way here as I type ?.
Following on from that, we decided to give the bait a go next and though it’s still a bit early yet, with rumours of schoolies being caught locally there was at least hope and so a session was arranged for the Friday evening at our local beach. This time we were joined by my eldest son Zak and we arrived at the beach an hour before low water, to dig some fresh blow lug before the tide started to push. Once we had enough to begin with, 4 rods armed with 2-hook flappers and baited with juicy fresh worm were cast out into a fishy looking surf, and we sat back to wait for the fishy diners to arrive.
Sadly though, for the second session in a row, they didn’t turn up and 4 hours later after a stunning sunset ?
we remained completely bite-less and so called it a night
.
Deciding that the boys were obviously jinxed ?, I left them at home for my next outing and on the following Saturday evening I teamed up with a couple of the lads from the club instead and we headed back to the rock mark where Steve and I had bagged up on huss. We obviously hoped for a repeat performance but regrettably, it wasn’t to be ?.
Despite another amazing sunset,
the huss must have had a better place to be and only 9 days after we were last there, they were conspicuous by their absence. We still caught the usual doggies, and a surprise early season jumbo mackerel ? but the big stuff we were after didn’t show up ?.
So that brings me neatly around to this weeks fishing, when despite a relative lack of bass caught since my early success, perhaps down to the drop in sea temperature brought about by the recent cold snap, I decided on another session at the scene of my recent success on the lures.
Now I knew from 2 weeks ago, that there wasn’t much point in starting to fish the mark until later in the tide, but I’ve never been one to sit around waiting to go fishing, so I got there just after low water ?. Conditions on my arrival were very similar to the first time I fished an evening session there but this time, despite the relatively warm evening sunshine I could feel a distinct chill in the water as soon as I started to wade out. Not to be put off, I waded out into the clear calm water and after taking the customary temperature readings, air 11.0°C and water 9.1°C, I got down to business.
As expected, things started off quietly and once the sun began to dip below the horizon, the temperature took a serious dip too, but I carried on trying. Eventually, after over 3 hours of standing up to my nicky nacky noos in freezing cold water, I was beginning to lose feeling in my extremities ?, when I finally heard a splosh out in the darkness. The bass had finally began to feed, and soon after this my lure was hit for the first time of the evening, it was only a half-hearted attack though and it failed to connect. Over the next 20 minutes my lure was hit twice more, but on each occasion the assailant missed the target until finally, at the fourth time of asking it was fish on! ? Though it didn’t take any line, I could tell immediately that it was a better fish than I caught last time and after a struggle lasting a few minutes, including several occasions when I distinctly felt the line pulling through weed, I finally landed my prize. A plump deep bodied bass of around 3.5lb in weight ?.
As well as being well fed, she was also a proper battler and in my attempts to hold her still I was spiked several times, resulting in an awful lot of blood ?, but finally she was released and swam off strongly.
Now that the blank was beaten, I hoped for more of the same but it was to be one of those night and over the next hour I missed several more takes, before I eventually hooked bass number 2. Only a schoolie this time, but a bass nonetheless which was shaken off the hooks in the water.
Soon after this the bass went off the feed completely and with the clock ticking past midnight, the water temp down to 8.0°C and the air temperature at a refreshing 2.5°C, I decided to beat a retreat and to head for the sanctuary of a warm car for the drive home.
So that’s an encouraging 4 bass in 3 sessions and it’s only just mid-April. Hopefully this cold air will move out of the way soon and the water temperature will start to rise steadily, then we’ll have a very productive May with the potential of some big Welsh girls ?.
First off was a follow up visit to where I caught my opening bass of the 2021 season, and this time I had the company of 2 of my boys. Josh and Sam were looking forward to getting out again with the lure outfits they received for their last birthday and the chosen mark can also produce in the daytime, so I decided on a Saturday afternoon session. Sadly, despite the warm sunshine there was a bitterly cold easterly wind blowing and the bass failed to show. As if that wasn’t bad enough, yours truly also managed to snap the tip section of Sam’s new rod ?. Thankfully it was still under warranty and a replacement is winging it’s way here as I type ?.
Following on from that, we decided to give the bait a go next and though it’s still a bit early yet, with rumours of schoolies being caught locally there was at least hope and so a session was arranged for the Friday evening at our local beach. This time we were joined by my eldest son Zak and we arrived at the beach an hour before low water, to dig some fresh blow lug before the tide started to push. Once we had enough to begin with, 4 rods armed with 2-hook flappers and baited with juicy fresh worm were cast out into a fishy looking surf, and we sat back to wait for the fishy diners to arrive.
Sadly though, for the second session in a row, they didn’t turn up and 4 hours later after a stunning sunset ?
we remained completely bite-less and so called it a night
.Deciding that the boys were obviously jinxed ?, I left them at home for my next outing and on the following Saturday evening I teamed up with a couple of the lads from the club instead and we headed back to the rock mark where Steve and I had bagged up on huss. We obviously hoped for a repeat performance but regrettably, it wasn’t to be ?.
Despite another amazing sunset,
the huss must have had a better place to be and only 9 days after we were last there, they were conspicuous by their absence. We still caught the usual doggies, and a surprise early season jumbo mackerel ? but the big stuff we were after didn’t show up ?.
So that brings me neatly around to this weeks fishing, when despite a relative lack of bass caught since my early success, perhaps down to the drop in sea temperature brought about by the recent cold snap, I decided on another session at the scene of my recent success on the lures.
Now I knew from 2 weeks ago, that there wasn’t much point in starting to fish the mark until later in the tide, but I’ve never been one to sit around waiting to go fishing, so I got there just after low water ?. Conditions on my arrival were very similar to the first time I fished an evening session there but this time, despite the relatively warm evening sunshine I could feel a distinct chill in the water as soon as I started to wade out. Not to be put off, I waded out into the clear calm water and after taking the customary temperature readings, air 11.0°C and water 9.1°C, I got down to business.
As expected, things started off quietly and once the sun began to dip below the horizon, the temperature took a serious dip too, but I carried on trying. Eventually, after over 3 hours of standing up to my nicky nacky noos in freezing cold water, I was beginning to lose feeling in my extremities ?, when I finally heard a splosh out in the darkness. The bass had finally began to feed, and soon after this my lure was hit for the first time of the evening, it was only a half-hearted attack though and it failed to connect. Over the next 20 minutes my lure was hit twice more, but on each occasion the assailant missed the target until finally, at the fourth time of asking it was fish on! ? Though it didn’t take any line, I could tell immediately that it was a better fish than I caught last time and after a struggle lasting a few minutes, including several occasions when I distinctly felt the line pulling through weed, I finally landed my prize. A plump deep bodied bass of around 3.5lb in weight ?.
As well as being well fed, she was also a proper battler and in my attempts to hold her still I was spiked several times, resulting in an awful lot of blood ?, but finally she was released and swam off strongly.
Now that the blank was beaten, I hoped for more of the same but it was to be one of those night and over the next hour I missed several more takes, before I eventually hooked bass number 2. Only a schoolie this time, but a bass nonetheless which was shaken off the hooks in the water.
Soon after this the bass went off the feed completely and with the clock ticking past midnight, the water temp down to 8.0°C and the air temperature at a refreshing 2.5°C, I decided to beat a retreat and to head for the sanctuary of a warm car for the drive home.
So that’s an encouraging 4 bass in 3 sessions and it’s only just mid-April. Hopefully this cold air will move out of the way soon and the water temperature will start to rise steadily, then we’ll have a very productive May with the potential of some big Welsh girls ?.
