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North Wales Close but no cigar.

Andy 1965

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 18, 2020
Messages
402
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Location
North Wales
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Apologies for the late report, I’ve been away for a family weekend at sunny Pwllheli :cool:?. Before I left though, I had time to fit in another session on Thursday evening, when I hoped to bag the additional 5 bass I needed to reach the ton. After the rather benign conditions of Tuesday night, the weather had turned rather windy and to begin with I thought I might have to head for a different mark from my usual, but thankfully a window of calm weather developed on Thursday evening, so my plans were changed back at the last minute.

I arrived at the mark just before low water, to find a moderate crosswind blowing directly along the shore, but despite this, conditions were perfect with gin clear water disturbed only by a slight ripple. I hoped this would make the bass a little more confident of feeding in the shallow water, and so with a few fish needed to reach my target, I immediately waded out into mid-thigh deep water. From here I could fish the seaward side of a weed bed, where I know from experience the bass like to hunt. I had only been in the water for a few minutes when I spotted the first bassy swirl on the surface, so my confidence was boosted immediately.

With the bass feeding on the surface, the first lure out of the box was the baby Patch in 500g, but unlike on Tuesday night, when it attracted some interest straight away, this time the bass just didn’t seem bothered ☹️. With the fish still clearly feeding, I didn’t want to waste time on lures which weren’t on their menu, so in the first 20 minutes I also tried the baby Patch in Nacre and the yellow Frosty, but it wasn’t until I clipped on the mighty Mishna that I saw the first bit of action. The lure was approaching the weed bed from the deeper water beyond, when it was stopped in its tracks. A short scrap later and the blank was beaten nice and early with a nicely conditioned 2lber, bass number 96 of the year ?.
Bass_96_2021.jpg

So I was 1 step closer to the magic number and my confidence was massively boosted, but even then I didn’t expect to see some more action so soon. I had only been fishing for a further 5 minutes when my lure was hit again, the attacker this time was a little smaller than the first but I didn’t care, as I was now on 97 bass and counting ?.
Bass_97_2021.jpg

This was rapidly turning into a cracking session and 5 minutes later I was in again with bass number 3 of the night and 98 for the year ?.
Bass_98_2021.jpg

The way things were going I would be through the hundred barrier in no time I thought, but as usual the fishing gods had other ideas ?.

After such a manic start, the bass suddenly grew wise to my tactics and though I could still hear them splashing on the surface in the gathering gloom, they just wouldn’t take any of my offerings.

The tide was pushing rapidly now and flooding quickly over the level ground, but I kept on trying. Though the water in front of me was predominately shallow, there were deeper channels and hollows here and there, which I tried to cast into and eventually my efforts were rewarded. It was about 90 minutes since my last catch and I was fishing the Swimmish in one of those slightly deeper gulleys, when it was suddenly hit. From its first reaction to feeling the hook, the attacker felt quite a decent size but agonizingly, after about 10 seconds it somehow managed to throw the hook and as quickly as it had attacked my lure, it was gone again ?. Losing a half decent bass when so close to my target was incredibly frustrating but knowing that the bass were still around was also reassuring, so I fished on.

Going by my previous experience, the tide still had some way to go until the bass would start feeding in numbers again and it was another hour and a half before I registered any more interest in my lures. This time it was the Mishna which tempted a fish into a strike and after the first attack it seemed like the culprit was securely hooked, as it shook its head violently in an attempt to escape. It wasn’t done yet though and after this initial gambit failed, it tried something different and headed straight for me at pace. I reeled in frantically in an attempt to keep a tight line, but once more I was to be thwarted as this fish also managed to throw the hook ?.

Having lost 2 fish now, after waiting so long to hook them in the first place, I was beginning to think it wasn’t going to be my night and when the cloud cover dispersed to allow the bright moon to shine on the water, my confidence took a further dive ?.

I was pretty much just going through the motions now and even my usually reliable lures weren’t cutting it, so I decided to try something completely different. I rummaged around in my jacket pockets and I soon found what I was looking for, a white Spindle Worm, which I just happened to find at the same spot the previous week. The lure was mounted on a heavier jig-head than I normally use at this particular mark, which might explain why the previous owner lost it ?, but I was desperate now and if it got snagged again, then I had lost nothing.

By this point the current was running at quite a pace, which should suit the heavier lure nicely, and I didn’t have to wait long until my theory was proved to be correct, as within half a dozen casts it was ambushed in the depths. Having already lost a couple of fish, the pressure was really on now so I took my time in tiring this one out, and thankfully the hook-hold was a secure one. After an anxious few minutes I was able to breathe a huge sigh of relief, as bass number 4 of the evening, and 99 of the year was landed safely, the best fish of the night so far at around 3lb in weight ?.
Bass_99_2021.jpg

With only 1 more bass to go now, I fished on with renewed confidence, surely it was only a matter of time before another fish turned up ?, but as the tide rose higher, sport remained desperately slow.

Now my original plan had been to fish until midnight, 1 hour before high water, and this time soon rolled around with no signs of any more action, but with my target within touching distance, I couldn’t possibly leave now ?.

Despite my eyelids getting heavier by the minute, I fished on more in desperation than expectation, but sadly the only sign of life for the next hour and a quarter was a solitary and tiny pluck at my lure. So finally at 1:15, after over 6 hours of fishing and still 1 fish short of my target, I had to admit defeat in my quest for another night ?.
 
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Well done on your efforts Andy, you have certainly put the graft in for all those bass. The century will be sweet moment when it comes mate :D (y)(y)(y)
 
Cheers all (y).

Neither the tides or the weather are looking good for this week, but it would be rude not to at least try with me being so close ?.
 

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