Mr Fish
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- Oct 4, 2020
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- Location
- North Devon
- Favourite Fishing
- Shore
It was a good tide for a return to my favourite bass beach on Thursday night, low was 9.43pm so it would all be done and dusted by midnight, give or take.
I do like the darker evenings as I can fish bass tides after dark at more sensible hours rather than the silly o clock times of the summer.
Parked up just before 7, no one there, wahoo. Nice bit of surf too.
Last couple of surfers were coming up the path as I went down, ideal.
To start with there wasn’t much sand exposed on such a small neap tide and I was squeezed up between rocks for a while.
Lush bit of clean surf, although it was surging a long way up the beach and I had to keep a careful eye on my box as it was within the surge zone!
I’d opted for my lighter beachcasters which wasn’t the best choice as they were pulled almost double at times by the powerful surf.
Any weed would have fecked it, but there wasn’t any thankfully.
I can attest how powerful the surf was, because even wading out a foot or so to cast, it was trying to drag me back with it for a play, but I declined the kind offer.
I’d only had the rods out 20 minutes or so, first cast, and one nodded a couple of times then went over.
Not the biggest bass bite I’ve ever seen, but pretty decent.
I managed to miss it, of course. ?
That’s another issue with lighter rods, there’s more give in them and although generally they’re nicer to fish with, it’s harder to absorb the stretch of all that line out in the surf and exert enough power to set the hook.
Anyway, I’d been there an hour, it was only an hour or so to low and I thought surely no one else will come down now.
Wrong ?
Two bright lights bobbing down the beach and my heart sank as I realised it looked exactly like the same headlight numpties who were there a couple of weeks ago with their bright lights.
Bass do NOT like bright lights! I don’t care what some people say about how they caught their pb double figure bass with a neon sign strapped to their head, while wielding a Nightsun searchlight and illuminated by the glow of the risen Christ - I’ve been doing it long enough that I know catches are almost always better when I’m a long way away from any lighthouse fuckers.
It really is one of my main fishing pet hates. No needs a bright light on a shallow surf beach. What they gonna do, trip over a winkle shell?
I’m probably a bit anal about it but I try and maintain light discipline the whole time.
The headlight is on a very low setting (mine has a dimmer function) so it doesn’t penetrate far anyway and then it’s simply a matter of not looking directly at the sea with the light on.
It really isn’t hard. Watch the rods from the side, bait up facing away from the sea, switch it off to cast out. Not difficult.
These two were worse in a way. They tackled up with enough light to be seen from space (any bass were probably half way to Wales), then proceeded to be ‘good’ and fish in the dark with tip lights.
Erm, horse, stable door, bolted…
Oh, and when one went down to reel in, back on went the headlight and the surf was completely lit up again ??
????
ANYWAY…. I moved as far away from the feckers as I could and carried on.
Hmm. A bite on the left rod, then a bite on the right. Decisions decisions.
The left looked a better bite, so gave it a whack and yep, half decent fish on here.
It wasn’t doing too much on the way in but kicked a bit in the surf and I was thinking ‘bass’.
Okay yes, looked a bit shark shaped but probably a truck of the light, hopefully still a bass.
A bass with glowing yellow eyes. Oh.
Yep, it was a huss. Quite a good sized one too and to my recollection, the first I’d caught on this beach.
I made it about 8lb. It went 9lb 4 in the sling but ordinarily the sling weighs 8oz, however there was sand on it, plus it then got wet when I released the fish and it weighed 1lb 4, so as a rough weight, 8 it was.
The other rod had a dog on it, so I made the right call, except the dog had managed to swallow both 6/0 hooks and a whole small bluey.
I don’t like leaving hooks in fish and I didn’t rate its chances too much, but I cut the trace rather than yank the hooks about and put it back hoping for the best.
It went quiet then. I had a few half hearted bites and slightly mangled baits which looked doggyish to me, but nothing else worth hitting.
Yet another angler had joined the first two. He wasn’t quite as bad with his light but it felt like a crowd on a beach I usually have to myself.
As the flood pushed in and I was pushed back up to the rocks, I figured it would be far too cosy with four at the narrow beach entrance so I had what I thought was my last cast and decided to pack up a bit earlier.
The half bluey rod that has just gone out suddenly twitched a couple of times, then went over.
No mistakes this time, fish on!
I think?
It didn’t feel as good as I first thought but something was kicking away and yep, when I went down to land it, a chunky schoolie was drawn up the sand.
I didn’t weigh it, but felt about 2lb.
That would be 44cm to some of you ??
It was a fat little thing and had a bit of weight to it. The pic doesn’t really do it justice.
Anyway, it was only lip hooked and any legalities aside, it was under my personal preference of only taking 3-4lb fish so back it went.
It stabbed me as I was about to put it in the surf so I dropped it, but it disappeared instantly.
Ungrateful, if you ask me!
Sticking to the packing up plan, I stripped that rod down and was ready a few minutes later to pack up the other.
Then, hang on, are they going?
Why are they going? There’s a good 30 minutes of the best part of the tide left.
But yes, they were heading off. I was going to walk over and ask how they got on, but feck ‘em, I wanted to focus on my fishing and if they left early thinking the beach was crap, that’s fine by me!
So I repositioned a bit and carried on with one rod, until some 40 minutes later I was nearly thigh deep in water and really had to go myself.
Unfortunately, not a single bite. That can be bass fishing sometimes.
But target acquired at least. May go again tomorrow night, we’ll see…
I do like the darker evenings as I can fish bass tides after dark at more sensible hours rather than the silly o clock times of the summer.
Parked up just before 7, no one there, wahoo. Nice bit of surf too.
Last couple of surfers were coming up the path as I went down, ideal.
To start with there wasn’t much sand exposed on such a small neap tide and I was squeezed up between rocks for a while.
Lush bit of clean surf, although it was surging a long way up the beach and I had to keep a careful eye on my box as it was within the surge zone!
I’d opted for my lighter beachcasters which wasn’t the best choice as they were pulled almost double at times by the powerful surf.
Any weed would have fecked it, but there wasn’t any thankfully.
I can attest how powerful the surf was, because even wading out a foot or so to cast, it was trying to drag me back with it for a play, but I declined the kind offer.
I’d only had the rods out 20 minutes or so, first cast, and one nodded a couple of times then went over.
Not the biggest bass bite I’ve ever seen, but pretty decent.
I managed to miss it, of course. ?
That’s another issue with lighter rods, there’s more give in them and although generally they’re nicer to fish with, it’s harder to absorb the stretch of all that line out in the surf and exert enough power to set the hook.
Anyway, I’d been there an hour, it was only an hour or so to low and I thought surely no one else will come down now.
Wrong ?
Two bright lights bobbing down the beach and my heart sank as I realised it looked exactly like the same headlight numpties who were there a couple of weeks ago with their bright lights.
Bass do NOT like bright lights! I don’t care what some people say about how they caught their pb double figure bass with a neon sign strapped to their head, while wielding a Nightsun searchlight and illuminated by the glow of the risen Christ - I’ve been doing it long enough that I know catches are almost always better when I’m a long way away from any lighthouse fuckers.
It really is one of my main fishing pet hates. No needs a bright light on a shallow surf beach. What they gonna do, trip over a winkle shell?
I’m probably a bit anal about it but I try and maintain light discipline the whole time.
The headlight is on a very low setting (mine has a dimmer function) so it doesn’t penetrate far anyway and then it’s simply a matter of not looking directly at the sea with the light on.
It really isn’t hard. Watch the rods from the side, bait up facing away from the sea, switch it off to cast out. Not difficult.
These two were worse in a way. They tackled up with enough light to be seen from space (any bass were probably half way to Wales), then proceeded to be ‘good’ and fish in the dark with tip lights.
Erm, horse, stable door, bolted…
Oh, and when one went down to reel in, back on went the headlight and the surf was completely lit up again ??
????ANYWAY…. I moved as far away from the feckers as I could and carried on.
Hmm. A bite on the left rod, then a bite on the right. Decisions decisions.
The left looked a better bite, so gave it a whack and yep, half decent fish on here.
It wasn’t doing too much on the way in but kicked a bit in the surf and I was thinking ‘bass’.
Okay yes, looked a bit shark shaped but probably a truck of the light, hopefully still a bass.
A bass with glowing yellow eyes. Oh.
Yep, it was a huss. Quite a good sized one too and to my recollection, the first I’d caught on this beach.
I made it about 8lb. It went 9lb 4 in the sling but ordinarily the sling weighs 8oz, however there was sand on it, plus it then got wet when I released the fish and it weighed 1lb 4, so as a rough weight, 8 it was.
The other rod had a dog on it, so I made the right call, except the dog had managed to swallow both 6/0 hooks and a whole small bluey.
I don’t like leaving hooks in fish and I didn’t rate its chances too much, but I cut the trace rather than yank the hooks about and put it back hoping for the best.
It went quiet then. I had a few half hearted bites and slightly mangled baits which looked doggyish to me, but nothing else worth hitting.
Yet another angler had joined the first two. He wasn’t quite as bad with his light but it felt like a crowd on a beach I usually have to myself.
As the flood pushed in and I was pushed back up to the rocks, I figured it would be far too cosy with four at the narrow beach entrance so I had what I thought was my last cast and decided to pack up a bit earlier.
The half bluey rod that has just gone out suddenly twitched a couple of times, then went over.
No mistakes this time, fish on!
I think?
It didn’t feel as good as I first thought but something was kicking away and yep, when I went down to land it, a chunky schoolie was drawn up the sand.
I didn’t weigh it, but felt about 2lb.
That would be 44cm to some of you ??
It was a fat little thing and had a bit of weight to it. The pic doesn’t really do it justice.
Anyway, it was only lip hooked and any legalities aside, it was under my personal preference of only taking 3-4lb fish so back it went.
It stabbed me as I was about to put it in the surf so I dropped it, but it disappeared instantly.
Ungrateful, if you ask me!
Sticking to the packing up plan, I stripped that rod down and was ready a few minutes later to pack up the other.
Then, hang on, are they going?
Why are they going? There’s a good 30 minutes of the best part of the tide left.
But yes, they were heading off. I was going to walk over and ask how they got on, but feck ‘em, I wanted to focus on my fishing and if they left early thinking the beach was crap, that’s fine by me!
So I repositioned a bit and carried on with one rod, until some 40 minutes later I was nearly thigh deep in water and really had to go myself.
Unfortunately, not a single bite. That can be bass fishing sometimes.
But target acquired at least. May go again tomorrow night, we’ll see…
