Andy 1965
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2020
- Messages
- 401
- Reaction score
- 3,644
- Points
- 93
- Location
- North Wales
- Favourite Fishing
- Lure
After last week’s conger hunt, I fancied a change, so with plenty of them showing locally on bait, I decided to try for my first ever January bass. After fresh winds on Wednesday, things were forecast to calm right down on Thursday, but I hoped there would be some residual surf at my chosen mark. Unfortunately I arrived to find flat calm conditions, but on the plus side, I have been reliably informed that this particular beach can still fish well without a surf.
I arrived at low water and as I walked along the shore, I looked out for features to fish. There were lots of fishy looking gulleys, but being mindful of getting cut off, I walked past the deeper ones. I did however make a mental note of their location, so that I could maybe return to them higher up the tide.
As well as the gulleys, there were also a lot of exposed sandbanks to avoid, so it took me a while to find somewhere suitable , but after 10 minutes or so I finally found a spot to fish. With the tide being so big, I had to walk a long way out to get to the water, and with it being so calm there were no waves breaking to give me a clue to the location of deeper water, so I just had to take a chance that there was a decent depth in front of me
.
Given all these factors I wasn’t exactly confident of catching anything, so I started off fishing just the one rod. A 3 hook flapper was baited with fresh black lug on the bottom two hooks, and half a sandeel on the top one. This was then whacked out to maximum range, where I was relieved to hear a splash as my rig landed in water, rather than just the dull thud of lead on sand
. I then sat back to wait.
As expected, things started off very quietly but after half an hour I became aware of the sound of waves from further down the beach. This signalled that the tide had started to flood, so I immediately started to feel more confident and I rigged up the second rod. Half an hour later and I was enjoying chilling out, when without warning one of the rod tips was pulled hard over
. It happened so quickly, that I was caught unawares and by the time I picked up the rod the fish was long gone 
. I was of course gutted to miss what was without doubt a bass, but I was also encouraged to know that they were at least out there.
As the flood got underway a small surf began to develop, but the next couple of hours passed by without incident. I was kept busy though, moving my gear up the beach as I was pushed back by the rapidly flooding tide. By now I began to wonder if it might be time for a move back to the deep gulleys
, but before I could decide, I finally spotted another bite on one of the rods. It wasn’t as vicious as the one I missed earlier and my first though was whiting, so I gave it a few minutes to develop, but when I finally started to reel in, I began to wonder if I might have been mistaken. Though it wasn’t a monster, the culprit put up a decent enough scrap and kited to the left, very un-whiting like. When the fish finally got close to shore and into the beam of my headlamp, I was excited to see a flash of silver and moments later my catch was landed. I was absolutely chuffed to bits with my first ever January bass 
.
After a quick pic, I watched it swim off into the clear water, and following a brief moment of celebration
I got straight back to the fishing.
I didn’t have to wait long for the next bit of action, and five minutes later I had another bite, which caused the line to fall slack. I quickly picked up the rod and tried to tighten up to the lead, but I couldn’t do so, as whatever had grabbed my bait was now swimming towards me
. I kept reeling until I eventually caught up with it, and I was excited to feel a decent weight on the line. My first thought was a bigger bass, but the fight soon suggested that I might be mistaken for a second time. The fight wasn’t anything to write home about, but I was still delighted when a chunky huss of 6.5lb finally emerged from the surf 
.
10 minutes later I missed another typical bass bite, which sadly proved to be my last chance of silver of the night
, as soon after this, those pesky whiting showed up. Over the next 90 minutes I had a steady stream of bites, resulting in 4 whiting, plus a solitary doggie, but unfortunately the bass were nowhere to be found.
As midnight rolled around, even the bait robbers started to become scarce, so I finally packed in at 00:15. Though I had only caught the one bass, I was still thrilled with my first January catch and now all I need for the full set is to catch one next December
.
I arrived at low water and as I walked along the shore, I looked out for features to fish. There were lots of fishy looking gulleys, but being mindful of getting cut off, I walked past the deeper ones. I did however make a mental note of their location, so that I could maybe return to them higher up the tide.
As well as the gulleys, there were also a lot of exposed sandbanks to avoid, so it took me a while to find somewhere suitable , but after 10 minutes or so I finally found a spot to fish. With the tide being so big, I had to walk a long way out to get to the water, and with it being so calm there were no waves breaking to give me a clue to the location of deeper water, so I just had to take a chance that there was a decent depth in front of me
.Given all these factors I wasn’t exactly confident of catching anything, so I started off fishing just the one rod. A 3 hook flapper was baited with fresh black lug on the bottom two hooks, and half a sandeel on the top one. This was then whacked out to maximum range, where I was relieved to hear a splash as my rig landed in water, rather than just the dull thud of lead on sand
. I then sat back to wait.As expected, things started off very quietly but after half an hour I became aware of the sound of waves from further down the beach. This signalled that the tide had started to flood, so I immediately started to feel more confident and I rigged up the second rod. Half an hour later and I was enjoying chilling out, when without warning one of the rod tips was pulled hard over
. It happened so quickly, that I was caught unawares and by the time I picked up the rod the fish was long gone . I was of course gutted to miss what was without doubt a bass, but I was also encouraged to know that they were at least out there.As the flood got underway a small surf began to develop, but the next couple of hours passed by without incident. I was kept busy though, moving my gear up the beach as I was pushed back by the rapidly flooding tide. By now I began to wonder if it might be time for a move back to the deep gulleys
, but before I could decide, I finally spotted another bite on one of the rods. It wasn’t as vicious as the one I missed earlier and my first though was whiting, so I gave it a few minutes to develop, but when I finally started to reel in, I began to wonder if I might have been mistaken. Though it wasn’t a monster, the culprit put up a decent enough scrap and kited to the left, very un-whiting like. When the fish finally got close to shore and into the beam of my headlamp, I was excited to see a flash of silver and moments later my catch was landed. I was absolutely chuffed to bits with my first ever January bass .After a quick pic, I watched it swim off into the clear water, and following a brief moment of celebration
I got straight back to the fishing.I didn’t have to wait long for the next bit of action, and five minutes later I had another bite, which caused the line to fall slack. I quickly picked up the rod and tried to tighten up to the lead, but I couldn’t do so, as whatever had grabbed my bait was now swimming towards me
. I kept reeling until I eventually caught up with it, and I was excited to feel a decent weight on the line. My first thought was a bigger bass, but the fight soon suggested that I might be mistaken for a second time. The fight wasn’t anything to write home about, but I was still delighted when a chunky huss of 6.5lb finally emerged from the surf .10 minutes later I missed another typical bass bite, which sadly proved to be my last chance of silver of the night
, as soon after this, those pesky whiting showed up. Over the next 90 minutes I had a steady stream of bites, resulting in 4 whiting, plus a solitary doggie, but unfortunately the bass were nowhere to be found.As midnight rolled around, even the bait robbers started to become scarce, so I finally packed in at 00:15. Though I had only caught the one bass, I was still thrilled with my first January catch and now all I need for the full set is to catch one next December
.
