Andy 1965
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2020
- Messages
- 401
- Reaction score
- 3,644
- Points
- 93
- Location
- North Wales
- Favourite Fishing
- Lure
Part 1.
With my mojo restored, it was time on Tuesday night to resume my hunt for silver and with the tides being a fair bit larger than last week and high tide well into darkness, I was feeling quite confident. I even hoped that there might be a lunker or two knocking about. Thankfully, the widespread thunderstorms of the afternoon seemed to have dissipated by the time I arrived at my chosen mark and conditions were very pleasant, with light winds and a fair bit of sunshine. Having caught on it in daylight last week, the first lure out of the box was the Line-Thru Sandeel and as soon as it was clipped on to my line, I waded out into the cool clear water to begin the hunt.
I hadn’t been fishing for long, when I became aware of the breeze picking up and within 5 minutes conditions had changed completely, the glassy calm water was no more and the sea was suddenly very choppy, as a squally and heavy downpour passed by no more than half a mile away ?. Thankfully though, the rain missed me and apart from a few spots carried on the wind I stayed dry.
The conditions didn’t put the fish off though, in fact they seemed to like them and after only 15 minutes of fishing I was off the mark as a very greedy little schoolie found my lure impossible to resist
.
The omens were good for a productive evening, but alas it wasn’t about to start just yet and apart from 1 more missed hit, things remained quiet for the last 90 minutes of daylight. Thankfully, at least the weather improved and by dusk all was calm once more ?.
As soon as darkness fell I began to hear signs of life and within 30 minutes the air was full of the sound of slurping and sploshing, as the bass chowed down on their chosen snacks but no matter what I tried, I just couldn’t tempt any of them to attack my lure ?. I tried all of the lures which have done so well for me so far this year but the bass just didn’t want to know, they completely ignored the Vulture, the Frosty and the Salt Skimmer, surprisingly they also snubbed several sizes of colours of Patchinko and even the normally reliable 140mm in yellow failed to excite them, I was rapidly running out of ideas. With no other surface lures capable of reaching the required distance, I decided to recycle the same ones again and eventually I found what they were looking for.
It was almost 3 hours since my last take and I had just clipped the Vulture onto my line for about the third time, when without warning it was hit at maximum range. Once more it wasn’t the beast I was after, but I wasn’t complaining and I was more than happy with another nicely proportioned Welsh bass ?.
Now that they had developed a liking for the Vulture, there was no stopping them and only a few casts later I was in again, a tiny schoolie this time, which was released in the water. This was followed by another couple of missed hits, before I finally hooked bass number 4 of the session. Again, this wasn’t a beast but at around the 2 – 2.5lb mark it was my best of the night so far ?.
I was starting to get the hang of it now but alas, the fish had other ideas and as quickly as they had started hitting them, the bass went right off everything I had to offer again ?. I knew they were still out there as I could hear them feeding, but no matter what I tried I couldn’t tempt another bite.
Eventually the sounds of feeding bass abated and all was quiet again, and though I could have kept trying in the hope of a few latecomers to the party, the odds were against me. With another session planned for later in the week, I decided not to flog it and I called it a night just after midnight. It wasn’t the complete bass-fest I hoped for, but I was more than happy with another 4 bass to add to the tally ?.
Part 2.
After the exertions of previous week, when consecutive late nights of fishing reminded me that I’m not as young as I used to be ?, I decided to leave it until Thursday this week, before venturing out again, but it seemed like that might have been a miscalculation on my part ?. Social media on Thursday morning contained several reports of some very decent catches from the previous evening, not only in terms of numbers but after weeks of mainly schoolies being caught, a few very nice fish in the 6 to 7lb range had also started to show. Of course this wetted my appetite and I spent the day in work counting down the minutes until I could get out on the bass trail again. There was however one fly in the ointment, the forecast all week had promised dry weather but suddenly and without warning, it changed completely at around 10am to giving a 70-80% chance of heavy rain all night! ? I wasn’t about to let a little bit of dampness put me off though and I set off at the usual time.
Though it rained constantly on the drive over, it was nowhere near as heavy as forecast and it was actually quite a pleasant evening for wetting a line, the fact it was completely overcast only served to increase my confidence that the bass would be feeding more confidently too.
As usual now when fishing in daylight, I started off with the Line-Thru and with a moderate right to left flow running I alternated this with a series of soft plastics, which I trotted down the tide. I tried the Wave Worm, Do-Live Stick and a lure I haven’t tried for a very long time now, the Fiiish Black Minnow, but when no takes were forthcoming it only reminded me why I stopped using it in the first place ?. I kept trying though, and an hour after starting my session I was finally off the mark, when a tiny basslet succumbed to the charms of the Line-Thru. Being a fair distance from the shore I didn’t bother wading back for a picture and the fish was quickly released so that I could concentrate on catching another.
After Tuesday evening, I should have known what to expect and for the remaining daylight I saw no more action, sunset wasn’t far away though, so I hoped I wouldn’t have to wait too long. Dusk duly arrived but unlike on Tuesday, this didn’t seem to be the signal for the bass to start feeding immediately, in fact things remained suspiciously quiet ?. I persevered though and finally, after almost 80 minutes of darkness the bass finally arrived. The next 30 minutes were incredibly frustrating for me, the bass were feeding all around and other anglers in the vicinity were catching regularly, but no matter what I tried my lures remained untouched. I tried the big Patch, the Frosty, the Vulture and a new one for me, the Sakura Naja 128 but the bass ignored them completely ?. With so many bass about I guess it had to happen sometime and eventually my Vulture was hit. After hearing some pretty loud splashes, I was a little disappointed by the size of the bass that hit my lure but after struggling for so long, even a schoolie was welcome ?. The schoolie wasn’t alone either and 5 minutes later I was in again, a slightly bigger example this time but it still wasn’t what I was after.
After 2 fish in quick succession I fully expected more, but once again the bass lost interest in my lures. The sound of splashing out in the darkness was still constant but also incredibly frustrating, as I couldn’t do anything about it ?. They do say however that patience is a virtue and so it proved when 45 minutes after my third fish, bass number 4 duly arrived. The key seemed to be a switch of lures as I clipped on the Patch 125 in Nacre, a lure which I had yet to catch on. It was obviously what the bass wanted on this occasion and after only a few casts it was well and truly clobbered. A brief scrap later and bass number 4 of the evening was safely landed ?.
Over the next 10 minutes I missed another couple of takes but it proved to be third time lucky, as the next hit resulted in a secure hook up. Now this felt more like it and for the first time this year I heard the sound that all lure anglers live for as zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, a few meters of line was stripped off my reel ?. As it happened this first run was the only one to take any line, but the fish still put up a good scrap and I could tell it was bigger than my previous catches. Determined not to lose it, I played the fish carefully and slowly I was able to draw it towards the shore, where after a brief but futile last try to escape, I was able to land my catch safely. Not a real lunker but at 57cm, somewhere around the 4.5lb mark, it was still my best bass of the year so far ?.
After watching her swim off strongly into the darkness, I got straight back to it, hoping for more of the same but sadly it wasn’t to be.
I fished on for another hour but despite hearing the sound of anglers catching more fish along the shoreline, all I could manage was another couple of half-hearted takes which failed to connect. Eventually I called it a night at 1am, a good 30 minutes later than my originally planned finishing time ?.
So compared to the other anglers, I hadn’t caught as many as I would have liked, but with my seasons tally now standing at 27 bass, with a best of 57cm I really can’t complain. Onwards to next week now, when fingers crossed the bigger bass will continue to show and who knows, there might just be one or two real lunkers among them ?.
With my mojo restored, it was time on Tuesday night to resume my hunt for silver and with the tides being a fair bit larger than last week and high tide well into darkness, I was feeling quite confident. I even hoped that there might be a lunker or two knocking about. Thankfully, the widespread thunderstorms of the afternoon seemed to have dissipated by the time I arrived at my chosen mark and conditions were very pleasant, with light winds and a fair bit of sunshine. Having caught on it in daylight last week, the first lure out of the box was the Line-Thru Sandeel and as soon as it was clipped on to my line, I waded out into the cool clear water to begin the hunt.
I hadn’t been fishing for long, when I became aware of the breeze picking up and within 5 minutes conditions had changed completely, the glassy calm water was no more and the sea was suddenly very choppy, as a squally and heavy downpour passed by no more than half a mile away ?. Thankfully though, the rain missed me and apart from a few spots carried on the wind I stayed dry.
The conditions didn’t put the fish off though, in fact they seemed to like them and after only 15 minutes of fishing I was off the mark as a very greedy little schoolie found my lure impossible to resist
.The omens were good for a productive evening, but alas it wasn’t about to start just yet and apart from 1 more missed hit, things remained quiet for the last 90 minutes of daylight. Thankfully, at least the weather improved and by dusk all was calm once more ?.
As soon as darkness fell I began to hear signs of life and within 30 minutes the air was full of the sound of slurping and sploshing, as the bass chowed down on their chosen snacks but no matter what I tried, I just couldn’t tempt any of them to attack my lure ?. I tried all of the lures which have done so well for me so far this year but the bass just didn’t want to know, they completely ignored the Vulture, the Frosty and the Salt Skimmer, surprisingly they also snubbed several sizes of colours of Patchinko and even the normally reliable 140mm in yellow failed to excite them, I was rapidly running out of ideas. With no other surface lures capable of reaching the required distance, I decided to recycle the same ones again and eventually I found what they were looking for.
It was almost 3 hours since my last take and I had just clipped the Vulture onto my line for about the third time, when without warning it was hit at maximum range. Once more it wasn’t the beast I was after, but I wasn’t complaining and I was more than happy with another nicely proportioned Welsh bass ?.
Now that they had developed a liking for the Vulture, there was no stopping them and only a few casts later I was in again, a tiny schoolie this time, which was released in the water. This was followed by another couple of missed hits, before I finally hooked bass number 4 of the session. Again, this wasn’t a beast but at around the 2 – 2.5lb mark it was my best of the night so far ?.
I was starting to get the hang of it now but alas, the fish had other ideas and as quickly as they had started hitting them, the bass went right off everything I had to offer again ?. I knew they were still out there as I could hear them feeding, but no matter what I tried I couldn’t tempt another bite.
Eventually the sounds of feeding bass abated and all was quiet again, and though I could have kept trying in the hope of a few latecomers to the party, the odds were against me. With another session planned for later in the week, I decided not to flog it and I called it a night just after midnight. It wasn’t the complete bass-fest I hoped for, but I was more than happy with another 4 bass to add to the tally ?.
Part 2.
After the exertions of previous week, when consecutive late nights of fishing reminded me that I’m not as young as I used to be ?, I decided to leave it until Thursday this week, before venturing out again, but it seemed like that might have been a miscalculation on my part ?. Social media on Thursday morning contained several reports of some very decent catches from the previous evening, not only in terms of numbers but after weeks of mainly schoolies being caught, a few very nice fish in the 6 to 7lb range had also started to show. Of course this wetted my appetite and I spent the day in work counting down the minutes until I could get out on the bass trail again. There was however one fly in the ointment, the forecast all week had promised dry weather but suddenly and without warning, it changed completely at around 10am to giving a 70-80% chance of heavy rain all night! ? I wasn’t about to let a little bit of dampness put me off though and I set off at the usual time.
Though it rained constantly on the drive over, it was nowhere near as heavy as forecast and it was actually quite a pleasant evening for wetting a line, the fact it was completely overcast only served to increase my confidence that the bass would be feeding more confidently too.
As usual now when fishing in daylight, I started off with the Line-Thru and with a moderate right to left flow running I alternated this with a series of soft plastics, which I trotted down the tide. I tried the Wave Worm, Do-Live Stick and a lure I haven’t tried for a very long time now, the Fiiish Black Minnow, but when no takes were forthcoming it only reminded me why I stopped using it in the first place ?. I kept trying though, and an hour after starting my session I was finally off the mark, when a tiny basslet succumbed to the charms of the Line-Thru
. Being a fair distance from the shore I didn’t bother wading back for a picture and the fish was quickly released so that I could concentrate on catching another.After Tuesday evening, I should have known what to expect and for the remaining daylight I saw no more action, sunset wasn’t far away though, so I hoped I wouldn’t have to wait too long. Dusk duly arrived but unlike on Tuesday, this didn’t seem to be the signal for the bass to start feeding immediately, in fact things remained suspiciously quiet ?. I persevered though and finally, after almost 80 minutes of darkness the bass finally arrived. The next 30 minutes were incredibly frustrating for me, the bass were feeding all around and other anglers in the vicinity were catching regularly, but no matter what I tried my lures remained untouched. I tried the big Patch, the Frosty, the Vulture and a new one for me, the Sakura Naja 128 but the bass ignored them completely ?. With so many bass about I guess it had to happen sometime and eventually my Vulture was hit. After hearing some pretty loud splashes, I was a little disappointed by the size of the bass that hit my lure but after struggling for so long, even a schoolie was welcome ?. The schoolie wasn’t alone either and 5 minutes later I was in again, a slightly bigger example this time but it still wasn’t what I was after.
After 2 fish in quick succession I fully expected more, but once again the bass lost interest in my lures. The sound of splashing out in the darkness was still constant but also incredibly frustrating, as I couldn’t do anything about it ?. They do say however that patience is a virtue and so it proved when 45 minutes after my third fish, bass number 4 duly arrived. The key seemed to be a switch of lures as I clipped on the Patch 125 in Nacre, a lure which I had yet to catch on. It was obviously what the bass wanted on this occasion and after only a few casts it was well and truly clobbered. A brief scrap later and bass number 4 of the evening was safely landed ?.
Over the next 10 minutes I missed another couple of takes but it proved to be third time lucky, as the next hit resulted in a secure hook up. Now this felt more like it and for the first time this year I heard the sound that all lure anglers live for as zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, a few meters of line was stripped off my reel ?. As it happened this first run was the only one to take any line, but the fish still put up a good scrap and I could tell it was bigger than my previous catches. Determined not to lose it, I played the fish carefully and slowly I was able to draw it towards the shore, where after a brief but futile last try to escape, I was able to land my catch safely. Not a real lunker but at 57cm, somewhere around the 4.5lb mark, it was still my best bass of the year so far ?.
After watching her swim off strongly into the darkness, I got straight back to it, hoping for more of the same but sadly it wasn’t to be.
I fished on for another hour but despite hearing the sound of anglers catching more fish along the shoreline, all I could manage was another couple of half-hearted takes which failed to connect. Eventually I called it a night at 1am, a good 30 minutes later than my originally planned finishing time ?.
So compared to the other anglers, I hadn’t caught as many as I would have liked, but with my seasons tally now standing at 27 bass, with a best of 57cm I really can’t complain. Onwards to next week now, when fingers crossed the bigger bass will continue to show and who knows, there might just be one or two real lunkers among them ?.
