Andy 1965
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2020
- Messages
- 399
- Reaction score
- 3,626
- Points
- 93
- Location
- North Wales
- Favourite Fishing
- Lure
After the changeable weather of the previous 2 weeks, I was hoping to finally get something a little more spring like this week, but it wasn’t to be 
. The fresh winds on Tuesday evening ruled out the marks I’ve been concentrating on so far this year, so I decided to try one of my mid-season marks a bit earlier than I usually do, and it “terned” out to be a wise move.
Things were pretty grim when I arrived, and the leaden skies pre-warned me of the heavy showers I would have to endure for the first 90 minutes of the session
. It wasn’t all bad though, as the fresh offshore breeze at least meant that these downpours would be directed at my back and not into my face.
Despite the distinctly autumnal conditions, I was pleasantly surprised to see a lot of terns diving out in the bay. Reasoning that whatever the birds were feeding on from above, the bass would be hunting from below, my confidence was boosted immediately
.
For the next hour the terns dived constantly, sometimes only a few meters out from the shore
, but I couldn’t see what they were after, and no matter what lure I tried I just couldn’t tempt a bass to take them. In an effort to match the hatch, I tried a variety of lures until eventually, I had a hit my first hit of the night. The fish put up a great scrap in the shallow water and it took me several minutes to get it under control, but I persevered until I was finally able to land my first bass of the night, a lovely silver bar of 55cm, which just couldn’t resist the mighty Mishna 
.
As usual, I hoped this would open the floodgates to a productive evening, but for the next 30 minutes, as the terns continued to feast, my lure was ignored. I knew this couldn’t last, and eventually fish number 2 arrived, slightly smaller this time at 53cm, but it fought equally as hard as the first
.
Once more the bass went quiet after this, and following 20 minutes without a touch, I switched lures in an effort to speed things up a bit. This paid off immediately and the Seeker accounted for a quick-fire trio of fish of 55, 43 & 50cm in a 25 minute spell
.
A couple of which spat out some tiny sandeels, to finally solve the mystery of what the bass and the terns were feeding on.
Strangely, the bass went off the Seeker after this, but a switch back to the Mishna soon found them again. In the next hour, as the showers finally subsided and the clouds cleared slightly, I managed another 6 bass, one a tiddler of 29cm but all the others were between 45 & 54cm, and every one of them put up a great scrap in the shallow water.
With the sun having now set, and the light fading by the minute, I was beginning to think I might be in with a very good chance of beating my best bag ever of 15 bass, but frustratingly, darkness had the opposite effect at this mark that it has at all of the other spots I’ve fished so far this year, and rather than improve the fishing, it killed it completely!
I gave it another hour, with only a couple of small taps to show for my efforts, but when I started to feel spots of rain blown on the wind once more, I decided to call it a night.
Next up as usual was Thursday night, and I was desperate to get back to the same mark for a repeat performance, but typically, the weather gods intervened once again
. A 180° switch in the wind direction, and a 10mph increase in its strength rendered Tuesday’s mark unfishable, and I was forced to seek shelter elsewhere.
I arrived at my back up mark to find it protected from the wind to a large degree, and apart from a slight ripple on the surface, the water was quite calm, the clarity was also excellent, so I was hopeful of a few fish.
Despite the decent conditions, in contrast to Tuesday’s mark, the area appeared to be completely devoid of life, and though I wandered a good mile along the shore, trying a variety of lures, the first 2 and a half hours passed by completely without incident
. I wasn’t particularly surprised though, and I was still feeling confident of some action once the sun had set.
Right on cue, the first hit of the evening came literally as the sun dipped below the horizon, but despite the fish hitting my lure hard enough to pull the rod tip hard over, it somehow didn’t get hooked
. Despite this missed opportunity, I was still confident of some sport after dark, but when nothing else happened for the next 40 minutes, I began to wonder if I might have missed my only chance of the night? 
I needn’t have worried though, as a few minutes later, just after my baby Patch had landed out in the darkness, I heard a sploshing sound in its general direction.
Thinking that a fish might have gone for it and missed, I gave the lure a small twitch and then I felt a couple of small but distinct taps. I twitched the lure once more and bang! This time the inquisitive bass committed fully to the attack and it was game on
. Being at maximum range, it took me a couple of minutes to reel the fish all the way to shore, but after a few heart stopping moments the blank was beaten again with a fish of 45cm, to set a new personal best for me, of 14 successful lure sessions in a row 
.
I hoped this would be just the start, and 15 minutes later I was in again, with a better fish of 54cm
But this proved to be a false dawn, and it was my last hit of the night.
I fished on for another 2 hours, but despite trying several spots where I’m usually guaranteed a fish or two, I couldn’t tempt another one.
So that’s another successful week, with 13 more fish to 55cm to add to my tally, and I’m very encouraged to know that my later season marks are starting to fire. I’m still to find a biggie though, and so this week I’m going to take a bit of a chance on a new mark for me, but one which I know produces some decent sized bass. Watch this space to see if my gamble pays off
.
. The fresh winds on Tuesday evening ruled out the marks I’ve been concentrating on so far this year, so I decided to try one of my mid-season marks a bit earlier than I usually do, and it “terned” out to be a wise move.Things were pretty grim when I arrived, and the leaden skies pre-warned me of the heavy showers I would have to endure for the first 90 minutes of the session
. It wasn’t all bad though, as the fresh offshore breeze at least meant that these downpours would be directed at my back and not into my face.Despite the distinctly autumnal conditions, I was pleasantly surprised to see a lot of terns diving out in the bay. Reasoning that whatever the birds were feeding on from above, the bass would be hunting from below, my confidence was boosted immediately
.For the next hour the terns dived constantly, sometimes only a few meters out from the shore
, but I couldn’t see what they were after, and no matter what lure I tried I just couldn’t tempt a bass to take them. In an effort to match the hatch, I tried a variety of lures until eventually, I had a hit my first hit of the night. The fish put up a great scrap in the shallow water and it took me several minutes to get it under control, but I persevered until I was finally able to land my first bass of the night, a lovely silver bar of 55cm, which just couldn’t resist the mighty Mishna .As usual, I hoped this would open the floodgates to a productive evening, but for the next 30 minutes, as the terns continued to feast, my lure was ignored. I knew this couldn’t last, and eventually fish number 2 arrived, slightly smaller this time at 53cm, but it fought equally as hard as the first
.Once more the bass went quiet after this, and following 20 minutes without a touch, I switched lures in an effort to speed things up a bit. This paid off immediately and the Seeker accounted for a quick-fire trio of fish of 55, 43 & 50cm in a 25 minute spell
.A couple of which spat out some tiny sandeels, to finally solve the mystery of what the bass and the terns were feeding on.
Strangely, the bass went off the Seeker after this, but a switch back to the Mishna soon found them again. In the next hour, as the showers finally subsided and the clouds cleared slightly, I managed another 6 bass, one a tiddler of 29cm but all the others were between 45 & 54cm, and every one of them put up a great scrap in the shallow water
.With the sun having now set, and the light fading by the minute, I was beginning to think I might be in with a very good chance of beating my best bag ever of 15 bass, but frustratingly, darkness had the opposite effect at this mark that it has at all of the other spots I’ve fished so far this year, and rather than improve the fishing, it killed it completely!
I gave it another hour, with only a couple of small taps to show for my efforts, but when I started to feel spots of rain blown on the wind once more, I decided to call it a night.
Next up as usual was Thursday night, and I was desperate to get back to the same mark for a repeat performance, but typically, the weather gods intervened once again
. A 180° switch in the wind direction, and a 10mph increase in its strength rendered Tuesday’s mark unfishable, and I was forced to seek shelter elsewhere.I arrived at my back up mark to find it protected from the wind to a large degree, and apart from a slight ripple on the surface, the water was quite calm, the clarity was also excellent, so I was hopeful of a few fish.
Despite the decent conditions, in contrast to Tuesday’s mark, the area appeared to be completely devoid of life, and though I wandered a good mile along the shore, trying a variety of lures, the first 2 and a half hours passed by completely without incident
. I wasn’t particularly surprised though, and I was still feeling confident of some action once the sun had set.Right on cue, the first hit of the evening came literally as the sun dipped below the horizon, but despite the fish hitting my lure hard enough to pull the rod tip hard over, it somehow didn’t get hooked
. Despite this missed opportunity, I was still confident of some sport after dark, but when nothing else happened for the next 40 minutes, I began to wonder if I might have missed my only chance of the night? I needn’t have worried though, as a few minutes later, just after my baby Patch had landed out in the darkness, I heard a sploshing sound in its general direction.Thinking that a fish might have gone for it and missed, I gave the lure a small twitch and then I felt a couple of small but distinct taps. I twitched the lure once more and bang! This time the inquisitive bass committed fully to the attack and it was game on
. Being at maximum range, it took me a couple of minutes to reel the fish all the way to shore, but after a few heart stopping moments the blank was beaten again with a fish of 45cm, to set a new personal best for me, of 14 successful lure sessions in a row .I hoped this would be just the start, and 15 minutes later I was in again, with a better fish of 54cm
But this proved to be a false dawn, and it was my last hit of the night.
I fished on for another 2 hours, but despite trying several spots where I’m usually guaranteed a fish or two, I couldn’t tempt another one.
So that’s another successful week, with 13 more fish to 55cm to add to my tally, and I’m very encouraged to know that my later season marks are starting to fire. I’m still to find a biggie though, and so this week I’m going to take a bit of a chance on a new mark for me, but one which I know produces some decent sized bass. Watch this space to see if my gamble pays off
.
