Month: May 2025

After a run of blanks in my local estuaries, I wondered if the coast might be more productive. After all, the foxgloves are flowering, and there had been several recent reports of bass gorging on pin sandeels, so it should be worth a go. But these catches were from boats, and I wondered if the fish would be within casting range of the shore.

In contrast to the relatively new (to me) marks I fish in estuaries, most of the ones I fish on the coast are like old friends – over the years I’ve come to feel comfortable with them, and know when and where they’re at their best!  I decided to give one of these a go, as the tide and conditions seemed right for it.

Matching the hatch

I’ve long since worked out where the ‘hotspots’ are on this mark, but the usual ones weren’t producing. I’d brought along a selection of lures, including some shorter ones, in attempt to ‘match the hatch’. I was sticking with surface lures – a 9cm Yozuri Arms Pencil – perhaps my all-time favourite plug. It was getting dark, so any indication of a fish taking the lure would be by feel, rather than sight. I worked the little plug across the boulder field, in the same way that Jon Hnat (see featured image), now sadly no longer with us,  had done when he introduced me to this plug a quarter of a century ago.

Turn-stop-turn of the reel handle; bang! fish on! No monster, but very welcome, and enough to encourage me to keep fishing.

Time for a change

Now fully dark, I decided to put the surface lures to bed. I was getting bumps and knocks, even the odd snatch, cycling through several small lures. I decided to change to soft plastics, and chose the smallest one I had – a white 4.5″ Cornish Snax.

At this point I would normally call it a day, but that one fish gave me the encouragement to stay, and I knew this mark could still produce at that stage of the tide. Slowly winding the lure back, with a steady, straight retrieve, there was a definite snatch – but no hook-up. Interesting, I thought, and cast out again. Another snatch, but this time there was no messing about –  a 51cm bass!

Encouraged by this success, I went on to catch another two bass (42 & 51cm) on the same lure (they’re good these!), before things finally went quiet.

Spanning the years

It struck me that, in one session, I had used lures which spanned 25 years of development, and how my fishing had changed as a result. I caught my first fish on an Arms Pencil back at the turn of the century, and here I was  catching on a soft plastic of much more recent origins, all those years later. Each development opens up the possibility of fishing in different ways and situations, enhancing our range of fishing opportunities, and the pleasure we get from pursuing these.

Another mark

It was good to know that this old friend can still produce the goods, but with the tide a little later, I fancied a go at another favourite mark the following night. I chose to start with surface lures again. This time I wanted to see if that new lure from BLUK would work with the trebles swapped for single hooks.  It wasn’t long before I had a bump, followed by that tell-tale splash. Next cast a feisty little bass latched on to the lure, proving that it works, and with single hooks too.

After last night’s experience, it was straight on with the Cornish Snax when it got dark. Several bumps and snatches later (small fish), a bass hit the lure hard. It put up a good scrap before I managed to bring it up on the rocks.

A lucky escape

I placed the fish gently on the wet rocks, and reached for my phone to take a picture. Then all hell broke loose, as the fish made a bid for freedom, the rod clattering over the rocks. I had a surreal moment just then, sensing that both rod and reel were heading for the drink, and being totally unable to do anything about it. Luckily(?) for me, in the chaos the line must have been cut on the jagged rocks and the line parted, so I got away with just  losing a lure and clip. I didn’t get to measure the fish before it escaped, but would estimate low 40’s cm. Hopefully the lure will come out of the fish’s mouth soon enough.

That was the last of the smaller lures I had, so I tackled up again with a 5 inch version of the Cornish Snax. The bass didn’t seem to mind the extra half an inch – first turn, bang – 43cm bass!

Final word

I was saddened, and angry, to learn, through Facebook, of a number of ‘anglers’ (not sure where) keeping multiples of 15-20cm juvenile bass. Not only is this illegal, it is preventing these 1-2 year-old bass from reaching the age (6-7 years for  a female bass) where they can reproduce, and provide much-needed replenishments for the stocks. Please, if you see this type of behaviour, report it to your local Inshore Fisheries & Conservation Authority.

That’s all for now folks. Let’s hope this blog encourages some ‘new’  anglers to join us ‘old(er)’ ones, and keep taking this great sport forward,

 

I’m not a frequent blogger, so it’s unusual for me to post so soon after my last one. It’s also unusual for me to dedicate a whole blog to a single topic, but the events described below are quite special for me, so I hope you’ll indulge me.

Never stop learning

I’m constantly amazed at how we never stop learning in bass angling. As I discussed in my last blog, in the last 12 months I’ve discovered how to catch bass on creature baits. As I’m sure you know, this is a hot topic at the moment, and many discussions are taking place around it , not least on the online BASS forum. These discussions have led onto the subject of sight fishing, and I’m particularly indebted to Keir Sims for sharing his thoughts and experience of this.

Sight fishing

Inspired by these discussions, the desire to catch a bass by sight fishing began to take hold.  But the idea of catching a bass on a lure cast to a specific fish seemed about as remote a possibility for me as catching a bass on the moon! In the first place you’ve got to see them.  Despite regularly fishing in the daytime, particularly in estuaries, I’ve seen very few fish that I would confidently call  bass. Perhaps, as my mate Paul says, my eyes just weren’t tuned in to seeing them – and he knows a thing or two about sight fishing for freshwater species,

That was until recently; I don’t know if it’s because I’m doing more fishing earlier in the year than usual,  whether there is something different about this year, or it’s just that  I’ve been wearing polarising sunglasses more in the sunny weather we’ve been having, but I’ve started seeing fish which are obviously bass – some of them of good size. Interestingly I’m not seeing that many mullet yet. Does this mean that these bass are moving through, the resident population yet to return, along with the mullet.

A glimpse of a bass

Take the other day for example. I had already caught a 54cm bass on a paddletail, so I knew there might be some reasonable fish about.

Things went quiet after this, so a change of approach was called for. I headed for an area where the tide was starting to cover the weedy margins, and switched to creature baits. Wait – what was that splash? Too late, I had spooked a bass about a yard out; I did manage to get a glimpse of it though – probably about 3-4lb. I cast out in the general area where I had seen the fish, but with no sign of any interest I decided to move on.

Casting problems

I worked my way along, casting as I went. Nothing seemed to be interested – perhaps I was casting too far? As I reached an area where I have seen bass on previous visits this year,  a bass of maybe 5-6lb came into view. It just seemed to be mooching about, going from weed patch to weed patch, in about a foot of clear water. I tried casting the lure in the general vicinity of the fish, but completely cocked this up, landing virtually on top of the fish! Needless to say, it didn’t hang around. My normal casting accuracy is not bad, but I hadn’t realised how difficult it is to cast to a fish that’s so close.

Despite the frustration of missing this fish, I was enjoying myself in the sunshine and beautiful surroundings, but with a reasonable fish caught, plus two more seen, and a bit more experience of ‘sight fishing’ gained, I was happy to call it a day.

On it in an instant

As I made my way back, rod still assembled, I literally gasped as a large bass appeared about a rod length out. It looked bigger than either of the two I had already seen that day. I stopped, and considered how best to approach this one. A normal cast would almost certainly have gone too far, and probably landed nowhere near where I wanted it to. Try an underarm cast, I thought, and gently flicked the lure out, hoping it would land about a yard in front of the fish.

I barely had time to decide whether it had done so, when the fish was on the lure in an instant! I quickly wound in what little line was out there, and landed the fish. I couldn’t believe it – a stunning bass, perfectly conditioned with a lovely dark back, lay at my feet.  Thoughts of big bass caught in the past came flooding back; it isn’t often we’re graced with such specimens these days.

I tried to get a photo of her laying on the BASS competition tape, but she wouldn’t  keep still. I was anxious not to keep her out of the water any longer than I had to, so decided just to measure her with the normal BASS tape, and take a quick photo of her as she was. She went 70cm – the longest bass I’ve caught since 2019.

A special moment

This was a special moment for me – my best bass for ages, and my first caught by sight fishing – on a creature bait too, only feet from where I stood. My glass was overflowing, and I decided that would be my last cast of the day. Seeing really is believing, and now that I’ve had my first success with sight fishing, I can feel a new obsession coming on. I hope I catch a few more like this with this method – without having to go to the moon!

That’s all folks. Thanks for reading,