Coming full circle

Readers of my book, A Bass Angler’s Life may recall that much of my boyhood fishing was spent coarse fishing; my brother Peter and I spent many happy hours chasing bream, barbel and the like on the River Thames, near Abingdon.

When I moved to Cornwall in 1983, the wild surf beaches on the North Coast were a dramatic change to the tranquil waters I had fished all those years before. Those balmy August nights, waiting for a hungry bass to make off with my live sandeel, as it patrolled up and down the strand, were almost intoxicating, and the memories of them stay with me to this day.

Gradually I began to include the quieter South Coast beaches in the mix, and when I learned that you could catch bass in calm conditions, I branched out into rough ground fishing – at first with bait, and then with lures. But it was still the coast that drew me, for this was what Cornwall seemed to be all about.

Estuaries

Helping Derek Goodwin with his juvenile bass survey work in retirement  meant spending more and more time in estuaries. I  began to appreciate the beauty of these places, so full of all kinds of fish and wildlife, and how much they were part of the Cornish identity. At the same time, trips to Southern Ireland had planted the idea in my mind that  good bass can be caught in estuaries

I decided to put some serious time into bass fishing in estuaries, and in the Autumn of 2021 was finally rewarded with 3 bass to 48cm on soft plastics in an afternoon session. That catch finally convinced me that bass could be caught in estuaries, and not just schoolies – I’ve since caught them to 70cm. Most of my estuary fishing has been with lures, but they are also good places to bait fish, the quiet conditions being ideally suited to freelining large mackerel and squid baits.

And these days I’m fishing estuaries more and more. I find the peace and tranquility of them particularly resonant with my stage of life and mindset. Mind you, they’re not easy places to fish at times – traipsing through soft mud, and doing the ‘limbo’ under tree branches!

Creature baits

It’s nearly 2 years now since I caught my first fish on a ‘Creature Bait’. They’ve accounted for a good many fish since then. They’re ideally suited to fishing in estuaries, with their muddy, weedy bottoms.  I just love this form of fishing now – slowly working along a river bank, working the lure back, with a twitch, twitch, pause and repeat. Once you’ve caught on them your confidence increases, and you know that if a fish sees your lure it will usually take it if presented in the right way (see below).

Sight fishing

Another aspect of fishing which increased my love of estuaries, now that I’m increasingly fishing during the daytime, is sight fishing.  It’s just over a year since I caught my first fish in this way. Like most anglers I’m sure, I love seeing fish in their natural  environment. I’ve now got to the stage where I can confidently pick out a bass from all the mullet you see in estuaries when the conditions are right – overhead sun (mid morning – mid afternoon), clear water, and light winds to avoid ripples which break up your view – and of course polarising sunglasses are a must. A couple of recent examples of fish caught by sight fishing might be useful.

On the first occasion I saw a bass moving slowly along with the tide, about a yard out from me in clear water, hardly deep enough to cover its  back. Bass are usually more stealthy than mullet, as they need to surprise their prey – very often crabs are on the menu, whereas mullet feed on algae in the main, so their skittish movements don’t put them at a disadvantage when feeding.  By the time I had carefully (so as not to spook the fish) brought my line in, and was ready to cast again, the bass had moved away, and was now about 20 yards to my right. I made a hopeful cast, aiming to drop the creature bait just ahead of the fish, and slightly further out.  As I worked it slowly back towards the fish, the lure was taken in an instant, water spraying everywhere! It’s awesome to see a bass take a lure, and in this aggressive way.

On the second occasion, the water was quite murky,  but still fairly shallow. I had actually decided to pack up, having not seen a single bass all afternoon (this happens to me quite often!).  I brought the creature bait in for what was to be the final time, but it was plastered with mud. As I lowered the lure into the water to wash it off, a flash in the water caught my eye. Could that be a bass? Another, bigger flash followed.  I quickly cast the lure slightly ahead of where I judged the fish would be (it’s a bit like shooting a moving target!). As soon as I turned the reel handle, the water just erupted, as the fish slammed into the lure; bass don’t mess about when they think  there’s a crab for the taking. It just shows that sometimes the bass gods do smile on us.

I’ve just treated myself to a new rod, specifically for fishing estuaries with creature baits. All that’s needed on most occasions is a short, controlled underarm flick, and this rod seems perfect for this. I’ve also bought a landing net, to see how I get on with using one. Fishing with  gear like this, in what are, in effect, salty rivers,  it really does feel like I’ve come full circle back to my boyhood days on the Thames.

That’s it for now folks. Thanks for reading, and tight lines!