ouchthathurt
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 15, 2021
- Messages
- 2,910
- Reaction score
- 12,462
- Points
- 113
- Location
- Hastings East Sussex
- Favourite Fishing
- Shore
This time last week, I was sitting on the beach in Montenegro in 25c heat, cooling my toes in the crystal blue waters of the Adriatic Sea, my mind kept on wandering back to the sandstone cliffs and muddy clay of my local mark, and the urge to be out bass fishing was getting to me! I even looked for a Montenegrin tackle shop for a telescopic rod, but no joy.
Having returned home, after the usual unpacking, I found myself watching YouTube where they did a video on my local, go to mark! As it is over 2miles of shoreline, I usually stuck to my usual end, but this video described another area I fancied trying, so I took it as a sign that’s where I should head. Unpacking done, wifey and I headed into town, where i brought some new lures and 30 prime lugworm, having not had the opportunity to dig my own. This morning my alarm shrieked at the unearthly hour of 0345 and I snuck out the house, gear in tow and made my way down to my local mark. The tide was making, with a cross shore/off shore gusts, the sea was dark and brooding, with a moderate swell. High water was at 0740.
I rigged both Leeda icon elite match rods with their Diawa 7HT multis, attached 2 hook clipped down rigs baited with lugworm, whacked on a 4oz lead and launched them out into the gloom. My dinky leads were being torn out by the swell and trundling off down tide, 3 lost rigs and shockleaders to snags later and I upped the leads to a mighty 5oz! That solved the issue. With that, I sat back, enjoyed the limited sunrise and just enjoyed being there, with no real targets in mind, although the silvery bass are usually what I’m aiming for.
First cast and in a new stretch of coast and I saw the rod tip nodding out of tune with the wave swells. A quick wind in resulted in a blank saving dogfish! 
Happy with the fish, i recast both rods again and sat back to await events. The peace of the morning was disturbed by a large digger trundling along the sea wall, which turned out to be driven by my Father in law, so once we’d had a chat, he carried on his way and l returned to my rods.
I saw one rod tip ease back, with a typical bass bite so wound down the slack and struck into a real weight, a had a bit of a tussle in the surf and l saw a flash of silver, maybe this was a big bass? It felt really heavy! I finally beached the fish which on first glance was a much smaller bass than I had anticipated! But what’s this? A splashing in the surf next to it? Yes, a double shot, a bass and another dogfish!
My other rod started rattling, which produced a new PB! A true denizen of the deep, a rod bending, line snapping conger eel!! 
Ok, at about 14oz, it’s not a monster, but it’s the first I’ve ever caught, indeed seen outside a sea life centre, so I was happy with it!
The next casts were soon out there, and a feisty rattle produced bass no 2
ok, a basslet!
With my bait fast running out and the tide ebbing away, I decided on one last cast which resulted in yet another doggie.
With that, 5hrs had elapsed and it was time for a nice cockle warming brew, so I wrapped up and headed home.
Having returned home, after the usual unpacking, I found myself watching YouTube where they did a video on my local, go to mark! As it is over 2miles of shoreline, I usually stuck to my usual end, but this video described another area I fancied trying, so I took it as a sign that’s where I should head. Unpacking done, wifey and I headed into town, where i brought some new lures and 30 prime lugworm, having not had the opportunity to dig my own. This morning my alarm shrieked at the unearthly hour of 0345 and I snuck out the house, gear in tow and made my way down to my local mark. The tide was making, with a cross shore/off shore gusts, the sea was dark and brooding, with a moderate swell. High water was at 0740.
I rigged both Leeda icon elite match rods with their Diawa 7HT multis, attached 2 hook clipped down rigs baited with lugworm, whacked on a 4oz lead and launched them out into the gloom. My dinky leads were being torn out by the swell and trundling off down tide, 3 lost rigs and shockleaders to snags later and I upped the leads to a mighty 5oz! That solved the issue. With that, I sat back, enjoyed the limited sunrise and just enjoyed being there, with no real targets in mind, although the silvery bass are usually what I’m aiming for.
First cast and in a new stretch of coast and I saw the rod tip nodding out of tune with the wave swells. A quick wind in resulted in a blank saving dogfish! Happy with the fish, i recast both rods again and sat back to await events. The peace of the morning was disturbed by a large digger trundling along the sea wall, which turned out to be driven by my Father in law, so once we’d had a chat, he carried on his way and l returned to my rods.I saw one rod tip ease back, with a typical bass bite so wound down the slack and struck into a real weight, a had a bit of a tussle in the surf and l saw a flash of silver, maybe this was a big bass? It felt really heavy! I finally beached the fish which on first glance was a much smaller bass than I had anticipated! But what’s this? A splashing in the surf next to it? Yes, a double shot, a bass and another dogfish!
My other rod started rattling, which produced a new PB! A true denizen of the deep, a rod bending, line snapping conger eel!! Ok, at about 14oz, it’s not a monster, but it’s the first I’ve ever caught, indeed seen outside a sea life centre, so I was happy with it!The next casts were soon out there, and a feisty rattle produced bass no 2
ok, a basslet!With my bait fast running out and the tide ebbing away, I decided on one last cast which resulted in yet another doggie.
With that, 5hrs had elapsed and it was time for a nice cockle warming brew, so I wrapped up and headed home.
