Andy 1965
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2020
- Messages
- 376
- Reaction score
- 3,432
- Points
- 93
- Location
- North Wales
- Favourite Fishing
- Lure
Having seemingly sussed out how to catch bass in numbers over the last few years 
, my main ambition for 2024 is to try and catch something a little bigger. That’s proving to be easier said than done though, with my last 60cm+ bass caught way back in 2021. Number wise I’ve got off to another good start this year, and I’ve already equalled my best fish from the last 3 years with another of 58cm, but despite reports of a few decent fish being caught locally, I haven’t been able to find them.
For my first session this week, I decided to visit a mark where I’ve had several nice fish in the past, and with low water just after dark, coupled with calm conditions, I hoped I was in with a decent chance. Going by the season so far, I wasn’t expecting much action before it got dark, but when a bass fell for the charms of the Candy SF125 after only 45 minutes, my confidence received a major boost
.
This proved to be a false dawn and I saw no further signs of life for the next 2 and a half hours, but once darkness proper had fallen, and the tide had turned, I began to hear the occasional splash out in the distance.
Up to this point I had concentrated on using tried and tested lures, which usually produce for me at this time of year, but when these didn’t work I decided to try something different. Next I clipped on a Candy Komomo II, which I waked slowly across the surface and finally, 3 hours after my first fish of the evening, my lure was hit again. Unfortunately, the fish didn’t connect but I was encouraged to see signs of life. Over the next 15 minutes my lure was hit several times without hooking up, but eventually my luck changed and the second fish of the evening was successfully landed
.
This seemed to open the floodgates, and over the last 90 minutes of the session the bass were everywhere. As before, I missed lots of hits but I also connected with a few, and I was able to add another 5 bass to the evening’s tally.
Once more the big fish failed to put in an appearance, with my catches ranging from 37 to 48cm, but I was more than happy with my night’s work
.
For my second session of the week I decided to try a different venue, which just happens to be where I caught my current PB bass. With low tide being much later than it had been on Tuesday, I would be fishing the ebb so I wasn’t quite as confident as I had been earlier in the week. I arrived at the mark to find a stiff breeze blowing along the shore, and against the tide, which would make it quite difficult to work my lures around with the flow, it was however forecast to calm down later, so I wasn’t too concerned.
As on Tuesday, I wasn’t expecting too much until it got dark, but yet again I was wrong and I was surprised when my lure was hit in daylight. After an exciting scrap I had the fish beaten and ready to slide ashore, but it wasn’t to be and giving one last flick of its tail, it managed to throw the hook and to make good its escape
.
Despite this setback, it proved that the bass were actually there and so I looked forward to darkness falling with renewed optimism.
An hour or so later, and it was almost completely dark when I heard the first slurp of the evening, as a small creature met an untimely end, then 2 minutes later my Ruf Manic was hit for the second time of the evening. This time I kept everything crossed that the hook had found a decent hold, and a minute or so later the blank was beaten
.
Soon after this I doubled my tally for the evening but then strangely, the hits dried up. I knew the bass were still there, as I could hear them feeding, but they appeared to have gone right off the Ruf Manic. In an effort to find a lure that worked I tried a few different ones, but though I was able to tempt one more fish on the baby Patch, I knew I could do better.
I was racking my brains what to try next something caught my eye in the water in front of my and when I looked down, I saw a big ragworm swimming past on the current. Seeing this was almost like a lightbulb moment
, so I immediately switched the Patch for a Hunt House 155, and this turned out to be an inspired move.
Over the next 45 minutes I caught another 6 bass to 53cm
but then annoyingly, I missed 3 good hits in a row before the bites dried off once more. For the next 30 minutes I cycled through a few lures, until eventually I found the right one, the SF125 of course. This resulted in another 2 fish, including the best of the night at 55cm, to take me into double figures for the night
before things went quiet again.
It was getting late by now, so I decided to call it a night and head for the car, but of course I had to give it a few casts in any likely looking spots on the way
, and this resulted in the smallest fish of the night at 38cm, taking me to 19 bass for the second week in a row.
So the half century of bass is rapidly approaching, but as yet there’s no sign of a big girl. Conditions are looking good for the coming week though, and I’ll be out there searching for her once more
.
, my main ambition for 2024 is to try and catch something a little bigger. That’s proving to be easier said than done though, with my last 60cm+ bass caught way back in 2021. Number wise I’ve got off to another good start this year, and I’ve already equalled my best fish from the last 3 years with another of 58cm, but despite reports of a few decent fish being caught locally, I haven’t been able to find them.For my first session this week, I decided to visit a mark where I’ve had several nice fish in the past, and with low water just after dark, coupled with calm conditions, I hoped I was in with a decent chance. Going by the season so far, I wasn’t expecting much action before it got dark, but when a bass fell for the charms of the Candy SF125 after only 45 minutes, my confidence received a major boost
.This proved to be a false dawn and I saw no further signs of life for the next 2 and a half hours, but once darkness proper had fallen, and the tide had turned, I began to hear the occasional splash out in the distance.
Up to this point I had concentrated on using tried and tested lures, which usually produce for me at this time of year, but when these didn’t work I decided to try something different. Next I clipped on a Candy Komomo II, which I waked slowly across the surface and finally, 3 hours after my first fish of the evening, my lure was hit again. Unfortunately, the fish didn’t connect but I was encouraged to see signs of life. Over the next 15 minutes my lure was hit several times without hooking up, but eventually my luck changed and the second fish of the evening was successfully landed
.This seemed to open the floodgates, and over the last 90 minutes of the session the bass were everywhere. As before, I missed lots of hits but I also connected with a few, and I was able to add another 5 bass to the evening’s tally.
Once more the big fish failed to put in an appearance, with my catches ranging from 37 to 48cm, but I was more than happy with my night’s work
.For my second session of the week I decided to try a different venue, which just happens to be where I caught my current PB bass. With low tide being much later than it had been on Tuesday, I would be fishing the ebb so I wasn’t quite as confident as I had been earlier in the week. I arrived at the mark to find a stiff breeze blowing along the shore, and against the tide, which would make it quite difficult to work my lures around with the flow, it was however forecast to calm down later, so I wasn’t too concerned.
As on Tuesday, I wasn’t expecting too much until it got dark, but yet again I was wrong and I was surprised when my lure was hit in daylight. After an exciting scrap I had the fish beaten and ready to slide ashore, but it wasn’t to be and giving one last flick of its tail, it managed to throw the hook and to make good its escape
.Despite this setback, it proved that the bass were actually there and so I looked forward to darkness falling with renewed optimism.
An hour or so later, and it was almost completely dark when I heard the first slurp of the evening, as a small creature met an untimely end, then 2 minutes later my Ruf Manic was hit for the second time of the evening. This time I kept everything crossed that the hook had found a decent hold, and a minute or so later the blank was beaten
.Soon after this I doubled my tally for the evening but then strangely, the hits dried up. I knew the bass were still there, as I could hear them feeding, but they appeared to have gone right off the Ruf Manic. In an effort to find a lure that worked I tried a few different ones, but though I was able to tempt one more fish on the baby Patch, I knew I could do better.
I was racking my brains what to try next something caught my eye in the water in front of my and when I looked down, I saw a big ragworm swimming past on the current. Seeing this was almost like a lightbulb moment
, so I immediately switched the Patch for a Hunt House 155, and this turned out to be an inspired move.Over the next 45 minutes I caught another 6 bass to 53cm
but then annoyingly, I missed 3 good hits in a row before the bites dried off once more. For the next 30 minutes I cycled through a few lures, until eventually I found the right one, the SF125 of course. This resulted in another 2 fish, including the best of the night at 55cm, to take me into double figures for the night
before things went quiet again.
It was getting late by now, so I decided to call it a night and head for the car, but of course I had to give it a few casts in any likely looking spots on the way
, and this resulted in the smallest fish of the night at 38cm, taking me to 19 bass for the second week in a row.So the half century of bass is rapidly approaching, but as yet there’s no sign of a big girl. Conditions are looking good for the coming week though, and I’ll be out there searching for her once more
.
