A different view

Saturday afternoon came around again, hot and humid with high tide due around 1600.  At this time of year with conditions and a tide like this our experience suggests the beaches will be hard work and we’d be better off fishing one of the estuaries.  Giles and had I discussed this as the weekend approached and decided to go to a spot we’d had success from in the past but this entailed a long walk.  With this in mind we cut our gear down considerably, the plan was to soak a lump of squid while we fished lures around the area, particularly a snaggy spot close by.  Along with a normal running leger rig I sorted out an old carp rod with a float rig, hoping to try trotting on a massive scale.

We left in the early afternoon, once we were off the A road we decided to try the long hike from a different car park.  In reality the walk would be about the same length but along flatter paths through the marshes.  It was a pleasant hike but in the humid air we were glad to finally be facing the water and fresher air.  The spot we’d chosen had the deep channel within an easy cast and we were fishing by about 1515.  After the long walk we were happy to lay on the slope of the embankment and chill out watching rod tips, just one each for a change.

The estuaries are okay, you can actually catch Bass in urban areas but obviously we avoid these places, no matter how good the fishing may be.  Where we sat was anything but urban, beyond the marshes was rolling arable bordered by hedgerows and small clusters of trees.  Unfortunately the warm Saturday had brought all kinds of watercraft out onto the river and this spoiled the ambiance somewhat.  Worst of all were the roaring powerboats zipping up and down, some towing fat bastards on the end of a bit of rope.  It’s strange how people have different ways of enjoying the countryside, some of us like to sit quietly and try to become part of the landscape while others choose to tear around drawing attention to themselves.  Different strokes…

The fishing started slowly but in truth we didn’t expect much to happen until the tide started to ebb.  Even so I was bringing back hooks stripped of bait, it seemed the crabs were on the hunt if nothing else.  We both tried chucking lures around from time to time but there was nothing showing.  I was seduced by the late start in the test match and thoroughly enjoyed listening to England bowl out the Aussies and set up a potential win?  In the innings break I picked up the lure rod again and wandered down to the snags, by now the tide had turned and was carrying loads of weed out to sea.  Using a long thin spoon I cast uptide and cranked back quickly to keep the lure out of the structure.  I could have sworn I saw something swirl, were there fish around?  After a few casts the tip banged round and I was in.  The first priority was to keep the fish out of the snags which I managed and soon had a silver bar fighting hard in clear water.  Even modest sized bass fight like hell on light tackle in a strong tide but I soon picked this one out of the water.  I was well chuffed, any lure caught Bass is a bloody good fish in my book.

Giles joined me at the snags where there were obviously a few fish about.  For some reason I switched from my successful lure and tried a rubber sandeel.  While this was going on Giles stuck to a spoon and bumped a couple of fish before hooking up and landing his first bass of the season.  As has happened in the past the fish moved off after half an hour or so and it was back to staring at rod tips.  By this time all the fuel burning lunatics had left, probably speeding down the A road in an unnecessarily large vehicle (judgmental? Me?) 

With a fish each under our belts we were happy, despite the lack of action on the leger rods.  If we’d brought ragworm I’m sure we’d have caught fish but it’s impossible to be selective and there are plenty of small bass around whilst squid seems to sort out the better ones.  I did try trotting a sandeel down with the tide which was fun but didn’t produce any bites although I did manage to catch a bloody crab on it.

Around 2030 the wind had dropped away and in the calm water we noticed a series of splashes and swirls, it could only be feeding fish and was almost certainly Bass.  We were soon chucking lures again but the fish were a long way out, feeding over deeper water.  The problem we had was finding lures that were heavy enough to reach the fish but light enough to fish effectively in the upper layers.  After a while I hooked up on a spoon and had a hell of a job bringing a Bass back against the tide.  I could clearly see it and I was winning the battle but the fish dived again and shook the hook free.  We kept chopping and changing lures but couldn’t get it right.  Every now and then the fish would move in closer giving us more choice of lures and I managed to hook one on a small rubber minnow.  This one fought hard too but I was able to keep my hook in it and soon lifted it ashore for a photo opportunity.

We carried on casting and even as the light faded the fish were still swirling but mostly out of range, I did hook up briefly but the fish didn’t want to visit the shore.  By 2130 we’d had enough so loaded up and commenced our hike back on unfamiliar paths.  This was not helped by my navigation skills which sent us on the wrong path and doubled our walk back to the car, by the time we reached it rain had started to fall.  Still it had been an enjoyable evening and we’d learned a load more about catching Bass on lures, really good fun but honestly I’d rather be chilling out on a beach.