Other side of the marsh

20th

Thursday, driving towards the coast on a weekday morning to fish a rising tide on a favourite beach, one that is never easy to work out.  The morning drive cross country was steady, the sky hazy with low cloud and a hint of moisture.  On arrival I opened the car doors and was struck by the stillness, there wasn’t a breath.  Here the sky was clear, I could clearly see the wind farms miles off shore long before I’d hiked across the marshes.

I was fishing the usual two rigs by 0845 and unexpectedly had bites from the start, these were all on the heavy rod fished a bit further out.  First cast saw a good rattle and a bit of weight but the hook pulled inches from the shore, almost certainly a Bass?  I soon recast and within minutes had another bite, I soon wound my first fish of the day up the beach but it was an Eel, thankfully lip hooked.  Next cast another good bang and this time a bit more weight with push and pull in the surf and a nice sized bass stayed on the hook this time. Fourth cast, fourth bite but I managed to miss this one.  By this time an hour had passed and I hadn’t had time to check the light rod fished in close, when I did the bait was long gone.

After that busy first hour things slowed down, the rising tide had dramatically changed the landscape but I’d barely noticed, all my concentration had been on the tips.  The sea was busy this pleasant morning with boats of all sizes and shapes, some passing close, others miles out.  By this time a gentle sea breeze was blowing into my face, this got steadily stronger through the day and actually kept the threatened showers a few miles inland.  I tried mixing the distances up and my next proper bite came around 1045 on a squid I’d given the big hurl, this was another Bass, slightly bigger than the first.

Soon it was passed midday and although for a while I’d been getting pulls and knocks regularly this had slowed up, I hadn’t had any decent strikable bites for a while.  High tide was over an hour away, I hoped fish of some kind would put in appearance with the sea full up as it had spectacularly a few times in the past.  It will always be worth hanging on here but nothing happened today, the expectation diminished quickly and I was soon hiking back towards the car.

29th 

A shortened window of fishy opportunity this weekend but at least it coincided with a 2103 high tide, just as the light would be fading, certainly a decent time to fish.  For the second trip in a row I crossed the marshes and had set up in front of the cauldron by 1745.  The tide was well up the shelf by this stage, the pot simmering gently and it was nice to be out in the wilds with TMS on the radio, Stuarts Broad’s news came as a surprise, we’re going to miss him.  The evening was mostly bright with a moderate south westerly meaning the shelter was facing north for a change giving me a different view of a familiar spot.

This beach is tricky with unpredictable currents which on some days sweep the leads away but when things work out right it’s a big fish spot for sure.  I fished how I always do, mostly casting one in close and the other whacked out but I did drop baits at mid range too.  Bait was mostly squid but I also had a few lumps of nasty crabbiness and I was deliberately fishing bigger baits hoping for the bigger fish.  I know Bass love ragworm but the average size is low, I catch far fewer on squid but they are bigger fish and that interests me more.  However tonight I could have done with some rag, all evening I had one bite and winched in a small Eel which conveniently unhooked itself thus saving the blank.

The tide came all the way up and the sky grew dark but the fish never switched on and for some reason I hadn’t expected them to, it hadn’t felt right tonight.  One of those feelings we anglers get that is forgotten the second something happens.  I walked back along the embankment, face into the wind and head home earlier than planned.