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From feast to famine……………………. Almost.

2K views 9 replies 8 participants last post by  the basslegend 
#1 ·
After several days which seemed to drag on forever, I was finally back out on Tuesday evening, in search of more Welsh silver and my hopes were high that I could carry on where I left off. The mark was the same one as last Thursday, well I would have been silly to fish anywhere else 😄 and after an uneventful drive there I was in good spirits, right up until the last 100meters of the country lane before the parking spot. Though I was surprised when a small mouse ran across the road in front of me, I didn’t think anything of it but when out of nowhere, I was then confronted by 4 rabbits, 2 pheasants, a squirrel and a blackbird, I knew I was in trouble 😮. I refer you to Andy’s first law of fishing 😟.

Undeterred, I parked up and got suited and booted in near record time, before strolling off purposefully for the shore. Once there I found absolutely stunning conditions, of clear blue skies, bright sunshine and flat calm gin clear water 😎, beautiful surroundings in which to spend the evening of the summer solstice, but perhaps not ideal for fishing 🤔.

There was only one way to find out and for the next 4 hours I chucked pretty much every lure I had in my box, over every inch of the reef without so much as a sniff. The lures which served me so well last week were completely ignored this time, as was everything else I tried. I knew the bass were there, as every now and then I saw a splash or a boil at the surface, as something small and fishy met a grizzly end, but the predators just weren’t interested in anything I had to offer 👎.

I wasn’t about to give up though and I was still confident that things would improve after dark, but on the longest day of the year I had a very long wait to find out 🙄. Eventually the light did begin to fade, and so I belatedly made my way off the reef and onto a nearby patch of clean ground. Once there I was encouraged to see quite a lot of small fry about 2 or 3cm long, food I hoped for a hungry bass or two 😉.

I had been fishing this spot for about 10 minutes when I was surprised by a loud splash only a meter or so away from me and I had barely turned towards it when I suddenly found myself in the middle of a feeding frenzy! 😲 The water around me was suddenly boiling with mackerel, as they hammered into the bait fish, but every now and then there was a much bigger splash, as what I assumed to be bass joined in the massacre. The only problem was that I was actually too close to the maelstrom and I couldn’t actually cast my lure into it. I tried jigging my Mishna directly under the rod tip but neither the bass nor the mackerel would touch it 🙁. This feeding frenzy went on for several minutes, long enough for me to clip on the baby Patch to see if that might be more productive, but they ignored that too. Finally the shoal made its way out into deeper water, as I cast my lure hopefully after them, but I didn’t get a single touch 😥.

It was much darker by now and so I clipped my Mishna back on and resumed my usual tactics and finally, after over 4 hours of fishing my luck changed 👍. I had only just started the retrieve when my lure was stopped in its tracks and the rod took on a very satisfying curve. Not wanting to risk pulling the hook and to waste what might be my only chance of the session, I took my time in playing the fish as I slowly backed towards the shore, and eventually I was able to slide my catch safely ashore 😊. So the blank was beaten at last with a chunky fish of 48cm 🥳.
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With my confidence now massively boosted, I fished on full of hope but it just wasn’t my night and I didn’t see any more signs of life for the rest of the session until I called it a night at midnight.



My second session of the week was on Thursday evening, when despite Tuesday’s quiet evening, I decided to give the same mark another go. Just like earlier in the week, conditions were warm, calm and sunny, but the dark skies in the distance signalled the possibility of heavy rain. I wasn’t overly concerned though, as there was no thunder and lightning in the forecast. After 15 minutes with the Swimish, I tried a surface lure next and after only a few casts I was shocked when something tried to eat my Asturie, incredibly though, despite a massive splash right next to it, the attacker managed to miss my lure completely 😮. This was a very promising start but it wasn’t to last, and over the next 3 hours I chucked a variety of lures at the bass with no reaction whatsoever 😪.

Despite the lack of action on the reef, I was still fairly confident that I could manage to find a bass or two after dark, and I moved to the clean ground in good time. I even hoped that the mackerel might show again, but it wasn’t to be. Things were even quieter there than they had been on the reef, and the baitfish which I usually see there were completely absent. With only 1 more day in work I fished on until 00:30 but it was all in vain and I blanked for the fourth time this year 😭.

So things had turned around completely in the space of a few days, and after 23 bass in 2 sessions last week, I had to settle for just the one this week and I had gone from feast to famine, well almost.
 
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#5 ·
Thanks for the replies all (y) , here's hoping that the bass are hungry again this week ;).




Nothing to be afraid of :LOL:.

I last referred to them in this report (23) Good things come to those who wait. | World Sea Fishing Forums but to save you from reading it all, my laws of fishing are these:

Andy’s first law of fishing states that “The amount of wildlife seen on the way to a mark, is inversely proportional to the number of fish caught at said mark”.

and my new, second law of fishing states, “If you chuck a bit of plastic with a hook in it around for long enough, you will hook something eventually”.
 
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#6 ·
Andy, always enjoy reading your reports even though they make me feel like I'm doing it all wrong, you had more Bass in two sessions than I had all of last year! Don't take this the wrong way though, but when people like you have the odd blank it gives me a bit of hope that it's not just me LOL but of course I wish we could all catch every time. Best wishes mate
 
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