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Had a quick run out to the top end of the Blackwater yesterday to try and get a late sizable bass out while we're actually allowed to. I just went with a 7ft rod, spinning reel, some 2 oz weights, a few rigs and some really nice monster ragworms from JP tackle in Maldon.
As the main channel is very narrow and tide comes in and out across the mud such a long way you don't actually get very long to fish this part of the Blackwater. So I started off at a section where the water was closer to the shore as the tide came in but still relatively shallow, around a couple of feet or less I reckon. Anyway I think inadvertently hit a bass nursery there as every cast the rod rattled within a minute or so and I was bringing in one after another ½ lb schoolie basslets.
This was obviously not was I was after so I moved up towards the river mouth a bit where the water had now come in more and I could cast out into the edge of the main channel and have water in front of me close enough to return fish. This proved far more successful and I landed several nice bass around the 1½ to 2lb range which in the old days definitely would have come home with me and been introduced to my fish steamer, but unfortunately none of them were over 42cm so they all got returned. There were some bigger fish around though as I had a couple of very big bites that I didn't manage connect with and did hook into something very large for a few seconds that then broke my line.
As I was wandering around waiting for the tide to come in I had a look at the water that runs from the mouth of the Heybridge Canal out to the main channel. It looked quite promising, has anyone ever fished it as the tide comes in ? I considered giving it a go but it was right by the path where everyone goes to the cafe and pubs at the basin and I didn't really fancy being disturbed every 5 minutes by people asking me whether I'd caught anything.
As the main channel is very narrow and tide comes in and out across the mud such a long way you don't actually get very long to fish this part of the Blackwater. So I started off at a section where the water was closer to the shore as the tide came in but still relatively shallow, around a couple of feet or less I reckon. Anyway I think inadvertently hit a bass nursery there as every cast the rod rattled within a minute or so and I was bringing in one after another ½ lb schoolie basslets.
This was obviously not was I was after so I moved up towards the river mouth a bit where the water had now come in more and I could cast out into the edge of the main channel and have water in front of me close enough to return fish. This proved far more successful and I landed several nice bass around the 1½ to 2lb range which in the old days definitely would have come home with me and been introduced to my fish steamer, but unfortunately none of them were over 42cm so they all got returned. There were some bigger fish around though as I had a couple of very big bites that I didn't manage connect with and did hook into something very large for a few seconds that then broke my line.
As I was wandering around waiting for the tide to come in I had a look at the water that runs from the mouth of the Heybridge Canal out to the main channel. It looked quite promising, has anyone ever fished it as the tide comes in ? I considered giving it a go but it was right by the path where everyone goes to the cafe and pubs at the basin and I didn't really fancy being disturbed every 5 minutes by people asking me whether I'd caught anything.
