Short Version:
I have been targeting bass for the first time this summer. I've been fine on bait but not had none on a lure. Until Tonight. I am well chuffed.
Long Version:
I decided at the start of the summer that I wanted to target Bass. This is a bit unusual up here in Newcastle as almost all anglers tend to fish hard for cod through the winter then put everything away for the summer bar a few mackie and red cod sessions.
You did hear of a few around being caught, but usually by accident when people were targeting cod. I decided to make it my mission this summer to catch a Bass somewhere up here in the north east.
That target was met quite quickly fishing crab baits and I decided I needed a new target, to catch a Bass on a lure. bait fishing has been fine through the summer but in about ten to fifteen lure sessions over the last two months I hadn't had a sniff and had lost five or so expensive lures.
Normally I'm pretty chilled out in my fishing, but we have our first baby on the way on October and I was keen to achieve my goal before I am confined to the house.
I've been reading the forum here, reading books, searching the web and have picked up all the tips and tactics, I just hadn't caught a fish. I was encouraged by Hawthorn and Tiddler1's reports which gave me some hope after all the fruitless sessions.
Tonight I finally did it. Got to the mark about half five after rushing out of work and down the coast. The mark is somewhere I have only recently found but it seems right. It looks like it will fish best down to and up from low water as you can get further and further out but still have a reasonable depth of water. The tide tonigt was 9PM high so I only had about mid tide up for about two hours before I would get pushed off.
First few casts were dissapointing. The water was fairy coloured and every cast was bringing in weed on the lure. Then after about 20 minutes persistance the weed suddenly stopped. A few casts later I felt the lure stop dead.
I though it may be a snag, but just reeled gently into it, then line started to strip from my reel. The next couple of minutes are a bit of a blur, but it involved me very carefully taking and giving line and praying it didn't come off.
Finally I got it onto the little shelf I was standing on and a massive grinn grew on my face. Mission accomplished. Fish was 45cms which I reckon is probably about two pounds. It may not sound much to a lot of you guys but to me it was just about perfect. My best bait caught Bass is 45cms so it equalled my p.b. I don't know how big they get get up here but most I have caught have been around 30 -35cms or so, making this one even more special to me. Returned it to some calmer water behind me where it swam off strongly straight away.
I put alot of it down to doing research in books and the web, finally getting round to fishing with braid, advice from Hawthorn and the rest of the forum, my new lures from Mrfish and a little bit down to my own determination and persistance.
My beer tastes canny nice right now.
Fish took on a Tide minnow surf in holo white.
Photos from my phone:
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I have been targeting bass for the first time this summer. I've been fine on bait but not had none on a lure. Until Tonight. I am well chuffed.
Long Version:
I decided at the start of the summer that I wanted to target Bass. This is a bit unusual up here in Newcastle as almost all anglers tend to fish hard for cod through the winter then put everything away for the summer bar a few mackie and red cod sessions.
You did hear of a few around being caught, but usually by accident when people were targeting cod. I decided to make it my mission this summer to catch a Bass somewhere up here in the north east.
That target was met quite quickly fishing crab baits and I decided I needed a new target, to catch a Bass on a lure. bait fishing has been fine through the summer but in about ten to fifteen lure sessions over the last two months I hadn't had a sniff and had lost five or so expensive lures.
Normally I'm pretty chilled out in my fishing, but we have our first baby on the way on October and I was keen to achieve my goal before I am confined to the house.
I've been reading the forum here, reading books, searching the web and have picked up all the tips and tactics, I just hadn't caught a fish. I was encouraged by Hawthorn and Tiddler1's reports which gave me some hope after all the fruitless sessions.
Tonight I finally did it. Got to the mark about half five after rushing out of work and down the coast. The mark is somewhere I have only recently found but it seems right. It looks like it will fish best down to and up from low water as you can get further and further out but still have a reasonable depth of water. The tide tonigt was 9PM high so I only had about mid tide up for about two hours before I would get pushed off.
First few casts were dissapointing. The water was fairy coloured and every cast was bringing in weed on the lure. Then after about 20 minutes persistance the weed suddenly stopped. A few casts later I felt the lure stop dead.
I though it may be a snag, but just reeled gently into it, then line started to strip from my reel. The next couple of minutes are a bit of a blur, but it involved me very carefully taking and giving line and praying it didn't come off.
Finally I got it onto the little shelf I was standing on and a massive grinn grew on my face. Mission accomplished. Fish was 45cms which I reckon is probably about two pounds. It may not sound much to a lot of you guys but to me it was just about perfect. My best bait caught Bass is 45cms so it equalled my p.b. I don't know how big they get get up here but most I have caught have been around 30 -35cms or so, making this one even more special to me. Returned it to some calmer water behind me where it swam off strongly straight away.
I put alot of it down to doing research in books and the web, finally getting round to fishing with braid, advice from Hawthorn and the rest of the forum, my new lures from Mrfish and a little bit down to my own determination and persistance.
My beer tastes canny nice right now.
Fish took on a Tide minnow surf in holo white.
Photos from my phone:
