[kevinh]

After 3 recent blanks on the plugs and not managing to get out as much as I'd like, i decided I'll have a couple of hours tonight.
First mark i tried had a seal right in front of me who refused to bugger off, so i reckon this might had put the bass right off.

Second mark seemed perfect, the tide was high enough for me to be able to clear the weed quite easily and the wind had died away nicely.
The first fish fell to a yo-zuri mag popper, just a wee schoolie but more than welcome considering the recent blanks.

Had another 2 on this lure and decided for a change... out next came the lucky craft sammy, lovely walking the dog action, perfect in my opinion on a calm night.
Second cast came the third fish of the night..... another schoolie, spirited fight from the wee man. Darting in and out of the weed as he tried to shake the hooks.
A quick snap and he was free.

Mission accomplished, a fish on the lucky craft........i decided that i should see if i can break the duck of another new lure... the heddon super spook came out to play. Pleasure to cast and managed to get a fair distance.
Had a couple of missed takes on the first few casts..... then one of the most impressive follows I've ever seen. I had one last week following the patchinko that was creating a wave like a submarine but the one tonight must have followed me a good 40-50 yards, it kept speeding up to catch up with the plug then turning away. I tried everything from slowing down, speeding up, stopping... you name it i tried it, but it just wasn't for taking it....gggrrrr.
Anyway, managed to land another 2 and lost one right in front of me in the weed with the super spook. Decided to give the lucky craft another shot and managed one more before calling it a night.
Nothing big but managing to land 7 kept me fairly entertained, sorry about the pics... was using the iphone and got fed up of coming out of the water to take pics, so released the rest out in the water.
For some reason, i just can't seem to get anything to take the yellow ghost patchinko..... i'm starting to think this is the wrong area for them?

 

[Manxman]

Same story here Kev, plenty of schoolies, but few over three pound.
Give me a shout when your able to get out again and the weathers looking good.

Got a plan

 

[kevinh]

Same story here Kev, plenty of schoolies, but few over three pound.
Give me a shout when your able to get out again and the weathers looking good.

Got a plan

Cheers John... i've got a species hunt all sat and sun, so a single bass will be on my list.
If you're out and about, send me a text.

 

[mark333]

Great fishing there Kevin h

love taking them off the top ,

you cant catch whats not there , if you had a shoal of same size fish , in front of you thats all your going to catch ,

sometimes when its like that , its worth trying to think outside the box ,

Dead stick a few lures , (big bass are lazy )

try a soft plastic , there could be bigger on the deck

What works for me is casting a large popper (saltiga laser popper ) into the fold , as far as you can past these smaller fish

(big ones sometimes sit off , and let smaller ones do the damage , then come in and mop up )

Has worked for me lots and lots of times ,
Which is why , distance casting on certain days ,
is about as important as it gets
rather than dancing down the edges with small stuff

Well done on changing the plugs about to ,
most people when they catch on one ,wont change it
Great move :1a:

 

[FishyMenace]

Great fishing there Kevin h

love taking them off the top ,

you cant catch whats not there , if you had a shoal of same size fish , in front of you thats all your going to catch ,

sometimes when its like that , its worth trying to think outside the box ,

Dead stick a few lures , (big bass are lazy )

try a soft plastic , there could be bigger on the deck

What works for me is casting a large popper (saltiga laser popper ) into the fold , as far as you can past these smaller fish

(big ones sometimes sit off , and let smaller ones do the damage , then come in and mop up )

Has worked for me lots and lots of times ,
Which is why , distance casting on certain days ,
is about as important as it gets
rather than dancing down the edges with small stuff

Well done on changing the plugs about to ,
most people when they catch on one ,wont change it
Great move :1a:

My recent session at dawn followed this pattern, the bigger fish that I lost were a good 20-40 yards behind the main shoal, right on the edge of my casting range, one or two splash's of the Patch and BANG big fish on.... then off again...:doh:

Also agree about surface work, for every one bass caught subsurface I can take quadruple that on the top, maybe it's cause I don't work the subsurface properly, I don't know but, working off the top is better for me and so much more exciting.

Slightly off topic I know so appologies.

 

[le pecheur]

surface or sub-surface work for me but i have to agree that surface is, by far, the more exciting:yahoo::yahoo: you cant beat it & it is also my preferred method for mullet.

 

[kevinh]

Cheers for the comments guys, tips have been taken on board.
Most of my plugging is up top... very rarely do i use sub-surface, possibly due to most of the marks i fish are shallowish rocky and weedy beaches.
I got some slug-go's recently but just can't seem to get the confidence with then, i'm always wondering if i'm working them correctly....also not sure if these are effective on these type of beaches.

 

[evertontoffe]

Had plenty of follows with top water lures up
your way but never a take yet, always end up back
on spinners...must try harder and leave the metals out of the bag...

 

[oldchukka]

Had plenty of follows with top water lures up
your way but never a take yet, always end up back
on spinners...must try harder and leave the metals out of the bag...

mick. when steph gets into her stride with swiffing, we might both have to ask her to help us.hmy:hmy:

 

[Brentwood Barry]

kev what was the colour of the lure the fish was following but not taking ? next time maybe drop down to a much much smaller lure with a natural colour and try that sometimes they get put off if the lure is to big and you sure the fish couldnt see you ? maybe take 10 to 15 paces back then cast ok you wont get it as far but at least the fish wont see you mate

 

[Martin_A]

I had a similar story down your way last night/this morning Kevin. Had what looked like a decent fish follow but no joy, not once but three times in as many casts, it seemed really persistent, close but no cigar, tried stop start the third time but it just faded away. Don’t know what the trigger is sometimes. Great to see, better buzz when you hook up though eh?

I had 6 mackerel on a Frosty and in really shallow weedy calm water, almost darkness... where the Bass should have been imo. I was blanking on Bass till 7.30am this morning, started at 4.30, then managed to a get on a run of small fish, but good fun as you say, after the Friday night Bass blank I was grateful, again all schoolies on a Zonk about 2 1/2 hours up the tide. It’s maybe just me but is it harder work down there this year?

 

[le pecheur]

hi kevin,
i have just got some 7 1/2" sluggo's and the 5/0 texposer hooks. am hoping to give them a go next time i manage to get near the sea !!!! never tried them before but have looked at several websites that show you how to fish them. just hoping they work for me :g:

 

[gray22]

and me, got some of the side weights for them too, so in deeper water hoping they produce the goods.
Have had great results with the heddon super spooks, as yah say kevin, great action top water plugs, the one that i never thought would catch is a smoked coloured body with the brightest yellow flouro head on it, but the bass nail it.