Just a small one for me

Plans for the weekend meant Richard would be fishing a shallow mark, so I decided to do the opposite and see how the results compared. Although it's still a very new theory, I'm starting to think the bigger bass return to our shallow beaches in autumn, possibly following a late run of crab. I'd be interested to know if anyone else has noticed the same.

I arrived a little later than planned but was soon fishing an hour and a half before high water. Conditions looked good, with a slight band of colour along the shoreline, and two large mackerel baits were soon soaking.

After a while I started getting that feeling all anglers know. It's hard to describe, but you gradually realise it's probably not going to happen.

Then, right on high water, a smaller bait received a jittery take while I was recasting the other rod. Eventually the fish committed and I was into a bass of around 2lb. The fight was a strange one, building slowly from almost nothing into a decent scrap.

It was heading back without a photo, but lying against the kelp with the light catching its flank, it looked too good not to capture. For anyone following my recent camera saga, you can imagine my disbelief when I switched it on to find the message: "Lens Error". After a couple of failed attempts to revive it, I returned the fish and sat down with a slight sulk, wondering how I'd have felt had it been a proper one.

Then, with perfect timing, the camera sprang back into life.

That was it for the next three hours apart from a brief visit from our local seal and a swarm of house martins feeding up before their journey south.

When I got home, I discovered Richard had fished the previous night's tide and managed a bass just under 4lb.