A couple of trips
Yesterday I fished for three hours in very unlikely bass conditions - calm, hot and the middle of the day. However, this combination has produced before, and as Richard was fishing a mark further along the coast it was an ideal opportunity to compare how they fish in the same conditions.
As I wasn't expecting much action, I set up two rods and sat back to enjoy the wonderful October weather. After about an hour I had a fast start-and-stop run on the right hand rod, but after waiting a few minutes with no further action I reeled in to find my bait missing. Assuming it was just a schoolie I rebaited and sat back once again to enjoy the weather - and feeling good about getting some unexpected action.
Another hour passed and this time the left hand rod went. After a really good battle I landed a bass that may have made 4lb - well I wasn't expecting that.
Later during the session I noticed bass playing along the waters edge, and some of them were clearly of a good size. Always difficult to estimate, but the largest had to be double the size of my earlier fish. They didn't seem to be keen on feeding and appeared to be enjoying the weather just like me. However, after another hour my right hand rod went into melt-down, until I set the hook on a small bass of around 2lb. I think it used all its energy on the take as it came in with hardly a struggle.
When I got home we compared results, and Richard never had a touch which wasn't what either of us had expected. Boyed up by yesterday, I thought I would try again for another couple of hours. Conditions were very similar, although the easterly had picked up a bit, and again I soon had two rods out. Knowing the bass were there in numbers yesterday I decided to have a clear out of my freezer and really bait-up to see if I could get there heads down.
Well they were there, but not as many as yesterday, and I didn't see any bass larger than about 4lb. And I never received a touch. At one point, and purely by chance, as I was discarding an old hook bait a bass passed by. It watched the mackerel strip drift on the tide like an old brown trout that had seen every fly in the book and then carried on its way.
As I wasn't expecting much action, I set up two rods and sat back to enjoy the wonderful October weather. After about an hour I had a fast start-and-stop run on the right hand rod, but after waiting a few minutes with no further action I reeled in to find my bait missing. Assuming it was just a schoolie I rebaited and sat back once again to enjoy the weather - and feeling good about getting some unexpected action.
Another hour passed and this time the left hand rod went. After a really good battle I landed a bass that may have made 4lb - well I wasn't expecting that.
Later during the session I noticed bass playing along the waters edge, and some of them were clearly of a good size. Always difficult to estimate, but the largest had to be double the size of my earlier fish. They didn't seem to be keen on feeding and appeared to be enjoying the weather just like me. However, after another hour my right hand rod went into melt-down, until I set the hook on a small bass of around 2lb. I think it used all its energy on the take as it came in with hardly a struggle.
When I got home we compared results, and Richard never had a touch which wasn't what either of us had expected. Boyed up by yesterday, I thought I would try again for another couple of hours. Conditions were very similar, although the easterly had picked up a bit, and again I soon had two rods out. Knowing the bass were there in numbers yesterday I decided to have a clear out of my freezer and really bait-up to see if I could get there heads down.
Well they were there, but not as many as yesterday, and I didn't see any bass larger than about 4lb. And I never received a touch. At one point, and purely by chance, as I was discarding an old hook bait a bass passed by. It watched the mackerel strip drift on the tide like an old brown trout that had seen every fly in the book and then carried on its way.
I can only assume in the space of 24 hours they had fed well and weren't hungry, or they were on the look out for a particular food item (crab maybe?) Who knows, but that's what keeps us coming back.
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