The Winter Waiting Game.

The few bass that can remain along our winter shoreline seemed to have moved from my usual spots, so I am now playing the winter waiting game. On the plus side, they do seem to arrive in numbers earlier than when I first started fishing for bass all those many years ago. Or perhaps I just didn't try hard enough. 

When I was younger the bass season fishing with my Dad was from June to early October. When I think back on all those wasted opportunities! My Dad passed away some years ago, and I often wish I could share some of the discoveries I've made along the way. Many he would have embraced, while others may have taken a bit longer - for he was a stubborn old bugger. 

One change he would have really struggled with is the size of the bait I now use. In the old days he would make me cycle after school to the local fishmongers and ask for one mackerel. This one mackerel would then last us for the whole night, and we didn't even use the head or tail! Goodness knows how we caught any bass on those tiny hooks and baits. To make this even worse, he would tell me to ask for an old mackerel as its, 'only for fishing' in the hope he would get it a bit cheaper!

In readiness for their return, I've been taking the dogs for walks along my local estuaries looking for new ambush spots with the lure rod, and a chance to spot the early returners. Previous years I've done ok in late March so it shouldn't be too long now, but I'm like a kid at Christmas and getting very impatient. However, each passing spring tide means we are getting closer, closer to wetting a line with a decent chance of my braid slowly being drawn across the hand as a bass comes across my carefully placed bait.