Well worth the wait... for some

Rob from the Island was coming over for a couple of trips and as usual we planned the date and tides well in advance. First trip was to be Thursday night, and as it got nearer to the time we hoped the weather forecast would be right - and thankfully it was. When we got out of the car and walked to our spot the rain that had been falling all day, stopped, and the conditions looked really good.

We both use the same techniques and I gently lobbed the first bait in at around 8.30. Almost immediately I received a run from what felt like a small bass. Reeling in, the fillet had masked the hook point so out it went again with Rob now joining me less than ten yards away. We sat in silence until my line twitched momentarily along my fingers before it went off on a determined run. 

Engaging the freespool the line tightened and the rod hooped over as I lifted into a bass. I stood up and said to Rob, 'it's fighting well', soon followed by 'this may be a good one Rob' as it was fighting hard. Once landed and measure at 21" to the fork (around 4lb) I managed to get a boot full returning her. I then went over to Rob to say I thought it was going to be a lot bigger, plus I was keen to find out why he hadn't come over during the fight.

Walking up to Rob he explained he was on his way when he had a knock when suddenly he stopped and said, 'hang on - there it goes', as a bass went on a good run. The fight was disappointing and was landed with a minimum of fuss, as I went over to take a look, Rob said 'that's alright', to which I replied 'that's more than alright!' She went back stronger than she came in.

Later when discussing the mad 20 minutes we realised the bass was the largest either of us have caught in three years as she measured 26", so around 7.5lb. As you can see she was in prime condition and a real privilege to witness. 

We ended up with another two bass to 3.5lb before deciding at 1am to call it a night. The grin on Rob's face on the way back showed just how much that bass meant to him. Lovely stuff.