Building tides and a brace of bass

Spurred on by my recent success, I'd been eagerly waiting for the next set of building tides. The only downside was the forecast south-westerly wind had been replaced by a gentle off shore breeze.

Fortunately, the weather forecast had got it wrong.

When I arrived at the beach, the wind was actually pushing slightly towards me, which was a very encouraging sign. I made the walk down to my chosen mark and, once again, was delighted to find myself completely alone. A deserted beach and a whole evening ahead of me.

From a fishing point of view, things were very quiet to begin with. Right up until around an hour and a half before high tide, I hadn't had a touch. With little happening close in, I decided to cast my rod a bit further out, around twenty yards beyond where I'd been fishing.

The rod had barely settled into the rest before it absolutely tore off.

Line was pouring from the reel as I grabbed it, and then went into meltdown before I could even engage the spool properly. The fish fought hard at range before suddenly turning and charging back towards the shoreline, making me think for a moment that I'd lost it altogether.

It then ran up and down parallel to the beach, but despite its efforts, the fight was always under control. A few minutes later I slipped the net under a beautiful bass of around 3½ to 4lb.

The next hour passed without much happening, so a few chopped-up pieces of mackerel went into the edge to draw any bass closer. I mounted a whole joey mackerel on the hook before making a gentle underarm cast just beyond the shoreline.

While holding the rod it didn't take long before I experienced several tentative pulls. Something was clearly interested, but the bass just wouldn't fully commit. Each time it seemed ready to take the bait, it backed away. There was virtually no resistance on the line, so I decided to place the rod in the rest instead. The extra tension sometimes makes all the difference.

I positioned the rod, switched on the alarm, sat back in the chair and, quite literally within thirty seconds, it ripped off.

This fish fought well but without too much drama, and before long another bass was safely landed. It was around the same size as the first, perhaps even slightly bigger.

That was it for the night.

I stayed on for another hour, enjoying the peace and quiet, but as the temperature began to drop and the chill crept in, I decided enough was enough and headed back to the car.

A great night's fishing, two bass, and plenty of encouragement for the tides ahead. There are some really promising tides coming up over the next few days and I'll certainly be doing my best to make the most of them.