Finding a window to go fishing hasn’t been easy this past couple of months due to an onslaught of post-covid wedding invites and an increased workload at the farm on weekends.
I spent most of last week in Lossiemouth but once we were back in the North East I set aside some time to get out on the rocks hoping for a few Bass.
Despite the scorching weather inland, the coast was pretty bleak with a thick sea fret. This actually worked in my favour a bit – cooling things down as well as keeping the masses at bay.
The water wasn’t as gin clear as previous sessions but was still ok. I started off with a weighted Albie Snax in pearl, a new addition to the lure box. Like the other weedless soft plastics I’ve tried, it swims very enticingly and the weedless design makes it a good choice over the shallow, rocky and weedy ground.
The Bass however clearly weren’t as impressed as they never sniffed at it. I conceded defeat after an hour or so and started having a play with other lures. A few chucks with a surface lure (SG Panic prey) produced a similar lack of response, but I tend to make a point of at least trying the surface lures every time I go, even though they’ve yet to produce for me! In my youth though I used to catch Pike on surface poppers and skitterwalks quite a lot and there really is nothing more exciting in lure fishing than watching your quarry smash a lure off the top. Hopefully the Bass oblige me soon!
Eventually I clipped on a SG Sandeel Pencil which has produced for me in the past here. A couple of casts with this instigated a series of follows from a small schoolie which made it right to my feet a couple of times before turning away. Eventually it sussed something was amiss and it disappeared, and the monotony of fruitless casting recommenced as I continued to thrash the hell out of every nook and cranny trying to produce a take. With two and a half hours down I was beginning to think it wasn’t going to happen.
Exploring around the wider area it became apparent I was pretty limited as far as fishing space was concerned as wherever there was current, there was a mass of floating weed which was a constant nemesis, making it difficult to present a lure properly for more than a few seconds before it was weeded up.
After a short break I started up again, wading round into a small bay and away from the worst of the weed. Once again under the shade of the cliffs, casting as tight to the bladderwrack as possible, finally the rod was nearly ripped from my hands as a Bass absolutely nailed the pencil with only 3 turns of the reel. He put up a great fight in the shallow water, staying deep with some really dogged head shakes in his bid for freedom, taking quite a bit of line in the process. I confess, I landed him with a minuscule hint of exasperation that he wasn’t bigger given the account he’d gave of himself. Still though, he was a proper summer fish – well fed and in great condition.
Into darkness I tried a few new spots further down the coast to see if they would produce on the ebb but sadly that was the only Bass of the session. Still though I’m happy to have gotten out finally after so long. Hopefully next time the fish are a little more obliging.
