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April is not a good month for sea fishing on much of the east coast, so presented with a rare opportunity for a days fishing I decided on a day at my local Trout fishery – Sharpley Springs.

The fishery is a mix of 5 fly fishing only lakes, the largest being ‘The Doxford’ and the more modest of them being ‘The Noose’, along with a small children’s worm lake and a small training lake; a nice touch for those who are new to fly fishing and able to reap the benefit of some practical 1:1 coaching. It’s a great setup, and the relaxed, friendly atmosphere is why Sharpley boasts a strong group of regular visitors. Once you’ve paid for your ticket at the golf lodge down the road, you make your way to the actual fishery and sign in at the cabin, where you can get free tea/coffee throughout your session.

Although at one point fly fishing was a regular pass time for me, it’s 2-3 years since I last had the fly gear out so I was feeling a little rusty. Given the early season chill brought on by a gentle but steady northerly breeze though, I suspected I’d have to keep things nice and slow to get the fish to respond well. Suits me, as I much prefer the natural style of fly fishing that comes with fishing buzzers.

The great thing about buzzer fishing is the variance involved presents the angler with a constant challenge in terms of ‘matching the hatch’ so to speak. When we talk about buzzers, we’re talking about representing the various development stages of the larvae of the non-biting, chironomid midge species. These start their life out in the silt at the bottom of the lake/river bed as ‘bloodworm’ before developing into the ascending midge pupae, which rises tantalisingly slowly through the water column towards the surface, making itself generally irresistible to hungry trout. If it survives long enough to reach the surface, it now has to run the gauntlet of breaking through the surface tension, hatch into the winged adult and fly away before it gets snaffled.

All of these stages are imitated by different fly patterns, and the fish can be particularly selective in terms of what size, colour and depth they want the flies fished at before they’ll take. There are days when finding the right match can be maddening, so generally when starting a session I’ll start with a team of flies – at least 2, ideally 3. Unless it’s really cold, I’ll usually go for a couple of varnished buzzers alongside a lighter pattern such as a diawl bach fishing the top dropper. If the fish are higher in the water the 2nd dropper and even the point fly might get replaced by similar lighter patterns to really slow down their descent, or if the fish are in the top few feet then I might put something lumpy and buoyant on the point and fish 2 buzzers on droppers as a washing line. Of course if the fish are preoccupied with emerging adult midge then the dry fly fishing can be outstanding

My favourite way to fish a team of buzzers if there’s a light crosswind is straight line drifting, where you literally cast out at 90 degrees to the wind direction, straighten up and then allow the flies to swing round in the wind drift. You don’t need to ‘retrieve’ the flies – just apply an extremely slow figure 8 , enough to keep up with the flies rather than impart any actually movement as they swing round. Takes can be heart stopping and it makes for some really exciting fishing, especially early season.

Such was my approach today – i started the session with the 2 patterns that spend the most time out of my box, a wicked white black buzzer on the point and a dark olive on a dropper spaced around 4 ft apart on a 12 ft leader. Both flies are in size 12 as it’s April and usually the time of year where hungry, over wintered fish are looking to capitalise on the larger buzzers that start to hatch off early spring.

Not much happened for the first hour or so, and the trickle of late morning sunshine did very little to threaten the chill of the prevailing northerly breeze. What it did do though was spark a mass uprising of caenis flies, aptly nicknamed ‘anglers curse’ due to their tiny size and extreme difficulty to imitate. Naturally this got the attention of the trout and suddenly there was a half decent rise on. Much to my frustration though, they weren’t interested in any dries I hastily offered; even the tiniest of grey shipman’s buzzers which I’ve found success with in the past when the caenis are out were being ignored. So there was only one thing for it – cup of tea!

When I returned to the main lake half an hour later, the fish seemed to have gone down again and upon inspecting the margins, confidence was renewed as I could see several large “shucks” drifting about indicating that the slight increase in temperature had also coaxed some buzzers into hatching. Since there was little indication that the fish were preoccupied with emerging adults though, I set up a new leader of 13ft, again with a black buzzer on the point and a dark olive buzzer on the dropper above it, but this time with an additional dropper at the top fished shallow. To this I attached a brown Diawl Bach with some bright biot cheeks to make it stand out. Although they weren’t taking off the top, I didn’t think the fish would be really deep given the amount of shucks I could see drifting by my feet; some of the biggest I’d seen on this water, so they had to have noticed! By having the lighter Diawl Bach at the top of the setup rather than a 3rd epoxy buzzer, i can fish the cast a little shallower as the nymph won’t pull everything down as quickly as a heavy buzzer would do. This enables me to test out varying depths the fish may be feeding at, which to me is the most effective way to fish buzzers and produce quicker takes than perhaps you would just fishing a single fly.

This turns out to be a good tactic, as within a couple of cast the first stocky fish slams into the point fly (a size 10 black, this time with silver cheeks) and is quickly netted.

And I quickly brush off the prospect of it being a fluke, hitting another fish straight after. And another. And another!

The morning has been slow all round with very few anglers connecting to much, so naturally I gather some interest as I start getting asked what I’m using. I’m not one of these super secretive types that guards their favourite fly patterns though and happily share what I’m doing and soon a few others are bending into fish more regularly.

The fish continue to respond well to the combo all afternoon, with no one fly really out performing the other – all 3 produce regularly and I quickly get into double figures, including some lovely conditioned over wintered fish. Surprisingly there are some lovely Brownies in amongst them as well, and I net 3 over the course of the afternoon which is the most brownies I’ve had in a single day session.

I’m on a kill ticket so using a spoon to inspect the contents of one of my bagged fish reveals what I already knew – that the fish were preoccupied with the large, darker coloured buzzers as they ascend ready to hatch.

I stick it out until 7pm before calling it a day, happy with a tally somewhere in the mid teens. It’s been a rare day out fishing and a nice change from the usual saltwater exploits. With thing warming up though, I’ll definitely be getting out on the Bass soon!

I finally got out after nearly half a year in post paternal hibernation, in which I’ve neglected the blog entirely as you can tell! The truth is, my 2nd born arrived in the late Autumn of 2023 and is now nearly 4 months old, so I figured it’s about time I dust off the rods, scrape the rust off a few hooks and get back to being an occasional nuisance to things with fins.

I went for the easy option of opting to chase a few Whiting somewhere locally, which I figured would provide the best prospect of a few rattles. Not the most exciting, but I’m not in serious mode at the minute and just happy to get out for a bit of sport. Steve was up visiting family so we hatched a plan for a few hours on the walkway at South Shields, hoping to cross paths with one of the numerous Haddock that have over-wintered our shores this year. Having been something of a rainbow fish for the last few decades, It’s great to see the Haddock enjoying less commercial pressure locally and coming back in numbers, and hopefully it continues year on year. I wonder if we’ll see a subsequent increase in any other species on our shores in the coming years – it would certainly be great to see the Plaice fishing get somewhere back to what it used to be.

Anyway. It’s unseasonably warm considering it’s February. So much so, I’m aghast to notice that as I walk along the promenade to meet Steve and Martyn, I’m bloody sweating! 10-12 degrees is just ridiculous for the time of year! But, coupled with the lack of any real breeze, I concede that it does make for some rather comfortable fishing conditions so I suppose it can’t all be bad.

I opted for one rod, out of laziness more than strategy, with a 2 hook flapper comprising of size 2 long shanks fixed with a pair of orange floating beads. I use these Floating beads from Turkana regularly, with orange and white being my favourite. They don’t function as pop ups as such, but give small baits that subtle bit of buoyancy which makes them flutter enticingly around in any current, and obviously the bright colour can add an additional level of attraction especially in murky conditions. By no means essential, but I’ve got on really well with them and they’ve made a big difference to my catch rates on several occasions with this type of fishing.

It was a bit of a slow start as dusk descended, but into darkness the fish started to show. I was first of the mark with a 5 bearded Rockling to add to the annual species hunt tally, then the Whiting obligingly start to take everything in front of them and we each work our way through a fair few fish.

It’s Martyn’s first time sea fishing so he’s happy to get off the mark with a few. All of the fish are comfortably over the legal size limit too, although very lean for the time of year.

Fortunate or unfortunate though, the Whiting are so prolific that baits are getting pounced on within minutes of hitting the seabed, with regular double shots, so if there was any Haddock in amongst them they weren’t getting a look in. A slight pang of disappointment maybe but in all honesty I was just enjoying being out and catching fish after such a long time.

As slack water came things tailed off a bit which gave the critters time to come out; I pulled in a nice pot sized Lobster which would definitely have been coming home for a bath, had she not been laiden with eggs, so a quick snap and off she swam seconds later.

Steve also managed a double shot of bugs in the shape of an edible brown crab which was flirting with being legal size, and a surprise in the shape of a north east Spider Crab. They’re not unheard of up here, but they are somewhat of a novelty and you only hear of the odd one once in a blue moon.

Things slow down on the fish front with only the odd one coming in so we decided to wrap it at about 9:30. My recently arrived daughter is of a nocturnal disposition at the minute so I didn’t fancy staying out too late!

I kept 8 of the fish that wouldn’t have gone back due to deep hooking so that’ll keep the family in fish cakes for a bit. I think I probably threw double the amount back – they were certainly out in force!

Never know – I might get out again soon!

It’s a summary – that probably tells you all you need to know!

Over the years, I‘ve spent countless hours on surf beaches bait fishing for Bass, but when it comes to lure fishing for them, I’m still very much an amateur. It has become a bit of an obsession the last couple of years though, which has precipitated a mass exodus of British currency from my bank account on lures, rods, braids, bags etc.

Some might describe it as something similar to having all the gear, albeit less of the idea.

This year I’ve been really slow on the uptake though. First off, we’ve had a completely rubbish summer – apart from one week in June, it’s basically rained since the beginning of May. And the flat calm, crystal clear conditions conducive with the shallow, weedy areas I fish in summer have been hard to come by, as the wind seems to have been stuck in a permanent pattern of north and south easterlies. Great for surf fishing but I haven’t tried the beaches much since spring.

Anyway I’ve taken advantage of what little opportunity the weather affords and had a few early morning/late evening flick abouts. The first schoolie of the year fell victim to a Sandeel Pencil at the end of June on an otherwise unproductive session, before the weather once again put the kibosh on any further sessions and it was another 7-8 weeks before things settled enough to be worth venturing out again. Really I should have tried the beaches, but every time there was a window I seemed to be busy.

Anyway, a couple of weeks back I dragged my corpse out of bed at 4am for an early morning session before work and was treated to my first glimpse of a Northumberland sunrise in I don’t know how many years.

The Bass weren’t as impressed as me clearly, with only one fish taking interest in my lure, a white DoLive stick, and promptly ejecting it into a thick raft of bladderwrack a few seconds later. It gave me confidence though and I decided to venture out the following evening to fish into darkness, accompanied by Marc, in what we would have usually considered perfect conditions. Gin clear and flat calm – but still the Bass weren’t in an obliging mood as for the first few hours our lures may have well been in the back of the car for all they were being intercepted by hungry fish.

As the light really faded I clipped on a patchinko 125 in 500g colour. I’ve not had a Bass on a surface lure yet but I’m determined to give it a try every time I’m out. Having thrashed the hell out the venue for hours I admit I was ready to give up, as was Marc. Just as I was contemplating my last cast, I started to see small baitfish scattering in the shallows to my right, clearly startled by something. I was then taken completely off guard by a big splash behind the pachinko. I’ve read that this is pretty typical behaviour for Bass as they attempt to ‘stun’ the prey by swiping at it then come back round to pick it up. This happened a few times over the next 10 mins, then just as Marc came over admitting defeat, a Bass finally hit the lure solid on the surface no more than 8 yards out in 2 foot of water.

A short but spirited fight ensued before the net is slipped under a nice chunky Bass approaching 3lb – a lure PB for me, and off the surface! At this point the light has more or less gone and the tide is ebbing so we decide to call it a night.

Round 2

Bit by the surface bug, I was out again the following week to see whether it was a fluke. Another 4am wake up call saw me on the same mark less than an hour later. It was still completely dark, but a very bright, waning moon was still a fair way up above me which rendered the head torch more or less unnecessary and I could make out a very faint glare on the eastern horizon signalling the approach of daybreak.

I was a bit disheartened to see the water was a little cloudy from yet another stir up a few days previous – I’d expected it to have settled out by now but clearly not. I must admit this more or less shot my confidence of expecting to catch anything, but I messed about for a bit with a couple of slow twitch soft plastics until there was enough of a haze on the horizon that I could realistically send out the patch 125 and actually be able to see it snaking about on the surface. I was mindlessly casting, dreaming away and contemplating my sanity, thinking “why the hell did I bother getting out of bed – there’s not going to be anything here when the waters this murky” when a black, fish shaped silhouette torpedoed my lure about 20 yards out and I was, rather remarkably, attached to a Bass!

“Get in!” was the thrilled cry that woke the larks, followed by numerous expletives 10 seconds or so later when the fish managed to extricate itself mid water. But confidence renewed, I started paying more attention to what I was doing, deliberately casting at structures, currents and gullies, exploring the topography of the reef as best I could. Not 10 minutes later I got slammed again – these Bass were clearly well up for it this morning!

I managed to get this one to the net and, buzzing to get another off the top, quickly removed the single hooks and sent the fish off to tell its pals.

By this point it was high tide, but surely it had another fish in it? As a matter of fact, it had another 3, plus a few other misses from smaller schoolies. The average stamp was overall good as well – I measure me one fish at 48cm and the rest of were of a similar size. So 4 fish off the top in the space of 2 hours – I’m starting to sound like I know what I’m doing!

An hour into the ebb and the bites dried up so it was as good an excuse as any to turn my attention to the first coffee of the day.

I’m dying to get out again but the tides are tiny for the next week. My usual mark fishes best on the bigger tides I’ve noticed so I may have a scout around and see if I can find somewhere to go on the neap tides.

This is an annual event ran by seaanglingreports.co.uk to help raise money for the web fees. With a member list of nearly 200 you’d think this would be easy enough – unfortunately the reality is probably less than 20 are regularly active and still post on the forum. But those of us that do refuse to let it go; rather than attempting to compete with larger angling forums (or heaven forbid Facebook/instagram), SAR has become sort of a virtual angling club, and with most of us primarily North East and Scotland based it makes the annual meet a bit easier.

This years event was to be held at the old smokehouse on the north side of the mouth of the Tyne. 6 members turned to fish and a couple more stopped by for a chat – poor compared to last year, but we had to rearrange the original date due to bad weather, and those who could not attend were still generous with donations.

I was first blood with a 32cm Codling on frozen Crab within the first 5 minutes. All fish count in this measure and release match and this was enough to keep me in top spot for a good portion of the 4 hour match

There were a lot of nuisance Dabs and small Whiting about with little else of substance showing up. Some of the lads managed to find something more interesting to do by busying themselves with the local Sprat population, which were taking advantage of the peat stained water and clearly feeling confident enough to take their Sabiki’s fished down the side of the wall.

Their presence was clearly noted however as despite the murky water I managed a chunky Mackerel on lugworm of all things, which at 40cm turned out to be the biggest fish of the day, winning me the coveted Piscan Pot Trophy.

It was just as well as Reg managed a 34cm Codling half an hour before the end of the match which would have pipped mine by 2cm.

All in all it was a nice few hours out – nothing to write home about fish wise, but enough money raised to keep the site going another year. Pop along to seaanglingreports.co.uk if you fancy being part of a non-typical group of genuinely nice people. It might not be as busy as elsewhere on the internet, but it’s certainly not as volatile either!

It’s been nearly 4 years since my last visit to North Wales and me and Steve made the decision a few months ago that it needed to be prioritised over our usual jaunt to Scotland lest we be accused of being too predictable!

For the travelling species hunter looking to lift their tally, you could do a lot worse than Anglesey and it’s no real surprise when you have access to venues with records like Holyhead Breakwater, which historically has amassed over 50 species by itself! Most Anglers stick to the inside of the pier, where fast paced sport can be found with the various species of Wrasse, Blennys and Gobies that occupy the habitat all along the foot of the breakwater. Casting puts you onto clean sand where the usual Dogfish and Whiting will readily oblige, but you can also expect surprises in the shape of big Bass, Bull Huss, Rays and Smoothounds. And that really is only naming a few.

The outside wall is more for the specimen hunter; the ground is extremely unforgiving with large rocks, boulders and kelp, but this is where the larger fish lurk and good numbers of large Bull Huss and, on the right day, Conger eels can be expected. It’s also worth a chuck for Cuckoo Wrasse and 3 Bearded Rockling, which don’t tend to show much on the inside of the pier but can more readily be caught on the outside by putting in the time (and leads).

Anyway the plan was to start here later on the Friday afternoon, fish the evening flood for smaller species and then switch to bigger baits as darkness fell to target the bigger Huss and Conger. In reality, it didn’t work out that way for me, as I arrived at the pier a whole 3 hours after I’d intended due to horrendous traffic and road closures. Steve, Stu and Ez had already been there a few hours themselves, although sport had been slow as most of their fishing had been concentrated over the last of the ebb and first of the flood. The breakwater does tend to fish better the further you get into the flood in my experience, at least as far as targeting species down the side of the wall is concerned.

So, I managed an hour of species hunting before the light began to fade and amassed a small tally of Corkwing Wrasse and a couple of nice Ballan Wrasse to get me started before I switched focus to targeting bigger specimens. Darkness is definitely a factor in successful Huss fishing, maybe not as important as with Conger, but Huss are definitely more active at night. They love sticky ground as well, so often times you can target both species at the same time.

A strong pulley rig with big, strong hooks is all you’ll need. 6/0s are my go to at the business end with something like a 5/0 demon circle with an offset point as a pennel. Once upon a time I never used to use a pennel hook over rough ground, but over the years I’ve not found it makes any difference in terms of lost gear, and the pennel provides better presentation and definitely improves hook up rate, especially using a circle or chinu pattern. Fish baits are all you need – mackerel and/or squid are a standard option that will catch well, but if you can get it, what Huss really love is a fresh Whiting, Pouting or Poor Cod bait. These have accounted for many double figure Huss for me, incl my PB (a fish over 14lb). It seems to sort out the bigger specimens as well – In fact I would go as far as to say if you gave me the choice either of these 3 baits VS Mackerel the latter would get binned every time!

Anyway – big baits were plopped out the back of the breakwater as the light faded and we set about the evenings fishing. Dogfish started to make a nuisance of themselves pretty much immediately, as is often the case here. As the tide turned however they seemed to slacken off, which proved effective as less than an hour later my ratchet stripped away indicating the first proper Huss bite of the evening. They’re not the most exciting fighters but they do put up a good account of themselves, tending to hang deep until they’re at your feet. Steve manoeuvres in with the dropnet when the fish surfaces and expertly hauls the fish up the wall. It’s a clear double, and after a quick weigh it hits the scales bang on 12lb – great start!

Less than an hour later up comes a second, smaller fish a round the 5-6lb mark and then Stu follows suit not long after with a fish of his own, landing his first ever Huss, an angry female going over 7lb.

The tides halfway back now and bites dry up, save for the ever present Dogfish, and we decide to call it a night. That long walk back along the breakwater never gets any easier!

A rough nights sleep thanks to a punctured sleeping matt meant I suffered a bit the morning after, but eventually got up the motivation to have a few chucks off the back of the breakwater closer inshore while the rest of them were still snoring away. This didn’t produce much to write home about, a couple of Wrasse and of course the ever present Dogfish. The plan was to fish a rock mark for the evening flood, but since there was no rush to get there we dropped on to Amlwch for a spot of species hunting as the tide ebbed. The venue has been getting a lot of social media and YouTube attention recently and has been getting hammered as a result, but it is still producing a decent array of species for those using light gear. On arrival it was the busiest I’d ever seen it, with at least 20 people fishing. It’s only a small pier so this makes things pretty cramped, but thankfully there was still a bit of room on the inside and we tallied up a decent array of Corkwings and a few Ballans. I was hoping for a Goby or two, but sadly the most interesting thing that came up was a Long Spined Sea Scorpion!

Come tea time it was time to get to our next mark to see if there are any Conger willing to play. A precarious scramble over jagged rocks and boulders saw us awkwardly perched 15 ft above the water which would make landing any decent fish interesting.

With hours of daylight left, I busied myself with the light gear, knocking up a repetitive tally of Ballan’s and Corkwing’s again. The lads daringly set the stalls out for bigger fish at distance and got pestered by Dogfish for their enthusiasm.

Perseverance with the light gear paid off for me with probably the most interesting mini species of the weekend in the shape of a Tompot Blenny, which made a nice change from the onslaught of Wrasse.

Then Stu matched my bet with his first ever Leopard Spotted Goby. A trip of many firsts for Stu! Meanwhile, after relenting and casting out a big rod I was bringing in what I assumed to be another Dogfish, but on surfacing it was a much darker colour and turned out to be a Dogfish sized Bull Huss.

All of a sudden we seemed to be getting snagged up on a regular basis, and with suspicions growing in regards to what the culprit might be, I managed to drop off a small strap Conger on a 2 hook flapper right at my feet, which confirmed our theory that we were being hung up by small straps taking our bait and retreating into their holes. Sadly, that was the only sight of a conger we got all night, and when darkness settled in and the heavens opened the rocks became a bit precarious and we decided to call it a night around midnight, all of us tired from the weekends exploits.

So ends another weekend trip away, and probably my last for a while. It was great to have Stu and Ez along with me and Steve for a change, the banter never stopped all weekend and we had a right good laugh. Looking forward to the next one!

The old faithful venue is still producing the goods, with my latest session producing a decent haul of Bass, albeit none of them beyond the schoolie stage of their lifecycle!

As a venue, Druridge isn’t world famous for the size of the fish it produces, but it is a safe bet to avoid a blank. In fact in 15 years of fishing here I’ve only ever blanked once and can recall the session clearly, as it’s the only time I’ve ever fished the beach in totally flat calm conditions. Mildly overcast on a late spring early morning, the water was like a sheet of glass, with zero ripple from the wind. And the small Flounder and Turbot that can usually be relied on to provide sport were nowhere to be found. Druridge is probably my most regular venue locally, but I’ve made a point to never fish it in flat calm conditions since!

At 7 miles long, the bay has the classical north east ‘C’ shape of most of the beaches in the area and is a flexible option in any onshore conditions as both the head and foot of the bay are protected by large, rocky outcrops and skeers which take the sting out of any prevailing northerly or southerly swell. It doesn’t take much to get the water moving either, and a 2-3ft swell is all that’s needed to get the Bass on the feed.

Such was the case when Marc messaged me asking if I fancied another evening bait fishing for Bass. I checked the forecast – pretty much identical conditions to when me and Mike were out the other week, with a 2.5 ft north easterly swell to put some fizz in the water and get things moving. When I arrived at around 6pm it looked positive – a little coloured from recent rain but I’ve never known that put Bass off, and it’s rarely heavy on Druridge anyway with very little silt build up over the main body of the bay. After a slight false start, which involved a trudge back to the car as I’d somehow managed to leave my rod stand in the boot in my haste to get down to the beach, I was fishing.

Short up and overs with a size 1 circle hook as a pennel and a 1/0 Sakuma worm hook as the main were generously baited with fresh Ragworm and lobbed out into the turbulence. With the onset of lighter nights, I’m starting with 2 rods as I usually find the best sport comes as the light fades and into darkness, so having the extra rod during daylight can help to pick out any early arrivals that might feel more keen than their peers. Marc arrives within half an hour and sets up to my left and, between commenting on how perfect the conditions look, we set about waiting for things to go dark in anticipation of the first fish.

Yet we needn’t have been resigned to the idea of such a waiting game. The Bass clearly had other ideas about what time dinner should be served and were quite happy to start jumping on our hooks from the word go. We each built up a succession of schoolie Bass during the last few hours of daylight, the biggest touching around 39cm so nothing huge. Bigger fish are possible if you work for them, but a fish going over 2lb frankly is a fair achievement around here.

We have a particularly mad hour where a large school of fish is clearly camped right in front of us, with some baits in the water less than a minute before they’re set upon by hungry Bass. I ended up landing 6 fish in less than 40 minutes!

Ironically, as witching hour descends, things slow down – the fish are still around and feeding, but not as hard as before. Marc manages the best of the evening around an hour before high water though with a lovely 45cm fish thats destined for the table. I add a couple more Bass to my tally to bring me to 12 for the evening and, although there are fish still there, I conceded to tiredness and decide to call it an evening.

I only recall one other session a few years ago where I had so many fish and it’s nice after such a time to have a bit of a red letter day. I think we’re about at the point when it’s time for the lure rod to come out!

Not the first attempt of 2023, but the first session that’s been successful.

With the winter cod season now a distant memory, we’re just coming towards end of the annual spring lull in reputable fishing activity. Mid March and through April is generally a dismal time for sea fishing where I’m from. The hardy anglers content with scaling things down can still find some busy sport, but the results are more based on quantity as the quality fish have moved offshore to spawn.

As we creep towards May though, the better fish begin to return and we start to enjoy the arrival of summer species. My bit has been well and truly champed waiting for the water temp to rise enough to make it worth getting the lure gear out for Bass, but this year the lingering chill of the seasons end has been a stubborn nemesis and I’ve had to stick to my guns with bait fishing – with little success up to now.

Bass are Bass though, and I still enjoy catching them on bait. So, a bit of a last minute decision saw me heading up to Druridge on bank holiday weekend with Mike. We’ve not fished together for a while so it was good to be out again.

When we arrived at the beach a couple of hours after low water however, we were a bit concerned at the state of the sea. I’d been expecting a south easterly surf running from my cursory glance at the forecast, but it was clear on re-analysing that it was in fact north easterly despite the prevailing south easterly wind. With swell and wind working against each other, the surf was really dampened on a lot of the beach and we covered pretty much the full stretch of the bay in the car looking for the best of the surf. It was a bit of a challenge I can tell you, though on this occasion right in the middle of the bay appeared to have JUST enough surf that might hold a few fish, but it was definitely on the knife edge in terms of being ideal! Everywhere else was flounder territory, which didn’t really interest us today. So we trudged down to the waters edge and set about salvaging the task at hand.

Mike set his stalls out for a Turbot for the species hunt to start with, while I focused straight on the Bass. A short up and over was baited with a couple of lively Ragworm and plopped out within minutes of arriving. It was a bit of a last minute session, and Mike had struggled to get bait, so we’re only using one rod each. I don’t remember the last time I only fished with one rod – far too relaxed compared to usual – I actually think I quite enjoyed it!

There was a bit of a nervous moment when both me and Mike had to tow in some monstrous rafts of kelp, which really put the 3 pieces to the test.

Thankfully the current quickly cleared things out and this was the only time we had problems with weed, so it was back to focusing on the rod tips as the last of the light conceded. The south east breeze, while not strong, allied itself with some unwelcome (and un-forecast!) pockets of rain which made things a little uncomfortable at times. Between the peltering though I had to abruptly end a phone call to the mrs as my rod registered the first interest of the evening and a small schoolie was promptly plucked from the fizz. The first Bass of 2023 – not a monster but a welcome site.

Target achieved, the next bait is sent out and over the next hour Bass number 2 and 3 of 2023 follow. All around the same size, it’d be hard to tell them apart! Mike had found favour with the local Flounder population and was notching up a decent tally and then managed a Bass of his own, so that’s both of us with a species point.

Things go slow for a bit and the exploits of the night before (beer) start to catch up with me; at one point I catch myself nodding off whilst still standing up! The surf is calming all the time and eventually I’m only plopping my bait 20 yards to make sure I’m in the right area. Eventually the fish come back on the feed and I get a much more solid bite than the last few. This one has a bit more size to it, not enough to really cause the gravity surf any trouble but enough to notice. As it transpires it’s a nice little Bass bang on the legal 42cm size. I debated having him for the table, but I prefer them to go over 45cm and later in the year when they’re in better condition, so he gets his photo taken and then gets sent back – hopefully we cross paths again later in the year when I’m out with the lures!

This is quickly followed by another smaller schoolie to take me to 5 for the evening

Things go quiet on the Bass front again around midnight, although Mike continues to tally up on the flounders on most casts. Just before high water we decide to call it quits, with a little left over bait for Mike to save for a mid week session.

So despite the hard conditions, it actually turned out to be a decent session. I’m really itching for the temperature to go up now though so that we can get on with the summer fishing!