I awoke at sunrise which was my planned launch time. I covered my eyes and told the sun to go away. This was too early and no-one had made me a coffee.
It took ages and much begging and pleading before Amos came to the rescue and then, by half five I was in top gear and heading to sea again, in my drysuit now after soaking my other gear last night. Still swelly and one of the guys had six bass already…things looked good as I paddled off up the reefs.
Most of the way up to Eccles, the waves pounding on the rocks and nothing to show for it, nothing. Mackerel Jointed Minnow 13 and the pink and silver Minnow 12, both very productive in previous weeks. Some serious foam in places…
Most of the way down I changed over to an orange/gold Jointed Minnow 13. I got half a reef when the rod slammed down…at last! A 42cm bit of silver flashed around and ran about and dived, pulling the10-40g Vantage over nicely and giving a great account of itself on the FS30 fixed spool – such a different feel to a multiplier especially with braid. I soon had it in though and this was one to take home. Soon after I was paddling along and chatting to James who wasn’t doing all that much either when suddenly the same rod and lure started to bang away…
Oh yes, this was a good fish. A very good fish…I was drifting at a couple of knots and it tore off sideways straight into the rocks. I saw flashes of silver at the surface and felt the pull of the reef on my line…and then, disastrously, as I pulled to try and clear it the rod sprang back and everything went slack. OH NO!!! I’d lost the fish, the lure, the lot. Damn!
I wound the other lure in before it floated under me and got tangled then wound in my slack and fluttering line…which suddenly turned heavy! I hadn’t lost it at all, I guess the line had got hooked over something and then pinged free…and the fish was now out of the rocks and pulling. Hard.
Slowly it came to me, fighting, nodding, shaking, diving, running, everything in its armoury to try and get away; James was filming on his phone, I was regretting leaving the spare video in the car. Sounds dramatic? Well, yes. Deservedly so. It’s not my biggest bass. It’s not my biggest fish on the lure. It’s not even my biggest bass on the lure. But this was my best scrap on a lure that I can remember in this country, this was fighting as well as a tuna of comparable size and I say that from experience. This was a scrap and a half. And then, it broke the surface nearby and I saw it…they always look bigger in the water and this looked near-double! Stay focused boyo, that lure should hold even if it’s not the best place to hook it and there’s only one treble in there…it dived again…
I guess it took five minutes or so before it was alongside and I grabbed it over the shoulders, avoiding those gill plates. Great fish! Not a double or even near but one strong fish… six to eight I reckoned…65cm. Into the tankwell and under the net.
I paddled down some more and saw Martin, loving his new ride. We chatted and were joined by Tim. It was hard going all around but at least we were getting one or two fish. Martin then hauled up a bass as I was leaving on bait.
Down the last two reefs, the bottom one now covered. I trolled straight over it, got 3/4 of the way down when the rod arched over and I felt a bass banging away at it again. No idea how good as it dove straight into the rocks, jammed me and snapped me off with the braid being sliced on the granite. Damn, that lucky lure was now gone. I paddle din to land, I’d got bored with bass now, I wanted to drift some sabikis and try for sandeel, weever, gurnard or what have you. I surfed in and the lads got some pics of Bertie for me after I’d got a couple that showed no scale:
Funny how they all look different…we weighed it, an hour or so after catching it went a bit over six pounds. Nice fish that, Nearly fifty quid’s worth on the market last week apparently, £7/kg for small, £16/kg for large. I don’t sell fish though, I eat them or share them out.
So, back out for species, paddle two reefs up, drop down and drift…this is trolling speed and no-one’s near. The wedge and sabikis are bouncing off the bottom, the braid is transmitting everything through the 8ft 10-40g Vantage spinning rod and FS-30 reel. It’s all going great guns although nothing’s happening on the fish front. The sabikis are baited with rag too, this would have done the business on the south coast but not here today…then I snagged. Line is peeling off and I try paddling uptide past it. Can’t budge it. I end up with fifty yards of line out, thirty yards off the reef near the end where the waves are pretty grim; I see a yak heading towards me trolling, someone I don’t know – I shout over that I’m snagged and to keep away. He keeps coming. I shout again. He comes and has a chat. I’m in a nasty spot here, the braid is singing and the waves are rolling in and they’re breaking. I don’t want a chat. I don’t want a lure wrapped on my line. He moves off – I tell him to give me slack so I can unhook it – vhe winds in instead so I give up and give him slack so he can do it. But he can’t. So I tell him again to give slack and I’ll do it, he does and I get the lure almost to my hand – remember I’m anchored by my line from the bow. So, he’s out to one side and the lure is almost there and I’m going up and down and then it suddenly goes tight again and I’m being pulled sideways now as well. The lure and line is pulled away from me as he paddles out to sea with his reel engaged again; there’s line singing from both directions and things are turning nastier when there’s an almighty bang and my rod is exploded under the opposing forces and I watch the top end float away with the now sheared line.
I keep my temper. Too incredulous. I’m, quite frankly, astounded, especially when he says he was concerned that I was getting close to the rocks…with two lines attached I wasn’t going anywhere, wa sin the same place I had been and he was offshore from me. So, scratch one very nice rod. There’s a lesson or two there.
Forget it. I went in, hauled everything up over the mountain (with a little help) and went home to make lunch.
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