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932 Posts
The alarm sounds off at 4.15… Your immediate thought is one of tiredness and wanting to go straight back to sleep, but something in your brain clicks in to gear and that initial thought is quickly replaced with “please bass gods, let the weather forecast be right. You promised no rain or blustery winds today…”
You tear yourself away form the warm covers, peel back a curtain and can just make out the branches of the closest tree through your weary eyes and darkness. They are moving, but only very gently. Perfect. Game on.
It’s late Spring time and you can now get away with wearing shorts reasonably comfortably at 5am. So on they go followed by a t-shirt. Quietly down the stairs in to the kitchen, flick the kettle on, remove sandwiches from the fridge made the previous night at 10pm when you really couldn’t be bothered to make them, but knew you HAD to if you wanted to get away from the house with minimal fuss. Fill the flask, finished getting dressed (have I got enough on or too many layers…? Don’t want to be hot but it will be slighter cooler on the shore line. Better to be safer than sorry), re-check rod/clips/knots/lure bag contents which obviously contain specific lures picked for this specific outing 2 days beforehand.
Quick cup of tea and a *** if you smoke, try to ignore the “evils” the dog is aiming in your direction and you exit the front door as quietly as you can. Whoa there tiger! Lets not get carried away shall we? You forgot the all important number twosies before leaving the house. Nothing worse then arriving at the mark with everything looking perfect, except the fact there’s no toilet and you forgot to have that all important “business meeting” before leaving the house. Back inside, take care of business and double check all your fishing tackle again.... Alarm bell goes off in your head… Am I sure I can leave without the Ayu back and Silver sided lure that dives that little bit deeper? This mark does tend to throw up white foamy water so is one chartreuse plug enough? I’d be a fool not to take the one with a chartreuse back and orange belly when there’s foam about, surely? No, you’re adamant your choice from 48 hours previously was the prudent one. You take your chances. There isn’t enough room left anyway.
Open car boot, quietly lay the gear down ensuring the bail is facing upwards so the reel/rod sits flush on the floor. Shut boot quietly as possible. Clamber in and fire the old girl up. Why is it everything sounds magnified x 100 at 4.45am? Whack on the heaters, wipe the inside of the windows and off you set. Now the excited butterflies really start doing rollie pollies in your stomach.
All the way there your brain is working over time thinking about the mark, the tide, potential swell, what plugs to use, various retrieval techniques, implementing data learned from various forums. A veritable multitude of "what ifs"…. Then you have a word with yourself and remember that it’s all about having unadulterated fun with the elements, the fish and mother nature herself. This morning is going to be a good one, I can feel it.
Park up, unload the gear. Hat? Check. Polarised glasses? Check. Phone? Check. Camera? Check. All the other gear you need has already been triple checked. Off you set on the short walk to your final destination.
And then, finally, at last, you are greeted by one of your favourite ever sights and feelings. The mark itself with the beautiful backdrop of a “bassy” looking sea.
The smell, the excitement, the view, the anticipation, the slight nervousness and the sheer thrill, grips you all at once. You set off towards the waters edge. A little sea spray dampens your cheeks, you admire the view, you're just happy to be alive and to top it all off… Nobody else is there. Nobody but you.
You tear yourself away form the warm covers, peel back a curtain and can just make out the branches of the closest tree through your weary eyes and darkness. They are moving, but only very gently. Perfect. Game on.
It’s late Spring time and you can now get away with wearing shorts reasonably comfortably at 5am. So on they go followed by a t-shirt. Quietly down the stairs in to the kitchen, flick the kettle on, remove sandwiches from the fridge made the previous night at 10pm when you really couldn’t be bothered to make them, but knew you HAD to if you wanted to get away from the house with minimal fuss. Fill the flask, finished getting dressed (have I got enough on or too many layers…? Don’t want to be hot but it will be slighter cooler on the shore line. Better to be safer than sorry), re-check rod/clips/knots/lure bag contents which obviously contain specific lures picked for this specific outing 2 days beforehand.
Quick cup of tea and a *** if you smoke, try to ignore the “evils” the dog is aiming in your direction and you exit the front door as quietly as you can. Whoa there tiger! Lets not get carried away shall we? You forgot the all important number twosies before leaving the house. Nothing worse then arriving at the mark with everything looking perfect, except the fact there’s no toilet and you forgot to have that all important “business meeting” before leaving the house. Back inside, take care of business and double check all your fishing tackle again.... Alarm bell goes off in your head… Am I sure I can leave without the Ayu back and Silver sided lure that dives that little bit deeper? This mark does tend to throw up white foamy water so is one chartreuse plug enough? I’d be a fool not to take the one with a chartreuse back and orange belly when there’s foam about, surely? No, you’re adamant your choice from 48 hours previously was the prudent one. You take your chances. There isn’t enough room left anyway.
Open car boot, quietly lay the gear down ensuring the bail is facing upwards so the reel/rod sits flush on the floor. Shut boot quietly as possible. Clamber in and fire the old girl up. Why is it everything sounds magnified x 100 at 4.45am? Whack on the heaters, wipe the inside of the windows and off you set. Now the excited butterflies really start doing rollie pollies in your stomach.
All the way there your brain is working over time thinking about the mark, the tide, potential swell, what plugs to use, various retrieval techniques, implementing data learned from various forums. A veritable multitude of "what ifs"…. Then you have a word with yourself and remember that it’s all about having unadulterated fun with the elements, the fish and mother nature herself. This morning is going to be a good one, I can feel it.
Park up, unload the gear. Hat? Check. Polarised glasses? Check. Phone? Check. Camera? Check. All the other gear you need has already been triple checked. Off you set on the short walk to your final destination.
And then, finally, at last, you are greeted by one of your favourite ever sights and feelings. The mark itself with the beautiful backdrop of a “bassy” looking sea.
The smell, the excitement, the view, the anticipation, the slight nervousness and the sheer thrill, grips you all at once. You set off towards the waters edge. A little sea spray dampens your cheeks, you admire the view, you're just happy to be alive and to top it all off… Nobody else is there. Nobody but you.
