[rob d]

Another quick session planned for today and again it was bitter sweet. Arrived at the mark at circa 11 and was greated by a nice over cast day, I was optimistic of having some success, there was one other chap fishing my usual vantage point but not to worry there would be prenty of fish all over??? I started fishing with the maria chase and 3 casts in I'd already caught 2 little schoolies prob just hitting a pound.... By this point the weather had changed and there were signs of a chop on the water nothing too major but it could only help... I continued with the chase and by high-tide I'd had 2 more and the biggest of the session, about 2 - 2 1/2 pounds nothing spectacular but it fought well above it's weight, I actually thought I'd got another half decent fish the way it took line off my reel. Then the worst happened, I cast out, started to retrieve, got half way home, got hit, nice one, then it all went slack, lifted the rod, no weight, got it in, my quick link had been bent right out and the chase had gone, I nearly cried, my two best lures in two days... I plodded on regardless... it was quiet for a while then the feed shallow got a tidler which was enough to lift my spirits a bit but although I'd caught on it, it wasn't what they were after, they wanted white so on went the conrad thing which is a white rainbow pattern'd lure, 20 casts or so later another wee bassy about a pound, was struggling to see any sign of activity now as the sea had got really lumpy, weedy and coloured so thinking about visability on went a mag darter in gold n orange.... 3 cast, one more bass, good fight and solidly hooked but I was still thinking that they wanted white so back on went the conrad... 10 mins later I'd beached my first seagull this month.... I didn't check the line for abrasions and the next cast... snap.... lure sailing off into the distance.... At this point I was really p1ssed, three lures down in two days then.... My chase popped up about 10ft away from me, Mr Bass had managed to shake the hook... theres hope I thought ha ha ha how wrong, 20 mins of trying to hook it with a crystal minnow and after snagging it 3 times I'd had enough... My final words to the bass were, "screw you guys, I'm going home!" As I was walking away I heard a frantic shout "oi mate" from the chap (jack) fishing in my usual spot, he'd not taken anything on the lure so changed tactics to static fishing mussels and squid strip resulting in a very nice mullet taken 15ft from the shore, he needed my help to land it as I had waders on, I was happy to help.... His dodgey scales said the mullet was 6 1/2 but there's no way, I held it, felt the weight, it was well over 8lbs... Then I went home even more peeved... 3 lures in two days aarrrrrgggghhhhh

 

[Dave Irving]

Sorry to hear about the lures, it does seem to go like that sometimes. Loose nothing for ages, then "donate" a couple in short order.
Seems to be plenty of bass around at the moment but it is really hard to find the better fish that were there in numbers this time last year.
Northerlies from lunch time tomorrow until mon/tues so the reef should clear some more yet-fingers crossed

 

[rob d]

that'd be happy days dave!!!!

 

[Retired]

That's a great mullet BTW!

 

[Richard Burke]

i lost a chug bug to a broken mono leader in brittany last week - massive tides - could sense that something wasn't right so clipped on a chug bug just in case (cheap/old), bang, cracked off and spent the next 30 mins in near darkness trying to hook it out 20 ft in front of me being hit by increasingly big waves. not wanting to get cut off i left it and went back to the campsite. went out at low tide next day - tide came right up at night, right back out again at night (12m + tides in brittany) then back in the next day and then back out again and I actually found the lure undamaged wedged under a rock about 20ft from where i was standing.

i've had this happen off the hants coast with small tides on the drop and found lost lures but not over 2 x12 m tides.... i had a celebratory beer.....