Client Catches – Summer Synopsis…
(Part 1 of 3)
It’s been good, if not yet spectacular so far this season… After slipping from a rather cold, wet and miserable April and start to May (how on earth have we been under a hosepipe ban here in Devon since late-April when every stream I see running into the sea is flowing wonderfully I’ll never know?) into an extended run of extraordinarily sunny conditions, albeit initially tempered by a ‘nagging’ East and North-Easterly wind, the subsequent warmth to the sea and air has seen numbers of bass increase steadily.
The Headlines
No two seasons are ever the same. And as it stands as I write this on the 29th June, there are five components or headlines that, after scrutinising my notes, really do stand out so far this season – these are:
- The number of small/tiddler bass (8 oz to 1lb) is definitely down on the past few years, however, there is a ‘silver lining’ to this as you’ll read.
- Although my clients and I have landed a pleasing number of 3-5lb bass, nobody has pulled out a ‘proper beast’ yet (a 70cm+ fish that is). But it is coming…
- The types of venues in which we have landed bass has been incredibly varied and far ranging this year, and with a twist that I’ll cover in my next post.
- One particular type and pattern of lure appears to be ‘what they want’ at the time of writing.
- The change in light levels during the early-evening onwards has been highly productive
Behaviour
Do I actually know what these awesome predators are up to presently, or what they might do this evening or tomorrow? No, of course I don’t, and I doubt anyone will ever come close to figuring out how these menacingly mercurial mini-monsters conduct themselves even 1 or 2% of the time.
However, as I mentioned in the recent Podcast interview I was very kindly asked to complete by The Lure Fishing Podcast here, by spending upwards of 300 days a year out guiding (approximately 150-170 sessions a season) and fishing myself (around 110-130 sessions that are completed all-year-round) I believe that I am in as strong a position as anyone to comment on their behaviour, at least around my local patch that takes in Plymouth to Exmouth at least.
So in an attempt to highlight the more significant catches that my clients have achieved over the past 4-6 weeks (I’ll save my personal catalogue from early-April onwards for a separate ‘My Catches’ post), in line with the headings above, within this post, the first two statements will form Part 1 of a short series – something that you, my readers, appear to enjoy!
When the small ones aren’t around…
Yes, I have a lot of theories! And yes, I do like putting them to the test via my personal endeavours initially, before gradually trickling or immediately transferring them into my guiding operation if they pertain to a specific method, technique or even a type of mark or venue. But sometimes, it is actually the way the bass are ‘hunting and feeding’ that I cannot help but ‘switch onto’, and it is this behaviour that I/we need to react and adjust too…
Now, you may have heard or read the saying that when “the small ones aren’t about, then the big ones get a chance to take the bait” (or lure in this case). Well, I have to say that this is something that I definitely subscribe to, as if you’re getting hassled by kamikaze tiddlers, then it is exceedingly difficult to ‘get through’ them to the bigger fish that may well be lurking within close proximity.
In my experience, once you start attracting sub-1lb bass, it is rare that I/we will latch into something tasty amongst the mayhem. It can happen certainly, and I vividly recall (especially as the story is contained within the introduction to my second book) landing a beautiful 68cm bass on one of the Marc Cowling/TC Lures MWS Needlefish and a prototype Major Craft Seabass Custom 88M after the lure been snaffled time, after time, after time, by 1lb bass one muggy evening – so you never know of course.
Quantity , not Quality…
In the course of my 3 Day Packages, depending on the conditions, my clients’ previous experience and what they wish to learn, or perhaps the type(s) of venue they wish to visit, the first session of the six will take in a relatively ‘easy’ mark. Not too much walking, but far enough away from anyone else, in addition to being somewhere that isn’t being battered by the wind and waves so that I can ‘perfect’ people’s casting technique and the correct way to ‘work’ a variety of lures.
From this baseline, the mark I will choose will generally err on the greater chance or prospect of latching into a very, very big bass (Quality) over numbers of them (Quantity). Moreover, at the forefront of my mind during sessions two, three and perhaps four (depending on how many bass we’ve caught, or if one or more absolute lunkers has been pulled out) will be fishing within the daylight and darkness, during what I perceive (through hours spent on my marks) the most opportune period(s) in regard to the tidal cycle.
Yes, I do complete these 3 Day Packages during what I consider to be ‘the best’ tides, but please do not assume that this will relate to the tides increasing in size up to and over the springs. Nope, there’s far, far more that comes into play as far as I’m concerned, and yes, this subject probably would make a good blog post at some point.
My job.
Back to the ‘when the small ones aren’t around’ theory… And if the bass have been ‘difficult’ to tempt or locate over the first four sessions of a package, then, following a group discussion, my attention might start to drift towards landing more bass over trying to land a trophy fish (although there is always still that chance).
So, despite landing a good number of bass when all three anglers caught during the first night session of this particular package (the better fish up to 3lb are displayed in the gallery below), during Day 2 (sessions three and four) the enthusiasm was tempered somewhat by the lack of serious action. I won’t lie, the fact that we’d experienced wall-to-wall sunshine and those unseasonal East/North-East winds for the three weeks preceding these sessions meant the bass were being reticent to put it mildly! I was going to have to pull out my box of tricks or play my joker…
Despite the amount of learning that takes place during my guided sessions, placing bass on the end of people’s line is what my job is of course. So after scrutinising my notes whilst also noting the thundery-looking weather due to roll in later that evening, I hatched a plan that would take in a deeper section of an estuary (the main body) rather than the creeks that hadn’t really fired for me up until this juncture.
Nothing until…
So after quite a hike, that the 74 year old client with us dispatched with ease (this guy is animal as you’ll read in Part 2!), we planted ourselves on a mark almost completely sheltered from the wind, and where a huge volume of water would be swishing past us now that the tide had turned and started to ebb.
I did have one more ace to play in regards to taming something tasty, but for the next couple of hours at least, my clients were more than content to ‘whang out’ the surface lures into the newly-formed tide race as I sat, observed, and plotted my next move. I knew they were going to catch during this session, as it is the haunt of lots and lots of sub-2lb bass – well, it usually is…!
An hour in, and with a rather annoying convoy of ‘tourists’ intent on bringing their boats closer and closer to our position despite having the entire bloody estuary to play in, just as I was thinking about upping sticks, or least taking one or two of my clients for a touch of ‘cast and move’ a la ‘hunter mode’, one of the guys (Darryl) announced that he’d “had a hit”.
This wasn’t unexpected of course, although what was interesting, was that it coincided with the wind decreasing down to a very gentle breeze and the Sun becoming hazy for the first time in weeks with the incoming veil of cloud and forecast rain (both of which are classic ‘Natural Trigger Points’ (taken from A Guide’s Perspective Volume 1 again sorry!), but also that what I presumed was one of the smaller bass that frequent this region had made a hash eating the lure and hooking itself.
Normally one these smaller bass would foolishly find itself being unhooked by me, before being placed gently back into the water with the words “go and find your Mum” ringing in its otoliths. But maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t a tiddler… There didn’t appear to be many in this particular estuary, at least compared to last year, therefore, I utilised this near miss to encourage Barry, Darryl and Rob via the words (you guessed it) “if the small ones aren’t around, anything bigger will have a better chance of getting to the lure first!”
The Sound
I didn’t see it, but I know that sound all to well! BOOOOOOOOOSH, like a large stone entering the water quickly, as a proper bass annihilates the lure ‘off the top’ – a method and a moment that I guess 90% of bass lure anglers rejoice in! Fish on! And it was a good one too!
Darryl’s beautiful bass at getting on for 5lb wasn’t the only fish of the session, as Barry did land a wee one after I took him for a bass induced stroll down what was a foreshore that was becoming rapidly revealed. But Rob, ah dear Rob, well… he’ll be the star of the show next time around, alongside another gentleman, who wanted nothing more than to make my hall of fame as he put it!
My Books
(including my most recent release: ‘Bass Lure Fishing – A Guide’s Perspective Volume 2)
My new title ‘Bass Lure Fishing – A Guide’s Perspective (Volume 2)’ is IN STOCK and available to purchase. Details of the contents within each respective book in the image above can be found in the blog post that I wrote recently here, in addition to the various PayPal payment options applicable to each book.
Furthermore, my two previous books: ‘The Lure of The Bass‘ and ‘Bass Lure Fishing – A Guide’s Perspective Volume 1‘ are also currently IN STOCK.
If you would prefer to pay by Bank Transfer or you just have a query, you can contact me via the Contact Form below or directly at southdevonbassguide@yahoo.com and I will answer as quickly as I possibly can. Thank you.
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