Client Catches – A Cannibalistic, Clear Lure, Cloudy Water Capture!

Client Catches – A Cannibalistic, Clear Lure, Cloudy Water Capture!

A title that is a mouthful admittedly, but one that absolutely sums up the capture of the largest bass registered by a client so far this season at 68cm! What’s more, as well as being achieved within water that was far from transparent, the lure that accounted for it was none other than a ‘concept’ of mine – the 100% transparent IMA Chappy 80 MC1 (here).

Compelling

First of all, I would like to congratulate Mark, the captor of the 68cm bass in the featured image on his new Personal Best – brilliant stuff. But it was the compelling nature to the fish’s capture that I would like to briefly cover in this short post, as although the area I was guiding my clients on that day can throw up some fantastic bass, I cannot help but think that it only ‘showed up’ on this occasion because it was potentially predating on the copious numbers of hand-size bass in the vicinity.

Yes, a cannibalistic capture if ever there was one! But what has lead me to this conclusion you may well ask…? Well… First of all, I have to report that I am not entirely sure what the ‘tiny bass’, that had been attacking my clients’ surface lures with gusto were actually feeding on. Sand eels? Sand smelt? I don’t know because we didn’t witness any of these critters in the water swishing past our feet on this upper estuary venue. Furthermore, despite peering down the throats of many of the bass I unhooked that afternoon, they weren’t coughing anything up…

Commotion

I mentioned in my previous post (here) how the mullet were ‘topping’ on the surface layer of what was some exceptionally clear water on that occasion – all of which lead me to attach a surface lure with what I would consider as having more of a ‘swimming’ action. Well, as the title suggests, the water during this session was decidedly stained, with a real ‘browny’ tint to it caused by some recent rainfall – a ‘brownness’ often exacerbated by the persistent powerful current experienced here, but that wouldn’t be adding to the turbidness today due to the fact is was one of the smallest neap tides of the year.

Yep, a tiny neap tide – the type that many anglers will shun in favour of the bigger springs. But this of course was a natural occurrence that I had specifically planned for as my clients stuck to the task of retrieving their lures, along an even more specific trajectory aligned with the ridge positioned along the channel they were interrogating, as they attempted to intercept the bass traversing out of an adjacent lagoon.

As the tiny tide increased in velocity, the expected conveyor belt of bass started to appear – snapping at the flashy, splashy, Patchinko 100 Mark’s friend (Phil) was using. But as is often the case when bass lure fishing, and attempting to ‘out wit’ these splendid sporting species, maybe the small ‘Patch’ was a little too obvious…?

I won’t lie, I had considered shifting Mark over to a paddle tail in what was some ‘tea-like’ water as it swept over the mud flats here. But something told me to persevere with the miniature ‘Clear Chappy’ and that something was the notion that a larger, much more astute bass that most probably wouldn’t be able to discern precisely what was making the zig-zagging commotion it creates in the 2-3ft of cloudy water. And by virtue of this, it would decide to ‘eat first, and ask questions later’ with its much smaller brethren clearly the food item inadvertently sitting at the top of the menu…

Staggering

An explosion! That’s what the take was like when Mark’s bass took the IMA Chappy MC1 – with an awe-inspiring and staggeringly savage display of prowess that (a tuna aside) I doubt any other sea fish swimming in our waters is capable of. What a moment, what a fish, and what a session!

My Books

To find out more about my three books, that cover exclusively the ‘How, When and Where’ to catch bass on lures, from an all-encompassing range of environments, conditions, and lure types, I have written a blog post simply titled: ‘My Books – A Description of What is Encompassed Within Each…‘

Further, the availability status, in addition to PayPal payment buttons for each separate title can also be found via the link above. Alternatively, if you would like to enquire or indeed pay by BACS/Bank Transfer, then I can either be contacted via the Contact Form below, or via my email address at: marccowlingblf@yahoo.com

2024/2025 Availability

Personally, I am FULLY BOOKED for the 2024 season. However, as you may have read on an earlier post, I have meticulously trained a 2nd Guide who has access to my 400+ bass, lure fishing marks. He will be conducting sessions over the weekends throughout this summer and into autumn. He is already getting booked up quickly therefore, if you would like to enquiry about or wish to attain his availability then please utilise either the Contact Form below, or email me at: southdevonbassguide@yahoo.com.

Thanks for reading

Marc Cowling