My Client Catches -Countryside Captures

After the benign winter, sunny spring, and warm yet windy summer we’ve experienced, there was always going to be an air of inevitability about the way September would blow in. One day it was summer, and the next it really was autumn…

However, when I look back and consider the incredible catches that my clients have achieved over the past fortnight, to me at least, it seems that the comparatively sudden drop in the air temperature and overall barometric pressure has flicked a feeding switch, in terms of how the bass have reacted to this shift in the seasons at least.

This is the 60cm bass from the featured image that, again, wolfed down a Megabass Sleeper Craw. When the air and water temperatures begin to fall, it is well established that predators such as bass will seek to hunt with their heads down – but in early September when the creeks, rivers, bays, and lagoons are stuffed full of immature fish? I’m not complaining mind!!

Close Encounters

Around the second half of July and indeed towards the middle of August, a quite remarkable phenomenon was occurring here in the estuaries of south Devon – and I’d love to know if anyone else was experiencing this around the UK?

Lone bass! And big ones too were regularly encountered by Joe and I in the course of our guiding, way up into the upper reaches of the estuaries, and within what was some exceptionally clear water due to the lack of any sustained rainfall.

But could we tempt the buggers into taking a lure? Could we heck… Aside from a fish that Joe managed to tempt when he was demonstrating the use of a creature bait to one of his clients, by and large, the bass that we observed ‘up close’ were not interested in anything that we tickled past their noses – that’s not to say we didn’t catch lots of bass that we didn’t initially see (as you would have gathered from the steady stream of catch reports).

Of significance, is that we both recorded numerous videos of separate, individual bass approaching six pounds, on entirely different river systems, throughout the aforementioned period – some of which simply sauntered past over position. Indeed, the bass that I captured below actually swam within 50cm of Bertie my Border Terrier who was stood in only 8″ of water and then right past me – honestly, he could had grabbed it like a Brown Bear snaffling a Salmon!

Two Theories

I do of course have a theory about this activity… I believe that these solitary bass may have been either habitually adhering to their regular patrolling routes at this period in the season and didn’t really have a care for are presence. Or, I believe they may have actually been searching for a mate. Is the latter such a daft notion? Let’s look at the facts:

These bass were more than content to remain highly visible.
We did not witness these specific bass harassing any bait fish pods.
In general, they were detected in exceedingly clear and shallow water.
They did not appear to be hunting for crabs or prawns.
They did not seem to bothered by our presence.
The sheer number (at least 20) of bass witnessed in this manner is intriguing to say the least.

Seasonal Change

So how does this relate to the capture of the marvellous 60cm bass below, one that my client Andrzej is holding after a sortie deep into the countryside in order capitalise on the huge spring tides – all to evade the worst of the strong winds?

Well, the truth is that the location in which he hooked what could be a seminal fish for this area, is a venue where I discovered a number of these ‘perpetual posers’ earlier in the season, when the water was consistently as clear as it gets.

Fast forward to the morning I decided to revisit this ‘way up-stream’ venue however, and aside from the sunny overhead conditions it couldn’t have looked more different! Floating leaves, twigs, and broken branches greeted us.

Consequently it didn’t come as a surprise to me that with a wind that was swirling and gusting incessantly due to its intensity rather than the direction (which I’d envisaged we’d be sheltered from) I could sense my clients’ lack of enthusiasm upon arrival!

Added into the equation, was that the season’s change had brought about a number of heavy and thundery showers the day prior and overnight, all of which had added to the water’s already ‘coffee-like’ state. In reality (and I had of course planned for this scenario) there really was only one lure type that I felt was worth attaching here… You guessed it, the Megabass Sleeper Craw.

Foliage

Arriving bang on High Tide, as all of my 3 Day Package clients (Andzrej, Dave, and Rich) entered the soup and began to sift through the flotsam to their respective stances, the primary hazard was ensuring that the lure didn’t snag on the back of the cast due to the foliage behind them – that’s how far up the foreshore we had been pushed.

It was already due to be a huge tide today, and with the low air pressure and the strengthening wind serving to funnel its progress even further up this river system it was a good job that nobodies waders were leaking – including mine!

Wading down to Andrzej, I took a few minutes just to remind him about all of the attributes of the Sleeper Craw. How the splash would be an attractant in the 2m depth of mucky water, the way he could keep ‘The Craw’ within the ‘kill-zone’ longer than any other lure type, plus how any bass in the vicinity would be attempting to ‘sense’ for their prey scuttling along the seabed or gathering in the margins.

It was just as I’d moved back into position and was about to give Rich the same ‘pep talk’ that I heard Andrzej shout, just as his Tail Walk SSD Hi-Tide 86ML buckled to the pressure of a hungry ‘crab-hunting bass! Get in there!!!

Hooked neatly in the scissors, this 60cm bass is by far the largest my clients and I have hooked from this venue. although I’ve seen much larger fish here. I’ll be back for sure, especially over the series of spring tides.

Tap and Slack

Having explained to the guys how most of the bites you receive on a creature bait will be different from the last. Thankfully, one of the ways I’d covered was how they may experience a sharp ‘tap’ before all of the tension falls out of the braid as the bass picks up the lure and swims towards you.

This is precisely what happened, before Andrzej (who is a very experience coarse angler who has fished for his Wales) retrieved the slack and found what I’m sure you’ll agree is an absolutely beautiful specimen kicking on the end of the line!

With my quad muscles burning as I quickly displaced the thigh-high water to reach him again, my first ‘scoop’ to net what I could see was a good fish thrashing on the surface didn’t go according to plan! Bumping the rim of the net into her head, she made a powerful run to our right, before this highly skilled angler turned his prize ready for my second, far more successful attempt.

I don’t mind admitting that Andrzej and I shared a hug after netting this wonderful 60cm bass! Top bloke!

Books by Marc Cowling

(Including my LATEST RELEASE: The Lure of The Bass – The Revised Edition)

To learn more about how to catch bass on lures, and how to choose which lure to attach over another within all of the environments and conditions in which you will encounter this spellbinding species, my three books will undoubtedly help.

For stock levels, purchasing options (BACS or PayPal) and for more information in regard to the specific contents of each of my respective publications, you can follow the links to my sister website (Marc Cowling – Bass Lure Fishing) below:

The Lure of The Bass – The Revised Edition

Bass Lure Fishing – A Guide’s Perspective (Volume 1)

Bass Lure Fishing – A Guide’s Perspective (Volume 2)

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(2nd Guide Joe and Marc Cowling)

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