North Coast Bass (attempt)

Came back to a 'new' beach for the second time on Saturday night past. Conditions were perfect: no lashing rain, no wind, ideal surf, dropping tide (as advised), approaching dark.. And, after hearing of a few bass getting caught along the north coast shore over recent weeks, hopes were high, ish.

Had two rods set up, one baited with a whole squid and cast out behind the '3rd breaker'. The other was baited with a mack head and lobed into the surf close-in. Both baits were double-hooked and lashed down with baiting elastic.

Alas no bass But it was a fine evening to be out and thoroughly enjoyable. Managed 3 cat sharks, a semi-decent flounder (impaled on one of the 4/0 hooks), and a plump coley. Fished 4+ hours in total, 3 hours down to low tide and an hour back up, packing up about midnight.

Also had a spinning rod for when things were quiet. Used a Tackle House Feed Shallow, a silver-barred spinner, and my new toy..: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1pcs-Recharge ... SwjwtZqLOf - what can I say, I couldn't resist!

Nothing came to the spinning lures even though the 'new toy' worked surprising well, it kept its charge the whole night and the light and vibrations were triggered perfectly when it hit the water. However.. I reckon it would have actually scared the fish off to be honest! some craic throwing it out in the dark all the same, it was like a flare heading out to sea

A firework display went off behind me at one stage which added the evening..

So, has anyone else tried one of these new gadgets and had any success with them??

Tight Lines,
Chuckaroo

Baited rod #1: Shakespear Salt Extreme Flattie 11.5ft, 3oz with a Jarvis Walker Intense reel loaded with 30lb braid
Baited rod #2: Daiwa Sea Bass 113 with an Abu Garcia Cardinal 117i reel loaded with 20lb mono
Spinning set-up: Penn Powerstix Pro 9.2ft, 80g with a Shimano Sienna 4000FD loaded with 20lb braid and a 6ft 12lb mono leader

A few pics:

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last few pics..

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Nice report Chuckaroo, the surf in the last pic looks lovely. That cat shark looks suspiciously like the doggies I occasionally catch. No bass but you got a few fish, a familiar outcome?

Cheers JW. Yip, an all too familiar outcome. But as can be expected when a guy I know recently caught his first bass(es) from the north in four years! And he fishes for bass on the north coast most weeks of the year.. Lol

Dogfish is a type of catshark, ironically. Name comes from the similarity of how the eyes compare to those of cats, I believe.

Great report- fair play to you!

Looked like a nice evening to be out. Pity the bass were a no show. Snazzy looking lures!

Hard luck on bass mate..use different baits very session. Good luck!

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

Thanks for the comments

Returned again to the same beach on Saturday there. No bass again but I actually SAW one! The fish was working around a patch of loose weed that was rolling in the surf right in front of me, it came right into the shore to a point where the water was barely covering its back
Defo not a mullet or coley or pollack. Defo a bass

Threw my lure in front of him straight away but of course i managed to immediately hook a bit of loose seaweed! several hundred casts later and in all directions,I failed to hook him..

Cant argue with the baits ye tried..!

One thing you might try. Take a Fiiish Black minnow - 140 shore rigged. Cast and retrieve slowly so the lure is headbutting the sand on the way in. You should feel a tap tap as it bounces over the ridges in the sand. I have been catching some very big Bass using this method. Ok Not up north but when the fishing is slow I have found this often produces a fish and they have been bigger than normal. Might be worth trying.

I was not a fan of this lure until recently when they wanted nothing but this lure. Practice in shallow water so you can perfect the speed. The head of the lure should be at 7 or 8 o clock with the tail pointing towards 2 o clock.

Thanks for that Eoghan
I have a fiiish black minnow and, despite not being much of a fan of it tbh ( - any lure where the tail keeps falling off has me annoyed and in disbelief!), it sounds like a very interesting technique. I will give it a go for sure.

The head of the lure should be at 7 or 8 o clock with the tail pointing towards 2 o clock.

Sorry, I don't get this.. what do you mean?
And I'm not even sure what defines 'shore rigged'.. is this just a swivel attached to the end of the mainline and then several feet of mono leader with the lure at the end.?
Ta

So as you retrieve the lure it will automatically go nose first into the sand. You want to practice this as too slow will drag the tail along the sand. Its hard to explain but you will know when you try it. Imagine a plane coming into land, thats kinda the angle ye want. Shore rigged just means the head you use on the lure, its rounded and not as heavy as the offshore head, again if you google it you will see what I mean.

Yeah, I get ya now..
will let you know if a get a bass on it..
Cheers