West Coast Bass session 1 & 2

People: myself, saltydog and frenchvisitor

Duration:most of the day and half of the night... (conor has a fishing problem)

Tide:low high and falling

Weather:calm then southerly breeze then strong breeze later, but warm and sunny till dark

Bait: session 1: plugs, spinners, surface lures etc.. session 2: razor crab lug and sandeel

Rigs:lures and various

Results:read below...




Report:
met up with saltydog in town and convinced him to head out a bit earlier than planned (didnt take much either) to try a bit of lure fishing over the low tide, headed off and picked up rods etc and headed south to the mark.. parked up, and instead of following the usual path we decided to try a different path and came across a very nice area indeed.. secluded beach with rock platforms at low tide.. so with a little wander, we came to aan area that looked very fishy indeed.. loads of kelp and rock features underwater,
(session 1)
So we set up and cast, the first few casts i had was with a kilty, but soon changed to a surface lure.. and conor was using his secret weapon.. after only 5 minutes i saw a big splash behind my lure.. then another.. and just as i was about to give a final tug the splash hit the lure... game on.... now i can see what all the fuss is about.. my heart was racing and trying to set the drag a bit to give the fish a chance, and boy did it go..
a couple of minutes play and it finally gave in... over the 3lbs mark a nice silver bar of west coast bass.. well that was me well and truly happy.. first attempt at plugging for them on the west coast and the fish gods saw fit to appease my desire for a bass..
so with a little break from fishing (to give conor a chance) back to fishing.. but slowly the tide had demands too and we had to leave that mark before getting cut from a safe route back to the rocks..
so slowly we moved south and gave a few casts here and there, just after 8 we were met by frenchvisitor, who by tales of bass was very eager to get fishing... as we moved we came over clean ground so it was time to slap on the kilty again for me.. but only managed a few chucks as the braid seemed to have a weak spot and a cast saw my lure heading for the horizon .. and with only a few bits and pieces it was time to attempt a braid to flouro knot.. never did one of these before, even though i have seen it done a few years ago and my attempt seemed to fit the pictures.. so on with a jensen... an old one too.. it used to be orange and bronze but now was silver with a piece of orange fleck each side.. it has seen a few wars with mackerel and pollock over the years.. went back to my little spot where the kilty made it to its final resting place and cast out.. to both mine and Conors surprise we saw a splash just where the lure landed.. oh heck.. game on again.. totally caught out it took me a few seconds to gain control of the fish.. and as the battle got close something felt a bit different.. then a leap out of the water.. them fish gods must have been really smiling down on me today.. a nice sea trout jumped clear out of the water..a second new species for the year..
so with a quick unhook and weigh (1lbs 11 oz) it was time to clean the fish on dozens of lice which covered its back and a quick release, before remembering to take a photo ..
By this time the tide was starting to push in fast, so it was time to end session one and walk a bit further south again to a nice beach area.. and collect baits and beach casters which were parked close..
(session 2)
back to the beach and there was a nice surf running and all three of us changed tactics, now for some bait fishing.. things were going slow and we were joined by another fisher.. who set up just out of distance.. i.e. to far to leave the rods just in case.. and after a while we saw said fisherman pull out what looked like a flounder so hopes were high of fish.. even though silver bars were what was being targeted, but still slow going, even to the point where after a beautiful sunset nothing was produced..
time to change bait and i sawsomething wriggling ont he end of my snood.. oh god.. the whiting are plaguing mee here now too?.. oh wait a second.. thats no whiting... and i aint touching it.. a large weaver made an appearance... i think them fish gods were now taking the proverbial's out of me now.. just as well i saw what it was in time or it could have been the end of a few things for me.. so a quick photo shoot and as i was about to take the hook out of the fish my light source disappeared.. oh no.. conor walked off and i forgot to bring my headlight, but thankfully there was just enough light for me to see what was going on, so with a set of pliers i gently held the fish by the mouth and proceeded to very carefully remove my hook.. and against my better instinct of.. KILL IT.. i decided to release it.. minus a couple of spines though..
Time slowly passed and all food supplies diminished it was time to male a choice.. one of which was to phone the nearest psychiatric ward and tell them there is a patient that's obsessed with fishing coming into them.. no denying it conor... you have a problem... so back to the jeep and head for home.. just as we were packing things in to the jeep i came to a sudden realisation.. oh.. i must have a little hole in my waders.. and in a very inappropriate place too.. that wasnt too bad when i took a closer look and found a trebble hook just lightly dangling off my jeans not a million miles from my family jewels now that was too close for comfort.. must have fallen out of my lure box when i was carrying it around inside my waders i would have suffered the pain of the weaver than have that treble hook impale my nether region
so with a quick change that wasnt really that quick it was time for off.. and i'm sure that rabbit we saw cushioned the tyre from the hard road surface even only for a split second....


a very good day had by me, i'm sure the others will add to their account of the experience...

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Absolutely shattered this morning....but worth the trip was great to see the Bass nail steves lure and we found a nice platform for future trips. The sea trout must have taken the lure just as it dropped big splash as the lure hit the surface.... Will be back for another session over low water soon.... Frenchvisitor slept in his car to try over low water at dawn so just waiting for an update via txt....shame the beach didn't produce decent surf on it but thats fishing.....

well done on the bass,nice to see some on the west coast,great feeling to add some new species

well done lads nice bass them wevers hurt . got spined when i was fishing courstown for flatties i thought it was a whiting and he shank his spines into my finger and god did it hurt couldn t move my finger for 3 weeks

well done steve on the bass,lovely to see them being caught in the west!

Is there any part of the coastline you havent fished in the last few weeks Conor

Nice one on the catches Steve.

I'll be throwing a few lures later in the week mysefl

well done steve great session

well done lads nice session ,bass on a lure mmmm

Great report - well done on the Bass and sea trout

them fish gods must have been really smiling down on me today..

well it looks like them fish gods knew something i didn't at the time.. got a call that made it my last session fishing for the year going under the knife next Tuesday and I'm busy between now and then.. oh well

nice fishing steve hard luck conor. not a bad day to finish up fishing before the op steve

them fish gods must have been really smiling down on me today..

well it looks like them fish gods knew something i didn't at the time.. got a call that made it my last session fishing for the year going under the knife next Tuesday and I'm busy between now and then.. oh well

good luck mate, sorry i could chat the last day, had hands full, still do, enjoy the hospital food

good session lads and at least ya had loads of fishies before they lay you up steve