People:Me, the young fella, & his friend
Duration:3pm - 7pm
Tide:LT 17:48
Weather:Stiff NNE, cloud, backing NW & clearing
Bait:Plugs, spinners, & mackeral
Rigs:Running leger
Results:Plenty of mackeral, 1 bass
Report:Brought the two lads out today. We had plenty of mackeral and anchored up in a favourite spot. Stayed there for 2.5 hrs and hadn't a take. There were bass breaking the surface occassionaly but they didn't seem to be on the feed. One of the young fella's opted to freeline a live mackeral. Lo and behold when he retrieves it the tail of the mack is almost broken off. Definitely a hit from a bass but no hook up. At low water we top up with fresh mackeral and well stocked we opt to drift the original mark on the start of the flood. Freelining a lively mackeral yours truly has a hook up. The bass literally nails the mack. After a super fight and several runs later we land the fish. A beautiful bass weighing in at 6lbs. Unfortunately, the bass has almost swallowed the hook - it is caught in the stomach opening. Question - if bass this deeply hooked are released will they survive? Had another one with the hook not quite in the stomach but well down the back of the throat. I managed to get the hook out but as I did a vein came with it. I tried to ease the hook out of the vein but as I did it burst and the fish bleed profusely. Would this fish have survived if put back? In any event we were caught for time and had to call it a day. Had we stayed longer we most likely have had more fish as the fish were definitely on the feed.
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