Easter Bass - 23rd April 2011

It was a nice warm sunny day with a light southwesterly breeze so looked an ideal day for some more lure fishing. I reached the mark at about 4.00 pm just before low tide. The water was a bit more coloured than I would have liked. I started fishing in the location where I had a 71 cm bass a couple of weeks ago. I then moved westwards eventually reaching a small rock promontory as the tide was beginning to push in more strongly. There was quite a lot of weed drifting about there, but I perservered, as I was fishing into a gulley which looked like it might hold a fish. I had started fishing with a Feed Shallow, swtiched to some surface lures and then changed back to the Feed Shallow. Suddenly there was a big splash behind the lure and a bass connected with it. It was about 45 m out and thrashed about on the surface as I worked it towards the rocks. It was a bit tricky to get down to lift it up and I was worried that I might loose it, but it was well hooked. It was a 60 cm bass and weighed just over 5 lb.

As the tide pushed in I moved back eastwards and fished into a small bay. I reckoned that the breaking waves would wash food out of the gulleys to the west of this and into the bay and hopefully there might be a few bass lurking about. I fished there for about 25 minutes and then just as I was thinking of moving I was hit by another good fish. I could see the fish just below the surface, it was stationary for a second or two before it realized that my Feed Shallow was not a tasty snack and then began to thrash about. It felt a strong fish and wasn't going to come in easily. I gradually eased it in. At this stage the waves were breaking over the rocks where I was standing which made it difficult to land the fish so I had to move back a bit until I could coax it into a shallow gulley and on to the rocks. It was a 64 cm bass and weighed just under 6 lb.

I fished there for a little longer but had no more bites and was forced back by the rising tide. I moved further along the shore and had a few more casts but was getting snagged by strands of kelp. I switched to a surface lure but nothing was biting. I packed up at 7.00 pm as I promised I would be home in time for dinner.