Saturday 10th December
It was a calm cold frosty morning so I grabbed the lure rod and headed down to a West Waterford mark that I reckoned would have been relatively sheltered from the strong westerly/northwesterly winds earlier in the week. I arrived and looked down on the bay, it was indeed calm although the water was still somewhat murky, but still the water clarity was a lot better than it has been recently. I made my way to the eastern end of the bay and began casting a variety of hard and soft plastic lures into an area of relatively deep water but there was no interest. As the tide bagan to push in I worked my way westwards along the shore eventually arriving at a small shallow bay which was now becoming rapidly infilled by the tide.
This particular mark has been very productive for me from mid-tide to high-tide. I put on a Feed Shallow and began casting across a now submerged drop-off. I had about five or six casts before the lure was grabbed by a strong bass from just below the ledge merely 10 m out. It fought very strongly, stripped several meters of line before I tightened the drag. I eventually eased it into the shallows and onto the rocks. It was a stocky well fed 60 cm bass with a weight of 5.25 lbs.
I continued fishing with the Feed Shallow but their were no more bites, switched to some soft plastics but still there was no interest. I worked my way further westwards and eventually packed up just after dark. Still I was very happy to have got the one bass as it had been over a month since my last one.
Sunday 11th December
I planned to try an East Cork mark but when I got there the sea was much rougher than I expected and the water highly coloured. I reckoned it would be a waste of time unless I was fortunate enough to pass a lure right in front of a fishes nose so I decided to head back to the West Waterford mark I had fished the previous day.By the time I drove there, climbed down to the shore and was ready to start fishing it was 2.40 pm so I only had about 2 1/2 hours of daylight. This time I started at the western end of the bay and worked my way eastwards. It was rather breezier compared to Saturday and the sea was a little rougher and slightly more coloured. After about an hour I arrived at the location where I had the bass the previous day. I put on the same Feed Shallow and began casting across the same ledge. After only three casts the lure was snatched by a powerful bass in almost the same location. It fought very strongly, thrashing about on the surface and made several dashes for freedom as it stripped line. I eventually coaxed it in but it was still thrashing about wildly before I grabbed it with the boga grip and lifted it onto the shore. It was a better bass, well fed with a length of 62 cm and a weight of 6.25 lbs.
The tide then pushed me back and I moved a little to the left before continuing to fish with the Feed Shallow across some shallow boulder strewn ground. I briefly connected with another fish. It felt to be a decent size bass but came off after about 10 seconds. There were no more bites after that. The wind strength was increasing and the sea becoming rougher so I packed up at dusk. Still another good day for December.
