If  you are like me and long for the day when I can sell up and move to warmer climes, you will be surprised to hear John, the  chap below, is seriously considering moving back to the UK from Thailand and relocating his young family in south Devon. Don’t get me wrong, I adore South Devon but, come on!!! Anyhow, I’m sure John has his reasons but before he finally commits he wanted to be sure there are bass in these waters. Already a keen fresh water fly fisherman, John wanted to hedge his bets and get to understand lure fishing and in particular for bass.

So, there we have it. My job was to put John on the bass so he could be sure if he does finally relocate, he can enjoy some good sport in the waters around South Devon. SIMPLES!!

So checked tides, moon, and forecast and Thursday evening was looking great. Two out of three ain’t bad I suppose. Tide waits for no man, and the moon is always in the sky, the Met Office on the other hand is a very different thing. We met at 6pm by which time the forecast 14mph Westerly had increased to 22mph with gust up to 30mph and now with more than a hint of southerly involved. Casting practice was fun!

We made our way out across the rocks and began to feel the full force of the brewing storm. The swell was picking up and looked good enough to bottle and drink but the bloody wind was threatening our guiding session big style . Fair play to John though, he fronted both wind and waves as we worked our way through a session of lure enlightenment, always listening and attentive and within an hour or so he had settled into a good casting distance with about as much accuracy as anyone could have achieved given the conditions.

Despite amazing sea state the wind was causing us problems. The tide was dropping and I knew the schoolies would be in on the beach gorging on sandeel on the edge of the rip tide. So we made our way back in. As we did so my good mate Andrew Walker accompanied by gorgeous Sarah, put in a surprise appearance and with Johns OK, they joined us for the last hour.

I explained to John the rip tide and the channels in the sand out of site below the waves so he could get a mental picture of the seabed and the current. And boy did he get it quick. He was casting into exactly the same places I would have and the result was ……………………..  A BASS!  He actually had a few but set them free before I could get the camera out. Ok not the biggest in the world, but given the conditions he did exceptionally well to cast , let alone catch.

Well done John mate. You really earned that one.

Lots of fishy chat at the bar, a few beers and then home to bed.

The best thing about guiding is the people I meet. John has kept in touch and we email regularly. If he does relocate I feel certain we will be doing a lot of fishing together.

John, it was my pleasure.

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Saturday morning Charles and I set of to explore a mark we have not visited yet this year. We left the caravan site and and drove to Kingsbridge where I was to stop to buy enough food and liquid for the pair of us to survive for the day. Parked the car up outside the shop, and suddenly  realised I had left me wallet back at the caravan. A quick rethink and we decided to go back and fish a little more locally and thank the lord we did!

First girl falls to me!!

This one fell to a Tackle House Feed Shallow mullet pattern. Perfect on an overcast day in medium water clarity.

Next it was Wayne’s turn. Second time fishing and second fish. Wayne was using a Giant X-layer in Ayu colour with a Decoy 15g jighead.

Waynes 2nd fish

I knew the fish were coming in with the flood tide chasing the sandeel and felt certain we were in for a fast and furious session. Charlie found the wind was too much for his 10lb braid and extremely light rod so I tempted fate and put my Tenryu Buldog Evo in his hands, gave him a pointer on where to cast and YES, WELL DONE MY BOY. CHARLIE LANDS HIS FIRST BASS. I’m not sure who was more pleased, Charlie or me.  This is the now 6 year old who braved sub zero temperatures at the Cornish bumble last November and who has followed me over rock and sand at all hours of the day and night since then in search of a BASS . Congratulations Charlie, you deserve this one mate. Feed Shallow again.

Not sure if Charlie caught the Bass or the Baas caught Charlie!

And so they kept coming, This time on a Z-Claw. Fantatstic lure with an action that absolutely drives any predatory fish mad. If there are fish in the water and you deploy a Z-claw it’s just a matter of time. This one was taken just below the surface.

Z Claw delivers!

Given the windy conditions SW gusting 25mph, I set Wayne up with my Tenryu Rod Bar 270. Wayne hooked and fought more fish than we caught collectively, but just couldn’t land them. On two separate occasions he hooked into fish that had the Rod Bar bent double. I had to drop my rod and run over and adjust his drag in fear of the rod snapping on one fight.  We will work on his landing technique and report on his progress!

To finish the day this beautiful girl gave me a full on scrap. She was not willing to give an inch and took me through gully and kelp before she was tamed. Lot of respect. All fish returned unharmed.

A big fight for a 4lb fish

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With me playing host at the forthcoming Lure Forum South Devon shore bumble I thought it best get tuned in to some shore fishing. Having the RHIB at hand can make Nick a very lazy boy so I decided to get a little exercise and go rock hopping.

I have recently purchased a Tenryu Bulldog Evo II mainly for RHIB work but was keen to give it a casting work out as it boasts not only jigging capability but also casting up to 50g . I paired it with a Shimano Rarenium 4000 with 22lb braid and was good to go.

Always keen to preach to non believers, I kitted out my mate Wayne and we walked down to the mark. I had been watching the cloud cover move ever closer to the shore . Just as we got to the mark the sun disappeared and I knew we were in with a good chance of a decent fish or two.

It wasn’t until we were ready to attach a lure did I realise Wayne had never picked up a fishing Rod.  10 minutes spent on the rudiments of casting using light tackle and Wayne made a good start. A little jerky maybe, but he was definitely a good pupil!

With Wayne now throwing a Savage Gear Sandeeel (medium white) with a 22g Savage Gear Jig head. I was free to attach my lure of choice. This time last year I had great succes using te Sakura Magic Eel. Both the white and iridescent purple had worked previously so I attached  a purple pattern with 22g head , cranked the Bulldog Evo and let it fly.

The jig head hit the sand and I began a lift and fall action, I could see an outcrop of rock and kelp and pumped hard to get the lure to bump over it and  ”MY GOLLY MISS MOLLY YOU SURE LIKE A BALL” !!!! Fish on, not huge but a great scrap.

Good Golly Miss Molly!

We took care of this little girl and she went back safely.

Next cast and this with a change of Lure I fixed on a Savage sandeel the same as Wayne. Cranked the rod away it went.  On the retrieve I wanted to tease the lure back through the mouth of a gulley where I felt was a good ambush point for any waiting bass. Careful negotiation through the kelp and just at the mouth of the gulley I gave the reel handle 4 or 5 turns in quick succesion and “WAM, BAM, THANK YOU MAM! This girl jumped clear out of the water and what fun on light tackle. I have to say The Bulldog Evo put up a good show as well.

Wam, bam, thank you mam!

With Wayne now getting to grips with his casting and a few pointers on how to work the Soft Plastic lure and where, guess what?

LIKE A VIRGIN, KISSED FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME !    Fishing virgin lands a bass!!!

Fishing virgin pops his cherry!

Sorry about the naff song references. Been spending too much time with Nathan and his music collection!!

All fish returned unharmed.

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I thought I would pop out for a couple of hours and fish a spot I’ve only fished a handful of times; plus I wanted to get out of the 33mph straight east wind and this mark fitted the bill quite nicely (North Coast of Cornwall by the way).

I made my way down the flipping great cliff to the waters edge, knowing fall well I only had minutes (30 minutes max) to fish this area due to the making tide.

I put on a Duo Tide Minnow Slim 175 Flyer A32 and proceeded to cover the ground and with the wind behind me, I could cover a good distance and on my 6th cast BANG …..OMG what a fight! Anyway 5 minutes later I see her come to the surface; she was a really big girl and I got her all the way in to my feet but had to keep my eye on the surf as well, as i used the surf to land her but as i was fishing with my TENRYU INJECTION so I couldn’t bully her in.

I grabbed her in the mouth using my Boga Grips; something I have done a thousand times before. As I turned to make my way back up the rocks and out of danger, she shook so hard she freed herself from my lure of which i made a desperate lunge for her with the Boga then my hand, but off she went!!! I estimate her to being a good 8 lb plus fish but i guess I will never know!

Next Cast and again – BANG!  Fish on! This time I had my landing location at hand and a thought out a plan after the bodged attempt to land the first bass. This bass gave me an even harder fight: I thought I hooked the same bass! When I fish with light gear, I find you can’t just bully the fish in; you have just got to play them – but that’s where the really fun is for me!

Anyway, I eventually got her up and could see she was a good size but not the size I landed moments earlier. I landed the Bass in the location I had planned earlier with a little song and dance. At that time I wish I had a Net as this would be so much easier, but the problem is then you have got to carry it with you everywhere, which is a pain in the backside. But anyway, I got the bass in and she weighed just over 5 lb and on the Boga it looked like 5.5lb

1 hour passed  and I started making my way back knowing full well I was in the Poo, but I wanted more bass which never came, so I basically got cut off from my planned path and had to make my way up a cliff which isn’t designed to be scaled by man; maybe a Goat but not a guy wearing waders, and all my kit that I had. I got to the top of the cliff, with no breakages but it was the most hairiest climb I have ever done, being an Ex Para I’ve done a little, but this was ridiculous!

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Wind South Westerly

High Tide 10.00am

Low Tide 16.30

Water Clarity Clear

We headed to the North coast for a 2 hour session of which looked like perfect conditions and got some guest appearances from our Silver friends.

The  Duo 150 Surf was fished about 3 feet below the surface, with a Wind and Jerk kind of action happening with my rod and reel. I was standing on the inside of a gully and casting out past the mouth and slowly bringing the Duo 150 Surf back into the gully which was filled with white water.

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During a recent fact finding trip to Devon, sussing out some new marks, we couldn’t resist getting our lines wet! The conditions were perfect for targeting any fish heading out of the estuary as the tide ebbs away, an hour before low water with a slight sw breeze.

There were sand eels swimming around everywhere as I made my way out towards the small surf, a good sign for hungry predators! Waist deep in water I flicked a few casts out towards the breakers, using an Xlayer as the main lure with a sand eel Bass fly teaser tied a foot above trying to connect with any of the feeding fish.

15 minutes of covering the surf and nothing, time to move. As the flow of the water was beginning to slow, I figured I’d spend some time towards the mouth of the estuary as it was slightly deeper and I noticed the sand eels were swimming around here in numbers. After a big cast, keeping constant contact with the lure I began bouncing the Xlayer up and towards me in the water column and back down to the sea bed. Varying the speed and hight etc of the retrieval, I could feel the ‘tap tap’ sensation of the jig head banging against the sea bed, then suddenly….Bang! I could tell straight away this wasn’t a Bass as it began its fight for home, it had the feeling of dragging up sea weed on the hook but with the added few head shakes, something I wasn’t too familiar with. After a little scrap, this little guy appeared on the surface in-front of me.

Turbot on a sand eel teaser.

This is my first ever Turbot, and caught on a lure! The sand eel teaser above the Xlayer, what a result!!

It just goes to show how effective todays lure fishing tackle is for all manner of species, it’s completely opening up my eyes, the possibilities are endless!! I figured the ‘tap tap’ sound on the sea bed encouraged the Turbot to poke its head out of the sand to investigate, saw the teaser higher up in the water and attacked! I’ll do a little more investigating and let you know how I get on-any excuse to get on the water!

All the best, tight lines. Mat.

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