Lure and Light Game: The End is Nigh

Tuesday, 19 November 2013

The End is Nigh

Waking up was difficult this morning, the cold air making it a struggle to get out from my warm duvet, signalling winter has arrived.

Upon leaving the house for work, the foothills near my house had a good dusting of snow on the tops, both the Snowdon range and the Rhinogs had the beginnings of a decent covering.

The trouble with this is; the foothills thaw quickly during the day and leak icy water into the estuary systems either side of where I live, this is likely to signal the end of the Bass season for me.

In all fairness things have been getting slow over the first half of November, where before I was catching multiple fish per session, the catches have gone down to sometimes just one fish.

I can't say I am not slightly disappointed, I set out this year wanting to both improve my catch rate on lures and to beat my personal best Bass, the former I have accomplished but the later is not so. That being said I have enjoyed my fishing for the most part this year and managed to catch with reasonable consistency.

In fact until now this is the first time I have continued to catch Bass on lures into November, that in itself is a personal accomplishment and a good reminder that as yet, I am still a relative beginner to Bass fishing with lures!

Admittedly I have been disappointed and a little bit discouraged with the size of the fish I have caught, especially as this time of year is known for the time of monster Bass, but I am learning and that is good!

Here are some photos of some November catches;

All my fish through November have been caught on the 125mm Savage Gear Sandeel and this lure is starting to grow on me a little better.

Sunday last, I fished a mark that has been fairly consistent for me this year, but yet again it threw up just one fish. About three hours before low tide I got a decent take and at first I genuinely thought "This is the fish I have been hoping for". The fish took line against a fairly tight drag, but it was only a few seconds before I realised it was not quite the fish I had been after. Still it was certainly a better size to that which I have become accustomed to this last while and she certainly cheered me up some.

61cm and a spirited fighter;

She put a properly nice bend in my Apia rod and its actually the first nice fish I have caught using it. Anyway, after taking the measurement I released her back to catch another day.