It’s probably not great for me as my heart literally stopped for a split second yesterday morning when a fish hit my lure, but because it’s the south west coast of Portugal and you know the size of bass which haunt these waters, these things are going to happen out here! I’d have given the fish an easy 6lb+ but it came off at my feet when I had to give it a bit of line as the huge swell went to drop back. In terms of what is possible out here my bass was never going to set the world alight, but I’ll take the experience big time. This has to be some of the most exciting fishing for literally anything that you can do. I think of quietly wandering a glassed off estuary at first light - which I love - and I think about what we’ve been fishing the last couple of days, and it’s bloody amazing we are chasing the same species of fish…………….
Once again I know I am going to struggle to convey to you just how dramatic this coastline is out here. In terms of potentially big bass the draw is obvious, but until you see the seas out here when there’s a proper swell rolling in, it’s impossible to visualise. For sure I can show you photos and videos of “bouncy” conditions, but what I can’t get across is how much water can be coming at you - and it keeps on coming and coming and coming. One of our lads waded out to literally knee-deep on a beach yesterday afternoon and a minute later he was knocked over by a surge of water which just kept coming.
He was in no danger with where he was standing, but make a similar mistake out on the rocks and I dread to think what the result could be. Yesterday morning for example it felt like there was sometimes five minutes between the really big sets, and we were looking at some lower rocks because they gave us access to some fantastic looking water. But we held back and carried on fishing higher up, just to watch for a bit and be safe, and a few minutes later where we had been thinking about fishing was completely swamped by a volume of water I can’t get across to you. It feels like you are standing on the edge of the known world and looking out at this mythical entity trying to rip you from the rocks because you dare to stand there and indulge your passion. Imagine how it must have felt when there was no knowledge of other lands out there as you looked upon the heaving waters. Talk about daunting.
The numerous locations we want to fish on the west coast are currently unfishable because of the size of the swell, and there’s also been some serious water rolling in on the south coast. We walked away from one awesome looking spot because the waves were ridiculous and you just couldn’t get anywhere near the ground you needed to fish. But thanks to the lads I am out here with, we have been fishing a few areas which are okay if you always keep an eye on the sea and stand the hell back from it. They know the potential size of the bass you could hook because of what happened to them last year, but the potential for big bass aside, this is one very special part of the world and it’s a joy to be here. I went for a glorious run in the sunshine after a fishing session and the world felt just about perfect…………………
