It always happens at some point in March - the weather gets stunning for a few days and it feels like a proper taste of spring. I went out fishing a couple of days ago to do what I have promised myself I am going to do a lot more of this year - try estuary areas I loosely know in a different way - and for the whole session it felt so utterly glorious in the warm sunshine that all I could literally do was smile. Storm was sunbathing and I’d be gobsmacked if I ever saw another person where I was…………
If there is one thing I don’t do at this time of year it’s to fish for bass with lures in estuaries, and I am nearly 100% sure I have never caught a bass in an estuary on a lure this early in the year. Note the word “estuary” here by the way, in case you go back through my blog and call me out. This whole creature bait thing has lit a fire under me with the potential I am fully buying into, but up until now the bulk of my fishing with these types of lures at this time of year has been with a few select and very kind anglers who have shared their knowledge and experiences with me.
You know how I like to try things out, indeed I am fascinated to see what I can find out over time about whether this whole creature bait thing is really about nailing crab-imitation style lures to the bottom and fishing them slowly, or whether it’s about nailing something vaguely appealing to the bottom. I don’t know yet, but until I feel that there are good numbers of bass around and I have really built my confidence levels up, I think it’s sensible to stick with that ready to fish MegaBass Sleeper Craw - actual lure, weight and hook, all in one. Not cheap, but I haven’t lost one yet.
One thing I have been doing on my creature bait journey as such is play around with a few different lure rods to try and find what works for me with this style of fishing. Maintaining constant and slow contact with the bottom to me calls for a rod as light in weight as possible, because it makes sense that you fish “rod tip up” when the wind allows. I am also favouring a shorter lure rod for this fishing because I can’t see the point in having to hold a longer rod like this for long periods of time. I know that Marc Cowling uses his stunning Major Craft Seabass Custom Marc Cowling Edition 88ML 8'8'' 6-32g lure rod (review here) to great effect on the creature baits, and so far it’s the truly outstanding Favorite Black Swan 852M 8'5'' 6-24g lure rod (review here) which is doing it for me the most with this style of bass fishing. I will review the much cheaper Favorite Totem 842M 8'4'' 6-24g lure rod in due course, but as with the 12-36g version of the Totem (review here), it’s SO close to how incredible the more expensive Black Swan version is if that is any help.
Anyway, at some point way into the ebb tide a couple of days ago I very suddenly got hit. I was almost in a trance with the sunshine and calm estuary water gently gurgling by, but very suddenly there it was - a hit on the creature bait. I kinda went with the hit and allowed for a couple of sharp taps before lifting into the fish. I know I yelped. Storm looked quizzical as she had to watch a 52 year old man literally dancing a jig as he brought what turned out to be a truly tiny little bass to hand.
Never has one very small bass meant so much, and quite how such a modestly sized capture engulfed a lure of this relative size was something else. My first (tiny little) bass on a creature bait, fishing on my own at a location I had thought about and decided upon. I have no idea what this means for the next couple of months around here, but if there is the one single bass feeding head down way up an estuary in early March, what is the potential? If I wasn’t at the Open Weekend up at the amazing Glasgow Angling Centre today and tomorrow I would definitely be out on the open coast with the conditions coming in, but wow am I buzzing from the mighty capture of the one tiny bass! You all have a good weekend and may the Six Nations results go the right way, whatever that may be of course……………..
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