Combe Martin SAC member Peter Robinson registered this 62cm bass into the clubs lure competition. The fish was tempted on Peters Private boat and was tempted using a Savage Gear Sandeel.
Daniel Welch = 107cm
Peter Robinson – 62cm
Ross Stanway 53 cm
Biggest bass – Peter Robinson 62 cm
Daniel Welch has secured an early lead in Combe Martin SAC’s lure competition tempting this 57cm bass on a Lipper 90 lure.
CMSAC Lure Competition
Daniel Welch 2 bass. 107cm
Ross Stanway 1 bass 53cm
Daniel Welch has been enjoying some great sport off Ilfracombe landing bass and pollock.Fiiish Black Minnows and Penn Conflict Inshore rod doing the business.
Combe Martin SAC Lure Competition standings at present
Ross Stanway bass – Total 53cm
Daniel Welch bass – 50cm
I enjoyed a short evening session over low water recently that prompted me to ask myself a question? I started the session fishing a shallow boulder strewn shoreline bumping a megabass soft plastic lure through the shallow water. After half an hour searching familair ground as the tide pushed in I had nothing to show for my efforts. As is often the case I followed my instinct and moved to some deeper water thinking that the bass were too wary to come in close as it was very calm and clear.
After scrambling a hundred yards over boulders I cast out the same lure and on the first retrieve had a fish hit the lure close in without hooking up. A couple more casts resulted in nothing. I changed over to a an IMA hard plastic lure and cast this out working it back briskly. After two or three casts I was jolted into focus as a fish hit the lure hard. After a short spirited tussle I released a bass of a couple of pounds.
A few more casts brought no response so again I changed lures. A black Fillish minnow was sent out and after two casts another bass of simular size. These were the only two fish caught but I ponder as to what difference the change of lure made. On some sessions I frequently change lures for various reasons. Depth of water, water clarity, suspended weed and matching what I think the bass are feeding on.
The question I asked myself is did changing the lure result in me catching the second bass or would I have caught it anyway? There are so many variations that can make the difference in a each fishing trip and much of what I do is driven by instinct. The size, colour and design of lures undoubtedly makes a diffrence but how much and how many lures does an angler need? With limited time to experiment I only carry a small selection of lures that I have confidence in introducing the occasional new pattern when I am tempted at the tackle shop. I suspect that lures catch more anglers than fish. If you asked ten anglers their top ten lures you would undoubtedly get ten different lists?
Over the past couple of years, I have been trying to catch grey mullet on the fly without success. On my latest excursion I joined fellow Combe Martin SAC member and mullet enthusiast John Shapland.
John took me to a mark in the Taw estuary where he has enjoyed some success recently using traditional mullet tactics. John had noted that the mullet were feasting on small sand shrimps and had corresponded with the fly fishing for mullet maestro Colin McCloud whose excellent book “Mullet On The Fly” has inspired many fluff chucker’s to target the wily mullet. With a bright blue sky and not a breath of wind it was a joy to be at the waters edge.
John and I arrived just as the tide started to push. We set up our tackles and watched the water for signs of mullet. As the tide gained momentum swirls on the surface showed the presence of good sized fish. I put out a line with two shrimp imitations and allowed it to drift with the current giving the occasional twitch to impart life.
The numbers of fish increased and my optimism grew as these fish were undoubtedly feeding. I missed a couple of pulls that raised expectation further. Suddenly the line zipped tight and I connected. The rod hooped over and I glimpsed a silver flank. Disappointingly It was a bass of around 1lb that saved a blank and was added to later in the session with a second bass slightly smaller.
The mullet were undoubtedly feeding on the sand shrimps and could be seen slurping them off the surface like nymphing trout. I feel I had a few near misses with the frustrating grey ghosts. I will be back again. It was good to fish with John as he fished traditional bread bait tactics and also blanked on the mullet. If I had fished alone with the fly I would probably have though I would catch if I had been using bait.
Catching fish on the fly can be seen as an elitist tactic it can also be an extremely effective method in its own right adding another string to the angler’s repertoire.
It is always good when that first bass of the season hits the lure! I have not invested much time in lure fishing for bass so far this year as I have been focussing on other species. My first session after bass a couple of weeks ago was thwarted by dense weed that made fishing the shallow ground I enjoy fishing virtually impossible. The latest session saw clear water and a gentle wave hitting the shoreline. I love this visual fishing in very shallow boulder strewn water bringing a soft plastic through very shallow water. The bass will move in with water just covering their backs and when they hit the lure there is a flurry of spray as the fish fight hard on a tight line clearly visible as they struggle before being brought to the shoreline.
North Devon has a vast range of waters to fish with an abundance of different species to target. Below are a few snap shots from the Water Edge,
(Above) An unsuccessful trip to the coast with the lure rod the sea full of suspended weed; but it was still good to breath in the salty air.
(Below)
Sometimes its good to get back to basics. James joined me for a session at Jennetts watching a crimson topped float close to the water Lily’s. Watching the float disappear was a delight and resulted in small roach, skimmers and a tackle twisting eel that reminded me of my younger days when these slimy tackle twisters were a common feature of catches.
Combe Martin SAC member Jack Philips got his lure fishing season underway with this 48cm bass that was tempted on a 5 ” Megabass spindle worm.
Conditions are good and the water is warming up so CMSAC members will start to register fish for their Summer long lure fishing competition sponsored by High Street Tackle.
The New Patchinko 125 Colours Are Arriving…..
After a very long wait the latest new Xorus colours are now available in the Patchinko 125 – we expect them to arrive here around 11th May…there is only a limited number available and they are available now to pre order…..
The stock pictures do not do proper justice to them in reality so I have taken this picture above using models we already have in the shop in the relevant colours, as follows from the top – Spring Minnow, French Wakasagi and Metal Ayu.
High Street Tackle New Blog Post Published…
Read High Street Tackles latest blog post here – https://www.highstreettackle.co.uk/blogs/Match-The-Hatch–Spring for some spring time inspiration/ideas.
Our blog facility is quite new and will be updated as regularly as new products and general information determine. So far we have published some useful articles covering the following subjects
and a couple more specific new product reviews.
As always feel to contact us should you have any queries…..
Danny Watson at High Street Tackle love his lures and has a steady stream of lures arriving to tempt both anglers and bass!
Im thinking it won’t be long before a few bass are being tempted from North Devon’s coastline.
IMA Komomo II – Sexy Mackerel….
The IMA Komomo II is by far one of the most popular lures from IMA and has a place in many lure anglers A Team box…
At 110mm weighing 15g it casts extremely well and rated to swim at 10-20cm it will be in amongst the action on many occasions…
Just arrived in the UK is this new version for 2022 – Sexy Mackerel – click either of the pictures to buy yours now…..
The arrival of this colour brings the number of colours currently in stock of just this one model to 16 – from our massive selection of over 150 different IMA lures!