P
rimarily, I am a salt water
lure angler and this makes
the winter months torturous
as I wait for the water temperatures to
heat up and the seas to calm, when I
can get back on the shore chasing bass,
wrasse and pollack. This gives me
plenty of time to reflect on the season
past, analysing what worked, why it
did and how I can do better next season.
I thought this would be a perfect
opportunity to share with you some
of my memorable catches, successful
strategies and useful bits I picked up
along the way.Memorable catch
THICK LIPPED MULLET: You may be
expecting me to pick my biggest fish
here but I have thought long and hard
and my choice is based more on sport
and just general amazement rather
than trophy hunting.
I had been out chasing sea trout on
one of my estuary marks using a
standard light weight lure outfit - a 7’,
3-12g rod loaded with 12lb braid and a
12lb leader. The session had been rather
quiet and I decided to call it quits and
head back to the car. As I waded back
through a shallow bay I could see a huge
shoal of mullet cruise in front of me,
not an abnormal sight but then they
started to splash and boil in a frenzy.
To my eyes it looked like a feeding blitz
which was odd, as mullet aren’t
renowned for being predatory. Curiosity
got the better of me so I unhooked my
HTO Shore Jig (blue / silver) from the
eye and cast out to the edge of the shoal,
which was now a black writhing mass
about 40 yards in front of me.
I started a relatively fast
retrieve to keep the small 7g
jig off the bottom and then
the rod lurched and my reel
started to scream - had I foul
hooked one? At first I
suspected it was just caught
in the flank but it soon
became clear it was hookedweight of the jig head and started to
work the crease lines which had formed
just off the main current. It was very
shallow, fast running water which split
a sand bar in half creating another
channel - it looked fishy!
I switched the lure over to an Illex
Lighting Finesse 110 in Clear AYU and
made a short cast, picked up the slack
and started to bump the lure along the
bottom. I had two very small taps which
I thought was my jig head gripping into
the sand and then I saw the fish swirl in
front of me just before my rod tip
slammed over and it took off into the
main current! It was a cracking take - a
proper aggressive smash and grab, yet
extremely visual at the same time. After
battling the fish out from the current, I
got it into the shallows before grabbing
a firm hold by the tail. I took a few good
snaps and a quick video release which
can be viewed on You Tube – http://www.
youtube.com/watch?v=WWD1G_Y3y-sTactics change!
If I had to only pick one month to go
bass fishing it would have to be
September as the water temperatures
are high, there is a higher chance of a
bit of fizz and the bigger fish tend to
move in. Imagine my dismay when I had
spent months planning a September tripin the top lip - I couldn’t believe it! The
power of this thing was immense. On
the first run it took 50 yards as the
water sprayed off its back in the
shallows. It was like hooking a bone
fish in the tropics!
Finally, after a tactical fight and what
seemed like a lifetime, I beached the fish
on the sand and ran in to get a grip of it.
I couldn’t help but laugh as I lifted the
5lb plus thick lipped mullet up for a
quick photo before slipping it back to
join his friends. Had it really happened?
I can categorically say it is up in the top
five fish for sport and pure enjoyment to
date. Could I do it again? I very much
doubt it as the thick lipped mullet are
not known for taking lures but I
certainly won’t forget it in a hurry.Memorable catch
BASS IN THE SHALLOWS: I was on the
mark in prime
time and had
already picked
up a few schoolie
bass using 4.
inch soft plastics
bumped in
the current.
As the flow
strengthened, I
stepped up theREFLECTIONS
Looking back
over 2014
Our salt water specialist
Steven Neely has been
writing for us for a year
now, here’s how it
panned out for him...
ing massBass from
the shallows