I had a bit of company
yesterday as my old bassing buddy Jamie dug out his Prowler and
joined me for a session. We made do with plan B as I didn't fancy how
conditions might end up in the afternoon. The 4.30am meet was a shock
to Jamie's system but I think he felt relief when I told him that I
had a few 2am starts in the last month or so. As I put my Outback in
the water the first thing I noticed was how warm the water still is.
Now I don't track water temps much other than around May time, an
18.7c surface temp at 6.30am is high I would imagine.
As we set off there was
a light breeze and a fishy looking spot so I clipped on a mag popper
and went about making a few casts as we drifted off. On the third
cast, as I let the lure settle for a moment or two before retrieving
it, a small bass nailed it. I had another hit the lure right at the
side of the yak about ten minutes later, both ultimately came off but
it was an encouraging start. We tried a few spots, trolling and
casting and found an area with some fish, we had some fun on
surface lures before splitting up to see if we could locate a better
fish or two. Jamie trolled off into the distance. I tried a different
approach.
I've been thinking a
lot about presentation recently. The kayak provides a lot of
advantages but at the same time, a few issues to deal with. I'm pretty
sure I'm missing opportunities to catch bigger bass, all part of the
game I guess. I'm keen do some night sessions afloat and also some
more anchoring rather drifting. This would enable me approach things
differently and fish some areas more effectively if done quietly and
with stealth.
I set up a few drifts
using the Wexford worm fished weedless and weightless. Now I've not
used these for a while but the Wave Worm tiki stick casts well and I
did catch my PB on a white one, I just hadn't got around to using
them afloat yet. I wasn't too happy with my hook choice as the
Nogales Monster is quite a heavy hook and I didn't like the way the
lure was sinking. This kind or stuff does my head in.... Anyway, I
had a couple of fish and lost one before I joined up with Jamie
again. The afternoon was a dour affair, the wind got up and we
couldn't find any fish. It was long session and a good effort from
the big guy who hasn't been out for over a year. I guess we fished
from 6.30am till about 3.30pm. To be honest I'm rinsed today myself,
really felt that one! August is normally a month that I end up feeling burned out.At the minute I'm stuck to windguru and tide tables. I can't wait to get back on the water....
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| A weary paddle home for Jamie |
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