BASS & TIDE TABLES

A lost fish and the rest is history + tides.

While on a camping trip to the North Devon Coast in May 2011, after two years without any fishing and very limited experience, I got talking with a local guy. Like me, he was gazing at the water as only anglers do. “What’s the best bait for catching bass here?” I enquired “Lures,” came the simple reply.

The following day my other half alerted me to a plug that she’d spotted hung up on a rock, which I promptly liberated.

One month later, I was back on that same beach armed with a new 6ft spinning rod and reel combo, the spool loaded with 6lb mono, plus that diving plug. I’d paid £25 for the rod and reel because I wasn’t sure if I would take to this form of fishing.

It was well after first light as I tied my only lure to the mono and made my first cast across the flat-calm water on what was a serene morning. It felt great to be fishing.

I made a second cast between two rock pinnacles, conscious that the last person to have used this lure lost it to the rocks. I was relieved to see it splash down in between and beyond the rocky peaks. Within only a few turns of the reel handle, the rod was almost wrenched from my hands. I felt the weight of a fish, which I presumed was a bass, for about three seconds before the 6lb mono snapped and the fish was gone, along with the lure.

My initial feeling was one of shock and awe at the violence of the take. Soon, my mood changed to frustration at my lack of preparedness and inadequate equipment, but I did learn something.

ON A MISSION

Since that fateful day, I made it my mission to learn about catching bass on lures. Scanning the internet, I found several blogs and forums from which to soak up knowledge. Of course, I couldn’t wait to get my regular copy of Sea Angler magazine.

For a couple of years, I observed web forum conversations without participating. When I did take the leap of faith, people were welcoming and eager to help a novice to the lure angler scene.

By now, the Bass Anglers Sportfishing Society (BASS) was on my radar, but I wasn’t ready to join. My thinking changed in 2017 after someone on one of the forums posted a tirade of negativity regarding BASS. Others jumped on the bandwagon. I was perplexed about why anyone would think that an organisation founded by anglers for anglers (and had been around for more than 40 years), would not be doing anything other than positive things.

In January 2018 I joined BASS and was welcomed enthusiastically. I introduced myself on the members’ forum, where I became acquainted with other like-minded anglers. That year, at the BASS annual meeting, I was made aware of an opportunity to get involved in the i-Bass (Immature Bass Acoustic Stock Surveillance) project. Following my involvement in that project, I was asked to write an article about it for the Society’s magazine, which I did.

Since joining BASS, I’ve found it to be friendly, inclusive and democratic, with a respect for all forms of rod and line fishing. The collective knowledge and experience across the membership is vast, advice is on hand, and no one judges you.

BASS is campaigning for stronger conservation measures to protect bass stocks following decades of over-fishing, so that in the future we may catch more and bigger bass.

I’m proud to be a part of it. ■