Conscious that the spinning season (and the Bass season for that matter) would soon be coming to an end for another year I decided to try the spinning rod out on a sunny but breezy Saturday afternoon. It was a mid-afternoon tide and as I've always found the early flood the most productive for spinning on the river I arrived about four hours before high tide, just as the water was advancing across the mudflats.
The northerly breeze had turned the water a bit "milky" but it was still clear enough to spin and so I set about trying to add to my tally of Bass with my normal 3 inch Eel fished behind a Dexter Wedge. To cut a long story short, despite there being plenty of bait fish working the water and an acceptable water clarity, I caught bugger all. The only action over the four hours I fished was when a Schoolie of about a pound tried to take the Wedge right under the rod top; as the Wedge has no hook for this method, obviously it failed to "hook up".
The following day I met up with Paul (AKA Bread on Seafishing.org) with the intention of fishing a mark on the sea defences at Brightlingsea. The wind had picked up a bit and there was a stiff North Westerly breeze. Paul had intended to use his normal beach gear and I don't think had fully comprehended the logistics of fishing these kind of marks; he took one look at the rocks and promptly headed off to fish Jaywick beach! Undeterred, I continued on my own ledgering Ragworm bait close in with the Carp rod as by now the water was way too coloured to make spinning a viable proposition.
The rough weather made things difficult with the Carp rod but I kept at it and after a few hours of catching crabs I had a strong take which, after a reasonably good scrap for a fish of it's size, resulted in a Bass of about 42cm coming to the landing net. Feeling slightly encouraged I fished on for another couple of hours in the hope of catching another but it was not to be and so I headed home for some tea, wondering if all the hard work had really been worth it.
Footnote: I spoke to Paul the next day, who had fished with his father-in-law at Jaywick. His quick change of plans had proved to be worthwhile and had resulted in a nice Sole plus some other small stuff.
The northerly breeze had turned the water a bit "milky" but it was still clear enough to spin and so I set about trying to add to my tally of Bass with my normal 3 inch Eel fished behind a Dexter Wedge. To cut a long story short, despite there being plenty of bait fish working the water and an acceptable water clarity, I caught bugger all. The only action over the four hours I fished was when a Schoolie of about a pound tried to take the Wedge right under the rod top; as the Wedge has no hook for this method, obviously it failed to "hook up".
The following day I met up with Paul (AKA Bread on Seafishing.org) with the intention of fishing a mark on the sea defences at Brightlingsea. The wind had picked up a bit and there was a stiff North Westerly breeze. Paul had intended to use his normal beach gear and I don't think had fully comprehended the logistics of fishing these kind of marks; he took one look at the rocks and promptly headed off to fish Jaywick beach! Undeterred, I continued on my own ledgering Ragworm bait close in with the Carp rod as by now the water was way too coloured to make spinning a viable proposition.
The rough weather made things difficult with the Carp rod but I kept at it and after a few hours of catching crabs I had a strong take which, after a reasonably good scrap for a fish of it's size, resulted in a Bass of about 42cm coming to the landing net. Feeling slightly encouraged I fished on for another couple of hours in the hope of catching another but it was not to be and so I headed home for some tea, wondering if all the hard work had really been worth it.
Footnote: I spoke to Paul the next day, who had fished with his father-in-law at Jaywick. His quick change of plans had proved to be worthwhile and had resulted in a nice Sole plus some other small stuff.
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