Date: 11-06-2018
Time of day: Night
Location: Putsborough
Mark: Right hand side of beach
Low Tide: 10:34(1.63m) 23:00(1.56m) 11:24(1.21m) 23:50(1.14m)
High Tide: 04:31(8.25m) 16:57(8.42m) 05:23(8.73m) 17:46(8.90m)
Time fished from: 21:00
Time fished to: 01:30
Weather: Cloudy and a strong wind from right to left. Feeling cold after dark.
Sea: Rough with waves up to 3 feet high and rolling for 50 yards.
Method: Ledger (homemade pulley rig) | Ledger (homemade pulley rig)
Bait: Frozen sandeel | frozen peeler crab
Caught (weight): 1 Bass (3lbs 2oz, Weighed)
The Session: This was a planned trip and I almost cancelled it because the sea looked rough and the wind was still quite strong but I had always fished this mark in calm conditions so I decided to see how I did in a bit rougher weather and sea. I figured I could wade out far enough to hit the back breaker before low tide and after low tide it wouldn't matter too much how far I cast as the tide would be coming in quite quickly. The wind was forecast to die down a bit, later on which would also help.
I set up both rods before casting any and with one baited with sandeel and the other baited with crab I waded out to almost waist deep and put the baits as far as I could, which was around 60 yards. The strong wind puller the line in a large arc which made it difficult to tighten up the slack line properly. It was a struggle to fish with the rod tips pointing seaward so eventually I positioned the tripod so the rod tips were pointing in the direction the wind was blowing.
After several casts I had not noticed a single bite although my baits were coming in in states that showed something was eating them. I put it down to crabs and decided to stick it out, expecting to only get anything once the wind died down and after low tide and into darkness. To make my bait last I added to any remaining bait on the hook with each cast, rather than replace it.
An hour and a half had passed and I felt momentarily shocked as I was sitting down thinking I should really recast as I was sure my baits would be right in close since they had been out 20 minutes and the tide had receeded a lot, when the rod baited with what was now 3 sandeel showed a strong pull. I jumped up and placed my hand on it ready to strike if it went just as strongly again. It did so twice in quick sucession and so I struck and could feel something on the end. I couldn't tell what it was, with it pulling differently to my expected species, a dogfish, or a ray. When I saw the bass appear in the surf I was surprised but probably should have expected one of them just as much as the dogfish or ray.
Now I was expecting more fish because this showed something other than crabs was around but I had no more bites. Once the tide had turned my bait occasionally came back untouched even by crabs. Once the tide began coming in at a fast rate I decided to end the session still unsure whether I managed to succeed in unfavourable conditions, or I should have made a last minute change of mark and fished somwehere calmer.
Tackle used (price) [ time since first used ]:
Set up 1: Rod: Daiwa Seahunter X 14ft 3 piece Fixed Spool (£60.00) [ 2 weeks ]
Reel: Daiwa Crosscast S 5000 Fixed spool (£48.99) [ > 3 years 3 months ]
Line: Maxima Chameleon 20lb (£17.99) 600m
Hooks: Sakuma Manta 2/0 (£13.05) 100
Shockleader: Gardner Slinky 60lb (£6.99) 100M
Hooklength: Sunset Amnesia 40lb (£4.50) 100m
Set up 2: Rod: Daiwa seahunter Z 13ft 2 piece MFS (£42.99) [ > 0 years 6 months ]
Reel: Shakespeare Agility Surf 70FD Fixed Spool (£39.99) [ > 4 years 1 months ]
Line: Daiwa Hyper Sensor 20lb (£12.95) 635m
Hooks: Sakuma Manta 2/0 (£5.78) 30
Shockleader: Gardner Slinky 60lb (£6.99) 100M
Hooklength: Sunset Amnesia 40lb (£4.50) 100m
.JPG)