Easter weekend… for someone self employed like me it was actually a pain to have a 4 day weekend but I certainly made the most of  it.  Friday was spent enjoying the sun on the beach with friends and Monday was fishing day!

Everyone was busy though and I was flying on a solo mission. Me and Tim had made a plan to pretty much go all day and fish 4 different marks in search of our first silver bar.

I didn’t bother getting up early in the end as I knew I would just be overly tired through the day and my energy for fishing would drop off too quick. The last mark of the day probably was going to be the best chance of all so I didn’t want to get too despondent early on.

I started off working a sandy area slowly bumping the bottom with a SGS and 14gm jig head hoping to imitate a Sandeel burying itself in the sand. It wasn’t long before I had a bend in the rod but not much doing?? Was it weed… It didn’t really feel like weed… then it surfaced and it clicked.

A cheeky little Turbo and a nice surprise. Haven’t seen one of these keen little monsters in a while. Crazy how big there mouth is for there size and they will literally go for anything!

I fished on for bit without a sniff and decided to try for some Wrasse before the tide started to ebb and get a few fish under my belt for the day.

I targeted one main gully and opted to fish a 3 inch senko rather than a 4 inch like the other day. This worked and I landed 3 fish pretty quickly but not of any size.

I decided on a move and stepped it up to to a 4 inch in hope of luring a larger fish but the wind made it difficult and at high tide it’s really difficult to see the gully’s below the surface unless you really know the ground here. I landed a couple more smaller fish but that was it and it was time to try for a bass again.

I then went back to the first mark on the ebb but no such luck. I did have a strange hit at the lure at one point and the xlayer came back hanging off the hook so whether it was a schoolie, Launce or Mackeral i’m not to sure but decided to head off get some food and try a different area on this part of the tide.

The next mark was a cast and move kind of mark and try to cover as much ground as possible. There where Terns hitting Sandeels only 40yards off the shore but I couldn’t muster a hint of a bass and figured if the Sandeels were getting attacked they’d probably be closer to the shore in an attempt to flee the hungry bass beneath.

Finally the time came to hit the final mark and and I walked back to the car and headed off. I was pleasantly surprised to see some rather nice conditions on arrival. The water was clear but there was a little bit of a swell still rolling in from the wind the day before.

I opted to fish Weedless in the snaggy ground amongst the gully’s fishing either an AYU xlayer or a Fiiish Minnow working them slowly along the bottom in hope of a lurking Bass and probably some Wrasse.

I took a couple Wrasse and had an interesting take that could have been a Bass. I small tap and it slowly moved off with the Xlayer. I struck into some weight but the hook just didn’t set but It could have easily been a Wrasse though.

I finally got to my chosen spot and started fishing for Wrasse while I waited for the tide to rise. I’ve not done much Wrassing here but I was getting hits every cast. The only problem was my new line… I got some YGK WX8 20lb in Pink and so far I have been really impressed with it’s feel and castability. For some reason though it just kept pinging off on the rocks. It was really snaggy ground and I managed to fish it ok but the line parted on me as soon as I got snagged. It could have been that there was a drop off that I don’t know about and the line was constantly rubbing on it and soon as there was a solid tension it went… It was driving me mental though and I was getting pretty pissed off. The tide was pushing though and I changed tactics and went for a bass. It was know or never… I stuck on the SGS and started fishing sink and draw slowly but not getting too close to the bottom. It wasn’t long before I had a take and it was fish on. It took a few lunges but nothing as powerful as a Wrasse and i’m pretty sure it was a Bass but it came off! Oh how I laughed! You know one of those moments when your so F’d off you just have to laugh at yourself out loud in some mentally insane way?? Yeah I was going mad. But it did give me a little glimpse of hope and not long after I had another take. This time I was 100 percent it was a Bass and pulled in a fiery, angry little schoolie!

(Probably the smallest coast bass i’ve ever caught) Oh how I’ve missed seeing some silver though… I took a quick couple of photo’s and sent him on his way. I was surprised not to have any more takes after this. Normally a small fish like this would have been in a shoal for sure but they must have flewn by… Chasing baitfish?? Never mind it was job done and I left it at that. I had stuff to do at home and headed off with a cheeky smile on my face! Hopefully this is a good sign of things to come. I know for sure there’s a few bass around atm and i’m hoping if we get out for a night session we might see a few more. The water is definitely warming and I reckon May will be a good month. Fingers crossed!