First bass of 2012…

Finally…. yes, the first lure caught bass of the year! No pictures of the fish I’m afraid but went for a local session with my pal Nobby and we both notched our first silver bars of the year!

We had intended to head down to Dorset but the weekend got away with us a bit so we ended up taking a punt locally in The Solent and eventually it paid dividends with around a dozen fish between us as the tide came up. Nothing big – up to 3lb maximum but great to get off the mark and get used to those hits again. It was quite a challenging mark in more ways than one with obstructions making it difficult in a running tide. It had been a slow start to be honest and we were almost thinking of calling it a day when I hit into the first fish. This was about an hour before high water with the tide running hard and from then on we hit them fairly regularly for the next hour and a half. The majority were taken at medium distance either lower down on Zonks or in the top water on Komomo II’s though I did take one on a Rapala X-Rap and one on an OSP Rudra. All good scrappers! Had a few that dropped off as well and a  lure lost amongst the obstructions but pleasing to finally catch this year!

The main lures of choice for me yesterday (above)

Hopefully, a sign that things are picking up a bit after what seems to have been a slow start to the season in many areas. More encouraging signs offshore were terns and gulls working the surface which until yesterday I hadn’t seen much of this year in the Solent area – usually a good sign there are smaller fry around that predatory fish are stalking. Not sure on work commitments this week, or indeed the weather, but yesterday’s success might just prompt a mid week evening session!

Until next time…