Had the opportunity to get out today to try for an autumn bass but to be honest the winds weren’t looking very favourable with light northerlies usually meaning flat seas and little or no movement in the water. But with only maybe a handful of opportunities in the coming weeks to get out I couldn’t pass up this chance so I was up early doors and heading down to Dorset in the dark. I was really unsure where to go and it was only on the way down I finally decided on a rockier mark than I’ve tried of late and it turned out not too bad a decision.
After arriving at the car park I headed off but on seeing the sea it confirmed my worst fears that conditions might not be conducive to bass fishing at all – it really was flat with little movement in the water…
It did not exactly scream fish and so it proved all the way through until daylight. In the dark I tried a Komomo II in Akakin worked slowly which I’ve done OK on in low light in the past but that was fruitless, then as light hit I went for a Gunfish on the surface but it just wasn’t happening.
I moved on round the coast and found a slightly deeper channel between some rocky outcrops but before I fished I had five minutes out to grab a quick drink and a bit of sustenance for breakfast. I pondered during this time and decided it was time to bring out the Fiiish Black Minnow. Now, I’ve spoken about these in a previous post but today I was well armed with them and had made sure that they were properly rigged. When I say well armed I had the 90, 120 and even 160 versions all with shore jig heads. The only problem with the 160 version is that fully rigged the lure is 53grams – my rod has a casting weight of 10 – 50g…. I decided on a few tentative casts not putting any undue pressure on the rod. I would not be doing this on a lower rated rod believe me!
The lure cast fine with a good action in the water and on the third cast, on a very slow retrieve, no more than 20 feet out, the Black Minnow was hit…. fish on! It felt a better fish than I’ve had recently with a couple of decent head shakes and dives for cover but with minimal drag set on my reel it didn’t get too far and soon enough a nice fat 60cm+ bass was on the rock roughly around the 5lb mark though it was a very fat fish so it may have been a bit more…
It was hooked pretty well through the scissors of the mouth, it had certainly nailed the Black Minnow. I had a few more casts at this spot but no more takes came so I fished on round the shoreline… again with no further action. A slight change was needed so I decided to scale down to the 120 Black Minnow version and almost immediately I was getting hit by wrasse – that was not what was needed …
Changed back to the 160 and the annoying wrasse hits stopped – this 160 version is just big enough that it seemed to put off the wrasse – the small one’s at least! Fiiish do a 140 version of the Black Minnow as well which might be the answer to my casting weight issue and keeping the wrasse away…. if, that is, they can sort out a shore jig head which at the moment I don’t think they do? I stand to be corrected on this!
By now the morning was getting on and it was very pleasant in the sunshine, I met one other angler but he had not managed anything so far during the morning. I had no further joy either so after fishing all the way back, changing back to hard plugs for a while, I called it a day and decided to head home.
Here are a few more pictures of the day…
Komomo II Bora Mullet – not successful today!
Dorset coast…
Recent rockfall…
So, a decent bass and a few pesky wrasse to show for my efforts plus a few more things learned about the Black Minnow in particular. In all honesty it was far better session than I expected today given the benign conditions and proof that the bass can still be had as we approach the Winter months. Not sure when I’ll be out next but I remain hopeful I’ll get another opportunity before Christmas is upon us.
Until next time…
Hooks, Lines & Sinkers 