Every hit seems to be subtly different when I am fishing like this, you ain’t going to win them all!

I wasn’t going to go fishing this morning, but I woke up thinking about a spot where a mate caught a bass yesterday morning - and I couldn’t resist. I also wanted to see if the recent rain we have been getting has had much effect on the water clarity, so I bundled Storm and my fishing gear into my Epic Berlingo and hit the road. It was only going to be a short session, but a decent walk is required to get to the spot so Storm and I get a bit of exercise to go with the actual fishing………….

This photo is not from this morning, but it’s me fishing with that Black Swan rod I mention below

This is not a tale of an epic bass fishing session by the way, but it really got me thinking about how every single hit or bite I am getting on these creature baits seems to be subtly different. Winding into a bass on a hard lure is awesome, but it’s more often than not very easy to connect with them - keep winding! Gauging when to strike and trying not to miss the hit from a bass which has chosen to feed head-down and inhale your crab imitation lure calls for split-second analysis, self-control, and then a reaction. Too swift to react and you miss the fish. Too slow and the fish might well eject the lure. And so on. It’s a challenge, and I really enjoy the directness to the end process if that makes sense.

So I was kneeling well back from the water to cast over some rafts of bladderwrack, then when I had fished that bit I would gently drag my creature bait over the top of the bladderwrack to drop down to the bottom again and keep fishing. I was rigged up with what has become a go-to setup for this type of lighter, ninja-style estuary fishing - the awesome Favorite Black Swan 8’5’’ 24g rod, a very lightweight Shimano Vanford 2500 or C3000 spinning reel, Sakura Sensibraid 12 braid (review to come, loving this stuff), 12lb YGK Nitlon DFC fluorocarbon leader, and one of those smaller Size 1 (20lb) BKK Fast Snap-41 lure clips I was telling you about the other day. I find myself turning to those amazing Nikko Craw 3.2inch creature baits a lot of the time now, rigged as per this recent blog post here with a 7g Berkley Fusion cheb weight and a 2/0 Seadra T120 Weedless worm hook. Sorry for all the details, but I am getting a number of questions about this creature bait fishing for bass and it’s easier if I tell you what I am fishing with and then you can make up your own mind.

Into the ebb tide and I slowly creep my lure across the top of some bladderwrack, then concentrate on keeping a tight line to the lure as it comes off the weed and drops to the bottom in some very shallow water. Literally as I feel the creature bait hit the bottom again, there is almost instantly a very sharp “tap” from a bass. Your head instantly tells you to strike because you have had a hit, but if you strike right now I will lay money on you missing the fish (I know this because I have done this a few times!). So the grownup, mature me (??) hangs fire and waits for what I hope will be another tap and then the fish starts to move away with the lure - this is what seems to be the most normal type of hit on these lures, but in reality they are all subtly different.

So I am coiled and ready, but after that initial, sharp “tap”, there is nothing more. What I do see a couple of seconds later though is my braid starting to move to my left. I say something like “you sneaky git” in my head, point the rod at the bass, and strike hard. That gorgeous Black Swan hoops right over and a few inches of braid come off the reel. Because I am fishing with a 12lb leader I have set the drag on the reel a touch lighter than I would if I was fishing normally for bass. I know this lure rod very well and it felt like a decent fish, but with where the fish was starting to come towards me via the pressure I was applying, it went straight into a great big raft of bladderwrack. Sometimes you come straight through this, but this time it all went properly solid, and by the time I had straight-pulled to try and free the fish from the weed, all I got back was my end gear with a load of weed on it. No more bass! You are never going to win them all of course, but I’d have liked to see that one. You all have a good weekend and I hope your fishing is more successful than mine was this morning………………

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