I am sure I have yet to catch a bass on a lure in the UK in March, but yesterday morning it felt like every single cast could produce a fish

I leave the running stuff to my two girls and my sheepdog Storm, so the slightly strange look I got from the dog yesterday morning when I literally ran down the cliff path to the beach was perfectly understandable. The dog can take as much exercise as we can physically give her, but what the hell was Top Dog (me!) doing with this running down to the beach lark? I’ll tell you what was going on - just about the most stunning bass fishing conditions you could ever hope to see. I know it’s still March, and I am 99% sure I have never caught a bass on a lure in March, but when you get an early flooding tide and a weather forecast that suggests it could be rather tasty, I had to give it a go. I started running down the path because I literally could not wait to get a lure in the water with how incredible it looked when I got out there…………..

If I am 99% sure I haven’t caught a bass on a lure in March yet, then I am say 80% sure I had a follow from a bass on my first cast yesterday morning. The water was green and fizzed up and utterly divine, and I was wearing polarised sunnies so I could see into it pretty well. I am bloody sure I saw a smallish bass come in behind my Matte White Sandeel Pencil 150 lure as I drew it through a lovely looking gully (the new, saltwater rigged colours of the Sandeel Pencil 90, 125 and 150 should be in shops in a week or so, I will tell you all about them then), but you must also accept that I was so excited to be fishing conditions like these that I might have been seeing things - hence the 80%. Whatever the case, I can’t recall feeling so confident of catching a bass on a lure in March, and I was literally expecting a hit on every single cast with conditions like that. I even managed to get a few photos of myself fishing to try and get across to you just how awesome things looked.

So it didn’t actually happen, but I gave it a good go, and I learnt more about the makeup of the ground because it’s an area I simply haven’t fished enough on an early pushing tide. It’s some stunning bass ground and I can’t wait to give it a good go at night, but with the freshening S/SW wind yesterday morning and such stunning fizz and clarity, if that had been say into May I’d have been shocked not to catch a few bass. I have seen Mark catch bass on a lure in March, but the earliest I have personally caught a bass on a lure around here is I think April 4th a few years ago. I am not including January because I count that as part of the previous season with how long bass fishing can go on for around here if we get the right conditions.

Whilst I haven’t been out and about much recently, yesterday morning was the first time this year I have seen birds working around and picking stuff up off the top. I don’t know what they were eating, but they were doing something, and it was happening about three times further out than I can cast say that Sandeel Pencil 150. I could well be shooting myself in the foot here and it could end up being one of those years when we don’t see bass until we get into May, but yesterday morning felt so much more alive out there. I enjoyed every single second of my blank.

The other day I blogged about three different pairs of wading boots I am trying out this year - click here for the post - and whilst it’s early days with them all, I can’t recall hoping that a pair of boots works out as wading boots as much as I am with these ridiculously light and comfortable and easy to wear Bestard SAR Pro Water Rescue Boots which I described in that blog post. Over the years I have tried and failed with a few pairs of what the fishing tackle companies tend to refer to as “ultralight or lightweight wading boots”, but they have felt like lumps of concrete when compared to these Bestard SAR Pro Water Rescue Boots. I know it’s early days and I will report back after some decent time with all of them, but so far these Bestard boots are in a different league to any wading boots I can remember wearing. Time will obviously be the key here, but damn I am hoping they last.

Since I put this video up above I have had a number of people asking me what the waterproof rucksack is that I am carrying on my back. I have actually shot a video about how I go about using a waterproof rucksack which I will put on YouTube soon, but in the meantime it’s the Savage Gear Waterproof Rollup Rucksack 40L which I reviewed a year ago here, and which I reckon I have now been using for about a year and a half for my fishing. I was never anything to do with this rucksack and I admit that I didn’t think it would last me anywhere near a year - but it’s still going, and I really like it. For sure there are a few things I’d like to modify on the rucksack, but for around the £50 mark I reckon it’s bloody good value for money and I know they are finally back in stock here if that helps. You all have a good weekend, please stay safe and well, let’s not talk about England rugby………………….

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