I finally caught my first ever lure caught UK bass in March!

Resistance is futile they say, and especially when you watch a friend land a nice bass like I did the other day. I had no intention of going fishing on Wednesday, but something I read in Marc Cowling’s new bass fishing book the night before got me thinking about murkier water especially. I knew my chances of connecting with a bass were really rather low with my 100% record of never catching one in March, but you know when an itch starts itching and you have no choice but to scratch it? That was how I felt on Wednesday morning when I woke up at 4am with this infernal bloody bouncing brain syndrome bouncing away with how much Marc’s new book has got me thinking about a few things in particular……………..

So off I went to see if what I had read could possibly translate into something tangible. If I blanked I could always blame Marc and his new book (which is out soon and I really believe that anybody who lure fishes for bass should read it, review in due course when I have managed to absorb more of the fascinating thoughts and info contained within). I was fishing on my own, and as much as Storm loves any opportunity to be outside and go for a walk, even she was looking at me somewhat suspiciously. How does a dog know that you have never caught a bass in March? What she really loves is watching a surface lure coming in across the top, but that wasn’t going to be happening at this time of year and with what I had read and thought about.

I clipped on what for me has become a go-to bass fishing lure, the SG Slender Scoop Shad soft plastic which in both the 13cm and 15cm size I would more often than not rig on the 6/0 belly-weight weedless hook we made for the original size Gravity Sticks. You know me though. I like to try stuff, and as much as I completely trust a good weedless hook design, I also wonder why I am not swimming a regular J-hook jig head with a lightweight head a bit more. I never hear anything about the Savage Gear Ball Jig Heads in the bass fishing world, and whilst I have nothing to do with these “intended for the freshwater market” jig heads, I really rather like them. It obviously helps that I can get hold of them for nothing because it allows me to take a punt and then it doesn’t matter whether I like them or not. But I do like them. I had rigged a 13cm Slender Scoop Shad on one of the 5/0 5g SG Ball Jig Heads and that is what I was retrieving when I hooked and landed my March bass.

With what I like to think I know and with what I had read the night before, I chose the Green Silver colour, 13cm size Slender Scoop Shad. If it’s any help, what the freshwater Savage Gear people call Green Silver is what most bass anglers know as Ayu (what colour Spindle Worm did Marc catch on the other day?). You never go fishing with zero hope of course, but at this time of year it’s a lot to do with the sheer joy at being out and about whilst obviously also hoping against the odds.

And blow me down if about half an hour into the session I got one of those sharp bangs on my rod tip which then became a hooked fish when I struck into the second bang (calm down and keep fishing the lure if the bass doesn’t impale itself on that first bang). I know I yelped, Storm looked even more quizzical than she already was, and in no time at all I had what I reckon was a 3lb+ bass at my feet. I grabbed my camera to try and get a few fish in hand shots in the water, and as much as I always love watching a bass swim strongly away, the palpable sense of relief at getting the monkey off my back was especially prevalent. Over the frigging moon in basic English!

I am sorry if you have found my quest for a March bass on here to be a bit tedious. Trying to catch bass on a lure in every month in the UK has been a real thing of mine ever since we moved over to live in SE Cornwall and I began to appreciate the potential around here. As you know there has never been any grand plan with this blog so I guess I just talk about the contents of my head and enough of you kind people read this stuff and comment and engage to make me want to carry on with it.

The world isn’t going to change one single bit now that I have managed to achieve something I set out to do, but that one modest bass from Wednesday morning means a hell of a lot to me. Monkey off my back and all that, but more so it proves to me yet again how an open mind and willingness to try different stuff is the absolute key to successful lure fishing for bass. You all have a good weekend and thank f&^% there is no more international rugby for a while because I am not sure my heart can take it. One thing we are celebrating here at home is that cross country season is over so my wife and I are getting more of our weekends back. For sure it’s back to Park Run, various local road races and sailing - we do all we can to support our two girls and what they love to do - but not having to drive up to Loughborough and Nottingham and so on for a while is rather nice. Anybody else literally twitching with excitement at the year of fishing ahead?

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