I know it’s still March (easy to get overexcited), but I am interested to see what might happen when the conditions change, later in the week?

A year and a few days ago I landed my best bass of last year, so I am naturally interested and excited to see what might or might not happen out on the coast when we lose this protracted period of high pressure plus the generally calm, offshore conditions. I am obviously no weather forecaster and I don’t keep weather records, but I have been saltwater fishing around the south west of the UK for over thirty years now. I noticed that almost every year around March or April we tend to get an extended period of high pressure and more settled weather down here. Very welcome after winter of course, but often the bull huss fishing for example would get going and then die again with the high pressure, only to pick up again the moment we got some onshore winds back……………

And estuary based bass fishing aside - I think estuaries and estuary currents are very different environments to the open coast and therefore “behave” somewhat differently - I am very interested every year when we lose the extended period of high pressure like we have right now. Some years the open coast doesn’t switch on for a while longer, but last year I rang a mate and said what the hell, let’s give it a go because the conditions were going to be so good at a certain spot. Fourth or fifth cast I landed a 76cms bass which my mate is still convinced went 10lb+ but which I am convinced wasn’t a double. It hasn’t bothered me for a single second I might add, but a fish like this in a month when I have always struggled still gets me thinking. A few years ago another mate and I had a really good session in very early April when the high pressure conditions finally broke.

Easy to get overexcited and get out there for a blank I accept, but also easy to stay at home and tell yourself it’s too early for a few bass. I was committed to taking my youngest girl up to an open day at Exeter university on Saturday, and I made the cardinal mistake of looking at a local webcam and seeing how good it looked. The uni stuff didn’t take as long as I thought, and I managed to race out for a few hours fishing when we got home in the afternoon. The conditions weren’t as good as the morning and I’d have preferred the mid-morning high water, but at least I got out for a bit of a thrash and a blank.

So I am going to try my best to be in a position to get out there the moment the forecast changes and looks properly favourable for a few specific marks I want to be fishing at this time of year. I have this growing suspicion for a while that early and late in the season as such is the time for better bass on a few specific marks I fish, and I know I need to check out some other areas as well. Last year when it started off pretty well out on the coast but then seemed to go dead for a while, if and when that happens again I am going to stop trying to force the issue and instead get back to wandering around the many estuaries here in the south west. Spring has sprung, there’s some warmth around at times, what’s not to love?