Keep moving and fishing and moving and fishing, or stick and twist?

It depends on where you are fishing of course, and it also depends I guess on how well you know where you are fishing and if you expect bass to turn up somewhere very specific at a specific time in the tide, but on a mark where you can cover a lot of ground - how do you do things?

I guess that a lot of us here might not be classed as youngsters, but I look at all kinds of fishing and I do think that lure fishing for bass can be a pretty physical thing at times. All fishing is cool, but something like carp fishing or most boat fishing doesn’t strike me as very physical things to do for example, and I really like the moving around aspect to shore fishing. I like to think I was walking fit all my life, but the difference these days now that I am running fit is amazing when I think about it in relation to my own fishing and photography. My rucksack with camera gear is not light, but I am finding it so much easier to cover a lot of ground when required. Damn right it’s me wanting to keep fishing like this that is a big part of me pushing on with my running, plus the obvious health/weight benefits. I went fishing yesterday afternoon for example and covered a good bit of ground, then I got home and went for a run in the freezing cold because I know how good it is for me to keep at it. Pink knees in the cold I might add!

So I was out fishing a couple of days ago on a somewhat last minute session because I fancied the conditions being pretty tasty. Which they were. David messaged me to say that his work had been cancelled for the day so we arranged to meet up and fish together. He was kind enough to get me out the other day on a mark I had never been to before, so I was keen to return the favour and show him the same sort of kindness. I gave him a quick lie of the land when we got to the first bit of the mark I like to fish, and to say that my day was instantly made is an understatement. He went and landed a bass on his very cast on one of “my” marks and I was literally jumping up and down for joy. I then landed a fish myself, a couple of fish were dropped, and we started to move around and cover ground.

There’s a strong argument for staying in the same spot on a mark like this because with the time you get there it seems like the bass can turn up at almost any time. Do you walk away from a specific bit that you know really well or do you choose to move and fish and move and fish on the hunt for feeding fish? We chose to move which turned out to be a good call because more bass were landed, but in the back of my mind is always the never quite knowing whether it’s technically the right call. Any call which produces fish has to be “correct” in most respects because you have caught fish, but was it the right or best call? You will most likely never know of course, but I do like covering ground whenever possible. I also know that perhaps I sometimes stick on a specific spot for too long because that mental time log in my head is reminding me that I caught bass at certain states of the tide in the past - and it could happen again.

Anyway, I have been fishing a bit and you can probably tell that my fishing head is all over the place at the moment with so many permutations and questions and so on. I am also giving a lot of water time to some really interesting Savage Gear hard lures which I can tell you about around spring next year I believe. They are working really well for bass and there is a lot more to them than I initially thought. Help! You all have a good weekend, I can’t bring myself to talk any more England rugby……………….